Muhammad and Jesus: A Comparison of the Prophets and Their Teachings [Hardcover]

William E. Phipps (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1996

"Well researched and executed, will reward the serious student of religious thought". -- Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Muhammad and Jesus are strongly contrasting historical figures, raised up as spiritual and moral paradigms by opposing, hostile camps. Often badly understood by believers within their own faith traditions, the two prophets are grossly misperceived by believers outside. Phipps (philosophy, Davis and Elkins Coll.) hopes that Christians and Muslims can begin to understand one another by studying Muhammad and Jesus, respectively, and by drawing comparisons between them. His work, well researched and executed, will reward the serious student of religious thought. Since it is written for Western readers, the author strives especially to correct our faulty ideas of Muhammad, but he also shows how the teachings of Jesus are poorly known among Muslims. For academic libraries as well as public libraries with substantial religious collections.?James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, Va.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Phipps writes in the spirit of Plutarch, believing that lives told in parallel are mutually illuminating. Assuming that his audience will be more familiar with Jesus than with Muhammad (and that Muslims are generally better informed about Jesus than Christians are about Muhammad), he methodically defamiliarizes Jesus and familiarizes Muhammad. The result is an interesting elaboration of sparse biographical data into a reasonably well-rounded picture of two of the most important figures in human history. This is a good popular introduction to two thoroughly human figures and the two religious communities they have come to represent. Steve Schroeder --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Paragon House (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826409148
• ISBN-13: 978-0826409140
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,650,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor scholarship, January 15, 2002

By 

Reader (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Muhammad and Jesus: A Comparison of the Prophets and Their Teachings (Paperback)

The concept for this book is great. To compare and contrast the central figures of the worlds two largest religions.Phipps starts out well enough, reviewing the gross distortions and outrageous accusations that have been made about Islam over the centuries since its birth. He then outlines the history and development of Islam and Christianity more or less in tandem, and things begin to go seriously wrong. It is apparent from his writing and references that he is able to access little primary source material on Islam, and therefore has to fall back on superficial and contradictory secondary source material. Phipps' central thesis appears to be that the Koran was essentially 'lifted' from Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and that much of its material was selectively chosen to benefit Mohammed personally. Phipps' claims that Mohammed (who like virtually all people at the time was illiterate) must have been able to read to carry this off, so in his history of Islam, he uses a very dubious secondary source to give a misleading account of the most dramatic and central episode of Muslim history- the first appearance of the angel Gabriel to Mohammed while he is meditating in a cave. Phipps' account has the angel tell Mohammed "Proclaim"(he even gives the Arabic 'Iqra'). This is an inaccurate translation of the word, which actually means "Read!"(or 'read aloud') in Phipps version, the Prophet remains silent. However, in actuality, in the story that every Muslim schoolchild knows, Muhammad answers the angel quaveringly "But I cant read". Furthermore, in a time and place where people were know intimately by their communities, it would be impossible that someone who had such a rare talent as literacy would not be known for it, any more than it would not be possible that I could live next door to the President and not know it. The sheer amount of detailed historical material that has been preserved from that time about the Prophet, including much material that is unflattering, precludes this possibility. There is not a single historian that I (or Dr Phipps)knows of that would seriously entertain this theory. This is only the most easily refuted inaccuracy in the book, and I could give many more. Essentially, Phipps has ignored or missed 1400 years of Islamic thought and commentary to hang his own interpretation on selected secondary source material.How unfortunate. This could have been a great book. If you are looking for a similar book that compares Islamic and Christian thought, for the Christian reader, I would recommend "Ishmael Instructs Isaac- an introduction to the Qur'an for Bible readers" by John Kaltner.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Start, Bad Finish, April 9, 2004

By 

Syed (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Muhammad and Jesus: A Comparison of the Prophets and Their Teachings (Paperback)

The book started off well, but it ended badly. The author presented himself as objective, but in reality he was obviously biast against Prophet Muhammad. In the beginning he was fair to the Prophet and was apparant that he did alot of homework for the book, at least in the beginning. But as the book went on, the author dove into speculation and conjecture w/o any solid evidence to back his claims. His attacks on Prophet Muhammad were baseless and showed his lack of knowledge on the Prophet himself, but only showed his biast against Islam which wasnt apparant in the beginning. I recommend Karen Armstrong's "Muhammad" It was much more fair and balanced on the Prophet than many western writers choose to be, propelling the myths of the Prophet Muhammad for thier mostly Christain audiences.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Short Review, June 4, 2001

By 

Janell McEwen (Provo, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Muhammad and Jesus: A Comparison of the Prophets and Their Teachings (Paperback)

Phipps makes a comparison between Muhammad and Jesus in order to promote understanding between Muslim and Christian followers. To do this, he gives an intersting and unbiased point-of-view on the two leaders that triggeres further curiosity on the subject. I would suggest reading this book to gain an objective beginning perspective on Isalm, its teachings, and how these teachings relate to Christrian ideas.