Customer Reviews

Islam, Christianity, and the West: A Troubled History (Faith Meets Faith Series)

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

 

 

Armour sets out to write on Islam, Christianity and Judaism without defining them. The heart of Christian belief is that "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures". Armour thus confuses Christianity with what many other writers call Christendom. These are two different things, the former spiritual the latter temporal - Christ said that his "kingdom is not of this world". Armour correctly notes that Islam combines the political and religious spheres.
The feeble conclusion that they "will put their differences behind them" evades the fact that he has not identified what those differences are, for the "differences" are philosophical or theological and not simply about territory.
This is a poor substitute for honest analysis of the respective truth claims of these three religions as for example done by Montgomery in his Tractatus or History, Law and Christianity.
Armour relies too heavily upon modern authors such as Armstrong, Billing and Daniel and comes up with little new.
The book may be of interest to anyone who still believes that European history is untarnished.

The author provides a wonderful compendium of a difficult topic in a concise, logical, and very understandable manner. Ideal for someone who wants to find the "first" book to read on the subject matter so they can see the whole picture and then hone in on the individual issues; of which there are so many.

I thought I knew the history. But like the author points out so many times in the book, the "knowledge" most parties have on the struggle between Islam and Christianity is generally based on mis-information and complete falsehoods resulting from the historical separation of the two social systems.

I now feel better prepared to listen and deal with all the news and information that we face in the continually complex Middle East. I no longer feel dependent on the historically biased slant one gets from the social and religious environments that we live with in the Western world. This book will help a person interpret and better understand the information that presents itself from the evolving Middle East events.

Islam, Christianity, And The West: A Troubled History by Rollin Armour (Professor Emeritus in the Christianity Department, Mercer University) is a very thorough presentation of the interaction between the religions of Islam and Christianity, and the peoples who practice them, from the inception of Islam, conflicts through the centuries, and including the modern-day tragedy of the September 11 attacks. A straightforward, unbiased, and factual account with individual chapters covering such diverse matter as the origin and toll of the Crusades, the impact of Zionism, and the dilemma facing Israel today, Islam, Christianity And The West is a very highly recommended sourcebook for anyone who wants to better understand the history behind current events and international politics.