But, is he right?

I've been following the uproar over the Pope's quotation of Manuel II on Islam; "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

I am in no way defending the infallibility of the Pope, however, I find it interesting that his words have caused such offence in the West, and am particularly curious to see the reaction of the Church. As a scholar of Islam, and someone who hopes to someday have tenure at a respectable academic institution, it's difficult for me to talk openly about my opinions of Islam. However, after expressing them in private to a few close friends, and after reading this on The Reformed Evangelist, I'm taking the risk of ruining my academic career.

A good friend accused me of having a pure disgust for Islam. I made very clear to her that my distaste was with the religion itself, not those who practice it in good faith. I also laid out two key reasons for my opinion. First, from a theological standpoint, Allah in the Qur'an is damagingly inconsistent in character. Second, the circular reasoning that provides a safety net against textual criticism of the Qur'an conveniently allows all loop-holes and contradictions to become off-limits for discussion. That's an unacceptable cop-out academically, rationally and theologically.

And so, I have to agree with Catholic theologian and papal biographer George Weigel, who believes that the Pope knew exactly what he was doing when he quoted the 14th century Byzantine emperor. Essentially, Pope Benedict XVI raised the question: "Does Islam have the capacity to be self-critical?" What does this say about a faith that responds to criticism about it's violent contributions to history with more violence?