John Of Damascus Islam

  john of damascus islam: John of Damascus and Islam Peter Schadler, 2017-12-05 How did Islam come to be considered a Christian heresy? In this book, Peter Schadler outlines the intellectual background of the Christian Near East that led John, a Christian serving in the court of the caliph in Damascus, to categorize Islam as a heresy. Schadler shows that different uses of the term heresy persisted among Christians, and then demonstrates that John’s assessment of the beliefs and practices of Muslims has been mistakenly dismissed on assumptions he was highly biased. The practices and beliefs John ascribes to Islam have analogues in the Islamic tradition, proving that John may well represent an accurate picture of Islam as he knew it in the seventh and eighth centuries in Syria and Palestine.
  john of damascus islam: John of Damascus, First Apologist to the Muslims Daniel J. Janosik, 2016-11-08 Much of the world today is convulsed in an epic struggle between the Christian West and Islam. Scholars seeking to understand the issues look back in history to unearth the roots of this conflict. Of great value in this effort are the writings of an eyewitness, a devoted Christian who served as chief financial officer of the Umayyad Empire and wrote at the time Islam was developing. John of Damascus (675-750) authored two major works, the Heresy of the Ishmaelites and the Disputation between a Christian and a Saracen, to provide an apologetic response to Islam from a Christian perspective. His writings shed light on many questions that are pertinent today: When was the Qur'an actually written? What was the role of the powerful caliph Abd al-Malik in the making of Muhammad? How did the theological issues related to the deity of Christ and the Trinity develop in the early days of Islam? This book delves into the life of John and studies his apologetic writings in detail, utilizing the first English translation from the critical text. It seeks to address these questions thoughtfully, provide valuable insights from the past, and then equip today's church as it engages with Islam.
  john of damascus islam: John of Damascus on Islam Daniel J. Sahas, 2023-07-24
  john of damascus islam: John of Damascus on Islam Daniel J. Sahas, 1972
  john of damascus islam: The Way of the Fathers Mike Aquilina, 2000-02-25 From the pious to the practical, the reflections of the Fathers of the Church cover virtually every aspect of the Christian life. Noted author Mike Aquilina has compiled their ancient axioms into a concise collection of comments designed for busy, modern readers. Pray with the poetry of St. Gregory Nazianzen. Find clear direction in the practical advice of St. Jerome. And, let your heart turn toward the heavenly Jerusalem, following the 1,000 timeless treasures in The Way of the Fathers. A power-packed collection of the Fathers' concise, clear, and challenging statements on issues still relevant to Christians today. A helpful tool, for anyone seeking to live the authentic Gospel life as understood by the first Christians.
  john of damascus islam: Three Treatises on the Divine Images Saint John (of Damascus), 2003 In AD 726, the Byzantine emperor ordered the destruction of all icons, or religious images, throughout the empire, and icons were subject to an imperial ban that was to last, with a brief remission, until AD 843. A defender of icons, St John of Damascus wrote three treatises against those who attack the holy images. He differentiates between the veneration of icons, which is a matter of expressing honor, and idolatry, which is offering worship to something other than God.
  john of damascus islam: The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque Sidney Harrison Griffith, 2008 Amid so much twenty-first-century talk of a Christian-Muslim divide--and the attendant controversy in some Western countries over policies toward minority Muslim communities--a historical fact has gone unnoticed: for more than four hundred years beginning in the mid-seventh century, some 50 percent of the world's Christians lived and worshipped under Muslim rule. Just who were the Christians in the Arabic-speaking milieu of Mohammed and the Qur'an? The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque is the first book-length discussion in English of the cultural and intellectual life of such Christians indigenous to the Islamic world. Sidney Griffith offers an engaging overview of their initial reactions to the religious challenges they faced, the development of a new mode of presenting Christian doctrine as liturgical texts in their own languages gave way to Arabic, the Christian role in the philosophical life of early Baghdad, and the maturing of distinctive Oriental Christian denominations in this context. Offering a fuller understanding of the rise of Islam in its early years from the perspective of contemporary non-Muslims, this book reminds us that there is much to learn from the works of people who seriously engaged Muslims in their own world so long ago.
