New in the Church Library: April 2015

LIBRARY  blog

What do our Neighbors Believe? Questions and Answers on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam  is a concise introduction to the three Abrahamic faiths, from origins and sacred texts to current social concerns, arranged in a useful question-and-answer format. I’ve been attending the Christianity and Islam study on Thursday mornings, and I was especially interested in Islam’s current concerns. The crucial one is, of course, terrorism and violence, but its non-hierarchical organization means there’s no central authority who could speak for the majority of Muslims. Another concern is that with the rapid expansion of the faith, especially in Europe, Muslims must meet the challenges of living near people with different beliefs. As a review in Christian Century states, this book is “an ideal cure for our nearly invincible ignorance about our neighbors.”

– Church Librarian Carol Jensen