Cover image for A Muslim theologian in a sectarian milieu : ʻAbd al-Jabbār and the critique of Christian origins
Title:
A Muslim theologian in a sectarian milieu : ʻAbd al-Jabbār and the critique of Christian origins
Personal Author:
Series Title:
Islamic history and civilization. Studies and texts ; v.56
Series:
Islamic history and civilization. Studies and texts ; v.56
Publication Information:
Leiden, NE. ; Boston : Brill, 2004.
Physical Description:
xv, 297 p. ; 25 cm.
ISBN:
9789004139619

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30000010297438 BP195.M6 R49 2004 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

In 385 AH/AD 995 the Qāḍī 'Abd al-Jabbār, well known for his Mu'tazilī theological writings, wrote the Confirmation of the Proofs of Prophecy , a work that includes a creative polemic against Christianity. 'Abd al-Jabbār reinterprets the Bible, Church history (especially the lives of Paul and Constantine) and Christian practice to argue that Christians changed the Islamic religion of Jesus.
The present work begins with an examination of the controversial theory that this polemic was borrowed from an unkown Judaeo-Christian group. The author argues that 'Abd al-Jabbār's polemic is better understood as a response to his particular milieu and the on-going inter-religious debates of the medieval Islamic world. By examining the life and thought of 'Abd al-Jabbār, along with the Islamic, Christian and Jewish antecedants to his polemic, the author uncovers the intimate relationship between sectarian controversy and the development of an Islamic doctrine on Christianity.


Author Notes

Gabriel Said Reynolds , Ph.D. (2003) in Islamic Studies, Yale University, is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at Notre Dame University. He works on Islamic origins and Christianity and has published Jesus, the Qâ'im, and the End of the World and Saint Thomas' Islamic Challenges: Reflections on the Antiochene Questions .