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Parution : John Renard, Crossing Confessional Boundaries Exemplary Lives in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Traditions, University of California Press, janv 2020. Arguably the single most important element in Abrahamic cross-confessional relations has been an ongoing mutual interest in perennial spiritual and ethical exemplars of one another’s communities. Ranging from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages, Crossing Confessional Boundaries explores the complex roles played by saints, sages, and Friends of God in the communal and intercommunal lives of Christians, Muslims, and Jews across the Mediterranean world, from Spain and North Africa to the Middle East to the Balkans. By examining these stories in their broad institutional, social, and cultural contexts, Crossing Confessional Boundaries reveals unique theological insights into the interlocking histories of the Abrahamic faiths.Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Metaphor, Method, and the Three “Sources” ofHagiographic NarrativePART ONE: GEOGRAPHIES SHARED-HISTORICAL/ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES1. Geographies Shared I—The Central Middle East2. Geographies Shared II—Spain and North Africa3. Geographies Shared III—From Anatolia to the BalkansPART TWO: HAGIOGRAPHIES COMPARED-LITERARYPERSPECTIVES: FORM, CONTENT, AND FUNCTION4. Hagiography Constructed: An Owner’s Manual5. Hagiography Deconstructed: A Reader’s Toolbox6. Hagiography at Work: A Job DescriptionPART THREE: DRAMATIS PERSONAE: HISTORY, AUTHORITY,AND COMMUNITY7. Historical Themes and Institutional Authority8. Constructions of Personal Authority—Epistemicand Charismatic9. Exemplars and Their CommunitiesConclusion: Comparative Approaches to ReligiousExemplarity and HagiographyNotesSelected BibliographyIndexAbout the AuthorJohn Renard is Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. His many books include Seven Doors to Islam: Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims, Windows on the House of Islam, Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood, Tales of God’s Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation, and Islamic Theological Themes: A Primary Source Reader.&#160;