Christian Lives Given to the Study of Islam

So What Have We Learned?

In the final chapter, the editors attempt to draw out pointers from the foregoing. These include: the importance of Centres for Christian-Muslim study and inspirational teachers, the crucial role played by ecclesiastical documents, visionary leaders and solid theology in delineating the vision, the contribution of Catholic religious orders to supply and support personnel and the sacrificial dedication needed for the work, the way in which this apostolate can be seen as priestly ministry, the need for serious study of languages and theology, the demand for a new generation of teachers and the resources to support their work, the requirement for an appropriate spirituality to nourish students and teachers, the crucial role played by studying with Muslim teachers and fellow-students so that the friendships thus engendered can provide an intuitive knowledge of the lived faith of the other, and finally the need for a Kingdom-orientated theology of mission to feed into the wider Church.