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Afayori2016.Pdf This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. CHRISTOLOGY IN CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM DIALOGUE: THE HERMENEUTICS OF INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE FOR THE PROMOTION OF COMMON VALUES. By: Afayori Robert This thesis has been submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirement for a Postgraduate Masters in Philosophy (MPhil) Degree in Systematic Theology. THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH School of Divinity Edinburgh, Scotland 2015 DEDICATION In Memory of the Rev. Dr. Michael Purcell i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to use this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all who have in many and diverse ways contributed to helping me complete this work. I particularly want to thank Aid to Church in Need (ACN) for helping me pay part of my tuition fees. I will like to thank the School of Divinity scholarship committee for paying the substantial part of these fees and the Ian Baillie Grant through Mrs Sheila Baillie. Your immense support is deeply appreciated. I also wish to thank my supervisors: Dr Nicholas Adams and Prof. Brian Stanley who have provided me with continuous guidance and encouragement over the period. The work was begun by Dr. Michael Purcell (RIP) and completed by them. Thus, I am truly grateful to them for all the support received. I equally want to thank my Bishop; Most Rev. Alfred Agyenta who has been very supportive in this process and His Eminence, Keith Patrick Cardinal O’Brien. Here, I cannot possibly forget Canon John Creanor and the Parishioners of Our Lady Immaculate and St Margaret’s Parish, Duns and remotely, the parishioners of Selkirk. With them I lived and worked and studied, deriving support and encouragement to push on. Here, I am particularly grateful to Mrs. Patricia Scott for being a strong pillar to lean on. I also thank Eric Sykes for proofreading the thesis. Last but not least, I will like to thank my family for their prayers and moral support throughout this period, particularly Mrs Margaret Haddad and Mr Philip Afayori. May God richly bless you all. ii DECLARATION This thesis which is written by Robert Afayori is entitled; “Christology in Christian-Muslim Dialogue: The Hermeneutics of Interreligious Dialogue for the Promotion of Common Values”. It is submitted to the College of Humanities and Social Science, University of Edinburgh for a Masters in Philosophy degree in Systematic Theology. I therefore hereby declare that the thesis has been composed by me, that the work is my own except where clearly indicated, that the work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Information obtained from others is acknowledged in text and/or in the references. Name: Robert Afayori ________________________ Date:__________ iii THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH ABSTRACT OF THESIS See the Postgraduate Assessment Regulations for Research Degrees available at: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/academic-services/policies- regulations/regulations/assessment Name of Candidate: ROBERT AFAYORI UUN S1000919 University email: [email protected] Address : St Margaret’s Parish 48 Bridgend Duns Post Code: TD11 3EX Degree Sought: MPhil – Systematic Theology No. of words in the 98,600 main text of Thesis: Title of Thesis: Christology in Christians-Muslim Dialogue: The Hermeneutics of Interreligious Dialogue for the Promotion of Common Calues Insert the abstract text here - the space will expand as you type Christology is one of the most contentious subjects in Christian-Muslim relations. While Jesus Christ is construed as the “Son of God and saviour of the world” in Christianity, Islam conceives him as a “prophet of Allah” without divine connotations. Whereas in the past Christianity viewed this Islamic image of Jesus as a “new form of heresy” which had to be sanitized by force, if need; Islam also rejected the Christology of the Christian Church as pure distortions and falsifications. In this context of “claim and counterclaim” is the identity and mission of Jesus Christ situated – common to both religions, yet divided between them. While some scholars think that Christian-Muslim dialogue on Christology is impossible because of the stark differences in their christological understandings, we argue that such dialogues are possible if they are organized against the backdrop of dialogue as an exercise in learning from and about the other. Dialogue as an exercise in learning negotiates the contentions that characterize the “claim and counterclaim” paradigms of Christian-Muslim relations by its emphasis on learning from and about what the other. We shall propose comparative theology and Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of the self as the theological approach and the hermeneutic framework which support this form of dialogue. Comparative theology is viewed here as the critical correlation of the theological themes, concepts and practices between two religious traditions with the view to deeply learn and iv understand them, and hence be enriched by this learning. It is a conversation with another tradition which eventually becomes a conversation with the home tradition. Hermeneutically, whereas we shall argue that these forms of conservation are best guided by Ricoeur’s concept of attestation, Ricoeur’s notion of narrative identity also shows how in narrating the story of our lives, we find that others contribute to our narratives and we theirs. We shall argue that these narrative intertwinements serve as the basis for the possibility of fruitful engagements between the self and the other in contexts where they are considered estranged. From this hermeneutic perspective, we shall demonstrate on the one hand, how Islam and Christianity possess symmetrical and dissymmetrical narrative discourses on Christology, and on the other, how these could serve as contexts for learning. Whereas this learning may lead to the profound knowledge of oneself, the authentic knowledge of the other and mutual interrelationships between Christians and Muslims, dialogue as an exercise in learning could also lead Christians and Muslims to the discovery and promotion of common values such as prayer and submission to God, peace and peaceful co-existence and solidarity with the poor and the marginalized. These values are considered common to them because they are inspired by the message, the life and mission of Jesus Christ the “prophet of Allah” and the “Son of God.” Key Words: Christology, Dialogue, Comparative Theology and Hermeneutics. v Lay Summary of Thesis The lay summary is a brief summary intended to facilitate knowledge transfer and enhance accessibility, therefore the language used should be non-technical and suitable for a general audience. (See the Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study, General Postgraduate Degree Programme Regulations. These regulations are available via: http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/.) Name of student: ROBERT AFAYORI UUN S 1000191 University email: [email protected] Degree sought: MPhil – Systematic Theology No. of words in the 98,600 main text of thesis: Title of thesis: Christology in Christian-Muslim Dialogue: The Hermeneutics of Interreligious Dialogue for the Promotion of Common Values. Insert the lay summary text here - the space will expand as you type. Your lay summary must be contained on this side. Christology remains one of the most contentious subjects in Christian-Muslim relations. While Jesus Christ is construed as the “Son of God and saviour of the world” in Christianity, Islam conceives him as a “prophet of Allah” without divine connotations. Whereas in the past Christianity conceived the Islamic image of Jesus as a “new form of heresy” which needed to be sanitized by force, if need; Islam ultimately rejected the Christology of the Christian Church as full of distortions and falsifications. Within this context of “claim and counterclaim” is the identity and mission of Jesus Christ situated – common to both religions, yet divided between them. In the light of the stark differences in their christological understandings, some scholars have argued that dialogue between them is impossible. In this thesis, we argue that Christian-Muslim dialogue on Christology if it is constructed against the backdrop of dialogue as an exercise in learning from and about the other. Dialogue as an exercise in learning negotiates the contentions that characterize the “claim and counterclaim” paradigms of Christian-Muslim relations by its emphasis on learning from what the other has to say about Jesus Christ from their tradition-specific contexts. We shall argue for comparative theology and Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of the self as the theological approach and hermeneutic framework which support this form of dialogue. Here, comparative theology is viewed as the critical correlation of the theological themes, concepts and practices between two religious traditions with the view to deeply learn and understand them, and hence be enriched by this learning. It is a conversation with another tradition which eventually becomes a conversation with the home tradition. Through these conversations, we shall demonstrate how on the one hand, Islam and Christianity possess symmetrical and dissymmetrical narrative discourses on Christology, and on the other, how these could serve as contexts for learning. It is this learning which would leads to the discovery and promotion of common values such as prayer and submission to God, peace and peaceful co- existence and solidarity with the poor and the marginalized.
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