Interfaith exchange - Al Jumuah Magazine

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 21 | Linda Thayer

Resolving the fine print in the Church’s doctrine of the ‘divinity’ of Jesus—from which doctrine we” seek refuge with Allah”— was an ugly process, at its zenith throughout the 4th Christian century (ce). In previous installments we have viewed opposing positions—one taken…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 20 | Linda Thayer

We continue our series recounting the monumental struggle within the Christian Church regarding what was to be their officially ‘correct’ understanding of how it was that Jesus was ‘divine,’ since his supposed ‘divinity’ was something that had been promoted by Paul—the Church’s…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 19 | Linda Thayer

We continue with the story of the Church’s formulation of the fine print in her doctrine of “divinity” associated with Jesus as contested in the 4th century of the Christian Era (ce) by Arius vs. Athanasius and their followers. Page references are…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 17 | Linda Thayer

WE PAUSE IN our look at Rubenstein’s best-selling book, When Jesus Became God, The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome, and in our re-packaging of his account of how the Church in her 4th century worked out her…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange -16 | Linda Thayer

CONTINUING IN THIS installment, we look further at Richard E. Rubenstein’s book, When Jesus Became God, The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome so as to elucidate the 4th century Arian controversy that divided the dominant Christian Church…

Biblical Question, Qur’anic Answer (2): Did Aaron Facilitate the Golden-Calf Affair?

IN PART 1 we examined the biblical account of Moses and the Golden Calf affair. In this account, room was left for Aaron’s guilt in failing to prevent the People of Israel from falling into idolatry during the absence of Moses on…

Islam 101 For Western Judaeo-Christians (5)

IN THE PREVIOUS segment, in appraising Dr. Dirks’ 400-page book, Understanding Islam: A Guide for the Judaeo-Christian Reader, we summarized his 72-page presentation of the sources and content of Islamic Faith. We enlarged upon his material regarding Gabriel as the angel of…

Islam 101 For Western Judaeo-Christians (4)

HAVING SURVEYED THE life and times of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (Part 3), Dr. Dirks, in his 400 page Understanding Islam: A Guide for the Judaeo-Christian Reader, moves on to deal, in greater depth (than in his 64-page Concise Introduction) with the sources…

Islam 101 For Western Judaeo-Christians (2) | Munira al-Mawdi

JERALD F. DIRKS’ slim 64-page volume, A Concise Introduction to Islam (Amana Publications, 2014) makes available a quick appetizer for the busy modern non-Muslim who knows about Islam only what is being propagated in the mainstream media. In Part 1 we appraised…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 10 | Linda Thayer

Using Richard E. Rubenstein’s book, When Jesus Became God, The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome, we have introduced the 4th century theological dispute in Alexandria, Egypt, featuring Arius vs. Athanasius, a controversy that would develop and continue…