In Christian theology, the teaching that Christ possessed both a human and divine will is central to the doctrine of two natures, but it also represents a logical paradox, raising questions about how a person can be both impeccable and subject to temptation. This volume explores these questions through an analytic theology approach, bringing together 15 original papers that explore the implications of a strong libertarian concept of free will for Christology. With perspectives from systematic theologians, philosophers, and biblical scholars, several chapters also offer a comparative theology approach, examining the concept of impeccability in the Muslim tradition. Therefore, this volume will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working in analytic theology, biblical scholarship, systematic theology, and Christian-Islamic dialogue.

In Christian theology, the teaching that Christ possessed both a human and divine will is central to the doctrine of two natures, but it also represents a logical paradox, raising questions about how a person can be both impeccable and subject to temptation. This volume explores these questions through an analytic theology approach, bringing together 15 original papers that explore the implications of a strong libertarian concept of free will for Christology. With perspectives from systematic theologians, philosophers, and biblical scholars, several chapters also offer a comparative theology approach, examining the concept of impeccability in the Muslim tradition. Therefore, this volume will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working in analytic theology, biblical scholarship, systematic theology, and Christian-Islamic dialogue.

For a generation and more, the contribution of Christian theology to interreligious understanding has been a subject of debate. Some think of theological perspectives are of themselves inherently too narrow to support interreligious learning, and argue for an approach that is neutral or, on a more popular level, grounded simply open-minded direct experience. In response, comparative theology argues that theology, as faith seeking understanding, offers a vital perspective and a way of advancing interreligious dialogue, aided rather than hindered by commitments; theological perspectives can both complement and step beyond the study of religions by methods detached and merely neutral. Thus comparative theology has been successful in persuading many that interreligious learning from one faith perspective to another is both possible and worthwhile, and so the work of comparative theology has become more recognized and established globally. With this success there has come to the fore new challenges regarding method: How does one do comparative theological work in a way that is theologically grounded, genuinely open to learning from the other, sophisticated in pursuing comparisons, and fruitful on both the academic and practical levels? How To Do Comparative Theology therefore contributes to the maturation of method in the field of comparative theological studies, learning across religious borders, by bringing together essays drawing on different Christian traditions of learning, Judaism and Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, the wisdom of senior scholars, and also insights from a younger generation of scholars who have studied theology and religion in new ways, and are more attuned to the language of the "spiritual but not religious." The essays in this volume show great diversity in method, and also-over and again and from many angles-coherence in intent, a commitment to one learning from the other, and a confidence that one's home tradition benefits from fair and unhampered learning from other and very different spiritual and religious traditions. It therefore shows the diversity and coherence of comparative theology as an emerging discipline today.

The Qur'an identifies Jesus as a sign of God, and he holds a place as one of the most important prophets in Islam. Looking at Jesus in Islam also reveals both deep differences from and rich connections to the view of Jesus in Christianity. In The Other Prophet, Mouhanad Khorchide and Klaus von Stosch explore and explain the position of the Qur'anic Jesus, with one scholar working from the Muslim and the other from the Christian theological perspective. Their combined research presents a history of Jesus' presence in the Qur'an and provides astute observations to deepen the understanding of both Christians and Muslims. Here we find that a common view of Jesus from the Muslim and Christian sides is not only possible, but also expands our understanding of Jesus and his message.

An entire chapter (surah) of the Qur'an bears her name. She is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur'an-indeed, her name appears more frequently than that of either Muhammad or Jesus. From the earliest times to the present day, Mary has continued to be held in high regard by Christians and Muslims alike. And yet Mary has also been the cause of much rancour and tension between these two world religions. In this groundbreaking study, Muna Tatari and Klaus von Stosch painstakingly reconstruct the picture of Mary that is presented in the Qur'an and show how veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church intersects and interacts with the testimony of the Qur'an. Their sensitive and scholarly treatise is an important contribution to constructive interfaith dialogue in the 21st century.

Komparative Theologie ist ein neuer, im deutschen Sprachraum noch nahezu unbekannter Ansatz in der religionstheologischen Debatte. Die Beziehung zwischen dem Christentum und anderen Religionen wird dabei nicht durch formale Raster (Exklusivismus, Inklusivismus, Pluralismus) bestimmt, sondern durch Vergleiche einzelner Vorstellungs- und Praxisformen. Ausgehend von ausgewahlten Fallbeispielen wird die Tiefengrammatik von religiosen Uberzeugungen komparativ herausgearbeitet. Im vorliegenden Band wird der neue Forschungsansatz vorgestellt und in Vergleichen zwischen christlichen, muslimischen und buddhistischen Traditionselementen erprobt. Dabei werden die philosophischen Grundlagen, die Anliegen und die Leistungen der Komparativen Theologie deutlich. Es treten aber auch die unterschiedlichen Auspragungen dieser Forschungsrichtung zutage. So wird eine spannende neue Perspektive in der Diskussion um eine theologische Bestimmung der Beziehung des Christentums zu den nichtchristlichen Religionen eroffnet. Mit Beitragen von James Fredericks, Norbert Hintersteiner, Michael Huttenhoff, Anja Middelbeck-Varwick, Jurgen Mohn, Robert Cummings Neville, Christine Niggemann, Klaus von Stosch, Christiane Tietz, Pim Valkenberg, Keith Ward, Ulrich Winkler. Reinhold Bernhardt, Dr. theol., Jahrgang 1957, ist Professor fur Systematische Theologie/Dogmatik mit Arbeitsschwerpunkt Theologie der Religionen an der Universitat Basel. Klaus von Stosch, PD Dr. theol., Jahrgang 1971, ist Professorenvertreter an der Universitat Paderborn.