Resources

From past Scriptural Reasoning events organised by SR-TüB

At SR-TüB, we have a long-standing experience of doing Scriptural Reasoning within our study programmes, in the form of seminars offered for MA and advanced BA students. Here, we share the materials we have compiled and used for our classes. For Biblical texts, we use the JPS 1985 translation for Jewish readings and the New Revised Standard Version for Christian readings. For Qur’anic texts, we refer to Abdel Haleem’s translation (2005). No translation is perfect or able to render the text in all facets of its original language, but we find these translations useful and easy to access in the context of SR. Given our academic setting, we also bring the original texts to the table.

The presentation of texts follows the topics of SR seminar series offered by SR-TüB since 2015.

Prayer (SR-TüB 2024)

Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 1

Matthew 6:5–15

Romans 8:18–27

Mark 15:33–41

Q 2:186 (Sūrat al-Baqara)

Q 1:1–7 (Sūrat al-Fātiḥa)

Q 7:54–58 (Sūrat al-Aʿrāf)

Q 10:9–10 (Sūrat Yūnus)

Q 2:200–201 (Sūrat al-Baqara)

Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, “al-Tawḥīd”, 15

Jewish and Muslim Perspectives

Deuteronomy 6:4–9

Psalm 146

Q 40:57–68 (Sūrat Ghāfir)

Q 3:189–200 (Sūrat Āl ʿImrān)

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 2

Psalm 105:1–6

Ephesians 6:10-20

Q 33:41–48 (Sūrat al-Aḥzāb)

Q 2:152 (Sūrat al-Baqara)

Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, “al-Dhikr wa-l-duʿāʾ wa-l-tawba wa-l-istighfār”, 8

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 3

Exodus 3:1–15

Psalm 96:1–9

Q 17:105–111 (Sūrat al-Isrāʾ)

Q 51:15–18 (Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt)

Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, “al-Tawḥīd”, 35

Prophethood (SR-TüB 2023)

Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 1

Luke 11:46–54

Luke 13:22–35

Wilfried Eisele, „Prophetenmord hat Tradition“, Das Lukasevangelium. Gott macht Geschichte, Freiburg i. Br.: Herder, 2021, pp. 77-79.

Wilfried Eisele, “Fuchs und Henne”, Das Lukasevangelium. Gott macht Geschichte, Freiburg i. Br.: Herder, 2021, pp. 90-91; 117-118.

Q 5:99–105 (Sūrat al-Māʾida)

Q 43:20–25 (Sūrat al-Zukhruf)

Q 8:27–36 (Sūrat al-Anfāl)

Q 3:21–22 (Sūrat Āl ʿImrān)

Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, “al-Daʿawāt", 1

Ibn Mājah, Sunan, “Zuhd”, 37

Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, “Riqāq”, 51

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 2

Micah 3:1–12

W. J. Wessels, “Conflicting powers. Reflections from the Book of Micah”, Old Testament Essays, 10/3 (1997) pp. 528–44, at pp. 541–2.

Q 11:49–68 (Sūrat Hūd)

Ibn Mājah, Sunan, “al-Fitan”, 20

Ibn Mājah, Sunan, “al-Aḥkām”, 2

Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, “Aḥādīth al-anbiyāʾ”, 17

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 3

Revelation 5:1–10 The Apokalyptic Lamb

Revelation 21:1–7 The New Jerusalem

Q 21:107–112 (Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ)

Q 34:28–39 (Sūrat al-Sabaʾ)

Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, “Tawba”, 4

Muslim, Ṣāḥīḥ, “Tawba”, 5

Jewish and Muslim Perspectives

Deuteronomy 18:15–22

Deuteronomy 34:1–12

The story of the Oven of Akhnai, Babylonian Talmud Bava Metzia 59a-b

Q 24:46–57 (Sūrat al-Nūr)

Q 6:48–67 (Sūrat al-Anʿām)

Al-Ghazālī, "On the muʿjiza (miracles)", Moderation in Belief. Al-Iqtiṣād fī al-iʿtiqād, trans. Aladdin M. Yaqub, Chicago IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2013, p. 192; 195.

Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives

Exodus 19:1–25

Moses Maimonides (1138–1204), Guide of the Perplexed Guide III. 51

Hasdai Crescas (1340–1410/11), Light of the Lord (Or Hashem), Part IV Concerning Prophecy (from Chapters I and IV)

1 Corinthians 12:27-14:5

Anthony C Thiselton, Thiselton on Hermeneutics. The Collected Works and New Essays of Anthony Thiselton, Aldershot UK: Ashgate, 2006, pp. 387-88.

Luke Timothy Johnson, The Writings of the New Testament. An Interpretation, London: SCM, 1999, pp.309-10.

Ellen F. Davis, Biblical Prophecy. Perspectives for Christian Theology, Discipleship, and Ministry, Louisville KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014, pp. 1-2; 6-7; 246.

Q 42:7–26 (Sūrat al-Shūrā)

Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, “Badʾ al-waḥy”, 3

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Khabbāzī (d. 691/1292), al-Hādī fī uṣūl al-dīn (‘Guide to the Principles of Religion’), trans. by Harith Ramli, in Māturīdī Theology: A Bilingual Reader, ed. Lejla Demiri, Philip Dorroll and Dale J. Correa, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022, pp. 127, 129.

Discourses of Rumi (Fihi ma fihi), trans. A. J. Arberry (1961), pp. 143-144.

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 4

Luke 1:26–38

Irenäus of Lyons, "A true God-man, born of a Virgin", Adversus Haereses III 21,1;4

Q 19:16-36 (Sūrat Maryam)

Q 3:42-47 (Sūrat Āl ʿImrān)

Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, "Aḥādīth al-anbiyāʾ", 45

Tirmidhī, Jāmiʿ, "Manāqib", 62

Tirmidhī, Jāmiʿ, "Manāqib", 61

Discourses of Rumi (Fihi ma fihi), trans. A. J. Arberry (1961), pp. 37-38

Hope (SR-TüB 2022)

Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives

Jewish and Muslim Perspectives

Job 14:1-22 (with commentary according to Rabbi Nathan and Bereshit Rabbah 61.2)

Psalm 92:12

Heather Houser, 'Is Climate Writing Stuck?, LitHub, 3 January 2022)

Ezra 10:1-20, 44

Ezra 9:1-4

Genesis 6:1-4

Genesis 8:1-16

Genesis 1:9-10

Ruth 1:1-22

Interview with Lea Ypi, author of Free: coming of age at the end of history, Guardian, June 4, 2022

Lamentations 3:1-25 (with commentary from Lamentations Rabbah on Lams 3:21)

Deuteronomy 4:44

Paul M. Joyce and Diana Lipton, "The Curse of Lamentations" and "Alef-Bet City", in Lamentations Through the Centuries, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013

Deuteronomy 29:18

Q 21:83-84 (Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ)

Q 38:41-46 (Sūrat al-Ṣād)

Q 41:49-54 (Sūrat al-Fuṣṣilat)

Q 26:69-89 (Sūrat al-Shuʿarāʾ)

Q 39:49-67 (Sūrat al-Zumar)

Al-Ghazzali on Hope and Fear, trans. Muhammad Nur Abdus Salam, Chicago IL: Great Books of the Islamic World, 2002, pp. 31-33.

Muslim Perspectives

Q 2:34-38 (Sūrat al-Baqara)

Q 35:19-30 (Sūrat al-Fāṭir)

Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, "Riqaq", 4

Bukhari, Ṣaḥīḥ, "Adab", 18; Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, "Tawba", 26

Tirmidhī, Jāmiʿ, "Imān", 70

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 1

Hebrews 10:22-24; 11:1-12

J. Moltmann, “3. Liberating Hope: Freedom as Future”, The Spirit of Life, 1992, pp. 119–120.

John 1: 1-18

A. Scrima, L’évangile de Jean: Un commentaire, 2017, pp. 33, 35, 58.

Luke 24:13-35

L.-M. Chauvet, Symbol and Sacrament, 1995, pp. 161-162.

