{"id":35666,"date":"2017-11-10T16:29:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T21:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=35666"},"modified":"2017-11-10T16:32:20","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T21:32:20","slug":"let-us-compete-good-visiting-authors-explorations-bridge-religious-differences-islamic-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/let-us-compete-good-visiting-authors-explorations-bridge-religious-differences-islamic-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Let us compete in doing good\u2019: Turkish author\u2019s explorations bridge religious differences with \u2018The Islamic Jesus\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why does the Qur\u2019an praise Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a \u201cwoman above all women\u201d? Why does it venerate Jesus as \u201cthe Messiah,\u201d and even \u201cthe Word of God,\u201d while insisting that he is not divine and that Christians should not believe in the Trinity?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mustafa Akyol signs books after the lecture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These and many more questions framed a recent discussion with Turkish journalist and author Mustafa Akyol. The event \u2013<\/span> titled \u201cThe Islamic Jesus: A bridge between Islam and Christianity?\u201d \u2013<\/span> was hosted by Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Center for Interfaith Engagement<\/a> (CIE) on Oct. 10.<\/p>\n

Met by an engaged audience with no shortage of questions, Akyol presented insights about Jesus from a Muslim perspective and about the possibilities of interfaith relations among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, said CIE Director Timothy Seidel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMustafa invited us to explore new ways of thinking about and relating across religious difference,\u201d he said. \u201cHis closing comments were telling, quoting the Quran: \u2018Let us compete in doing good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In his new book The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims<\/i> (St. Martins Press, 2017), Akyol explores \u201ctheological pathways\u201d between Christianity and Islam. The book has received praise from The New York Times<\/a>, Publisher\u2019s Weekly<\/a>, Kirkus Reviews<\/a>, the National Catholic Reporter<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n

Another of his books,\u00a0Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty<\/a>\u00a0(W.W. Norton, 2011), was longlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize, a literary prize awarded by the University of Toronto for the best nonfiction book in English that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues, and\u00a0praised by The Financial Times<\/a>\u00a0as \u201ca forthright and elegant Muslim defense of freedom.\u201d It has also been published in Turkish, Malay, and Indonesian.<\/p>\n

Akyol studied political science and history at Bogazici University and is currently a senior visiting fellow of The Freedom Project at Wellesley College<\/a>. He has been a columnist in Turkish national and regional newspapers since the early 2000\u2019s, and a regular contributing opinion writer for\u00a0The New York Times<\/a> since 2013. In addition, he has lectured and spoken widely on numerous platforms including TEDxWarwick, where he spoke about\u00a0Faith versus Tradition in Islam<\/a>, and has been a commentator on public affairs programs including the BBC\u2019s \u201cHardtalk\u201d and CNN\u2019s \u201cFareed Zakaria GPS.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event was co-sponsored by CIE, Campus Ministries and the Bible and religion department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why does the Qur\u2019an praise Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a \u201cwoman above all women\u201d? Why does it venerate Jesus as \u201cthe Messiah,\u201d and even \u201cthe Word of God,\u201d ... read more about \u2018Let us compete in doing good\u2019: Turkish author\u2019s explorations bridge religious differences with \u2018The Islamic Jesus\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5589,5185,13679,12503],"tags":[6795,16986],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-35666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-and-religion","category-campus-ministries","category-center-for-interfaith-engagement","category-cjp","tag-diversity","tag-tim-seidel"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Let us compete in doing good\u2019: Turkish author\u2019s explorations bridge religious differences with \u2018The Islamic Jesus\u2019 - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/let-us-compete-good-visiting-authors-explorations-bridge-religious-differences-islamic-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Let us compete in doing good\u2019: Turkish author\u2019s explorations bridge religious differences with \u2018The Islamic Jesus\u2019 - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why does the Qur\u2019an praise Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a \u201cwoman above all women\u201d? 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