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Document Details :

Title: The Christology of the Letter from the People of Cyprus
Author(s): TREIGER, Alexander
Journal: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies
Volume: 65    Issue: 1-2   Date: 2013   
Pages: 21-48
DOI: 10.2143/JECS.65.1.3011232

Abstract :
The present article explores the Christology of the Letter from the People of Cyprus – a celebrated document of Christian-Muslim polemic, written in Arabic in the fourteenth century. It shows that, contrary to the widespread assumption that the anonymous author of the Letter was a 'Melkite' (Chalcedonian) Christian, he was in fact a member of the Church of the East. Moreover, the author skilfully deploys the Qur'ān for the purpose of proving the superiority of his own, 'Nestorian', Christology over its rivals. The Letter can therefore be read as an implicit Christological polemic against fellow-Christians, conducted on the basis of the Qur'ān. The fact that the author’s formulations bear a striking resemblance to the Christology of the 'Nestorian' theologian 'Abdīshō' of Nisibis, his older contemporary, may indicate that he belonged to the circle of 'Abdīshō''s disciples.