Christological Debates in the “Hijri” Mediterranean: Timeless Arguments, New Sources
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66362/iji.v2i3.39Keywords:
MS Sinai Arabic 434, Melkite, Qur'an, Christian Arabic, Hijri, Maximos the ConfessorAbstract
After the Arab, Muslim conquests, Christians not only continued their Christological debates, but added a new source to bolster their arguments: the Arabic Qur’ān. Although not everyone in the caliphate was Muslim, the arrival of Arabophone Muslim rulers, whose calendar started with the Hijra (the emigration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622), altered not only administrative structures but the very language of the diverse communities. This common language, Arabic, bridged confessional communities and saw the emergence of a new body of Christian apologetics. In their defense of Christianity, Christian Arabic texts would reference the Qur’ān, but also ancient Greek texts – in Arabic translation, some of which are lost to us. This paper examines the arguments and sources of a unique manuscript from St. Catherine’s monastery, highlighting its multi-cultural, multi-confessional and multi-linguistic elements. Sinai Ar 434 demonstrates unusual familiarity with the Qur’ān and tafsīr, as well as the Christological debates of the late 6th and early 7th centuries. The Christian author of Sinai Ar. 434 appears to have a liberal understanding of “revelation” (shar’) and “inspiration” (ilhām), even placing the Qur’ān among the “books of God.” His arguments may have been directed at Monophysite Christians, as well as Muslims. Further research into the manuscript’s provenance and the as-yet- undeciphered terms therein is a desideratum.
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