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The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
F.E. Peters, a scholar without peer in the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, revisits his pioneering work after twenty-five years. Peters has rethought and thoroughly rewritten his classic The Children of Abraham for a new generation of readers-at a time when the understanding of these three religious traditions has taken on a new and critical urgency.
He began writing about all three faiths in the 1970s, long before it was fashionable to treat Islam in the context of Judaism and Christianity, or to align all three for a family portrait. In this updated edition, he lays out the similarities and differences of the three religious siblings with great clarity and succinctness and with that same remarkable objectivity that is the hallmark of all the author's work.
Peters traces the three faiths from the sixth century B.C., when the Jews returned to Palestine from exile in Babylonia, to the time in the Middle Ages when they approached their present form. He points out that all three faith groups, whom the Muslims themselves refer to as People of the Book, share much common ground. Most notably, each embraces the practice of worshipping a God who intervenes in history on behalf of His people.
The book's text is direct and accessible with thorough and nuanced discussions of each of the three religions. Updated footnotes provide the reader with expert guidance into the highly complex issues that lie between every line of this stunning and timely new edition of The Children of Abraham.
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He began writing about all three faiths in the 1970s, long before it was fashionable to treat Islam in the context of Judaism and Christianity, or to align all three for a family portrait. In this updated edition, he lays out the similarities and differences of the three religious siblings with great clarity and succinctness and with that same remarkable objectivity that is the hallmark of all the author's work.
Peters traces the three faiths from the sixth century B.C., when the Jews returned to Palestine from exile in Babylonia, to the time in the Middle Ages when they approached their present form. He points out that all three faith groups, whom the Muslims themselves refer to as People of the Book, share much common ground. Most notably, each embraces the practice of worshipping a God who intervenes in history on behalf of His people.
The book's text is direct and accessible with thorough and nuanced discussions of each of the three religions. Updated footnotes provide the reader with expert guidance into the highly complex issues that lie between every line of this stunning and timely new edition of The Children of Abraham.
?
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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November 1, 2025
Monotheism And The Plurality Of The Abrahamic Traditions
F.E. Peters, Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern Studies, History, and Religion at New York University has written extensively on the comparative studies of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the early 1980s, he published a short book suitable for lay audiences titled "The Children of Abraham." Then, in 2006, Peters edited "The Children of Abraham" published it in this new edition together with a short introduction by John Esposito, University Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Services, Georgetown University.
The book offers a short yet erudite and thoughtful overview of the history and interrelationships of the three Abrahamic religions. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Peters writes, were "born of an event that each remembers as a moment in history, when the One True God appeared to an Iron Age sheikh named Abram and bound him in a covenant forever." These three religions "grew to adulthood in the rich spiritual climate of the Middle East, and though they have lived together all their lives, now in their maturity they stand apart and regard their family resemblances and conditioned differences with astonishment, disbelief, or disdain." The religions share in common their Abrahamic origins. Equally important, they share the belief in monotheism and worship the one and the same God. "Whether called Yahweh or Elohim, God the Father or Allah, it is the selfsame deity who created the world out of nothing, who fashioned humankind in his own image, who made the covenant with Abraham and his progeny, and who subsequently intervened in human history to punish his enemies and chastise his friends, and to send instructions, warnings, and encouragement to those who would listen."
The three Abrahamic religions have had an intertwined history and have sometimes been friends but too often enemies. Peters' book is a historical study of the similarities and differences among the three faiths. It has the more ambitious goal of provoking thought on how the plurality of warring religious traditions can be reconciled with the philosophical belief in one God.
The book covers the beginnings of each religion starting from the sixth century B.C. when the Jews returned to Palestine from the Babylonian Exile. It continues through the Middle Ages and concludes at roughly 1500 A.D. Peters explains: "[a]ll the issues of reform and all the wellsprings and mechanisms of revival are present in the place and period under consideration. Faith and reason, Scripture and tradition, understanding and enlightenment are all very old adversaries."
The scope of the book moves in a rough direction from history to philosophy. It begins with a discussion of post-exilic Judaism, the Second Temple, and the development of sects and Rabbinic Judaism. It develops the life of Jesus and the origins of Christianity against this background. Then Peters shows the development of Islam by Mohammad, with the influences of the two earlier religions, in the highly different culture of sixth and seventh century A.D. western Arabia.
