Berkley Center

Communicating the Word: Revelation, Translation, and Interpretation in Christianity and Islam provides a record of the 2008 Building Bridges seminar. The essays collected here focus on key scriptural texts but also engage with both classical and contemporary Islamic and Christian thought. Issues addressed include, among others, the different ways in which Christians and Muslims think of their scriptures as the ‘Word of God’, the possibility, or otherwise, of translating scripture, and the methods—and conflicts—involved in interpreting scripture in the past and today. In his concluding reflections, Rowan Williams draws attention to a fundamental point emerging from the fascinating array of scholarly contributions gathered here: "Islam and Christianity alike give a high valuation to the conviction that God speaks to us. Grasping what that does and does not mean … is challenging theological work." 

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

Table of Contents

Introduction | David Marshall

Part 1: Particularity, Universality, and Finality in Revelation

Particularity and Universality in the Qur'an | Seyed Amir Akrami
Particularity, Universality, and Finality: Insights from the Gospel of John | Daniel A. Madigan
Revelation in Israel: Deuteronomy 7:1-11; Isaiah 49:1-6 | Ellen F. Davis
Revelation in Israel: Qur'an 2:47-57; 5:44-48 | Osman Bakar
Revelation in Christ: 1 John 1:1-4; Matthew 28:16-20; John 16:12-15 | John Langan
Revelation in the Qur'an: Qur'an 6:91-92; 25:32; 21:107; 38:87; 33:40 | Asma Afsaruddin

Part 2: Translating the Word?

Translating the Qur'an | Muhammad Abdel Haleem
Translation and the Incarnate Word: Scripture and the Frontier of Languages | Lamin Sanneh
The Body of Christ: 1 Corinthians 11:23-27 and 12:12-13, 27 | Daniel Madigan
An Arabic Qur'an: Qur'an 12:1-2; 14:4; 16:103; 26:192-99; 46:12 | Muhammad Abdel Haleem
The Divine and Human Origins of the Bible: Exodus 32:15-16; Jeremiah 1:9; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Luke 1:1-4; 1 Corinthians 7:10-13; Mark 5:41 | John Azumah
The Self-Perception and the Originality of the Qur'an: Qur'an 2:23-24; 3:44; 10:15; 69:38-47 | Abdullah Saeed

Part 3: Methods and Authority in Interpretation

Authority in Interpretation: a Survey of the History of Christianity | John Langan
Authority in Qur'anic Interpretation and Interpretive Communities | Abdullah Saeed
Reading Scripture in the Light of Christ: Matthew 12:1-8; Luke 24:44-49 | Susan Eastman
Interpreting the Qur'an: Qur'an 3:7; 2:106; 16:101; 31:20 | Muhammad Abdel Haleem
The Use of Scripture in Generous Love | Michael Ipgrave
The Use of Scripture in A Common Word | Reza Shah-Kazemi

Conversations in Rome | David Marshall
Afterword | Rowan Williams