Monotheists

by Peters, F. E.

• ISBN13: 9780691114613
• ISBN10: 0691114617
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-20
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

The world's three great monotheistic religions have spent most of their historical careers in conflict or competition with each other. And yet in fact they sprung from the same spiritual roots and have been nurtured in the same historical soil. This book--an extraordinarily comprehensive and approachable comparative introduction to these religions--seeks not so much to demonstrate the truth of this thesis as toillustrateit. Frank Peters, one of the world's foremost experts on the monotheistic faiths, takes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and after briefly tracing the roots of each, places them side by side to show both their similarities and their differences. Volume I,The Peoples of God, tells the story of the foundation and formation of the three monotheistic communities, of their visible, historical presence. Volume II,The Words and Will of God, is devoted to their inner life, the spirit that animates and regulates them. Peters takes us to where these religions live: their scriptures, laws, institutions, and intentions; how each seeks to worship God and achieve salvation; and how they deal with their own (orthodox and heterodox) and with others (the goyim, the pagans, the infidels). Throughout, he measures--but never judges--one religion against the other. The prose is supple, the method rigorous. This is a remarkably cohesive, informative, and accessible narrative reflecting a lifetime of study by a single recognized authority in all three fields. The Monotheistsis a magisterial comparison, for students and general readers as well as scholars, of the parties to one of the most troubling issues of today--the fierce, sometimes productive and often destructive, competition among the world's monotheists, the siblings called Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
Introduction	xxi
1. THE SCRIPTURES: BIBLE, NEW TESTAMENT, AND QURAN
Three Sacred Books	2	(1)
People of the Book	3	(1)
The Bible	4	(1)
Sacred Tongues	5	(2)
On Translations	7	(1)
Scriptural Criticism	8	(2)
Who Wrote the Bible?	10	(1)
Explaining Revelation	11	(3)
High Prophetology	14	(1)
Heavenly Books	15	(1)
The New Testament: Notion, Text, and Canon	16	(2)
The Biblical Canon	18	(2)
The Inspiration of Scripture	20	(1)
Contingency and the Constraints of History	21	(2)
Humanist Critics of Scripture	23	(1)
The Old Testament and the New	24	(1)
The Arrangement of the Quran	25	(2)
The Composition of the Quran	27	(2)
The Editing of the Quran	29	(1)
The Collection of the Quran	30	(2)
Qere and Ketib	32	(1)
Interpolation and Abrogation	33	(1)
Closure	34	(1)
2. UNDERSTANDING THE WORD OF GOD
The Seal and the Silence	35	(1)
Biblical Exegesis	36	(1)
Midrash	37	(1)
An Unfolding Tradition	38	(2)
Philo Rereads Scripture	40	(1)
Evangelical Exegesis	41	(1)
The Senses of Scripture	42	(1)
Marcion Reads the Scripture	43	(1)
Why Don't We Understand?	44	(1)
Fathers and Other Authorities	45	(1)
The Glossa Ordinaria, Christian and Jewish	46	(1)
The Quran Reads the Bible	46	(2)
Quranic Ambiguities	48	(1)
The "Occasions of Revelation"	49	(1)
Tabari Enthroned	50	(1)
Plain and Allegorical Exegesis in Islam	51	(1)
The Muslims Struggle with Revelation and Reason	52	(2)
Shiite Tafsir	54	(1)
Learning from the Muslims	55	(1)
Two Medieval Jewish Commentators: Ibn Ezra and Rashi	56	(1)
The Great Debates	57	(3)
The Reform of Christian Exegesis	60	(1)
Control of the Book	61	(1)
A Closer, and Different, Look at Scripture	62	(1)
Exegesis and Hermeneutics	63	(2)
3. SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION
The Great Tradition	65	(1)
Rabbinic Judaism	66	(2)
"How Many Torahs Do You Have?"	68	(1)
Making the Mishnah	69	(1)
Mishnah and Gemara	70	(1)
Validating the Rabbis	71	(1)
Attacking the Tradition: Sadducees and Karaftes	71	(2)
Jewish Reform	73	(1)
The Beginnings of a Christian Tradition	74	(1)
The Deposit of Faith	74	(1)
