 |
GetTextbooks.co.uk
Compare Prices & Save up to 90% |
|
|
|
| Login | Sign up | Settings | My Wish List |
 | | Light in the Shadow of Jihad: The Struggle for Truth by Ravi Zacharias ISBN-10: 9781576739891 ISBN-10: 1-57673-989-9 ISBN-13: 9781576739891 ISBN-13: 978-1-57673-989-1 Hardcover 2002-02-28 Multnomah Books Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description The terrorists who brought death to thousands said they did it in God's name. Thousands of Christians around the world gathered in churches to pray for peace, while others blamed the very idea of God for the tragedy. Ravi Zacharias deals with five of the major questions on people's minds after September 11: - Is this true Islam or a fanatical counterfeit? - In what ways does the relation of church and state change a nation's view of religion and affect its culture? - Is this Islam or a pollution of it? Is religion dangerous to a culture? - Was there a prophecy that this would happen? - Where does this leave the future?"If we find those answers," writes Zacharias, "they will spell life, steadying the soul even though the heart still aches." | ||
Reviews | ||
Not what I expected... I thought this was going to take more of a stand against Muslims and Islam. But what I found is really a fight against evil and really against what the "extremists" believe in Islam. If I hadn't read or listened more of Ravi than just this book I would think he was partial to the "peaceful" Muslims. He did talk about the Islamic countries in bits and about their oppression but never really came down on the crux of this religion that, based on their own Koran, they are told to be "killing machines" to all those who are not Muslim, to wait in the bushes to ambush the infidels. So what happened on 9/11 shouldn't have been a shock to those educated on what Islam stands for. The book was good in parts but left me wanting more arguments for why Christianity is based on love and Islam is based on a vengeful and hateful allah to even his own people. Instead all you get is more generalities and universal arguments from a worldview standpoint instead of a point by point argument or discussion on basically "Why Christianity and Why not Islam" Because truly Christ is the only Light in any shadow. I was left wanting, and there was no message at the end that pointed people to Christ, just very vague. I did like the read and found some interesting points on topics and discussions I wasn't expecting so for that I give it 3 stars. | ||
Not clear I had to read this book for a critical review in a religion class that I took. I thought this book was awful. The author is never really clear on what points he is trying to make throughout the book. He jumps from one subject to another and never gives a good transistion from one subject to another. It appears to me that this author was just saying that God existed and Islam is abusing their religion against us because they dislike the Americans moral system. No, maybe it was that he was glad to be an American, because he ends his book with a story of somebody recognizing that his home was in the United States. I'm not exactly sure is the point I am trying to make. I wouldn't recommend anybody to read this book. I only gave this book two stars because the author gave a good description of how the Islamic people believe. | ||
Man made disaster, God, and You. Page 10 Is this Islam or is it its abuse? Is this inevitable result of religion? These are two questions Ravi Zacharias gives in the introduction of the book about the event that happened in New York City on 9/11. John Lennon wrote the song Imagine. The ethic in this in this song is that religion is the root of all evil. That man could live peaceably with each other if he just give up on the concept of God and all the hangups that result from God base philosophy. Similar thought pattern is used by those who argue all religion and world perspectives are relative to the usefulness to the individual who holds them. It does not matter what is the truth as long as you do not argue about it. You may believe what you believe as long as one does not insult, discourage or try to convert someone who does not agree with you. Ravi Zacharias does not use the word tolerance, he does make the argument for free religious discussion. Expression of religious Faith is what makes this country strong. He does speak specifically about Christian Heritage in this country and does discuss that Christians have to put up with others poking fun at Jesus and other truths presented in the Bible. Tolerance of expression about God and Faith is what made this country great. The theme of this book is about the United States after 9/11. This book does not go deep into theology: very little quoting from the bible, Koran, of other religious resources. He tries to express how three different type of people perceive the world. These are Christians in the United States, Moslem's in the Middle East, and Moslem's now residing in the United States. That people need to be more open to explain their religious perspective among those of the same Faith and outside the Faith. Why the concept of religious relativeness and its definition of tolerance builds walls instead of being an aid to coexistence. It actually not tolerant of diverse faith. | ||
