Contents
List of Contributors
Introduction
Adam J. Silverstein, Guy G. Stroumsa, and Moshe Blidstein
Part I. The Concept of the Abrahamic Religions
1. Abraham and Authenticity
Reuven Firestone
2. Yet Another Abraham
Gil Anidjar
3. Abrahamic Experiments in History
Adam J. Silverstein
4. Three Rings or Three Impostors? The Comparative Approach to the Abrahamic Religions and its Origins
Guy G. Stroumsa
5. The Abrahamic Religions as a Modern Conept
Mark Silk
6. The Conept of the Abrahamic Religions, Problems and Pitfalls
Remi Brague
Part II Communities
7. Islamo-Christian Civilization
Richard W. Bulliet
8. The Abrahamic Religions in the Mediterranean
David Abulafia
9. Justice
Uriel Simonsohn
10. Jews and Muslims in Christian Law and History
John Tolan
11. Beyond Exclusivism in the Middle Ages: On the Three Rings, the Three Impostors, and the Discourse of Multiplicity
Dorothea Weltecke
Part III. Scripture and hermeneutics
12. Historical-Critial Readings of the Abrahamic Scriptures
Nicolai Sinai
13. Inerpreters of Scripture
Carol Bakhos
14. The Finality of Prophecy
David S. Powers
15. Apocalypticism, Millenarianism, and Messianism
Lutz Greisiger
Part IV. Religious Thought
16. The Abrahamic Religions and the Classical Tradition
Peter E. Pormann
17. Confessing Monotheism in Arabic (at-Tawhid): The One God of Abraham and his Apologists
Sidney H. Griffith
18. Philosophy and Theology
Carlos Fraenkel
19. Science and Creation: The Medieval Heritage
William E. Carroll
20. Mysticism in the Abrahamic Religions
Moshe Idel
21. Politial Thought
Antony Black
22. Religious Dualism and the Abrahamic Religions
Part V. Rituals and Ethics
23. Prayer
Clemens Leonhard and Martin Lustraeten
24. Purity and Defilement
Moshe Blidstein
25. Dietary Law
David M. Freidenreich
26. Life-Cycle Rites of Passage
Harvey E. Goldberg
27. The Cult of Saints and Pilgrimage
Yousef Meri
28. Religions of Love: Judaism, Christinity, Islam
David Nirenberg and Leonardo Capezzone
29. Religion and Politics in the Age of Fundamentalism
Malise Ruthven
Part VI Epilogues
30. Jewish and other Abrahamic Philosophic Arguments for Abrahamic Studies
Peter Ochs
31. Christian Perspectives: Settings, Theology, Practies and Challenges
David F. Ford
32. Islamic Perspectives
Tariq Ramadan
Index

The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions includes authoritative yet accessible studies on a wide variety of topics dealing comparatively with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as with the interactions between the adherents of these religions throughout history. The comparative study of the Abrahamic Religions has been undertaken for many centuries. More often than not, these studies reflected a polemical rather than an ecumenical approach to the topic. Since the nineteenth century, the comparative study of the Abrahamic Religions has not been pursued either intensively or systematically, and it is only recently that the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam has received more serious attention. This volume contributes to the emergence and development of the comparative study of the Abrahamic religions, a discipline which is now in its formative stages.
This Handbook includes both critical and supportive perspectives on the very concept of the Abrahamic religions and discussions on the role of the figure of Abraham in these religions. It features 32 essays, by the foremost scholars in the field, on the historical interactions between Abrahamic communities; on Holy Scriptures and their interpretation; on conceptions of religious history; on various topics and strands of religious thought, such as monotheism and mysticism; on rituals of prayer, purity, and sainthood, on love in the three religions and on fundamentalism. The volume concludes with three epilogues written by three influential figures in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities, to provide a broader perspective on the comparative study of the Abrahamic religions. This ground-breaking work introduces readers to the challenges and rewards of studying these three religions together.