The Bible : An Islamic Perspective : Introduction to the Old Testament (Dr. Jay R. Crook)

ISBN: 9781567447415
Author: Dr. Jay R. Crook
Publisher: ABC International Group Inc. (2005)
Pages: 192 Binding: Paperback

Description from the publisher:

Introduction to the Old Testament provides the historical background, social context, and other relevant information for the volumes of The Bible: An Islamic Perspective series about the stories of the Old Testament. After a survey of the sources and nature of the Islamic traditions about these stories, from the time of the Prophet and the Quran to the Middle Ages (represented by the Commentary of Surabadi), we then consider how ancient Canaan became Palestine. We next examine the canon and textual history of the heterogeneous Old Testament before looking at a variety of extra-canonical materials and other sources. Topics include: the origin of the Jews of the Hejaz, the role of oral literature, the name of the Bible, the results of the lower and higher criticisms, the Documentary Theory, apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, and much else. Though this volume is intended as a foundation for the examination of the individual stories in the other Old Testament volumes, it may stand on its own as a short survey of early Islam and the Old Testament.

About the Author --

Jay R. Crook (Md. Nur) was born in upstate New York, the second son of a clergman, but spent his formative years in the New York metropolitan area. A chance acquaitance awakened his interest in Islamic culture and civilization, and he soon embraced Islam. After completing his military service and saving some money, he traveled to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to study for a few years. He wound up spending most of his working life in the Middle East, especially in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Hired by the Peace Corps as a field representative, he finished in 1971 as Deputy Director in the Iran program. He then enrolled in the Doctoral Program of Persian Literature for Foreigners at Tehran University and received his Ph.D. in 1978. His doctoral thesis was A Comparison of the Quranic Stories of Surabadi With the Bible. Much revised and expanded, it has become the core of The New Testament: an Islamic Perspective and its companion volume The Old Testament: an Islamic Perspective. Subsequent to leaving Iran in 1980, he worked as an English teacher in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia before retiring in 1997. He now resides in the American Southwest and has translated several books from Persian into English, including Kashifi’s The Royal Book of Spiritual Chivalry and Ghazzali’s The Alchemy of Happiness