Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Christian scriptures in Muslim culture in the work of Kenneth Cragg Thesis How to cite: Tebbe, James Allen (1998). Christian scriptures in Muslim culture in the work of Kenneth Cragg. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 1997 The Author https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000e174 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk Christian Scriptures in Musiim Cuiture in the Work of Kenneth Gragg A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Religious Studies St. John's College, Nottingham August, 1997 SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT James X. Tebbe OF THE REQUIREMENTS B.A., M.Div., M.A. FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY ProQuest Number: U095112 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 U095112 Published by ProQuest LLO (2019). 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 LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Acknowledgements There are many I should thank for their help but among them are several who deserve special mention: My Supervisor, Dr George Bebawi, for his help, his insights into the process for writing a PhD, his critical analysis of my work, but most of all for his generous friendship. Dr Christopher Lamb who discussed my topic with me and kindly loaned me a copy of his thesis on computer disc. Dr Kenneth Cragg for interviews, his prompt responses to correspondence and help in finding some of his writings, but most of all for his wise insights and gracious patience towards a comparative novice in his area of study. The Billy Graham Center in Wheaton, Illinois for providing full access to their extensive missions library, the inter-library loan and a room where I could work. Dr Jim Stamoolis, Deem of the Wheaton Graduate School, for his numerous lunchtime conversations encouraging me in my study. Most of all I am deeply grateful to my Director of Studies, Dr John Goldingay, for his patient, critical and yet kindly direction. Without his encouragement I would not have been able to complete this task. Abstract Much of Kenneth Gragg's writing is devoted to finding common ground between Christianity and Islam. A conservative Christian upbringing and a liberalising education based on the Enlightenment's values have contributed to this approach. Although Cragg often quotes the Bible, he has not written on Christian Scriptures to the same extent that he has on the Qur'an. His theology of Christian Scriptures has been affected by his engagement with the Qur'an. Gragg's traditional approach to the Bible has been reinforced by Muslims' view of their Scripture. To handle problems his traditional approach creates, Cragg filters Scriptures through a single model of revelation. Thus Scriptures are valued only for their contribution to this revelation. The result is that he unconsciously develops a canon within the canon. He solves problems with the Old Testament by handling it in a way similar to the Qur'an: both become a type of old testament to the New. In connection with the New Testament, 'hospitality' is key to Gragg's interpretation. Those parts which communicate his understanding of hospitality are one major, though often unarticulated, criterion for his canon within the canon. Cragg was one of the earliest to propose comparing Christ rather than the Bible to the Qur'an. His understanding of different scriptural issues between the Bible and the Qur'an has led him to see the comparison as one of revelation to revelation rather than Scripture to Scripture. Some of the difficulties that Cragg has had with the Bible as Scripture could be helped within the framework of his theology if he were to consider a variety of models, rather than a single one, for understanding Scriptures. His exegesis tends to be intuitive and at crucial points vulnerable to a more historical approach which is concerned to work with the meaning the author would have had for the text. Table of Contents 1. Faith and Life N egotiate ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Other Studies on Cragg .......................................................................................... 4 1.2 Life Experience and Influences ........................................................................... 10 1.2.1 Theological Controversy Over Christian Scriptures ............................11 1.2.2 The Arab Christian and Christianity’s Jewish Links .........................14 1.3 Changes in Cragg's Writings ...............................................................................15 1.4 Overview of Cragg's Major Writings Relevant to Christian Scriptures................................................................................................................. 20 1.5 Basis for Assessing Kenneth Cragg .................................................................... 24 1.6 Summary ................................................................................................................. 28 2. Kenneth Cragg’s Approach to Scripture in Islam ..................................32 Z l Cragg's Interpretative Method ................................................ 34 2.1.1 An example of Cragg’s exegesis: Surah 3:7 ............................ .3 7 2.1.2 A contrasting exegetical methodology ................................................. 41 2.1.3 Implications of Cragg’s methodology in Quranic interpretation. .44 2.13.1 Contextualised Gospel in the Qur'an. ........................................................44 2.13.2 The Qur'an as Scripture for Christians ...................................................... 47 2.2 The Qur'an as a Scripture for the Arabs ............................................................51 2.2.1 The Prophet as ummi (illiterate) ............................................................52 2.2.2 Language as revelation ..............................................................................54 2.2.3 Translation ................................................................ 58 2.3 Context of the Qur'an ........................................................................................... 62 Z4 Inspiration of the Qur'an .................................................................................... .65 2.5 Interpreting the Qur'an ........................................................................................ 67 2.5.1 Traditional Quranic interpretation .................................................. 67 2.5.2 Shi’i-Sunni interpretations ........................................................................69 2.5.3 Modern Muslim Examples ...................................................... 70 2.6 Broader Scriptural Issues .................................................................. 71 2.6.1 IJadlth, Suimah, and $Irah ......................................................................... 72 2.6.2 State and Sharï'ah ...................................................... 75 2.6.3 Tahrîf: an uncontested polemic ............................................................... 79 2.7 Sola Qur'an .............................................................................................................. 82 Table of Contents 11 3. Cragg’s Approach to Scriptures in Perspective ....................................87 3.1 Historical: Zwemer and Gairdner .................................................................... 88 3.2 Modem: Wilfred Cantwell Smith .................................................................... 92 3.3 Temple Gairdner and Keimeth Cragg ............................................................... 94 3.3.1 A move away from confrontation ............................................................ 97 3.3.2 Brotherhood in Islam and Christianity .................................................. 99 3.3.3 Revelation .................. 100 3.3.4 Old Testament — New Testament discontinuity ............................... 102 3.3.5 Scriptural Criticism and the Ijladlth......................................................103 3.3.6 Translation and Koine Greek ............... 104 3.3.7 Drama ............................................................................................................ 105 3.3.8 The Gospel of Barnabas. ......................................................................... 106 3.3.9 Summary...................................................- ................................................107 3.4 Samuel Zwemer and Kenneth Cragg ..............................................................108 3.4.1 General approach to Islam .....................................................................