The theological dialogue between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East

This article by Georges Massouh, an Islamologist of the Antiochian tradition, examines the foundations and limits of Islamic-Christian theological dialogue in the Middle East. Proceeding through an analytical and comparative study, the author distinguishes several levels of dialogue — national, theological, spiritual — before focusing on the properly theological dimension. On the Christian side, he analyzes the positions of Patriarch Ignatius IV and Archbishop Georges Khodr, who draw on apophatic theology and pneumatology to establish a basis for mutual recognition. On the Muslim side, he confronts the discourses of Fadlallah, Qaradawi, and Hasan Khalid, revealing positions often conditioned by the political context. The main contribution of the article is to show that theological dialogue remains asymmetrical: while Arab Christian theologians have developed a rigorous Islamology, Muslim authors largely ignore Christian sources, limiting dialogue to the civic and national register.