Christian Exegesis of the Qur'an: A Critical Analysis of the Apologetic Use of the Qur'an in Select Medieval and Contemporary Arabic Texts.

• Author: Grafton, David D.
• Position: Book review

Christian Exegesis of the Qur'an: A Critical Analysis of the Apologetic Use of the Qur'an in Select Medieval and Contemporary Arabic Texts. By J. SCOTT BRIDGER. American Society of Missiology Monograph Series, vol. 23. Eugene, OR: WIPF AND STOCK, 2015. Pp. xii + 188. $25 (paper)

Christian Exegesis of the Qur'an invites the reader to an interesting controversy among some evangelical Christians over the perceived appropriate method of using the Quran as a "point of contact" when evangelizing among Muslims. J. Scott Bridger's argument as to why the Quran can be an appropriate apologetic contact is based on biblical examples and--most importantly for Bridger--on the fact that such a model has been used by Arabic-speaking Christians from the very beginning of Arab Christian theological discourse up to the present. In fact, he remarks somewhat scoldingly that it would behoove evangelicals to "become aware of the rich history of theology written by Christians residing in the world of Islam" (p. 40). (To be fair, this is a common complaint put forward by scholars in mainline Protestant and Catholic circles who are aware of this history.) This Bridger does in chapter one, where he briefly reviews the witness of Arab Christianity in the midst of a culture that has been steeped in the language of the Quran and its theological positions. While he does not note this, one might posit that this lack of awareness of the Arab Christian theological tradition is due to the overwhelming assumption among many Christians in the United States, and especially many within evangelical Christian communities, that equates Arabs with Islam. Such a view has a long historical legacy (even though it defies literal readings of Acts 2:11).

Bridger takes issue with the argument of Sam Schlorff, in Missiological Models in Ministry to Muslims (Upper Darby, PA, 2006), who argues that Christian evangelists should not use the Quran or any form of Islamic culture as a "point of contact" to lure Muslims or to help them understand biblical truths. Schlorff posits that one cannot separate the message of the Quran from "the believing community" that has perpetuated its historic interpretation through Islamic culture, which has carried such beliefs (p. 29). Thus, to use the Quran, argues Schlorff, is to somehow validate the Islamic perspective. Bridger, however, lays out his view that all human cultures can be vehicles for Christians to use as "points of contact" to express God's...