Apostolic Tradition and Apostolic Succession	75	(1)
Sola Scripture	76	(2)
The Tradition Debate	78	(1)
The War of the Historians	79	(1)
The Sunna of the Prophet	80	(2)
Hadith Criticism	82	(1)
The Canonical Collections	83	(1)
Quran and Sunna	84	(1)
The Shiite Hadith	85	(2)
4. GOD'S LAW AND ITS OBSERVANCE
Purity and Defilement	87	(1)
Biblical Law	88	(1)
The Lesson of Qumran	89	(1)
The Tradition from the Fathers	90	(1)
The Mishnah and the Two Talmuds	91	(1)
Two Jewish Codes: Mishneh Torah and Shulkhan Aruk	92	(2)
The Purpose of the Law	94	(1)
The Administration of Jewish Law	94	(1)
The Rabbis	95	(1)
The Instruments of God's Justice	96	(1)
Jesus and the Law	96	(1)
Christians and the Law	97	(1)
A Law for Christians	98	(1)
The Sources of Christian Law	99	(2)
The Codification of Church Law	101	(1)
The Beginnings of Western Canon Law	101	(1)
Gratfan	102	(1)
Catechesis and Catechism	103	(2)
An Islamic Catechism: The Pillars of Islam	105	(1)
Sharia, the Muslim Way	106	(2)
From Prophetic Tradition to Law	108	(1)
The Administration of Justice in Islam	109	(1)
The Qadi	110	(1)
The Qadi's Justice	111	(1)
Responsa and Fatwas: The Mufti	112	(1)
The Qadi and the Mufti	113	(1)
The Schools	114	(1)
Shiite Law	115	(1)
Ijtihad	116	(1)
The Closing of the Gate	117	(1)
The Hierarchization of the Ulama	118	(2)
Ijtihad Unchained	120	(1)
Customary Law and Governance in Islam	121	(1)
Qanun: The Sultan's Law	122	(1)
Jewish Rabbis and Islamic Ulama	123	(4)
5. GOD'S COMMANDMENTS AND HUMAN MORALITY
Values and Value Systems	127	(2)
Whence Evil?	129	(1)
The Diabolic, the Demonic	130	(2)
The Jinn, Shaytan, and Iblis	132	(1)
Sin and Atonement in Israel	133	(1)
Acquittal	134	(1)
Jesus' Moral Teaching	135	(1)
Pauline Morality	136	(1)
Original Sin	137	(1)
Manichaeism	138	(1)
Augustine as Moralist	139	(1)
Augustine and Pelagius	140	(1)
Penance and the Sacramental System	141	(2)
Purgatory and Indulgences	143	(2)
Who Will Be Saved?	145	(1)
The Absolute Will of God	146	(1)
The Disputed Question of Nature and Grace	147	(1)
Justification	148	(1)
Doubly Saved and Doubly Damned	149	(1)
The Council of Trent on Justification	150	(1)
The Magisterium Restored	151	(1)
A Conference on "Aids"	152	(1)
The Crisis in Catholic Morality	153	(2)
Jansenism	155	(2)
From Pascal to Alfonso di Ligouri	157	(1)
Muhammad as Moral Exemplar	158	(2)
Islamic Morality	160	(2)
Free Will and Predestination in Islam	162	(1)
A Rationalist Solution	163	(1)
Acquiring Responsibility	164	(1)
Consensus on Matters Moral	165	(3)
6. DIVINE WORSHIP
Shekinah/Sakina	168	(1)
Sacrifice	169	(1)
The Jesus Sacrifice	170	(1)
The Jewish Priesthood	171	(1)
The Synagogue	172	(2)
The Eucharist	174	(1)
Liturgies Eastern and Western	175	(2)
Eucharistic Issues: Who, When, and How?	177	(1)
The Reform Liturgy	178	(1)
Christmas	178	(1)
Muslim Prayer	179	(1)
Friday Prayer and the Mosque	180	(1)
The Hajj	180	(3)
Intercalation Prohibited	183	(1)
The Enshrinement of Jerusalem	184	(1)
Christian Pilgrimage	185	(2)
The Western Wall	187	(1)
Popular Devotions in Christianity	188	(1)
The Cult of Mary	189	(1)
From Piety to Dogma: An Immaculate Conception and Prophetic Impeccability	190	(2)
The Veneration of the Saints	192	(1)
Canonization	193	(1)
Eucharistic Devotions	194	(1)
Popular Devotions in Islam	195	(2)
The Friends of God	197	(1)
Three Dramatic Narratives: Passover, Passion, and the Death of Husagn	198	(2)
Idols and Images	200	(2)
Emperor Portrayal, Christian Style	202	(1)
Christian Images	203	(1)
Christian Iconoclasm	204	(2)
Stripping the Altars: Images and the Reform	206	(1)
Islam and the Graven Image	207	(1)
The Word as Decoration	208	(3)
7. THINKING ABOUT GOD
Mythos and Logos	211	(2)
The Theology of Philo of Alexandria	213	(2)
Athens and Jerusalem	215	(2)
Theology and Creeds: Nicaea to Chalcedon	217	(2)
The Muslims Encounter Aristotle	219	(1)
Falsafa	220	(2)
Talking about God: The Muslim Beginnings	222	(1)
Learning to Speak Dialectically	223	(2)
An Islamic Inquisition	225	(1)
Kalam Matured	226	(2)
Muslim Creeds	228	(2)
Reason and Revelation in Islam	230	(2)
God Supreme: Islamic Occasionalism	232	(1)
Ibn Rushri	233	(2)
