Not Peace But a Sword: The Great Chasm Between Christianity and Islam

by Robert Spencer

Islam...Is it a religion of peace?...Are Muslims an easy ally in the fight against global secularization and the culture of death?...Are their beliefs really so different than our own?

Some Christians view Islam as a sister religion, a branch of the same Abrahamic tree—lacking the fullness of revelation but nonetheless a religion of peace. Others are more critical of Islamic teachings but still see Muslims as valuable partners in the global fight against secularization and the Culture of Death.

In Not Peace but a Sword, Robert Spencer argues they’re both wrong—and warns Christians against the danger of thinking that Islam is an easy ally.

Many Christian groups, including the Catholic Church, do recognize whatever is good and true in Islam, and their leaders rightly pursue peaceful accord and common ground with all religions. Spencer argues, however, that real peace can come only from truth. Where there is falsehood in Islamic doctrine, morals, and practice, papering over the truth actually hurts the cause of peace.

And so Spencer, the New York Times best-selling author of more than a dozen books dealing with Islam and the West, shines the light of truth on areas where Christians and Muslims don’t just quibble over small details but fundamentally disagree, including:

The character of God, Jesus, and divine revelation

The nature of truth and the source of moral law

Religious freedom and other basic human rights

Life issues, marriage, and sexual morality

The rights and dignity of women

He demonstrates how these differences are not academic but real-world. They are critical and drive Muslim behavior toward Christians and others. If we fail to open our eyes to these differences, we do so at our peril.

He demonstrates how these differences are not academic but real-world. They are critical and drive Muslim behavior toward Christians and others. If we fail to open our eyes to these differences, we do so at our peril.

Review

Robert Spencer is a careful observer of Islam and a courageous voice on behalf of Christians. In Not Peace But a Sword he shows us how to take Islam seriously without falling into alarmism, hatred, or bigotry, and provides a needed corrective to media disinformation. --Scott Hahn --Fr. Scanlan Chair of Biblical Theology --Franciscan University of Steubenville

A great many Catholics know only a Disney-fied version of Islam, and still cling to the dangerous illusion that Muslims and Christians share much in common. But as Robert Spencer ably demonstrates, beneath the surface similarities lies a deep and possibly unbridgeable gulf. This is must reading not only for Catholics but for all Christians. --William Kilpatrick -- author of Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West

Robert Spencer carefully examines the challenge posed to Christianity by an increasingly militant Islam. His case is calm, lucid, accurate, and uncompromising in its presentation of the facts of history. He provides an honest and unflinching account of the roots of Christian/Muslim tensions, a robust defense of Jesus Christ and Christianity in response to Muslim claims, and a sobering wake-up call to all Christians. --Patrick Madrid ---author of Envoy for Christ: 25 Years as a Catholic Apologist and host of the Right Here, Right Now radio show

About the Author

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch , a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and the author of twelve books, including two New York Times bestsellers, The Truth about Muhammad and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). Spencer, a Melkite Greek Catholic, has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army s Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community.

Genres: History, Islam, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Christian

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

ROBERT SPENCER is the director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and the author of seventeen books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book is The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Free Speech (and Its Enemies). Coming in November 2017 is Confessions of an Islamophobe (Bombardier Books).

Spencer has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the FBI, the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group, the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), the Justice Department’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council and the U.S. intelligence community. He has discussed jihad, Islam, and terrorism at a workshop sponsored by the U.S. State Department and the German Foreign Ministry. He is a consultant with the Center for Security Policy.

Spencer is a weekly columnist for PJ Media and FrontPage Magazine, and has written many hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. His articles on Islam and other topics have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, the New York Post, the Washington Times, the Dallas Morning News, Fox News Opinion, National Review, The Hill, the Detroit News, TownHall.com, Real Clear Religion, the Daily Caller, the New Criterion, the Journal of International Security Affairs, the UK’s Guardian, Canada’s National Post, Middle East Quarterly, WorldNet Daily, First Things, Insight in the News, Aleteia, and many other journals. For nearly ten years Spencer wrote the weekly Jihad Watch column at Human Events. He has also served as a contributing writer to the Investigative Project on Terrorism and as an Adjunct Fellow with the Free Congress Foundation.

