A Christian-Muslim Comparative Theology of Saints

Hans A. Harmakaputra, Ph.D. (2020), Boston College, is Visiting Assistant Professor in Comparative Theology and Muslim-Christian Relations at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, Connecticut, USA. He has published articles and book chapters, including a chapter in the book Georgetown Companion to Interreligious Studies (Georgetown University Press, 2022). Starting in Fall 2022, he will join Augustana University, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as Assistant Professor of Religion.

Acknowledgements



Introduction

 1Why Saints?

 2Reconfiguring Saints and Sainthood: The Quest for an Inclusive Christian Theology of the Saints

 3Disciplinary Framework: Comparative Systematic Theology

 4Limits of the Study

 5Structure



1 Contemporary Catholic Discourse on Theology of Saints

 1Canonization, Intercessory Roles, and Moral Exemplars:Three Features of the Saints in Catholic Teaching

 2Saints as Tangible Manifestations of God’s Grace in History:Karl Rahner’s Theology of Saints

 3Remembering the Saints as Friends of God and Prophets:Elizabeth Johnson’s Feminist Perspective on the Saints

 4The Invisibility of the Saint According to Jean-Luc Marion



2 Contemporary Protestant Discourse on Theology of Saints

 1Protestant Reformers’ Criticism of the Veneration of Saints

 2Contemporary Protestant Churches’ Approach to Saints

 3Contemporary Theological Approaches to a Theology of Saints

  3.1A Worldly Saint: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and His Thoughts on Sainthood

  3.2Saints as Embodiments of Ultimate Reality: Paul Tillich and His Notion of Saintliness and Sanctification



3 Friends of God and Sainthood in Islam: An Introduction

 1Clarification of the Key Terms Related to Sainthood

 2Signs of Awliya Allah: A Phenomenological Approach to Muslim Saints

  2.1 Reductionist and Relativistic Approaches to Sainthood

  2.2Approaching Sainthood as a Tradition in Islam

  2.3Miraculous Deeds as the Signs of a Wali: The Case of Abdurrahman Wahid

 3Friends of God in the Qur’an and Hadith: A Textual Approach

 4Formulation of Sainthood in the Early Period of Sufism:A Theological Approach

  4.1 Al-Junayd: Saints as Models for Believers

  4.2 Hakim al-Tirmidhi: Sainthood and the Seal of the Saints



4 Friends of God and Sainthood According to IBN ‘Arabi

 1Clarification of Ibn ?Arabi’s Key Concepts

  1.1 Oneness of Being

  1.2 The Human and the Perfect Human

  1.3 The “God Created in Beliefs”

 2The Realm of the Walaya

  2.1 The Relationship of Sainthood to Prophethood and Messengerhood

  2.2 The Universality of Walaya

 3The Saints as the Heirs of the Prophets

 4The “Hiddenness” of Saints



5 Saints as Manifestations and Revealers of God’s Self-Communication

 1The Universality of God’s Self-Communication

  1.1 Grace as the Self-Communication of God

  1.2 Anonymous Christians

  1.3 From Anonymous Christians to Saints

 2The Particularity of God’s Self-Communication

  2.1 The Role of Jesus Christ in God’s Universal Self-Communication

  2.2 Hidden Saints as Many Mediations

 3Towards the Recognition of Hidden Saints

  3.1 Hidden Saints as the Mystics of Everyday Life

  3.2 Universal Paths for Realizing God’s Grace

  3.3 Saints as Revealers of New Modes of God’s Grace



6 The Hiddenness of Saints

 1Banality and Holiness: Sanctity as Liminal Space

  1.1 “He Who Eats Food and Walks in the Markets”: Saints in the World

  1.2 Worldly Saints: Sanctification as the Journey in the Liminal Space

 2“Only a Saint Can Recognize Another Saint”: A Phenomenology of Sainthood

  2.1 “The One Who Blames Oneself”: The Malamiyya According to Ibn ?Arabi

  2.2 Hiddenness as a Mark of Sainthood

 3“He Who Sees You Sees Me”: The Transparency and Mediating Role of a Saint

  3.1 Friends of God as Mediations between God and Human Beings

  3.2 Saints as Icons of the Invisible God



7 Saints as Companions

 1Reinvigorating the Communion of Saints: The Significance of the Companionship Paradigm

  1.1 The Paradigm of Companionship and Its Significance

  1.2 The Seal of the Muhammadan Saints and the Problem of Hierarchy

 2Expanding the Boundaries of the Communion of Saints

  2.1 Friends of God and Cloud of Witnesses as Primary Metaphors of the Companionship Paradigm

  2.2 Reconfiguring the Concept of Intermediation of the Saints

 3Following in the Footsteps of the Friends of God

  3.1 The Intersections of Memory, Hope, and Praxis

  3.2 Multiple Paths of Holiness

  3.3 Encountering the Hidden Christ through Praxis



8 Approaching Saints: An Inclusive Christian Theology of Saints in Practice

 1An Inclusive Christian Theology of Saints: Three Theological Constructs

 2The Vox Populi Approach to Sainthood: Weaving Remembrance and Imitation

  2.1 The Vox Populi and the Catholic Canonization of Saints

  2.2 Protestantism and the Vox Populi Approach to the Communion of Saints

 3Recognizing Saints Interreligiously: Two Case Studies

  3.1 Frans van der Lugt, SJ

  3.2 Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur)

  3.3 Encountering the Hidden Christ through Praxis

 4 Redefining Sainthood: Saints as “Sign-Events”

 5 Remembering Gives Rise to Practice



Conclusion

 1 Three Theological Constructs

 2 Types of Learning in Comparative Theology

 3 Further Directions



Bibliography

Index