The Great Divide: The Failure of Islam and the Triumph Of The West

Publication Data: Boston, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 2004
Format: softcover
Number of Pages: xvi + 332
Dimensions (l × w × h): 22.9 cm × 15.4 cm × 2.1 cm
ISBN: 1‒928653‒19‒7

   
Alvin J. Schmidt

“Professor Schmidt does not hack away at Islam, nor does he attack Christianity because of headlined abuses that arise in it. [...]Instead, he compares the normal practice of Christianity and Islam. He shows how Christianity grew by the blood of its martyrs, but Islam grew by killing those who opposed it. He compares the view of women in the New Testament and the Quran, showing how Christ’s teaching eventually led to the development of complementary roles for men and women but Muhammad’s teaching led to subservience. He shows how Christians looked at slavery critically over the centuries and how many fought for its abolition; Islam, though, has no intrinsic anti-slavery position, so it’s no surprise that some Islamic countries today still allow it. [...]Christians who understand these specific differences, delineated in Schmidt’s book, will strengthen their own faith and be ready to enter into discussions with Muslims without offering either appeasement or shotgun-blast aggression.”
—“Foreword”

CONTENTS

FOREWARD
INTRODUCTION
1 JESUS AND MUHAMMAD: POLAR OPPOSITES
2 SWORD OF THE SPIRIT VS. SCIMITAR OF STEEL
3 WOMEN: VEILED OR UNVEILED?
4 SLAVERY
5 CHARITY OR ZAKAT?
6 THE CRUSADES AND THE REST OF THE STORY
7 LIBERTY AND JUSTICE
8 SCIENCE
9 CHURCH AND STATE
10 ISLAM: A RELIGION OF PEACE?
11 POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND APOLOGISTS: ISLAM’S BEST FRIENDS
APPENDIX A: THE KORAN’S JIHAD (HOLY WAR) VERSES
APPENDIX B: CHRISTIAN PIONEERS IN SCIENCE
NOTES
INDEX