A Common Word - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre

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A Common Word indicates that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God and that Muslims shall thus be “cast out into utter darkness.” Such criticisms have led some prominent Evangelicals who signed “Loving God and Neighbor Together” and who attended the first Yale conference in 2008 to explain their responses and modify their endorsements. Citing the difficulties of creating a document upon which everyone could agree, Leith Anderson writes: “While I am listed as the President of the National Association of Evangelicals I added my name as an individual and not as an institution.” 32 Such responses allude to tensions within the evangelical community itself, as some within the evangelical movement are hesitant to embrace any dialogue that would admit to a common ground between Muslims and Christians. Others think that engaging Muslims in such dialogue is the best approach to gain access and evangelize in the Muslim world. This intra-evangelical debate was evident at the 61st annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in November of 2009, where Joseph Cumming, the main impetus behind “Loving God and Neighbor Together,” along with Donald Smedley, a signatory to the same document, participated on a panel with John Piper and Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a prominent Evangelical pastor and radio host, and two Muslim signatories to acw, Professors Caner Dagli and Joseph Lumbard. 33 The discussion shed light on the subtle theological differences that “Loving God and Neighbor Together” revealed. The Archbishop of Canterbury and Lambeth Palace While the response organized by the Yale Divinity School was a strong affirmation of acw and was made all the more effective by the signatures of over 300 Christian scholars, the response from the Archbishop of Canterbury, A Common Word for the Common Good, has been the most trenchant and perspicacious response to date. Though written as a letter from the Archbishop himself to the signatories of acw, the response was generated through extensive 28
The Uncommonality of ‘A Common Word’ discussion between the Archbishop and leaders of the Eastern, Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and leaders from other Protestant denominations. The Archbishop first met with academics and church leaders in advance of a larger meeting in June 2008 to discuss drafting a response to acw. There was unanimous support among the academics and church leaders present for the Archbishop in sending a letter to Muslim leaders. He then wrote the final letter after further consultation with members at the meeting in June 2008. A Common Word for the Common Good begins by reaffirming the open spirit of acw and acknowledging that though the ways of understanding the Divine are different, Christianity and Islam are not mutually unintelligible and that they speak enough of a common language to address the concerns of humanity together. The Archbishop notes that such a dialogue can invite us to “think afresh about the foundations of our convictions,” 34 and then focuses upon five areas where continued cooperation can bear fruit: focus upon love and praise of God; love of neighbor that is rooted in love of God; grounding of this interfaith exchange in scriptures so that both traditions speak from that which is central and authoritative to each; respecting and discussing differences to avoid mutual fear and suspicion; and honoring a shared responsibility towards humanity and creation. The subtle explanations of the Christian understanding of love offered by the Archbishop deserve extensive theological discussion that is beyond the scope of this survey. Suffice to say that he takes the opportunity to explain the manner in which Trinitarian theology leads many Christians to a deeper appreciation of the workings of love within the Divine Itself and that this is the foundation for love of the neighbor and of the stranger as the proper response to the gift of love from God. This discussion lays the foundation for an explanation of the deleterious nature of religious violence that exposes the theological hypocrisy that lies at the heart of extremist religious violence of any stripe: 29
Page 1: A COMMON WORD BETWEEN US AND YOU 5-
Page 4 and 5: BOOKS IN THE ENGLISH SERIES 1. The
Page 6 and 7: · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Page 9 and 10: CHAPTER 1 ABOUT ‘A COMMON WORD’
Page 11 and 12: CHAPTER 2 FIFTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Page 13 and 14: CHAPTER 3 THE UNCOMMONALITY OF ‘A
Page 15 and 16: The Uncommonality of ‘A Common Wo
Page 29: The Uncommonality of ‘A Common Wo
Page 49 and 50: 2010). The Uncommonality of ‘A Co
Page 51 and 52: 20 Ibid., p. 12 21 Ibid., p. 16. 22
Page 53 and 54: In the Name of God, the Compassiona
Page 55 and 56: The ACW Text In the Name of God, th
Page 57 and 58: The ACW Text In the Name of God, th
Page 59 and 60: The ACW Text provision wide for who
Page 61 and 62: The ACW Text God is Able to do all
Page 63 and 64: The ACW Text God is Forgiving, Merc
Page 65 and 66: The ACW Text Jesus said to him, “
Page 67 and 68: The ACW Text we can now perhaps und
Page 69 and 70: The ACW Text truly love God or the
Page 71 and 72: The ACW Text devotion to God (and t
Page 73 and 74: The ACW Text the Holy Qur’an (Al-
Page 75 and 76: The ACW Text to meaningful peace ar
Page 77 and 78: The ACW Text I am not a keeper over
Page 79 and 80: The ACW Text things.)—is to be fo
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The ACW Text 21 Abu Ja’far Muhamm
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A Common Word 10. H.E. Amb. Prof. D
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A Common Word 36. H.E. Prof. Dr Abd
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A Common Word 66. Prof. Dr Mohammad
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A Common Word 95. Dato Dr Abdul Ham
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A Common Word 124. Ayatollah Shaykh
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A Common Word 153. Shaykha Yasmin M
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187. Shaykh Hussein Smajic Mufti of
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A Common Word 223. Prof. Dr Mohamma
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A Common Word 251. Dr Musharraf Hus
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A Common Word 281. Dr Qamar-ul Huda
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CHAPTER 6 LIST OF RESPONSES TO ‘A
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Responses and Professor of Patristi
