Customer Reviews

Ishmael Instructs Isaac

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

 

 

This is an excellent volume for comparing stories that appear in both the Quran and the Bible. It will help Muslims to better understand the Bible and will help Christians better understand the Quran. Sectarians and Fundamentalists in both Christianity and Islam may not like this book. The rest of us who want to understand what the Bible and Quran really teach will study for comparisions and contrasts in the actual texts, and this will help each to come to a better understanding of the other's scripture.

A previous reviewer criticized the way the author compared the temptation of Adam and Eve by stating that it was a serpent rather than Satan that tempted Adam and Eve in the Genesis account. The problem with this criticism is that the author is describing what is actually in the scripture reading. The Book of Genesis was part of the Hebrew Torah before it was a Christian document. When comparing what is actually in the Biblical and/or Quranic passage, one sticks to what the passage actually reports rather than bringing in polemical interpretations. Now, if the author were writing a book to on Christian apologetics, he could then bring Christian interpretation into the discussion. However, the author's goal was to compare Biblical and Quranic passages to point out similarities and differences, not to instruct on Christianity from a particular viewpoint. Personally, I am a bit disappointed that the previous review would rate the book solely on this one issue.

Overall the book is well done. However, the chapter on Jesus Christ/Isa has some challenges because it appears that the author is strongling because of his orthodox Christian belief concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. However, this problem is not enough to bring the rating down from 5 stars to 4 stars. If the book could be rated with one digit after the decimal point, my rating would be 4.6 or 4.7.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to compare popular Bible stories with their Quranic counterparts, or to Christians and Muslims who want to learn about the other faith's scripture. This book will clear up many misconception Christians will have about the Quran and those Muslims may have a about the Bible.

This is an excellent book, very interesting and informative, especially for those who are interested both in the Old Testament and the history of its interpretation as well as in the history of the relations btw Jews and Muslims/Arabs. I teach the Old Testament to college students and use this book in my class.

I learned so very much from this book. I really appreciate the care, balance and thoughtfulness that went into it. I have used it in courses I have taught in synagogues that I serve and would recommend it to anyone wanting to explore the relationship between the Bible and the Koran.

I began reading this book because I wanted to know more about the Koran. But because the presentation of the Christian understanding of the Christian Scriptures is so deficient, I began to wonder whether I was getting an adequate presentation of the Muslim understanding of the Koran.

To give one example: in his discussion of the serpent in the Garden of Eden (p 34) Kaltner distinguishes between the Koranic idea that the fallen angel Satan tempted Adam and Eve, and the Biblical story which says 'serpent' in Gen 3:1. But Christians understand, and have always understood, the serpent to be Satan, as is made clear in Rev 20:2. So such a distinction is specious, based either on ignorance of Christian tradition, or on an atomizing hermeneutic which would provide the logic whereby we could claim that Muslims are actually polytheists because the pronoun frequently used in the Koran for God is 'we.' Obviously, such reasoning is false.

There may be true things said about the Koran that one can learn from this book, but I would not know it and would suspect the presentation of being very biased because of the treatment that the Christian Scriptures receive.