John of Damascus on Islam. The “Heresy of the Ishmaelites.” by Daniel J. Sahas (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 781 John of Damascus on Islam. The" Heresy of the Ishmaelites." By DANIEL J. SAHAS. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972. Pp. 187. 61 guilders. The present work, arising out of a dissertation for the Hartford Seminary Foundation, is a contribution to the Christian-Islamic dialogue from the historical point of view, and, in this case, to John Damascene's role in that dialogue. The author inve!ltigates the relevant declarations of the Synod of 754 and their significance in the first chapter, the familiar background and the political developments in Syria at the time of the Islamic conquest in the second, and the life of John Da:nascene in his Islamic environment in the third. With the fourth chapter the author enters into the most important part of his work, an examination of c. 101 in John Damascene's catalogue of heresies-first of all, its tradition. Then, in the fifth chapter, he deals with its contents, particularly (and in great detail) with the express reference to the Koran; but he also seeks to uncover traces of the Koran which appear in a general sort of way throughout the Damascene's theological writings. The sixth and seventh chapters are dedicated to the Dialogue between a Christian and a Saracen, and this is analyzed in the same fashion that c. 101 of the catalogue of heresies is analyzed. The author comes to the conclusion that both works (the latter at least according to its contents) are original texts of John Damascene and betray a great familiarity with the Koran and early Islamic theology. In its present format the Dialogue does not come from the Damascene, although its contents seem to; it is an expansion and a development of the introductory questions in Haer. 101, a summary of the most essential doctrines of early Islamic theology and thus an aid for the Christian in an encounter with Islam. Between Haer. 101 and the Dialogue there is a mutual dependence. In the eighth chapter the author touches upon still more writings, whether rightly or wrongly attributed to the Damascene (De draconibus, strygibus, The Life of Peter of Capitolias, The Refutation of the Moslems, the Formula of Abjuration), and he shows that these contain no position regarding Islam and should not be denied him. In the appendix the texts of Haer. 101 and the Dialogue are given in both Greek (Migne) and English. Pp. 160-168 list pertinent literature, and an index of names and of subjects follows on pp. 169-171. Sahas is repeatedly obliged to note that particular questions cannot be answered because of the lack of a critical text (e. g., pp. 66, 67', 74). The relevant selections in the new edition of John Damascene are not yet ready for publication. Of Haer. 101 only the most important manuscripts have been collated so that, as a preliminary, some things can be brought up, namely, the discussion concerning uKda in place of 8pTJCTKEla (p. 68); this reading is either the peculiarity of a previously unestablished manuscript or simply a printing error. In 769 A~. as a more serious variant to ti}v 78.~ BOOK REVIEWS xaf3afHw there is still only rov xaf3o0av; TOV ya{3ofUv and TOV f3ax0av probably have no significance whatsoever. Four manuscripts read xaf3ap instead of xaf3lp (769 B5; cf. p. 86). The epilogue of Haer. (777B~ ff) is no longer considered certainly genuine, so that its statements prove nothing more with reference to the extent of the 100 chapters (cf. p. 57). It should be stressed here, however, that, according to the witness of the manuscripts, Haer. 101 is authentic (pace Poggi in Or. Chr. Per. 38 [197~] 514) and that the conclusion of Haer. from Migne cc. 99 and 101 is able to stand. Whether c. 101 ends with 77~ D8, as is the case in nine manuscripts (cf. my tJberlieferungsgeschichte, pp. 196 and ~00 gen. tree g), or with 773 A5 has yet to be determined. The current edition of the chronography of Theophane the Confessor would be that of C. de Boor, Leipzig 1883, reprinted in Hildesheim 1963, that of Georgios Kedrenos by I. Bekker, 1838/39 (cf. p. 31 ), that of John...