In the theology that launched the Crusades, the Muslim was not, first of all, an enemy to be defeated or a rival to be converted. He was something stranger and more useful than that. He was raw material for another man's salvation. The preachers who summoned Europe to holy war taught that a Christian could … Continue reading Made to Be Killed: How the Crusades Turned Murder into Atonement
The God Who Depends on No One: Aseity and the Trinity
One of the oldest and least negotiable ideas about God is that He depends on nothing. Everything else in existence leans on something. A tree needs soil, a child needs parents, a flame needs fuel, a building needs a foundation. God, by definition, leans on nothing at all. He is the one reality that exists … Continue reading The God Who Depends on No One: Aseity and the Trinity
Jesus’ Universal Operating System for Living Under Any Legal System
When Jesus told his followers to sit at the feet of the scribes and Pharisees, to observe everything they taught but not to follow their example (Matthew 23:2–3), he was issuing an instruction of remarkable subtlety. He was not critiquing the content of Jewish law, nor was he calling for its reform or abolition. He … Continue reading Jesus’ Universal Operating System for Living Under Any Legal System
The Moral Philosophy of the Quran
Most treatments of Quranic ethics begin and end with a catalog: a list of things enjoined and things forbidden, prayer and charity on one side, theft and slander on the other. This is jurisprudence, not moral philosophy. It answers what but never why, and it mistakes the surface for the structure. A command is only … Continue reading The Moral Philosophy of the Quran
Jesus’ Body Was Crucified & There is no Second Coming
In mainstream Sunni theology, Jesus (ʿĪsā) was neither killed nor crucified but was raised alive to God, where he continues to live in a state unique among all prophets. Sunnis generally hold that God made someone else resemble Jesus externally, and that this substitute was crucified in his place. They derive this "substitution theory" from … Continue reading Jesus’ Body Was Crucified & There is no Second Coming
The Slow Birth of Islam: How Syriac Christians Watched a Religion Take Shape
When the armies of Islam emerged from Arabia in the seventh century, the first Christians they encountered were not the Greek-speaking Byzantines of Constantinople nor the Latin Christians of Rome, but the Syriac-speaking Christian communities of the Middle East. These Christians—centered in Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Persia—spoke Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic closely related to … Continue reading The Slow Birth of Islam: How Syriac Christians Watched a Religion Take Shape
Syriac Polemics Against Islam: Muhammad Had No Miracles Aside from Quran
Around the year 781 CE, Patriarch Timothy (727–823 CE) recorded what is now known as the Apology, a transcript of his theological debate with the Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785 CE). This text captures a moment in the history of the Christian–Muslim encounter that should unsettle every modern defender of the miracle legends later invented … Continue reading Syriac Polemics Against Islam: Muhammad Had No Miracles Aside from Quran
Notes: Envisioninig Islam: Syriac Christians and Early Muslim World
The following are my notes from the book "Envisioning Islam: Syriac Christians and the Early Muslim World" by Michael Philip Penn. But when Muslims first encountered Christians they did not meet Greek-speaking Christians from Constantinople, nor did they meet Latin-speaking Christians from the western Mediterranean. Rather, they first encountered Christians from northern Mesopotamia who spoke … Continue reading Notes: Envisioninig Islam: Syriac Christians and Early Muslim World
Most Christians Do Not Understand the Trinity
Ask the average Christian about the Trinity, and many will respond with confidence: "There is one true God in three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit." The statement rolls easily off the tongue for most devotees, and surveys show that a strong majority would affirm it if asked directly. But … Continue reading Most Christians Do Not Understand the Trinity
The First Crusade: Holy War or Holy Hypocrisy?
The First Crusade (1096–1099) is often remembered in church history as a sacred mission to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim control, clothed in the language of holy war and divine justice. Pope Urban II’s fiery words at Clermont promised forgiveness of sins and eternal reward for those who “took the cross,” while Byzantine Emperor Alexios I … Continue reading The First Crusade: Holy War or Holy Hypocrisy?
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