Here is a thoroughly researched and provocative study of the two most influential figures in Western history.The book begins with a comprehensive biographical investigation of the early lives of the Meccan and the Nazarene, and a thoughtful assessment of their later contributions as statesman and reformer. Phipps then debunks many of the invidious myths about Jesus and Muhammad during the course of a careful exploration of the ways in which they interpreted Hebrew scripture, their prescriptions for moral conduct, and their attitudes toward rewards and punishment on earth and in the afterlife.