Heirs of the Apostles offers a panoramic survey of Arabic-speaking Christiansâdescendants of the Christian communities established in the Middle East by the apostlesâand their history, religion, and culture in the early Islamic and medieval periods. The subjects range from Arabic translations of the Bible, to the status of Christians in the Muslim-governed lands, Muslim-Christian polemic, and Christian-Muslim and Christian-Jewish relations. The volume is offered as a Festschrift to Sidney H. Griffith, the doyen of Christian Arabic Studies in North America, on his eightieth birthday.
Contributors are: David Bertaina, Elie Dannaoui, Stephen Davis, Nathan P. Gibson, Cornelia Horn, Sandra Toenies Keating, Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, Johannes Pahlitzsch, Andrew Platt, Thomas W. Ricks, Barbara Roggema, Harald Suermann, Mark N. Swanson, Shawqi Talia, Jack Tannous, David Thomas, Jennifer Tobkin, Alexander Treiger, Ronny Vollandt, Clare Wilde, and Jason Zaborowski.
David Bertaina, Ph.D. (2007), Catholic University of America, is Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. His teaching expertise is on Late Antiquity and the Medieval Middle East and his research focuses on the history of Christian-Muslim encounters.
Sandra Keating, Ph.D. (2001), Catholic University of America, is Associate Professor at Providence College. She is the author of Defending the âPeople of Truthâ in the Early Islamic Period: The Christian Apologies of AbÅ« RÄâiá¹ah (Brill 2006).
Mark N. Swanson, Doctor in Arabic and Islamic Studies (1992), PISAI, Rome, is professor of Christian-Muslim Studies and Interfaith Relations at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. His publications include The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (AUC Press 2010).
Alexander Treiger, Ph.D. (2008), Yale University, is Associate Professor at Dalhousie University. He is editor of the series Arabic Christianity: Texts and Studies (Brill) and co-editor of The Orthodox Church in the Arab World (700-1700): An Anthology of Sources (2014).
PrefaceAbbreviationsNotes on ContributorsBibliography of Sidney H. Griffithâs Publications
Part 1 Arabic Language, Bible, and QurʾÄn
An Arabic Christian Perspective on Monotheism in the QurʾÄn: Elias of Nisibisâ KitÄb al-MajÄlis âDavid Bertaina From Multiplicity to Unification of the Arabic Biblical Text: a Reading of the RÅ«m Orthodox Projects for the Arabization and Printing of the Gospels during the Ottoman Period âElie Dannaoui Early Christian Arabic Translation Strategies (Matthew 11:20â30 in Codex Vat. Ar. 13) âJuan Pedro Monferrer-Sala Flawed Biblical Translations into Arabic and How to Correct Them: a Copt and a Jew Study Saadiahâs TafsÄ«r âRonny Vollandt The Utility of Christian Arabic Texts for QurʾÄnic Studies âClare Wilde
Part 2 Arabic Christian Responses to Islam and Muslim Interpretations of Christianity
Apocalyptic Ecclesiology in Response to Early Islam âCornelia B. Horn The Rationality of Christian Doctrine: AbÅ« RÄʾiá¹a al-TakrÄ«tÄ«âs Philosophical Response to Islam âSandra Toenies Keating The Doctrine of the Incarnation in Dialogue with Islam: Four Lines of Argumentation âThomas W. Ricks Muslim Views of the Cross as a Symbol of the Christian Faith âShawqi Talia The Doctrine of the Trinity in Early Islam: Misperceptions and Misrepresentations âDavid Thomas
Part 3 Arabic Christianity in the Medieval Islamic World
Byzantine Monasticism and the Holy Land: Palestine in Byzantine Hagiography of the 11th and 12th Centuries âJohannes Pahlitzsch Inquiring of âBeelzebubâ: Timothy and al-JÄḥiẠon Christians in the Ê¿AbbÄsid Legal System âAndrew Platt and Nathan P. Gibson The Church and the Mosque in Wisdomâs Shade: on the Story of âAlexander and the Hermit Princeâ âMark Swanson Revisiting Cheikhoâs Assessment of AbÅ« TammÄmâs Christian Origins âJennifer Tobkin Paul of Antiochâs Responses to a Muslim Sheikh âAlexander Treiger
Part 4 Manuscript Discoveries
Evagrius Ponticus at the Monastery of the Syrians: Newly Documented Evidence for an Arabic Reception History âStephen J. Davis Christian-Muslim-Jewish Relations in Patristic Literature: the Arabic Questions and Answers of Basil and Gregory âBarbara Roggema A Fragment of a Christian-Muslim Disputation âin the Style of AbÅ« RÄʾiá¹a and ʿĪsÄ ibn ZurÊ¿aâ (Gotha ar. 2882, fols. 16râ24v): a Reassessment âHarald Suermann A Greco-Arabic Palimpsest from the Sinai New Finds: Some Preliminary Observations âJack Tannous An Arabic Manuscript of the Visions of Anba Shenouda: Edition and Translation âJason R. Zaborowski Index
All interested in the Arabic Christian communities in the Middle East, history of the Middle East, Church history, and Christian-Muslim relations.