SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Three Rings or Three Impostors? The Comparative Approach to the Abrahamic Religions and its Origins

In this lecture, I shall discuss a major puzzle in the history of modern scholarship. Both the Parable of the Three Rings in Lessing’s Nathan the Wise and the anonymous Liber de Tribus Impostoribus, which was a best-seller throughout the eighteenth century, reflect the fact that the obvious family resemblances between Judaism, Christianity and Islam were clearly recognized until the Enlightenment. And yet, the modern scholarly study of these religions has rarely discussed Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the same framework, and thus has remained to a great extent unable to perceive clearly, from a structural and genetic perspective, their close similarities and deep differences.