Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and Their Interpretation (review)

The publishers tell us, "The hardcover edition of the work is bound in one volume, and in the paperback version the identical material is broken down into three smaller but self-contained books." Peters calls the one volume "this dossier." Of its front matter there is preserved within each paperback the preface, acknowledgements, and a "brief chronology"; of its back matter the "short titles" list. That the separate volumes required diverse "contents" (vii-x) and "introduction" (xxi + xxv) might be expected, but from the "index" with which each volume concludes one cannot know at a glance all sources that have been quoted and what references recur within the successively treated themes as now distinguished. Perhaps the breaking up of the one volume also accounts for the carelessness in proofing and the misreferences which occur sporadically within the three indexes.

Even more problematic is the statement made in each "preface": "Thus, after the first four chapters, which follow a rough time line, the presentation moves to a topical arrangement that violates the chronological order at almost every turn but has the advantage, I hope, of hearing each group out on subjects of parallel or mutual or polemical concern." While this statement is critical for our understanding of Peters larger intention, it is literally valid only for volume I; all of volumes II and III contain continuing chapters within the topical format.

Chapters 1-4 of volume I cover successively the basic or "classical texts" of the three traditions, but divided so as to identify what Peters regards as crucial: (1) "the covenant and the history of the chosen people" from what he consistently regards as "The Bible," meaning exclusively the Hebrew "law, prophets, and writings" with heavy emphasis upon select portions of Genesis ("original sin," "covenant," "Ishmael"); (2) "from Israelite to Jew: the post-exilic reconstruction," wherein appear major prophets, enriched by Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and Josephus; (3) "the good news of Jesus Christ," derived chiefly from Gospels and Acts with some Paul; and (4) "Muhammad, the prophet of God," based more heavily on Ibn Ishaq's Life than Quran. In these 248 pages, the selections are generous, more than might be appropriate considering the easy availability of "scripture" itself. Peters' connecting linkages, though not extended to distraction, deserve close attention, and following the intention of the "dossier" the classical texts are interspersed with just sufficient examples from the wide range of alternate sources from all three traditions for the reader to sense what is meant by "tradition" within itself and vis-à-vis one another—a mode much more valuable later than in these four chapters.

Thereafter begins the topical arrangement in fifteen chapters, displaying the same interplay of sources, the generally unintended discussion among them, but now read in relation to one another, that gives this work its peculiar character. We can only list these topics by their chapter titles, and then proceed to some general remarks.

1. I.5 "A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation"

2. 6. Priests, Princes, and Overseers

3. 7. The Church and the State/The Church as the State

1. II.1 The Words of God: Revelation and Scripture

2. 2. On Understanding Scripture

3. 3. Scripture and Tradition

4. 4. The Law of God

5. 5. The New Covenants

6. 6. One God, One Faith, One Community

1. III.1 The Worship of God: Temple and Synagogue

2. 2. The Worship of God; Church and Mosque

3. 3. Withdrawal from the World

4. 4. The Mystic's Ascent to God

5. 5. Thinking about God

6. 6. The Last Things

F. E. Peters received his doctorate from Princeton in 1961 with a dissertation on Aristoteles Arabus, the oriental translations of and commentaries on the Aristotelian corpus. He is currently professor of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, History, Hebrew, and Judaic Studies at New York University, for which this dossier was "originally composed as a companion for my Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam." At an earlier stage in his career, when he was head of the classics department, he put us all...