Scriptural Polemics

Scriptural Polemics
Author: Mun'im Sirry
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2014-05-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199359377

A number of passages in the Qur'an criticize Jews and Christians, from claims of exclusive salvation and charges of Jewish and Christian falsification of revelation to cautions against the taking of Jews and Christians as patrons, allies, or intimates. Mun'im Sirry offers a novel exploration of these polemical passages, which have long been regarded as obstacles to peaceable interreligious relations, through the lens of twentieth-century tafsir (exegesis). He considers such essential questions as: How have modern contexts shaped Muslim reformers' understanding of the Qur'an, and how have the reformers' interpretations recontextualized these passages? Can the Qur'an's polemical texts be interpreted fruitfully for interactions among religious communities in the modern world? Sirry also reflects on the various definitions of apologetic or polemic as relevant sacred texts and analyzes reformist tafsirs with careful attention to argument, literary context, and rhetoric in order to illuminate the methods, positions, and horizons of the exegeses. Scriptural Polemics provides both a critical engagement with the tafsirs and a lucid and original examination of Qur'anic language, logic, and dilemmas, showing how the dynamic and varied reformist interpretations of these passages open the way for a less polemical approach to other religions.

Scriptural Polemics

Scriptural Polemics
Author: Mun'im A. Sirry
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2014
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199359369

Mun'im Sirry explores polemical passages in the Qur'an, examining the interpretation of those passages by reformist exegetes of the first half of the twentieth century.

Hidden Polemics in Biblical Narrative

Hidden Polemics in Biblical Narrative
Author: Amit
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2022-07-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004493565

In current usage polemics is broadly defined as the practice of rhetorical persuasion or as the rhetorical presentation of an argument in dispute. The phenomenon of polemics is found throughout the whole corpus of biblical literature. In most instances the polemics is direct, but sometimes indirect, and occasionally it appears to be deliberately covert. This book is primarily concerned with exploring the phenomenon of covert polemics. Dealing first with considerations of method, definition and characterization, the study moves on to the analysis of a number of narrative texts and the uncovering of their covert polemical content. Polemics of this type is a feature of biblical writing on a range of central issues, and can be instructively isolated in texts relating to cultic locations (Beth El, Jerusalem), questions of leadership (the houses of Saul and David), community boundaries (the Samaritans) and other problems of legitimation.

Against the Gods

Against the Gods
Author: John D. Currid
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2013
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433531836

What is the relationship between the Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern mythology? Currid examines the evidence, arguing that the Old Testament is highly polemical as he stresses differentiation over continuity.

Scriptural Polemics

Scriptural Polemics
Author: Mun'im A. Sirry
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2014
Genre: Bible
ISBN: 9780199359387

This study is a sustained critical engagement with polemical passages in the Qur'an and with interpretation of those passages by Muslim reformers of the twentieth century. The study focuses on five core issues: scriptural supersessionism; exclusive salvation; charges regarding the Jewish and Christian falsification of revelation; criticisms over divine sonship and the Trinity; and cautions or prohibitions regarding the taking of Jews and Christians as patrons, allies, or intimates.

Forgery and Counter-forgery

Forgery and Counter-forgery
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 641
Release: 2013-01-10
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0199928037

Forgery and Counter-forgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics is the first major contemporary work on forgery in early Christian literature. It examines the motivation and function behind Christian literary forgeries.

Trialogue

Trialogue
Author: Leonard Swidler
Publisher: Twenty-Third Publications
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2007
Genre: Christianity and other religions
ISBN: 9781585955879

Author Leonard Swidler himself is one of the American originators of the term trialogue (words among three persons), and here he raises it to a new level as he shares the podium with professors Reuven Firestone and Khalid Duran. These three professors, beginning with Firestone and Judaism, present their faith traditions and the challenges as well as possibilities for genuine trialogue. Each offers invaluable insights into the ways they share Hebraic roots and Abrahamic traditions and how their beliefs and practices have evolved through the centuries up to and including the present. Throughout the text, readers are encouraged to pause for reflection and/or discussion of the key points presented by the authors. This is a fascinating, enlightening, and highly recommended introduction to these three great faith traditions and how they evolved and are practiced today.

Reading the Bible in Islamic Context

Reading the Bible in Islamic Context
Author: Daniel J Crowther
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2017-11-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351605046

In the current political and social climate, there is increasing demand for a deeper understanding of Muslims, the Qur’an and Islam, as well as a keen demand among Muslim scholars to explore ways of engaging with Christians theologically, culturally, and socially. This book explores the ways in which an awareness of Islam and the Qur’an can change the way in which the Bible is read. The contributors come from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds, bring various levels of commitment to the Qur’an and the Bible as Scripture, and often have significantly different perspectives. The first section of the book contains chapters that compare the report of an event in the Bible with a report of the same event in the Qur’an. The second section addresses Muslim readings of the Bible and biblical tradition and looks at how Muslims might regard the Bible - Can they recognise it as Scripture? If so, what does that mean, and how does it relate to the Qur’an as Scripture? Similarly, how might Christian readers regard the Qur’an? The final section explores different analogies for understanding the Bible in relation to the Qur’an. The book concludes with a reflection upon the particular challenges that await Muslim scholars who seek to respond to Jewish and Christian understandings of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. A pioneering venture into intertextual reading, this book has important implications for relationships between Christians and Muslims. It will be of significant value to scholars of both Biblical and Qur’anic Studies, as well as any Muslim seeking to deepen their understanding of the Bible, and any Christian looking to transform the way in which they read the Bible.

Exegesis as Polemical Discourse

Exegesis as Polemical Discourse
Author: Theodore Pulcini
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 224
Release: 1998
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780788503955

In the history of relations among Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, the encounter in medieval Spain stands out as particularly noteworthy for its intensity and creativity. This interaction generated many polemical texts presenting the competing claims of the three monotheistic faiths. One such text is the Treatise on Obvious Contradictions and Evident Lies, by the Muslim scholar Abu Mudhammad 'Ali ibn Hazm al-Andalusi (d. 1064). This study makes the content of the Treatise available to English speakers for the first time, providing a detailed description of the work and an assessment of its significance. Theodore Pulcini argues that Ibn Hazm's polemical biblical exegesis is best understood within the centuries-old tradition in which Muslim authors evaluated the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Analyzing the historical and sociocultural dynamics of eleventh-century Islamic Spain, he contends that Ibn Hazm wrote the Treatise for the purpose of effecting societal reform.

Qur’an Commentary and the Biblical Turn

Qur’an Commentary and the Biblical Turn
Author: Samuel Ross
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2024-02-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3110669641

The Qur’an and the Bible have been called "intertwined scriptures" due to the Qur’an’s frequent invocation of biblical narratives and figures. But what is the history of Muslims’ exegetical engagement with the biblical text? Through a comprehensive survey of more than 170 Qur’an commentaries, Samuel Ross traces the longitudinal history of the Bible in tafsῑr. Offering detailed case studies and rich in historical context, Ross’s narrative culminates in the remarkable late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century biblical turn. Global in scope, this development has not only generated new Muslim views of the Bible but even new interpretations of the Qur’an itself. This monograph has been awarded the annual BRAIS – De Gruyter Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World.