Communion, Unity and Ramadan
October 19, 2005
This evening I was able to participate in a very meaningful time of unity, prayer and community. This evening, Imam Hamad Chebli, and the Trustees (and spouses) of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey (ISCJ) were invited to campus by the History Department. After the symbolic breaking of the fast with milk and dates, Imam Chebli led the call to prayer in the Gambrell Room, and we observed the prayer of our Muslim brothers and sisters. After the prayer we went to the Mackay Campus Center, where we were served a wonderfully full Iftar meal (Indo-Islamic, non-vegetarian). There were a group of students and faculty who were invited to participate, and it was encouraging to see a number of our history and theology professors present, in addition to our President’s wife (Dr. Torrance is currently in Beirut, Lebanon) and our new Dean, Darrell Guder.
I sat with Guder and Imam Chebli and others at our table. It was good to be able to recount some stories about my time abroad this past summer, and to hear about their desire for unity and peace. One of the Muslim men present talked about a recent time of fellowship spent with another local Christian congregation, and one of the men from the Christian church was asking, “Why don’t you pray to God? You say you believe in our same God, but you pray to Allah? That doesn’t make any sense.”
…
The Muslim brother kindly shared with the other man that Allah is Arabic for God. There is serious education that needs to take place in our world, especially in a post-9/11 America.
As I sat there, surrounded by Presbyterians, Lutherans, other Christian denominations and a large amount of Muslims, I wondered what would happen to our communities if gatherings like these took place on a regular basis in churches and mosques in our cities. What would happen if Christians and Muslims met together in fellowship, in community, in unity, praying to the same God, coming from the same tradition, from the same faith of Abraham? I was encouraged that there were people at Princeton Seminary who felt the need to build bridges between our Muslim brothers and sisters here in the Central Jersey area. Events such as these should serve as examples to Christians and Muslims alike.
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore.” (Psalm 133, NRSV)
Posted in Theology
Adam Walker Cleaveland: 
October 19th, 2005 at 7:36 am
It’s all good until you are suspected of prostylizing… Or as long as you don’t convert to Christianity…
It’s good to have good relationships with people of other religions. You can even pray to “the same” God, as long as you don’t do it in the name of Jesus.
Here is a quote from one of the “faith based” blogs:
“If the United States were to make Islam illegal, would I reconvert to Christianity? No, I could not in good conscience… and to do so…would be to lie to God. I do not believe that Jesus is God, part of the Trinity… and it totally weirds me out when Christians worship him as such. So, if a law were passed, I would most likely leave the country if it came down to convert or die.”
October 19th, 2005 at 9:39 am
I’m curious. Do you really believe we pray to the same God? If so, where does that leave Jesus? These are honest questions and I am not trying to be facetious.
October 19th, 2005 at 11:27 am
It’s interesting to see that many Christians are okay with doing events and praying with Jews (who don’t believe in Jesus as Messiah), but not with Muslims.
Where does that leave Jesus? I don’t think it has to mess with Jesus. Jesus will remain who Jesus was, is and always will be. Our perceptions, understandings and misunderstandings don’t change who Jesus is.
All three of these religions spring from the same tradition, and too often we forget that.
October 19th, 2005 at 11:40 am
“Where does that leave Jesus? I don’t think it has to mess with Jesus. Jesus will remain who Jesus was, is and always will be. Our perceptions, understandings and misunderstandings don’t change who Jesus is.”
That’s your answer to the previous question? It doesn’t seem very thorough theologically or rhetorically. Those of us interested in these conversations would appreciate a theological treatment of the questions you raise, not just vapid speculations.
October 19th, 2005 at 11:43 am
Tradition being the key word. Since the Muslim does’t believe Jesus was God, how is Allah functionally the same God? I know where you are coming from in the tradition sense, but the God we Christians pray to is not the Allah of the Koran. From their side, I can see an argument since they at least count Jesus as one of his prophet. But I do not see it working in reverse.
Am I saying that we shouldn’t seek to interact with Muslims or even Jews. No. But shouldn’t we careful in how we describe those interactions? I don’t know, maybe I am way off base and am still too ‘modern’ in some respects to even have this conversation.
October 19th, 2005 at 11:54 am
i also wonder about calling our gods the same god. we believe in a trinitarian god, but muslims do not. while recognizing that we do come from the same tradition, i wonder if we can call our gods the same god.
October 19th, 2005 at 12:15 pm
It’s one thing to love those in the world, but to call everyone your “brother” just because they breath air and are capable of cognitive activity is to deny that Jesus is God. And as you may well understand, Adam, if you believe Christ is not God, you’re not a Christian — you’re something else.