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Responses 42. Daniel Madigan SJ, th
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CHAPTER 7 MAJOR ‘A COMMON WORD’
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Events 2011 Seminar Seminar II was
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Events 4. The 2009 Rudolph C. Barne
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Events 6. Evangelical Theological S
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Events mon Ground), Henry Izumizaki
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CHAPTER 8 PUBLICATIONS AND COURSES
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Publications & Courses 8. Zwartz, B
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Publications & Courses tice of inte
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A Common Word Assembly informed of
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A Common Word LOVE SEMINAR AT OXFOR
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CHAPTER 10: THE GENESIS OF ‘A COM
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ACW Genesis Habib Ali who pressed m
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APPENDIX I: SELECTED CHRISTIAN RESP
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A Common Word Jordan. Our delegatio
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A Common Word John L. Esposito is U
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A Common Word reckon that ultimatel
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A Common Word Religious Peace—Wor
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A Common Word We applaud when you s
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A Common Word The following signato
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A Common Word Huib Bruinink, Develo
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A Common Word Bertil Ekstrom, Execu
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A Common Word Marian E. Hostetler,
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A Common Word Danut Manastireanu, D
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A Common Word Douglas Petersen, Mar
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A Common Word Rev. Dr Perry Shaw, C
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A Common Word Dr Dale F. Walker, Af
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A Common Word is sacred, both for C
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A Common Word Benedict has several
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A Common Word talk. In their patien
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A Common Word to do flows from that
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A Common Word Luke reports that it
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A Common Word out of reflection on
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Selected Christian Responses REV. D
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Selected Christian Responses As a f
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A Common Word the integral faith of
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A Common Word Heavenly Father is pe
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A Common Word support and have the
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A Common Word people of faith every
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A Common Word us in love, compassio
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A Common Word thority for Muslims t
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A Common Word ‘contains’ three
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A Common Word or seems far off (a m
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A Common Word God will bring a new
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A Common Word ciples the leading pe
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A Common Word scriptures to help ea
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A Common Word SEEKING THE COMMON GO
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A Common Word the tempting but leth
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A Common Word Our voice in the conv
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A Common Word Word was made flesh i
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A Common Word be focused on those p
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A Common Word to theirs, we want to
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A Common Word speak of God. Moreove
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A Common Word As Christians in the
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A Common Word love one another, God
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A Common Word By ‘Oneness’ we u
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A Common Word astonishing generosit
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A Common Word There is a foundation
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A Common Word hard words: I say to
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A Common Word any human authority,
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A Common Word we would like to shar
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A Common Word not to the earthly po
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Muslim-Catholic Forum Statements TH
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Muslim-Catholic Forum Statements a
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Muslim-Catholic Forum Statements WE
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Muslim-Catholic Forum Statements of
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Muslim-Catholic Forum Statements FI
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Muslim-Catholic Forum Statements th
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Muslim-Catholic Forum Statements FI
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A Common Word and Hanbali), Shi’i
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A Common Word cludes 100 leading in
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A Common Word 19. Should you not fi
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A Common Word too. 26. How will you
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A COMMON WORD MABDA · English Mono
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A Common Word - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre

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