“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.”
Rev. 9:1-3
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Order of Contents
Articles
Books
History of Islam
. Interaction with Post-Reformation
Swearing on the Koran & Bible
Latin 6+
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Articles
1500’s
Marbeck, John – ‘Mahomet’ in A Book of Notes & Common Places, with their Expositions, Collected & Gathered out of the Works of Diverse Singular Writers, & Brought Alphabetically into Order… (London, 1581)
Smith, Henry – Ch. 4, ‘Wherein is Briefly Showed the Religion of Mahomet to be a False & Wicked Religion’ in God’s Arrow Against Atheists (London, 1593)
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1600’s
Leigh, Edward – bk. 1, ch. 3, ‘The Second Great False Religion is Mahometism’ in Fœlix Consortium [a Fruitful Fellowship], or, A Fit Conjuncture of Religion & Learning in One Entire Volume, consisting of six books… (London, 1615)
Osborne, Francis –
Osborne (1593-1659)
Comenius, Johann Amos – Ch. 148, ‘Mahometism’ in The Visible World, or, A Picture & Nomenclature of All the Chief Things that are in the World, and of Men’s Employments Therein (London, 1659), pp. 302-303
Comenius (1592-1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian from Moravia who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren before becoming a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. As an educator and theologian, he led schools and advised governments across Protestant Europe through the middle of the seventeenth century.
The Unity of the Brethren church had its roots in the teaching of Czech reformer Jan Hus. Comenius was greatly influenced by Boehme and was interested in prophecy. PRDL lists him as reformed.
More, Henry – An Explanation of the Grand Mystery of Godliness, or, A True & Faithful Representation of the Everlasting Gospel of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ… (London, 1660), Book 5
ch. 9, ‘On Mahomet’
ch. 10, ‘That Mahomet was no true Prophet, discovered…’
ch. 12, sections 5-8
More (1614–1687) was an Arminian, Latitudinarian, English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school.
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1900’s
Boettner, Loraine –
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Books
1600’s
Bedwell (1561–1632) was an Anglican minister and scholar, specializing in Arabic and other oriental languages, as well as in mathematics.
“…contains those objections to the Qur’an which had turned into commonplaces in the late Middle Ages.” – Alastair Hamilton, William Bedwell the Arabist (Brill, 1985), p. 68
For more background on the work, see Dr. Derek Dunne,‘Mohammedis Imposturae…’.
Rycaut, Paul – The Present State of the Ottoman Empire, Containing the Maxims of the Turkish Polity, the Most Material Points of the Mahometan Religion, their sects & heresies, their convents & religious votaries, their military discipline… (London, 1668)
Rycaut (1628–1700) was a British diplomat, author and traveler. Rycaut served as secretary to the British Embassy at Constantinople. Afterward, he served as consul to the Levant Company in Smyrna, Turkey.
Prideaux, Humphrey – The True Nature of Imposture Fully Displayed in the Life of Mahomet, with a discourse Annexed for the Vindicating of Christianity from this Charge, Offered to the Consideration of the Deists of the Present Age (London, 1697)
Prideaux (1648–1724) was a low-Church Anglican clergyman, professor and orientalist.
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1700’s
Reland, Adriaan – Four Treatises Concerning the Doctrine, Discipline & Worship of the Mahometans: viz. I. An Abridgment of the Mahometan Religion… II. A Defense of the Mahometans from Several Charges Falsely Laid Against Them by Christians… (J. Darby for B. Lintott and E. Sanger, 1712)
Reland (1676-1718) was a noted Dutch Orientalist scholar, cartographer and philologist in the reformed tradition.
