The crucifix on Mecca's front porch : a Christian's companion for the study of Islam / David Pinault.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pinault, David, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islam--Relations--Christianity.

Islam.

Relations.

Christianity.

Islam--History.

History.

Genre:

Nonfiction.

Physical Description:

439 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

San Francisco : Ignatius Press, [2018]

Summary:

This book on Islam has an unusual perspective. It argues that a critically minded examination of Islam can help Christians achieve a deeper appreciation of the unique truths of their own faith. It draws on the author's personal experiences living in Islamic countries and his fieldwork with persecuted Christian-minority communities, especially in Pakistan, Yemen, Egypt, and Indonesia. It includes the author's own original translations of Islamic texts in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, as well as primary-source materials in Latin that were written by Christian participants in the Crusades. The author focuses on Muslim interactions with the Christian tradition. He examines and takes issue with the misguided approach of Christians like Hans Küng and Muslims like Mustafa Akyol, who in the interests of Christian-Muslim rapprochement, minimize theological differences between the two faiths, especially in the area of Christology. Such attempts at rapprochement, he writes, do a profound disservice to both religions. Illustrating the Muslim view of Christ with Islamic polemical texts from the eleventh to the twenty-first centuries, the author draws on Hans Urs von Balthasar, and other theologians of kenotic Christology, to show how Islamic condemnations of divine "weakness" and "neediness" can deepen our appreciation of what is most uniquely Christian in our vision of Jesus, as God-made-man, who voluntarily experiences weakness, suffering, and death in solidarity with all human beings. A book that's both timely and urgently needed, The Crucifix on Mecca's Front Porch invites readers to reflect on the stark differences between Christianity and Islam and come to a fresh appreciation of the Christian faith.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction: How Studying Islam Can Help Make Us Better Christians p. 15

Chapter 2 The World into Which Muhammad Was Born-Pagan Arabia-And Its Contacts with the Jewish and Christian Faiths p. 25

Chapter 3 Muhammad and the Koran p. 54

Chapter 4 Those Who Sell Their Souls to God: Violence and "The Path of Allah" p. 85

Chapter 5 Depictions of Jews and Christians in the Koran p. 102

Chapter 6 Speech from the Cradle, Birds Made from Clay: Christ in the Koran p. 133

Chapter 7 "But a Likeness Was Made to Appear to Them": The Enigma of Christ's Crucifixion in the Koran p. 156

Chapter 8 "Wherever the Sun Set, There He Would Halt and Pray Till Dawn": Jesus in the Ascetic and Sufi Mystical Traditions p. 183

Chapter 9 The True Cross Taken Captive: Christian-Muslim Relations in the Age of the Crusades p. 207

Chapter 10 Muslim Sectarianism and Sunni-Shia Competition for the Leadership of Global Islam p. 229

Chapter 11 Weakness and Suffering as Ungodlike: Islamic Christology and And-Christian Polemics among Muslim Writers from the Eleventh Century to the Twenty-First p. 251

Chapter 12 The Risen Christ Still Bears the Marks of the Cross: Thoughts on Kenotic Theology in Response to Anti-Christian Muslim Polemics p. 280

Chapter 13 Christian Survival in Muslim Societies Today: Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan p. 326

Chapter 14 Islam, Christianity, and Pre-Islamic Traditions: Pluralism versus Intolerance in the Indonesian Archipelago p. 349

Chapter 15 Concluding Thoughts: Confronting Da'wah-And Promoting the Truth of Christ Crucified p. 377.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9781621642329

1621642321

OCLC:

1039614892