Berkley Center

As a resource for comparative theology, this volume is unique in that it takes up a topic not usually explored in depth in Christian-Muslim conversations. Based on the Sixteenth Building Bridges Seminar (2017), Power: Divine and Human: Christian and Muslim Perspectives comprises pairs of essays by Christians and Muslims introducing texts for dialogical study, plus the actual text-excerpts themselves. Written by scholars for scholars, it is nonetheless suitable for the non-specialist as well. While it falls solidly in the domain of comparative theology, it is useful to anyone interested in dialogical reading of scripture, interreligious relations, and political philosophy.

download | PDF of this book (provided by Georgetown University Press)

Table of Contents

• Participants in Building Bridges Seminar 2017
• Introduction

Part One: Overviews 

• The Power of God and Islam’s Regime of Power on Earth | Jonathan Brown
• Religion and Power: A Christian Perspective | Philip Sheldrake

Part Two: Power in Muslim and Christian Scriptures 

• The Contours of God’s Power: An Introduction to Passages from the Qurʾan and Hadith | Martin Nguyen
• The Qurʾan and Hadith on God’s Power: Texts for Dialogue 
• Biblical Conceptions of Power—Divine and Human | Stephen L. Cook
• The Bible on Divine and Human Power: Texts for Dialogue

Part Three: Power and Community in Islamic and Christian Writings 

• Ideals and Realities of Muslim Community Ordering | Ahmet Alibašić
• Islamic Texts on Ideals and Realities of Muslim Community Ordering
• The Community of God’s Rule: From Nation to Church | Joan O’Donovan
• Christian Texts on the Community of God’s Rule

Part Four: Political Power and Faith

• The Role of the Community in the Broader World: Islamic Perspectives | Mahan Mirza
• Islamic Texts for Dialogue on Community in the Broader World
• Faith and Political Power: A “Non-Establishment” Reading of the Christian Tradition | Jonathan Chaplin
• Christian Texts for Dialogue on Faith and Political Power

Part Five: Reflections

• Conversations on Power: Some Reflections on the Building Bridges Seminar 2017 | Lucinda Mosher