D'autres articles de cet numéro | En anglais | En français

Abraham in Islam and Christianity
Robert Caspar

 

The following article* was written by Robert Caspar, a White Father and an oriental scholar. In the first part he depicts Abraham as he is presented in the Koran. We are struck first of all by similarities with the Bible as also with some midrashic aspects explained by Rabbi Torn in the preceding article. The author, who deals with Islamic and Christian aspects, shows points of contact and religious values which crystallize around the person of Abraham who is doubtless one of the most striking biblical figures for the faithful of all three great monotheistic religions. He puts us on our guard, however, against a facile syncretism which would obliterate our differences. His aim is rather to show us Abraham as he is depicted in the Koran and the religious meaning he has for Islam in order to see what values Christians can and should find without losing the biblical and Christian dimensions of this great Patriarch.

Abraham (Ibrahim or Brahim) is one of the principal prophets of the Koran, together with Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. The Koran consecrates about two hundred out of its more than six thousand verses to him. If we re-arrange the facts of his life which are scattered throughout twenty-five suras, assessing the chronological pattern of the revelation of the Koran which shows a development in the person and in the role of Abraham, the following pattern emerges:

I - ABRAHAM ACCORDING TO THE KORAN

Abraham the Monotheist
In his youth Abraham belonged to a people who worshipped idols and doubtless also the stars. Observing the rising and setting of the sun, moon and stars, he came to the conclusion that these beings which disappeared could not be gods and that accordingly there could only be one God, the creator of everything which exists (6,75-79; cf. 37,88-89).** Henceforth, convinced of the pure monotheistic ideal, he undertook to convert all his family, beginning with his father whom the Koran calls Azar (6,74). This latter refused to believe, however, and reproached his son for giving up the tradition of his ancestors, threatening to stone him. Abraham left him (19,42-49; cf. 6,74-B4) and asked God to forgive his father but, according to the later revelations made known at Medina, he realized that he was powerless to obtain forgiveness for him and broke the ties which bound him to him (19,47; 20,86; 5,114; 60,4). Abraham preached monotheism to his people as well as to his father and tried to convince them that the worship of their gods was all in vain (6,80-83; 19,48f; 21,52-56; 26,69-104; 29,16-25; 37,83-96; 43,26-28; 60-4-6). Seeing their refusal and their threats he decided on a ruse: he slipped into the temple one night and broke all the idols except the biggest one. Commentaries on the Koran embroider this account by relating that he broke the idols with an ax then put it into the arms of the biggest. When the worshippers arrived next morning and saw the devastation they suspected Abraham and arrested him. He defended himself by claiming that it was the biggest undamaged one that had broken the others: (And why not, if as you contend, these gods are alive?) (21,51-70; cf. 37,91-96). The pagans, furious at this, threw Abraham into a furnace, but God delivered him, saying: 'On fire, be coolness and safety for Abraham!" (21,68f; 29,24; 37,97f). As a consequence the people were punished for not having believed in the prophet who had been sent to them (9,70; 22,43).

In line with Abraham's monotheistic faith, the Koran also mentions his belief in the resurrection of the dead and the miraculous proof that God gave him of this at his request: four birds which had been cut into pieces and placed on different hills came back to life when Abraham called them (2,260).

Abraham and the Visit of the Angels
After having escaped from his impious people, Abraham went away as God had directed him. When he and his wife were old (the Koran does not name her but the commentators call her Sarah), Abraham asked God to give him a son (37,100). One day he saw some divine "messengers" coming to him. After greetings were exchanged Abraham offered them a roasted calf which they would not eat. He was startled by this refusal of traditional hospitality but doubtless understood that his visitors were, in fact, angels. In any case, the "messengers" reassured him and announced to him the good news of the birth of a child, Isaac, "and after Isaac, Jacob". His wife laughed, not believing, but the messengers insisted that with God, everything is possible (11; 71ff; 15,53-56; 37,112; 51,26-30).
At the same time, Abraham enquired about the mission of these messengers. They told him that they had to punish Lot's city for its sin of sodomy. Abraham then interceded for its citizens, at least for Lot and his family. The messengers promised that, with the exception of Lot's wife, they would be saved (11,74ff; 15,57-60; 29,31f; 51,31-37).

