The Prophet & the Messiah : An Arab Christian's Perspective on Islam & Christianity [Paperback]

Chawkat Moucarry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 11, 2002

In an age of media distortion and widespread stereotypes, Christians and Muslims need a greater understanding of each other's faith. What do Christians believe about the Bible? What do Muslims believe about the Qur'an? And what do both Christianity and Islam have to say about Jesus and Muhammad? In this evenhanded and conciliatory book Chawkat Moucarry calls Christians and Muslims to engage in genuine dialogue, urging them to relate to each other with true humility and respect. In a straightforward fashion he describes and compares the central doctrines of Christianity and Islam, explaining key beliefs and debunking common misconceptions. Christians who read this book will learn much about Islam. Likewise, Muslims who read it will discover why Christians are convinced of the truth of Christianity. Sure to provide grist for informed discussions, this rare book is one that both Muslims and Christians can fruitfully study together.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Historically, Christians and Muslims have had a troubled relationship, and these two books nobly aim to generate a dialog between the two faiths. Between the Cross and Crescent successfully contrasts the lives of Malcolm X Shabazz and Martin Luther King Jr. and mostly resolves the creative tension between those leaders' philosophies. Baldwin (religious studies, Vanderbilt Univ.) has deep roots in the African-American Christian tradition, and Al-Hadid (Africana studies, Tennessee State Univ.) is a Sunni Muslim. They have written a contrapuntal biography to stress the importance of interfaith dialog and a Pan-African perspective, and to celebrate community as the highest ideal. Freedom, family, gender roles, democracy, and globalization are the major themes in this publication, the second in the publisher's "History of African American Religions" series. The Prophet & the Messiah is an equally remarkable book. Whereas the Martin/Malcolm title was written primarily from a sociocultural perspective, this one employs a religious viewpoint, intermingling East/West and sophic/mantic perspectives. Moucarry (Islamic studies, All Nations Christian Coll., England) was born in Syria, has lived in both Muslim and Christian communities, and received a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne. Although he is respectful of and sensitive to both religions, he clearly makes the case for the truth of Christianity, at the same time assuring the reader that absolute impartiality does not exist anyway. His 20 chapters include discussions of the Scriptures, key doctrines (e.g., Godhead, sin and salvation), Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and contemporary issues. Helpful appendixes list Muslim theologians and mystics and show a historical time line of Christian-Muslim relations. Although Moucarry's book was written for evangelical Christian readers and Baldwin/Al-Hadid's for college students, they both carry the message to any believer that there is one God, one humanity, one world. Both titles are highly recommended for general and student readerships in public and academic libraries. Gary P. Gillum, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Chawkat Moucarry was born in Syria and has lived in both Muslim and Christian communities. He earned his doctorate in Islamic studies from the University of Sorbonne (Paris) and is now a tutor and lecturer in Islamic studies at All Nations Christian College in England. Moucarry is the author of Islam and Christianity at the Crossroads. He and his wife have four children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 327 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (February 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830823158
• ISBN-13: 978-0830823154
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #736,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Aleppo (Syria) and grew up in a Catholic home. I lived in Paris for twenty years. In 1994 I moved to England where I taught Islamic and Middle-Eastern Studies at All Nations Christian College. In September 2006 I joined World Vision International (a Christian Development, Relief and Advocacy organization) as the director of inter-faith relations. I am fluent in Arabic (mother tongue), French and English.

I have a Masters degree in Christian theology and a PhD in Islamic Studies from the Sorbonne University (Paris).

I am married, my wife is from Denmark. We live in the London area and we have four grown up children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening and helpful, June 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Prophet & the Messiah : An Arab Christian's Perspective on Islam & Christianity (Paperback)

Recently popular Christian writer Don Richardson published a book called "The Secrets of the Koran" in which the author chronicles passages in the Koran that he finds offensive and he wants to bring to the attention of Christian leaders (and all leaders for that matter).

In "The Prophet and the Messiah" author Chawkat Moucarry takes a different approach. Moucarry looks at both the Bible and the Qur'an and examines places of connection between them. Quoting both the Qur'an and Islamic theologians, Morcarry finds places of dialog between Christians and Muslims that can lead to a better understanding of both religions and can move a Muslim into a better understanding of the true Christian message.

One of the main goals Moucarry has in his book is to create dialog between the Muslim believer and the Christian believer. In writing about his childhood in Syria, Moucarry comments:

Although Christians and Muslims have been living together for hundreds of years, they have always had a ghetto mentality, especially with regard to their faiths. Mutual ignorance, some would argue, was the price of trouble-free coexistence . . .This compromise proved quite unacceptable to the teenager I was at that time.

Moucarry's book then proceeds to chronicle important doctrines and beliefs of each faith looking at:
- the Holy books for both Muslims and Christians
- key doctrines for both faiths
- Jesus Christ and issues relating to Him
- Muhammad and issues relating to him.

Along the way Moucarry also looks at key problems between both faiths.

For example in Chapter 10 Moucarry looks at the Crucifixion. For many this subject is a place of disagreement between Christians and Muslim that seems irreconcilable. Moucarry helps us see what the Qur'an really says and how early Muslim interpreters did not see this verse as a problem. It was only later that this problem came up. (Read the book to find out more).

Moucarry does the same thing for many other key issues such as Jesus the Son of God, the Trinity, Mohammad's prophethood, and the Bible foretelling of Mohammad.

