DOCSLIB.ORG

Islam and the Oriental Churches

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Islam and the Oriental Churches Their Historical Relations Students' Lectures on Missions Princeton Theological Seminary 1902-3 BY WILLIAM AMBROSE SHEDD, M. A., Missionary of the American Presbyterian Church to Persia NEW YORK YOUNG PEOPLE'S MISSIONARY MOVEMENT 1908 tics Copyright, 1904, by THE TRUSTEES OF THB PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK Dedicated to THE MEMORY OF BENJAMIN WOODS LABAREE WHO MET A CRUEL DEATH, SALMAS, PERSIA MARCH NINTH, MCMIV A TRUE FRIEND AND A DEVOTED MISSIONARY 2IIENA6MEN02 Preface The following chapters were prepared in response to an invitation from the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary to fill the Student Lectureship on Missions. They were delivered in substantially the form published here. After delivery at Princeton they were given also at Auburn Theological Seminary, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago Theological Seminary, and the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Kentucky. The kind reception accorded them in these places has encouraged me to present them to the general public. I am greatly indebted to the following libraries for the generous loan of books : Case Memorial Library of Hartford Theological Seminary, the Library of Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Foreign Missions Library in New York. The original sources consulted have been Syriac. I am aware that an exhaustive treat ment of the subject must be based on the 230707 iv PREFACE accounts of the Muhammadan as well as the Christian writers. So far, however, as the evi dence of Christian writers mitigates the severity of our judgment of Muhammadan rulers, it can surely be trusted ; and the fact is that the princi pal Syriac writers show few signs of bitterness toward the Arabs. Moreover, the Arabic sources have been used by writers more gen erally than the Syriac sources. It is, perhaps, well to warn the reader that the treatment of the subject is far from exhaustive geographically or chronologically. In particular the histories of the Christians of Egypt and of those under Osmanli rule illustrate the havoc wrought by the principle of limited toleration. A word as to that vexed subject, oriental orthography. I have tried to be consistent and scientific, but I have not attempted to represent in any way the Semitic guttural 'ain, which has no equivalent in our Western tongues. If to some readers the spelling Muhammad appear pedantic, it must be urged that neither of the alternatives Mahomet or Mohammed is uni versally adopted and that both are incorrect. William Ambrose Shedd. CONTENTS Introduction — Islam and the Oriental Churches Importance of the Muhammadan missionary problem. Neglect and misunderstandings of the historical relations of Christianity and Islam. Im portance of studying them. Scope of the present course of lectures I FIRST LECTURE The Influence of Christianity on Muhammad and on the Beginnings of Islam The personality of Muhammad in Islam. Influ ences that prepared for Islam. Jewish and Christian influences ; character, extent, evidence in Arab poetry. Christian influences that affected Muhammad him self. Evidence of personal contact with Christianity, references to Christianity in the Quran, doctrinal in fluences, relation to Christianity as claimed by Mu hammad. Bearing of these facts on the estimate of Muhammad's character. Relation to the Muham madan controversy. Can Islam lead to Christianity ? The failure and fault of the church II SECOND LECTURE The Relation of Christianity to the Development of Muslim Theology Conditions under which Muslim and Christian theology developed. Oriental Christianity. Its division, extent, character, theological differences and agreements. Interchange of religious ideas between Muslims and others. Christian influence in the doc trine of the " foundations " of Islam. The eternal Quran, legendary history in the traditions, the doc- trine of agreement. CONTENTS Christian influence on the Muslim doctrine of God and the apostolate. Chris tian influence on the sects of Islam. Slightness of Muslim influence on Christianity, and limits of Chris tian influence on Islam. Can Islam meet modern conditions ? THIRD LECTURE 45 The Relation of Muhammadan Government to the Oriental Churches General outline and periods of the history A. D., 600-1500. Toleration, in the strict sense, the char acteristic of the policy of Islam to other religions. The origin of the policy. Policies of the eastern Empire and of Persia. Practice of Muhammad. The history of the policy. The constitution of Umar, Arabian Christianity, the attitude of the Christians to the Arab conquest, maintenance of the status quo, Christianity under the Khalifas, conditions under the Mongols, fanatical reaction. The effect on the churches. Spiritual effect of limiting activity, effect of governmental influence in ecclesiastical affairs. Dangers of toleration. Compromise a characteristic of Islam 91 \ FOURTH LECTURE The Expansion of the Faiths Difficulty of