Peters continues with descriptions of the communal structure of the three religions, their understandings of Scripture, Tradition, and religious Law, and their ways of worshiping God. The final chapters of the book become philosophical as Peters discusses asceticism and mysticism in the three faiths and their philosophical development in the Middle Ages. The philosophical development begins with the classical Greeks and proceeds initially through a great series of Islamic philosophers. Jewish and Christian thinkers learned from and elaborated the teachings of the Greek and Islamic thinkers in the context of their own faiths. Peters throughout gives substantial attention to Philo Judaeus, an early Jewish thinker who lived at about the time of Jesus. Philo was among the first in the Abrahamic tradition to attempt to combine Greek philosophy with religious teaching and to propound an allegorical, philosophical reading of Scripture.
In the final chapter of his book, Peters moves from the secular history, which he develops in his book, to "sacred history" which is how each of the three religions sees itself. Peters writes: "[f]or Jew, Christian, and Muslim alike the history of revelation and the history of the community of believers are the twin foundations of sacred history, but it is the concurrence of the matter of that history that binds them forever together." Peters offers an insightful, suggestive discussion of how each of the three faiths understand themselves, their relationship to the Abrahamic covenant, and each other. His discussion is informed, fair, and non-polemical and does not privilege one form of understanding over others. The book will allow the reader to think more clearly about how, if at all, the belief in one true God can be reconciled with the diversity of ways of knowing and worshiping that God.
The text is succinct and as clear as a scholarly exposition will allow in a short space. The book includes extensive footnotes and references which will allow the reader to pursue the inquiry in more detail. The book includes a useful glossary of technical terms from the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Peters' book will appeal to readers with a serious interest in the comparative study of the Abrahamic religions and in the relationship between monotheism and religious diversity.
Robin Friedman
F.E. Peters, Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern Studies, History, and Religion at New York University has written extensively on the comparative studies of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the early 1980s, he published a short book suitable for lay audiences titled "The Children of Abraham." Then, in 2006, Peters edited "The Children of Abraham" published it in this new edition together with a short introduction by John Esposito, University Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Services, Georgetown University.
The book offers a short yet erudite and thoughtful overview of the history and interrelationships of the three Abrahamic religions. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Peters writes, were "born of an event that each remembers as a moment in history, when the One True God appeared to an Iron Age sheikh named Abram and bound him in a covenant forever." These three religions "grew to adulthood in the rich spiritual climate of the Middle East, and though they have lived together all their lives, now in their maturity they stand apart and regard their family resemblances and conditioned differences with astonishment, disbelief, or disdain." The religions share in common their Abrahamic origins. Equally important, they share the belief in monotheism and worship the one and the same God. "Whether called Yahweh or Elohim, God the Father or Allah, it is the selfsame deity who created the world out of nothing, who fashioned humankind in his own image, who made the covenant with Abraham and his progeny, and who subsequently intervened in human history to punish his enemies and chastise his friends, and to send instructions, warnings, and encouragement to those who would listen."
The three Abrahamic religions have had an intertwined history and have sometimes been friends but too often enemies. Peters' book is a historical study of the similarities and differences among the three faiths. It has the more ambitious goal of provoking thought on how the plurality of warring religious traditions can be reconciled with the philosophical belief in one God.
The book covers the beginnings of each religion starting from the sixth century B.C. when the Jews returned to Palestine from the Babylonian Exile. It continues through the Middle Ages and concludes at roughly 1500 A.D. Peters explains: "[a]ll the issues of reform and all the wellsprings and mechanisms of revival are present in the place and period under consideration. Faith and reason, Scripture and tradition, understanding and enlightenment are all very old adversaries."
The scope of the book moves in a rough direction from history to philosophy. It begins with a discussion of post-exilic Judaism, the Second Temple, and the development of sects and Rabbinic Judaism. It develops the life of Jesus and the origins of Christianity against this background. Then Peters shows the development of Islam by Mohammad, with the influences of the two earlier religions, in the highly different culture of sixth and seventh century A.D. western Arabia.
