Nicholas of Cusa, Francis of Assisi, and interreligious dialogue

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Ron
Keyword(s):  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
Nicholas Of Cusa ◽  
Francis Of Assisi

Francis of Assisi and the Sultan

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 57-75
Author(s):  
Gerard Pieter Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
The Other ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
The One ◽  
Francis Of Assisi

In 1219, Francis of Assisi had an encounter with Sultan Melek al-Kamil in Egypt. The interpretation of this meeting is controversial. On the one hand it is seen as a paradigm of a peaceful interreligious dialogue; on the other, mediaevalists think this idea was inconceivable in the 13th century. The mediaeval sources are contradictory. This article raises the question if Francis’s deed was a breach in the spirituality of his days, and if so, how that is traceable. The sources tend to adapt Francis’s attitude to the expectations of his age. The oldest source states that Francis “made little progress” in converting the Sultan but also that the Sultan and the Saint understood each other. Francis’s Rule, written at the same time, shows that he advocated a peaceful attitude towards the Muslims. Because this was so uncommon, both his contemporaries and historians have difficulties in perceiving this breach.

The Interreligious Dialogue in De docta ignorantia of Nicholas of Cusa

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-237
Author(s):  
Marica Costigliolo
Keyword(s):  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
Absolute Truth ◽  
Nicholas Of Cusa ◽  
Metaphysical Assumption ◽  
Identity And Difference ◽  
In Virtue Of ◽  
The Way

This article explains the method followed by Nicolaus Cusanus (Nicholas of Cusa, 1401–1464) to develop the theme of difference in relation to identity, and the way in which, following this perspective, Cusanus first comes to formulate a discourse of interreligious dialogue. We can interpret the theory on conjecturality expounded by Cusanus in De docta ignorantia as a system of thought that proves essential to understand the irenic model of De pace fidei, because it is in virtue of this metaphysical assumption that he affirms that absolute truth cannot be reached and infinity is incomprehensible to all. By developing the theme of concordantia differentiarum (concordance of differences), Cusanus elaborates in De docta ignorantia the theme of the coincidentia oppositorum (coincidence of opposites). In exploring this connection, I shall consider his work for the purpose of underlining the relevance of the themes of identity and difference to the focus on interreligious dialogue.

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