the subject. Some conditions of the expansion. Character of the Muslim propaganda. Divisions of the subject. Converts to Christianity from Islam and Christian apologies. The Syriac- speaking peoples. Failure of Islam to gain them, proselytes from them to Islam. The Iranians. Ex tent of Christianity among them, extension after rise of Islam, means of extension, Nestorian monasticism and monastic missions, failure of Christianity to win the Iranians, Muslim propaganda and success. The Turks and Mongols. Christianity in China, Uighurs, Keraits, means of extension, character of the Chris tians, failure of Christianity, propaganda and success of Islam. The relation of Muslim missions to polit ical movements. Estimate of the Nestorian missions. Religious and national movements 139 CONTENTS vii I FIFTH LECTURE The Downfall of Christianity in the Common Ruin I Tragic character of the course of the history and the relation of the Christians to it. Geographical dis tribution of the Christians and the fortunes of the centers of Christian population. Service of faith in the dark days 189 SIXTH LECTURE The Light of the Past on the Future Missionary Conflict Incentives from the failures of the past. Place of the oriental churches. The missionary character of the Syrian churches. Our duty to them. The Christianity that can conquer. Its methods, its theo logical character, its vital relation to Christ .... 205 APPENDIXES 227 Introduction Importance of the Muhammadan missionary problem. Neg lect and misunderstandings of the historical relations of Chris tianity and Islam. Importance of studying them. Scope of the present course of lectures. Islam and the Oriental Churches INTRODUCTION The problem of Islam is so vast and so com plex and, furthermore, is of such vital interest to all who desire the coming of the kingdom of Christ on earth, that no apology is required for making it the subject of a course of lectures on missions. To say that the most elaborate inves tigation ever made into the statistics of Islam resulted in the conclusion that the Muhamma- dans number two hundred and sixty millions, or over fifteen per cent, of the population of the globe, is dealing in figures too large to be defi nitely significant to the mind.1 The geographical distribution will be clearer if we remember that there are large bodies of Muhammadans in every country in Asia,■ — Siam, Japan, and Korea excepted, — that among the Malays there are thirty millions of this faith, and 1 Dr. H. Jansen, Verbreitung des /slams, Berlin, 1897. 3 4 ISLAM AND THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES that about three eighths of the inhabitants of Africa are followers of the Prophet of Arabia. As various as the races represented are the de grees of culture, from the savage just emerged from heathenism to the most refined philosoph ical pantheist, yet all profess reverence to the same book and the same name. To the follower of Christ and especially to the student of Christian history Islam possesses a melancholy interest peculiar to it amortg the religions of the world. It alone can claim to have met and vanquished Christianity. Islam arose in a region accessible to Christianity, for Mecca is only eight hundred miles from Jeru salem over a road traveled by Muhammad in his youth. It arose at a time when Christianity should have evangelized Arabia, for in the six centuries by which the gospel of Christ preceded the creed of Muhammad, Christianity had spread to the borders of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans; had revolutionized the greatest empire known to ancient history, and had created a vast literature and a new learning. Why did it lose in Asia? What were the causes of defeat? Why was it possible for Muhammad to arise in that age of the world? Why did his religion INTRODUCTION 5 take root and flourish in lands sacred in Chris tian history? To ask and seek an answer to these and other such questions is the duty of the apologist, who defends the faith. The mission ary should seek, in this dark and well-nigh for gotten past, light on the present battle in the world-wide field. Another reason that gives the study of this department of history a special claim is that it has been neglected or misunderstood. Church history has very little to say on the subject, and the statements in church histories and in mis sionary literature are often far wide of the truth. One error is to enroll the eastern church en masse in the list of martyrs, as in the following sentence from the latest English history of eastern Christianity : " For long years past the existence of the eastern church has been one continued martyrdom." ' Similarly, Neale says : " The empire of the Caesars was vanquished (by the Arabs), and limited, and contracted : the spiritual dominion of the eastern church stooped not to the victor. Many a noble victory was won for Christ: many a glorious athlete was sent to ' See Hoare's Eighteen Centuries of the Orthodox Greek Church. 6 ISLAM AND THE ORIENTAL CHUBCHES martyrdom.
Recommended publications
  • Hadith and Its Principles in the Early Days of Islam

