Jesus And Muhammad Parallel Lives Summary

Francis Edward (F.E) Peters received his Ph.D. from Princeton in Islamic Studies and is known as a major historian of religion. Peters taught for more than forty years in classrooms of New York University, teaching history and religious based classes. Peters has also written more than twenty books on the topic of religion, mainly Islam. Among these books is Jesus and Muhammad: Parallel Tracks, Parallel Lives. This book portrays Jesus and Muhammad, two powerful religious leaders, and compares and contrasts various aspects of each of their lives and religions. In his book, Peters explains how two leaders with different faiths and beliefs can be similar in various aspects of life. In his book, Peters offers the first printed extremely in-depth

Peters not only portrays the similarities of Jesus and Muhammad, he also describes differences between the two. He explains the way Muhammad was seen through the eyes of his followers and the way Jesus was seen through the eyes of his followers. Muslims saw Muhammad as a mortal, high prophet, whereas Jesus’ followers saw him as the promised Messiah. In Jesus and Muhammad: Parallel Tracks, Parallel Lives, Peters organizes his information in a different way than most books. First, he explains an aspect of Jesus and his life, then he parallels it to Muhammad. Peters describes a certain aspect of Jesus’ life and continues by describing the same or similar aspect of Muhammad’s life. Also, Peters goes stage by stage throughout the lives of Jesus and Muhammad. For example, at the beginning of the book Peters describes the birth and baptizing of Jesus, then he explains the birth of Muhammad. When explaining one aspect of Jesus’ life and then the same, or similar, aspect of Muhammad’s life, it is quite easy for the reader to pick up on the similarities and differences of these two religious