  john of damascus islam: Byzantium and Islam Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), 2012 This magnificent volume explores the epochal transformations and unexpected continuities in the Byzantine Empire from the 7th to the 9th century. At the beginning of the 7th century, the Empire's southern provinces, the vibrant, diverse areas of North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, were at the crossroads of exchanges reaching from Spain to China. These regions experienced historic upheavals when their Christian and Jewish communities encountered the emerging Islamic world, and by the 9th century, an unprecedented cross- fertilization of cultures had taken place. This extraordinary age is brought vividly to life in insightful contributions by leading international scholars, accompanied by sumptuous illustrations of the period's most notable arts and artifacts. Resplendent images of authority, religion, and trade—embodied in precious metals, brilliant textiles, fine ivories, elaborate mosaics, manuscripts, and icons, many of them never before published— highlight the dynamic dialogue between the rich array of Byzantine styles and the newly forming Islamic aesthetic. With its masterful exploration of two centuries that would shape the emerging medieval world, this illuminating publication provides a unique interpretation of a period that still resonates today.
  john of damascus islam: Islam and Christianity John Renard, 2011-03-08 In light of the widespread public perception of incompatibility between Islam and Christianity, this book provides a much-needed straightforward comparison of these two great faith traditions from a broad theological perspective. Award-winning scholar John Renard illuminates the similarities as well as the differences between Islam and Christianity through a clear exploration of four major dimensions—historical, creedal, institutional, and ethical and spiritual. Throughout, the book features comparisons between concrete elements such as creedal statements, prayer texts, and writings from major theologians and mystics. It also includes a glossary of technical theological terms. For western readers in particular, this balanced, authoritative work overturns some common stereotypes about Islam, especially those that have emerged in the decade since September 11, 2001.
  john of damascus islam: Syrian Christians under Islam, the First Thousand Years David Thomas, 2021-12-28 This volume contains papers from the Third Woodbrooke-Mingana Symposium on Arab Christianity and Islam (September 1998) on the theme of Arab Christianity in Bilâd al-Shâm (Greater Syria) in the pre-Ottoman Period. It presents aspects of Syrian Christian life and thought during the first millennium of Islamic rule. Among the eight contributing scholars are Sidney Griffith on ninth-century Christological controversies, Samir K. Samir on the Prophet Muhammed seen through Arab Christian eyes, Lawrence Conrad on the physician Ibn Butlân, and Lucy-Anne Hunt on Muslim influence on Christian book illustrations. There is also a foreword by the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo. The picture that emerges is of community life developing in its own way and finding a distinctive character, as Christians responded to the social and intellectual influences of Islam.
  john of damascus islam: Mosaics in the Medieval World Liz James, 2017-10-05 In this book, Liz James offers a comprehensive history of wall mosaics produced in the European and Islamic middle ages. Taking into account a wide range of issues, including style and iconography, technique and material, and function and patronage, she examines mosaics within their historical context. She asks why the mosaic was such a popular medium and considers how mosaics work as historical 'documents' that tell us about attitudes and beliefs in the medieval world. The book is divided into two part. Part I explores the technical aspects of mosaics, including glass production, labour and materials, and costs. In Part II, James provides a chronological history of mosaics, charting the low and high points of mosaic art up until its abrupt end in the late middle ages. Written in a clear and engaging style, her book will serve as an essential resource for scholars and students of medieval mosaics.
  john of damascus islam: Islam's Jesus Zeki Sarıtoprak, 2014 While it is not well known among Christians, Jesus has an important role in the Quaranic literature, and this book examines this provocative topic, focusing on Jesus's role in the eschatology of Islam, especially on the afterlife.
  john of damascus islam: Reasonable Faith William Lane Craig, 2008 This updated edition by one of the world's leading apologists presents a systematic, positive case for Christianity that reflects the latest work in the contemporary hard sciences and humanities. Brilliant and accessible.
  john of damascus islam: St John Damascene : Tradition and Originality in Byzantine Theology Andrew Louth, 2002-07-04 This is the first examination of the whole range of the thought of John Damascene, one-time Arab civil servant, later a Palestinian monk, who thought of himself as a Byzantine churchman. He was one of the most influential of Byzantine theologians, whose work came to provide an essential resource for later Western theology. Many will be surprised by his subtle theology of images, defended against iconoclasts, and manifest in his sermons and sacred poetry. - ;John Damascene, one-time senior civil servant in the Umayyad Arab Empire, became a monk near Jerusalem in the early years of the eighth century. He never set foot in the Byzantine Empire, yet his influence on Byzantine theology was ultimately determinative, and beyond that his theological work became a key resource for Western theology from Scholasticism to Romanticism. His searching criticism of Imperial Byzantine iconoclasm earned him harsh condemnation from the Byzantine iconoclasts. This is the first book to present an overall account of John's life and work; it makes use of recent scholarship about the transformation of the former Byzantine territories of the Middle East