MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUES
Under the leadership of Dr. Terence Nichols and Dr. Adil Ozdemir, scholars were invited to write short commentaries on specific themes related to Muslim and Christian theology and spirituality. The fruits of this labor are presented below.
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Almsgiving, Property, Wealth
J. Gaffney
Christianity has, from its earliest beginnings, regarded voluntary giving to relieve poverty as a central religious and moral obligation. It has understood the holding of private property to be a limited right, contingent on providing for the needs of others.
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Angels and Satan
Terence Nichols and Muhammad H. Muhawesh
Angels in Christian belief are messengers and agents of God. The Hebrew word malak (messenger) is translated by the Greek term angelos (messenger), and by the English ‘angel.’ In Christian belief, however, there are good and evil angels; Satan is considered a fallen angel, who is associated with other evil angels by Jesus (Matthew 25:41). This article will discuss first, good angels in Christianity, then Satan and the evil angels.
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Authority in the Community of Believers
Terence Nichols and Adil Ozdemir
The question of who holds authority in the community of believers, or the church, is the most divisive issue in Christianity. “Authority” in this sense includes both the authority to discipline members of the church (including authority to excommunicate) and authority over what is taught (doctrine) in the church.
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Christian Diversity
Terence Nichols
There is an enormous range of diversity with Christianity. This leads to an obvious question: What do all Christians have in common? Baptism? A belief that the teaching of Jesus are important? Nothing at all? The answer could be any of these.
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Community of Believers
Adil Ozdemir and Liyakat Takim
The devout followers of Jesus during his lifetime are referred to in the Gospels by two different terms denoting two different categories, namely "apostles" and "disciples." The Greek word apostolos means one who has been sent forth; an equivalent English word derived from Latin would be "emissary."
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Creation, Free Will, Adam, Sin
Terence Nichols and Hamid Mavani
"Creation" in Christian theology refers both to the creation of the universe, and to the creation of humanity. Both are thought to be created by God. The creation account in Genesis 1-2 states that it was God who created the "heavens and the earth" i.e. the universe.
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Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell
Terence Nichols and Liyakat Takim
In Christian tradition, death is the end of individual life on earth, but not the end of personal consciousness, which survives the death of the body as the soul. Death, then, is the separation of the soul from the earthly body. However, the whole Christian tradition hopes for reunification of the soul with a resurrected and transformed body at the end of history, so the soul will, once again, be embodied in the resurrection.
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Diversity in Islam
Adil Ozdemir and Liyakat Takim
In Islam, the unity of God is central. The Islamic revelation given to Muhammad affirmed the earlier Abrahamic religions of one God (including Judaism and Christianity), yet also went beyond them to unify the divine truth of God and assert a more complete monotheism.
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Fasting
Peter Feldmeier and Adil Ozdemir
Fasting from eating and abstinence from certain foods has a long and venerable history in Judaism and Christianity. While the Mosaic Law established only the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) as a fast day (Lv 16:29-34; Nm 29:7), fasting is widely witnessed in the Old Testament as providing a certain spiritual force to one’s prayers or intensity to one’s interior life.
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God
Adil Ozdemir and Terence Nichols
Muslims believe in God. God is the ultimate Truth (al Haqq) and the supreme reality. God is the cause of all that exists and the ultimate meaning and purpose of all creation. God’s Unity (tawhid) is the essence of Islamic revelation given to Muhammad (“Say: God is one. He needs none. He neither begets nor is begotten. None is equal to Him” - 112/1-4).