Spencer has appeared on the BBC, ABC News, CNN, FoxNews’s Tucker Carlson Show, the O’Reilly Factor, Megyn Kelly’s The Kelly File, the Sean Hannity Show, Geraldo Rivera Reports, the Glenn Beck Show, Fox and Friends, America’s News HQ and many other Fox programs, PBS, MSNBC, CNBC, C-Span, CTV News, Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News, France24, Voice of Russia and Croatia National Television (HTV), as well as on numerous radio programs including The Sean Hannity Show, Bill O’Reilly’s Radio Factor, The Mark Levin Show, The Laura Ingraham Show, The Herman Cain Show, The Joe Piscopo Show, The Howie Carr Show, The Curt Schilling Show, Bill Bennett’s Morning in America, Michael Savage’s Savage Nation, The Alan Colmes Show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, The Neal Boortz Show, The Michael Medved Show, The Michael Reagan Show, The Rusty Humphries Show, The Larry Elder Show, The Peter Boyles Show, Vatican Radio, and many others.

Robert Spencer has been a featured speaker across the country and around the world and authored 17 books. Spencer’s books have been translated into many languages, including Spanish, Italian, German, Finnish, Korean, Polish and Bahasa Indonesia. His Qur’an commentary at Jihad Watch, Blogging the Qur’an, has been translated into Czech, Danish, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

Spencer (MA, Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) has been studying Islamic theology, law, and history in depth since 1980. His work has aroused the ire of the foes of freedom and their dupes: in October 2011, Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups wrote to Homeland Security Advisor (and current CIA director) John Brennan, demanding that Spencer be removed as a trainer for the FBI and military groups, which he taught about the belief system of Islamic jihadists; Brennan immediately complied as counter-terror training materials were scrubbed of all mention of Islam and jihad. Spencer has been banned by the British government from entering the United Kingdom for pointing out accurately that Islam has doctrines of violence against unbelievers. He has been invited by name to convert to Islam by a senior member of al-Qaeda.

Reviews

[William F · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Robert Spencer is a careful observer of Islam and a courageous voice on behalf of Christians. In Not Peace But a Sword he shows us how to take Islam seriously without falling into alarmism, hatred, or bigotry, and provides a needed corrective to media disinformation." -Scott Hahn, Fr. Scanlan Chair of Biblical Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville.

[Ted Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very educational book. The author posits that many Christians argue we should band together with Muslims to fight the secular and even anti-religion forces that are in ascendancy in the West. Yet, the author makes a strong argument that, if we dig deeply into the beliefs of Islam, we will see that we actually don't share very many moral positions after all. The author spends large portions of the book setting forth specific quotes from the Koran that unequivocally state it is the duty of every Muslim to destroy Christians and Jews and anyone else who is not a Muslim and refuses to convert. The Muslim understanding of God is quite different than the Christian understanding. Christians understand God as their father, someone who looks after them and wants only the best for them. Muslims, on the other hand, see God as a master who they do not dare question regarding his motives. The moral positions of the two religions are also quite distinct. Christians believe in monogamy and a lifelong commitment between a husband and wife in marriage. Muslims, on the other hand are allowed to have multiple wives and also to keep sex slaves. This is actually specifically set forth in the Koran. One might counter, that even though the Koran may have some of these antiquated ideas, current teaching of Islam has either muted or out right contradicted those portions. Unfortunately that is not true. There is no formal teaching authority that contradicts any of the original statements in the Koran. In fact, it is forbidden to do so. So, for example, we find that Mohammed took a wife when she was only six years old and consummated their marriage as soon as the young girl turned nine years old. Many countries that have developed a Muslim majority government explicitly allow these child brides.
Finally, regarding the notion that Muslims help the poor and provide alms to those less advantaged than them, this is true provided the person they're helping is another Muslim.
The book ends with a transcript of a debate between Peter Kreeft and an expert on the Koran and Islam. At the conclusion of the debate both men agreed that the "only good Muslim is a bad Muslim." This is to say that a Muslim who follows the dictates and teachings of Mohammed (a good Muslim) is going to act in a way that is, in many ways, directly contrary to the teachings of Christ. Someone who believes not in peace but a sword for non-Muslims (what we would adjudge a bad Muslim).

