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Document Details : Title: 'If His Crucifixion was Figurative as you Claim, then so be it' Subtitle: How Two Christian Mutakallims from the Abbasid Era Used An-Nisā 4:157-158 in Dialogues with Muslims Author(s): AWAD, Najib George Journal: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies Volume: 68 Issue: 1-2 Date: 2016 Pages: 53-80 DOI: 10.2143/JECS.68.1.3164937 Abstract : This is a study of two examples from the Abbasid age on a debate on the crucifixion of Jesus in the early dialogues between Christians and Muslims. It focuses specifically on how Timothy I and Theodore Abū Qurrah understand the Christian theology of the cross in the light of the Qurān’s denial of the crucifixion of the Messiah in surat an-Nisā 4:157-158. Many others have reflected on how early Christian mutakallims tried to deal with the Qurān’s denial of the crucifixion. Yet the interpretation of surah 4:157-158 in the text of al-Muĝādalah in al-Ma'mūn’s court and in Timothy’s conversation with the caliph al-Mahdī are two very interesting demonstrations of some of the hermeneutical and (theo)logical strategies Christians opted for to make the Christian belief in the crucifixion understandable for Muslims. |
