A History of Christian-Muslim Relations

The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys

by Hugh Goddard

The relationship between the Christian and Muslim worlds has been a long and tortuous one. Over the course of the centuries the balance of power has swung in pendulum fashion―at times the initiative seems to have lain with the Muslim community, with the Christian world simply being compelled to react to developments outside itself, while at other points the opposite has been true and Muslims have found themselves having to respond to Christian challenges in different forms. Today Christians and Muslims comprise the world's two largest religious communities. Although they can coexist fairly peacefully, at times they still engage in violent confrontation, such as in the recent conflicts in Bosnia and the Sudan. This book investigates the history of the relationships between Christians and Muslims over the centuries, from their initial encounters in the medieval period, when the Muslims were the dominant group, through to the modern period, when the balance of power seems to have been reversed. This much-needed overview of the Christian-Muslim encounter places the emphasis on the context within which perceptions and attitudes were worked out and provides a depth of historical insight to the complexities of current Christian-Muslim interactions on different continents.

Genres: History, Islam, Christianity, Religion, Middle East

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Evan Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Very good at being succinct but also at addressing the length and breadth of the issues. For such a mammoth goal, Goddard did admirably. Also, steered clear of polemical, biased, or over-Eurocentric viewpoints, although he is first and foremost a Brit. Not sure if he reads Arabic or not, but he is at least sensitive to it. I would recommend this one to any of my friends who are interested in the Middle East or in modern Christianity and its relationship with the world.

[Jeremy Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A History of Christian-Muslim Relations pretty much describes what you'll be getting in this book. Hugh Goddard takes a look at the long history of Christian-Muslim relations and how these two religions have viewed each other over the course of their existence.

This is no small feat as we're dealing with over a thousand years of history here. That said this book takes things from a very high vantage point. There is a lot of information, but I also have a feeling that any of these chapters, or even part of a chapter, could be turned into a whole book if people really wanted to. It is an overarching introductory kind of book, that does feel a bit dense, but also covers a lot in two hundred pages.

The thing I enjoyed about this book is how it approached the topic with nuance and admitted that in almost every time period the way either Christians or Muslims approached the other has been varied. Even though the most well known are the times of war and antagonism, there has actually been dialogue and interactions not involving hostility.

It is also nice that he makes you feel the wide variety of nations and people who are under these religions. There is no monolithic voice on either side of the coin here. Islam and Christianity are both varied in expression and views and even with Goddard's display of that variety, one knows he is only scratching the surface.

If I had to give a couple limitations for this book, beyond the fact that this is just an overview, I would probably start with the most obvious, that this book was written before 9/11. While some view this as a negative, I'm not sure I would consider it such. I think this fact allows it to be a clearer picture having come out before 9/11 rather than having the emotional impact that 9/11 had.

I think it also shows that even though events like 9/11 or even worse than 9/11 have happened in the past between Islam and Christians that there have been variations in the ways that Islam and Christianity have interacted. So I don't really know that the inclusion of 9/11 would have changed the overall thoughts of the book that much, even though it is a memorable addition to the history.

The other is that the book is a bit dense. I enjoyed reading it, but it was a lot of information. It is only two hundred pages, but the book sports some rather small print, so it makes full use of those pages. It is definitely more of an academic read than a popular one. It's still good, but can make for some slow going.

A History of Christian-Muslim Relations may be a little old and not dealing with more recent developments and a little dense and scholarly, but it is a well done overview of the relationship between Christians and Muslims. I enjoyed the nuance and how he showed that there just wasn't one way that Christians interacted with Muslims and vice versa. This is something that I feel is a very important reality and way to see this issue.

[Ibrahim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for one course for my master degree. It was not bad but boring sometimes with all those names and details, but in the end i think it was good experience especially because this my first try to read a whole book in English.
If you do not have enough knowledge about Judaism and Christianity It will be hard for you to understand the book ( like me :D), otherwise i think the book is good.

[sturnerreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a graduate level class called History of the Christian-Muslim Encounter. The book is a solid historical overview, but since it was written in 2000 (pre-9/11) it lacks a considerable amount of perspective. Overall, it's a good starting point for historical study.

[Hana Bilqisthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

buku ini membuat gue dapet gambaran bagaimana kristen memandang islam :D
ternyata ada berbagai macam pandangan tentang kemunculan islam... misalnya gue abru tahu kalau ada kristen yang menganggap islam itu anti kristus atau malah bidah dalam kristen
:o
seru karena membuka perspektif gue...
gue rasa hugh goddard cukup baik dalam berusaha objektif memaparkan tentang islam dan kristen :)
tapi guerasa porposi penceritaan islam dan kristennya kurang berimbang.., bagian kristennya lebih banyak.. entah karena memang kristen yang muncul lebih awal dari islam sehingga sejarahnya pun lebih banyak dan beragam atau pemahaman hugh goddard yang lebih banyak tentang kristen... soalnya di bagian akhir buku, gue ngerasa penjelasan tentang kristen malah lebih banyak..
atau karena seperti yang dipaparkan hugh goodard tokoh islam yang mempelajari kristen makin minim semenjak abad ke 12 sehingga di kesulitan mengetahui pandangan umat islam terhadap kristen

hm...

[Bernando Sujibto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ini buku keren, yang bisa mempertemukan secara tajam sejarah Islam-Kristen dalam porsi yang proporsional. Buku ini membongkar lipatan-lipatan lini masa lalu yang tertutup oleh kabut kontroversi kedua kepentingan yang sama-sama ingin menutupi sejarah buruknya masing-masing demi legitimasi dan otoritas.

Keren poll pokonya.

Selengkapnya, review untuk buku ini adad di http://bjsujibto.blogspot.com/2013/04...

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author gives a very good overview of Christian Islamic relations from the beginning thru till the end of the 20th century. For a topic that has the potential to be so polemical he is quite fair in the presentation of each side. For anyone who wants a better understanding of where each side is coming from.