Comparative Religion: Islam and Christianity

The major parts of the texts brought together in this book are intended to address an English speaking and reading student audience at Graduate School level in the Focus Area of Comparative Religion. When it comes to comparative issues, you will also find a strong Christian theological component in it. This applies in particular to the two series of lectures on Introduction to Islam and Its Theology and Islam in Christianity contained in this book (pp. 9 - 136). Originally, these course materials were designed as two Graduate courses in succeeding order with the Introduction to Islam and Its Theology to be studied first and then to be followed by Islam and Christianity. They were written and designed for the Comparative Religions Graduate School Focus Area offered at Nations University (West Monroe, La., USA) in the Far Distance Extension Master of Religious Studies graduate program. Much of the material contained in Module 4 "Central Doctrines of Faith in Islam and Christianity" in the Islam and Christianity lecture series is based on a research the author has done for a Doctoral Dissertation on the same topic for a Doctorate in Theology earned in 2400 (Institute For Christian Works, Bible School and Seminary, Burlington, WA, USA).

Some other German texts of the author's works on the topic of Islam and Christianity have been added to complement the English texts in this book:

First, a series of articles on "Christians in Dialog With Islam", each of which deals with special related sub-topics such as the concept of God in the Bible and the Qur´an, Jesus in the Bible and the Qur´an, and relations between the Western and the Muslim world. These texts have originally been intended to address a less scholarly audience of a more general interest, and thus the more commonly known forms of certain termini technici have been used, e.g. "Koran" for the Holy Book of Islam rather than "Qur´an" as would be used in more scholarly texts.

Secondly, another German text covering a detailed and systematic study of the concept of SOUL in Islam in an attempt to compare this with the Western-Christian understanding of the SOUL concept.

Finally, you will find an essay on "The Holy Warriors of Islam - Motifs and Background", also in German. This essay endeavours to analyse some of the settings and mechanisms in the phenomena known as "fundamentalist Islamic terrorism" that are considered to play a major role and pertain to certain special patterns of action and setting in this "scenery". // With some additional German supplement // Mit einigen Anhangseiten auf Deutsch unter dem Titel "Christen im Gespräch mit dem Islam": "Das Verständnis von Gott in der Bibel und im Koran", "Jesus in der Bibel und im Koran", "Christen und Muslime", "Die Lehre von der Seele im Islam" und "Die Heiligen Krieger des Islam" - Motive und Hintergründe (Motivsuche aus der Weltsicht des Islam).

Es empfiehlt sich, dieses Buch zusammen mit der CD-ROM-Ausgabe "Islam Studies Library" zu benutzen. In seinen Übungsaufgaben verweist der Autor immer wieder auf Inhalte, die sich auch auf das gleichfalls in englischer Sprache erschienene Studien- und Lehrmaterial als multimediales Recherchetool beziehen. Unter dem Titel "Islam Studies Library" in allen Buchhandlungen erhältlich. - Muhammad W.G.A. Schmidt: "Islam Studies Library" (CD-ROM). ISBN 3-932756-83-5. Preis: 32 EUR. // CONTENTS: This CD-ROM is full with authentic Islamic texts covering all major areas of Islamic Studies and complete course and lecture material concerning comparative issues of Christianity and Islam. For example, you will be astonished to learn that "Jihad" does not mean "Holy War". // The CD contains a complete small library with scholarly works on Islam and is designed to provide the student with an overview and an in-depth insight into the religious teachings of Islam. The materials contained on this CD are for the student of Comparative Religion or Islam Studies, Theology etc. Its primary aim is to provide a wider range of Islamic reference materials and database for the purpose of research into a certain area (Qur' an, Hadith, Islamic Law etc). CD-ROM's main language is English; some texts are in parallel Arabic and English. /Hauptsprache ist Englisch, mit einigen Paralleltexten in Arabisch und Englisch.