Customer Reviews

Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions

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

 

 

A tour de force. Corrigan manages to provide literary, historical, mythological themes and contexts that illuminate current practice and belief.I found the details of this book enlarged my understanding of why and how these religions have many common strains and where they depart from one another.It also explains how the traditions of each,along with the practice,ethics and politics keep each vital enough in different countries and changing times to keep them going. A very weighty and multidimensional subject written with much grace. It's not only excellent as a reference book, it also holds up as a fascinating read.

A worthwhile book for those seeking information on this subject. The best sections by far are those on Christianity. They are written with an honesty not shown in most of the Muslim parts, and with style and humor missing from the rest.

Several years ago I was introduced to this book in a college course on Judaism. I was very impressed with how helpful the book was in terms of providing articulate and insightful overviews of the subject matter. Finding the book so helpful in expanding my understanding of Judaism, I returned to it a few years later to learn more about Islam; I was not disappointed. Overall, the book is very good at providing the student with a solid foundation of knowledge on a wide variety of issues germane to studying each of the Western traditions - issues like how each tradition articulates its unique form of Monotheism, how each views its scripture, and how each approaches issues like ethics, religious law, authority, religious politics etc. In sum, the book is a great place to begin one's study of Western traditions because its very organization makes the unique contributions of each tradition, and its relation to the others, easier to comprehend.

While this book provides a very informative review of each of these religions, and the students in my class benefited a great deal from the material presented, I found the writing style to be exceedingly dry and difficult to read in most chapters. I was also somewhat dismayed at the way a great deal of the material on the Christian and Jewish faiths were presented. I think that if the authors were going to present their own perspective, they are entitled to do so. However, they should point out that it is their own perspective. I think some of the material was so slanted that it could be argued that the information is incorrect.

Most of the books I have purchased from Amazon are of high quality but one of them in particular was rated high and said it was in great condition and it is terrible. The book is missing it's cover and losing pages when I open it. I is of terrible quality and I was very disappointed about being tricked and thinking I was buying a good book when it's of very poor quality.