Some years later, when the son who had been born miraculously was old ennugh to go with his father, this latter told him that hi had seen himself in a dream about to sacrifice him, and asked him what he thought about it. The child replied that he was ready to fulfil God's command. Both of them then "submitted" (falamma aslanur) and Abraham bowed the child to the ground. But God intervened, taking into account Abraham's act of faith in the vision which was only a trial and "redeemed the child, substituting a solemn victim" (a ram, according to the commentaries) perpetuating his memory for ages to come (37,

There are three important points to make about this passage. First of all the name of the son in question. The Koran does not name him but it is clear that Isaac is meant, because Ishmael had not yet appeared in relation to Abraham at this point, that is to say, the beginning of the second Megan period, and the first generations of Muslims and the commentators were all sure that this son was Isaac. In the eighth and ninth centuries, in order to distinguish themselves from the Jews who claimed their descent from Abraham through Isaac, Moslems began to claim theirs through Ishmaeland said that he was the one about to be sacrificed, although full agreement on the point was a long time in coming. The reference to the announcement of Isaac's birth in this text, 37,112, was not considered a difficulty, being given the literary genre of the Koran which often repeats a fact in order to insist on its importance. At the time of the big feast of Aid el-Kebir Moslems commemorate this incident in Abraham's life by sacrificing a sheep in union with the pilgrims at Mecca re-enacting the scene during the course of the pilgrimage ceremonies. Finally, the verb "to submit" to God appears in this text for the first time, according to the chronological order established by oriental scholars. We shall see that the words drawn from the word aslama: Islam, Moslem, refer to Abraham's attitude in this circumstance and draw the depth of their meaning from it.

One of the Fathers of the Prophetic Line
According to the lists of prophets as recorded in the Koran, Abraham was chosen by God to be a Prophet. Sometimes he is simply one name among others; (3,84; 4,163; 6,84-89); at other times he is one of a select group of more important prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Muhammad, with whom God made a covenant and for whom he appointed a religious law (19,58; 33,7; 42,12f). Little by little the doctrine of the Koran concerning the succession of the prophets becames more precise and would seem to he defined as follows: beginning with Adam, the prophetic office is inherited (dhurriyya) by some leaders of a line, around whom are grouped other prophets. These are principally Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Thus, the family of Abraham (Al-Ibrahim) usually consists of Isaac, Jacob-Israel, Joseph, to whom are added at Medina Ishmael, who takes first place, and the "tribes of Israel" (2,140; 3,33; 6,84; 12,6-38; 21-72; 29,27; 38,45). Two other texts, moreover, assert that God established prophecy and Scripture among the descendents of Abraham (29,27) or among those of Noah and Abraham (57,26; of. 4,54). Finally, two other texts of the first period of the preaching at Mecca speak in vague terms of "the notes about Abraham and Moses" (53,36f; 87,18f). When however the doctrine of the Koran became more precise, revealed Scripture was no longer spoken of as having been revealed especially to Abraham, as is the case for Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. The conclusion can be drawn that Abraham is one of the most important landmarks in the prophetic and scriptural traditions of humanity, without however having ever attained an exclusively privileged role in this transmission.

As is the case for other prophets as well, Abraham represents a certain number of virtues which believers should imitate. His heart is pure (37,84); he is a just man (19,41); humble, long-suffering and ceaselessly turning back to God (9,114; 11,75). His most beautiful title, however, is that of being the friend of God (Khalil) (4,125). This tide persists in Moslem tradition and to this day the city where he is buried, Hebron, is called Al-Khalil. Finally, he is the leader (Imam) of those uncompromising monotheists who "submit to God". This monotheism will be continued in his descendents but the covenant of fidelity will not benefit sinners.

Abraham, Founder of Islam
Abraham's role became more clearly defined in Medina. Its evolution was the result of polemic between Muhammad and the Jewish People, the "People of the Book". Before reaching Medina, Muhammad thought he could be in complete harmony with the two religions based on Holy Scripture — Judaism and Christianity —which he knew only at a distance. At Medina he encountered three extremely well organized Jewish groups with their own independent life. In addition he met a delegation of Christians from Najran. Now both Jews and Christians claimed that salvation belonged exclusively to them — one had to be either a Jew or a Christian in order to enter into Paradise (2,111, 135...). They refused to recognize him as a prophet (3,73; 4, 53-59) and did not accept his Koran as Scripture (2,89101; 3,70,112; 5,59); claiming to be the sole heirs of Abraham.

