Necessary non-apodicity: Hermeneutic priority and textual authority in Christian-Muslim dialogue

Abstract

This article seeks to explore something of the significance of the notion of necessary non-apodicity as a leitmotif for the reading of sacred text in the context of Christian-Muslim dialogical engagement. Far from being a contentious challenge to received traditions of the status and reception of our respective scriptures, it contends that the notion of an inherent requirement to apply hermeneutic tools and approaches to sacred text is a mark of the mode of divine revelation as such. The absolute word of God was and is spoken into and through multifarious concrete contexts; the apprehension of the divine message throughout changing contexts and differing situations is thus intended to invite interpretive engagement necessarily. Or, put otherwise, the hermeneutical task that necessarily applies to the reading of scripture suggests that the sacred text of divine revelation is marked by necessary non-apodicity. In exploring this idea further, the article addresses some general issues of Christian and Muslim perspectives on sacred text then turns to an examination of the 2007 letter, 'A Common Word', from Muslims to Christians that seeks a renewed emphasis on dialogue.