Mark Durie
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Mark Durie (born 1958) is an Australian
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
priest and a scholar in linguistics and theology. He is the founding director of the Institute for Spiritual Awareness, a Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a senior research fellow of the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at the Melbourne School of Theology.


Career

Durie was born in Papua to missionary parents, and grew up in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
. Durie was awarded a Ph.D. by the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
in 1984. Subsequently he held visiting appointments at the
University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
, the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
,
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
and the
University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...
. From 1987 to 1997 he held positions of postdoctoral fellow, lecturer, senior lecturer, reader and associate professor at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
. He was elected to the
Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...
in 1992. Ordained an Anglican deacon and priest in 1999, he has served on the staff of St Mark's Camberwell, St Hilary's Kew, St Mary's Caulfield, St Clement's Elsternwick and St Catharine's South Caulfield. He holds a BTh (Hons), and DipTh from the
Australian College of Theology The Australian University of Theology (AUT), formerly known as the Australian College of Theology (ACT), is an Collegiate university, collegiate Theology, theological university based in Sydney, New South Wales. The university delivers awards i ...
and in 2016 completed a Th.D. with the Australian College of Theology and Melbourne School of Theology. Durie has published articles and books on the
Acehnese language Acehnese (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language natively spoken by the Acehnese people in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. This language is also spoken by Acehnese descendants in some parts of Malaysia like Yan, Ke ...
of
Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, the genesis of the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
and interfaith relations. His 1985 book ''A grammar of Acehnese: on the basis of a dialect of North Aceh'' has been described as "an urgently needed modern description of a very important language", and Durie has himself later been described as "the most accomplished specialist on Acehnese writing in English". He was the editor of the book ''The comparative method: regularity and irregularity in language change'' along with Malcolm Ross in 1996. Durie has also been described as "an accomplished scholar of issues involving Christianity and Islam". He devoted himself to study Islam following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in 2001, after he had previously been familiar with Islam in Aceh. His 2010 book '' The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom'' has a foreword by
Bat Ye'or Gisèle Littman (; born 1933), better known by her pen name Bat Ye'or (, ''Daughter of the Nile''), is an Egyptian-born, British-Swiss author and historian, known for her promulgation of the Eurabia conspiracy theory. She claims that Islam, and ...
, and Durie has been described as a proponent of Ye'or's
counter-jihad Counter-jihad (also known as the counter-jihad movement) is a self-titled Islamophobia, anti-Muslim political movement loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, demonstrators, and other activists across the Western world. Proponents are ...
ist worldview. Ye'or had earlier written a positive review of Durie's book ''Revelation? Do we Worship the same God?'' in ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'' in 2006. Durie's 2013 book ''Liberty to the Captives: Freedom from Islam and Dhimmitude through the Cross'' has been said to provide "tools for Christians (particularly those living under the dominance of Islam) to adopt a biblical understanding of the cross in order to set them free from the influence of Islam", while his 2018 book ''The Qur'an and its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion'' has been described as "a highly original work and a substantial contribution to the field of Qurʾānic Studies". Durie has been noted for his writings on the linguistics relations between the Quran and the Bible, seeing the Quran as "biblical borrowing". Durie spoke at a World Congress of Families conference in 2014, saying that the breakdown of the traditional family was "causing an epidemic of social problems". He has also provided commentary on
Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs fe ...
about the
Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
, as well as about the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
and
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
.


Works


Books

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Select publications

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References


External links

*
OLAC resources in and about the Achinese language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durie, Mark 1958 births Living people 20th-century Australian linguists 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers 21st-century Anglican theologians 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian non-fiction writers Academic staff of the University of Melbourne 21st-century Australian Anglican priests Australian Anglican theologians Australian College of Theology alumni Australian critics of Islam Australian male non-fiction writers Australian National University alumni Counter-jihad activists Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Harkness Fellows Linguists of Austronesian languages Middle East Forum People from Canberra