{"title":"The Eucharist in the Qur’an","authors":"Mohsen Goudarzi","doi":"10.1080/09596410.2023.2246314","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT A passage in the Qur’an’s fifth sura (verses 112–15) relates that Jesus’s disciples asked him if God could send them a table or meal (māʾida) from heaven. The precise referent of this story and its significance have been the subject of debate in Qur’an scholarship. This study first argues that Q 5.112–5 refers to the institution of the Eucharist, by showing that worship is a central concern of Q 5 and that this passage is connected to earlier verses of the sura that refer to Christian worship. Second, the study provides a brief discussion of Christian conceptions of the Eucharist and of the prayers recited during this ritual in Late Antiquity, suggesting that the qur’anic account and its surrounding verses address critically three main issues: the affirmation of the Christian creed during the Eucharist, the capacity of this rite to bring about forgiveness and salvation, and the related idea of Christ as the prime mediator between God (the Father) and humanity. This critical engagement with Christian worship seems to be a reaction to Christian criticism of the Believers’ way of worship, which is referenced earlier in the sura.","PeriodicalId":45172,"journal":{"name":"Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2023.2246314","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"RELIGION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT A passage in the Qur’an’s fifth sura (verses 112–15) relates that Jesus’s disciples asked him if God could send them a table or meal (māʾida) from heaven. The precise referent of this story and its significance have been the subject of debate in Qur’an scholarship. This study first argues that Q 5.112–5 refers to the institution of the Eucharist, by showing that worship is a central concern of Q 5 and that this passage is connected to earlier verses of the sura that refer to Christian worship. Second, the study provides a brief discussion of Christian conceptions of the Eucharist and of the prayers recited during this ritual in Late Antiquity, suggesting that the qur’anic account and its surrounding verses address critically three main issues: the affirmation of the Christian creed during the Eucharist, the capacity of this rite to bring about forgiveness and salvation, and the related idea of Christ as the prime mediator between God (the Father) and humanity. This critical engagement with Christian worship seems to be a reaction to Christian criticism of the Believers’ way of worship, which is referenced earlier in the sura.
期刊介绍:
Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations (ICMR) provides a forum for the academic exploration and discussion of the religious tradition of Islam, and of relations between Islam and other religions. It is edited by members of the Department of Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom. The editors welcome articles on all aspects of Islam, and particularly on: •the religion and culture of Islam, historical and contemporary •Islam and its relations with other faiths and ideologies •Christian-Muslim relations. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations is a refereed, academic journal. It publishes articles, documentation and reviews.