God's Creativity and Human Action

Book excerpt: This book presents the proceedings of the fourteenth annual Building Bridges seminar, a gathering of scholar-practioners of Islam and Christianity for study of selected texts pertaining to a chosen theme. Part I includes two brilliant essays that set the context for the book: "Human Action within Divine Creation: A Muslim Perspective" by Mohsen Kadivar of Duke University and "On the Possibility of Holy Living: A Christian Perspective" by Lucy Gardner of Oxford. The rest of the book includes paired essays--one from a Muslim perspective, one from a Christian perspective--that introduce scriptural material with commentary to aid readers in conducting dialogical study. Contributors include Richard Bauckham of St. Andrews, Sohaira Azhir Siddiqui of Georgetown, Brandon Gallagher of Exeter, Maria Massai Dakake of George Mason, Velli-Matti K rkk inen of Fuller Theological Seminary, and Feras Q. Hamza of the University of Wollongong in Dubai, among others. In her conclusion, coeditor Lucinda Marshall digests the illuminating small-group conversations that lie at the heart of the Building Bridges initiative.