Good heavens! Jon thought to himself. Can Abbas really believe all that-this rare voice of Muslim moderation? And yet if I poke fun at such credulity, the place will go up in flames. He must just be trying to please his own right wing. That, in fact, seemed to be the case, since Abbas hurried on to the next point. “How shall I respond to my colleague’s concerns as to how sharia law is being applied today and how women have been treated in Islam? I would ask you all to prepare for a shock… I agree with him! Yes, I agree with him!”
Amid rumblings of surprise, he declared, “The words of the Prophet-may his name be blessed-have been followed too literally by some in the world of Islam, who forget that he was often speaking to followers in very difficult military situations, rather than laying down rules to be observed at all times and places. This is no more and no less than the same problems Christians have with how they interpret some of the words of Jesus, who also often spoke harshly. He said, for example, ‘If your eye offend you, pluck it out!’ I sincerely hope that no Christian would be insane enough to take that advice literally.
“And so, I would like to close this phase of our discussion on an irenic note: Professor Weber and I have much in common, since we both oppose any hateful fanaticism in religion that would lead believers to think that violence is obedience to Allah’s, to God’s, commands. It is not!
“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.”
Both sides of the sanctuary now joined in spirited applause, which grew even louder after Jon and Abbas shook hands.
It was now noon, and time for lunch.
In order to avoid the press and the crowds, Click, Clack, and a detail from the CIA and the Turkish special police escorted Jon, Shannon, Richard, and Osman through a small exit in the southern apse of Hagia Sophia and into several black Mercedes sedans. They were whisked eastward around the basilica and into the gates of the Topkapi Palace grounds, where walking tourists parted ranks to let them drive by. Stopping at the eastern end of the enclave, they descended a steep flight of stairs to the Konyali Topkapi restaurant and its beautiful view overlooking the Bosporus. Here they all sat down at outdoor tables in an area separated from the rest of the restaurant terrace.
Osman and Dick were ebullient over the first half of the debate. Ferris, in fact, gave Jon a big hug and ordered champagne. Shannon was finally smiling again too, though she voiced her apprehension over the fanatic who had yelled his hatred inside the basilica. Kemet Bankasi, one of their Turkish liaisons, overheard her and said, “Again, we’re very sorry about that. He turned out to be a young student from Bodrum who is studying under a radical cleric there.”
“But how did he ever get a seat so near the front?” Dick Ferris asked.
“That’s still a mystery. He wouldn’t tell police, but it could be as simple as using a chair that was unoccupied for some reason. We thought we had screened everyone properly, but-well, one in eight thousand isn’t a bad average, is it?”
They all chuckled.
In discussing strategy for the afternoon, the talk was so spirited that they barely noticed the delicious seafood luncheon the chef had specially prepared. Jon passed on the champagne, since he wanted to keep all his wits in gear for rounds three and four.
Ferris’s cell phone rang, and he excused himself from the table. Minutes later, he returned, wearing a big grin. “The debate won’t air in the States until 3 p.m. our time, which is 8 a.m. Eastern time in the U.S. But Europe’s just an hour behind, and the BBC is reporting a huge audience. They even set up big projection screens at various points in London-Waterloo Station, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s-you name it. The same with Television Francaise. And at the Reichstag in Berlin, they even suspended a morning meeting of the Bundesrat so all could watch.”
“No riots so far?” Jon asked almost timidly.
“Not that I’ve heard.” Then he added, impishly, “And that’s all due, of course, to the high plane on which the debate is taking place.”
“Well, we’ll change all that this afternoon. That’s when we take our gloves off, so prepare for fireworks!”
“Jon…” Shannon’s plaintive tone was corrective enough.
“Just hyperbole, dear,” he soothed. Though maybe not, he mused.
By 2 p.m., all had reseated themselves inside the immense basilica, having lunched at hundreds of different eateries in the heart of Istanbul. Although Jon half expected the audience to diminish-who watched all-day debates anymore?-this time it was the opposite. Even the crowds outside had swelled. All seemed to know that the fun was about to begin. This would be the open, free, unstructured segment of the debate, in which the moderators promised to intervene as little as possible. Abbas, Jon, Bartholomew, and Selim had reminded one another of that agreement moments before the debate resumed, and the moderators opened the afternoon half of the debate by reminding the audience of that arrangement as well.
Again, Abbas al-Rashid seemed interested in starting off. “Dr. Weber, your explanation of the Christian Trinity is interesting in terms of how you illustrated it with the sun, or gold, or whatever, but I find it less than convincing. Please, once again, kindly explain how one can equal three. The word Trinity is not even in your Bible.”
The Trinity again, Jon reflected, then replied, “You are absolutely correct, Dr. al-Rashid. The term was first used by our church father Tertullian, but it faithfully reflects both the unity of God as well as his ‘plurality’ as Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier, qualities that we find all over the Old and New Testaments.”
Jon went on to cite the appropriate passages, then marshaled the traditional and philosophical evidence Christians have always used. The bottom line, in any case, was that mathematics alone stands as a warning sign that-unless one equals three-humanity, this side of eternity, cannot hope to probe the essence of God who is dimensionally different from his creation. “But permit me, honored Imam, to deal with the most significant problem that Christians have with Islam. It is so basic that all the other difficulties we find become secondary to this one.”
“Indeed? I look forward to hearing it!”
“And that, of course, is the role of Jesus and what happened to him in Jerusalem on the day we call Good Friday. To deny his crucifixion flies in the face of all historical evidence. You explained that as best you could, by claiming that ‘it was made to appear’ that he was on the cross. This, however, will simply not do. It would have required something of a mass hallucination on the part of all bystanders at Golgotha-which was not possible. And what about the Roman executioners? The Romans were grimly efficient when it came to executions: no one escaped.”
“With Allah, everything is possible. But you, worthy Professor, claimed that there are no records stating that Jesus did not die by crucifixion, other than that Basilides person. I fear you are mistaken on that point. The Gospel of Barnabas reports that someone else took Jesus’ place on the day of crucifixion and that Jesus escaped death. Now, the-”
“Honored Sheikh, The Gospel of Barnabas is a medieval forgery! It has no historical value whatever.”
“Well, perhaps a forgery based on facts, on a true secret tradition of what actually happened.”
Jon simply shook his head. “As I recall, one reason you deny Jesus’ crucifixion was because God would not allow such a punishment for one of his faithful prophets. Well, there we have a problem. Quite a few of God’s prophets have indeed suffered and died for his sake despite their faithfulness. Elijah had to run for his life, Jeremiah was cast into a pit, Zechariah was stoned to death, and John the Baptist was beheaded.”