"Goethe said: 'As students of nature we are pantheists, as poets
polytheists, as moral beings monotheists.' F. E. Peters's "The
Monotheists" gives a keener edge to Goethe's irony, and he teaches
us again the 'conflict and competition' between Jews, Christians,
and Muslims. Throughout his career, Peters has been our most
comprehensive scholar of the agon waged by the three camps with one
another. In "The Monotheists" he achieves the apotheosis of his
enterprise, defining precisely this 'fractious family' in all its
contours. The perpetual relevance of Peters's lifelong subject is
heightened at our moment in history."--Harold Bloom, author of "The
Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages"
"A work of breathtaking scope! Many scholars write about Judaism
and Christianity, or Judaism and Islam, or Islam and Christianity,
but only F. E. Peters has the learning, adventurousness, and
historical imagination to take on all three religions in relation
to one another within the scope of one book. Written in a clear
expository prose, these volumes will be an invaluable resource for
students and teachers, diplomats and statesmen, journalists and
pundits on the vexing religious topics that today seem an
inevitable part of political life and social discourse."--Robert
Louis Wilken, author of "The Spirit of Early Christian Thought"
"F. E. Peters has written a magisterial account of the family
similarities and quarrels through the centuries of the three
biblical religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In these two
volumes, he is at once, as always, vastly learned and at the top of
his form as an entertaining and persuasive writer. This work will
immediately take its place as thestandard account of the Hebrew
Bible and its reflection in the Talmud, the New Testament, and the
Koran."--Arthur Hertzberg, author of "Jews: The Essence and
Character of a People"
"An authoritative introduction to the study of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam, "The Monothesists" will be especially
useful for students in religious studies courses. To the initiates
it offers an impressive original synthesis of the material and a
challenging reading of important chapters in religious history.
Written in clear, fluent prose, the book is never verbose, and its
underlying structure is easy to follow."--Sarah Stroumsa, The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of "Freethinkers of Medieval
Islam"
""The Monotheists" is a splendid work. It will be valuable as a
classroom text on the three 'Western' monotheistic religious
traditions, and it will also appeal to more general readers who
seek to investigate the historical background to the present events
in the Middle East. Previous such comparative studies are flawed by
comparison."--Richard C. Martin, Emory University, author of
"Defenders of Reason in Islam"
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