Conventional wisdom would have it that believing in one God is straightforward; that Muslims are expert at monotheism, but that Christians complicate it, weaken it, or perhaps even abandon it altogether by speaking of the Trinity. In this book, Muslim and Christian scholars challenge that opinion. Examining together scripture texts and theological reflections from both traditions, they show that the oneness of God is taken as axiomatic in both, and also that affirming God's unity has raised complex theological questions for both. The two faiths are not identical, but what divides them is not the number of gods they believe in. The latest volume of proceedings of The Building Bridges Seminar-a gathering of scholar-practitioners of Islam and Christianity that meets annually for the purpose of deep study of scripture and other texts carefully selected for their pertinence to the year's chosen theme-this book begins with a retrospective on the seminar's first fifteen years and concludes with an account of deliberations and discussions among participants, thereby providing insight into the model of vigorous and respectful dialogue that characterizes this initiative. Contributors include Richard Bauckham, Sidney Griffith, Christoph Schwoebel, Janet Soskice, Asma Afsaruddin, Maria Dakake, Martin Nguyen, and Sajjad Rizvi. To encourage further dialogical study, the volume includes those scripture passages and other texts on which their essays comment. A unique resource for scholars, students, and professors of Christianity and Islam.
Participants in Building Bridges Seminar 2016 Preface: Fifteen Years of Construction: a retrospective on the first decade-and-a-half of the Building Bridges SeminarLucinda Mosher Introduction Part I: The Oneness of God in the Biblical Witness Complexities Surrounding God's Oneness in Biblical MonotheismRichard Bauckham Bridging the Chasm between the Divine and the Human: A Muslim Response to Richard BauckhamMaria Massi Dakake Texts from the Bible Part II: The Oneness of God in the Qur'an and Hadith Monotheism in IslamAsma Afsaruddin The Complexity of Monotheism in Islam: A Christian Response to Asma AfsaruddinSidney Griffith Texts from the Qur'an and Hadith Part III: Grappling With the Unity Question in the Elaboration of Christian Doctrine The One and the Three in Christian Worship and Doctrine: Engaging with the Question of Divine Unity in the Elaboration of Christian DoctrineChristoph Schwoebel Of Storytellers and Storytelling: A Muslim Response to Christoph Schwoebel Martin Nguyen Texts from the Christian Tradition Part IV: Safeguarding Tawhid in the Elaboration of the Islamic Tradition God is One but Unlike Any Other: Theological Argumentation on Tawhid in IslamSajjad Rizvi Christianity, Trinity, and the One God: A Response to Sajjad RizviJanet Soskice Texts from the Islamic Tradition Part V: Reflections Dialogue in Northern Virginia: Reflections on Building Bridges Seminar 2016Lucinda Mosher IndexAbout the Editors