    Hadith and Its Principles in the Early Days of Islam

    HADITH AND ITS PRINCIPLES IN THE EARLY DAYS OF ISLAM A CRITICAL STUDY OF A WESTERN APPROACH FATHIDDIN BEYANOUNI DEPARTMENT OF ARABIC AND ISLAMIC STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Glasgow 1994. © Fathiddin Beyanouni, 1994. ProQuest Number: 11007846 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11007846 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 M t&e name of &Jla&, Most ©racious, Most iKlercifuI “go take to&at tfje iHessenaer aikes you, an& refrain from to&at tie pro&tfuts you. &nO fear gJtati: for aft is strict in ftunis&ment”. ©Ut. It*. 7. CONTENTS Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................4 Abbreviations................................................................................................................ 5 Key to transliteration....................................................................6 A bstract............................................................................................................................7
  • Bogomils of Bulgaria and Bosnia

    Bogomils of Bulgaria and Bosnia

    BOGOMILS OF BULGARIA AND BOSNIA The Early Protestants of the East. AN ATTEMPT TO RESTORE SOME LOST LEAVES OF PROTESTANT HISTORY. BY L. P. BROCKETT, M. D. Author of: "The Cross and the Crescent," "History of Religious Denominations," etc. PHILADELPHIA AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 1420 CHESTNUT STREET. Entered to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by the AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. CONTENTS _______ SECTION I. Introduction.—The Armenian and other Oriental churches. SECTION II. Dualism and the phantastic theory of our Lord's advent in the Oriental churches —The doctrines they rejected.—They held to baptism. SECTION III. Gradual decline of the dualistic doctrine —The holy and exemplary lives of the Paulicians. SECTION IV. The cruelty and bloodthirstiness of the Empress Theodora —The free state and city of Tephrice. SECTION V. The Sclavonic development of the Catharist or Paulician churches.—Bulgaria, Bosnia, and Servia its principal seats —Euchites, Massalians, and Bogomils SECTION VI. The Bulgarian Empire and its Bogomil czars. SECTION VII. A Bogomil congregation and its worship —Mostar, on the Narenta. SECTION VIII. The Bogomilian doctrines and practices —The Credentes and Perfecti —Were the Credentes baptized? SECTION IX. The orthodoxy of the Greek and Roman churches rather theological than practical —Fall of the Bulgarian Empire. SECTION X. The Emperor Alexius Comnenus and the Bogomil Elder Basil —The Alexiad of the Princess Anna Comnena. SECTION XI. The martyrdom of Basil —The Bogomil churches reinforced by the Armenian Paulicians under the Emperor John Zimisces. SECTION XII. The purity of life of the Bogomils —Their doctrines and practices —Their asceticism.
  • Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq

    Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq

    OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES General Editors Gillian Clark Andrew Louth THE OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES series includes scholarly volumes on the thought and history of the early Christian centuries. Covering a wide range of Greek, Latin, and Oriental sources, the books are of interest to theologians, ancient historians, and specialists in the classical and Jewish worlds. Titles in the series include: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Transformation of Divine Simplicity Andrew Radde-Gallwitz (2009) The Asceticism of Isaac of Nineveh Patrik Hagman (2010) Palladius of Helenopolis The Origenist Advocate Demetrios S. Katos (2011) Origen and Scripture The Contours of the Exegetical Life Peter Martens (2012) Activity and Participation in Late Antique and Early Christian Thought Torstein Theodor Tollefsen (2012) Irenaeus of Lyons and the Theology of the Holy Spirit Anthony Briggman (2012) Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite “No Longer I” Charles M. Stang (2012) Memory in Augustine’s Theological Anthropology Paige E. Hochschild (2012) Orosius and the Rhetoric of History Peter Van Nuffelen (2012) Drama of the Divine Economy Creator and Creation in Early Christian Theology and Piety Paul M. Blowers (2012) Embodiment and Virtue in Gregory of Nyssa Hans Boersma (2013) The Chronicle of Seert Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq PHILIP WOOD 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries # Philip Wood 2013 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2013 Impression: 1 All rights reserved.
  • Coming to Terms: Fundamentalists Or Islamists? by Martin Kramer Middle East Quarterly Spring 2003, Pp

    Coming to Terms: Fundamentalists Or Islamists? by Martin Kramer Middle East Quarterly Spring 2003, Pp