after the seventh-century Arab Conquest, and the new critical edition of the Damascene's prose works. It sets John's theological work in the context of the process of preserving, defining, defending, and also celebrating the Christian faith of the early synods of the Church that took place in the Palestinian monasteries during the first century of Arab rule. John's own contribution is explored in detail: his amazing three-part Fountain Head of Knowledge, which provided the logical tools for arguing theologically, outlined the multifarious forms of heresy, and set out with clarity and learning the fundamental doctrines of Orthodox Christianity; as well as his treatises against iconoclasm, his preaching, for which he was famous in his lifetime, and, the work for which he is most renowned in the Orthodox world, his sacred poetry that still graces the liturgy of the Orthodox Church. The life and thought of this subject of the Arab Caliphs, a Christian monk who thought of himself as a Byzantine, poses intriguing questions about identity in a rapidly changing world, and the deeply traditional nature of his presentation of Christian theology calls for reflection about the relationship between tradition and originality in theology. - ;Any new publication by Andrew Louth is bound to be welcome to readers interested in thoughtful, literate, historically grounded theology ... In this new book, Louth offers us a comprehensive, detailed survey of the achievement of St John of Damascus. - The Way;... the first serious general monograph on the Damascene's work in at least forty years, and probably the first ever in English; but the book's importance and value as a theological study go far beyond the simple fact that it fills a gaping scholarly hole. - The Way;Andrew Louth's study brilliantly covers the whole of John's literary and theological achievement ... Abundantly furnished with scholarly detail and a rich bibliography, the book is also an admirable introduction to John's thought for those who have litte acquaintance with patristic studies. - The Way;It is written with elegance, unfailing clarity, and thought-provoking theological depth, and is carefully and beautifully produced by the Oxford University Press. Louth's work seems destined to be the standard general treatment of John Damascene, in any language, for decades to come, and should fill that role with distinction. - The Way;... a superb study of all major aspects of the saint, locating him firmly in his Byzantine context, yet without in any way minimizing his impact on the Western theological world as well. - Irish Theological Quarterly;... offers a careful analysis of John's theology, cosmology, anthropology, and defence of orthodoxy against various heresies. - Irish Theological Quarterly;... written with elegance as well as erudition. - Irish Theological Quarterly;Students of patrology, Byzantine studies, Church history, spirituality and liturgy, will all gain much from Louth's book. It is set to become an indispensable introduction, not only to the Saint of Damascus, but to the history of middle-Byzantine theology. - Irish Theological Quarterly;The strength of this book is the way in which the author is able to illustrate the varied influences which are discernible in the writings of John. - The Journal of Theological Studies;... very learned work. - The Journal of Theological Studies;With this study Andrew Louth comes to the climax of his trilogy of Byzantine theologians ... Louth's scholarly manner combines the historical analysis of literary connexions with the exposition of the ideas content of the texts and demonstrates an enviable familiarity with the entire range of Greek patristic literature ... a wonderful book. - Journal of Ecclesiastical History;... a remarkable combination of theology and scholarship, a fit monument to one who, as the final chapter demonstrates, has come as close to the first rank in theology as anyone ever did while being also a first-rate poet. - Mark Edwards, Times Literary Supplement;... the first definitive work on John in English. - Mark Edwards, Times Literary Supplement;... an attractive thesis, argued with extraordinary lucidity and an impressive grasp of the relevant primary and secondary literature. - The Catholic Historical Review;There is much to stretch and expand our theological understanding in this fine book ... a clear introduction to an important and too little known writer. - Church Times;While being rigourous and detailed, the author is careful to write in an accessible and clear way, so that a reasonably well-informed reader can easily follow the argument. - Church Times;Louth's work is a monument of Patristic scholarship. - 8th Day Books catalog
  john of damascus islam: Answering Islam Norman L. Geisler, Abdul Saleeb, 2002-08 Apologetic guide compares the major tenets of Islam with Christianity.
  john of damascus islam: A Treatise on the Veneration of the Holy Icons Abū Qurrah (Bishop of Ḥarrān.), 1997 Theodore Abu Qurrah (c.750-c.825) was an intellectual heir of St. John of Damascus. Both became monks of Mar Sabas monastery in the Judean desert. Whereas John of Damascus was prominent among the generations of Greek writers in the Holy Land in early Islamic times, Theodore Abu Qurrah was the first Orthodox scholar whose name we know regularly to write Christian theology in Arabic. He spoke and wrote the Arabic language at a time when it was just becoming the cultural language of classical Islamic civilization, as well as the lingua sacra of the Qu'ran and of the new world religion. He was among the first Christians to exploit the apologetic potential of the new Arabic medium of public discourse. Abu Qurrah's Arabic tract in defense of the veneration of the holy icons was a response to the problem of the public veneration of the symbols of Christianity in an Islamic environment in which the caliph's policies since the time of 'Abd al-Malik (685-705) had been to claim the public space for Islam. In this treatise one finds arguments once expounded by earlier Greek writers, now deployed to meet the needs of a new generation of Arabic-speaking Christians, who were more evidently in contact and debate with Muslims.
