The Monotheistic Religions Exchange Exclusion

Formulation of the Claim

The three monotheistic religions have historically practiced forms of mutual exclusion.

Explanation

Arkoun links this exclusion to each religion’s claim to possess revealed truth and to what he calls a history of salvation. When religious identity is understood as the exclusive possession of truth, relations between communities tend toward repudiation rather than recognition.

This meaning is not limited to passing disagreements among the followers of religions, but points to a deeper structure in the formation of religious consciousness within each tradition. Exclusion thus appears here as a recurring historical pattern in the monotheistic field.

Its Place in the Book’s Argument

This claim atom belongs to the book’s effort to compare the monotheistic religions in terms of the mechanisms by which they are formed discursively and historically, rather than in terms of doctrines alone. It is close to Arkoun’s theses criticizing the idea that each religious community monopolizes revelation and truth, and the reciprocal exclusion that follows from that claim.

Limits of the Claim

This claim atom should not be taken as an all-encompassing judgment on all believers or on every historical moment equally. Nor does it deny the existence of moments of coexistence or exchange within religious history; rather, it focuses on a general pattern of exclusion.

Brief Evidence

Over time, the three versions of the religion of monotheism became closed in upon themselves within their rigid dogmatic enclosures, thereby producing three theological systems of mutual repudiation, as evidenced by the fact that Jews do not recognize Christians, Christians do not recognize Muslims, and Muslims cast doubt on the authenticity of the books of Jews and Christians and accuse them of distortion, as mentioned earlier. In short, each major group among the three monotheistic sects questions the faith of the others and sees itself as the chosen people of God and the sole representative of the true religion, to the exclusion of all others. It is true that after the Second Vatican Council (1965), interreligious dialogue was inaugurated in order to overcome theological repudiation and mutual exclusion, but that did not change the

Nearby Links

• Toward a Comparative History of the Monotheistic Religions