Well, that was long ago, and today "See, I told you so" is my favorite expression. It just feels so good to say it, so today, just one day after posting THIS, I am feeling really really great.
Since I am just me, a mother and a grandmother, who long ago majored in English then immediately went out into the world to gallop race horses for a living (my mother: "We sent you to university for this?") and do not have a degree in theology, philosophy, doctrine, Canon Law, Church management, etc,, but only learned through the School of Hard Knocks (I have a PhD in that), I am apparently not to be taken seriously...since only if all those letters were after my name would I be worthy of being listened to.
Well, maybe then you will listen to Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch), for today he posted THIS.
Then there is THIS from the Qur'an.
Therefore I say, "SEE, I told you so". Historically, People of the Book were only the Christians and the Jews, not adherents of Islam, therefore we are not all (Christians, Jews, Muslims) "people of the book". Even Muhammad said it. So if you don't believe Robert Spencer or me, you can believe Muhammad himself:
And argue not with the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), unless it be in (a way) that is better (with good words and in good manner, inviting them to Islamic Monotheism with His Verses), except with such of them as do wrong, and say (to them): "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our Ilah (God) and your Ilah (God) is One (i.e. Allah), and to Him we have submitted (as Muslims). (Qur'an 29:46)
Nothing like having Muhammad the Liar backing up the historical truth.
Susan, I finally see the point you were making - ONLY Christians and Jews were originally “people of the book”, and Muslims came late to the “People Of The Book” party. I still disagree, and having Muhammad make the same claim does little good as he was obviously heavily influenced by or even possessed by Beelzebub himself. His opinions and observations mean little to me. Muslims have never had a living, breathing religion and relationship with God Almighty. ALL they have ever had ... is their book! Do the Saints talk of Christianity that way?
ReplyDeleteMy Counterpoint, offered in a most friendly and charitable way.
The Council of Nicea completed the official Canon of Scripture in 325.
St. Jerome translated Scripture into Latin in 400.
The Roman Empire fell in 476, marking the beginning of the “Dark Ages” which lasted 1,000 years after; a period of illiteracy and lack of cultural advance. St. Benedict began his hermitage and the Order of Benedict preserved Sacred Scripture during the following violent and unstable millennia when barbarians, fiefdoms and warlords ruled.
The Renaissance opened all this up, the printing press was invented 1440 - education, culture, literacy spread.
And when was Muhammad born? 570.
There WAS NO COMMON USE OF SCRIPTURE at the time of Muhammad. The primeval history of the Church does not centrally include a Book at the practical, personal level. God gave us the Book. Our Bishops interpret the Book. Our Church passes on the Book. But the Book is just a part of the whole, and not the living, breathing core - which is a Person.
I disagree with your People Of The Book conclusion first, because the vast majority of Christians were not literate, Scripture was not even compiled until 200 years prior to Muhammad and certainly was not made widely available to anyone, anywhere during the founding of the worldwide Catholic Church. Christianity was Word.Of.Mouth - passed on by *Sacred Tradition* through the Apostolic Line of Bishops and through their Priests. The Monks preserved Scripture for a thousand years when the flame was dim in the barbaric times. Scripture was simply not widely available to anyone.
I disagree second, because Christianity has ALWAYS been a living and breathing thing. We come to meet Our Lord in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and receive Him personally in Holy Eucharist. He meets us when we bare our souls to Him in Confession. We are surrounded by clouds of Angels and Saints. Christianity is unique *precisely because* we are not “Of The Book”. The Book is God’s Word, perfect and true. And it belongs to us, but my understanding of the Catholic Faith is that we live in our Liturgy, our Sacraments, our Prayers. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not limited to the Book. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God became Man, through the Grace filled cooperation of a Woman, and redeemed Mankind by becoming the perfect sacrifice for our disobedience and sin. God became Man, so that Man can become God (St. Augustine) - the unity prayer of Jesus affirms this: “ ...” that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you ...” (John 17: 20-23).
Susan, I really love your writing. I don’t read many blogs. Les Femmes is one of just a few, and I appreciate the host, Mary Ann K, allowing you the space to write because I get so much out of it. We don’t have to agree on everything (I thought I did on this ... I do on almost everything else). I just have a different perspective on this topic, it seems - to add to your well thought out article. Thank you for writing as you do! And thank you for letting me add my thoughts to your topic (assuming you do 🙂)
Aqua, of course people do not have to agree on everything and we can agree to disagree on things and still remain friendly and civil to one another.
ReplyDeleteI think you're looking at this "people of the book" issue from a Catholic point of view as if Catholics back then considered themselves "people of the book". I am not saying that at all. I'm looking at the term from the historical point of view of the Arabs themselves who considered the Christians and Jews of that day and age as apart from themselves - apart from the Arabs - as if they, the Arabs, were pointing over at the Christians and Jews, saying "those people over there, those Christians and Jews, we Arabs call them the 'people of the book' because they do something called reading and writing in that book thing of theirs."
Originally the term was an Arab term, not a Christian term.
The pre-Islamic Arabs never considered themselves to be of ANY book at all because they could not read and write and had no "book" to speak of at the time. Additionally, just because Muhammad received the Qur'an from the hands of Lucifer and it became the "book" for Muslims, in no way means that Arabs were at that time considered as included in the term "people of the book". Muhammad and Lucifer had to catch up with the times and invent the Qur'an from the depths of hell so they could say, "Look! We have a book now so we're 'people of the book' too!" Of course, Muhammad could not read it because he was illiterate.
(Possibly the Dark Ages were called such because that's when Muhammad was born haha.)