  john of damascus islam: Ibn Taymiyya Jon Hoover, 2020-01-14 Ibn Taymiyya (1263–1328) of Damascus was one of the most prominent and controversial religious scholars of medieval Islam. He called for jihad against the Mongol invaders of Syria, appealed to the foundational sources of Islam for reform, and battled against religious innovation. Today, he inspires such diverse movements as Global Salafism, Islamic revivalism and modernism, and violent jihadism. This volume synthesizes the latest research, discusses many little-known aspects of Ibn Taymiyya’s thought, and highlights the religious utilitarianism that pervades his activism, ethics, and theology.
  john of damascus islam: The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus Alain George, 2023-08-01 An expansive illustrated history of the historic Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus is one of the oldest continuously used religious sites in the world. The mosque we see today was built in 705 CE by the Umayyad caliph al-Walid on top of a fourth-century Christian church that had been erected over a temple of Jupiter. Incredibly, despite the recent war, the mosque has remained almost unscathed, but over the centuries has been continuously rebuilt after damage from earthquakes and fires. In this comprehensive biography of the Umayyad Mosque, Alain George explores a wide range of sources to excavate the dense layers of the mosque’s history, also uncovering what the structure looked like when it was first built with its impressive marble and mosaic-clad walls. George incorporates a range of sources, including new information he found in three previously untranslated poems written at the time the mosque was built, as well as in descriptions left by medieval scholars. He also looks carefully at the many photographs and paintings made by nineteenth-century European travelers, particularly those who recorded the building before the catastrophic fire of 1893.
  john of damascus islam: John of Damascus on Islam Daniel J. Sahas,
  john of damascus islam: In The Shadow Of The Sword Tom Holland, 2012-04-05 A SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER 'A stunning blockbuster' Robert Fisk 'A brilliant tour de force of revisionist scholarship and thrilling storytelling' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'A compelling detective story of the highest order' Sunday Times 'Tom Holland has an enviable gift for summoning up the colour, the individuals and animation of the past' Independent In the 6th century AD, the Near East was divided between two venerable empires: the Persian and the Roman. A hundred years on and one had vanished forever, while the other seemed almost finished. Ruling in their place were the Arabs: an upheaval so profound that it spelt, in effect, the end of the ancient world. In the Shadow of the Sword explores how this came about. Spanning from Constantinople to the Arabian desert, and starring some of the most remarkable rulers who ever lived, he tells a story vivid with drama, horror, and startling achievement.
  john of damascus islam: Muhammad Juan Cole, 2018-10-09 In the midst of the dramatic seventh-century war between two empires, Muhammad was a spiritual seeker in search of community and sanctuary. Many observers stereotype Islam and its scripture as inherently extreme or violent-a narrative that has overshadowed the truth of its roots. In this masterfully told account, preeminent Middle East expert Juan Cole takes us back to Islam's-and the Prophet Muhammad's-origin story. Cole shows how Muhammad came of age in an era of unparalleled violence. The eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Iran fought savagely throughout the Near East and Asia Minor. Muhammad's profound distress at the carnage of his times led him to envision an alternative movement, one firmly grounded in peace. The religion Muhammad founded, Islam, spread widely during his lifetime, relying on soft power instead of military might, and sought armistices even when militarily attacked. Cole sheds light on this forgotten history, reminding us that in the Qur'an, the legacy of that spiritual message endures. A vibrant history that brings to life the fascinating and complex world of the Prophet, Muhammad is the story of how peace is the rule and not the exception for one of the world's most practiced religions.
  john of damascus islam: Christianity Face to Face with Islam Robert Wilken, 2010-09-22 Robert Louis Wilken, preeminent historian and First Things contributor, concisely traces the fascinating but uneasy history between Christianity and Islam from the seventh century until today. Wilken offers this sobering overview: When Islam arrives, it comes to stay. That is, most territories that were Christian 1,300 years ago are now Muslim. Will Christianity survive despite Islam's expanding political geography or succumb to its mounting numbers in Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa, and elsewhere? This extraordinary essay will help broaden your perspective on the dangers and opportunities that Islam presents to the West.Robert Louis Wilken is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia. This essay is adapted from his 2008 Erasmus Lecture, sponsored by First Things.