Peters continues with descriptions of the communal structure of the three religions, their understandings of Scripture, Tradition, and religious Law, and their ways of worshiping God. The final chapters of the book become philosophical as Peters discusses asceticism and mysticism in the three faiths and their philosophical development in the Middle Ages. The philosophical development begins with the classical Greeks and proceeds initially through a great series of Islamic philosophers. Jewish and Christian thinkers learned from and elaborated the teachings of the Greek and Islamic thinkers in the context of their own faiths. Peters throughout gives substantial attention to Philo Judaeus, an early Jewish thinker who lived at about the time of Jesus. Philo was among the first in the Abrahamic tradition to attempt to combine Greek philosophy with religious teaching and to propound an allegorical, philosophical reading of Scripture.
In the final chapter of his book, Peters moves from the secular history, which he develops in his book, to "sacred history" which is how each of the three religions sees itself. Peters writes: "[f]or Jew, Christian, and Muslim alike the history of revelation and the history of the community of believers are the twin foundations of sacred history, but it is the concurrence of the matter of that history that binds them forever together." Peters offers an insightful, suggestive discussion of how each of the three faiths understand themselves, their relationship to the Abrahamic covenant, and each other. His discussion is informed, fair, and non-polemical and does not privilege one form of understanding over others. The book will allow the reader to think more clearly about how, if at all, the belief in one true God can be reconciled with the diversity of ways of knowing and worshiping that God.
The text is succinct and as clear as a scholarly exposition will allow in a short space. The book includes extensive footnotes and references which will allow the reader to pursue the inquiry in more detail. The book includes a useful glossary of technical terms from the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Peters' book will appeal to readers with a serious interest in the comparative study of the Abrahamic religions and in the relationship between monotheism and religious diversity.
Robin Friedman
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July 15, 2012
First, go here and read this review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
There. Now you have some idea of what you're getting into.
I have nothing but respect for Peters -- I studied under him before he retired (in fact, his retirement de-railed my plans for my MA degree and required me to go in a different direction entirely) and he was easily one of the best and most evenhanded academic scholars of early Christianity and the Roman Empire I have ever encountered. He regarded the work of the "Jesus Seminar" with dismissive contempt (and rightly so!) and relied entirely on contemporary sources rather than specious academic or religious theories.
That said, he was not without his flaws. He was a rather mean drunk, a huge fan of ABBA, and had something of an axe to grind against the Roman Catholic Church (I believe he was, himself, a "recovering Catholic"). And he was, at heart, an Islamicist. The study of Islam was his true passion, the field in which his heart forever lay, and as a result this book suffers. He tends to view Islam with rose-coloured glasses, and his analyses of Judaism and Christianity are...half-hearted. His desire to make the comparisons fit and avoid discussing harsh realities results in a somewhat romantic view of Islam and sparse analyses of Judaism and Christianity. Especially (as noted in the review linked above) Christianity.
So, sadly, this book is not great. It's a nice, friendly, no-sharp-edges review of how Judaism & Christianity can be compared to Islam, but it's hardly a serious academic text. I've assigned it to my students this Summer, but only because I was only allowed to assign them two books and needed one that could cover the three Abrahamic faiths.
There. Now you have some idea of what you're getting into.
I have nothing but respect for Peters -- I studied under him before he retired (in fact, his retirement de-railed my plans for my MA degree and required me to go in a different direction entirely) and he was easily one of the best and most evenhanded academic scholars of early Christianity and the Roman Empire I have ever encountered. He regarded the work of the "Jesus Seminar" with dismissive contempt (and rightly so!) and relied entirely on contemporary sources rather than specious academic or religious theories.
That said, he was not without his flaws. He was a rather mean drunk, a huge fan of ABBA, and had something of an axe to grind against the Roman Catholic Church (I believe he was, himself, a "recovering Catholic"). And he was, at heart, an Islamicist. The study of Islam was his true passion, the field in which his heart forever lay, and as a result this book suffers. He tends to view Islam with rose-coloured glasses, and his analyses of Judaism and Christianity are...half-hearted. His desire to make the comparisons fit and avoid discussing harsh realities results in a somewhat romantic view of Islam and sparse analyses of Judaism and Christianity. Especially (as noted in the review linked above) Christianity.
So, sadly, this book is not great. It's a nice, friendly, no-sharp-edges review of how Judaism & Christianity can be compared to Islam, but it's hardly a serious academic text. I've assigned it to my students this Summer, but only because I was only allowed to assign them two books and needed one that could cover the three Abrahamic faiths.