    Coming to Terms: Fundamentalists or Islamists? by Martin Kramer Middle East Quarterly Spring 2003, pp. 65­77 http://www.meforum.org/541/coming­to­terms­fundamentalists­or­islamists No one who reads or writes about events in the Muslim world can avoid the question of how to label those Muslims who invoke Islam as the source of authority for all political and social action. Should they be labeled Islamic (or Muslim) fundamentalists? Or are they better described as Islamists? The issue has been the subject of a heated debate for two decades. For a while, both general and scholarly usage in America accepted fundamentalism. Islamism emerged in the late 1980s in French academe and then crossed into English, where it eventually displaced Islamic fundamentalism in specialized contexts. More recently, the term Islamism has gained even wider currency, and since September 11, 2001, it may even have established itself as the preferred American usage. Still newer terminology may lie over the horizon. Behind the battle over usage lies another struggle, over the nature of the phenomenon itself. In fact, the two contests, over English usage and analytical understanding, are inseparable. Nor are they free of associations left by past usages. Here follows a short history of changing usage—itself a history of changing Western perceptions of Muslim reality. The Debut of Islamism The term Islamism first appeared in French in the mid­eighteenth century. But it did not refer to the modern ideological use of Islam, which had not yet come into being. Rather, it was a synonym for the religion of the Muslims, which was then known in French as mahométisme, the religion professed and taught by the Prophet Muhammad.
  • Trinitarian/Christological Heresies Heresy Description Origin Official

    Trinitarian/Christological Heresies Heresy Description Origin Official

    Trinitarian/Christological Heresies Official Heresy Description Origin Other Condemnation Adoptionism Belief that Jesus Propounded Theodotus was Alternative was born as a by Theodotus of excommunicated names: Psilanthro mere (non-divine) Byzantium , a by Pope Victor and pism and Dynamic man, was leather merchant, Paul was Monarchianism. [9] supremely in Rome c.190, condemned by the Later criticized as virtuous and that later revived Synod of Antioch presupposing he was adopted by Paul of in 268 Nestorianism (see later as "Son of Samosata below) God" by the descent of the Spirit on him. Apollinarism Belief proposed Declared to be . that Jesus had by Apollinaris of a heresy in 381 by a human body Laodicea (died the First Council of and lower soul 390) Constantinople (the seat of the emotions) but a divine mind. Apollinaris further taught that the souls of men were propagated by other souls, as well as their bodies. Arianism Denial of the true The doctrine is Arius was first All forms denied divinity of Jesus associated pronounced that Jesus Christ Christ taking with Arius (ca. AD a heretic at is "consubstantial various specific 250––336) who the First Council of with the Father" forms, but all lived and taught Nicea , he was but proposed agreed that Jesus in Alexandria, later exonerated either "similar in Christ was Egypt . as a result of substance", or created by the imperial pressure "similar", or Father, that he and finally "dissimilar" as the had a beginning declared a heretic correct alternative. in time, and that after his death. the title "Son of The heresy was God" was a finally resolved in courtesy one.
  • ABRAHAM Von Kaschkar

    ABRAHAM Von Kaschkar

    ABRAHAM von Kaschkar Abraham von Kaschkar, genannt der Große, (* 503; † 8. Januar 588) war der Begründer des Wiederauflebens der assyrischen Klosterbewegung im Nahen Osten (assyrische Kirche des Ostens) während des 6. Jahrhunderts1. Die nestorianische Kirche legte ihm aus Dankbarkeit den Ehrennamen „Vater der Mönche“ bei.2 Ihm, sowie seinem Nachfolger Dâdischô‘ verdanken wir die ältesten ostsyrischen Klosterregeln, die wir kennen.3 Das Klosterleben war bei den frühen syrischen und mesopotamischen Christen sehr beliebt. Einige waren der festen Überzeugung, dass nur streng zölibatäres Leben zur Erlösung führen könnte. Alle Mönche und Nonnen 1 „Als es im 6. Jahrhundert zur Reform und Wiedereingliederung des Mönchtums in die Apostolische Kirche des Ostens kam, die seit dem Ende des 5. Jahrhunderts das Mönchtum eher an den Rand der Kirche gedrängt hatte, da geschah dies nicht so sehr aus alten syrischen Wurzeln der Askese, sondern unter bewusster Aufnahme ägyptischer Vorbilder. Schon der erste große Reformator Abraham von Kaschkar griff bei der Abfassung seiner Klosterregel auf Gedankengut aus den Apophthegmata Patrum zurück. Und bei seinem Nachfolger ist unübersehbar, wie die Klosterregel des Pachominos auf ihn eingewirkt hat. Beide zeugen dafür, dass über alle dogmatischen Hindernisse der verfeindeten Konfessionen hinweg spirituelles Erfahrungswissen über den gesamten Kulturraum vermittelt wurde...“. – R.G.Kratz/ H. Spieckermann (Hsg), Götterbilder – Gottesbilder – Weltbilder, Bd 2, Tübingen, 2006, S. 269; 2 „Wie Gott früher den seligen Abraham aus Ur der Chaldäer ausgesondert und im Glauben zum Vater für die Menge der Völker gesetzt hatte, so ließ er diesen heiligen Wandel des Mönchtums im ganzen Orient aufsprießen und wachsen durch einen dem Namen, der Heimat und den Werken nach des Abraham würdigen Geistesmann, den er zum Vater des Standes der jungfräulichen Nasiräer bestellte.
  • The Issue of Antitrinitarianism in the Fifteenth-Century Novgorod- Moscow Movement: Analysis and Evaluation

