Semitism

Kenneth Cragg was first in Jerusalem in 1939, and subsequently became deeply involved in areas of faith between Semitic religions under the stress of current politics. He later pursued doctoral studies in Oxford where he first graduated and became Prizeman' in Theology and Moral Philosophy, and where he is now an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College. He was a Bishop in the Anglican Jurisdiction in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the Middle East, and played ecclesiastical roles in Africa and India. A Certain Sympathy of Scriptures is a companion book to his Readings in the Qur'an (1988; 1999), and more broadly to his Faiths in Their Pronouns: Websites of Identity (2002). Other works by Bishop Cragg, and published by Sussex Academic Press, include: With God in Human Trust -- Christian Faith and Contemporary Humanism; The Weight in the Word -- Prophethood, Biblical and Quranic; and The Education of Christian Faith.

"A masterful study that demonstrates Cragg's profound knowledge and scholarship of the historical, theological and scriptural sources of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as well as the current conflict in the Middle East. Bold and original, it provides an empathetic reassessment of the Jewish fear of anti-Semitism grounded in the context of European history that culminated in the horrors of the Holocaust and the displacement and suffering of the Palestinian people. Cragg demonstrates his impeccable analytical skills to uncover the manipulation of the fear of anti-Semitism to justify Israeli policies. Profound, enlightening, a must read for anyone concerned with the issue of anti-Semitism and the Middle East conflict." -- Yvonne Y. Haddad, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University."Cragg patiently explores the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam... Crucially, he finds a key difference to be in the relation to political power of the later suras of the Qur'an, at least, and the life and teaching of Jesus... In another life, Kenneth Cragg would be a poet, and the text is dense with poetic allusion... it has a meditative quality that only enhances its call to re-engagement with contemporary Islam." -- The Revd Dr Timothy Gorringe, Professor of Theological Studies, University of Exeter.

• Introduction; 'The Place of the Name'; Our Human 'Corn and Wine and Oil'; Interrogation from Within; 'Gentiles'; Though Jesus to a Human Inclusion; 'This World Harsh and Strange'; Zionism - The Realised Quest?; Zionism - The Great Forfeiture?; Inter-Testamental Relations Now; Marc Chagall's Prayer Shawl.