Q 10:99-109 (Sūrat Yūnus)

Q 24:35-57 (Sūrat al-Nūr)

Q 39:22-23 (Sūrat al-Zumar)

Q 13:11-32 (Sūrat al-Raʿd)

Christian and Muslim Perspectives 2

Matthew 6:5-14

Romans 8:18-30

Luke 21:5-19

Q 7:55–58 (Sūrat al-Aʿrāf)

Q 1:1–7 (Sūrat al-Fātiḥah)

Q 33:41–48 (Sūrat al-Aḥzāb)

Q 64:1–18 (Sūrat al-Taghābun)

God, Eternity, and Time (SR-TüB 2021)

God and eternity

‘You are the same and your days will have no end’ (Ps 102:27)
Psalm 102

‘He is the First, and the Last…’ Q 57:1-12
Ghazzālī’s The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God, pp. 133-7, 145, 146-7 (further reading)

God and time

‘Make us know how few are our days’ (Ps 90:12)
Psalm 90

‘a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of that which you reckon’ Q 22:52
‘and none destroys us save time’ Q 45:24-29
Hadith: The Messenger of God reported that God said: ‘Sons of Adam inveigh against [the
vicissitudes of] Time, and I am Time, in My hand is the night and the day.’ (Bukhārī, Muslim)

Human beings and time

‘Your throne, o God, is for ever and ever’ (Hebr 1:8)
Hebrews 1

Q 76:1-31

Time and human responsibility

‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ (Lk 10:23)
Luke 10: 23-37

Q 103:1-3
Hadith: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘Take advantage of five
before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your wealth before
your poverty, your free time before your preoccupation, and your life before your death.’ (Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īmān)

God and creation

‘The Lord, the eternal God does not weary or grow faint’ (Isa 40:28)
Isaiah 40: 25-31

‘Truly your Lord is God, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days’ Q 10:3-12
Ghazzālī’s Moderation in Belief, pp. 41-5 (further reading)

God’s knowledge of the future

‘Nothing new under the sun’ (Eccl 1:9) – ‘for everything its season’ (Eccl 3:1)
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

‘with Him are the keys of the Unseen’ Q 5:59-62
Q 42:1-14

Time and the Eschaton

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

Q 32:4-20 and Q 70:1-26

Eschatology (SR-TüB 2020)

Eternity

Isaiah 11:1-9	The coming of the Messiah will bring judgement and peace, also between the human and the animal creation
Q 17:9-39	Divine guidance leads to eternal bliss

Life to the dead

Ezekiel 37:1-14	‘Can these bones live?’ The resurrection of the dry bones of Israel
Q 2:258-260	Abraham’s request ‘My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead’

Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:1-28.35-58	‘How are the dead raised?’ Resurrection of Christ and our resurrection
Q 36:41-83	God the Creator will revive the bones after they have decayed

The Last Judgment

Matthew 25:31-46	The last judgments and the works of mercy
Q 22:5-25	The Hour will come. The Fire and the Garden

The Last Day

Revelation 20:7 - 21:8	The last battle with Satan, the opening of the books, the destruction hell and God’s dwelling with humankind.
Q 75:1-40	The Day of Resurrection

Salvation and Right Guidance (SR-Tüb 2019)

Walking in God's ways

Deuteronomy 30: 11–20
Psalm 119
John 14:6 and 16:5-15

God is the Guide

Q 1:1-7
Q 10:99-109

Faith and good actions

James 2:4-16
Q 103:1-3
Q 29:69
Q 2:62; Q 5:69; Q 22:17

The powerlessness to do the good

Romans 7:14-25

Empowerment through the Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

Salvation is a choice - and that choice has consequences

Q 2:256-260
Q 18:27-44
Q 31:20-34
Q 39:53-75

The norm of action and its consequences

Matthew 25: 31-46

The reward of the guided ones

Q 4:68-69
Q 7:40-43

The One God, Our God, and the God of Others (SR-TüB 2018)

Scriptural and Doctrinal Reasoning on the Unity of God

Naming God

Exodus 3:1-15

Philippians 2:5-11

Qur'an 7:180 and 17:110-111

Qur'an 59:18-24

God's name(s)

Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names, Chapters 1-4, in C. Luibheid (ed.), Pseudo-Dionysios. The Complete Works, 'Classics of Western Spirituality', Mahwah NJ: Paulist Press, pp. 49-96.

Al-Ghazali, The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God, trans. D. B. Burrell and N. Daher, Cambridge: ITS, 2004, pp. 30-47.

