“Who Do You Say that I Am?”: Christians and Muslims Disputing the Historical Jesus

The article presents the case against appealing to the “historical Jesus” as common ground between Christians and Muslims. It first teases out relevant aspects of Christianity’s own deployment of historical criticism of the Bible before investigating how Muslims have engaged with the same material for the purposes of inviting Christians to Islam. In the light of a clear double standard at work here, the implications of historical criticism for the Qur’ān’s handling of Jesus are analysed and conditions identified that would allow Muslims to engage more fully qua Muslims with the “historical Jesus.” A final section supplies a negative answer to the question whether the pursuit of a Muslim-Christian accord over the identity of Jesus is even a sensible objective for a Christian seeking better relations with Muslims.