(CNS) -- Christians must distance themselves from anyone or anything that insults Islam's prophet Mohammed and should come to a greater appreciation of his role in bringing millions of people to recognize the one God, said a German Jesuit scholar.
But Christians cannot share Muslims' recognition of Mohammed as the last and greatest prophet, said Father Christian Troll, a professor of Islam and of Muslim-Christian relations at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Germany.
Writing in La Civilta Cattolica (Catholic Civilization), a Jesuit magazine reviewed by the Vatican prior to publication, Father Troll was responding to a question asked by many Muslims: "We Muslims recognize Jesus as a prophet and we venerate him. Why don't you Christians accept Mohammed as a prophet in the same way?"
In the mid-May article, the Jesuit said that in recognizing Jesus as one of God's prophets Muslims are following the indications of the Quran, the sacred book of Islam.
"If, on the other hand, a Christian would accept Mohammed's claim of being the true and ultimate prophet, it would go against the witness of the basic documents of the Christian faith," he said.
For Muslims, he said, Mohammed was the prophet who revealed God's uncreated word, the Quran.
For Christians, Jesus was not a prophet, but the word of God made flesh, he said.
While Christians cannot share Muslims' faith in Mohammed as the last and greatest prophet, "Christians must decisively distance themselves from every insult against Mohammed and, in addition, must try to recognize and appreciate his exceptional historic personality, his role as founder of Islam and the extraordinary place he occupies in the faith, piety and religious thought of Muslims," Father Troll said. |