At this point Muhammad discovered that Abraham was "neither Jew nor Christian" (2,140; 3,67) because the Torah revealed to Moses and the Gospel revealed to Jesus were the foundations of Judaism and Christianity, whereas Abraham, as also Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons were before this time (3,65). Abraham was a hanif and not an associate of polytheists. This title poses a problem. According to Moslem traditions the word (1) refers to a pure monotheist in contradistinction to all kinds of polytheistic paganism as well as to the deformed kind of monotheism practised by Jews and Christians. Abraham, as well as a certain number of Arabs from Mecca who were contemporaries of Muhammad and even members of his family, were designated as "hands" (hunafa), that is to say, independent monotheists having rejected polytheism and without having adhered either to Judaism or to Christianity. This was the milieu in which the preaching of the Koran won its first adherents. Recent oriental scholars, however, have questioned the interpretation of the word hanif (2) Whatever the outcome, the meaning of the word and its role in the Koran are clear: Islam is defined as Hanifism, the only true monotheism, that is to say, the religion of Abraham, the pure monotheist who was neither Jew nor Christian.

This meaning was further clarified about the same time as a result of the new connection which the Koran makes between Abraham (together with his son, Ishmael who appears quite abruptly from his anonymity in the Suras of Mecca) and the temple of Mecca, the ka'ba. Abraham asked God to make Mecca a city of refuge — amin — and to set up a home for a part of his descendents in this arid valley near the temple (14,351ff) (3) Moreover, God had revealed to Abraham and his son Ishamael where this temple was (22,26), ordering them to purify it of idolatrous worship which was practised there and to build it again as the first monotheistic temple on earth. God revealed to Abraham the ceremonies to be performed henceforth and commanded all believers to go on pilgrimage (hajj) if they had the means to do so (2,125-128; 3,96f; 22,26-29). One can still be shown the place where Abraham stood while he built (or re-built) the ka'ba with Ishmael's help. The stone is called maqam Ibrahim (4) which has become a place of prayer (2,125; 3,97).

There has been a good deal of discussion to try and discover whence came the belief that Abraham built the ka'ba and inaugurated its pilgrimage. It has been proposed that the legend existed in the region before Muhammad's time, another theory being that the. Jews of Arabia initiated it in order to be reconciled with the citizens of Mecca. A third, and probably more correct thesis is that it originated with Arabs from Mecca who had been converted to Judaism and who wanted to link their ancestral devotion to the ka'ba with their new adhesion to the religion of Abraham. In any case, this is certainly the meaning found in the Koran and in the thought of Muhammad who had either simply adapted a tradition already existing or had invented it himself.

Muhammad had, in fact, prayed as a child at the polytheistic ka'ba (5) it being the traditional worship of his ancestors and of his country. When he discovered monotheism, thanks to the biblical tradition, and adhered to it, he did not intend to found a new religion but rather to transform the religion of Mecca into a biblical monotheism. Even though he had been rejected by the people of that city and forced to leave for Medina, he remained nostalgic for his own country and for its reformed worship, returning there at the end of his life. Since the inhabitants of Mecca constantly reproached him for having given up "the (polytheistic) religion of their fathers" (5,104; 7,28; 11,62,87; 31,21; 53,23-.); he replied that the true tradition of their fathers was the monotheism of Abraham, their first ancestor and founder of the worship at Mecca. This legend permitted Muhammad to reconcile his attachment to the ka'ba with his adhesion to abrahamic monotheism, and to justify this to the people of Mecca.

Justification is thus found for calling Abraham the "lather of Moslems" (22,78), Abraham himself, according to the Koran, having asked God to raise up a "Moslem community" from among his descendents (Umma Muslima) (2,128-133). It does not appear that the Koran envisages a genealogical and racial link between the Arabs of Mecca and Abraham, certainly not through Ishmael.(6) Rather it refers to Abraham's deep faith as seen in his uncompromising and independent monotheism (see the term hand) and his admirable submission (Islam) at the time of the sacrifice of Isaac. God himself called him Muslimun (Moslem) even before Islam itself had been founded (22,78). Moreover, Abraham is considered as having announced the future coming of the prophet Muhammad and prayed for it to happen (2,129). When Muhammad began his preaching, God admonished him to 'follow the religion of Abraham, the Hanif and Moslem" (6,161; 16,123). Hence Islam, which takes its sociological understanding of monotheism from Abraham but distinct from Judaism and Christianity, is presented as "the religion of Abraham" (mdlat Ibrahim) (2,125-130; 3,95; 4,125; 6,161; 14,123; 22,78) the heir to his independent monotheistic testament (2,132f; 4,125). It is the religion "closest" to Abraham (3,68) and finally, the only true version of religion accepted by God (5,3) which he founded, giving it its name, making it perfect (5,8; cf. 9,32; 42,8; 61,8; 66,8) so that it might dominate all other religions (9,38; 48,28; 61,9).

II - CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE BETWEEN ABRAHAM OF THE BIBLE AND IBRAHIM OF THE KORAN

I will not resume here the part Abraham plays in the Bible both in the Old and New Testaments, since this can be found by consulting various dictionaries of biblical theology. The essential will indeed emerge in comparing the two sources.

History of Abraham
The Koran speaks — as does Genesis — of Abraham's departure from his own people at the call of God (19, 42-49; 21,51-70; 37,91-98), but from different motives. In the Koran Abraham had to leave on account of polytheism because he, like all the prophets quoted in the Koran, had already been preaching strict monotheism as it would later be assumed by Muhammad. In Genesis, the principal thought is not that of monotheism, but rather submission in faith to God's command and hope in the promise of a land and a blessed posterity (Gen. 11:31; 12:1-5). Note in passing that, according to Genesis, Abraham did not part from his father, Terah, since this latter died in Haran, whereas in the Koran, an opposition is found between the father, who is called Azar, and his son, Abraham.

The account of Hagar and Ishmael being sent off into the desert (Gen. 16 and 21) which is so important in the Bible (the younger being preferred to the elder) has left no trace at all in the Koran. Moslem tradition, according to L. Massignon and other Christian orientalists, links this biblical account with allusions made in the Koran to the building of the ka'ba by Abraham and Ishmael. The desert into which Ishmael was cast (Hagar has disappeared from the scene) is seen as the desert of Arabia and more precisely, Mecca itself. When Abraham set out to look for it God asked that he build the ka'ba there.
By contrast, the miraculous foretelling of Isaac's birth by the mysterious guests who were royally welcomed by Abraham is found in the Koran as in Genesis With texts which are very close, sometimes completely identical. There is the same ambiguity with regard to the guests (are they angels or men?) the same fear felt by Abraham, the same laugh of Sarah... (11,69-76; Gem 18). In both texts the annunciation of the birth is followed by the prophecy of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (which are not named in the Koran) and Abraham's intercession for Lot's family (11,74-76; Gen. 18:23-33), as also the episodes dealing with the attack the men of Sodom wanted to make upon Lot's guests and the punishment of his wife (11-77-83; Gen. 19).

In the same way, the sacrifice of Isaac is paralleled in both traditions, even though that in the Koran (37, 101-113) is much shorter and less explicit than the colorful and moving biblical one (Gen. 22). But what is essential is the "submission" in faith of Abraham and his son who are types of the faith of every true believer. It is precisely from this episode that the very words Islam and Moslem come, as well as the ritual of pilgrimage (hajj) and the feast of Aid el-Kebir. The symbolism of the unconsummated sacrifice, prefiguring the complete sacrifice of the only Son on the cross (Rom. 8:32; Heb. 2:14-17; 11: 19) is obviously omitted from the Koran.
Finally the incident of the birds which are sacrificed and then brought back to life as proof of the resurrection of the dead (2,260) surely has some connection with the ritual of the sacrifice whereby God sealed his covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15:8-11) but with different details and its own symbolism. Then too, Abraham's beautiful title, the friend of God (Khalil Allah) (4,125) is also found in the Bible (Is. 41:8; Dan. 3:35; Jam. 2:23). Moreover those episodes in Abraham's life which are in the Koran but are not in the biblical text are drawn from post-Christian Jewish tradition. Abraham's reflection on the stars (6,67-79) comes from Beraishit Rabba as well as the incident of the breaking of idols (21,55-63) while that of Abraham saved by God from the flames is found in the Jerusalem Talmud.