With each issue Moucarry looks at what the Qur'an says and what the Bible says and then at the writings of key theologians to help us understand how believers have dealt with this key issues. Along the way we gain deeper understanding of both faiths and, for the true seeker, we gain a greater ability to have dialog and to be able to seek truth together.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Friendly Approach To Two Tension Gapped WorldViews!!!, January 28, 2004

By 

Lt. Rhoades "Army Chaplain Branch, Staff Spec... - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prophet & the Messiah : An Arab Christian's Perspective on Islam & Christianity (Paperback)

The Prophet and the Messiah: An Arab Christian's Perspective on Islam and Christianity, by Chawkat Moucarry, presents a contrast and comparison between Muslim beliefs and Christian beliefs. Moucarry appeals to the audience that the best way in which to witness is through friendship and everyday dialogue.
Author's Perspective
The author himself is of Arab/Muslim ancestry and Christian heritage. Moucarry states his primary thesis on p. 15, "This book attempts to examine the claims of both Christianity and Islam....what I am seeking, I suppose, is to build a bridge between the Christian and Muslim communities." Moucarry himself has lived in both of these types of communities throughout his life and realizes that there is a surmounting tension growing that must be resolved. He feels that the best way to do such is plainly through simple dialogue. He has seen that in the book market there are many books that are full of harsh criticisms between these communities, thus he decided to write a book in which would as positively as possible shine the light of God into both of these "religions." After having lived as both, he felt that the best possible way to approach each would be to mirror them through contrast and comparison.

Presentation of Material
Dr. Moucarry divided his book up into five sections:
1. The Scriptures (Moucarry gives a detailed account of both the Christian bible and the Muslim Qur'an. He addresses the issue of why Muslim theologians have said that Christians/Jews have falsified the Bible and then ends this section by carefully showing that there could not have been any falsification.)
2. The Key Doctrines (Moucarry now turns to many of the specifics that hold these two worlds together and how there are through discrepancies among the Muslims beliefs.)
3. The View of Jesus Christ (Moucarry now begins the largest section of his book. He opens through direct quoting of what both the Bible and the Qur'an specifically state about Jesus and which would be more accurate.)
4. The View of Muhammad (Moucarry opens the view of Muhammad as seen through the Qur'an and the Hadith. Muslims believe that the Bible (and the alleged Gospel of Barnabas) clearly teaches the forthcoming of this great Prophet-of which Moucarry carefully exegetes the Christian Bible and shows to whom were really foreseen.)
5. Contemporary Issue (Moucarry ends his book by addressing somewhat of the "missions" focus as to how these two worldviews can begin a careful and proper assimilation under the Lordship of the true God Jesus Christ.)
Prominent Features
There are several areas as to where I find this book a tremendous aid. The first area is the extent to which he has researched and written. Moucarry has not just written a basic apologetic as to why "Christianity Stands True," but he has written in such a diverse and expansive way as to shine light into many of the untouched areas of both views. To present the message, he has allowed the two texts to become transparent and to show its true colors. Thus by doing so, he has in the end revealed that the Bible is Theological and Spiritually superior to that which the supposed Great Prophet has written. I believe that what aids his writing is the fact that he has lived both lives and is able to write as such.
I think that the second area to which is most beneficial is his superior use of direct quoting. He does not merely say, "So and so said this and that." No, he directly quotes many Islamic theologians and many, many passages from the Qur'an. What further aided this is that he did the same with the Christian Scripture.
The last area to which is helpful is that this book could most definitely witness (through the Spirit) to a Muslim reading it. He has created this book to be a dialogue for these two perspectives, thus laying a paved road to enter into friendly discourse and not harmful, driving tension.
Personal Insights
I think that the greatest insight (that is as coming from the Christian perspective) is that Satan will stop at nothing to malign the True Word of God. Probably one of the most fascinating peeks at Satan's trickery I have seen while reading this book came from p. 46:
The Qur'an urges the `People of the Book', that is, Jews and Christians, to receive the
final revelation God had entrusted to Muhammad (2:41 ; 4:47 ). This call is based on the assumption that the Qur'an is God's revelation in Arabic confirming the preceding revelations, that is, the Torah and the Gospel.

This just shows that there is not always going to be this huge bombardment attack from the Evil One-of which most are very subtle. We must be ready to always defend the attacks (whether great or small) of the Prince of this world. We must stand guard and be prepared "in season and out of season." Go and befriend a Muslim because they are just as we are-created in the image of God!

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduciton, October 13, 2003

By 

matt (the reading room) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prophet & the Messiah : An Arab Christian's Perspective on Islam & Christianity (Paperback)

Like the other reviewer, I also enjoyed "The Prophet and the Messiah". He is highly educated in the filed of Islamic studies and is a well-known spokesman for the educated interaction of the two faiths. From my own limited knowledge of the literature, this has been the most useful of the books on the subject owing to its organization and content. It is not polemical, although Moucarry is clearly a Christian.

One little observation is that many books of this sort approach Islam from the Protestant theological tradition. In some ways this seems to be useful since the majority of Protestants and all true Muslims hold a "Quranic" notion of the Book. That is, it is literal and intact as given. In Christian terms, this means that functionally most Protestants have zero conception of how the New Testament was formed from the liturgical heart of the Church, and not vice versa. So in this way the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura (bible alone) has a false bond with Islam on a textual level. It should be noted, however, that when speaking with Moslems it needs to be remembered that their equivalent to Jesus Christ incarnate of Mary as God is not Muhammad, but the Qur'ân. We have an incarnated God, they have an "inscripturated" God. There is much to learn from the ancient Churches of the Near and Middle East in this regard.

Other useful books in this regard are Cragg's "Muhammad and the Christian", "Paths to the Heart" edited by Cutsinger is very useful if you have an interest in Sufism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Bell's "The Origin of Islam in Its Christian Environment", Daniel Sahas' "John of Damascus on Islam: The Heresy of the Ishmaelites", and Stockle's "The Doctrine of Islam and Christian Belief".