Jesus Among Giants: Religious Biographies in Comparative Context

Jesus Among Giants: Religious Biographies in Comparative Context compares and contrasts Jesus to Mahāvīra, Buddha, Krishna, Confucius, Laozi, Moses, and Muhammad in terms of their missions and messages. These foundational religious figures are introduced in their particular socio-political context―on their own terms, in their own words, within the canons of their respective sacred scriptural traditions. Each chapter features the biography of a foundational religious figure, their teachings, a comparative analysis, and a suggestion about what Christians might learn from other foundational religious characters.

Jesus Among Giants offers a new approach to comparative religion as a confrontational conference of conflicting claims in search of uncommon insights into truth. This book observes striking similarities and discerns distinguishing differences but does not harmonize or hierarchize competing visions into a single coherent version of truth. Rather, it exposes and respects differences for the sake of determining the unique identity of each religious figure featured.

There is no avoiding controversy and conflict among the foundational figures of the world’s religions. Religious identities are forged in the face of differences. To adequately appreciate any one spiritual giant requires understanding them all. To know who Jesus is means knowing who he isn’t. Readers are invited to face the facts and fictions, myths and messages, and claims and counter-claims that clearly distinguish Jesus among giants.

William Cully Allen served as Associate Professor of Asian Religions at Temple University from 2001 to 2011. He has also held teaching appointments at Austin College, Bucknell University, Muhlenberg College, and the University of the Arts. He is the author of Sanskrit Debate (Peter Lang, 2015), Taoism (2007), and Tennis Mindset (2018).