  john of damascus islam: Let the Nations Be Glad! John Piper, 2010-03-15 This new edition of a bestselling textbook (over 185,000 copies sold) draws on key biblical texts to demonstrate that worship is the ultimate goal of the church and that proper worship fuels missionary outreach. John Piper offers a biblical defense of God's supremacy in all things, providing readers with a sound theological foundation for missions. He examines whether Jesus is the only way to salvation and issues a passionate plea for God-centeredness in the missionary enterprise, seeking to define the scope of the task and the means for reaching all nations. The third edition has been revised and expanded throughout and includes new material on the prosperity gospel. The book is essential reading for those involved in or preparing for missions work. It also offers enlightenment for college and seminary students, pastors, youth workers, campus ministers, and all who want to connect their labors to God's global purposes.
  john of damascus islam: A Challenge to Islam for Reformation Günter Lüling, 2003 As a Protestant theologian and diciple of renowned critics of Christianity, Albert Schweitzer and Martin Werner, the Author wanted since long to contribute to the breakthrough of their resolute nontrinitarian position which has throughout the twentieth century by all and every Western Christian university theology been silenced by pretending tacitly and tenaciously the non-existence of their strong argument.
  john of damascus islam: Envisioning Islam Michael Philip Penn, 2015-06-05 The first Christians to encounter Islam were not Latin-speakers from the western Mediterranean or Greek-speakers from Constantinople but Mesopotamian Christians who spoke the Aramaic dialect of Syriac. Under Muslim rule from the seventh century onward, Syriac Christians wrote the most extensive descriptions extant of early Islam. Seldom translated and often omitted from modern historical reconstructions, this vast body of texts reveals a complicated and evolving range of religious and cultural exchanges that took place from the seventh to the ninth century. The first book-length analysis of these earliest encounters, Envisioning Islam highlights the ways these neglected texts challenge the modern scholarly narrative of early Muslim conquests, rulers, and religious practice. Examining Syriac sources including letters, theological tracts, scientific treatises, and histories, Michael Philip Penn reveals a culture of substantial interreligious interaction in which the categorical boundaries between Christianity and Islam were more ambiguous than distinct. The diversity of ancient Syriac images of Islam, he demonstrates, revolutionizes our understanding of the early Islamic world and challenges widespread cultural assumptions about the history of exclusively hostile Christian-Muslim relations.
  john of damascus islam: Gregory Palamas Norman Russell, 2022-09 Gregory Palamas, a monk of Mount Athos andmetropolitan of Thessalonike from 1347 to 1357, was a leadingfourteenth-century Byzantine intellectual. He was the chief spokesman for thehesychasts in the controversy bearing that name, which began when a charge ofheresy was laid against him in 1340 and ended with his proclamation as a saintin 1368. Although excellent English translations of some of Palamas'theological writings are available, very few texts relating to his historicalrole have yet been translated. This book contains the first English translationof the contemporary Life of Palamasby Philotheos Kokkinos, which is our principal source of biographicalinformation on him. Also translated into English for the first time are theSynodal Tomoi from 1341 to 1368,which chart the progress of the hesychast controversy from the viewpoint of thevictors, together with the corpus of material relating to Palamas' year ofcaptivity among the Turks, which offers a unique insight into conditions forChristians and Muslims in the early Ottoman emirate. The translations, all ofwhich are based on critical texts, are preceded by introductions which setPalamas in his historical context and propose some changes to the conventionalchronology of his life.
  john of damascus islam: Muhammad Reconsidered Anna Bonta Moreland, 2022-03-30 Scholarly attempts to understand Islam in the West over the past several years have failed to take Islamic theology seriously. This book engages Islam from deep within the Christian tradition by addressing the question of the prophethood of Muhammad. Anna Bonta Moreland calls for a retrieval of Thomistic thought on prophecy to view Muhammad within a Christian theology of revelation, without either appropriating the prophet as an unwitting Christian or reducing both Christianity and Islam to a common denominator. This historical recovery leads to a more sophisticated understanding of Islam, one that honors the integrity of the Catholic tradition and, through that integrity, argues for the possibility in principle of Muhammad as a religious prophet. Moreland sets the stage for this inquiry through an intertextual reading of the key Vatican II documents on Islam and on Christian revelation. She then uses Aquinas's treatment of prophecy to address the case of whether Muhammad is a prophet in Christian terms. The book examines the work of several Christian theologians, including W. Montgomery Watt, Hans Küng, Kenneth Cragg, David Kerr, and Jacques Jomier, O.P., and then draws upon the practice of analogical reasoning in the theology of religious pluralism to show that a term in one religion?in this case ?prophecy??can have purchase in another religious tradition. Muhammad Reconsidered not only is a constructive contribution to Catholic theology but also has enormous potential to help scholars reframe and comprehend Christian-Muslim relations.
