The Qur'an and the Bible: Text and Commentary

by Gabriel Said Reynolds, Ali Quli Qara'i (Translator)

A groundbreaking comparative study that illuminates the connections between the Qur'ān and the Bible

While the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are understood to be related texts, the sacred scripture of Islam, the third Abrahamic faith, has generally been considered separately. Noted religious scholar Gabriel Said Reynolds draws on centuries of Qur'ānic and Biblical studies to offer rigorous and revelatory commentary on how these holy books are intrinsically connected.

Reynolds demonstrates how Jewish and Christian characters, imagery, and literary devices feature prominently in the Qur'ān, including stories of angels bowing before Adam and of Jesus speaking as an infant. This important contribution to religious studies features a full translation of the Qur'ān along with excerpts from the Jewish and Christian texts. It offers a clear analysis of the debates within the communities of religious scholars concerning the relationship of these scriptures, providing a new lens through which to view the powerful links that bond these three major religions.

Genres: Islam, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology, Biblical Studies, Christianity, Middle East

1032 pages, Hardcover

Published June 5, 2018

Reviews

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I am interested in learning about other faiths, cultures, and religions, when I saw this on NetGalley I decided to read it. I must admit, I did find it a little overwhelming and feel that knowledge of the Bible and Qur'an are required to get the best out of this comparative study. As I am not religious, I don't have vast knowledge of these Holy books, so I plan to read the Bible and Qur'an then come back to this. That said, I did understand everything and enjoyed reading how similar the two books and their ideas actually are.

You can tell that the author, Gabriel Reynolds, has researched meticulously for this publication. It is very thorough, and I did find the comparisons interesting. Having read this all the way through it is clear that this would have taken a lot of time and effort to compose. I guess knowledge of these two texts isn't essential as the relevant parts are included here, but I think it will help to understand everything in context.

I feel this book would interest people of both of these religions, or none. An extensive and far-reaching study that highlights the commonalities between Islam and Christianity, and shows that although they are two separate religions, their ideas overlap.

I would like to thank Gabriel Said Reynolds, Yale University Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Katie]

Since we live in a diverse world, I like to learn about and try to understand what I can about the beliefs and traditions of the people around me and throughout the world. I know a great deal about the Bible and Christianity as I was raised to be a Christian. I understand how the Jewish Torah relates to the Bible as they share some of the same books. However, I was a little stymied in understanding how the Qur’an is similar and different to the Bible. I talked to a Muslim friend about it and she just told me “it’s kind of like it but then it isn’t” and to just read the Qur’an. So when I was given the opportunity to review this book that gives the full text of the Qur’an with annotations about connections to the Bible, I knew I had to take it. (Thank you to Yale University Press, Gabriel Said Reynolds, and Netgalley). The front matter includes a guide to the main Biblical and Post-Biblical Characters in the Qur’an, a guide to abbreviations used in the Annotations, and a very helpful introduction. In the introduction, I learned how early Islam had the choice to consider the Bible authoritative scripture the same way early Christians had to choose whether the Hebrew books (the Old Testament) should be considered authoritative scripture for Christians. Early Muslims chose not to consider the Bible authoritative but nevertheless, the Qur’an does depend heavily on knowledge of the Bible and Biblical traditions and ideas. The Bible is not directly cited in the Qur’an as there wasn’t a direct translation available but it played a role in shaping some of the ideas of Islam. Gabriel Reynolds, the leading Qur’anic scholar who authored this comparative study, chose to present the text in order of the Qur’an instead of the order by the Bible so I believe it would be more useful for adherents of Islam to learn about Biblical references than for someone like me with more knowledge of Christian theology. I will use this book as more of a reference book as I am not interested in reading any of the major religious texts from cover to cover at this time. Religious scholars would able to critique this book at a more sophisticated level but I appreciate it as a bridge to understanding of commonalities between these religions..

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This thing is long ... like 1000+ pages long. In essence it is a complete translation of the Quran into English, with commentary interspersed. The commentary repeatedly draws attention to parallels between various koranic verses and the writing of early (Christian) church fathers. What is most revealing is that the overwhelmingly large number of citations are from Syrian church father's writings of the 3rd to 6th centuries. In my view this further reinforces the views of Luxenburg w.r.t. koranics origins, but here from a theological rather than an etymological basis.

Definitely must-read for anyone with an interest in Koranic origins. Scholarly, modern, and readable (also long :) ).

[Mu-tien Chiou]

"Rather than attempt to state the significance of the divine character in philosophical terms," Miles writes, "theography aspires more modestly to meet him in the same simple way that characters can always be met on the pages of a work of literary art."

