Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Zirker, Hans

Titel

Revelation in history and claims to finality: Assumptions underlying fundamentalism in Christianity and Islam

Ist Teil von

• Islam & Christian Muslim relations, 1992-12, Vol.3 (2), p.211-235

Ort / Verlag

Birmingham: Taylor & Francis Group

Erscheinungsjahr

1992

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The self-awareness of both Christianity and Islam is determined by the conviction of each that it is the definitive, irreplaceable and unsurpassable representation of legitimate religion, based on God's definitive word to mankind - in Jesus Christ and the Qur'an respectively. In theological, philosophical, and colloquial language this is widely named as the claim to absoluteness (or even exclusiveness), but these terms are misleading. According to the specific understanding of revelation in the two religions, we would do better to speak of their competing claims to finality and universality. In taking this approach, we discover that both undergo analogous historical disappointments, theoretical irritations, communication difficulties, and identity problems, which both try to overcome in community life as well as in theological reflection. At present the Christian churches and Islam are obviously affected by special forms of fundamentalism resulting from their basic claims.