This is a book about the origins of Islam and where the religion of Muhammad is taking the world. From his well-grounded Christian perspective, the author traces the source of Islamic tenets in the pagan beliefs and practices of the polytheistic Arabs, beliefs that Muhammad never completely broke with even though he was a self-proclaimed champion of pure monotheism. Muhammad formulated a concept of God that was influenced by Arab moon worship, and his Allah was a species of moon God—a demonic God. Given the evidence of the evils Muhammad perpetrated on the peoples of his day and age, Stortroen believes Muhammad was a shaman who let himself become possessed by an evil force—demonic possession—that turned him into a “vicious, cruel man, who instituted a religion of violence by the sword with little regard for human rights, especially to women.” That demonic force has been transmitted from generation to generation for 14 centuries and is a force that is growing today.

Stortroen’s Biblical knowledge is impressive, but a reader with little grounding in the Bible or knowledge of Judaic and Islamic literature may find the early chapters somewhat daunting. Less so with the later chapters, which expose Muhammad’s degradation of women, his practice of jihad against anyone who opposed him, and other now institutionalized ills of Islam. The chapter on the Crusades is revealing, as it debunks myths and lies that circulate in the West about them and lays the cause squarely at the feet of Islam. The Crusades were reactions to Islamic expansionism and were ultimately successful in stopping its spread into Europe, though the Byzantine Empire ultimately succumbed and was supplanted by the Ottoman Empire. This Turkish caliphate claimed leadership over all of Islam and spread it with brute force for centuries. That leadership ultimately collapsed, but now a new Islamic caliphate is emerging. In the concluding chapters, Stortroen takes the reader where he may not eagerly go: into the thick of End Time prophesy, both Christian and Islamic. He is pessimistic about the outcome for the world as it attempts to deal with the demonic force that underlies Islam. “Could history repeat itself in regard to a resurgent worldwide Islamic (read that to mean demonic) Empire?” he asks. This is not an easy book, but people who give it a close read will come away with valuable insights into the origin, nature, and goals of Islam. ( )