  john of damascus islam: On the Divine Images Saint John (of Damascus), 1980
  john of damascus islam: Roman Catholic Theology and Practice Gregg R. Allison, 2014 In Roman Catholic Theology and Practice, Gregg Allison, an evangelical theologian and church historian, helps readers understand the nuances of Roman Catholic teaching. Walking readers through the official Catechism of the Catholic Church, Allison summarizes and assesses Catholic doctrine from the perspective of both scripture and evangelical theology.
  john of damascus islam: Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics George F. Hourani, 2007-04-18 Preface; Foreword Michael Marmura; Conventions; Titles and locations of the original articles; Introduction; 1. Islamic theology and Muslim philosophy; 2. Ethics in classical Islam: a conspectus; 3. Ethical presuppositions of the Qur'an; 4. 'Injuring oneself' in the Qur'an, in the light of Aristotle; 5. Two theories of value in early Islam; 6. Islamic and non-Islamic origin of Mu'tazilite ethical rationalism; 7. The rationalist ethics of 'Abd al-Jabbar; 8. Deliberation in Aristotle and 'Abd al-Jabbar; 9. Ash'ari; 10. Juwayni's criticisms of Mu'tazilite ethics; 11. Ghazali on the ethics of action; 12. Reason and revaltion in Ibn Hazm's ethicical thought; 13. The basis of authority of concensus in Sunnite Islam; 14. Ibn Sina's 'Essay on the secret of destiny'; 15. Averroes on good and evil; 16. Combinations of reason and tradtion in Islamic ethics; Select bibliography; Index.
  john of damascus islam: A History of Apologetics Avery Dulles, 2018-08-22 Making the case for the Christian faith—apologetics—has always been part of the Church's mission. Yet Christians sometimes have had different approaches to defending the faith, responding to the needs of their respective times and framing their arguments to address the particular issues of their day. Cardinal Avery Dulles's A History of Apologetics provides a masterful overview of Christian apologetics, from its beginning in the New Testament through the Middle Ages and on to the present resurgence of apologetics among Catholics and Protestants. Dulles shows how Christian apologists have at times both criticized and drawn from their intellectual surroundings to present the reasonableness of Christian belief. Written by one of Catholicism's leading American theologians, A History of Apologetics also examines apologetics in the 20th and early 21st centuries including its decline among Catholics following Vatican II and its recent revival, as well as the contributions of contemporary Evangelical Protestant apologists. Dulles also considers the growing Catholic-Protestant convergence in apologetics. No student of apologetics and contemporary theology should be without this superb and masterful work.
  john of damascus islam: Byzantium and Islam Daniel J. Sahas, 2021-11-22 The long history of Byzantium is also a history of Byzantine-Arab and Christian-Muslim relations – not necessarily exemplary but often fascinating; in mutual admiration - and exclusion. Literature, culture, science, religious faith and strategic politics are the products of this encounter.
  john of damascus islam: The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque Sidney H. Griffith, 2012-01-09 Amid so much twenty-first-century talk of a Christian-Muslim divide--and the attendant controversy in some Western countries over policies toward minority Muslim communities--a historical fact has gone unnoticed: for more than four hundred years beginning in the mid-seventh century, some 50 percent of the world's Christians lived and worshipped under Muslim rule. Just who were the Christians in the Arabic-speaking milieu of Mohammed and the Qur'an? The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque is the first book-length discussion in English of the cultural and intellectual life of such Christians indigenous to the Islamic world. Sidney Griffith offers an engaging overview of their initial reactions to the religious challenges they faced, the development of a new mode of presenting Christian doctrine as liturgical texts in their own languages gave way to Arabic, the Christian role in the philosophical life of early Baghdad, and the maturing of distinctive Oriental Christian denominations in this context. Offering a fuller understanding of the rise of Islam in its early years from the perspective of contemporary non-Muslims, this book reminds us that there is much to learn from the works of people who seriously engaged Muslims in their own world so long ago. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
  john of damascus islam: John of Damascus: More than a Compiler , 2022-12-05 John of Damascus, the eighth century theologian of the newly re-established Jerusalem Patriarchate, remains understudied because many consider him no more than a compiler of tradition, saying nothing original. We challenge this misconception by exploring ways in which John made his sources his own, his reception history, his biography, his philosophic appropriation and unique contribution, how he presented his theology in locally significant ways, his influence on subsequent generations, and all his varied theological output in both its historical context and as received in Byzantine tradition.