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book. A must read

[Steven H · Rating 2 out of 5]

A CRITICAL CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE ON ISLAM AND INTERFAITH COOPERATION

[NOTE: page numbers below refer to 251-page hardcover book.]

Robert Bruce Spencer (born 1962) is an American author and one of the key figures of the ‘counter-jihad’ movement. His website, ‘Jihad Watch,’ reports on purported ‘Islamic extremism.’ (He is also a Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and has written several politically conservative books.) He is no longer a Catholic, and is working on a critical book about papal infallibility.

He wrote in the introduction to this 2013 book, “A book about the differences, rather than similarities, of two religious traditions, and how in certain important ways we may not be able to get along, and indeed should not work closely together… may seem at first glance to be uncharitable. It is certainly against the spirit of the age… A respectful and accurate examination of differences… can make cooperation between people of different faiths more fruitful, helping all parties see the parameters for dialogue clearly and guard against unrealistic expectations. This is particularly true regarding the vexing question of dialogue and cooperation with Muslims. It is fashionable in certain sectors for Catholics in the U.S. and Europe to call upon the Church to make common cause on life issues, and other areas of apparently shared moral concern, with Muslims. After all, both Catholics and Muslims face the same radical secularist foe… however, this call for a common cause seems to meet an immediate obstacle in the growing Muslim aggression against Christians around the globe. For many, this raises some fundamental questions: Is cooperation with Muslims really a good idea? If so, to what extent can it be done?... To answer these questions properly, Catholics should have a clear understanding of what they’re getting into when they enter into dialogue or make common cause with Muslims… Only then can they avoid pitfalls…” (Pg. 11-13)

He continues, “Islam today presents a double aspect. On the one hand, Islamic jihadists… commit acts of violence and persecute Christians with increasing virulence in Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, and elsewhere… On the other hand, Muslims in Western countries reach out to Catholics and other non-Muslims, pointing out all the many things that we have in common. These Muslims appear to be [very] different from their co-religionists who are torching churches and massacring Christians… The relationship between these two groups of Muslims, and the relationship of Islam in general to Christianity and the Catholic Church, is the preoccupation of this book. We will … compare the Muslim and Catholic understandings of God, Christ, revelation, salvation, and morality.” (Pg. 13-14)

He notes the “nearly total silence [which] manifests itself in the curiously euphemistic manner in which human rights groups report on the plight of Christians, when they notice that plight at all… The passive voice seems to be the rule of the day where jihad violence against Christians is concerned… Who is responsible for the violence? AI [Amnesty International] seems more concerned about protecting Islam and Islamic groups from being implicated in human rights abuses than about protecting Christians from those abuses. It appears that Christianity—even indigenous Egyptian Christianity, which of course predates the advent of Islam in that country---is too closely identified with the United States and the West for the multiculturalist tastes of the human rights elite… And so Islamic jihadists and Sharia supremacists, with … virtually no protest from the West, continue to prey on the Christians in their midst. These embattled communities are now on the verge of extinction, with no one to speak up for them.” (Pg. 27-29)

He observes, “The issue of free will versus predestination has… vexed Catholics and Protestants for centuries… Calvinism… is notorious for its doctrine of double predestination, the idea that God has destined people for hell as well as for salvation… The situation in Islam is, on first glance, even worse, with the Qur’an’s testimony on this… appearing to be hopelessly contradictory… Those who would ‘go straight’---follow Allah’s straight path---cannot do so ‘unless God wills.’ This does not depart significantly from the Catholic understanding that no soul can approach God without having received the grace to do so… However, the Qur’an goes much further… into a more or less open determinism… Those who have rejected Allah do so because he made it possible for them to do nothing else.” (Pg, 65-66)