Abraham: His .Significance
The theme of promise and of covenant, which is the very essence of the biblical portrait of Abraham, is also in the Koran, it is true, but with a very different meaning. There is no doubt that Abraham, together with Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, is one of the four great Prophets with whom God made a covenant (mithaq) (33,7). Its purpose is to restore monotheism to humanity which has forgotten it, even though every person before his or her birth makes a covenant of monotheism with God (7,172f). In the Koran, Abraham is in addition, the father of true monotheism (7) and of the faith of submission. This paternity became gradually restricted to Moslems alone, who are the only true monotheists.

In the Bible Abraham is portrayed as the man of the Promise and of the Covenant because his departure from Haran is a pure act of faith in the promise of a land and of "descendents as the dust of the earth" (Gen. 13:16) and as "the stars of heaven" (Gen. 15:5f, 17; Heb. 11:12). The Jewish People, a little like Moslems, have seen in these divine words the promise of fecundity and prosperity for themselves through genealogical descent from this great Patriarch. Christ has formally challenged this Jewish (and a fortiori Moslem) concept of sonship according to the flesh as a pledge of salvation (Matt. 3:9; Luk. 16:24ff; John 8:37,44...). Spiritual sonship is the only one which counts, since this spiritual filiation of Abraham is centered in Christ (Matt. 1:1; Gal. 3:16; cf. John 8:56; Luk. 1:54ff). The promise is concentrated in him because in him and through him it is extended to everyone. A person becomes a child of Abraham and an heir of his promise (Rom. 4:11-25; Gal. 3:14, 28f).

In the Koran Abraham's principal role is to foretell the coming of Muhammad and of Islam. In the Bible as read in the light of the Gospel, Abraham prepared for and announced Christ because he is the father of the people which has borne the promise and given birth to Christ according to the flesh. Through his faithful submission and the symbolism of the sacrifice of the son of the promise, Abraham is truly the "father of believers" not in the sense in which the Koran calls him father of Moslems, but in the Christian sense that he is father of all those who believe in Christ visibly or invisibly. In other words, if we take the original meaning of the word modem as given in the first suras of the Koran: Abraham is the spiritual father of all those who submit to the will of God because the extraordinary submission he showed when God asked him to sacrifice his son is the type and the origin of the "faith of submission" (islam) to the often paradoxical will of God for each person and for the whole world.

Moslems reject explicitly the Christian mystery of the redemptive incarnation (although what is rejected is not so much the mystery itself but their distorted understanding of it). I have suggested elsewhere (8) though that they adhere implicitly but in a very real manner to this mystery through their confident abandon to the unknown will of God. God has willed to save the world through the incarnation, thereby giving it a share in his own life, in his communion of love. Thus Moslems, like all true believers, will be true children of Abraham, not through bodily descent, still less through Ishmael, neither through a mere adherence to the Moslem community, but in proportion as they live their Moslem faith, submissive to the will of God whatever it may be and as it is revealed to them. They thus witness to the faith of the "father of believers" such as it is described in Heb. 11:8-12 and 17-19.

Abraham as a type of true submissive faith is precisely the setting in which Vatican Council II wanted to place its relations with Islam. A few bishops had proposed a text which had been requested by some Christians, Islamic scholars, for the texts concerning Islam .(9) They said that 'the children of Ishmael (that is to say Moslems) are not strangers to biblical revelation, because they acknowledge Abraham as their father and profess their faith in the God of Abraham." The Council rejected this statement because it inferred a physical descent from Abraham through Ishmael. They chose instead a phrase that emphasizes descent through faith:
"They strive to submit !themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God, just as Abraham submitted himself to God's plan, to whose faith Moslems eagerly link their own?' Nostra Aetate, par. 3.


