Islam and Christianity

Dear CIOT Participants,

For our final session before summer break, we’re discussing a topic that ranks among the most relevant to our lives now and in the future: Islam and Christianity. It has become impossible to discuss these religions simply in terms of their unique teachings and historical developments, as is obvious to anyone who has not lived in a cave for the last six years, and to those familiar, at the very least, with twentieth-century world history.

I look forward to our discussion on Monday, and hope that the selection of items below will stimulate your thinking on these issues. As always, I should thank Sister Pat for her suggestions. Furthermore, thanks to Rick Clawson, who sent the pieces from Imprimis.

John

Islam as a Religion: History, Theology, and Development

I count myself among those who know next to nothing about the history and teachings of Islam. For those in the same boat, here are two encyclopedia articles that deal with the topic from an admittedly Western, but purportedly objective, perspective. The first (from New Catholic Encyclopedia) is a very brief introduction, whereas the second (from Encyclopedia of Religion) offers considerably more depth.

The February 2007 Issue of U.S. Catholic: The Christian-Muslim Dialogue

This leading Catholic publication dedicated a special issue in February to the topic. This link will take you to three insightful articles/interviews: “Stay the Course,” “We Go Way Back,” and “Won’t You be My Neighbor?”

Speeches at Hillsdale College by Some Renowned Authorities: Imprimis

Hillsday College (Michigan) is well known for hosting authorities from around the world to speak on a wide variety of relevant current-events topics, for which reason many of the recent talks have addressed issues of Islam. The three entries provided here are summary presentations of speeches on “Views on Islam,” “Radical Islam in America,” and “Freedom and Justice in Islam.”

Benedict XVI and ‘Reciprocity’: Challenges for the Future

Benedict XVI’s speech to a group of academics in Germany caused a stir around the world, and was followed by repeated clarifications by the Vatican and a papal trip to the Middle East, all designed to help repair damage done and restart the dialogue begun by John Paul II. John Allen Jr., The National Catholic Reporter’s well known Vatican correspondent, has assessed the issues insightfully—and in only a few pages at that—in The National Catholic Reporter (13 October 2006).

Western Consumer Values and Traditional Islamic Society: Some Problems

James L. Fredericks wrote an excellent review of four recent publications on Islam that focuses especially on the issue of “McWorld” (i.e., the hegemony of American pop culture) vs. Islamic values and spirituality. Part of understanding the disdain or suspicion that many traditional Muslims feel toward the West results in part from the threat of “godless” Western material culture. We need to understand this when assessing Christian-Muslim relations. (from The National Catholic Reporter (26 March 2004).