    The Issue of Antitrinitarianism in the Fifteenth-Century Novgorod- Moscow Movement: Analysis and Evaluation

    Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertations Graduate Research 2000 The Issue of Antitrinitarianism in the Fifteenth-Century Novgorod- Moscow Movement: Analysis and Evaluation Oleg Zhigankov Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations Part of the History of Christianity Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, and the Slavic Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Zhigankov, Oleg, "The Issue of Antitrinitarianism in the Fifteenth-Century Novgorod-Moscow Movement: Analysis and Evaluation" (2000). Dissertations. 172. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/172 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the Andrews University Digital Library of Dissertations and Theses. Please honor the copyright of this document by not duplicating or distributing additional copies in any form without the author’s express written permission. Thanks for your cooperation. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMi films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bieedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted.
  • A Qualitative Analysis of Key Concepts in Islam from the Perspective of Imams

    A Qualitative Analysis of Key Concepts in Islam from the Perspective of Imams

    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2018 A Qualitative Analysis of Key Concepts in Islam From the Perspective of Imams Chandler Dobiyanski Part of the Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Dobiyanski, Chandler, "A Qualitative Analysis of Key Concepts in Islam From the Perspective of Imams" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 6186. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/6186 A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF KEY CONCEPTS IN ISLAM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF IMAMS by CHANDLER DOBIYANSKI Bachelor of Arts, University of Arkansas, 2015 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2018 Major Professor: Jonathan Matusitz ABSTRACT The continuous occurrence of terrorist attacks in the name of Islam has shown this ideology and its tenets are at least somewhat connected to jihadists committing attacks in its name. This ideology in terms of 13 themes was investigated by the researcher in 58 sermons outlined in the tables in the appendix. These themes include: brotherhood, death, freedom, human rights, justice and equality, love, oppression, peace and treaty, self-defense, sin, submission, terrorism and truth vs.
  • Teaching Christians About Islam : a Study in Methodology, Appendix 5

    Teaching Christians About Islam : a Study in Methodology, Appendix 5

    C CROSS AND CRESCENT: RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGE OF ISLAM by COL IN CHAPMAN DRAFT MANUSCRIPT OF A BOOK TO BE PUBLISHED BY INTER-VARSITY PRESS Submitted in conjunction with the thesis TEACHING CHRISTIANS ABOUT ISLAM: A STUDY IN METHODOLOGY to the Department of Theology of the University of Birmingham Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Selly Oak BIRMINGHAM September 1993 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. CROSS and CRESCENT; RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGE OF ISLAM INTRODUCTION Part 1. RELATING TO OUR MUSLIM NEIGHBOURS 1. Meeting face to face 2. Appreciating their culture 3. Examining our attitudes 4. Visiting a mosque 5. Facing immediate issues 6. Bible Study Part 2. UNDERSTANDING ISLAM 1. The Muslim at prayer 2. Basic Muslim beliefs and practices 3. The Qur'an 4. Muhammad 5. Tradition 6. Law and theology 7. Sub-Groups in Islam 8. Suflsm 9. 'Folk Islam' or 'Popular Islam' 10. The spread and development of Islam TiT Is1 am in the modern world 12. Women in Islam Part 3. ENTERING INTO DISCUSSION AND DIALOGUE 1.
  • The Maronites Cistercian Studies Series: Number Two Hundred Forty-Three

