What is even more ironic is the fact that Cardinal Tauran, not only imagines such Muslim closure, but goes on to attribute it to the Muslim belief in the divine authorship of the Qur’an (i.e. that the Qur’an is the very speech of God). This is very strange indeed, and comes down to thinking that one who believes in the divine authorship of a sacred text can not possibly be a dialogue partner on theological matters!

In making this strange claim about the Muslim creed regarding the Qur’an, the Cardinal seems to forget the Roman Catholic dogmatic position regarding Christian Scriptures. Since at least the Council of Trent, the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church has again-and-again re-affirmed a very strong, dictation-like, position regarding divine revelation, and has always maintained that “For holy mother Church, relying on the belief of the Apostles (see John 20:31; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-20, 3:15-16), holds that the books of both the Old and New Testaments in their entirety, with all their parts, are sacred and canonical because written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself.” (Vatcian II, Dei Verbum, Chapter III.) (emphasis added)

Pope Leo XIII’s Providentissimus Deus (1893) makes it clear that a strong belief in the divine authorship of the Christian Scriptures has been ‘perpetually held and professed’ by the Church. “This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition, and in written Books, which are therefore called sacred and canonical because, "being written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author and as such have been delivered to the Church" (2). This belief has been perpetually held and professed by the Church in regard to the Books of both Testaments; and there are well-known documents of the gravest kind, coming down to us from the earliest times, which proclaim that God, Who spoke first by the Prophets, then by His own mouth, and lastly by the Apostles, composed also the Canonical Scriptures (3), and that these are His own oracles and words (4) — a Letter, written by our heavenly Father, and transmitted by the sacred writers to the human race in its pilgrimage so far from its heavenly country" (5). (Emphasis added)

It is true that the Catholic Church since 1943, and especially since Vatican II, and in light of the findings of historical-critical scholarship, began to also stress the involvement of the human authors of the Christian Scriptures. However, and even in De Verbum, God’s own inerrant authorship has always been affirmed by the Church. Even Pope Pius XII’s Divino Afflante Spiritus (1943) re-affirms the same creed, and expands rather than cancels the scriptural creeds of Pope Leo XIII’s Providentissimus Deus (1893).

Therefore, given the dogmas of the Catholic Church regarding Christian Scriptures, it is strange, and ironic indeed, that Cardinal Tauran holds that upholding the divine authorship of a sacred text is a hindrance to theological dialogue! If such belief in divine authorship prevents its adherents from theological dialogue, then the Cardinal would have the same dialogical inhibitions that he imagines Muslim scholars to have.

Unfortunately, Cardinal Tauran’s statement turns out to be based on ill-founded ‘Islam versus Christianity’ ‘contrast tables’ developed and advocated by some ‘Islam experts’. Rather than unilaterally declaring the impossibility of theological dialogue with Muslims, Cardinal Tauran would have been wiser to ask Muslim scholars themselves as to what kind of dialogue they feel is possible, from their point of view. To unilaterally pre-determine what is possible and not possible for the other, on behalf of the other, is one sure way of achieving closure in matters dialogical.

What is your hope for the next step in the conversation?

Our hope is for a multifaceted and multidimensional matrix of discourses with multiple nodes of Christian leadership, scholarship and wisdom. That matrix is already rapidly emerging, as is evident by the multiple positive responses and initiatives (documented on the open letter's official website). Muslim scholars are most appreciative of such great responses. There is already advanced Muslim-Christian planning for multiple workshops, seminars, meetings, and conferences. May our One God bless the efforts of all men and women of good will, as they strive to sincerely live together in Love of God and Love of all neighbors.

God knows best!

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CINDY WOODEN is a reporter for the Catholic News Service, which is an editorially independent and financially self-sustaining division of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is the main news agency serving Catholic newspapers in the United States and Canada

AREF ALI NAYED is a former professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (Rome), and the International Institute for Islamic Thought and Civilization (Malaysia). He is currently an Advisor to the Cambridge Interfaith Program at the Faculty of Divinity in Cambridge