Between Allah & Jesus: What Christians Can Learn from Muslims

by Peter Kreeft

Overview

What would happen if Christians and a Muslim at a university talked and disagreed, but really tried to understand each other? What would they learn? That is the intriguing question Peter Kreeft seeks to answer in these imaginative conversations at Boston College. An articulate and engaging Muslim student named 'Isa challenges the Christian students and professors he meets on issues ranging from prayer and worship to evolution and abortion, from war and politics to the nature of spiritual struggle and spiritual submission. While Kreeft believes Christians should not learn extremism or unitarian theology from Muslims, he does believe that if we really listened we could learn much about devoted religious practice and ethics. Here is a book to open your understanding of one of the key forces shaping our world today. It's a book that just could make you a better Christian.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830837465
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	02/12/2010
Pages:	188
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Peter Kreeft (Ph.D., Fordham University) is professor of philosophy at Boston College. He has written more than forty books, including Does God Exist? (Thomas Nelson), A Summa of the Summa (Ignatius), and Between Heaven and Hell, The Best Things in Life, The Journey and Socrates Meets Jesus (all IVP).

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

1 On Comparative Religions 21

2 On Islam vs. the West 30

3 On Jesus and Muhammad 47

4 On the Relation Between Morality and Theology 67

5 On Surrender 76

6 On Loving God and Fearing God 85

7 On Who Goes to Heaven 94

8 On Liberals and Conservatives 107

9 On Prayer and the Wildness of God 116

10 On Feminism 124

11 On Sexual Morality and Moral Ambiguity 132

12 On Islam and Politics 144

13 On War and Pacifism 151

14 On Jihad and Enemies 158

15 On Evolution and Sex 172

16 On Abortion and Compassion 178

Conclusion 187

What People are Saying About This

Hicham Chehab

"This is a rare and sincere attempt to delve into the Islamic mind and heart, with respect and understanding. With its depth and pertinence to our post-9/11 world, I can say that this work surpasses many previous attempts by famous Orientalists to compare Christianity and Islam. Christians and evangelists can learn a lot from the fictional debates and dialogue that enrich this work. This personalized discourse could be used to teach missionaries authentic ways for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims."
— Hicham Chehab, evangelist and former Muslim activist

Dr. Nabeel T. Jabbour

"Take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn more about the morals and values of Muslims. Through the moral, intelligent and open-
minded Muslim young man 'Isa, you will learn not only about Islam, but you'll come to a greater understanding and security in your own Christian faith."
— Dr. Nabeel T. Jabbour, professor and author of The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross

Dinesh D'Souza

"Peter Kreeft has written an important, original and groundbreaking book. At a time when there is fierce prejudice against Muslims and Islam, not surprising in the wake of 9/11, Kreeft has the knowledge to treat Islam both sympathetically and critically. With exemplary courage, Kreeft spells out what Christians in the West can learn from the Muslims. Indispensable reading!"
— Dinesh D'Souza, author of What's So Great About Christianity

Habit C. Malik

"With inimitable subtlety, Peter Kreeft's literary meditation has produced a series of fictional dialogues that bring out how good Muslims and good Christians, despite the grave and irreconcilable differences marking their respective creeds, are really natural allies in the culture war against a common enemy: sin. These insights by the author, born out of a diligent love in investigating the beliefs and life practices of truly devout Muslims, map with courageous honesty minus the usual platitudes the shared moral and spiritual territory between such Muslims and equally devout Christians. Kreeft captures that primordial purity and elemental spirituality of the Muslim believer living in total surrender to God's will. Not only can Christians learn much from Muslims about the importance of submission, tradition, family, divine commandments, spiritual tenacity and rejection of the ills of modernity, Kreeft also uses precisely these strengths in Islam to level a scathing critique at the moral and spiritual laxity of the secular West. All in all, a fascinating read and a tour de force in the indirect communication through creative literature of abiding, universal verities."
— Habit C. Malik, associate professor of history, Lebanese American University (Byblos campus)

Editorial Reviews

"Between Allah Jesus, through its sympathetic proposal of a brith and peace-loving Muslim student, gives readers a hopeful sense of what could be, if the culture war within Islamd ends with jihadist defeat."

Marvin Olasky

"With inimitable subtlety, Peter Kreeft's literary meditation has produced a series of fictional dialogues that bring out how good Muslims and good Christians, despite the grave and irreconcilable differences marking their respective creeds, are really natural allies in the culture war against a common enemy: sin. These insights by the author, born out of a diligent love in investigating the beliefs and life practices of truly devout Muslims, map with courageous honesty minus the usual platitudes the shared moral and spiritual territory between such Muslims and equally devout Christians. Kreeft captures that primordial purity and elemental spirituality of the Muslim believer living in total surrender to God's will. Not only can Christians learn much from Muslims about the importance of submission, tradition, family, divine commandments, spiritual tenacity and rejection of the ills of modernity, Kreeft also uses precisely these strengths in Islam to level a scathing critique at the moral and spiritual laxity of the secular West. All in all, a fascinating read and a tour de force in the indirect communication through creative literature of abiding, universal verities."

Habit C. Malik

"Peter Kreeft has written an important, original and groundbreaking book. At a time when there is fierce prejudice against Muslims and Islam, not surprising in the wake of 9/11, Kreeft has the knowledge to treat Islam both sympathetically and critically. With exemplary courage, Kreeft spells out what Christians in the West can learn from the Muslims. Indispensable reading!"

Dinesh D'Souza

"Given the current state of the world, Between Allah Jesus fully deserves to be called a must-read for everyone, regardless of spiritual belief or political affiliation. Kreeft creates a way to look at the perceived divide between Islam and Christianity without violence."

J.G. Stinson

"In this popularized fictional conversation among university-level participants who represent the best and worst arguments for each side, Kreeft invites us to reflect on basic theological questions concerning the nature of being God, the nature and content of divine revelation, the character of morality (public and private), and the future of the world."

Nelson D. Kloosterman

"This is a rare and sincere attempt to delve into the Islamic mind and heart, with respect and understanding. With its depth and pertinence to our post-9/11 world, I can say that this work surpasses many previous attempts by famous Orientalists to compare Christianity and Islam. Christians and evangelists can learn a lot from the fictional debates and dialogue that enrich this work. This personalized discourse could be used to teach missionaries authentic ways for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims."

Hicham Chehab

"Take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn more about the morals and values of Muslims. Through the moral, intelligent and open- minded Muslim young man 'Isa, you will learn not only about Islam, but you'll come to a greater understanding and security in your own Christian faith."

Dr. Nabeel T. Jabbour

"Kreeft's book is a strong encouragement to look past our theological differences, create bonds of friendship and trust, and work together for the common good. . . [A] commendable attempt to help Christians see Muslims as our neighbors rather than as the Other."

Stan Guthrie

"Committed Christians, who want positive approaches to Islam, may wish to consider reading."

William Collins

"Committed Christians, who want positive approaches to Islam, may wish to consider reading."

--William Collins, Library Journal, January 2010

"Between Allah Jesus, through its sympathetic proposal of a brith and peace-loving Muslim student, gives readers a hopeful sense of what could be, if the culture war within Islamd ends with jihadist defeat."

--Marvin Olasky, World Magazine, May 8, 2010

"Given the current state of the world, Between Allah Jesus fully deserves to be called a must-read for everyone, regardless of spiritual belief or political affiliation. Kreeft creates a way to look at the perceived divide between Islam and Christianity without violence."

--J.G. Stinson, ForeWard Reviews, (www.forewordreviews.com), March 2010

"In this popularized fictional conversation among university-level participants who represent the best and worst arguments for each side, Kreeft invites us to reflect on basic theological questions concerning the nature of being God, the nature and content of divine revelation, the character of morality (public and private), and the future of the world."

--Nelson D. Kloosterman, Comment Magazine, September 2010

"Kreeft's book is a strong encouragement to look past our theological differences, create bonds of friendship and trust, and work together for the common good. . . [A] commendable attempt to help Christians see Muslims as our neighbors rather than as the Other."

--Stan Guthrie, Books Culture, March/April 2010

From the Publisher

"Take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn more about the morals and values of Muslims. Through the moral, intelligent and open-minded Muslim young man 'Isa, you will learn not only about Islam, but you'll come to a greater understanding and security in your own Christian faith."

Doctor - Nabeel T. Jabbour

Kreeft (philosophy, Boston Coll.), a prolific author on Christian theology and philosophy, argues that Islam can teach Christians strength of will and moral conviction. Kreeft creates conversations between a fictional Muslim student and Christian students and professors on such topics as surrender, jihad, and evolution, with the Muslim student debating the Christians about belief. The dialogs bring out areas of agreement in ways that engender respect for overarching principles accepted by each religion—in particular each one's submission to God and desire to do his will. But the conversations also insist that incompatible doctrines of traditional Islam and Christianity signify that one is right and the other wrong, whereas both may be right about different aspects of the same truth. Kreeft also assumes that Christianity and Islam are sole competitors for religious loyalty. VERDICT Committed Christians, especially Catholics, who want positive approaches to Islam, or Muslims seeking to offer some of their beliefs and faith to Christians, may wish to consider reading this. But the book's emphasis on the truth of Christian doctrine (e.g., the Resurrection and the Trinity) does not make it an objective study or primer.—William Collins, Library of Congress

Library Journal