September 8, 2017
An excellent comparative summary of the theological and philosophical development of the three "Abrahamic" religions. Very scholarly and fair minded. Written many years ago, so it is not influenced (or contaminated) by the high temperature debates of the last few years. Well worth reading if you want an overview of all three religions from a scholar who is one of the best in the field.
Quotes:
The Sunnis were willing to accept the verdict of history as reflected in the choices of that "whole first generation" of Muhammad's contemporaries temporaries and their immediate successors. The Shiites argued against history in asserting Mi's preeminence, but in so doing they were forced, to one degree or another, to attack the consensual wisdom of the Companions of the Prophet from whom all the Prophetic sunna ultimately derived. Disappointed by history, the Shiites turned where some Jewish groups may also have resorted, to a Gnostic wisdom, a kind of particularist and underground sunna transmitted, generation after generation, by infallible Imams of the Alid house or by their delegates. In fully developed Shiism, which later found its most lasting base by connecting itself with Persian nationalism, the entire range of Gnostic ideas is on display: the exaltation of wisdom (hikma) over science (ilm); a view of historical events as reflection of cosmic reality; and a concealed (batin) as opposed to an open (zahir) interpretation of Scripture.
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 847-852). Kindle Edition.
If the differences among Muslims were interpreted generously, the distinction between submission (islam) and disbelief (kufr) was strenuously maintained. This was an absolute antagonism that cut across another distinction, that between the Abode of Islam (Dar al-Islam), the geographical area under Muslim political control, and the Abode of War (Dar al-Harb), where the umma did not prevail. Infidels could not be tolerated within the Dar al-Islam: they had either to accept Islam or to perish. Their presence outside side the Abode of Islam created the moral imperative of holy war (jihad). The complex of concerns and conditions that have collected around the Muslim notion of holy war reduces itself to a discussion sion of the circumstances under which the community of Muslims is obligated-for this is, most decidedly, a religious obligation, and a group obligation-to use force against an enemy.
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 867-872). Kindle Edition.
The Mishna with its respective gemarot took final form as the two Talmuds, the Babylonian and the Palestinian, of which the former gained preeminent authority." Though neither was intended tended to be, nor in fact became, the final word on Jewish law, the respect given to both Talmuds stemmed from the fact that they were the products of a scholarly and legal consensus at a time when the "academy," a rather overformal term for circles of teachers and their students, and the religious court (bet din) shaped and guided Jewish life without peers or rivals." But no matter how great its authority, neither Talmud was a legal code; it was rather a shorthand transcription of discussions concerning legal questions that occupied lawyers from the second to the fifth century of the Christian era.
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 979-981). Kindle Edition.
The content of the gnosis is in some ways familiar. There is a single transcendent dent and unknowable God who, together with his successive emanations, generally called Aeons, constitutes the spiritual universe, which the Gnostics called the pleroma, the "Plenitude" or "Perfection." But unlike the later forms of Platonic thought to which it is obviously akin, Gnosticism viewed the material cosmos, the "Emptiness" (kenoma), as it was known, not as a mere diminution of God's creative emanation but as the product uct of a totally different metaphysics and ethic: the kenoma was created and is ruled by an autonomous principle of evil, a Bad God. The heart of the gnosis was a cosmic drama in which one of the spiritual beings of the pleroma fell from grace, and by its fall broadcast fragments of the divine essence into the darkling world below, sparks of the Divine Light that were thereafter immersed as soul in the bodies of humans. At some point a Redeemer ventured tured down into the kenoma to reveal to those who would hear the message of salvation, whence they had come and whither they were intended to return.
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 1650-1657). Kindle Edition.
The true prophet, according to al-Farabi, could take the truths shared with the philosopher by reason of surpassing intellect and convert them, through the imaginative faculty, into the figured truths of a revelation lation like the Quran, or into the concrete realities of a law like the sharia. But what al-Farabi said of the "prophet" was true of all prophets, and there was no apparent attempt on his part to defend the unique quality of the Islamic revelation."
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 1997-2000). Kindle Edition.
