Cliquer sur une vignette pour aller sur Google Books.
Chargement... The Jihad of Jesus: The Sacred Nonviolent Struggle for Justicepar Dave Andrews
Aucun Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
We are caught up in the cycle of so-called ''holy wars.'' In The Jihad Of Jesus, Dave Andrews argues that while this inter-communal conflict is endemic, it is not inevitable. Depending on our understanding, our religions can be either a source of escalating conflict or a resource for overcoming inter-communal conflict; and for our religions to be a resource for overcoming conflict, we need to understand the heart of all true religion as open-hearted compassionate spirituality. In the light of an open-hearted compassionate spirituality, we can reclaim the word ''jihad'' from extremists who have (mis)appropriated it as call to ''holy war,'' and reframe it, in truly Qur'anic terms, as a ''sacred nonviolent struggle for justice''; and we can reconsider Jesus, as he is in the Gospels, not as a poster boy for Christians fighting crusades against Muslims, but as ''a strong-but-gentle Messianic figure'' who can bring Christians and Muslims together. As this book shows, many Christians and Muslims have found Isa (Jesus) and the Bismillah (celebrating the mercy, grace, and compassion of God) as common ground upon which they can stand and work for the common good. The Jihad of Jesus is a handbook for reconciliation and action: a do-it-yourself guide for all Christians and Muslims who want to move beyond the ''clash of civilizations,'' join the jihad of Jesus, and struggle for justice and peace nonviolently side by side. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucun
Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)297.72Religions Other Religions Islam, Babism, Bahai Faith Islamic Education JihadClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
Est-ce vous ?Devenez un(e) auteur LibraryThing. |
Andrews is a Christian, Anarchist, Australian committed to following Jesus consistently in the way of peace and is active in Christian community development among Aboriginals and refugees in Brisbane. He wrote The Jihad of Jesus in conversation with Muslims. While so much jihad talk moves towards fear-mongering ("they are out to get us") or damage control ("jihad doesn't mean 'holy war' it means something like 'sacred struggle'"), Andrews's dialog with Islam is characterized by both humility and truth. He isn't afraid to call certain acts evil, but he has the grace to turn the same critical eye on his own tradition, identifying where Christians have also gotten it wrong.
Andrews begins with a section entitled "The Jihad of Dajjall."(Dajjall means 'deceiver' and is kind of like a Muslim Antichrist). Chapter one explores Christian's use of 'holy war' and violence against others through out history and in our current context. Chapter two does the same for Islam. The third chapter critically engages these 'so-called holy wars' showing how in both Christianity and Islam have a history of doing evil things in the name of God. He closes this section critiquing 'closed set' religion and arguing for 'open-set' religion. Andrews contends that most of the conflicts between Christians and Muslims has happened on the boundaries:
A 'open set' approach, by contrast, focuses on the center: Isa (Jesus) and the Bismallah (the Arabic equivalent to the Shema) Rather than defining and defending religion:
So openness doesn't apply a 'looseness' in the concept of God, but an intense focus and openness to the God that sits at the center of our own tradition. Here Andrews is making a nod towards E. Stanley Jones approach to interfaith evangelism, "“Get the center right, and the circumference takes care of itself.”(76).
In part two, "The Jihad of Jesus" reframes jihad as non-violent struggle, shows how Jesus' life and teaching is our model, and recollects non-violent struggles from the history of Christianity and Islam. Chapter four begins with a look of how terrorist organizations train otherwise good people to commit heinous acts before looking at how to retool the nature of jihad. Chapter five focuses on Jesus' as our supreme example. Chapter six has other exemplars (both Christian and Muslim) and what we can learn from their non-violent jihads.
This book recovers the term Jihad and reloads it with peace, justice and spiritual vitality. Andrews exemplifies not only how Christians may behave better to our Muslim neighbors, but suggests ways that we can also be sharpened and learn from them. As a Christian reader, I appreciated how a life centered on Christ, responding in openness to Jesus, pushes me towards the struggle for non-violence. I think this is absolutely correct. It is Christendom with its empire building that makes war and violence a viable option.
I like where Andrews takes the open/closed set distinction, but I suppose I may still be somewhat closed-set. Jesus (and the early church) make some pretty exclusive claims about salvation being through Him alone (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). There is common ground but there will be tension at the boundaries, though the focus should remain at the center of our faith traditions. I certainly don't want to 'build a wall' at the border to 'keep Muslims out.' Dialogue is mutually edifying.
So don't let the provocative title scare you. This is a book that will encourage Christians to be more like Christ in our work for Justice. Muslim readers shouldn't be afraid either. Andrews isn't secretly trying to convert you, and he doesn't malign Islam (which is rare for Christian authors!). I give this four stars.
Note: I received this book from the publisher via, SpeakEasy in exchange or my honest review. ( )