A timely and provocative argument for a new pluralism between Muslims and Christians and hope for building a common future.

In a penetrating exploration of every side of the issue, from New York Times headlines on terrorism to passages in the Koran and excerpts from the Gospels, Miroslav Volf, one of the world's foremost Christian theologians—and co-teacher, along with Tony Blair, of a groundbreaking Yale University course on faith and globalization—makes an unprecedented argument for effecting a unified understanding between Islam and Christianity.

three.six billion people, the majority of the world’s population, profess one of these two faiths. And while it has long been an uneasy coexistence, the post-9/eleven world has seen tensions rise as leaders and the faithful on both sides of the divide seek either to see only differences or to unduly emphasize these traditions’ similarities. Volf examines the hidden agendas and meanings behind various sources—from news stories to text straight out of the Bible and the Qur’an—in search of the fullest picture of where these faiths diverge and where they meet.

In the tradition of Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s Islam in the Modern World, Volf’s Allah is essential reading for students of the evolving political science of the twenty-first century.

“Thought-provoking. . . . Meticulously researched. . . . Volf's excavations reveal a kind of political-theological game of Jenga that has yet to be solved. And that is precisely why his work is so important.” —Los Angeles Times