阿拉更靜態而超越
In God in the Qur'an this method is given a comparative inflection — for ...[a]s a literary character, Allah is static, ...treated with less anthropomorphism. He is always talking to everybody at once, and this makes Him seem more decisive, more certain. In the Qur'an['s creation story...], Allah seems a work already accomplished turning to the correction of a creation also accomplished but in need of the final revision that only He can provide.

古蘭經對聖經有意識地「糾正」
Unlike the Bible, the Qur'an is ..scripture spoken by God, and very often for the purpose of correcting the errors of biblical tradition. "It is the point of the story that matters to [Allah]," writes Miles, "not the preservation or enhancement of any mere narrative suspense." Allah corrects the biblical accounts — of, for example, "Adam and His Wife," "Adam's Son and His Brother," "Noah," "Abraham and His Father" and the other chapters that form the backbone of God in the Qur'an — not, in the main, by narrating them differently, but by plainly stating their meaning.

According to Qur'an, as Abraham disputed with his Babylonian tribe's cosmotheism (sun-worship, moon-worship, star-worship), he employed the argument from design- that creation must have a creator and that it is he and he alone who should be worshipped. In attempting to convert Pharaoh to monotheism, the Qur'an's Moses talks in a similar vein.


不如說神不是人形象造的
In the Qur'an, Allah never presents Adam as an image of Himself. That Allah and Adam are never presented in the Qur'an as related by resemblance is a way to make the point that ...humans have not created Allah (or Yahweh either) in our own image. If we were inventing either in our image, would we give him no sex life whatsoever?
It is the iconography of Byzantine and Eastern Christianity that Arabs in the Hijaz would have in mind when thinking about how Christians imagined their God. Arabs must have been viewing the gigantic portrayal of Maria Theotokos in the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople as a goddess in her own right- this is Mariolatry.

至穆聖為高峰：仍有歷史的預表法
Figural/typological readings (often in the form of "intertextuality") flows from Christ's divinity. Salvation history can only be thought as a result of the Christ-event. Figural interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures begins in the New Testament itself. (How can Islam's denial of Christ's divinity lead to figural readings?) Figural interpretation in the Qur'an takes the shape of an actively re-interpretive recapitulation of key biblical episodes such that Jesus et co become typological rehearsals of their culmination in the prophetic career of Muhammad.
Does this procedure owe something to the Christian exegetical practice of typology? Perhaps.

但歷史本身不再是「神的歷史」
All good art and literature begin in immanence. But they do not stop there." The Incarnation made possible the deep concern with immanence that so distinguished the Christian from the classical imagination. Since Qur'an never speaks of Imago Dei, Adam's sin and Muhammad's restoration have nothing to do with any such image. With the creator/creation distinction clearly permeating all aspects of Islamic theology, the one exception to this rule would seem to be the Qur'an itself as the Word of Allah conveyed to Muhammad. Namely, the Qur'an and the Qur'an alone enjoys a measure, even a large measure, of transcendence.

缺乏明確和平主義
The pacifism of the gospels has had a marked effect on Western history. In Islam, pacifist traditions have been marginal if not heterodox, as is the case with Sufism.

In Allah's way of retelling a Bible story for Muhammad's benefit, the moral of any story (Isaac's sacrifice, Joseph and the Exodus) permeates it from the beginning, to the
eschewal of all narrative tension, as "entertainment" merely distracts from that moral point.


Review adapted from https://www.abc.net.au/religion/god-a...

[Kyle Evens]

This author provides a monumental amount of context and analysis to the source material, making it far less intimidating for me as someone completely unfamiliar with the theology or juridical precepts of Islam.

[Tynan Brooks]

The commentary on the Qur'an's parallels w/ the Bible and ancient Jewish/Christian texts, was a helpful way to read it for the first time. The book itself was not what I expected, so the mooring to what I know helped.

[Jaylani Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay book. Could have done a better job with the full commentary.

[Ziyad Bawedan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite tough books to read as a whole, but it's quite useful one and better be treated as an introductory encyclopedia before dive deeper into cited paper or books

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s dense and it’s a thousand pages long, but if you’re interested in the relationship between the Quran and Jewish and (mostly Syriac) Christian writings and theology, it’s a fascinating read.

[Brittany Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read. As a Christian, I never fully understood that Islam is an Abrahamic faith. I enjoyed the parallels that this book provides and connections between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes parallels and and points out differences between the Christian scriptures and the writings of the Quran. Very interesting to read.