  john of damascus islam: Dutch Reformed Orthodoxy and Islam Felipe Boechat Asseruy Silva, 2025-03-10 However turbulent and virulent Christian-Muslim Relations may have been throughout the centuries it does not mean that each side did not take the time to evaluate and appreciate each other's theological dogmas. Felipe Boechat Asseruy Silva shows that although Christians were subjected to constant attacks and invasions by the Turks for multiple centuries, they eventually (Early Modern Period) sought to refine their thinking about Islam and evaluate its theological tenets in a semi-dispassionate form and to provide a large-scale reply. In the Medieval period in-depth analysis of Islam, from a purely theological/philosophical point of view, were rare. Most publications frequently resorted to the use of offensive and inaccurate language, which, at times, fomented a disagreement between the parties based not on real theological differences – besides the obvious political differences –, but on imagined ones. This volume shows that Post-Reformation Reformed Orthodox theologians, especially those from the Dutch Republic, after having access to a long legacy of Christian-Muslim written publications collected by Dutch Universities, were able to build much more refined arguments and indeed present well informed apologetical, theological and historical arguments against Islam. The author also shows that the intense commerce between Christian and Islamic nations and the contemporary flourishing of orientalist studies in the Dutch Universities contributed to the formation of an intellectual arena that was willing to overlook past animosities and focus on the theological differences, addressing them as such.
  john of damascus islam: Rediscovering the Church Fathers Michael A. G. Haykin, 2011-03-02 While the church today looks quite different than it did two thousand years ago, Christians share the same faith with the church fathers. Although separated by time and culture, we have much to learn from their lives and teaching. This book is an organized and convenient introduction to how to read the church fathers from AD 100 to 500. Michael Haykin surveys the lives and teachings of seven of the Fathers, looking at their role in such issues as baptism, martyrdom, and the relationship between church and state. Ignatius, Cyprian, Basil of Caesarea, and Ambrose and others were foundational in the growth and purity of early Christianity, and their impact continues to shape the church today. Evangelical readers interested in the historical roots of Christianity will find this to be a helpful introductory volume.
  john of damascus islam: Umayyad Christianity Najib Awad, 2018-12-06 A study of the identity-formation process that the Christians of Syria-Palestine experienced during Umayyad Caliphate. It approaches this subject by using John of Damascus and his writings on Islam as a case-study. This provides an exhaustive study of the available historical data in order to stimulate some further thought on John of Damascus's theology and legacy from a contextual and intercultural methodology. Such an examination has not yet been pursued in the scholarship of Byzantine Christianity during that era. Proceeding from a centralizing 'context', the monograph revisits John of Damascus's legacy (and the Umayyad Christians' identity-formation of that era) from the perspective of his historical, Islamic-Arabic context, and not from any assumed, mita-narrative, common to contemporary pro-Byzantine theology scholars.
  john of damascus islam: The Christian Encounter with Muhammad Charles Tieszen, 2020-11-12 This book offers a fresh appraisal of Muhammad that considers the widest possible history of the ways in which Christians have assessed his prophethood. To medieval Christian communities, Muhammad-the leader of a religious and political community that grew quickly and with relative success-was an enigma. Did God really send him as a prophet with a revelation? Was the political success of the community he founded a divine validation? Or were he and his followers inspired by something evil? Despite their attempts, modern Christians continued to be puzzled by Muhammad. The Qur'an provided a framework for understanding and honouring Jesus; was it possible for Christians to reciprocate with regard to Muhammad? This book applies the same analysis to both medieval and modern assessments of Muhammad, in order to demonstrate the continuities and disparities present in literature from the two eras.
  john of damascus islam: Arab Christians and the Qurʾan from the Origins of Islam to the Medieval Period , 2018-03-12 Arab Christians and the Qurʾan from the Origins of Islam to the Medieval Period is a collection of essays on the use and interpretation of the Qur’an by Christians writing in Arabic in the period of Islamic rule in the Middle East up to the end of the thirteenth century. These essays originated in the seventh Woodbrooke-Mingana Symposium on Arab Christianity held in Birmingham, UK, in 2013, and are edited by Mark Beaumont. Contributors are: David Bertaina, Sidney Griffith, Sandra Keating, Michael Kuhn, Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, Gordon Nickel, Emilio Platti and David Thomas
John 1 NIV - The Word Became Flesh - In the - Bible Gateway
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah. 19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in …

