During the first six-seven centuries of the Islamic era there was a very lively exchange between Christian and Islamic thinking. It was a period when Christian theologians of various denominations had to find ways of expressing their traditional ideas in Arabic. In the process their thinking developed. The papers in this volume represent the wide range of this field, including detailed studies of such key writers as Abū Rā’itah, Yaḥyā b. ‘Adī and Theodore Abū Qūrrah, as well as probably the earliest, anonymous, Christian apology in Arabic. The Islamic context in which such writers worked is also dealt with, as is the wider geographical spread of Christian Arabic thought extending to Islamic Spain.

"John Wesley and George Whitefield are remembered as founders of Methodism, one of the most influential movements in the history of modern Christianity. Characterized by open-air and itinerant preaching, eighteenth-century Methodism was a divisive phenomenon, which attracted a torrent of printed opposition, especially from Anglican clergymen. Yet, most of these opponents have been virtually forgotten. The Struggle for True Religion is the first large-scale examination of the theological ideas of early anti-Methodist authors. By illuminating a very different perspective on Methodism, Simon Lewis provides a fundamental reappraisal of the eighteenth-century Church of England and its doctrinal priorities. For anti-Methodist authors, attacking Wesley and Whitefield was part of a wider defence of 'true religion', which demonstrates the theological vitality of the much-derided Georgian Church. This book, therefore, places Methodism firmly in its contemporary theological context, as part of the Church of England's continuing struggle to define itself theologically"--

This collection illustrates the place of the Bible in Arab Christianity as a source of authority and information about Christian experiences under early Islam, and the importance attached to upholding its authenticity in the face of Muslim criticisms.

Containing over 700 articles, this Dictionary allows the reader to explore Eastern Christian civilization with its cultural and religious riches. The articles are written by a team of 50 international contributors, including leading historians, theologians, linguists, philosophers, patrologists, musicians, and scholars of liturgy and iconography.

The art of interpreting Holy Scriptures flourished throughout the culturally heterogeneous pre-modern Orient among Jews, Christians and Muslims. Different ways of interpretation developed within each religion not without considering the others. How were the interactions and how productive were they for the further development of these traditions? Have there been blurred spaces of scholarly activity that transcended sectarian borders? What was the role played by mutual influences in profiling the own tradition against the others? These and other related questions are critically treated in the present volume.

This book analyzes Christian presentations of Christ for Muslims in the most creative period of Christian-Muslim dialogue, the first half of the ninth and the second half of the twentieth century. In these two historical moments, Christians made a serious effort to present their faith in Christ in terms that take into account Muslim perceptions of him, with a view to bridging the gap between Muslim and Christian convictions produced by Muslim rejection of Christ's divine sonship and the death of Christ by crucifixion. A comparative study is made of the contributions of three apologists from the early ninth century--Abu Qurra, Abu Ra'ita, and 'Ammar al-Basri--and three twentieth-century apologists--Kenneth Cragg, John Hick and Hans Kung--in order to seek a model for dialogue on Christology between Christians and Muslims in the twenty-first century.

Many books about Islam and Christianity are comparative however this book examines Christianity from an Islamic perspective. Each chapter focuses upon theological, philosophical and mystical issues, which are as relevant today as they always have been in the Muslim-Christian dialogue. The book is divided into two sections: the classical and modern periods, thus the reader will benefit from a broad overview of the myriad Islamic interpretations of Christianity.

The theme of this book is the early encounters between Christianity and Islam in the eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire and in Persia from the beginnings of Islam in Mecca to the time of the Abbasids in Bagdad. The contributions in this volume deal with crucial subjects of political and theological dialogue and controversy that characterized the varying responses of the Christian communities in the Byzantine Eastern provinces to the Islamic conquest and its subsequent impact on Byzantine society and history. This volume opens up new research perspectives surrounding the confrontation of Christianity with the early theological and political development of Islam. The present publication emphasizes the importance of the study of the beginnings and the foundations of the relations between the two religions.

Early Christian-Muslim Debate on the Unity of God examines the writings of three of the earliest known Christian theologians to write comprehensive theological works in Arabic. Theodore Abū Qurra, Abū Rā’iṭa and ‘Ammār al-Baṣrī provide valuable insight into early Christian-Muslim debate shortly after the rise of the Islamic empire. Through close examination of their writings on the doctrine of the Trinity, Sara Husseini demonstrates the creativity of these theologians, who make use of language, style and argumentation characteristic of Islamic theological thought (kalām), in order to help articulate their long-established religious truths. Husseini offers close analysis of the authors individually and comparatively, exploring their engagement with Islamic theology and their role in this fascinating period.

Offering an analysis of Christian-Muslim dialogue across four centuries, this book highlights those voices of ecumenical tone which have more often used the Qur’an for drawing the two faiths together rather than pushing them apart, and amplifies the voice of the Qur’an itself. Finding that there is tremendous ecumenical ground between Christianity and Islam in the voices of their own scholars, this book ranges from a period of declining ecumenism during the first three centuries of Islam, to a period of resurging ecumenism during the most recent century until now. Among the ecumenical voices in the Christian-Muslim dialogue, this book points out that the Qur’an itself is possibly the strongest of those voices. These findings are cause for, and evidence of, hope for the Christian–Muslim relationship: that although agreement may never be reached, dialogue has led at times to very real mutual understanding and appreciation of the religious other. Providing a tool for those pursuing understanding and mutual appreciation between the Islamic and Christian faiths, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of Islam, the Qur’an and the history of Christian-Muslim relations.