Islam and Christianity Theological Themes in Comparative Perspective By John Renard (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. 344 pages.)

Abstract

In Islam and Christianity: Theological Themes in Comparative Perspective,

John Renard gives us yet another gem of a book: beautifully written, meticulously

researched, and cleverly presented. A comparative study of these two

traditions could have easily resulted in a pluralistic muddle of two of the

world’s most studied religious traditions. Instead, the author gives us a careful

examination of theology that forces us to think carefully about categories like

religion, faith, and orthodoxy.

The preface begins with a confession of sorts, for Renard notes therein

the tension between comparative linkage and religious authenticity that presents

itself in such a project. While Islam and Christianity exhibit many of the

same themes, nowhere does he put forth the kind of thesis that would yield a

“many roads to one mountain” axiom. What makes this book compelling is

its careful presentation of two distinct theologies that, although clearly different,

exhibit a familial relationship. What is meant by “theology” is quite broad,

and Renard seems to suggest that a number of theological languages are at

play in these two traditions. Islam and Christianity is not the kind of reductionist

work that one might expect to see in such an ambitious project; rather,

it is a dialog, a conversation among scriptures, hagiographies, poems, liturgies,

and ideas ...