Comments on: St. John of Damascus on Islam http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/ Mike Aquilina's Blog Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:36:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Mike Aquilina http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/comment-page-1/#comment-1470 Mike Aquilina Fri, 21 Jul 2006 19:05:15 +0000 http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/#comment-1470 Yeah, I was wondering if you really, really meant to say "worth the price of admission"! Yeah, I was wondering if you really, really meant to say “worth the price of admission”!

]]> By: Kevin P. Edgecomb http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/comment-page-1/#comment-1469 Kevin P. Edgecomb Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:59:57 +0000 http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/#comment-1469 Yikes! I only just looked at the price on the used copies! Find it in a library. The book is short and by no means should anyone pay that much money for it. Yikes! I only just looked at the price on the used copies! Find it in a library. The book is short and by no means should anyone pay that much money for it.

]]> By: Kevin P. Edgecomb http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/comment-page-1/#comment-1468 Kevin P. Edgecomb Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:54:37 +0000 http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/#comment-1468 I don't recall any Christian writers on Islam of that specific time (early 700s), but that doesn't mean there weren't any. I have a niggling memory of some Armenian writers. There are plenty earlier (St Sophronios of Jerusalem, who had to turn the city over to the Arabs). But none came from such a background at St John, from the very center of the action, so to speak, in a period before Islam became what it is today. His witness is invaluable. A valuable work in this regard, which presents a history of Islam based on non-Muslim accounts, is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521297540/102-0055914-2005761?v=glance&n=283155" rel="nofollow">Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World</a> by Patricia Crone and Michael Cook (Cambridge University Press, 1980). While their conclusions and revision of Islamic history may go a bit too far, they do collect all the earliest testimonies to the rise of the Arabs as an invading/imperialist power. It's worth the price of admission just for that. I don’t recall any Christian writers on Islam of that specific time (early 700s), but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any. I have a niggling memory of some Armenian writers. There are plenty earlier (St Sophronios of Jerusalem, who had to turn the city over to the Arabs). But none came from such a background at St John, from the very center of the action, so to speak, in a period before Islam became what it is today. His witness is invaluable.

A valuable work in this regard, which presents a history of Islam based on non-Muslim accounts, is Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World by Patricia Crone and Michael Cook (Cambridge University Press, 1980). While their conclusions and revision of Islamic history may go a bit too far, they do collect all the earliest testimonies to the rise of the Arabs as an invading/imperialist power. It’s worth the price of admission just for that.

]]> By: PerpetualMalcontent http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/comment-page-1/#comment-1463 PerpetualMalcontent Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:09:33 +0000 http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/#comment-1463 are there other Christian writers of that period who wrote on/against Islam? are there other Christian writers of that period who wrote on/against Islam?

]]> By: xavier http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/comment-page-1/#comment-1397 xavier Wed, 19 Jul 2006 06:21:07 +0000 http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/#comment-1397 Pauli: So did Dante and his contemporaries. I concour with their assessment. xavier Pauli:
So did Dante and his contemporaries. I concour with their assessment.
xavier

]]> By: Pauli http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/comment-page-1/#comment-1386 Pauli Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:50:59 +0000 http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/#comment-1386 Mike, thanks for the information. I knew that H. Belloc taught that Islam was a Christian heresy; I didn't realize that St J D basically shared that opinion. Mike, thanks for the information. I knew that H. Belloc taught that Islam was a Christian heresy; I didn’t realize that St J D basically shared that opinion.

]]> By: Kevin P. Edgecomb http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/comment-page-1/#comment-1384 Kevin P. Edgecomb Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:29:54 +0000 http://www.fathersofthechurch.com/2006/07/18/st-john-of-damascus-on-islam/#comment-1384 As always, you're very welcome! As always, you’re very welcome!

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