Truth over Fear
Combating the Lies about Islam
- World Religions
- Publisher: Westminster John Knox
- Published: 2019
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
Questions and fears about Islam have proliferated American life for decades, from the Iranian Revolution in 1979 to the September 11, 2001, attacks. Yet more recent history has seen a new development in the tangle of Christian-Muslim relations: the mainstreaming of Islamophobia as a path to political and societal power at the highest level. Politicians and religious leaders now routinely spread fear and confusion about Muslim beliefs and practice in order to bolster their own positions. Many recognize what is wrong with this situation but are frustrated with what seem to be limited options for response. Truth over Fear provides resources to address the manipulation of religious misunderstanding and intolerance. From renowned Christian scholar of Islam and longtime participant in Christian-Muslim engagement, Charles Kimball demystifies Islam, the world’s second-largest religion, and provides practical guidance on how to share simple facts about Muslim beliefs and practices with family and others, how to take the first steps in dialogue with Muslim neighbors, and how to move beyond dialogue to shared ministry and community building.
Endorsements (4)
“In today’s academy, religious studies professors seldom address theological questions so directly and with such insight as Charles Kimball. His book is urgently needed, not only to correct our dangerous misconceptions about Islam but also to challenge simplistic understandings of religion held by persons of faith and agnostics alike. Kimball guides even those with little background through complex issues and in the process opens up whole new ways to think about a meaningful life of faith.”
“‘But what can I do?’ well-meaning Christians often ask when confronted with the Islamophobia that permeates our nation. For starters, we could read Charles Kimball’s informative book Truth over Fear . Not only will we receive an overview of Islam and the story of Muslim-Christian interchange through the last six hundred years, we will gain the resources we need for not bearing false witness against our neighbors, for loving our neighbors, and for living peaceably with all our neighbors into a future marked by respect and care rather than hate and harm.”
“Charles Kimball’s latest book, Truth over Fear , is a timely and concise read on Islam and the Muslim-Christian relationship, which should not only be in every pastor’s library but also read widely by non-clergy in order to combat the general lack of understanding among Americans about the world’s second largest religion.”
“At a time when a chorus of strident voices seems to point to Islam on a daily basis as the root of all evil, Charles Kimball’s new book offers clarity and insight. Kimball provides an informative overview of Islam; an immensely helpful history of Muslim-Christian relations, including a thorough analysis of the geopolitical shifts of the last half century in the Middle East and their implications for interfaith and multinational relationships; and an assessment of current challenges and future opportunities. He faces head-on the distortions within Islam, Christianity, and other faiths that lead to conflict and violence. He charts a path with practical help for the faithful to engage in interfaith dialogue without giving up their missionary calling, a way to respect other views without succumbing to theological relativism—with the minimal goal of not bearing false witness against our neighbor and the lofty goal of increasing the love of God and neighbor (teachings common to all three Abrahamic faiths). My hope is that Truth over Fear will reach a broad audience of clergy and laity, elected officials and ordinary citizens, Christians and Muslims, and others. Our shared future may depend on a willingness to engage the subject matter of this book.”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem