monotheism - 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 -15 | Linda Thayer

WE CONTINUE WITH Rubenstein, (When Jesus Became God, The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome), who—keep in mind—writes as a Jew and thus, like us Muslims, is unable to accept the Pauline, that is, the “Christian,” view of…

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…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 9 | Linda Thayer

We return to retelling the story of the 4th century Church’s theological exploits, following Richard E. Rubenstein’s book, When Jesus Became God, The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome; page numbers refer to material taken from this work.…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 8 | Linda Thayer

HOW DID JESUS become defined as ‘God’? Beginning with this installment, we travel back to the 4th century of the Christian Era (ce) and observe the proceedings of Christian authorities. These events account for a bellwether stage in the historical legacy left…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – Part 7 | Linda Thayer

We ended our previous Part 6 noting that if the Church had not accepted Paul as a valid spokesman for Jesus, then a “Christological” belief system—including the supposed divinity of Jesus, a divine son-ship relationship to God, a Trinitarian model of deity—could…