Writing a book encompassing all three of the world biggest religions is no easy task. This author has, of course, the personal biases which everyone has but in saying that this book is a good representation of trying to explain the many similarities and differences in religions. Not everyone will agree with the assumptions or declarations here but I feel Pickard gives a good argument and this certainly can be considered a good contribution to the discussion. Brace yourself though, this is not an easy read. It has so much information, I can commend the writer for the massive research involved to write this book. My thanks to Netgalley, publishers and author for an ARC of this fascinating read. Pen & Sword publishers should be happy with their choice.

For a long time, I have been wanting to read the stories of the major religions viewed through the lens of history, geography, and politics – I believe that it would be extremely interesting and helpful to understand the traditions, customs, and religious laws that have arisen over the centuries. By looking at the evidence of what actually happened, it could help us better appreciate what drives these beliefs. I thought that “The Origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam” by John Pickard might be the book I was looking for. Unfortunately, it turned out to be quite a disappointment and didn’t live up to my expectations.

Mr. Pickard does go back and review each of the western world’s three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But from the start he pushes his own agenda: in the introduction he tells you that he’s an avowed Communist (and I am talking about true communism, of the Marx/Engels persuasion, not what the right is accusing liberals of today) and that all of the world’s religions are a reaction to a class struggle, a way of viewing historical materialism, an expression of the rich trying to control the means of production and oppress the peasant masses. He then takes each religion in turn and focuses on how their development plays into the Marx/Engels view of history and revolution. Definitely not for me.

If it was just that, this would be a disheartening but still somewhat interesting book. But there’s so much more that makes this a difficult read. For one, it is very, very long and repetitive – most of the sections could be cut in half and still retain their conclusions. At the start of each section Mr. Pickard lays out what he wishes to cover and the conclusions he has drawn, then he goes on to repeat everything in much greater detail, except for when he leaves certain sections out with no explanation. This may be necessary in academic publications but makes for very repetitive reading in commercial non-fiction. Another part of the reason that this book is so long is that there are quotes from other books literally on every page, sometimes very long passages. I would not be surprised if 30%+ of this book is made up of bits and pieces of other books. These segments occasionally add to the story, but most of the time they distract and reinforce, making one wonder if one should just read this source material instead. And finally, the conclusions that are drawn are somewhat suspect: repeatedly Mr. Pickard will discredit a source as not being believable on the occasion when he disagrees with the information and then use the exact same source document as a credible account when it supports his theories, often in the same section.

In between all of this, there are a few interesting fragments of history and/or geography that can be found: how the Joshua cult may be the root of Christianity, how the Jewish bible place names reveal the dates books were written, how Islam focused on Jerusalem before the Arab kingdom pivoted towards Mecca. But it takes a lot of patience and sifting to get these nuggets, so my quest for a historical analysis of the great religions continues.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Pen & Sword, Pen & Sword History via NetGalley. Thank you!

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

An amazing text which explores the origins, simulators and differences between the three oldest religions. In theology classes they are sometimes referred to as siblings. This text will not bore you, by reading you will be more knowledgeable about each facet of the whole. I'm certain many universities will utilize this text for their Intro to Religion courses.

A stunning eye-opening account of the origins of Abrahamic religions - or what happened from the viewpoint of historical materialism.

'The Origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam' by John Pickard is an authoritative study of the history of three religions. Religion is an area of public domain that is controversial to the point that many scholars prefer traditional, approved by centuries approach and take its origin at face value. John Pickard strips religion of its divine clothes and uses archeological evidence and contemporaries' accounts. The author employs the historical materialism of Marx, Engels, and Kautsky as his guiding star through the religious and historical contradictions. The author states that

'The fundamental outlook of this work is that while what might be called the theological considerations may have been important, they were entirely secondary to the general political, social and economic movements of the ancient world and it is these latter factors that we have tried to draw out. <...> But for the overwhelming majority of people, the adoption of a religious mantle is above all social, political and an economic decision.'

Some of the issues discussed in the book:

The Jewish history of the Old Testament was written in the sixth century BCE and mirrored the religious thinking of that time;
There was no wonders-making Jesus or a historical figure with such a name; the biography of the New Testament's Jesus was created by a gospel of Mark;
Christianity as we know it today started to form in the fourth century; before that, it was a mix of controversial beliefs;
There is no historical proof of the existence of Mohammed or his Companions, and the Koran, like the Bible, had been put together during a long period;
The creation of the Arab Empire resulted not from a swift conquest of the lands by religious Muslims but originated in rivalries of the local dynasties and tribes.

An attempt to squeeze the massive amount of information into a single book can have a draining effect on a reader, even one accustomed to the academic style. Small font and lengthy quotes do not help the matter. It would be handy to publish the book as a series of three: in this case, every religion would get enough attention, and a reader would get time to reflect on the author's conclusions.

I highly recommend the book to scholars and people interested in the alternative view of religion. A reader should not be appalled by references to Marx, Engels, Kautsky, etc., throughout the book, as the primary basis of the research is still the newest archeological findings.

I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is such a great book! As someone that is a Christian, isn't a historian and very interested in religion, this is a great historical religious breakdown. I definitely plan on using this as a reference for my own personal religious studies and recommend for other people to do the same.

This is a fascinating, thought provoking book..I read the book The Three Abrahamic Religions and did not see how they could take Islamic history back to Abraham. Now I can so one thing sorted out.
It was interesting to read that archeologists and historians often forget the modern day digs and findings but cross reference to make it fit the old religious stories. The dating techniques alone should have put some of the stories to sleep as fables but if religious people are responsible for the digs and discoveries then of course it will suit them much better to ignore their findings in order to try to prove that the religius doctrines in the three religious texts are completely true and should never be questioned.
This is a deep book with lots of cross referenes, it is not an easy read and takes a while to read but I believe that any person who wants to know answers should read it. At the end the reader can make their own mind up whether the facts in the book prove or disprove that religious texts of all or any of the three religions. I can see why at the beginning the warning is that for a deeply religious person it may not the book to read but for anyone who wants to discover more about the historical times and why, when and by whom the documents were actually transcribed it makes fascinating reading.