Jesus and Muhammad: Parallel Tracks, Parallel Lives

Combining Schweitzer’s famous quest for the historical Jesus with Sprenger’s less-well-known quest for the historical Muhammad, Peters advances a provocatively original comparison. Mining the Bible, the Antiquities of Josephus, and various apocryphal texts, Peters develops a portrait of Jesus that strikingly resembles the image of Muhammad emerging from the Sirach, the Qur’an, and the prophetic traditions of the Sahih. Peters depicts the careers of both religious leaders as two-act dramas: a first act concluding amid threats and danger; a second act unfolding a stunning denouement. But beyond the similarities, Peters discerns differences, none more important than that separating Muhammad as a prophet delivering a message from God and Jesus as the anointed messiah who was God’s incarnate message. And readers will recognize the enduring political consequences springing from the contrast between Jesus as a decidedly apolitical teacher and Muhammad as a militantly political general. Himself unmoved by the passions that sustain the Christian and Islamic faiths, Peters delivers a painstakingly objective analysis of the historical profiles of their founders.