Illuminating and comforting This engaging book looks at 9/11 from a Christian perspective, seeking to make sense of the tragedy while placing world events in historical context. In chapter one: Hand From The Rubble, the author lays out the questions relating to 9/11 by analogy with Genelle Guzman who was the last person rescued from the rubble of Ground Zero. He discusses religion in public life, the categories of good and evil, mentions author Peggy Noonan and comes to the conclusion that America's moral strength and spiritual commitment will determine the future of the nation in the war on terror and the unfolding of history. Chapter 2: The Struggle Between Good & Evil investigates relativism with reference to Alan Dershowitz amongst others. The author looks at the arguments of atheists like Richard Dawkins, Bertrand Russell and Kai Nielsen and shows from their own words that reason alone cannot lead to morality. America functions within the moral framework of Judeo-Christian assumptions: Life is intrinsically sacred because God created and sustains it. He discusses George Washington's farewell address and two major points in it: morality cannot be maintained without religion and if religion is excluded, reason and experience forbid us to expect morality to prevail. In Chapter 3: The Struggle Between Truth & Falsehood, he looks at the history of Islam including the Sunni/Shia split, the sources of authority in Islam like the Qur'an, the Hadith, Sira and Tafsir, the doctrine of abrogation and the persecution of Islamic scholars questioning the primary sources. Recent history of the religion is explored with reference to Hasan al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood, Muhammad Farag and his book The Missing Religious Precept, and intolerance in Muslim countries. Chapter 4 deals with prophecy as the author recounts the story of Daniel and in particular the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. He contrasts the goals of Islam and Christianity: the one aims at world domination through geographical extension and the other seeks to bring the rule of God into the human heart. He then points to the root of the conflict in the story of Abraham and the contest between Isaac and Ishmael. Events in the Middle East are being played out on an ancient historical template centred on the city of Jerusalem. The prophecies about the nation of Israel are being fulfilled with the establishment of independent Israel in 1948 representing the dawning of the world's salvation. The problem of the "hiddenness of God" or divine hiding is discussed in chapter 5. There is a purpose behind God's visibility or invisibility, based on the fact that mankind is not only mind/intellect but spiritual essence too. Here the author refers to Blaise Pascal, Anthony Bloom and CS Lewis in identifying the importance of communion with God. The only real safety is found in the presence of God. Chapter 6 includes discussions of God and culture, culture and country, and country and history. He dissects and criticises the author Andrew Sullivan's failure of logic and equivocating statements expressed in the article This Is A Religious War in the New York Times Magazine of October 7th, 2001 where Moslem extremists and Christian fundamentalists are indiscriminately lobbed together. This is the Fallacy of the Undistributed Middle. It explains that just because 2 things have one thing in common, it doesn't mean that they have everything in common. This chapter closes with a discussion of God's hand in history and some comforting words from Isaiah. In the Appendix the author recounts his personal experiences upon getting the news of 9/11 and how the supportive words and actions of various individuals meant so much to him in that dark hour. He observes here that democracy and Christianity share a fundamental tenet: that of self-determination. The beautiful Psalm 74 is reproduced here and this section concludes with a moving poem based upon the comforting words of Isaiah 4:10. Life In The Shadow Of Jihad is a beautifully written, informative and measured look at the issues confronting us at the start of the 21st century. For further reading, I recommend The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat by Roger Scruton, Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey by Fouad Ajami and Oriana Fallaci's furious screed The Rage and The Pride. These three books explore the same issues from different angles and complement this inspiring and informative work by Ravi Zacharias. Other works of interest: Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America | ||
A short thought provoking read This is a good short book that highlights some of the fundamental strengths of Christianity as they relate to September 11th. It provide a good philosophical view of how we as Christians can help bridge the gap. Warning, Mr. Zacharias is an intellectual and you'll need to bring your A game to truly absorb the philosophy behind his thoughts. | ||