
Kenneth Cragg and the Event of the Qur’an
Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Kenneth Cragg und das Ereignis des Koran on the theological portal feinschwarz.net (12 June 2026, open access).
Timo Güzelmansur presents the Anglican theologian Kenneth Cragg (born in Nottingham in 1913, educated at Oxford) as a major British pioneer of Christian-Muslim dialogue, still too little received in the German-speaking world. From the late 1930s, Cragg went to the Middle East: he taught at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, engaged for years with Muslim scholars in Lebanon and Egypt, spent time in Sudan, and became Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem (1970-1973). His thought arises not from European distance but from long experience of majority-Muslim societies, where Islam is a lived reality.
His central idea: reading the Qur’an as an “event”. This is not merely its proclamation by the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century, but an ongoing happening, a word spoken and heard that calls for a response. This phenomenological approach shifts attention from textual analysis to a “theology of address and responsibility”: God addresses the human being and draws him into a relationship. Cragg sees here a bridge to Christian thought, without blurring the differences.
The author also highlights the tension between divine transcendence and human response, and Cragg’s sensitivity to language: the Qur’an is inseparable from its Arabic form, every translation remaining an approximation. His theology is not neutral: he remains a Christian thinker arguing from his own tradition, showing that dialogue does not require abandoning one’s identity but rethinking it before the other. The Qur’an becomes a counterpart that also questions Christianity.
Read the full article: feinschwarz.net
Article de Timo Güzelmansur paru sous le titre Kenneth Cragg und das Ereignis des Koran sur le portail théologique feinschwarz.net (12 juin 2026, en libre accès).
Timo Güzelmansur présente le théologien anglican Kenneth Cragg (Nottingham, 1913 ; formé à Oxford) comme un pionnier britannique majeur du dialogue islamo-chrétien, encore trop peu reçu dans l’espace germanophone. Dès la fin des années 1930, Cragg part au Proche-Orient : il enseigne à la Near East School of Theology de Beyrouth, échange durant des années avec des savants musulmans au Liban et en Égypte, séjourne au Soudan, puis devient évêque anglican de Jérusalem (1970-1973). Sa pensée ne naît pas d’une distance européenne, mais d’une longue expérience de sociétés à majorité musulmane, où l’islam est une réalité vécue.
Son idée centrale : lire le Coran comme un « événement ». Il ne s’agit pas seulement de sa proclamation par le prophète Muhammad au VIIe siècle, mais d’un événement continu, une parole prononcée et entendue qui appelle une réponse. Cette approche phénoménologique déplace l’attention de l’analyse du texte vers une « théologie de l’interpellation et de la responsabilité » : Dieu s’adresse à l’homme et l’engage dans une relation. Cragg y voit un pont vers la pensée chrétienne, sans effacer les différences.
L’auteur souligne aussi la tension entre transcendance divine et réponse humaine, et la sensibilité de Cragg à la langue : le Coran est indissociable de sa forme arabe, toute traduction restant une approximation. Sa théologie n’est pas neutre : il demeure un penseur chrétien qui argumente depuis sa tradition et montre que le dialogue n’exige pas d’abandonner son identité, mais de la repenser face à l’autre. Le Coran devient un vis-à-vis qui interroge aussi le christianisme.
Lire l’article intégral : feinschwarz.net
مقال بقلم تيمو غوزيلمانسور، نُشر بعنوان:
Kenneth Cragg und das Ereignis des Koran (feinschwarz.net، 12 June 2026)
يُقدّم تيمو غوزيلمانسور اللاهوتيَّ الأنغليكانيَّ كِنيث كراغ (المولود في نوتنغهام سنة 1913، والمتخرّج من أكسفورد) بوصفه رائداً بريطانيّاً كبيراً في الحوار المسيحيّ-الإسلاميّ، لا يزال حضوره ضعيفاً في الفضاء الناطق بالألمانيّة. لقد توجّه كراغ منذ أواخر الثلاثينيّات إلى الشرق الأوسط: فدرّس في مدرسة الشرق الأدنى للاهوت ببيروت، وحاور سنواتٍ طويلةً المتخصّصين المسلمين في لبنان ومصر، ثمّ أقام في السودان، فصار أسقفاً أنغليكانيّاً للقدس (1970-1973). ومن هنا لم ينبثق فكرُه من مسافةٍ أوروبيّة، بل من خبرةٍ طويلةٍ في مجتمعاتٍ ذاتِ أغلبيّةٍ مسلمة، حيث الإسلامُ واقعٌ معيش.
إنّ فكرتَه المحوريّة هي قراءةُ القرآن بوصفه «حدثاً». وليس المقصود مجرّدَ تبليغه على لسان النبيّ محمّد في القرن السابع، بل حدثاً متّصلاً: كلمةٌ تُقال وتُسمع وتستدعي جواباً. فهذا المنهج الظاهراتيّ ينقل الاهتمامَ من تحليل النصّ إلى «لاهوت المخاطبة والمسؤوليّة»، إذ يخاطب اللهُ الإنسانَ ويُدخله في علاقة. ويرى كراغ في ذلك جسراً نحو الفكر المسيحيّ، من دون طمس الفوارق.
كما يُبرز المؤلّفُ التوتّرَ بين التعالي الإلهيّ والجواب الإنسانيّ، فضلاً عن حساسيّة كراغ تجاه اللغة: فالقرآن لا ينفصل عن صورته العربيّة، وتبقى كلّ ترجمةٍ مجرّد تقريب. أمّا لاهوته فليس محايداً: إنّه مفكّرٌ مسيحيّ يُحاجّ انطلاقاً من تقليده الخاصّ، ويُبيّن أنّ الحوار لا يقتضي التخلّي عن الهويّة، بل إعادةَ التفكير فيها في حضرة الآخر. ومن هنا يصير القرآنُ نظيراً يطرح أسئلته على المسيحيّة أيضاً.
قراءة المقال كاملاً: feinschwarz.net
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