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Two Stories of Everything: The Competing Metanarratives of Islam and Christianity
Scholars and preachers have been approaching Islam and Christianity for centuries as two religions. But what if we set that approach aside and try something new? What if we look at the stories that Islam and Christianity tell? In this book we do exactly we go back to the beginning of the stories - Creation - and work our way forward to humanity, Israel, the founders (Jesus and Muhammad), why they founded their communities (the Church and the Umma), what those communities are doing in the world today, and then look down the road to the end of the two stories of everything with their different accounts of the final judgment. Approaching Islam and Christianity as two stories of everything, or metanarratives, produces fresh new insights relevant to any person - whether Christian, Muslim, or of no religion - concerned with the question of how Islam, Christianity, and modernity interact and sometimes clash with each other.
- GenresIslamChristianity
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Published April 4, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 7, 2018
How do people best learn? How, therefore, should we teach? Historically, Christians have emphasized communicating “propositional truths.” An example would be the famous tract, “The Four Spiritual Laws.” Now the pendulum has swung away from propositional truth teaching to “storytelling,” since much of the Global South communicates truth through stories, parables, humor, etc. Both paradigms can boast a biblical basis. Duane Miller encompasses and eclipses these paradigms by suggesting that the best way to understand and appreciate Islam and Christianity is through their respective “metanarratives.” I could not agree more.
Duane Miller has distilled hundreds of Bible, Qur’anic verses and Islamic hadith into coherent grand-narratives which feature similarities and differences. His experiences living in the United States, Europe and the Middle East provide abundant illustrations in an amazingly brief book. Dr. Miller gives the Church a “C” in fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission; he grades the Islamic “Umma” with a “D” for fulfilling its respective obligation of advancing the Islamic narrative. It is an even-handed treatment of the world’s two largest faiths and their communities. He handles many hot potato questions, such as “Is Islam a religion of peace? And, “what is the future of Christianity in the West?” Truly this book is an educational treasure.
Duane Miller has distilled hundreds of Bible, Qur’anic verses and Islamic hadith into coherent grand-narratives which feature similarities and differences. His experiences living in the United States, Europe and the Middle East provide abundant illustrations in an amazingly brief book. Dr. Miller gives the Church a “C” in fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission; he grades the Islamic “Umma” with a “D” for fulfilling its respective obligation of advancing the Islamic narrative. It is an even-handed treatment of the world’s two largest faiths and their communities. He handles many hot potato questions, such as “Is Islam a religion of peace? And, “what is the future of Christianity in the West?” Truly this book is an educational treasure.
April 21, 2018
There is no lack of books comparing Christianity and Islam. While those books are useful, they tend to compare them as competing religions. It is true that both Christianity and Islam are religions, but they are more than that. They both provide a framework for seeing all of reality. This is called a metanarrative.
Duane Alexander Miller has provided a much needed resource with his book, Two Stories of Everything: The Competing Metanarratives of Islam and Christianity. While he deals with subjects normally understood as religious, his focus is on how they see all of reality.
The subjects that Miller looks at include creation, anthropology, Israel, Jesus, Muhammad, community, mission and eschatology. Miller is able to provide a fair and balanced overview of how Christianity and Islam look at each of these topics. He acknowledges where they are similar but also demonstrates that there are some significant differences.
Islam is much more than just Christianity with a slightly different Jesus and an additional prophet. Islam actually has a completely different metanarrative. The story that it tells about reality is not the same as that of Christianity.
There are a number of things that I appreciated about Miller’s book. One is that it is both a good introduction to Islam and also a nice summary of the Christian metanarrative. I also liked Miller’s honest and humble perspective. In his conclusion, Miller says, “I hope that I am as critical of Christianity as I am of Islam, and I see the umma doing a number of things correctly that I don’t see the Church, by and large, doing correctly.” (p. 134) Two Stories of Everything is not a polemic against Islam, even though Miller is transparent about his own Christian faith. In addition, each chapter includes reflection questions and there is a handy glossary at the end of the book.
Duane Alexander Miller has provided a much needed resource with his book, Two Stories of Everything: The Competing Metanarratives of Islam and Christianity. While he deals with subjects normally understood as religious, his focus is on how they see all of reality.
The subjects that Miller looks at include creation, anthropology, Israel, Jesus, Muhammad, community, mission and eschatology. Miller is able to provide a fair and balanced overview of how Christianity and Islam look at each of these topics. He acknowledges where they are similar but also demonstrates that there are some significant differences.
Islam is much more than just Christianity with a slightly different Jesus and an additional prophet. Islam actually has a completely different metanarrative. The story that it tells about reality is not the same as that of Christianity.
There are a number of things that I appreciated about Miller’s book. One is that it is both a good introduction to Islam and also a nice summary of the Christian metanarrative. I also liked Miller’s honest and humble perspective. In his conclusion, Miller says, “I hope that I am as critical of Christianity as I am of Islam, and I see the umma doing a number of things correctly that I don’t see the Church, by and large, doing correctly.” (p. 134) Two Stories of Everything is not a polemic against Islam, even though Miller is transparent about his own Christian faith. In addition, each chapter includes reflection questions and there is a handy glossary at the end of the book.
September 1, 2019
"After observing that their protologies appear similar I argued that they propose different anthropologies, with humans being created for different reasons. In Islam it is to know the power of God, and in Christianity to know his love."
This book is a perfect example of a concise, easy to read book packed full of important content. In this text, the author highlights the different metanarratives of Christianity and Islam, with part of the larger conversation entailing subjects like (the oft-misunderstood) separation of church and state, evangelism, secular atheistic humanism, the crusades, mass immigration, and the future of each faith. Unsurprisingly, some aspects reminded me of Nabeel Qureshi's "Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus," in that case told by an ex-Muslim convert to Christianity.
Having lived in the Middle East, and as an authority on religious conversion from Islam to Christianity, as well as the history of Anglicanism in the Middle East, the author offers a necessary, lovingly direct approach to the subject. I'm grateful to have run into his work via Academia.edu and his presentations on YouTube, and extend my thanks for the review copy.
This book is a perfect example of a concise, easy to read book packed full of important content. In this text, the author highlights the different metanarratives of Christianity and Islam, with part of the larger conversation entailing subjects like (the oft-misunderstood) separation of church and state, evangelism, secular atheistic humanism, the crusades, mass immigration, and the future of each faith. Unsurprisingly, some aspects reminded me of Nabeel Qureshi's "Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus," in that case told by an ex-Muslim convert to Christianity.
Having lived in the Middle East, and as an authority on religious conversion from Islam to Christianity, as well as the history of Anglicanism in the Middle East, the author offers a necessary, lovingly direct approach to the subject. I'm grateful to have run into his work via Academia.edu and his presentations on YouTube, and extend my thanks for the review copy.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews