Truth over Fear: Combating the Lies about Islam

by Charles Kimball

Questions and fears about Islam have proliferated American life for decades, from the Iranian Revolution in 1979 to the September 11, 2001, attacks. Yet more recent history has seen a new development in the tangle of Christian-Muslim relations: the mainstreaming of Islamophobia as a path to political and societal power at the highest level. Politicians and religious leaders now routinely spread fear and confusion about Muslim beliefs and practice in order to bolster their own positions.

Many recognize what is wrong with this situation but are frustrated with what seem to be limited options for response. Truth over Fear provides resources to address the manipulation of religious misunderstanding and intolerance. From renowned Christian scholar of Islam and longtime participant in Christian-Muslim engagement, Charles Kimball demystifies Islam, the world’s second-largest religion, and provides practical guidance on how to share simple facts about Muslim beliefs and practices with family and others, how to take the first steps in dialogue with Muslim neighbors, and how to move beyond dialogue to shared ministry and community building.

Genres: Islam, Religion, Nonfiction, Middle East

158 pages, Paperback

Published August 20, 2019

About the author

Dr. Charles Kimball is professor of comparative religion in the Department of Religion and the Divinity School at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. During the 2006 fall term, he was the Rita and William Bell Visiting Professor at The University of Tulsa. Dr. Kimball is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and holds the M.Div. degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. An ordained Baptist minister, he received his Th.D. from Harvard University in the comparative religion with specialization in Islamic studies.

Dr. Kimball's courses at Wake Forest include "Introduction to Religion," "Religions of the World," "Conceptions of the Afterlife," and "Islam." He is a frequent lecturer in universities and church-related settings as well as an expert analyst on issues related to the Middle East, Islam, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, and the intersection of religion and politics in the United States.

Before joining the Wake Forest faculty in 1996, Dr. Kimball taught for six years at Furman University where he also served as the Director for International Education. From 1983-1990 he was the Director of the Middle East Office at the National Council of Churches, based in New York. He has made more than 35 visits to the Middle East and worked closely with Congress, the White House and the State Department during the past 20 years.

His articles have appeared in a number of publications, including Sojourners, The Christian Century, The Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Boston Globe. He is the author of four books, including When Religion Becomes Evil (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002). When Religion Becomes Evil was named one of the "Top 15 Books on Religion for 2002" by Publishers Weekly and one of the top ten books of the year by the Association of Parish Clergy. It has been published in Swedish, Indonesian, Korean and Danish translations. His three other books are: Striving Together: A Way Forward in Christian-Muslim Relations (Orbis Books), Religion, Politics and Oil: The Volatile Mix in the Middle East (Abingdon Press), and Angle of Vision: Christians and the Middle East (Friendship Press).

Since the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Dr. Kimball has been interviewed by more than 500 TV and radio stations as well as major newspapers and broadcast outlets throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Australia and South Africa.

Reviews

[Genevieve Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short and to the point book, written as a primer on Islam for a Western Christian audience. Its goal is to give a sense of the real history and teachings of Islam to people usually overfed with sensationalized fear-mongering, and I would say it succeeds.

I'm sure most of us know the type of deeply Christian person who shares poorly-made, inflammatory graphics about ISIS on Facebook and supports legislation banning "Sharia law" in the United States. Kimball is reaching out to this person and every Christian who wishes they understood better how to connect with their Muslim neighbor, trying to give us tools to reach out ourselves.

I found his chapters on the Five Pillars of Islam and what Islam has both in common and in contrast with Christianity to be the most useful. I have studied Islam quite a bit historically, but much less in an actually theological way, so that was helpful. The least useful content he includes is the chapter on the history of interfaith relations, which reads like a list of conferences and church councils with acronym names.

However, his point is still well taken. It would be wonderful if Christians in general could spend less time fomenting unnecessary worldly strife. A so-called "clash of civilizations" is irrelevant to our faith; the gospel is spread through human connection, not vicious culture wars. Islam has been set up by much of our media as the perfect straw man enemy, and person-to-person conversation and understanding go a long way toward erasing that false image.

"Our struggle is not against flesh and blood... but against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)

[Jeannine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truth over Fear by Dr. Charles Kimball was an interesting read. I think there is great value in the book for offering a simplified or summary understanding of Islam. It’s not particularly long which may be more attractive for some readers. This is written in a style accessible to the general reader. For anyone more academic or who has read some on the topic there is nothing new of note here. Dr. Kimball meets the goals he laid out for the book.

#TruthOverFear #NetGalley

[Fajriy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a muslim, I really appreciate the author for writing about this topic.

This book is a short, light read. It covers the basic knowledge about Islam. This book also presents the differences as well as similarity between Islam and Christianity. Though I disagree on several 'minor mentions' in this book, it is okay. We muslims have different opinions about some topics too.

I recommend this book to people who want to know or understand the basic knowledge of Islam, how it is similar and different from Christianity.

I received an e-copy of this book via Netgalley.

[Tom Carrico · Rating 5 out of 5]

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