Muslim, Christian and Jew : Finding a Path to Peace Our Faiths Can Share

Faith-based conflict and religious violence threaten our world. This timely and provocative work challenges the stereotypes and misconceptions that fuel these conflicts to answer the question that lies at the nexus of faith, religion, politics, history, and current events: f Can those of different faiths live together in peace? Drawing on personal experience, history, and scripture, this carefully researched book exposes both the differences and similarities between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and reveals the surprising truth about what they really teach at their core. Dr. David Liepert recounts his own journey from Christianity to become a convert of Islam and what he learned in the process. Liepert, a prominent North American Muslim, also candidly explores how and why Islam has gone from being a religion that sustained a vibrant multicultural and multireligious civilization to the one we have today. In the end, he concludes that all three faiths, as originally intended, are designed to live and work together. The happy ending we all crave, he says, might be closer than we think. This important book is a call to peace-not just for Muslims, Christians, and Jews but for all of us.

"Religion is arguably the most controversial topic in history. There is no other subject that is more hotly debated-or more carefully avoided. . . . What it takes is someone who is actually willing to confront the situation by asking the right-albeit uncomfortable-questions. In his book entitled Muslim, Christian and Jew: Find a Path to Peace our Faiths can Share, Liepert distinguishes himself by doing just that. He dives headfirst into his piece by asking the complex question of why there is so much conflict between the world's three most popular religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Using impeccably researched excerpts from a variety of religious scriptures such as the Bible, the Torah and the Koran, Liepert argues what many other authors would be hesitant to admit: that all three faiths essentially preach the same lessons and values. He emphasizes his key points in the form of bullet points at the end of each chapter, a clever structural mechanism for readers who, like myself, get lost when deciphering even the most lucid of religious texts. Despite the content's educational qualities, it is not to be confused with anything textbook. Liepert's tone is as anecdotal as it is matter-of-fact, keeping the reader hooked through tales of his journey from questioning Christianity as a child to finding himself as a Muslim in adulthood. He effortlessly draws his personal experiences with religion into the book's overall message-that it is possible to find yourself through one faith while also supporting others. In today's religious climate, this straightforward and open-minded approach to the matter is more than stimulating; it is vital." -- Good Books in Bad Times (HarperOne blog)

"The Abrahamic religions of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism have a great deal in common with respect to their advocacy of peace, justice, the brotherhood of man, compassion, generosity to the less fortunate, honesty, and the honoring of the family. Yet down through the centuries there is a long history of violence between all three of these communities that continues to be manifest today in acts of terrorism, war, and discrimination. Must it always be so? That is the question addressed in the pages of Muslim, Christian, and Jew: Finding a Path to Peace Our Faiths Can Share by Canadian author David Liepert, who draws upon scripture, history, his many years of experience and expertise with respect to interfaith relations, and his own personal journey from being a Christian to converting to Islam. Peace is not only possible, but ultimately inevitable-if we are willing to work at it and practice the tenets that are the foundation of all three faiths. Highly recommended for community library 'Religion/Spirituality' collections, Muslim, Christian, and Jew: Finding a Path to Peace Our Faiths Can Share is especially recommended reading for anyone concerned with the continuing parochial animosities that have caused so much misery in the name of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam." -- Midwest Book Review

"Dr. David Liepert is a brilliant new North American Muslim voice. He has put much work into his tireless efforts, building bridges between our faiths and civilizations. I know his commitment to dialogue, respect, and understanding among different faiths, and I hope this work will be another step towards that vision." -- Dr. Imam Hamid Slimi, Chairman of the Canadian Council of Imams

"One danger of interfaith dialogue is that differences in theology or dogma can be so smoothed over or diluted that the integrity of each religion is sacrificed for the sake of an ecumenical consensus. Dr. David Liepert's Muslim, Christian, and Jew takes a very different path. As much a fascinating spiritual autobiography as a plea for interfaith understanding, Liepert (who has been engaged in interfaith dialogue for many years) confronts rather than waters down differences in a textual criticism of the three Abrahamic religions. This often takes the form of an internal dialogue, particularly when dealing with his own conversion from an evangelical Christianity to what might be described as an evangelical Islam. The binding thread to this book is a recurrent and impassioned plea for the practitioners of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism to transcend their undeniable differences and relatively recent past histories on the basis of that 'Common Word' shared by all three religions-love of God and love of neighbor-and to apply this core conviction existentially and not just affirm it." -- S. Abdallah Schleifer, Reviewer for the Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies, Distinguished Professor of Journalism at the American University in Cairo, former Cairo bureau chief for NBC News