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Shared Stories, Rival Tellings: Early Encounters of Jews, Christians, and Muslims 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Robert C. Gregg (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered kindred religions-holding ancestral heritages and monotheistic belief in common-but there are definitive distinctions between these "Abrahamic" peoples. Shared Stories, Rival Tellings explores the early exchanges of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and argues that their interactions were dominated by debates over the meanings of certain stories sacred to all three communities.

Robert C. Gregg shows how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interpreters--artists as well as authors--developed their unique and particular understandings of narratives present in the two Bibles and the Qur'an. Gregg focuses on five stories: Cain and Abel, Sarah and Hagar, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, Jonah and the Whale, and Mary the Mother of Jesus. As he guides us through the often intentional variations introduced into these shared stories, Gregg exposes major issues under contention and the social-intellectual forces that contributed to spirited, and sometimes combative, exchanges among Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Offering deeper insight into these historical moments and their implications for contemporary relations among the three religions, Shared Stories, Rival Tellings will inspire readers to consider--and reconsider--the dynamics of traditional and current social-religious competition.
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0190231491
  2. Edition
    1st
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    August 5, 2015
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    39240 KB
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Robert Gregg's Shared Stories is a rich comparative study of diverse Jewish, Christian, and Muslim portrayals of important characters in the three religions' scriptures...It provides an excellent introduction to the subject for students or for scholars (in particular those who may be familiar with the exegetical traditions of one of the three monotheistic religions)." -- John Tolan, Université de Nantes, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations

"[Gregg's] expertise in ancient languages, facility with exegesis, and skills in interpreting art
illumine and enrich each interpretation. This volume helps the reader understand and
appreciate the shared heritage of and theological differences between Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam."--Missiology: An International Review

"His immense learning, humane sensibility, and elegant prose make this book a joy to read, and to look at--there are some great illustrations The reader, whatever their level of knowledge of any of the three religious traditions being discussed, will be carried with ease by Gregg's learning worn lightly and his judicious comments. But the reader will also be carried by the power of the stories, their different tellings and re-tellings and the sheer complexity and inventiveness in these morphing moments."--Reviews in Religion and Theology

"...an abundance of memorable, surprising stories that will provide new insights even for readers who think they know this material very well." -- Christian Century

"Robert C. Gregg's book Shared Stories, Rival Tellings is an ode to those creative encounters between stories and readers (or hearers) in specific historical moments, and a powerful demonstration of the enormous value of "retellings" of sacred stories for understanding processes of identity formation, doctrinal differentiation, and religious competition."-- Marginalia

"...[A]n important well-written work... its breadth and depth make it a worthwhile investment for students of comparative religion, Judaism, early Christianity, and Islam." --Publishers Weekly

"A carefully crafted and explicitly balanced historical study...The variety of plates which enflesh the narratives and illustrate the richness of ancient imaginations are stunning. Very few of us will not learn something from the breadth."--Journal of the Bible and its Reception
and creativity of this book.

"A breathtaking combination of the verbal and the visual."--Journey with Jesus

"Tragically, religious conflict is alive and well in the twenty-first century. This is what makes Shared Stories, Rival Tellings such a timely and inspiring work of scholarship, a study that shows the interconnections among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptural interpretation. There are other helpful introductions to early Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation, but this volume makes its mark by enfolding Islam within its story and--in a move that makes this work even more of a gem--by drawing on art history as well as on texts. This work, dare I say it, is the opposite of religious extremism in its openness and ability to engage multiple perspectives." --Steve Weitzman, Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania

"Robert Gregg brilliantly interweaves versions of Bible stories as Jews, Christians, and Muslims variously tell them--complementing, challenging, or clashing with one another--in a book that's fascinating and enormously informative about relationships within this diverse, often contentious, family of traditions." --Elaine Pagels, Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion, Princeton University

"Jews, Christians, Muslims--all have sacred stories. Some overlap, some also compete. No one has ever attempted to engage five of these Abrahamic sagas with equal seriousness and unflinching honesty. Combining art with narrative analysis, Bob Gregg has not only scaled the mountain, he has provided us a vista of the other side: a luxuriant tableau of piety and performance, at once animating, unsettling and delighting all who worship, or want to espy others who worship, the God of Abraham. A triumph, a masterpiece, a classic." --Bruce B. Lawrence, author of Who is Allah? (2015)

"In a period when relations between religious traditions are characterized by suspicion and lack of understanding, Gregg's even-handed and irenic treatment of each religion's biblical interpretation provides a positive appreciation of each on its own terms and an invitation for each religion to consider rejoining with the others in an important conversation." --Commonweal

About the Author

Robert C. Gregg is Professor in Religious Studies, Emeritus, at Stanford University. His publications are historical studies of belief systems, with special attention to the competition of religions in the late Roman-early medieval Mediterranean and Levant.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ZJ5DNHS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (August 5, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 5, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 39240 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 752 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

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Robert C. Gregg

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

PF
5.0 out of 5 stars love the book
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
I have this book both in hardcover and on my kindle voyager. The book is marvelous and very informative. I like reading the actual book as I like to flip back and forth to study and compare the illustrations. It's Ok to read on the kindle, but you don't get the full experience of the book on the kindle.
One person found this helpful
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Larry Hays
5.0 out of 5 stars Great research and writing by Dr Gregg
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
Fascinating perspectives, from different sources, of familiar Biblical stories. As a United Methodist pastor for 40 years, hearing how other faith traditions view these stories was both enlightening, and entertaining. Great research and writing by Dr Gregg.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars filled with little-known sources and bringing together an amazing amount of diverse information
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2015
Verified Purchase
Fascinating academic book, filled with little-known sources and bringing together an amazing amount of diverse information. Well worth a read, and keep for reference as well.
2 people found this helpful
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Crybabyclown
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant. As detailed and profound as it is topical.
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2015
Verified Purchase
What the world and every serious student of the age old and ongoing conversation between these faiths and traditions has been waiting for.
2 people found this helpful
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Robert C. Gregg
5.0 out of 5 stars Glad you asked.....
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2017
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Best book i’ve ever written!
4 people found this helpful
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J. Hamby
5.0 out of 5 stars Shared Stories
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2015
I will point out that I found this slightly dry.

However it works as the focus and detail the author employs in examining these almost elemental stories at the foundation of the three faiths, in my opinion, demands it. Gregg is simply masterful in examining not just the similarities and differences but the reasons why such exist. And the the possible reasons. Which in such a work I find just as, if not more important. Gregg's writing here was nicely balanced and made sure to avoid seeming any type of agenda as its cause. This is a wonderful study that I think anyone looking at culture, not just faith, will find fascinating and illuminating.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair review.
3 people found this helpful
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S. Friedman
5.0 out of 5 stars A Much Needed Text in Interfaith Studies
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2015
What a brilliant idea! Gregg has brought together essential stories shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and demonstrated how each religion presented a narrative reflecting and influencing its ideology. Initially, I received a free copy of this from NetGalley. I liked it so much, I purchased a hard copy. I used it immediately in examining the story of Jonah.nI am a rabbi who leads multi-faith study groups. My students particularly enjoyed the ways in which Gregg has opened up the Qoran for us and made it accessible. I know this book will be a great resource for many years to come.
4 people found this helpful
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