John 1 KJV - In the beginning was the Word, and the - Bible …
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; …

John 1 NLT - Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word - In - Bible G…
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his …

John 1 NKJV - The Eternal Word - In the beginning was - Bibl…
John’s Witness: The True Light. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a …

John 6 NIV - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Some - Bible …
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, …

John 1 NIV - The Word Became Flesh - In the - Bible Gateway
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah. 19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to …

John 1 KJV - In the beginning was the Word, and the - Bible Gateway
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I …

John 1 NLT - Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word - In - Bible Gateway
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell …

John 1 NKJV - The Eternal Word - In the beginning was - Bible …
John’s Witness: The True Light. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 …

John 6 NIV - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Some - Bible Gateway
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they …

John 11 NIV - The Death of Lazarus - Now a man named - Bible …
The Death of Lazarus - Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same …

John 5 NIV - The Healing at the Pool - Some time - Bible Gateway
John 5:4 Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up …

John 16 NIV - “All this I have told you so that you - Bible Gateway
“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. …

JOhn 19 NIV - Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified - Bible Gateway
Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified - Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe …

John 8 NIV - but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. - Bible Gateway
John 8:28 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted. John 8:38 Or presence. Therefore do what you have heard from the Father. John 8:39 Some early manuscripts “If you are Abraham’s …