Meeting Islam : A Guide For Christians

George Dardess, author of this wise and inviting guide, believes that Jesus's injunction to "Love your neighbor as yourself" means that serious Christians should engage with Islam and come to know their Muslim neighbors.

Dardess invites readers to explore some of Islam's key facts, chief concepts, and practices, using his own failings and successes as a guide. He shares his own experiences as a deacon in the Catholic Church in Rochester, New York, seeking to build bridges with the local Muslim community, and how his own faith has been expanded and enhanced by the relationships and understandings that have resulted.

At times humorous, questioning, and warm, Meeting Islam is an engaging guide to the rewards (and the dangers) of venturing outside the boundaries of one's own faith. Dardess is sympathetic to Muslim claims to truth, and analyzes them in the light of similar, Christian claims. Each chapter ends with a theological reflection on how a particular facet of Islam may enhance (rather than detract from) our own Christian self-understanding.

A pioneer in building Muslim-Christian relations, George Dardess has been studying Islam for more than a decade, and has given frequent talks, lectures, and retreats since the events of September 11, 2001. Dardess received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University and his M.A. from St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry. A long-time English professor, he is also a deacon in the Catholic Church. He lives with his wife, Peggy Rosenthal, in Rochester, New York.