Islam, Christianity and the Realms of the Miraculous: A Comparative Exploration
Ian Richard Netton
Abstract
What is a miracle? Who believes in their possibility? What is the historical context within which they emerge?These and related questions have vexed, puzzled and, indeed, enthused scholars and believers, atheists and non-believers alike down the ages.This book examines this perennially fascinating subject of miracles with a comparative focus on two of the world’s great monotheistic religions, Islam and Christianity. Other texts have often approached the subject from a strictly theological, faith or, alternatively, rationalistic, perspective and made it their concern to prove or disprove the po ... More
What is a miracle? Who believes in their possibility? What is the historical context within which they emerge?These and related questions have vexed, puzzled and, indeed, enthused scholars and believers, atheists and non-believers alike down the ages.This book examines this perennially fascinating subject of miracles with a comparative focus on two of the world’s great monotheistic religions, Islam and Christianity. Other texts have often approached the subject from a strictly theological, faith or, alternatively, rationalistic, perspective and made it their concern to prove or disprove the possibility of an alleged miraculous event. The approach adopted in this volume is quite different. It is strictly anthropological and phenomenological and the miracles are viewed in a new and dynamic fashion through the lens of narratology. The book examines the stories behind these miracles, the contexts which gave rise to them and allowed them to garner belief and flourish. Perspectives covered include the views of believers and non-believers alike in these phenomena. Similarities and differences in context and approach are explored with a primary focus on the five main anthropological topoi of food, water, blood, wood and stone, and cosmology. A range of intertextual elements in both these Islamic and Christian traditions is discerned.
Keywords:
Miracles,
Islam,
Christianity,
Anthropology,
Phenomenology,
Food,
Water,
Blood,
Wood and stone,
Cosmology
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2018 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780748699063 |
Published to Edinburgh Scholarship Online: September 2019 |
DOI:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748699063.001.0001 |