Kelli Bryant - Patristic Influence on Syriac Contra-Islamic Apologies

Even in some of the earliest interreligious dialogues between Christians and Muslims after the Islamic Conquest, discussions of the Trinity and the Incarnation loom large. Whilst Syriac apologies rarely, if ever, cite the church fathers directly in such interreligious debates, their explanations of basic Christian beliefs are rife with patristic imagery and theology. This is hardly surprising since the correct interpretation of the fathers was the major battleground upon which the Christological controversies of the 5^th and 6^th centuries were fought, and in the ensuing centuries each party’s interpretation of the fathers became a fixed component of their socio-religious identity. Still, one might wonder whether and how these patristic foundations were put to creative use as new theological challenges emerged with the rise of the new, potent state religion of Islam. For example, the Qur’an also calls Jesus (or ‘Isa) the ‘Word of God’, opening the door for interreligious discussion of what this appellation really means. This short communication will explore such issues by tracing the use of patristic imagery and theology, especially Logos Christology, in selected Syriac contra-Islamic apologies.