Customer Reviews

The Cross & The Crescent

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Dr. Dirks has drawn the lines in history for us to see. This book gathers together the pieces of so many details, and puts them into a narrative that's easy for the reader to understand. If you've ever wondered about Islam, or the divergeng (and very similar) origins of Islam or had questions about how the two religions differ, this is the book for you!

I look forward to reading his new book, "Abraham, Friend of God." If it's as comfortably thorough as Cross & the Crescent, I"m sure to be pleased!

This book puts on the table, in detail and correctly, Islamic perspective of Christianity, and to some extend Judaism..

There has been many books written before. But most of them were written by Muslims never met with Christians and has very limited knowledge of Christianity or the only purpose of the book is to attack Christianity with loads of prejudices.. (many books have been written by Christians about Islam in the very same manner... it is a shame) But this one written by a former Christian who has very high caliber knowledge of Christianity and the roots of it. And it is clear that, in short time, he has summoned a great deal of profound Islamic knowledge. Yes, he shakes the foundations of Christianity. But I have to admit that he is much more merciful than Bishop John Shelby Sponge when doing it.

Great read, but the title is misleading. It has nothing to do with interfaith. It is direct comparison and when needed criticism..

A well written book. The author backed up his points and informed the reader when he was expressing opinion. Sources were explained in terms of origin and reliability. I would definitly recommend this book to anyone looking to answer their questions on the relativity of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

This book gives a reader lot of useful information, either a christian or a muslim the author gives a indepth information of both religion. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in doing a comparative religion study.

I was really excited about this book. I've been studying Islam for about ten years now and ride the cusp of converting so I thought this would be an excellent resource - a Christian convert to Islam who has a B.A. and M. Div. from Harvard would seem to be a perfect read. I was horribly disappointed.

The title claims this is an interfaith dialogue. That's stretching the term a bit; "outer" faith dialogue might be a better term for it. It would seem to me that his information is as current as his MDiv degree which my guess would be dates back a far as the 70s. It's as if he has merely rehashed that information, much of which is quite outdated today.

Here's his method. Take the Gospels as we have them, strip away their roots, bring in the apocryphal literature as if they were concurrent with the Gospels as we have them, claim that there were many different groups fighting to represent the "true" Gospel and make it seem as if the power mongers won out. Fine. But his methodology is seriously flawed. An example should suffice.

He dates the Gospel of John to 110 C.E. which is a pretty liberal date; most scholars, conservative or other, date it prior to 100 C.E. to between 80 and 95 C.E. Take an apocryphal gospel such as Treatise of Shem, dated between the second and fourth centuries CE and claim that the earliest date is "most probable" with absolutely no support. So late date the Gospel of John, claim it has been edited the most, take Treatise of Shem and date it to the second century (perhaps 110 C.E.) and what he's done is presented the Gospel of John and Treatise of Shem as two "gospels" circulating at the same time! Bunk.

Other "fringe" ideas. The Jesus we all know and love was not from Galilee. The Jesus pursued in the New Testament was "a member of the Galilean part of paramiliatry insurrectionsts." This is the Jesus that was arrested; when Peter denies "Jesus" three times he is denying this Jesus, not the Jesus we think.

At the trial, then, Barabbas, whose "real" name is 'Jesus bar Abbas' (i.e. 'son of the Father', i.e. our Jesus) is released. Jesus the aforementioned insurrectionist is crucified thus confirming the claims of the Qur'an that Jesus was not crucified! How 'bout that. Though he does not claim this is actually what happened, he tosses it in there as a hypothesis. He's really working it to make early Christianity fit in the Islamic scheme.

The book is, quite honestly, a dismissal of (and insult to) traditional Christianity and introduces the other Christianities as being the more in line with the "true" Christianity (i.e. Islam). That's fine but the title and intent is flawed at best, misleading at worst.

I felt as if I was reading the Da Vinci Code all over again. Some of his sources are from the more fringe side of Christian scholarship, such as Helmut Koester (from Harvard, no surprise there), members of the Jesus Seminar, even drawing from Isaac Asimov. The vast majority of his sources are dated prior to 1980. Nothing wrong with fringe scholarship, don't get me wrong (see some of my other reviews), but he merely gathered information from high and low and everywhere in between in order to back his claims. It lacks consistency.

It's really not well thought out at all and actually does a disservice to Islam as well as someone looking through these apocryphal gospels could simply make the case that Islam borrowed directly from them. The other problem is that the very same Gospel he claims has been edited the most - John - is the very same Gospel that claims to be prophesying that the "Advocate" was really Muhammad!

The only value in the book is that it does present what is standard polemic in many Muslim circles. Overall, a tremendously disappointing book.

For a better in-depth discussion from Westerners who have converted to Islam, try Muhammad Asad, Murad Hoffman and/or Martin Lings.

The author presents a thorough analysis in showing differences and similarities between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This book can be of a lot of help to any person who is seeking the truth about God, the world, the purpose of life...etc. The author presents very valuable arguments and proofs, based in most part on the Judao-Christian scriptures themselves, to show the different misconceptions about Jesus Christ within the contemporary church. In addition, by reading this book a Muslim can learn a great deal about Christianity and may enforce his knowledge about Islam.

The title might be missleading. The auther shows what Jews and Christians think of Islam briefly in the beginning of the book. However, the rest of the book is showing what the author believes in, as a Muslim, of Judasim and Christianity. It is great if you are interested in this topic.

Dirks does a fine job laying out key elements of the two faiths and comparing their beliefs and rich histories.

This book may shock some readers who use to believe in faiths wrapped in mystery . It's well argumented and useful for people seeking faith with proof. A must-read for seekers of truth.

This book is amazing. Everything is documented and more than one reason and explanation and proof is given, so that if you do not believe one type of proof, there is still ample proof to buy the argument. While it is true that this might not be much of an interfaith dialogue, and it mainly concentrates on the truth about christianity, and the original scriptures, this issue should be put aside, and the actual message from the book should be taken. If you are slightly open-minded, you will love this book, but if that's not the case, then try to take the writer's proof in account in your future beliefs...