For centuries, Christians and Muslims have engaged each other in debate and critique. A key area of disagreement is the nature of God: Is God a Trinity or absolutely one? To promote interfaith dialogue, Christians must understand the history of the conversation and also articulate the doctrine of the Trinity in reasonable, compelling ways. In this New Explorations in Theology volume, Sherene Nicholas Khouri offers both historical and constructive responses to Islamic objections to the doctrine of the Trinity. Khouri considers arguments from Arabic Christian theologians and philosophers in the eighth to tenth centuries, primarily John of Damascus, Theodore Abū Qurrah, and Yaḥyā Ibn cAdī. When Muslims expanded beyond the Arabic peninsula, Christians in occupied regions were spurred to defend the Trinity against the Islamic understanding of tawḥid, the absolute oneness of Allah, and against misconceptions of Christian belief. Khouri then applies the insights of these little-known thinkers to current theology and apologetics conversations. She makes the case for appealing to the common ground of God as the greatest conceived being, then arguing that such a being must be relational in nature. While Christians today debate models of the Trinity with each other and with Muslims, they can be confident that Christians throughout history have believed in triune relationality and found in the doctrine of the Trinity an invitation to personal relationship with the divine. Featuring new monographs with cutting-edge research, New Explorations in Theology provides a platform for constructive, creative work in the areas of systematic, historical, philosophical, biblical, and practical theology.
"Since the medieval period, Christians and Muslims have been dialoguing about the nature of God. Carefully working through the thought of medieval Arab Christians, Sherene Khouri shows how they articulated and defended the Trinity in their contexts. This study offers wisdom for Christians today discussing God's relationality with Muslim friends."
Edward Smither, dean of the College of Intercultural Studies, Columbia International Unive
"Sherene's insights on the Trinity were gained through a combination of God's providential hand in her life and her personal thirst for the truth of God. We are all privileged to have the result of God's grace and Sherene's diligence as expressed in this fine work. I share with Sherene in prayer and in hope that this work will accelerate the necessary dialogue between Christians, Muslims, and all who seek to know God better."
Gaylen P. Leverett, professor and faculty chaplain at Liberty University
"Dr. Khouri launches her book with a much-needed survey of the literature covering the logical, historical, and apologetic treatment of Islam's objection to the Trinity during the zenith of Islamic scholarship in the Abbasid caliphate. This leads to an investigation of the trinitarian apologetics of John of Damascus, Theodore Abū Qurrah, and Yahyā Ibn 'Adī. The book climactically endorses the conclusion espoused by recent Arab theologians that the true God cannot be perfect unless he is relational in himself, so that the Trinity is not a problem to be solved but rather a beauty to be discovered."
Imad N. Shehadeh, president and professor of theology at Jordan Evangelical Theological Se
