Civilisations in Conflict?

by Kirk, J. Andrew; Cragg, Kenneth

• ISBN13: 9781610974424
• ISBN10: 1610974425
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-06-01
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Pub

Summary

Samuel Huntington's thesis, which argues that there appear to be aspects of Islam that could be on a collision course with the politics and values of Western societies, has provoked much controversy. The purpose of this study is to offer a particular response to Huntington's thesis by making a comparison between the origins of Islam and Christianity; the two religions that can be said to have shaped, in contrasting ways, the history of the Western world. The early history of each faith continues to have a profound impact on the way in which their respective followers have interpreted the relationship between faith and political life. The book draws significant, critical and creative conclusions from the analysis for contemporary intercultural understanding, and in particular for the debate about the justification of violence for political and religious ends. Book jacket.

Author Biography

J. Andrew Kirk has spent much of his life teaching theological subjects in tertiary educational institutions in Argentina and England. He has also taught courses on all six continents. Since retirement he has been involved on a part-time basis with graduate institutes in Eastern-Europe and the United Kingdom. He is the author of many books, including What is Mission? Theological Explorations and The Future of Reason, Science and Faith: Following Modernity and Postmodernity. He is married with three children and two grandchildren.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xii
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Interpreting the Terms	p. 14
Civilisation	p. 14
Leaving behind the 'barbarian'	p. 14
Embracing progress	p. 14
Developed and developing	p. 16
Cultures writ large	p. 16
Civility	p. 17
Conflict	p. 18
Misunderstandings	p. 19
Estrangement	p. 19
Exploitation	p. 19
Islam	p. 19
The West	p. 22
Christian faith	p. 25
Conclusion	p. 27
Huntington's Thesis under Review	p. 28
	p. 28
The 'end of ideology' and the rise of religion	p. 28
The new imperialism	p. 29
The revitalisation of cultures	p. 29
The awakening of Islam	p. 30
The decline of the West	p. 32
A clash of civilisations is real	p. 33
	p. 34
Problems with the thesis	p. 34
The thesis defended	p. 38
Conclusion	p. 39
Muslims in Dispute with the West	p. 41
The West's Alliance with Revisionist Islamic States	p. 42
The State of Israel and the Question of Palestine	p. 45
The Threat of Secularism	p. 48
The Domestication of Islam	p. 51
Westerners' Concerns about Islam	p. 54
The History of Europe	p. 54
The Refusal of Liberal Democracy	p. 56
A Pre-Critical Religion	p. 61
A Resistance to Integration	p. 65
Conclusion	p. 68
A Tale of Two Cities: Mecca and Medina	p. 69
Mecca	p. 69
Medina	p. 73
Ruler of a city	p. 73
External hostilities	p. 75
Internal hostilities	p. 77
Assessment of the origins of Islam	p. 81
Another Tale of Two Cities: Jerusalem and Rome	p. 84
Historical reliability	p. 85
The Public Life of Jesus	p. 87
John the Baptist	p. 87
Herod Antipas	p. 88
Galilee of the Nations	p. 88
The coming Messianic Age	p. 90
A new style of community	p. 90
Death and New Life	p. 93
The expansion of the Christian community	p. 96
A clash of civilisations? (Many lords, one Lord)	p. 97
The Impact of the Formative Years (Part I)	p. 100
The purpose of Studying Origins	p. 100
Problems of Procedure	p. 100
Common Themes and Contexts	p. 101
God alone is sovereign; Jesus is his emissary	p. 101
God alone is God: Muhammad is his herald	p. 103
Examples to follow	p. 104
The Way of Jesus and the Way of Muhammad	p. 107
Attitudes to the use of political power, force and violence	p. 107
Conclusion	p. 115
The Impact of the Formative Years (Part II)	p. 117
The Nature of Prophethood	p. 117
Prophecy in Islam	p. 118
Prophecy in Christianity	p. 120
Different understandings of prophecy	p. 122
Jesus, the Kingdom of God and the use of violence	p. 123
Rediscovering the true nature of prophecy	p. 125
The Nature of Community	p. 127
Community in early Islam	p. 127
Community in early Christianity	p. 129
Conclusion	p. 131
Islam and the West	p. 133
The Argument so Far	p. 133
Islam and the West in the Twentieth Century	p. 134
Approaching the past	p. 136
Addressing the context	p. 137
Interpreting the text in context	p. 138
Medina cannot be repeated	p. 140
'Manifest success'	p. 143
'Manifest Destiny'	p. 145
Alternatives to Medina	p. 147
Governance by God and governance by the people	p. 148
Christianity and the West	p. 151
From Prophetic Community to Political Faith	p. 151
From Mecca to Medina	p. 151
From Jerusalem to Rome	p. 152
'Manifest failure'?	p. 155
Different Ways of Being Political	p. 160
The Christian Quarrel with the West	p. 165
Conclusion	p. 170
The Quest for a Contemporary Prophetic Faith	p. 171
Which Islam?	p. 171
Approaching the Key Sources of Islam	p. 174
The Community and the Political Order	p. 181
Engaging the powers	p. 184
Epilogue The West and Religious Faith	p. 189
Islam, the West and Christian faith	p. 191
Selected Bibliography	p. 197
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