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Document Details : Title: The Prophet Muhammad in Enlightenment and Christian Perspective Author(s): SLOMP, Jan Journal: Studies in Interreligious Dialogue Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Date: 2008 Pages: 63-79 DOI: 10.2143/SID.18.1.2031610 Abstract : During the last three centuries Christian and non-Christians in Europe and elsewhere have become better informed about Islam through translations of Islamic sources. The first to benefit from these translations were the writers of the Enlightenment e.g. Goethe in Germany, Voltaire in France and Carlyle in England. In 1840 Carlyle declared: «(Muhammad) is by no means the truest of Prophets, but I do esteem him a true one.» It took some time for Christian theologians to take Muhammad seriously as a prophet in the biblical tradition. Christians find it difficult to accept that the Qur’ân reduced Jesus to a predecessor of Muhammad and consequently fail to appreciate the convergences of the biblical and Qur’ânic messages. In recent years Christian scholars and ministers from different denominations have carefully reevaluated the position of Muhammad; foremost among them are the Anglican bishop Kenneth Cragg and the Roman Catholic scholar Hans Küng. |
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