He states, “Fornication, adultery, the sanctity of marriage, the importance of bearing children---in all such areas, many Catholics believe that Catholic and Muslim moral teaching are essentially identical. Yet, there are serious differences that have up to now received far less attention than the similarities… the Muslim understanding of marriage and sexual morality differs so greatly from the Christian understanding that it renders those similarities void of meaning. What’s more, Islamic morality allows for practices that Catholicism abhors, including contraception, child marriage, polygamy, female genital mutilation, and even sexual slavery of non-believing women.” (Pg. 139)

He asserts, “Slavery is rooted in the Qur’an, which … allows a man four wives, plus an unspecified number of sex slaves, women captured in the course of battle with non-Muslims… Of course the Bible, takes slavery for granted. But biblical justifications for slavery… were never understood among Christians to be as … strong as Muslim scholars have understood those in the Qur’an to be… in modern times abolitionist movements arose among Christians… In Islam, by contrast, no abolitionist movement has ever arisen… And even when the slaves are Muslims, the practice continues. Slavery is still practice more or less openly today in Sudan and Mauritania… bans have been imposed by Western pressure, they have arisen from an abolitionist movements within Islam.” (Pg. 154-155)

He explains, “‘There is no compulsion in religion’ [in Islam], certainly. Non-Muslims are not forced to become Muslim. But under the stipulations of traditional Islamic law, failure to convert would make their lives so miserable that they do convert simply to be able to live life with some dignity and hope… That the thirty-eight [Muslim] scholars who wrote to the pope… give the impression that Islam allows for the freedom of conscience and for non-Muslims to practice their religions freely and unhindered, does not speak well of their sincerity…” (Pg. 167-168)

He notes that, while Pope John Paul II “never apologized for the Crusades,’ he did say that “[W]e cannot fail to recognize the infidelities to the Gospel committed by some of our brethren, especially during the second millennium’… Though it’s hardly an ‘apology for the Crusades,’ nonetheless one would be hard pressed to find a similar statement from any Muslim leader, still less one of the pope’s supreme stature, acknowledging any wrongdoing of the part of Muslims individually or of any Islamic state.” (Pg. 176-177)

He states, “There are many friendly, non-violent Muslims in the world, and many have Christian friends. But although it is relatively easy to find Muslims who have no intention ever of acting upon the Islamic texts and teachings that jihadists use to justify violence, it is significantly harder to find Muslims who actively repudiate those teachings and reinterpret those texts. Muslim spokesmen in the West generally deny that there are any violent teachings in Islam, or practice moral equivalence when confronted with them, claiming that Christianity is just as violent or even more so, as if that is a sufficient answer to the problem of Islam-inspired violence around the world today. Deception is not reform, although among Muslim spokesmen today there is considerable confusion between the two.” (Pg. 183)

He concludes, “Secularism is encroaching upon the West, making it ever more difficult to hold fast to the fullness of the Faith… In such a world it is always good to have allies… Yet a true ally is not one who is likely to turn and join one’s enemies in the struggle, or to initiate new hostilities within the alliance once the battle is won. The doctrines of Islam that inculcate among all too many Muslims hatred and suspicion of Christianity and Christians have never been reformed or rejected by any Islamic sect. Catholics who believe that their Muslim dialogue partners desire to establish a lasting friendship… should proceed… with an awareness of the many pitfalls involved.” (Pg. 187-188)

The book’s Epilogue reproduces the transcript of a 2000 debate/discussion between Spencer and Peter Kreeft. Spencer points out in one place, “obviously, there are Muslims who do not consider acts of terrorism or violence, or the supremacist attempts to impose Islamic law over non-Muslims, part of their Islamic piety… They are, however, universally worldwide on the defensive today. They are represented as the bad Muslims by their fellow Muslims… And so the Muslims who we could look to with hopes of reform… are the ones who re considered to be the bad Muslims generally in the Muslim community.” (Pg. 195)

