Abstract
My Neighbor’s Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation
edited by Jennifer Howe Peace, Or N. Rose, and Gregory Mobley; foreword by Joan Chittister
Orbis, Maryknoll, NY, 2012. 200 pp. $25.00. ISBN 978-1-5707-5958-1.
This groundbreaking volume gathers an array of inspiring and penetrating stories about the interreligious encounters of outstanding community leaders, scholars, public intellectuals, and activists from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. With wisdom, wit, courage, and humility, these writers from a range of religious backgrounds share their personal experience of border-crossing, and the lessons learned from their interreligious adventures. We live in the most religiously diverse society in the history of humankind. Every day, people of different religious beliefs and practices encounter one another in a myriad of settings. How has this new situation of religious diversity impacted the way we understand the religious other, ourselves, and God? Can we learn to live together with mutual respect, working together for the creation of a more compassionate and just world? Mary Boys, Rita Nakishima-Brock, Arthur Green, Ruben Habito, Mark Heim, Paul Knitter, Michael Lerner, Brian McLaren, Richard Mouw, Eboo Patel, Judith Plaskow, Paul Raushenbush, and Arthur Waskow are among over 50 contributors.
Do We Worship the Same God?: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Dialogue
edited by Miroslav Volf
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2012. 176 pp. $20.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-6689-9.
Often the differences between the three Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—seem more obvious than their commonalities, leading to the question, “Do we worship the same God?” Can the answer be “yes” without denying our differences? Six Jewish, Christian, and Muslim philosophers and theologians seek to answer this question, offering insight into how representatives of each religion view the other monotheistic faiths. Each of the contributors (Christoph Schwöbel, Denys Turner, Amy Plantinga Pauw, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Reza Shah-Kazemi, and Peter Ochs) uniquely approaches the primary question from a philosophical perspective that is informed by the practice of worship and prayer. Concepts covered include “sameness” and “oneness,” the nature of God, epistemology, and the Trinity. The volume models serious-minded, honest, and respectful interreligious dialogue and gives us new ways to address an ongoing question.
Do Jews, Christians, and Muslims Worship the Same God?
by Jacob Neusner, Baruch A. Levine, Bruce D. Chilton, and Vincent J. Cornell; epilogue by Martin E. Marty
Abingdon, Nashville, 2012. 176 pp. $17.99. ISBN 978-1-4267-5237-7.
Most Jews, Muslims, and Christians are devoted and faithful. Still, on any given day, it is difficult to avoid the vigorous and heated disputes between them, whether over the “Ground Zero” mosque, lobbying state legislatures against Sharia law, sharing worship space, dissecting the fallout of the Arab Spring, protecting civil rights, or challenging the authority of sacred texts. With so much rancor, can there be any common ground? Do they even worship the same God? And can religion, which often is so divisive, be any help at all? Four scholars tackle these deceptively simple questions in an accessible way. While they may disagree, they nevertheless assert that whatever the answers to these questions, the three faiths must find the will (politically, socially, and personally) to tolerate differences. Perhaps what can help us move forward as pluralistic people is a focus on the goal: peace with justice for all.
Interfaith Just Peacemaking: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives on the New Paradigm of Peace and War
edited by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2012. 256 pp. $31.00. ISBN 978-1-1372-9337-4.
This volume is a collected work by twenty-seven Jewish, Muslim, and Christian scholars and religious leaders on the ten “practice norms” of the peacemaking paradigm called “Just Peace.” Just Peace theory, like the paradigm it most resembles, Just War theory, is a list of specific practices that are applied to concrete contexts. Each practice norm is a separate chapter with a general introduction and then commentary by one Christian, Jewish, and Muslim contributor and a short conclusion. The book is intended both as a general introduction to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim views on just peacemaking, and as a textbook for interfaith and peace studies courses.
Just Wars, Holy Wars, and Jihads: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Encounters and Exchanges
edited by Sohail H. Hashmi
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012. 456 pp. $35.00. ISBN 978-0-19-975503-5.
Surveying the period from the rise of Islam in the early seventh century to the present day, this collection of essays by twenty scholars is the first book to investigate in depth the historical interaction among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim ideas about when the use of force is justified. Grouped under the three labels of “just war,” “holy war,” and “jihad,” these ideas are explored throughout twenty chapters that cover wide-ranging topics from the impact of the early Islamic conquests upon Byzantine, Syriac, and Muslim thinking on justified war to analyzing the impact of international law and terrorism on conceptions of just war and jihad in the modern day. This study serves as a major contribution to the comparative study of the ethics of war and peace.
Trialogue and Terror: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam after 9/11
edited by Alan L. Berger
Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, 2012. 288 pp. $30.00. ISBN 978-1-60899-546-2.
Fifteen clearly written and insightful essays address the promise and peril of post-9/11 interfaith trialogue. Distinguished scholars of different faiths and divergent worldviews guide readers toward an informed understanding of the role of religion and the basic teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States. Acknowledging commonalities, these essays also shed light on the essential differences among the teachings of the Abrahamic traditions and raise pivotal questions regarding humanity’s future: What prompted the carnage? What has changed since then? What remains to be achieved? Dispelling ignorance about the religious other is a necessary, but only a first, step toward achieving a durable and effective trialogue. In an increasingly perilous and interconnected world where the effects of globalization are yet to be fully recognized, interfaith trialogue holds out the hope of genuine movement toward a more peaceful coexistence.
The Routledge Reader in Christian-Muslim Relations
edited by Mona Siddiqui
Routledge, London, 2013. 384 pp. $49.95. ISBN 978-0-415-68556-6.
