Islam and Christianity — A Muslim and a Christian in dialogue
by Badru D. Kataregga and David W. Shenk
Publishers: Daystar Press, IbadanReviewed in Nigerian Christian, 15:2 (Feb.), 12
A statement of basic Islamic beliefs by a Muslim and basic Christian beliefs by a Christian: such is the general format of this unusual book The respective separate statements are not innovative, but typical of similar presentations of Islam or Christianity to be found in any number of separate booklets. What is original about this book is the juxtaposition of both positions and the addition of the even more valuable and interesting "Responses" and Clarifications" after each section. Here we have a real dialogue or exchange of views. No matter what we may think of the quality of the answers, two articulate and committed adherents of different religious traditions are expressing their faith to each other. That is an achievement!
Since the statements of each spokesman are personal, we may not expect them to be final pronouncements that all their co-religionists will fully agree with. Badru Kateregga is as open and dialogic as can be found among men so deeply attached to Islamic tradition as he. He is noticeably soft when discussing Biblical Scripture (p.26-7) yet does not hide his hesitation about accepting all that is in the Bible as the word of God. He is also soft when discussing jihad (p. 77-9), and repeats the common position of modern Muslim writers that jihad is not for expanding the boundaries of dâr al-islâm and that non-Muslims are not to be pressured into accepting Islam.
Christians may applaud such a position and pray that Muslims abide by it, yet I consider it historically inaccurate to say that the early conquests of Islam were not for the purpose of aggrandizing the rule of Islam, or that classical Muslim writers did not preach conquest of countries which refused the call of Islam. Non-Muslims were to be compelled to accept Muslim rule and supremacy, even though they were exempt from forced conversion if they were "people of the Book". The complaints of Christian minorities in Muslim countries today make us wonder if some Muslims who talk about equal rights for all am really champions of a new policy or are uninformed propagators of a self-congratulatory dream.
David Shenk has some truly excellent presentations of Christian teaching, even though other Christian theologians would like to refine some points and others, a job that will never be ended in the history of Christianity. For instance, his treatment of the Church (p. 143 ff.) is masterly, except that he omits the mystical or interior dimensions that the concepts "body of Christ" and "spouse of Christ" might convey. He could have expanded the notion and scope of Christian worship (p. 156) to show a closer parallel to the Islamic idea. He might have added in his clarification about the Messiah (p. 134) that just as Christians do not expect Musilms to recognize all the attributes of Jesus that Christians recognise, so Muslim should not expect Christians to recognize all the attributes of Muhammed that Muslims recognize -- a reply to the objection that Muslims recognize Jesus, but Christians do not recognize Muhammad.
A more general criticism I would have of David Shenk's approach as well as that of Kenneth Cragg and so many of her writers who present Christianity to Muslims, is that they shy away from or abhor philosophical theologizing (see pp. 84-6). It is true that much of the historical metaphysical discussions about Christian mysteries were bad or inappropriate, yet the answer, I think, is not to reject philosophical theology, but to formulate better and more appropriate analysis. Muslims sometimes complain that Christian explanations of the mysteries of their faith are mystifyingly poetic, evasive, or appeal only to an incommunicablc inner experience. Philosophical theology cannot prove or unravel the mysteries of Christian faith, but it can handle objections that they are absurd or impossible. Initially the poetic and parabolic approach is trom appropriate, and for a long time the dialogue have to stay on that plane, but ultimately it will have to make use of metaphysical analysis if it is ever to grapple adequately with some of the objections to the Incarnation and Trinity.
We will never have the final, perfect and only textbook on Muslim-Christiarr dialogue. Books, after all, am only helps to live dialogue between people. The Kateregga-Shenk book is a milestone in theseries of helpful books.