The Voice of Conservative Islamic Orthodoxy	235	(1)
Jewish Kalam	236	(1)
A Guide for the Perplexed	237	(1)
Falsafa and Kalam	238	(1)
Received Wisdom	238	(2)
Sacred Theology, Western Style	240	(1)
Thomas Aquinas	241	(1)
Scholasticism	242	(2)
Latin Averroism	244	(1)
The Two Faces of Truth	244	(2)
The Reformation and Christian Systematic Theology	246	(1)
The Wisdom of Illumination	247	(2)
The School of Isfahan	249	(2)
8. FROM DESERT SAINTS TO MUSLIM SUFIS
The Way of the World	251	(1)
The Issue of Jewish Asceticism	252	(2)
The Desert a City	254	(1)
Obedience of the Spirit	255	(1)
The Saints in the City	256	(1)
The Rule of St. Basil	257	(1)
Benedict and the Benedictines	258	(2)
Benedictine Experiments: Carthusians and Cistercians	260	(1)
Canons Regular and Other	261	(1)
The Mendicant Friars: Franciscans and Dominicans	262	(3)
Is Perfection Possible? The Franciscan Controversy	265	(2)
Military Orders, Christian and Muslim	267	(3)
The Rise and Fall of the Society of Jesus	270	(3)
The Holy Mountain	273	(1)
The Personal Life of Muhammad	274	(1)
This World and the Next	275	(1)
The Beginnings of Muslim Asceticism	276	(2)
Sufi Convents: Khangah, Ribat, Zawiya	278	(1)
The Sufi Orders	279	(3)
Sufis in the Service of Islam: Chishtis and Bektashis	282	(2)
The Chinese Rites	284	(1)
Christian and Muslim Religious Orders	285	(1)
Suppression	286	(1)
Jewish Brotherhoods in Galilee	287	(1)
Saints without Rules: The Hasidim	288	(2)
The Apostolic Succession in Eastern Europe	290	(1)
The Habad	291	(2)
9. LEAPING FROM THE DARK INTO THE LIGHT: MYSTICISM
Face to Face with God	293	(1)
The Beginnings	294	(1)
The Adepts of Qumran	295	(1)
The Celestial Chariot	295	(1)
"Four Who Attempted to Enter Paradise"	296	(1)
God's Love, God's Body	297	(1)
The Palaces	297	(1)
The Book of Creation	298	(1)
From Christian Asceticism to Mysticism	299	(2)
Approaching the Unknowable	301	(1)
The Jesus Prayer	302	(1)
Hesychasm	303	(2)
God's Energies and God's Essence	305	(1)
Spirituality, Eastern and Western	306	(1)
The Spiritual Exercises	306	(2)
Muhammad Cleansed, and Rapt	308	(1)
Did Muhammad See God?	309	(1)
The Sufi as Mystic	310	(1)
The Growth of Sufi Theory	311	(2)
Sufism and Gnosticism	313	(1)
Sufis and Shiites	314	(1)
Al-Hallaf	315	(2)
The Sufi Way	317	(1)
Practical Sufism	318	(2)
Spiritual Hierarchies	320	(1)
The Apotheosis of Ali: The Alavis	320	(1)
The Fathers of Islamic Theosophy: Ibn Sina and Suhrawardi	321	(3)
Defender of the Faith	324	(2)
Making Sufism Safe for Islam	326	(1)
Spiritual Resurrection	327	(1)
On the Edge: Ibn Arabi	327	(2)
The Seal of the Saints	329	(1)
The Teaching and Its Opponents	330	(3)
The Beginnings of Kabbalah	333	(1)
The Zohar	334	(1)
The World of the Sefiroth	335	(1)
Isaac Luria	336	(1)
Kabbalah for Everyone: Hasidism	337	(2)
10. THE LAST THINGS
End Time Scenarios	339	(2)
After Death, What?	341	(1)
Death and Judgment	342	(1)
The Particular Judgment	343	(1)
The Resurrection of the Body	343	(2)
The Seed, the Statue, and the Conjunction of Materia and Forma	345	(1)
In the Meantime ...	346	(1)
The Cosmology of the Other World	347	(2)
Mapping Paradise and Hell	349	(1)
A Heavenly Journey	350	(1)
Living High: The Angels	351	(2)
Angels in Arabia	353	(1)
The Vision of God	354	(1)
With a Little Help from the Creator	355	(1)
Paradise Lost: Maimonides (and Others) on the World to Come	356	(2)
Salvation	358	(1)
Religious Zionism: Hurrying the End	359	(1)
Political Zionism and Eretz Israel	360	(2)
The Birth Pangs of the Messiah	362	(1)
Realized and Futurist Eschatology in Christianity	363	(1)
A Christian Apocalypse	364	(1)
Millennialism/Chilianism	365	(1)
The Reign of the Spirit: Joachim de Fiore	366	(2)
Abraham the Intercessor	368	(1)
The Muslim Dead	369	(2)
The Quranic Eschaton	371	(1)
Intercession in Islam	371	(1)
A Savior Returns	372	(3)
The Mahdi	375	(2)
END THOUGHTS
People of the Book, and of the Covenant	377	(1)
Odium Theologicum	377	(1)
The Religion of Abraham	378	(1)
Who Is the Heir?	379	(1)
The True Israel	380	(1)
A Fractious Family	381	(2)
The Rivals' Charms	383	(1)
Faith and History	384	(3)
Index	387