A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue

by David Shenk, Badru D. Kateregga, David W. Shenk

Book Overview

Millions of Muslims and Christians are neighbors, and they believe that they worship the one and only God. Yet they seldom witness to each other. In this book, a Muslim (Badru D. Kateregga) and a Christian (David W. Shenk) attempt to witness and listen. The issues they deal with are profound. Kateregga and Shenk open up the basic questions of the human situation and confront similarities and differences in Muslim and Christian responses. In recent...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0836196198
• ISBN13: 9780836196191
• Release Date: October 2011
• Publisher: Herald Press (VA)
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Accurate and Basic Details on Both Religions

I have read the book on a Muslim side, having read the Quran and the Bible more than 3 times. To begin with, the book is divided into two parts, with 12 chapters in each. The first part is the Muslim witness and the second part is the Christian witness. Each chapter is concluded with the other side's response. Following is the table of contents: Part I. The Muslim Witness 1. There Is No God but Allah 2. The Creation 3. Adam and Hauwa 4. Satan and Evil 5. The Books of God 6. The Prophets of Allah 7. The Seal of Prophets 8. The Umma 9. Divine Guidance and Peace 10. Worship 11. Right Conduct 12. The Mission of the Umma Part II: The Christian Witness 13. The Lord God is One 14. The Creation 15. Adam and Eve 16. Sin and Evil 17. The Word of God 18. The Prophets in History 19. Jesus the Messiah 20. Salvation 21. The Church 22. Worship and Fellowship 23. Right Conduct 24. The Mission of the Church The subject, comparative religion is a very hard subject to discuss and to write on, due to the sensitivity of the subject. Throughout the book, both Kateregga (Muslim) and Shenk (Christian) never leaves courtesy, tolerance and politeness. This is one of the most important points to stress: neither on the Muslim nor on the Christian side, the style in no way irritates the reader. Plus, both authors kept well clear of emphasizing the "rightness" of one faith over the other. Plus, different schools in both religions, such as Qadariyah/Jabariyah in Islam and Protestantism/Catholicism in Christianity are briefly touched, but again not emphasized the "rightness" over the other. The details in explaining the basics of faith, are noteworthy. Both Kateregga and Shenk base the details on Quran and the Holy Bible. They have presented their cases, indicated differences, cleared misunderstandings while maintaining their politeness. The details are presented with verses from the Quran and the Holy Bible, and Kateregga used Hadiths where necessary. The dialogue is at all times lively throughout the book. The reading is extremely pleasant for such a hard subject. The book is a must-read for any person who wants to learn both of the religions with their faiths, together with their convergences and divergences. The book is not a child's book nor a boring academic thesis. It is in between and an invaluable reference with a very easy-to-follow style. But given the publishing date, 1997, I cannot help but wonder why the authors did not publish the second, or maybe the third volume up to now, which they could go further in their analysis. As a final note for the readers who may be interested further in discovering Islam: stay away from The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Koran by Sarwar and Toropov. Although I am a born-Muslim, this book is heavily biased and tries to impose the Muslim faith. It is not a book to purchase to understand Islam for a Western reader.

A Muslim and Christian in Dialogue--really!

This is a great book if you are interested in an overview of potential touching points between Islam and Christianity. It is a wonderful read and gave me a valuable perspective on Islam.

Good read

This is a good book to gain a basic understanding of the differences (and some of the similarities) between the faith of Muslims and Christians. The book is well written and a quick and easy read. The Muslim and Christian authors each write twelve chapters explaining their faiths around certain topics with a brief rebuttal from the other faith at the end of each chapter. From the Christian standpoint, this book answers some basic questions about the Muslim faith but also gives rise to some additional ones. This is a good book to begin the study of how Muslims think and how Christians and Muslims can open channels of dialogue about their respective faiths.

An excellent book of comparative religion.

This is an excellent book of comparative religion, which explains the differences between two of the worlds largest major religions without trying to actively convert or sway the readers point of view. The teachings of both of these religions, as well as Judaism, have their basis beginning with Abraham as one of the first major teachers of Monotheistic faith. The initial separation of these faiths begin with his sons Isaac and Ishmael, and carry though the histories of the Jewish and Arab worlds. The reality however is that all three major monotheistic faiths - Christian, Muslim, and Jew - all still worship the same God as Abraham did originally, no matter by which name his is called. This is an excellent book to compare two of the major faiths who's believers follow this same God, without undue pressure to sway or convert the beliefs of the reader one direction or the other. All in all an excellent read, and is highly recommended.

Acurate detail

I read this book during seminary. I gave it to a muslim friend of mine because I wanted her to verify the Islamic viewpoint of the book. She verified the tenents of the faith described and was impressed with the side by side descriptions of beliefs. She felt it helped her to better understand the Christian faith. We have had some wonderful discussions due in part to Kateregga and Shenk's clear presentations. This book is a valuable tool opening up communication between Christians and Muslims.