III CONCLUSION
Let us now see where Abraham fits into the dialogue between Christians and Moslems.
Frequently an attempt is made to group the three great monotheistic faiths under the patronage of Abraham, their common father. In order to avoid any confusion or syncretism it should be recalled first of all that Abraham means something different to each of the three. For Judaism he is the ancestor of the Jewish People (including Jesus and Mary) and of them alone. For orthodox Moslems he is the father of Moslems and of them alone. For Christians he is the spiritual father of all those who belong to Christ either implicitly or explicitly. In the same way the self-understanding of each one differs. For Judaism, the history of salvation continues through the Jewish People, with Christianity and Islam being considered as off-shoots on the side. For Christianity, the Jewish People gives birth to Christ who is destined to be recognized by all humanity, including Jews and Moslems. For Islam, Judaism has been replaced and assumed by Christianity, this latter in its turn being replaced by Islam, the only true universal religion. Both Judaism and Christianity are considered to be revealed religions ("heavenly": samawyya), scriptural religions (ahl al-kitab) because their Scriptures, the Torah and the New Testament, come from God. They are therefore distinct from polytheistic paganism and, together with Islam, constitute the three “heavenly religions". Their Scriptures have been falsified, however, by their adherents and have been nullified by the appearance of the Koran, the only true edition of the eternal Scriptures, and by Islam, the only universal and salvific religion to which all humanity must belong, including Jews and Christians. Thus, no one of the three religions can accept to be put on the same plane as the others. Instead of a schema which would see Abraham as giving birth to three more or less equivalent parallel lines, a linear schema is seen by successive substitutions.

If, however, we put ourselves on the level of religious values, we see that the three religions which claim Abraham as father have essential values in common which distinguish them from all other religions. Over and above their historic filiation, they all believe in one sole God, a personal God (as distinct from other asiatic religions) who has spoken to humanity through the prophets, has revealed to them a Scripture which is the Word of God (for Christianity, Christ is the Word of God). They believe that the world has been created by God and is going forward towards him to the day of judgment, of the resurrection of the dead, and that we will be judged according to our deeds. For each of the three, the world, time and history have a very similar meaning, that of a journey towards the meeting with God. It is far from the cyclic concept of the Greeks and Hindus.
Abraham can be called our common father, not in a genealogical sense, since we have seen contradictory opinions and which, in any case, has no religious value. He is our common father, however, in the sense that he is the type of our faith, of our loving adhesion to the will of God for us and for our world.

---

Notes
* This article is reprinted from "Comprendre", 118, 9 January 1973. Published in France, this Review aims to promote Islamic-Christian dialogue. Its title is now 'Se Comprendre" (20 rue du Printemps, 75017 Paris) and is published also in English: "Encounter", Spanish: "Encuentro" and Dutch: 'Begrip".
** Numbers throughout article indicate Koran, chapter and verse, e.g. 6, 92.
1. The origin of the word is uncertain. It appears to come from the Syriac banpo, meaning a pagan, non-Christian or non-Jewish. Following its adoption by the Koran, Moslem exegetes give it an Arabic etymology, coming from the root HNF, to incline, to swerve, hence, to leave polytheism in order to turn towards monotheism.
2. See W.M. Watt, his article banif in the Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd. ed.
3. These verses are found in a sura from Mecca. Some orientalists, however, e.g. Belle, Blachere, consider it an interpolation, or at least a correction, dating from Medina. Cf. 2, 125f.
4. A stone of 60 by 90 ans. hollowed in the center, said to be the footprints of Abraham. Today it is underneath a dome near the ka'ba and venerated during pilgrimages.
5. This is evident and the Koran testifies to it (108,2) as well as the traditions which show Muhammad taking part in the worship of the kale, then polytheistic, even after the beginning of revelation, and of being insulted there. Moslem tradition on the whole, however, has refused to believe that Muhammad could have been polytheistic at any moment of his life.
6. An exegete as authoritative as Baydawi knew of both interpretations and noted them, but put spiritual filiation before physical. "Abraham is the father of Moslems because he is the father of the prophet and thus the father of the Moslem community in such a way that he is the cause of their eternal life and of their anticipated existence in the after life; or again, because the greater number of Arabs are his descendents and they have brought others to him (non-Arabic Moslems)." Baydawi on Koran 22,78.
7. Certain Christian exegetes doubt whether Abraham was a strict monotheist. At all events it is curious that Rachel, the wife of his grandson Jacob, had stolen the household goods i(teraphim) of her father, Laban (Gen. 31:19,30).
8. See Proche-Orient Chretien, 1969, pp. 162-193 and Comprendre, blue series no. 61, Feb. 13, 1970.
9. Lumen Gentium no. 16 et Nostra Aetate no. 3. For a fuller development of these important texts and their implications see my commentary in Les Relations de l'Eglise avec les Religions Non Chretiens, Vatican II, Unam Sanotam no. 61, Cerf 1966, pp. 201-236, surtout pp. 203-207 and 213-216