    The Maronites Cistercian Studies Series: Number Two Hundred Forty-Three

    The Maronites CISTERCIAN STUDIES SERIES: NUMBER TWO HUNDRED FORTY-THREE The Maronites The Origins of an Antiochene Church A Historical and Geographical Study of the Fifth to Seventh Centuries Abbot Paul Naaman Translated by The Department of Interpretation and Translation (DIT), Holy Spirit University Kaslik, Lebanon 2009 Cistercian Publications www.cistercianpublications.org LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org Maps adapted from G. Tchalenko, Villages antiques de la syrie du Nord (1953), T. II Pl. XXIII, Pl. XXIV, Pl. XXV. Used with permission. A Cistercian Publications title published by Liturgical Press Cistercian Publications Editorial Offices Abbey of Gethsemani 3642 Monks Road Trappist, Kentucky 40051 www.cistercianpublications.org © 2011 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Naaman, Paul, 1932– The Maronites : the origins of an Antiochene church : a historical and geographical study of the fifth to seventh centuries / Paul Naaman ; translated by the Department of Interpretation and Translation (DIT), Holy Spirit University, Kaslik, Lebanon. p. cm. — (Cistercian studies series ; no. 243) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-87907-243-8 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-87907-794-5 (e-book) 1.
  • Saint John Chrysostom's Preaching “Logotherapy” in the Face of Heresy of Anomoeanism

    Saint John Chrysostom's Preaching “Logotherapy” in the Face of Heresy of Anomoeanism

    VOX PATRUM 34 (2014) t. 61 Rev. Andriy OLIYNYK* SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM’S PREACHING “LOGOTHERAPY” IN THE FACE OF HERESY OF ANOMOEANISM St. John Chrysostom (349-407) made a huge impact on the development of theological doctrine and pastoral practice, acting during the period, which the researchers characterized as the blooming of patristic era preaching in the Christian East. Simultaneously, at the time a major crisis erupted in the Byzantine Church due to the rapid dissemination of various heresies in the East. St. John’s priest vocation takes place during the final stage of the Arianism heresy, which has quickly spread to Antioch in the form Anomoeanism, chal- lenging the divine nature of Christ. As a theologian, he battles with this heresy from the church’s pulpit. St. John’s preaching “logotherapy” was precisely the defence of the orthodoxy of teaching solely through the use of pastoral care: he uses dialogue with the listener to prove the unsoundness of heretical teachings and thus protect the spiritual life or restore it, and hence guard the integrity of faith of the entrusted to his pastoral care people. I. THE SOCIO-RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENT OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM St. John came from the Syrian capital of Antioch, which was believed to be an important military and administrative centre of the Roman East. Here, Chrysostom was born in the year 349, grew up in a pious family and received a sound education first and foremost from the eminent master of philosophy, rhetoric and literature Libanius (314-395)1. The culture, customs and climate of Antioch in Syria had enormous impact on shaping the personality of St.
  • The Matheson Trust Symbolism of Islamic Prayer Dr. Rodney Blackhirst

    The Matheson Trust Symbolism of Islamic Prayer Dr. Rodney Blackhirst

    The Matheson Trust Symbolism of Islamic Prayer Dr. Rodney Blackhirst In some respects salat or the canonical Islamic prayer ritual is the most important of the five essential observances called the Five Pillars of Islam, for it is the only one to which the believer is required to adhere every day. The Testimony of Faith is the most essential of these pillars in absolute terms - without it one is simply not a Muslim -, but Testimony is only required once in a lifetime, as is the Pilgrimage to Mecca and in the case of the Pilgrimage it is only if circumstances permit. The Fast of Ramadan and the Poor Tax are annual requirements, and for these there are exceptions. The prayer, however, is daily and there are no exceptions except the allowances made for menstruating women. In the practical life of the Muslim, therefore, the salat is the greatest burden of the Law. The Koran, strictly speaking, only petitions believers to practice "regular prayer" (most often, "keep regular prayer and pay the poor tax") but in the codifications of Islamic Law this settled into five canonical times per day: at first light, at noon, midnoon, after sunset and at night. Not only is this cycle a personal discipline and a means by which the believer punctuates the day with worship, it also has a symbolic significance that illuminates the deepest roots of the Islamic faith. So to do the prescribed bodily postures and movements of the prayer ritual which are themselves cyclic in nature - salat is measured in terms of cycles or rakas - and are part of the same symbolism.