Islamic And Christian Cultures

All of the 14 essays gathered here were originally presented as lectures at the 1998 eponymous conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. The contributors are scholars in cultural studies, Islamic studies, theology, cultural anthropology, and philosophy, among others. Their affiliations are not given. The essays are heartfelt on the subject of religious conflict, but uneven in quality. The topics are grouped into three parts: Islamic and Christian traditions, dialogue between cultures, and social identity and political ideals. Published by the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, in Washington D.C. c. Book News Inc.

Presents an overview of the beliefs, customs, and culture of Islam, covering the history of the religion, its sacred texts, important holidays, holy places, art, architecture, literature, and contemporary philosophy.

Since its inception, Islam and its civilization have been in continuous relationships with other religions. The essays collected here examine the many texts that have come down to us about these cultures and their religions, from Muslim theologians and jurists.

Cultural interaction in the Middle East since the Rise of Islam - such was the title of a combined research project of the Universities of Leiden and Groningen aimed at describing the various ways in which the Christian communities of the Middle East expressed their distinct cultural identity in Muslim societies. As part of the project the symposium "Redefining Christian Identity, Christian cultural strategies since the rise of Islam" took place at Groningen University on April 7-10, 1999. This book contains the proceedings of this conference. From the articles it becomes clear that a number of distinct "cultural strategies" can be identified, some of which were used very frequently, others only in certain groups or at particular periods of time. The three main strategies that are represented in the papers of this volume are: (i) reinterpretation of the pre-Islamic Christian heritage; (ii) inculturation of elements from the new Islamic context; (iii) isolation from the Islamic context. Viewed in time, it is clear that the reinterpretation of older Christian heritage was particularly important in the first two centuries after the rise of Islam, the seventh and eighth centuries, that inculturation was the dominant theme of the Abbasid period, in the ninth to twelfth centuries, whereas from the Mongol period onwards, from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries, isolation more and more often occurs, although inculturation of elements from the predominantly Muslim environment never came to a complete standstill.

Images are the cornerstone of culture. At a single glance, a society's understanding of itself is crystallized in them; they are the agents of a common perspective, as well as witnesses to it. At the same time, there is a whiff of ideology and distorted perception about them. In between the two poles of the crucifi x and the gold calf, there is a field of tension where Christianity and Islam dwell. The histories of both religions fluctuate between the extremes of idolatry and iconoclasm. Sometimes they lean in one direction, and sometimes in the other, while at other times they seek a conciliatory balance. Outside of theological debates, this opens up an area full of aesthetic distinctions and approaches. This exhibition catalogue offers a richly illustrated, thoroughly informative look at these unusual histories of art and their currency in the world today.

Hailed as "the doyen of Middle Eastern studies" in The New York Times Book Review, Bernard Lewis stands at the height of his field. "To read Mr. Lewis," wrote Fouad Ajami in The Wall Street Journal, "is to be taken through a treacherous terrain by the coolest and most reassuring of guides. You are in the hands of the Islamic world's foremost living historian." Now this sure-handed guide takes us through treacherous terrain indeed--the events of 1492, a year laden with epic events and riven by political debate. With elegance and erudition, Lewis explores that climactic year as a clash of civilizations--a clash not only of the New World and the Old, but also of Christendom and Islam, of Europe and the rest. In the same year that Columbus set sail across the Atlantic, he reminds us, the Spanish monarchy captured Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the peninsula, and also expelled the Jews. Lewis uses these three epochal events to explore the nature of the European-Islamic conflict, placing the voyages of discovery in a striking new context. He traces Christian Europe's path from being a primitive backwater on the edges of the vast, cosmopolitan Caliphate, through the heightening rivalry of the two religions, to the triumph of the West over Islam, examining the factors behind their changing fortunes and cultural qualities. Balanced and insightful, this far-reaching discussion of the encounters between Islam, the West, and the globe provides a new understanding of the distant events that gave shape to the modern world.