Department of Religion

From Christian Theology and Its Institutions in the Early Roman Empire by Christoph Markschies. Copyright © 2015 by Baylor University Press. Reprinted by arrangement with Baylor University Press. All rights reserved.

For further information on this book, see http://germanforneutestamentler.com/markschieskctuii/

PDF version of Wayne Coppins' Review of Jesus Handbuch. Edited by J. Schröter and C. Jacobi, with the collaboration of Lena Nogossek. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017. XIII, 685 pages.

Published online at the Jesus Blog:
http://historicaljesusresearch.blogspot.com/2018/03/wayne-coppinss-review-of-jesus-handbuch.html

The main thesis of this article is that the ‘two-animal’ interpretation of Matthew 21:7, according to which Matthew speaks of Jesus as sitting on two animals, can be shown to be more probable than the ‘multiple-garments’ interpretation, according to which Jesus is understood to be sitting on multiple garments on a single animal. Prior to my analysis of Matthew 21:7 I discuss the related question of why Matthew’s account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem involves two animals rather than one, arguing that the ‘history conformed to Scripture interpretation’ is more probable than the ‘Scripture conformed to history’ interpretation. Following it, I advance a more tentative interpretation of the surprising outcome of Matthew’s interaction with Scripture.

Although the significance of ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Qushayrī’s Qur’anic commentary, Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt, might appear limited, in fact its impact was widespread geographically and historically and was both obvious and hidden. This study demonstrates that eight tafsīrs, written from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries and possessing a significant Sufi component, were all influenced by Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt and ranged from Morocco to Central Asia and India and included the Ottoman world, the Arab Middle East, and Iran. Using the previously recognized influence of Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt on Maybudī’s Kashf al-asrār as a point of comparison for examining the degree, manner, and acknowledgment of influence, this study focuses on illuminating the impact of Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt on the Qur’anic commentary of Rūzbihān al-Baqlī, ʿArāʾis al-bayān, and that of the Kubrawi school, al-Taʾwīlāt al-najmiyya. One significant difference is that quotations from Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt were appended to and not integrate...

There is no question that it is easy to get lost when climbing outside the ivory tower of academia and becoming a socially engaged scholar. In my case, such engagement has substantially delayed many other projects that are dear to my heart. Nevertheless, in the course of my fourteen year sojourn on the web, all in all the time spent outside has been worth it. In this paper, I will discuss three web-based projects that I have created: my “Islam and Islamic Studies Resources” website, an international discussion group on Sufism called “Sufis Without Borders,” and a daily world news service, “Sufi News and Sufism World Report.” I will also make some recommendations based on insights gained over the course of these projects.

In addition to beginning with Bismillāh ir-raḥmān ir-raḥīm, in the name of God, the Infinitely Merciful and Infinitely Compassionate,2 traditional Muslim discourse should begin by a declaration of taking refuge in God from the deviousness of Satan, by saying aʿūdhū billāhi min alShayṭāni’r-rajīm (I seek refuge in God from Satan, the reviled one). This is not simply a cultural custom in Islam; rather, it has its source in the example (sunnah) of Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, which we read about in the Ṣaḥiḥayn, the two sound ḥadīth collections of Bukhārī and Muslim: “Two men insulted one another in the presence of God’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم and one of them became angry to the extent that his face became red and swollen. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم looked at him and said: “I know a sentence (kalima) that were he to say it, that state he is in would leave him; and that sentence is: I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan.”3 We say this, not just in the context in which t...

First of all, as the keynote speaker for this international symposium on Molla Fanārī, I would like to start by speaking about why holding a conference now on Mullā Shams aldīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥamzah alFanārī (b. 751/1350-d. 834/1431)1 in Bursa is significant.2 Let us begin by looking at how Stanford Shaw, the leading Ottoman historian among 20th century scholars in the West, regarded Molla Fanārī. According to Shaw, Molla Fanārī made an essential contribution to the formation of the overall intellectual framework of Ottoman scholars by helping to set the concept of waḥdat ul-wujūd (unity of existence) into the very foundation of the Ottoman State. As Shaw stated, “The transition between the older Arab traditions and those developed under the Ottomans was provided by Davud-i Kayserī (d. 1350) and Molla Fanārī (1350-1431). They introduced the major Arabic works into Turkish while making Muhyiddīn-i Arabī’s ideas on the unity of existence