Martin Accad

Surviving Jewel

History & Biography

“Surviving Jewel is a very welcome introductory volume to Eastern Christianity. It is concise and largely comprehensible for newcomers to the subject. . . . This book will appeal both to young students in the academia and to the general public globally. Authors and editors are to be commended for this important effort.”

The Quran with Christian Commentary

World Religions

“Nickel reads the Quran primarily as a rhetorical text engaged in polemics, mostly against Jews and Christians. His reading is done largely through the lens of – and to some extent in response to – classical Muslim exegesis, though he does not often refer to the classical occasions of the revelation as the Quran’s exclusive historical setting. This, in my view, is very commendable, for it allows him to adopt a fresh reading of the text. He does, nevertheless, often assume this classical rhetorical reading, and in this sense his commentary is often a response to classical interpretation. Nickel’s reading resists the temptation of being driven by a polemical agenda, and indeed he allows himself to be positively surprised by the Quran’s primary meaning, even when he shows awareness of more classical polemical readings. By doing so, Nickel reflects a desire to discern in the Quran a more positive and apologetic stance towards earlier scriptures and their recipients, removing himself from a negative polemic. By doing so, he is, in my view, imminently fair to the text. The occasional articles on specific issues, interspersed throughout his commentary, such as on the tampering with the scriptures, jihad, apocryphal references in the Quran, the death of Jesus, manuscripts of the Quran, or the Quran’s language of love, are useful to varying degrees. Some contain a more polemical edge than others, reflecting more or less faithfulness to the spirit of the Quran. Overall, Nickel’s Christian commentary on the Quran is a very helpful work that offers the contemporary English reader a useful entry into a text that can otherwise appear as rather opaque to the uninitiated.”