Michael Lodahl (PhD, Emory University) is professor of theology at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California, and has studied extensively in Israel and Jordan. He is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene and has served congregations in three states. Lodahl is the author of several books, including The Story of God: A Narrative Theology.
| Claiming Abraham: Reading the Bible and the Qur'an Side by Side | Price: | $22.99 | | ISBN: | 978-1-58743-239-2 | | ISBN-10: | 1-58743-239-0 | | Dimensions: | 6 x 9 | | Number of pages: | 240 | | Carton Quantity: | 52 | | Publication Date: | Apr. 10 | | Formats: | Paperback | | |  "In a novel approach to interreligious dialogue, Lodahl puts the Bible and the Qur'an in conversation with one another. This book will serve as a fine guide for those interested in exploring the shared scriptural heritage of Jews, Christians, and Muslims and its implications for the future."--John Kaltner, Rhodes College
Many of the Bible's characters and stories are also found in the Qur'an, but there are often different details or new twists in the Islamic retelling of biblical narrative. In Claiming Abraham, seasoned theologian Michael Lodahl explores these fascinating divergences to discover the theological difference they make.
Writing from a Christian perspective that is respectful of the Islamic tradition, Lodahl encourages readers to reflect on the real and appreciable differences among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. He contends that exploring the distinct trajectories created by the different tellings of biblical stories gives readers a deeper appreciation for each faith's reading of Scripture. To this end, Claiming Abraham compares and contrasts how the Bible and the Qur'an depict and treat certain characters in common to both religions, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Lodahl provides extended theological reflection on doctrines held in common by Christians and Muslims, such as creation, revelation, and the resurrection of the body. He also explores rabbinic writings as an important source for understanding the Qur'an and accentuates the critical role of interpretive communities in the making of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions.
Claiming Abraham offers an accessible introduction to Muslim theology and to the Qur'an's leading themes, providing readers with a fuller understanding of Islam. It will benefit professors and students in theology, comparative religion, intercultural studies, and Islam courses as well as thoughtful lay readers and pastors.
Endorsements "Scholars will find this book brimming with comparative/interreligious and exegetical/intertextual insights from the Tanakh, New Testament, Qur'an, and their commentary traditions. For all other readers, including those wondering if it is possible to acknowledge the revelatory status of the Qur'an while remaining committed to faith in Christ, Claiming Abraham accessibly engages the theological matters at stake in ways that, if taken seriously, will both deeply inform Christian faith in a pluralistic world and transform the next generation of Christian-Muslim relations."--Amos Yong, J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology, Regent University School of Divinity
"Claiming Abraham offers readers an introduction to the relationship between the Bible and the Qur'an that is both easy to understand and rich in detail. In his presentation of the narratives and themes that are shared in the two scriptures, Michael Lodahl demonstrates a remarkable familiarity with the distinctive religious systems of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Most impressively, he avoids cliches and superficial assumptions by illustrating how these religious traditions are more often in disagreement than in agreement over figures such as Adam, Abraham, and Jesus. Ultimately, Lodahl presents an account of these matters that is marked by candor, clarity, and a firm grounding in Christian theology."--Gabriel Said Reynolds, associate professor of Islamic studies and theology, University of Notre Dame
"In a novel approach to interreligious dialogue, Michael Lodahl puts the Bible and the Qur'an in conversation with one another. The result is a fascinating study that shows how the two scriptures often draw upon and reshape the same pool of traditions. In the process, he raises important questions about the relationships among the monotheistic faiths by pointing out their similarities without ignoring or downplaying their differences. This book will serve as a fine guide for those interested in exploring the shared scriptural heritage of Jews, Christians, and Muslims and its implications for the future."--John Kaltner, Virginia Ballou McGehee Professor of Muslim-Christian Relations, Rhodes College
"Claiming Abraham is a most surprising, inviting, challenging, and important book. Lodahl reads the Qur'an alongside the Bible he professes and the rabbinic commentary he admires. He reads for the sake of fellow Christians, for whom he opens the Qur'an as an Abrahamic scripture worthy of study and appreciation. He also reads for the sake of Muslim peers, whom he honors by engaging Qur'anic theology so deeply, and whom he challenges by drawing Muslim theologies into direct dialogue with his own Christian theology. He reads, finally, for the sake of Jewish peers as well: reading midrash alongside Qur'an so that, through the pages of this lovingly crafted book, all Abrahamic believers are invited to feast together on God's word."--Peter Ochs, Edgar Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia
"Claiming Abraham is a lively and succinct theological presentation of religious traditions from the point of view of their own exponents. Lodahl is sympathetic, patient, interested, and engaged, and so offers the reader the considerable assets of personal sensitivity along with a clear exposition of ideas and concepts. I can only hope that his style of theological inquiry will not only advance interfaith understanding but will move theology itself from its deep Western domestication. I welcome Claiming Abraham as a work of acute reflection that combines integrity with charitableness."--Lamin Sanneh, professor of world Christianity, Yale Divinity School; director, World Christianity Initiative at Yale
"Claiming Abraham has recourse to a fine repertoire of skills in reading scripture and in theological interpretation, to lead us on a journey of discovery of the similarity-in-difference that characterizes the ways Christianity and Islam can be seen to relate to one another. 'Similarity-in-difference' is the key, for each will prove illuminating in understanding the other. . . . Our conversation does indeed go on . . . and the better so in the wake of careful comparative studies like this one."--David Burrell, CSC, professor of ethics and development, Uganda Martyrs University
Reviews "Michael Lodahl's new book, Claiming Abraham: Reading the Bible and the Qur'an Side by Side, is simply an exciting read! His theological interpretation of these sacred texts should help Christians and Muslims identify their theological similarities and differences. While a significant amount of historical and cultural research informs the book, Michael's greatest insights--and the thrust of the book itself--are theological. . . . Lodahl masterfully presents differing Jewish, Christian, and Muslim trajectories of interpretation in the chapters of the book."--Thomas Jay Oord, thomasjayoord.com
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