Quotes:
The Sunnis were willing to accept the verdict of history as reflected in the choices of that "whole first generation" of Muhammad's contemporaries temporaries and their immediate successors. The Shiites argued against history in asserting Mi's preeminence, but in so doing they were forced, to one degree or another, to attack the consensual wisdom of the Companions of the Prophet from whom all the Prophetic sunna ultimately derived. Disappointed by history, the Shiites turned where some Jewish groups may also have resorted, to a Gnostic wisdom, a kind of particularist and underground sunna transmitted, generation after generation, by infallible Imams of the Alid house or by their delegates. In fully developed Shiism, which later found its most lasting base by connecting itself with Persian nationalism, the entire range of Gnostic ideas is on display: the exaltation of wisdom (hikma) over science (ilm); a view of historical events as reflection of cosmic reality; and a concealed (batin) as opposed to an open (zahir) interpretation of Scripture.
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 847-852). Kindle Edition.
If the differences among Muslims were interpreted generously, the distinction between submission (islam) and disbelief (kufr) was strenuously maintained. This was an absolute antagonism that cut across another distinction, that between the Abode of Islam (Dar al-Islam), the geographical area under Muslim political control, and the Abode of War (Dar al-Harb), where the umma did not prevail. Infidels could not be tolerated within the Dar al-Islam: they had either to accept Islam or to perish. Their presence outside side the Abode of Islam created the moral imperative of holy war (jihad). The complex of concerns and conditions that have collected around the Muslim notion of holy war reduces itself to a discussion sion of the circumstances under which the community of Muslims is obligated-for this is, most decidedly, a religious obligation, and a group obligation-to use force against an enemy.
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 867-872). Kindle Edition.
The Mishna with its respective gemarot took final form as the two Talmuds, the Babylonian and the Palestinian, of which the former gained preeminent authority." Though neither was intended tended to be, nor in fact became, the final word on Jewish law, the respect given to both Talmuds stemmed from the fact that they were the products of a scholarly and legal consensus at a time when the "academy," a rather overformal term for circles of teachers and their students, and the religious court (bet din) shaped and guided Jewish life without peers or rivals." But no matter how great its authority, neither Talmud was a legal code; it was rather a shorthand transcription of discussions concerning legal questions that occupied lawyers from the second to the fifth century of the Christian era.
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 979-981). Kindle Edition.
The content of the gnosis is in some ways familiar. There is a single transcendent dent and unknowable God who, together with his successive emanations, generally called Aeons, constitutes the spiritual universe, which the Gnostics called the pleroma, the "Plenitude" or "Perfection." But unlike the later forms of Platonic thought to which it is obviously akin, Gnosticism viewed the material cosmos, the "Emptiness" (kenoma), as it was known, not as a mere diminution of God's creative emanation but as the product uct of a totally different metaphysics and ethic: the kenoma was created and is ruled by an autonomous principle of evil, a Bad God. The heart of the gnosis was a cosmic drama in which one of the spiritual beings of the pleroma fell from grace, and by its fall broadcast fragments of the divine essence into the darkling world below, sparks of the Divine Light that were thereafter immersed as soul in the bodies of humans. At some point a Redeemer ventured tured down into the kenoma to reveal to those who would hear the message of salvation, whence they had come and whither they were intended to return.
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 1650-1657). Kindle Edition.
The true prophet, according to al-Farabi, could take the truths shared with the philosopher by reason of surpassing intellect and convert them, through the imaginative faculty, into the figured truths of a revelation lation like the Quran, or into the concrete realities of a law like the sharia. But what al-Farabi said of the "prophet" was true of all prophets, and there was no apparent attempt on his part to defend the unique quality of the Islamic revelation."
F. E. Peters. The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam: A New Edition (Kindle Locations 1997-2000). Kindle Edition.
May 25, 2013
Five stars on the ideas and history of Islam, four on Judaism (too light on the rabbis), and one star on Christianity. The coverage of the latter was cursory, picked to fit comparatively with Islam and Judaism (and as his conclusion notes the fit is far from perfect), and lacking many of the central and important ideas of Christian thought and practice. His comments on Christian mysticism, which are fresh in my mind, were just horrible (I could have done better from the sources in his notes) in that they focused narrowly and not well on Eastern Orthodox practice and ignored much of the tradition of the West. He was much better, if brief, on Sufi practices. And do not get me started on theology - he plants it among the Greeks and mentions Aquinas in passing without doing any work to explain him or fit him into the history he described. Three stars overall for the book because his coverage of the intellectual life of Islam, as well as its practice, was concise and excellent.
