Peter G Riddell

The metrical translation of the Psalms into the Punjabi language, set to indigenous music in the late nineteenth century in India, plays a vital role in the personal and communal worship of the global Punjabi Christian community. This book is a pioneer work that comprehensively encompasses the cultural, socio-historical, missional, and sociolinguistic aspects of the Punjabi Psalter. It investigates the unique and fascinating story of the contextualizing of Psalms in an exclusive South Asian Punjabi context and engages in an in-depth study on the life and work of Rev. Dr. Imam-ud-Din Shahbaz. This work determines to bring a deeper appreciation for the Punjabi Psalter by encouraging the Punjabi Christians to not only pass the Psalms on to the next generations but also to grow in loving and valuing their mother-tongue, the Punjabi language. The thrust of this book is to esteem the shared heritage of the global Punjabi Christian community--the Psalms in Punjabi, commonly known as the Punjabi Zabur.

The metrical translation of the Psalms into the Punjabi language, set to indigenous music in the late nineteenth century in India, plays a vital role in the personal and communal worship of the global Punjabi Christian community. This book is a pioneer work that comprehensively encompasses the cultural, socio-historical, missional, and sociolinguistic aspects of the Punjabi Psalter. It investigates the unique and fascinating story of the contextualizing of Psalms in an exclusive South Asian Punjabi context and engages in an in-depth study on the life and work of Rev. Dr. Imam-ud-Din Shahbaz. This work determines to bring a deeper appreciation for the Punjabi Psalter by encouraging the Punjabi Christians to not only pass the Psalms on to the next generations but also to grow in loving and valuing their mother-tongue, the Punjabi language. The thrust of this book is to esteem the shared heritage of the global Punjabi Christian community--the Psalms in Punjabi, commonly known as the Punjabi Zabur.

The first edition of this work appeared as Chapter 6 in my book, Christians and Muslims: Pressures and potential in a post-9/11 world (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2004).1 That volume represented the published version of the London Lectures in Contemporary Christianity for 2003, for which the late Rev Dr John Stott was Patron and which I delivered at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. The period of those 2003 lectures was especially dynamic in terms of Christian-Muslim relations, coming in the wake of the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The audiences for the 2003 lectures were particularly interested to pose questions on political and social issues as they relate to Christian-Muslim relations. The 9/11 terrorist attacks did not represent the beginning of the current wave of Islamic resurgence. In fact, the dynamic resurgence of Islamic identity that we are witnessing today has been underway across the world since the 1970s. This has been fuelled by rapidly increasing revenue for the Islamic world from oil income, and new or resurrected expressions of Islam have come to the fore. On the one hand, some Muslims have pushed at the boundaries of liberal thinking, seeking to bring the world of Islam into the era of human rights, the digital age and cyberspace. At the same time, rapid progress has produced a throwback mentality among some Muslims, expressed in threatening terms by fundamentalist movements, including radical groups such as the notorious Al-Qaeda, the IslamicState in Iraq and Syria and the lesser known Hizbut Tahrir. At the same time, dramatic movements of Muslim populations have led to the rise of significant Muslim minority communities hosting these various expressions of Islamic faith in Western countries. In Britain, for example, the Muslim community has grown from around 400,000 in the mid-1970s to well over 3,000,000 today. Australia has seen its Muslim minority grow during the same period from barely 20,000 to over 600,000. Similar growth has taken place in other Western countries.

Much of the world today is convulsed in an epic struggle between the Christian West and Islam. Scholars seeking to understand the issues look back in history to unearth the roots of this conflict. Of great value in this effort are the writings of an eyewitness, a devoted Christian who served as chief financial officer of the Umayyad Empire and wrote at the time Islam was developing. John of Damascus (675-750) authored two major works, the Heresy of the Ishmaelites and the Disputation between a Christian and a Saracen, to provide an apologetic response to Islam from a Christian perspective. His writings shed light on many questions that are pertinent today: When was the Qur'an actually written? What was the role of the powerful caliph Abd al-Malik in the making of Muhammad? How did the theological issues related to the deity of Christ and the Trinity develop in the early days of Islam? This book delves into the life of John and studies his apologetic writings in detail, utilizing the first English translation from the critical text. It seeks to address these questions thoughtfully, provide valuable insights from the past, and then equip today's church as it engages with Islam. ""In this age of ignorance of Islam, Dr. Daniel Janosik has introduced us to one of the most significant Christian thinkers of the eighth century, one who provides us with a real window on early Islam. Dr. Janosik's book is highly relevant to our age, well written, and accessible even to the uninitiated. This is a critical book, not just for patristics but for understanding our present circumstance."" --David Cashin, Professor, Intercultural and Muslim Studies, Columbia International University ""The last twenty years have been a wake-up call for many in the West, not least in terms of the relation of Islam to the modern world. With helpful insight from one of the earliest witnesses to the rise of Islam and the significant theological differences between the historic view of God found in orthodox Christianity and the new movement emerging which we now know as Islam, Daniel Janosik's book is a valuable historical tool to help lead us into the substance of the core issues of what is at stake in the debates over sources, substance, and truth claims in regard to the view of God. John of Damascus saw firsthand the advance of this new movement and engaged in public service under the conquerors even as he also wrestled with the ideas and claims being made by this new faith. He saw it as a significant challenge to Christianity and engaged with the earliest claims and ideas and provided a thoughtful Christian response. His work sheds important light on early Islam, the formation of its beliefs and not merely on what was present but what was missing in this early period. Daniel's work will be an important resource for those interested both in history and in theology as it carefully delineates important issues on both these fronts which have bearing on contemporary interactions with Muslims. John of Damascus deserves more attention and this book provides a timely resource on a neglected voice. I highly recommend it."" --Stuart McAllister, Global Support Specialist, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries ""One of the key issues of the twenty-first century has been the relations between Islam and the West. In that context it is helpful to look back at the first major Christian theologian to engage with Islam, the last of the Eastern Church Fathers, John of Damascus. Daniel Janosik gives us a fascinating and illuminating guide to John's approach. Definitely to be commended."" --Tony Lane, Professor of Historical Theology, London School of Theology Daniel Janosik is an adjunct professor of apologetics, historical theology, and Islamic studies at Southern Evangelical Seminary, as well as Columbia International University. He is the author of A Christian's Guide to Islam.