A Comparative History of Catholic and Aš‘arī Theologies of Truth and Salvation: Inclusive Minorities, Exclusive Majorities

Description

In A Comparative History of Catholic and Aš‘arī Theologies of Truth and Salvation Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour analytically and critically compares the historical development of the Catholic theologies of truth and salvation with those of its Islamic counterpart, Ašʿarism. The monograph moves the discussion from individual theologians to theological schools with a view to helping consolidate the young field of Comparative Theology. It serves two types of readers. First, the specialist who wants to dig deeper into the two traditions parallelly. Second, the generalist who may not have the time to become thoroughly familiar with every aspect of Christian-Muslim theologies. Both readers will come out with a holistic understanding of the development of Christian and Muslim theologies of truth and salvation; a holistic understanding that increases the appetite of the former and quenches that of the latter. Despite the holistic nature of the monograph, attention is duly paid to the specificities of each tradition in a deep and profound manner. Contents Transliteration and Dating Acknowledgements Introduction 1 The Importance of the Subject 2 The State of the Field 2.1 Rifat Atay 2.2 Mohammad H. Khalil 2.3 Esra A. Dag 3 Critical Evaluation and Objectives of the Monograph 4 Methodology (from Theology of Religions to Comparative Theology) 5 Methodical Concerns 5.1 Important Qualifications and Limitations 5.2 Periodization and Structure 5.3 Overview of the Monograph Part 1: Salvation in Early Catholicism and Early Ašʿarism 1. The Early Catholic Theology of Salvation 1 The Salvation Epistemology of the Early Church Fathers 1.1 St. Paul (d. c. 64/67) 1.2 The Inclusivist School 1.2.1 Justin Martyr (d. 165) 1.2.2 Irenaeus (d. c. 180/90) 1.2.3 Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 215) 1.2.4 Origen (d. c. 253) 1.3 The Exclusivist School 1.3.1 Ignatius (d. c. 117) 1.3.2 Tertullian (d. c. 240) 1.3.3 Cyprian (d. 258) 1.4 Augustine and the Consolidation of Exclusivism 2 Soteriology of the Early Church Fathers 2.1 The Apokatastasis 2.2 Christ’s Descent into Hell 2. Early Ašʿarite Theology of Salvation (Hadith-Based Theology) 1 Early Ašʿarite Epistemology of Intra-Muslim Salvation 2 Early Ašʿarite Intra-Muslim Soteriology 3 Early Ašʿarite Epistemology of Inter-Religious Salvation 4 Early Ašʿarite Inter-Religious Soteriology 5 Early Ašʿarites and the Question of Intercession 6 Conclusion and Comparison Part 2. Salvation in Mediaeval Catholicism and Mediaeval Ašʿarism 3. St. Thomas Aquinas’ Theology of Salvation 1 Aquinas’ Epistemology of Salvation 2 Aquinas’ Soteriology 3 Thomistic Influence on Later Theologians 4. Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġazālī’s Theology of Salvation (Sunnah-Based Theology) 1 Al-Ġazālī’s Theology of Intra-Muslim Salvation 2 Al-Ġazālī’s Theology of Inter-Religious Salvation 2.1 Al-Ġazālī and the Question of Intercession 2.2 Can Non-Muslims Be Called Muʾminūn “Believers”? 2.3 Good Deeds vs. Correct Faith 3 The Ašʿarite Theology of Salvation after al-Ġazālī 4 Conclusion and Comparison Part 3. Salvation in Modern Catholicism and Modern Ašʿarism (Vatican vs. Al-Azhar) 5. Salvation in Modern Catholicism (Massignon, Rahner and Vatican II) 1 The Impact of Massignon’s Theology of Religions on Vatican II 1.1 Massignon the Person and Islam 1.2 Massignon the Scholar and Islam 1.3 Massignon and Vatican II 2 Karl Rahner and Anonymous Christians 2.1 Rahner’s Context and Theory 2.2 Is There an Islamic Parallel to Rahner’s Theory? 2.2.1 The Receptive Interpretation 2.2.2 The Proactive Interpretation 2.2.3 The Conflictive Interpretation 2.2.4 Critical Evaluation 6. Modern Ašʿarite Theology of Salvation (Al-Azhar and the Quran-Based Theology) 1 Muhammad ʿAbduh’s Theology of Salvation 1.1 ʿAbduh’s Theology of Intra-Muslim Salvation 1.2 ʿAbduh’s Theology of Inter-Religious Salvation 1.2.1 ʿAbduh and the Question of Intercession 1.2.2 Concluding Remarks 2 Sh. Maḥmūd Šaltūt and the Question of Salvation 2.1 Šaltūt’s Theology of Intra- and Inter-religious Salvation 3 Sh. ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Maḥmūd’s Theology of Salvation 3.1 Ḥalīm’s Theology of Muslim Denominations 3.2 Ḥalīm’s Theology of Religions 3.3 Comparison and Conclusion Conclusions and Recommendations The Way Forward Glossary of Key Terms Citation Method and Abbreviated Arabic Titles Bibliography Arabic Sources English Sources Online Sources Index of Persons