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Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature: Difference between revisions
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Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature (view source)
Revision as of 22:47, 10 November 2024
, 10 November→Late antique Christian Martyrdom: Added the seven heavens parallel not found in the bible but in late antique Judeo-Christian literature, citing Reynolds and a biblical scholar Stephen Wunrow. Also removed duplicate text in Christian Martyrdom section.
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{{Quote|Reyhan Durmaz. Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond. (pp. 78.) University of California Press (2022)|The eschatological reversal of fate was certainly a common theme in ancient | {{Quote|Reyhan Durmaz. Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond. (pp. 78.) University of California Press (2022)|The eschatological reversal of fate was certainly a common theme in ancient | ||
and late antique mythology,<sup>60</sup> including the Palestinian Talmud where we find a similar tale about a rich tax collector and a poor Torah scholar whose fates are reversed after their deaths.<sup>61</sup> As summarized above, the quranic version is relatively close to the Lucan story in its plot, for which we find a long and rich homiletic tradition. Basil of Caesarea (d. 379), Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394), Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 390), Jerome (d. 420), and Jacob of Sarug (d. 521), among others, have homilies on the Rich Man and Lazarus.<sup>62</sup> Moreover, the Quran displays considerable knowledge of the Lucan passage 16:19–31,63 as well as other parts of the Gospel of Luke.<sup>64</sup> It is likely that this knowledge was also reflected in Q18. It is worth noting that again in the Gospel of Luke there is one more story in which the fates of a rich man and a poor man are reversed (18:9–14), and just like the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, this passage was interpreted in the homiletic tradition.<sup>65</sup>}} | and late antique mythology,<sup>60</sup> including the Palestinian Talmud where we find a similar tale about a rich tax collector and a poor Torah scholar whose fates are reversed after their deaths.<sup>61</sup> As summarized above, the quranic version is relatively close to the Lucan story in its plot, for which we find a long and rich homiletic tradition. Basil of Caesarea (d. 379), Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394), Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 390), Jerome (d. 420), and Jacob of Sarug (d. 521), among others, have homilies on the Rich Man and Lazarus.<sup>62</sup> Moreover, the Quran displays considerable knowledge of the Lucan passage 16:19–31,63 as well as other parts of the Gospel of Luke.<sup>64</sup> It is likely that this knowledge was also reflected in Q18. It is worth noting that again in the Gospel of Luke there is one more story in which the fates of a rich man and a poor man are reversed (18:9–14), and just like the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, this passage was interpreted in the homiletic tradition.<sup>65</sup>}} | ||
== The seven skies/heavens == | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|67|3}}|He created seven heavens in layers. You do not see any discordance in the creation of the All-beneficent. Look again! Do you see any flaw?}} | |||
The idea of multiple layered heavens above each other, including seven among other numbers, dates back to at least ancient Mesopotamian times.<ref>''Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography.'' Wayne Horowitz. Eisenbrauns. 1998. <nowiki>ISBN 9780931464997</nowiki>. ''Chapter "Seven Heavens and Seven Earths". pp. 208-222.'' Read PDF online for free on internetarchive.org: [https://ia800904.us.archive.org/3/items/HorowitzmesopotamianCosmicGeographyMesopotamianCivilizations/horowitzmesopotamian%20cosmic%20geography%20mesopotamian%20civilizations%20-.pdf ''horowitzmesopotamian cosmic geography mesopotamian civilizations -.pdf'']</ref> The seven skies/heavens however, are not mentioned in the bible, though a 'third' heaven is specifically mentioned in the new Testament with [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2012%3A2&version=NIV Corinthians 12:2]. Reynolds (2018) notes that the cosmology of seven heavens specifically however is found in both Jewish Talmudic and apocrypha texts (e.g., BT, Ḥagīgā, 12b) and Christian traditions (e.g. church fathers, Irenaeus (Proof of the Apostolic Preaching 9); in the Ascension of Isaiah, a composite text extant in Ethiopic with Jewish origins but redacted by Christians, Isaiah travels to the seventh heaven.<ref>Reynolds, Gabriel Said. ''The Qur'an and the Bible: Text and Commentary. pp. 843.'' Yale University Press, 2018. </ref> Other non-biblical Judeo-Christian works range in the number of heavens, including three (family α of Testament of Levi), five (3 Baruch), and seven (long and shorter recensions of 2 Enoch).<ref>Stephen Wunrow. 2022. Biblical Research. ''[https://www.academia.edu/90568147/Paul_among_the_Travelers_into_Heaven_2_Corinthians_12_1_4_and_Other_Early_Jewish_and_Christian_Ascent_Texts Paul among the Travelers into Heaven: 2 Corinthians 12:1–4 and Other Early Jewish and Christian Ascent Texts.] pp.39-41.'' </ref> | |||
== Late antique Christian Martyrdom == | == Late antique Christian Martyrdom == | ||
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Sinai (2017) similarly notes strong ideological parallels a 6th century hagiographical text (the Panegyric on Macarius, Bishop of Tkow by Pseudo-Dioscorus of Alexandria) of a 5th-century martyr, Egyptian Bishop Macarius of Tkow who was martyred for opposing the council of Chalcedon. Citing Michael Gaddis's summary of the document, ‘He was both willing to die for his faith, and willing to kill for it.’ he notes the same idea in {{Quran|9|111}} … they fight in the way of Allah, kill, and are killed.. <ref>Ibid. (Kindle Edition. pp. 299).</ref> As well as citing English historian of the Byzantine Empire James Howard-Johnston "''..James Howard-Johnston draws attention to a passage in the Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor (d. 818), which reports that at about the same time when the Qur’an promised those ‘killed in the path of God’ immediate entry to paradise, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius similarly announced that those fighting the Sasanians would be recompensed with eternal life. In Heraclius’s address as reported by Theophanes Confessor, we find some of the same general ingredients that are noticeable in Qur’anic calls to militancy…''"<ref>Ibid. (Kindle Edition. pp. 301).</ref> | Sinai (2017) similarly notes strong ideological parallels a 6th century hagiographical text (the Panegyric on Macarius, Bishop of Tkow by Pseudo-Dioscorus of Alexandria) of a 5th-century martyr, Egyptian Bishop Macarius of Tkow who was martyred for opposing the council of Chalcedon. Citing Michael Gaddis's summary of the document, ‘He was both willing to die for his faith, and willing to kill for it.’ he notes the same idea in {{Quran|9|111}} … they fight in the way of Allah, kill, and are killed.. <ref>Ibid. (Kindle Edition. pp. 299).</ref> As well as citing English historian of the Byzantine Empire James Howard-Johnston "''..James Howard-Johnston draws attention to a passage in the Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor (d. 818), which reports that at about the same time when the Qur’an promised those ‘killed in the path of God’ immediate entry to paradise, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius similarly announced that those fighting the Sasanians would be recompensed with eternal life. In Heraclius’s address as reported by Theophanes Confessor, we find some of the same general ingredients that are noticeable in Qur’anic calls to militancy…''"<ref>Ibid. (Kindle Edition. pp. 301).</ref> | ||
He notes these similarities are likely caused by being on the fringes of the Roman empire.<ref>Ibid. (Kindle Edition. pp. 301).</ref> | He notes these similarities are likely caused by being on the fringes of the Roman empire.<ref>Ibid. (Kindle Edition. pp. 301).</ref> | ||