“Reland, through compiling Arabic texts, completed De religione Mohammedica libri duo in 1705. This work, extended in 1717, was considered the first objective survey of Islamic beliefs and practices. It quickly became a reference work throughout Europe…” – Wikipedia
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The History of Islam
On the Medieval Age
Rhodes, D. Bryan – John Damascene in Context: An Examination of ‘The Heresy of the Ishmaelites’ with Special Consideration Given to the Religious, Political, and Social Contexts During the Seventh & Eight Century Arab Conquests Master of Arts thesis (Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, 2009)
Christians under Islam on our page, Medieval Church History
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In Interaction with the Post-Reformation
Colombo, Emanuele – ‘Western Theologies and Islam in the Early Modern World’ in The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology (Oxford, 2016), p. 482-98
Colombo is a professor of Catholic studies at DePaul University.
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On Swearing on the Koran & the Bible
Willet, Andrew – Hexapla in Genesis & Exodus (d. 1621; 1633, London), ‘Of the Ten Commandments in Particular’, ch. 23, 3. Questions Discussed
Question 27, ‘Whether a Saracene may be Urged to Swear upon the Gospels or in the Name of Christ?’
Question 29, ‘That it is Not Lawful for a Christian to Swear upon the Turks’ Al-Koran, or Mahomet’s Thigh, Nor for a Turk Himself’
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Latin
1500’s
Bibliander, Theodore – Of the Principles of Mohammed of the Saracens & of the Life of his Successors, & of the Doctrines of the Al-Koran Itself… (1543) ToC
Bibliander (1509-64) was reformed.
This “…is considered one of the most important early modern texts on Islam published in the Latin West. This work reproduced for the first time in print the Copus Cluniacensis, the authoritative medieval source collection on Islam that included the Latin translation of the Qur-an by Robert of Ketten (ca. 1092-1156), along with a set of medieval polemical works. In this sixteenth-century ‘encyclopedia of Islam’, Bibliander wanted to provide Christian scholars with the instruments to oppose the Islamic threat and evangelize Muslims… Bibliander’s compendium shaped the early modern view of Islam in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries…” – Emanuele Colombo, Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, p. 483
Postel, Guillaume – A Book of Concord between the Koran, or the Law of Mohammed, & the Evangelists… (1543)
Postel (1510-1581) was a French linguist, astronomer, Cabbalist, diplomat, professor, and religious universalist.
“Postel… who knew Arabic and had a direct knowledge of the Muslim world, fluctuated between a universalistic approach that minimized differences of belief between Christianity and Islam, and the acceptance of conventional negative views. Postel corrected some of the mistakes of his predecessors…” – Emanuele Colombo, Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, p. 484
Anon. – Confutations of the Mohammedan Law, which They call the Al-Koran… ([no date or publisher]) ToC
This is a similar style compendium as Bibliander’s above, but different.
Lonitzer, Philipp – Chronica Turcica, vol. 1, 2, 3 (Frankfurt: Johannes Wechlus, 1584)
Lonitzer (d. 1599) was a German, Lutheran minister and historian.
Possevino, Antonio – p. 502 bottom & the bibliography in Bk. 7, ch. 26, the 10th Rule of A Select Library, wherein it is Discussed of the Rule of Studies… (Rome, 1593), vol. 1
Possevino (c.1533-1611) was a Jesuit, a protagonist of the Counter-Reformation as a Papal diplomat, a controversialist, encyclopedist and bibliographer.
This work was “one of the most influential Catholic bibliographic encyclopedias… In Book 7, devoted to heresies and enemies of the Church, Possevino offers a particularly harsh image of Mohammed and Islam, and reiterates the legend that Mohammed had been instructed by a heretical Christian monk named Sergius (or Nestorius). When suggesting a list of readings about Islam, Possevino quotes standard medieval authors.” – Emanuele Colombo, Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, p. 484
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1600’s
Voet, Gisbert – 41. ‘Of Muhammadism’ in Select Theological Disputations (Utrecht: Waesberg, 1655), vol. 2, pp. 659-84
Witsius, Herman
A Philological-Theological Exercise on the Mohammedan Creed, ‘There is No God but One’ Against that Most Holy Trinity, Defended (Utrecht, 1696)
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Related Pages