The Qur An In The Light Of Christ

If a Muslim came to a Christian, and asked him to explain his belief in Jesus Christ how would a Christian respond? If an Imam asked a Christian Pastor to bring evidence of the Gospels authority would a Pastor welcome the opportunity? And if any Muslim would ask a Christian to judge between their respective beliefs would a Christian know how to do it? These questions presupposed an occurrence that most Christians will never encounter because most Muslims do not ask. Yet, the Quran has been asking these exact same questions of us for the last thirteen hundred years! Should we ignore the Quran for another Millennia? It is time to answer. On a visit to my local mosque, I asked the Imam if I could pray with him. Before I started to pray the Imam quickly interjected. You are not going to pray to Mary, are you? That there are those who pray to Mary (and worship her) is maybe understandable but it is not Biblical! Christians are told in the Quran to desist using the term Trinity. But the word Trinity is not found in the Bible. I believe, as Abraham believed, that there is a God that can be seen and a God that we do not see BUT they are one and the same! Allah is not a name, but the Arabic word for God, even Christians in the Middle East use the word! Al-Maidah 47 Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it. Isaiah 43:10 You are my witness, declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Here we hopefully put right many misconceptions and bring what God has revealed.

An introduction to the major themes and passages of the holy book of Islam, this book invites readers of any religion -- or none -- to meditate on verses of the Quran as support for spiritual practices and growth. It guides the reader through the rich tapestry of the Quran, weaving through a number of themes, including the mystery of God, surrender to the divine will, and provisions for the spiritual journey. Quranic verses are supplemented by sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, the words of Rumi and other Sufi poets, and relevant quotations and insights from Jewish and Christian sources. The book also offers practical suggestions for expanding and strengthening one's spiritual sinews.

This book challenges the dominant scholarly notion that the Qur’ān must be interpreted through the medieval commentaries shaped by the biography of the prophet Muhammad, arguing instead that the text is best read in light of Christian and Jewish scripture. The Qur’ān, in its use of allusions, depends on the Biblical knowledge of its audience. However, medieval Muslim commentators, working in a context of religious rivalry, developed stories that separate Qur’ān and Bible, which this book brings back together. In a series of studies involving the devil, Adam, Abraham, Jonah, Mary, and Muhammad among others, Reynolds shows how modern translators of the Qur’ān have followed medieval Muslim commentary and demonstrates how an appreciation of the Qur’ān’s Biblical subtext uncovers the richness of the Qur’ān’s discourse. Presenting unique interpretations of 13 different sections of the Qur’ān based on studies of earlier Jewish and Christian literature, the author substantially re-evaluates Muslim exegetical literature. Thus The Qur’ān and Its Biblical Subtext, a work based on a profound regard for the Qur’ān’s literary structure and rhetorical strategy, poses a substantial challenge to the standard scholarship of Qur’ānic Studies. With an approach that bridges early Christian history and Islamic origins, the book will appeal not only to students of the Qur’an but of the Bible, religious studies and Islamic history.

Explores how Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other biblical characters are presented in the Qur'an to help Christians better understand Islam.

A study of Islam. Using the Koran and other primary sources, Tilman Nagel delves deeply into Islamic history as he traces the development of Islamic doctrine. He explores the centrality of the Koran in Islamic theology and examines its canonization process and the central themes of its message. The work goes on to explore the relationships between such Islamic sects as the Sunni and the Shiite, and the two types of Islamic theological literature: the hadith, an oral report or story, and the ""kalam"", a genre that ""develops theological and metaphysical statements"". The author also examines Islamic monotheism; the development of Islamic philosophy in the Middle Ages and its relation to theology; and the relationship between Islam and Gnosticism. Although the focus of the book is on the 9th to the 12th centuries, Nagel demonstrates the ways in which Muslims have carried these beliefs into the modern world.

Offering an analysis of Christian-Muslim dialogue across four centuries, this book highlights those voices of ecumenical tone which have more often used the Qur’an for drawing the two faiths together rather than pushing them apart, and amplifies the voice of the Qur’an itself. Finding that there is tremendous ecumenical ground between Christianity and Islam in the voices of their own scholars, this book ranges from a period of declining ecumenism during the first three centuries of Islam, to a period of resurging ecumenism during the most recent century until now. Among the ecumenical voices in the Christian-Muslim dialogue, this book points out that the Qur’an itself is possibly the strongest of those voices. These findings are cause for, and evidence of, hope for the Christian–Muslim relationship: that although agreement may never be reached, dialogue has led at times to very real mutual understanding and appreciation of the religious other. Providing a tool for those pursuing understanding and mutual appreciation between the Islamic and Christian faiths, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of Islam, the Qur’an and the history of Christian-Muslim relations.