Before I began my search for truth, I assumed it would be near impossible to know which religion, if any, was actually true, so I was content to believe they all led to God.

This was both convenient and comforting since I come from a Muslim-Catholic family, but I never had an evidence based reason to hold such a belief. It just sounded good, and sounded plausible that God sent different prophets, at different times, with different messages, for different peoples, as boxing legend Muhammad Ali once said.

But when I learned of the sobering claims in the Abrahamic religions, I realized they were contradictory with eternal consequences.

Jesus taught that few will enter Heaven (Matt. 7:13–14), that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6), and that those who reject him as the Son of God stand condemned (John 3:18).

He warned that many who call Him “Lord” will still be turned away (Matt. 7:23), while the apostles wrote that all have sinned (Rom. 3:23), that sin brings death (Rom. 6:23), and that sinners of all kinds will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, which is the second death (Rev. 21:8).

The Quran says those who believe God is the Messiah will be forbidden from Paradise (Surah 5:72), that belief in the Trinity leads to punishment (5:73), and that those who seek a religion other than Islam will be losers in the Hereafter (3:85).

Orthodox Judaism teaches that Gentiles who uphold the seven Noahide laws have a place in the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba), but many consider Jesus worship a violation of the law against idolatry (though perspectives vary).

With so much at stake, we’d better be careful to choose the right one, or develop great confidence that none of them are true.

This is no easy task, since much of the available content is frustratingly one-sided... something that will be quite evident in my first book release: Untwisting the Suffering Servant Prophecy. Readers will see first hand why there is such deep distrust between opposing groups.

That's why I've made it my mission to synthesize the available information, and put the strongest opposing arguments on the table.

This way, readers can make truly informed decisions about their beliefs, and help others to do the same without misinforming them or getting blindsided by objections they weren't prepared for.

I hope to set a standard where people see The Shades of Reason logo in the bottom right corner of each book, and know they are getting a fair analysis of the perspectives involved. And by making the series available in Nuance Academy, they can get all of these assessments in one place without having to scour the internet or the book shelves.