Overall, the book is an excellent and accessible read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about Islam and what Muslims believe and why. I happily give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I was given a free copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Read my full review at SpoiledMilks on 5.30.2022

Matthew Bennett takes great care to be charitable toward Muslims in his new book The Quran and the Christian. He presents his understanding of Muslims beliefs in the best ways he can that they would recognize as accurate while carefully showing where their beliefs diverge from biblical teaching. If we are going to speak with our Muslim neighbors and coworkers about faith we cannot be ignorant about their beliefs.

One of Bennetts main goals with this book is to get Christians to be familiar with the Qurans teaching and how it has shaped Muslims theological language so that we can clearly communicate the gospel to them.

In his book Bennett takes three different perspectivesinto consideration.

1. Part One, Muslims who believe the Quran is unique and its message persuasive,

2. Part Two, Secular scholars who believe that claim is historically questionable, and

3. Part Three, Christians who also believe that claim is problematic.

Of these three Christians will most likely benefit from Bennetts reading and Bennett includes these perspectives to equip Christian readers with a better understanding of what the Quran is how to read it and what influence the Quran has had on their Muslims neighbors.

Part One gives a brief biography of Muhammed how the Quran came to be a certain doctrines and practices of Muslims today. Bennett presents primarily the Sunni expression of Islam since they make up roughly 90 percent of Muslims but he does make note of Shiite expressions and minority Muslim communities. The Quran reveals God to its readers but not the personal God of the Bible the one who calls himself Father and his children sons and daughters.

In Part Two Bennett looks at the Quran as a text how it views the Bible Jews and Christians and how it repurposes stories from the Bible. He looks at terms shared between the Quran and the Bible like covenant and how the meanings differ. And he also explains why the Quran seems to give incorrect historical details from the Bible when places biblical characters from different stories and even different periods of time together. The Quran brings various people from biblical narratives together for its own purposes. Bennett shows a few quranic texts that bring Pharaoh Haman Korah and even the Tower of Babel together as a foil to Moses. Moses followed God faithfully the others denied God and were judged for it.

In Part Three Bennett writes that Christians should read the Quran to be familiar with how a Muslim might understand it but as well that Christians generally shouldnt try to show them Jesus from the Quran. Doing so implies that the Quran is an authority on revealing who Jesus is. In chapter 9 Bennett skillfully shows how a Christian can bridge the story of Abrahams intended sacrifice of Isaac, which does not fit well into the Quran, with the same story in Genesis 22 and how it fits seamlessly into the Bibles story and points to the true Redeemer.

Recommended

Matthew Bennett has written an excellent book that will help Christians understand the Quran better and with more nuance while also seeing how the Christian gospel offers true hope. With more refugees and immigrants moving to the West it behooves Christians to be familiar with the Quran what it really teaches and how we can make a bridge to the gospel to offer salvation to Muslims. This is a very good resource to have.

Islam is one of my favorite religions to read about. It was due to a Muslim contacting me through my blog that I got into apologetics and started reviewing Christian books for publishers.

Bennett's book is to help Christians come to an understanding about Islam and their Muslim neighbor so meaningful conversations can be had. I have read a few books about Islam (and watched countless videos) and this one is probably my favorite because it is so packed full of information and shows the reader the history and basics of Islam at a layman's level.

Part 1 opens up with a brief bio of Muhammad and how the Quran was revealed. Bennett says that the Quran stops short of the intimate, interpersonal knowledge of God as Father. The relationship between the Islamic god and Muslims is that of a servant and master. Because Islam denies the Trinity, it rejects God as a loving Father with an interpersonal relationship from eternity past.

Part 2 goes into explaining the Quran and how Muslims believe Jews and Christians mishandled and misunderstood the Torah, Psalms, and Gospels. There are lots of comparasions between the Quran in Bible in this part, and it is fun to read about.

Part 3 is covers a lot of grounds on how Christians can use the Quran (but we should not read it if it violates our conscience). There is a bit on how Islam and Christianity have the same words (sin, atonement, salvation) but drastically different meanings followed by key characters in the Quran and how they differ from the stories we see in the Bible. The book wraps up with some methods used by missionaries.

The Quran and the Christian shows that there is absolutely no way Christianity and Islam can be reconciled. This book provides enough information for Christians to approach Muslims in confidence. Highly recommended!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

"The Qur'an And The Christian" is an academic, yet readable title for anyone wanting to know more about the Book Of Islam and how it compares with the Bible. In a day when Islam is rapidly increasing in parts of the world and more Muslims move to the United States, it is good to better understand Islam and how it relates to Christianity. The book is around 250 pages and covers many topics, including:

- Background to the events leading up to the Qur'an.

- Whether Christians should read the Qur'an or parts of the Qur'an to better understand Islam.

- Names of God, final judgement, angels, resurrection, and many other topics mentioned in both the Bible and the Qur'an.

- Comparison between the Bible and the Qur'an.

- How Christians are described in the Qur'an.

After reading enough of this title to understand the contents, here's what I like about this book:

- The author doesn't hesitate to mention the differences between Christianity and Islam. While there are some similarities between the two religions (monotheistic, Jesus is mentioned as a prophet), there are serious differences (Christianity views salvation as grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord vs. Islam seeing salvation as works based, Christianity views Jesus Christ as God in the flesh while Islam sees Jesus Christ as merely a prophet and good teacher, and other differences).

- The book is an academic title yet can be understood by laypeople.

- Covers a wide variety of topics.

- Written in a respectful way towards Muslims while disagreeing with the theology.

- Well organized and flows smoothly from chapter to chapter.

- Good reasons and good guidance for Christians to read the Qur'an to better understand Islam and how it differs with Christianity.

Very good read and will be read again. Recommended. I was given a review copy by Kregel in exchange for a fair review and appreciate the opportunity.