September 5, 2021
Painfully christian take on Judaism and Islam that is full of factual errors and rancid takes. Claimed the Talmud was the new testament of Judaism??
December 21, 2017
This book is not an introduction to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Readers should have a considerable background knowledge of the three religions and already possess an understanding of the basic ideas and histories of these concepts. My reason for saying this is that while this book provides a decent overview commentary, it is clear that a "beginner" in this field would struggle immensely to get through this book. It can be boring at times, due to the fact that it gets quite technical, even dissecting divisions between philosophy and theology which is a rather advanced topic.
F.E. Peters assumes that the reader is knowledgeable, which is a problem, in my opinion, as the book itself is marketed as "direct and accessible." It is not, unless you have studied "Abrahamic" religions before and are extremely patient. At first, from the introduction, this book presents a good summary, however despite the title, this book seldom refers to Abraham. Quickly, the subject becomes complicated, and while succinct, it is confusing. The conclusion brings together the comparative nature of the book, which this is a great comparative tool by the way, but the conclusion is too rapid in its explanations. It takes the entirety of the book and puts it in a few paragraphs. Had the rest of the book been explained in more understandable language such as this, it would have made more sense.
One of the larger problems that I had with this work was that it approached the three religions in an unequal manner. I won't say that it is biased necessarily, but there was a clear imbalance of information. Christianity is given far less page space than Judaism, for example, and Islam was treated almost as the subject of this book to which the other two will be compared with. For someone looking to learn about all three in equal parts, this book provides a lopsided scholarly treatment of the "Abrahamic" religions.
F.E. Peters assumes that the reader is knowledgeable, which is a problem, in my opinion, as the book itself is marketed as "direct and accessible." It is not, unless you have studied "Abrahamic" religions before and are extremely patient. At first, from the introduction, this book presents a good summary, however despite the title, this book seldom refers to Abraham. Quickly, the subject becomes complicated, and while succinct, it is confusing. The conclusion brings together the comparative nature of the book, which this is a great comparative tool by the way, but the conclusion is too rapid in its explanations. It takes the entirety of the book and puts it in a few paragraphs. Had the rest of the book been explained in more understandable language such as this, it would have made more sense.
One of the larger problems that I had with this work was that it approached the three religions in an unequal manner. I won't say that it is biased necessarily, but there was a clear imbalance of information. Christianity is given far less page space than Judaism, for example, and Islam was treated almost as the subject of this book to which the other two will be compared with. For someone looking to learn about all three in equal parts, this book provides a lopsided scholarly treatment of the "Abrahamic" religions.
June 24, 2020
Can’t remember a book that I’ve dropped for being so hard to read and understand. Twice. It happened in the past when books were uninteresting or boring. Not this case as the subject matter, especially with this paralel approach, is of huge interest to me. But no amount of keenness got me through such a painful read. Now, where can I find an equivalent (comparing the three abrahamic religions) but more enjoyable read is the question. Anyone?
February 27, 2020
He provided alot of good historical insight but some of his premises were incorrect in my opinion such as the current God of Islam and the God of the Bible being the same.
October 28, 2021
Illuminating
June 22, 2014
من أصعب الكتب ولكن أعمقها..
قرأت معظم الكتاب لأول مرة خلال صف لمقارنة الأديان في الجامعة..
ورغم أنني تعبت كثيراً في الصف (مش بالعادة) إلا أنني لم أحصل إلا على
B+
وبالنسبة ألي هيدي علامة كارثية (Nerd :P)..
المهم قرأت الكتاب الآن للمرة الثانية..
وما زال صعباً..
ولكن ممتعاً ومفاجئاً..
يعالج الكتاب تاريخ الأديان الثلاثة ووجوه الشبه والاختلاف بينها..
يشرح علاقتها بإبراهيم كأب واحد لهذه الديانات الثلاث التي تسيطر على العالم بشكل لا ينافسها أحد..
ومع أن هذه الأديان تشعر بأنها مختلفة كثيراً اليوم إلا أنها في الحقيقة لا تختلف إلا في الأسماء وفي تطور بعض الجوانب عند كل طائفة من هذا الدين الواحد الإبراهيمي..
مواضيع شيقة كالشرائع عند هذه الأديان..