Kreeft admits, “Islam is like Protestantism. It has a Bible, but there are so many different interpretations of it possible … that there are no preset limits on … interpretations that could be in the future. I don’t personally hole much hope for a moderate and liberal Islam suddenly arising in our lifetime, but it’s not intrinsically impossible, so I think we should encourage any movement in that direction.” (Pg. 227)

This book will be of interest to Christians (mostly Catholics) looking for cautious/critical perspectives on Islam and interreligious dialogue.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Catholic explains what Muslims are really like -- that they are all bad, want world domination, and lie like Persian rugs.

Hmmmm ... nothing in here about Catholic pedophile priests. Nothing about how Christians want world domination (because only then will Jesus come back) but lots of snide remarks about how non-Catholic Christians aren't really Christians.

And there's whoppers like science never would've happened without Christianity. Even though science pre-dates Christianity. And many Christian denominations are spending a lot of money and effort to destroy science.

The end of the book is a transcript of a debate he had with a Muslim author he particularly hates. The topic? Resolved: A Good Muslim is a Bad Muslim. Spencer also hates the political left, any kind of contraception, atheists, secularism (whatever the fuck he think it means), Amnesty International, any other human rights group, and just about anything other than himself. It's too bad he can't suck his own dick. Maybe that would shut hateful mouth up.

There are no suggestions as for how Catholics should treat Muslims, except to preach the Gospel to them.

Yeah, that'll work.

And be sure to never use condoms, because no good Christian man would resort to any form of contraception. But rape is perfectly okay, especially if the Christian man is a Catholic priest.

The book is only worth reading to know why people of any religion are complete idiots.

[Caitlin Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, I am a huge fan of Robert Spencer. He is one of the better known critics of Islam and this book is up to his usual standards.

Spencer's basic argument is that islam is a supremacist religion which deliberately aims for world domination because that is what the koran explicitly says muslims should do.

Islam, says Spencer, views all non-muslims, especially Christians, as blasphemers, heretics and infidels who are to ultimately be given the choice of converting to Islam or accepting being legally subservient to, and dominated by, muslims. Or being killed if unwilling to accept one of the first two choices.

He argues his case very well, with citations from the koran, hadith and sharia law, along with historical examples to back up his arguments.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book, my perception of Islam came from bits and pieces of information heard or read here and there. This was a systematic side-by-side comparison of Christianity and Islam. Bottom line seems to be that the only good Muslim is a bad Muslim. A good and obedient Muslim will not tolerate Christians and Jews. Note what's happening in Egypt right now as that country's adherence to Islam has been on the upswing of late. Christians are killed and women are covered up again. If you think Christianity and Islam can peacefully coexist, think again.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spencer delineates with great clarity the chasms that separate Christianity from Islam. While many Muslim apologists try to focus solely on superficial similarities between the faiths, Spencer shows that it is the differences we should be aware of when engaging Muslims in any kind of interfaith outreach. What is clear by events today is that the bridge building between Islam and other faiths is not what most might wish to think. It's not a two-way bridge, it's a one way bridge. Islam is a supremacist doctrine, which includes a doctrine of warfare against all unbelievers. Wake up people.

[Ben Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is truly an eye opener. The author goes through the main differences between Christianity and Islam. The issues go from comparing our understanding of God to Islam, our understanding of Jesus to islam, our understanding of sexual ethics to Islam, and our understanding of the desire for dialogue between the faiths to Islam. Most people assume that Christianity and Islam are so similar but this book completely debunks that thought process. A must read for someone trying to distinguish between the two faiths.

[Jon Sorensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting commentary on the difficulties in dialoguing with Islam from a Christian perspective.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read. Explains the mindset of the radicals. Included information I didn't know before.

[Lisa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and educational book. An important read for North Americans.

[Barbarawombatgmail.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well written book with great references to the Kuran. It has sparked many discussions among friends and family.