A Reference Book For Apologists of All Levels

Jesus and Muhammad: Their Messages, Side by Side

Editor/Author: Louis St. Michael

Publisher: Rising Myrrh Press, www.risingmyrrhpress.com, 2018

                                                                     

A Reference Book For Apologists of All Levels

In the interest of full disclosure, you need to know that I agreed to review this work by Louis St. Michael because as a Christian, I really wanted to be sure of what Muhammad had said on certain issues that Jesus had spoken on. Was there really a difference and if so, what was it? Were there issues of importance that one of them was silent on? And can I verify what was said in the original texts of the Bible and the Qur’an? Author St. Michael helps us answer all these questions in the affirmative.

The book is incredibly well researched. It is even better organized, utilizing a table of contents that reads like an “everything you wanted to know about what these two famous individuals said on the most relevant issues they covered” directory.  Included are topics like Why I Came, Fighting and Warfare, Believers and Disbelievers, Marriage, Homosexuality, Satan and Spirits, Protect Your Soul, Forgive Others, Purity, Repentance, Heaven, End Times, and much more.  In fact, the volume is well over 500 pages in length. And there is also some great Appendices on how each of their respective religions development, their followers, their traditional teachings, and their doctrines.

In the words of the book’s foreword, “One can learn a great deal about a religion by going to the unfiltered source and reading the words of the founder. . . A book like this can help clear up misconceptions and lead to better understanding among people of different mind-sets.”  It takes each speaker’s “core messages” and matches them side-by-side, based on topic, for immediate comparison and evaluation.

There is also a lot of other helpful information like a listing of Christian and Muslim terms used in the various texts with the most accepted definitions or interpretations.  Comparative timelines with an explanation and study of the significant events are other key features of the work.  And in its final version, this scholarly volume with have a full index.

I would recommend Jesus and Muhammad: Their Messages, Side by Side for any serious student of religion, especially those involved with Christianity and/or Islam. Aside from providing us the opportunity to compare the words of Jesus and Muhammad, the book would be an asset to those that simply want a ready reference to what either of them said on so many topics.  I told one of my ministerial friends about it, and he can’t wait to get his hands on it.

Not much is known about the author himself. However, that may well fit with his intention to basically remain silent with respect to personal commentary of the words of his two protagonists. Louis St. Michael lets their words speak for themselves and thus each reader to come to his or her own conclusions about which one rings truer for them.

I personally found the section on Retaliation most interesting. Check out Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:38 and then check out Muhammad’s in The Food 5:45, The Pilgrimage 22:60, and The Counsel 42:40.

A highly recommended book that would make a great gift for anyone in ministry or studying for the ministry. I just wish somebody had put this valuable content together so nicely before now. But thankfully, Louis St. Michael has done it now.

·      Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, March 14, 2018, www.accordconsulting.com

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