While reactions toward Pope Benedict continue for the offensive remarks he said about Islam, an interesting detail has come to surface about the book that the pope quoted. The pope extracted specific parts of the book "A Debate with a Muslim," which was against Islam.
The pope said that he quoted the parts in question to prompt dialogue among religions.
Yet, the author of the book, Adel-Theodore Khoury, said that these expressions were "an obstacle against dialogue."
The book, examined by Zaman, deals with a debate between Byzantine Emperor Manuel Paleologue II and an Islamic cleric.
While the Byzantine emperor utters remarks against Islam, the Islamic counters his remarks. He said that the religions brought by Jesus and Moses were distorted later on and the actual irrationality was in Manuel's belief.
The remarks of the emperor that the pope quoted are severely criticized in the book by the author.
Zaman found the book that the pope made a quote from the dusty shelves of the Sorbonne University Library.
The book handles the discussions in the winter of 1391 between Manuel Paleologue II and an Islamic cleric who is claimed to be Haci Bayram-I Veli.
The work at issue is a book version of Khoury's thesis presented to Lyon University in 1966.
The thesis is about the debates on Christianity and Islam that Manuel had with an Islamic cleric in Ankara. A few years after Manuel's debates, Khoury examined these debates in nine different chapters. The seventh chapter was quoted by the pope.
In the seventh debate, where the issue of reason is discussed, Manuel and the Islamic cleric try to convince each other that their religion is more rational.
Manuel attacks Islam by saying, "Show me just what Muhammad that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith... and this is irrational."
The Islamic cleric tried to explain the Islamic view. He said that Muslims believed in Jesus and Moses; however, the religions brought by these prophets were distorted later on, showing that the actual irrationality was in Manuel's belief. The pope quoted sentences from these arguments that Manuel used in this debate.
In his analysis, Khoury revealed that during the debate, the parts "closed themselves in their own doctrine" and categorically refused the counter part, pointed out it prevents dialogue by converting the debate to monologue.
In his 237-page thesis, he mercilessly criticized this "monologue" in nine pages addressed to the present regarding the conditions of the inter-religious dialogue.
Khoury thought it was impossible to dialogue unless one tried to understand the opposing party. The only way is to be open to the other person.
He said that the only common ground on which people could come together was reason; however, Manuel and the Isamic cleric were using theological reason.
He continued: "What is needed is a common agreement and a common language," adding that application of the mind would otherwise be an "illusion," a trap which Manuel fell into.
Assuming that Manuel and the Islamic cleric became captive of their own judgment and doctrines, which Khoury believed, is not caused by bad faith or insincerity. He suggested that the problem was a "lack of consideration".
Manuel, Anti-Catholic Emperor
Ignoring the analysis quoted from the book, Benedict XVI brought Manuel's statements to the forefront centuries later. Khoury indicated how the inter-religious dialogue failed to be performed through the aforementioned debate.
Meanwhile, the 14th-century Byzantine emperor abhorred the Catholic Church, of which Pope Benedict is the spiritual leader. Manuel Paleologue II, known as an intellectual interested in philosophy and literature,
Advocated the Orthodox doctrine against the Catholic Church, Manuel continuously refused the West's suggestions to submit to the pope, even though he was helpless against the Ottomans.
Religious History Professor Omer Faruk Harman assumes that pope's quotation from Manuel's statements released "a symbolic message," even though the pope is opposed to his doctrine.
Source: Zaman
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