DEBATE: Vatican II, Nostrae Aetate 3 and the Muslims - Robert Sungenis vs Peter Dimond

Did Vatican II teach error when it spoke of the Muslims? On Tuesday, August 2, 2011, Bro. Peter Dimond and Robert Sungenis met to debate exactly that question, focused on the teaching of the Council in Nostra Aetate 3.

The resolution: Vatican II's teaching on the Muslims in Nostra Aetate 3 is false, heretical, and contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church. Bro. Peter Dimond took the affirmative, that the teaching is false and heretical; Robert Sungenis took the negative, that it is not. The passage under debate reads in part:

Nostra Aetate 3: The Church also regards the Moslems with esteem. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.