St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology (Jun 2024)
Christian Views of Islam
Abstract
In the contemporary world, Christians and Muslims make up the world’s two largest religious communities, together comprising somewhere between a third and half of the world’s population. The relationship between them is, therefore, important. This article outlines Christian thinking about Islam as it has developed over the centuries, in different contexts and in different regions of the world, focusing initially on the four main interpretations which emerged in the early medieval period: Islam as fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham; Islam as God’s judgment on an erring Christian church; Islam as a Christian heresy; and Islam as ‘the Antichrist’. The article then outlines the further elaboration of these views in the later medieval era, in both the East (debate and exchange), and the West (crusade, study, and mission). In the modern era, Christian thinking about Islam is outlined through a survey of opinion in the Reformation and the Enlightenment, followed by an overview of missionary thinking in the age of empire. Finally, in outlining Christian thinking about Islam since the Second World War, use is made of the typology – widely used in the theology of religions – of ‘exclusivism’, ‘inclusivism’, and ‘pluralism’.
