| | The following is an interesting excerpt from the Pope's speech.
The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.
. . .
The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: "For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality." Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us.
So the Christian God's nature is bounded by reason (the influence of Aquinas?) and to tell the truth. However, Allah is not so bound. Is it then no wonder why some Muslims are so irrational and chronic liars? It seems the essence of Allah is power and arbitrary will, nothing more. Why then should Muslims behave any differently?
[A friend brought this excerpt to my attention.]
|
|
Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.