The Oneness of God

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Luke 10:25-37 (1 Cor 8:1-6)

Qur'an 112

Qur'an 2:255

Luther, Large Catechism, Explication of the 1st Commandment: Book of Concord, p. 386f.

Al-Ghazālī, Moderation in Belief, trans. A. M. Yaqub, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013, pp. 73-77.

Critique of Idolatry

Isaiah 44:9-20

Romans 1:18-32

Qur'an 4:116-126

Qur'an 12:40 (see also 7:71 and 53:23)

Luther, Large Catechism, 1st Commandment: Book of Concord, pp. 387.389

Calvin, Institutes I, 11-13

Al-Ghazali, Faith in Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence, trans. D. B. Burrell, Louisville KY, 2001, pp. 9-19.

Worshipping God

Isaiah 58:6-14

Romans 12:1-2 (3-21)

Qur'an 51:47-60

Hadith 25 and 34 in Forty Hadith Qudsi, trans. E. Ibrahim and D. Johnson-Davies, Cambridge: ITS, 1997, pp. 104-5 and 126-7.

God's Law

Exodus 20:1-17

Matthew 5:17-26; 43-48

Qur'an 30:30-45

Hadith 6 and 7 in An-Nawawī's Forty Hadith, trans. E. Ibrahim and D. Johnson-Davies, Cambridge: ITS, 1997, pp. 42-5.

Luther, Large Catechism, Conclusion of the Ten Commandments, first section of the Creed, Book of Concord 430/1.

Calvin, Institutes II, 11-13.

Al-Ghazālī, Moderation in Belief, trans. A. M. Yaqub, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013, pp. 184-195.

The God of all Peoples

Micah 4:1-5

Acts 17:22-37

Qur'an 7:172-173

Qur'an 42:8-31

Calvin, Institutes I, 2-5 (the sense of God)

Maybudī on Q 6:12 in An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries. Volume 1: On the Nature of the Divine, ed. F. Hamza and S. Rizvi with F. Mayer, Oxford: OUP, 2010, pp. 310-312

God, Human and non-Human Creatures (SR-Tüb 2017)

Scriptural Reasoning as an Approach to Questions of a Theological Ecology

The status of humans

Genesis 1:1-27	The order of creation and the status of humans in creation (imago Dei)
Qur’an 7:54-58	The creation of the heavens and earth. The status of humans and their responsibility

The role of humans

Genesis 1:28-30	The future of humankind and the dominium terrae
Qur’an 2:28-39	Humans God’s khalīfa on earth

The creation of humans

Genesis 2:4b-8	The formation of humans from the soil and the animation with the divine spirit
Qur’an 32:1-11	God breathing His Spirit into creation

God’s ordered creation as a beneficial home for the non-human and human creation

Psalm 104

Qur’an 78

God's creation and providence

Psalm 145:14-16 & Psalm 147	Thanksgiving for God’s providence in creation
Qur’an 13:1-5	It is God who creates, revives, and speaks to humanity

Thanksgiving for God's creation

Psalm 65/Psalm 136	Thanksgiving for the bounty of the earth – thanks giving for God’s steadfast love
Qur’an 55:1-30	God creates perfectly; all in balance; humans should give thanks, live a balanced life and uphold justice

The non-human creation

Matthew 6:25-33	The birds of the air and the lilies of the field
Qur’an 40:57-65	The creation of heaven and earth greater than the creation of mankind

Non-humans and humans

Romans 8:18-25	The longing of creation for the revealing of the children of God
Qur’an 6:37-41	Animals ‘communities’ just like mankind

Animals

Isaiah 11,1-9	The messianic kingdom and peace in the animal creation
Qur’an 16:65-74	God speaking to animals (bee)

Signs in creation

Job 38

Qur’an 67

Ecological Rules

Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:1-5, 8-13	Sabbath year and year of jubilee
Qur’an 6:59-62	All creation is dependent on God
Qur’an 44:38-42	Creation has a purpose

God's loyalty

Genesis 9:8-17	The covenant between God, Noah and all living beings
Qur’an 17:41-44; 24:41-45 & 59:21-24	Nature exalts the Creator; more loyal than humans

The future of creation

Revelation 21	The New Heaven and the New Earth – the vision of the New Jerusalem
Qur’an 4:116-126	Human responsibility to preserve non-human creation