العقائد وكيف تتطورت واختلفت وعلاقتها بالفلسفة الإغريقية وبالصوفية وبالرهبنة..
كم إبراهيم ذكر في القرآن.. ومن ذبح إسحق أم إسماعيل..
وما هي التجمعات الدينية والعبادات والفرق بينها..
ما دور كل نبي من الأنبياء وكيف يعتبره أتباعه ولماذا..
مواضيع كثيرة مسلية ولكن تحتاج لبحث عن كل كلمة..
فالكاتب يرمي الكلمة منتظراً منك أن تبحث عنها فالكتاب هو كتاب جامعي في الأصل..
ولكن يمكن أن يقرأ من قبل المهتمين بمقارنة الدين (ليس الأديان) الإبراهيمية ;)
قرأت معظم الكتاب لأول مرة خلال صف لمقارنة الأديان في الجامعة..
ورغم أنني تعبت كثيراً في الصف (مش بالعادة) إلا أنني لم أحصل إلا على
B+
وبالنسبة ألي هيدي علامة كارثية (Nerd :P)..
المهم قرأت الكتاب الآن للمرة الثانية..
وما زال صعباً..
ولكن ممتعاً ومفاجئاً..
يعالج الكتاب تاريخ الأديان الثلاثة ووجوه الشبه والاختلاف بينها..
يشرح علاقتها بإبراهيم كأب واحد لهذه الديانات الثلاث التي تسيطر على العالم بشكل لا ينافسها أحد..
ومع أن هذه الأديان تشعر بأنها مختلفة كثيراً اليوم إلا أنها في الحقيقة لا تختلف إلا في الأسماء وفي تطور بعض الجوانب عند كل طائفة من هذا الدين الواحد الإبراهيمي..
مواضيع شيقة كالشرائع عند هذه الأديان..
العقائد وكيف تتطورت واختلفت وعلاقتها بالفلسفة الإغريقية وبالصوفية وبالرهبنة..
كم إبراهيم ذكر في القرآن.. ومن ذبح إسحق أم إسماعيل..
وما هي التجمعات الدينية والعبادات والفرق بينها..
ما دور كل نبي من الأنبياء وكيف يعتبره أتباعه ولماذا..
مواضيع كثيرة مسلية ولكن تحتاج لبحث عن كل كلمة..
فالكاتب يرمي الكلمة منتظراً منك أن تبحث عنها فالكتاب هو كتاب جامعي في الأصل..
ولكن يمكن أن يقرأ من قبل المهتمين بمقارنة الدين (ليس الأديان) الإبراهيمية ;)
July 24, 2011
Peters does a fine job of examining the three Abrahamic faiths in parallel -- taking up, for example, scriptures, law, worship, faith community, theology, and sacred history for each in turn. In and of itself, this is a highly enlightening exercise. If there is a deficiency, it resides in the limitation of the book to developments as of nearly a millennium ago. It's a good read, well worth your time.
March 20, 2014
A quite dense, thorough view of each of the three monotheistic religions of the West, at times a bit too dense and detailed for the big picture to emerge. I would have liked more contemporary explorations, paralleling each religion with the other two at the time when one or the other was in a growth spurt. Still, one of the few really well-documented and informed treatments of some little known aspects of the three, particularly of Islam, which gets the strongest treatment.
Read
February 7, 2008Broadened my perspective and understanding of the "religions of the book." Challenging, in a useful way, for anyone who has grown up with Christianity and never really thought of religion outside of that framework.
January 10, 2016
In all honesty I didn't actually finish this book -- I found it too dense (which is usually not an issue) and I thought the way the book was arranged made it harder to follow. I do think I'll have a whack at his later 3-vol "Judiasm, Christianity, Islam" at some point though.
Want to read
May 21, 2008temporarily put on hold
September 23, 2008
I read the 1990 edition, very educational
December 1, 2013
Only read a couple chapters. Assumes I know a lot more early history than I do. But jumps around in time that is confusing and BORING.
January 5, 2014
The book was very hard to read. There were a lot of mistakes in the book with the three religions. This suprise me since he is a professor of religion.
Read
May 30, 2014201.4 P4816 2004
April 29, 2016
Interesting and something I may have an interest in rereading. For what ever reason I never got engrossed in this book.
January 14, 2023
This book is unbiased and accurate of our understanding today regarding the differences in abrahamic religion
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