Reddit reviews The Qur'an - with References to the Bible: A Contemporary Understanding

AA - So I was raised Muslim but wasn’t really culturally accepted - until probably about my late teens. I had a number of friends over the years who are reverts and some close ones now who are part of our community around the IC in New York City.

There’s a new researched Quran with Bible citations -
The Qur'an - with References to the Bible: A Contemporary Understanding https://www.amazon.com/dp/099659244X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SsxYBb4TTTEMY

Which could serve as a reference for your friend - to start to understand the parallels and similarities between Islam and Christianity.

You should also find a reverts group in either your local mosque or one of your collegiate Islamic centers - Having close friends that don’t understand reverting or become more religious for whatever reason can be challenging.

But I suppose a short rebuttal might be something along the lines of Mary Magdalene is mentioned more times in the Quran than in the Bible and our religion gives great reverence to Jesus including discussing the second coming.

Terms like (peace be upon him) and a lot of our traditional lexicon should probably be explained in more contemporary terms that she could understand as well.

Today's Ayat for Thursday, 2016-11-17 / 17 Safar 1438

Believers, do not befriend people who mock your faith and make fun of it, whether they are people who were given the Book before you or who are unbelievers. Remain mindful of God if you are truly believers.

-- al-Ma`idah 5:57 as rendered by Safi Kaskas

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَكُمْ هُزُوًا وَلَعِبًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَالْكُفَّارَ أَوْلِيَاءَ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ


http://www.islamawakened.com/quran/5/57/

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>A lot of people there had the good advice of reading the New Testament, which I will dive into this weekend. Any suggestions for the best way to go about it? Should it just be read in order or are there any books you'd advised to check out first or that are more important? I already know a lot about the story of Isa/Jesus from the Quran but also know the Bible account differs in many ways, though I'm also already somewhat familiar with that thanks to mentions in pop culture.

A good study Bible would help, though more often than not they have a specific political or theological bend that tends to obscure the actual words of the book. I am not a Catholic (I'm actually very much anti-clerical), but there is a small copy of the Gospels that is amazing, and probably a great first place to start - "The Four Gospels: Catholic Personal Study Edition (Little Rock Scripture Study)".

I am also personally partial to the JB Phillips "New Testament in Modern English", though it's sort of obscure, it's also phenomenal. Phillips started his translation as a minister to troops during WWII, and found that the average English soldier was not, shall we say, the most educated, and found the Bible to be hard to read. Considering that the NT was literally written in the common language of the people, using common - not high or eloquent - speech, Phillips set out to convey the NT in English as they read in the Greek. It's a real shame that the translation isn't more popular.

There is also an excellent translation of the Qur'an which compares passages to equivalent ones in the Bible. It was created to promote interfaith harmony, and if you are familiar with the Qur'an then it might actually be a good intro to the Bible. "The Qur'an - with references to the Bible".



As an aside, I really, really, really like to read, and though it's a bit more academic, one of my favorite books on Christian theology/Christology is "At the Origin of the Christian Claim". It's a short book, and actually made Jesus comprehensible to me.