Interest in Christian–Muslim dialogue has grown considerably in recent years. How Islam and Christianity have approached each other theologically is one of the most absorbing ways of understanding the challenge of interreligious relations or Christian–Muslim polemics. This volume provides an indispensable reading and reference tool, showing how Muslim and Christian scholars have shaped the discourse on the varying interfaces between Christianity and Islam. It contains a substantial introduction and presents a range of scholarly approaches to Christian–Muslim relations. Included are selections of primary polemical material, focusing on critical and appreciative approaches to the Jesus/Muhammad, Bible/Qur’an and God questions for Muslims and Christians.
Muslims Ask, Christians Answer
by Christian W. Troll, S.J.
New City Press, Hyde Park, NY, 2012. 160 pp. $15.95. ISBN 978-1-56548-430-6.
Muslims and Christians in many parts of the world meet ever more frequently. Often Muslims ask Christians about their faith and practice. This volume deals with twelve of the most important questions and explains their wider background in Muslim religious thought. From the perspective of Christian faith and theology and of dialogue with Muslims, the book clarifies Christian positions and makes sensitive, honest proposals for responding to the questions. In this way, the volume offers Christians and Muslims a helpful resource for orientation and a solid basis for interreligious encounter and dialogue. Chapters include: “Scripture and the Word of God”; “The Divinity of Jesus and the Incarnation”; “Cross, Sin and Redemption”; “Muhammad and the Christian Faith”; “God, the Three in One”; “The Church”; “The Holy Eucharist”; “Prayer”; “Religion and the World”; “Celibacy as a Religious Vocation”; “Religious Pluralism and Freedom of Religion”; and “The Heart of Christianity.”
American Christians and Islam: Evangelical Culture and Muslims from the Colonial Period to the Age of Terrorism
by Thomas S. Kidd
Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2013. 224 pp. $16.95. ISBN 978-0-6911-6230-0.
In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many of America’s Christian evangelicals have denounced Islam as a “demonic” and inherently violent religion, provoking frustration among other Christian conservatives who wish to present a more appealing message to the world’s Muslims. Yet as this book reveals, such views have deep roots in American history. Tracing Islam’s role in the popular imagination of American Christians from the colonial period to today, Kidd demonstrates that Protestant evangelicals have viewed Islam as a global threat—while also actively seeking to convert Muslims to the Christian faith—since the nation’s founding. He shows how accounts of “Mahometan” despotism and lurid stories of European enslavement by Barbary pirates fueled early evangelicals’ fears concerning Islam, and describes the growing conservatism of American missions to Muslim lands up through the post-World War II era. Kidd exposes American Christians’ anxieties about an internal Islamic threat from groups like the Nation of Islam in the 1960s and America’s immigrant Muslim population today, and he demonstrates why Islam has become central to evangelical “end-times” narratives. Pointing to many evangelicals’ unwillingness to acknowledge Islam’s theological commonalities with Christianity and their continued portrayal of Islam as an “evil” and false religion, Kidd explains why Christians themselves are ironically to blame for the failure of evangelism in the Muslim world.
Three Testaments: Torah, Gospel, and Quran
edited by Brian Arthur Brown; foreword by Amir Hussain
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2014. 656 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-1-4422-1493-4.
From disagreement over an Islamic Center in New York to clashes between Christians and Muslims in Egypt, tension between the three Abrahamic faiths often runs high. Three Testaments brings together the text of the Torah, the New Testament, and the Quran, so that readers can explore for themselves the connections, as well as the points of departure, between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Notable religion scholars (Laleh Bakhtiar, Marc Zvi Brettler, David Bruce, Henry Carrigan, Ellen Frankel, and Nevin Reda) provide accessible introductions to each tradition. Commentary from editor Brian Arthur Brown explores how the three faiths may draw similarities from the ancient Zoroastrian tradition. This new paperback edition of the 2012 volume provides a much-needed interfaith perspective on key sacred texts.
The New Encyclopedia of Islam, Fourth Edition
by Cyril Glassé
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2013. 600 pp. $95.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-4422-2348-6.
The acclaimed New Encyclopedia of Islam has been completely revised, updated, and redesigned in a fresh, larger format, with more than 1,500 entries. It is unique as a single-volume work that encompasses the beliefs, practices, history, and culture of the Islamic world. The book is suitable for novices and scholars alike. In this expanded new edition, with an extensive chronology, Cyril Glasse provides an unrivaled study of one of the world’s great religions.
Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible, Second Edition
by M. Daniel Carroll R.; foreword by Samuel Rodriguez; afterword by Ronald Sider
Brazos, Grand Rapids, 2013. 208 pp. $17.99. ISBN 978-1-58743-351-1.
Immigration is one of the most pressing issues on the United States’ agenda. In this accessible book, an internationally recognized immigration expert helps readers think biblically about this divisive issue, offering accessible, nuanced, and sympathetic guidance for the church. As both a Guatemalan and an American, Carroll is able to empathize with both sides of the struggle and argues that each side has much to learn. This updated and revised edition reflects changes from the past five years, responds to criticisms of the first edition, and expands sections that have raised questions for readers. It will benefit all Christians who are thinking through the immigration issue.
Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee, Second Edition
by Mark Allan Powell
Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2013. 372 pp. $40.00. ISBN 978-0-6642-3447-8.
This thoroughly revised edition of a best-selling textbook provides an in-depth survey of current historical Jesus studies. Beginning with a brief discussion of early Jesus-quest research and methodologies, Mark Allan Powell develops insightful overviews of some of the most influential participants in the field today, including Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, John Meier, E. P. Sanders, and N. T. Wright. In this second edition, Powell has expanded his original work with completely new material to reflect the latest scholarship.