You ask: “What would happen if Christians and Muslims met together in fellowship, in community, in unity, praying to the same God, coming from the same tradition, from the same faith of Abraham?”
I can say, from experience, that you would be chastised (at best, stoned at worst) for believing Jesus is God. You would be treated as an infidel whose beliefs are twisted — an enemy of God.
A better answer to that question may be this: you would create a new religion, one in which Christ cannot be God and God cannot be Christ. That religion does not yet exist because light and dark cannot exist in the same space.
Now, creating a place where people are allowed to pray as they will is something altogether different. Accepting other humans for who they are and “building bridges” is indeed important. Our biggest problem, however, is fear and intolerance based on dis-understanding — not a misalignment of faith. I believe allowing others to turn to Jesus on their own terms, while showing them what that looks like in yourself, is truly progressive theology.
(Incidentally, have you seen the movie, Kingdom of Heaven?)
I’d be interested to hear more about your thoughts on the subject. I’ll keep visiting …
Peace,
Jeremy
October 19th, 2005 at 12:35 pm
On Fellowship: How is a Christian to have Scriptural “fellowship” with a Muslim? It doesn’t exist. Fellowship, Biblically, is:
• With commonality in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:42)
• In relationship with Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:9)
• With believers in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 6:14)
• In agreement with the cause of Jesus Christ (Gal 2:9)
• Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:1)
• With those who have fellowship with God the Father AND Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3)
Perhaps you’ve met Muslims who embody these truths about fellowship?
On Prayer: How can a Christian and Muslim pray to the same “God” without going through the same Mediator, Jesus Christ?
• We are heard in prayer as we ask according to the will of Jesus Christ (1 John 5:14)
• In Holy Spirit who indwells Christians makes intercession for us in prayer (Rom. 8:26)
‚Ä¢ We are to ask in prayer in Jesus’ name (John 14:13-14; John 15:16; John 16:23-24)
Again, are there Muslims out there who embody these truths about prayer?
October 19th, 2005 at 1:42 pm
Here’s a long comment:
The question of common prayer is a good one, because, of course, Christians and Muslims do share so much in common (much of it gloriously bitter). And yet, of course, our understandings of *who Jesus is* remains one of those topics where Christians and Muslims do differ.
There is an interesting historical point that may be helpful. It might just open a whole other can of worms, though.
At about the 300-400 year mark in the development of both Christianity and Islam, you hit upon very similar and illuminating theological controversies. In Christianity, around 325, you’ve got the Arian controversy, which of course questioned the incarnation of God, i.e., divinity of Jesus Christ. In Islam, around 1100, you’ve got the Mutazalite controversy, which dealt with the nature of the Quran as the ‘incarnate speech’ of Allah.
As a side note, it should probably be understood that the stream of Christianity that Muhammed was probably exposed to was most likely Arian, as opposed to “homo-ousion” (Nicene) which explains a fair bit.
Both of these were major theological ‘conversations,’ as we might put it today, with similar heat and intelligence and fallout on all sides…. and lots of people calling everybody else heretics and stuff, because, naturally, people were trying to figure it all out and find some clarity. I actually don’t know too much more about it, but I’d like to do some research.
The great Mutazalite philosopher lbn Rushd wrote in 1150 “The Incoherence of the Incoherence.” (Doesn’t that sound like it could be Derrida or perhaps even one of the Emergent folks?”)
Anyway, the point basically is that the way Christians have traditionally understood Jesus Christ is analogous to the way that Muslims have generally understood the Quran. Which makes it sort of ironic to me that so many Christians that have the most reservations about praying together with Muslims actually share much more in common with Muslims than they might think… esp. in them way they understand and use the Bible. Essentially, strangely, ’sola scriptura’ is a Muslim concept. (Maybe that is a bit tongue-in-cheek… but you I hope you get what I mean).
That said, there is a long tradition in Christianity of Christians and Muslims praying “together” in a respectful and, I believe, faithful way….
In Israel, Syria, Lebanon and in places like Cyprus, for instance, there is a long and dynamic tradition of prayful relationships of Christians and Muslims. Muslims go to Christian holy places like Monasteries and Churches to pray, but generally will not do so during services. The five daily prayer times for Muslims, and the postures (specifically prostrations) used were borrowed from Christian monastic practice.
Adam, I actually think that what you are describing is key: hospitality and friendship. Love one another. I think it would probably be valuable, considering our times, for Christians to study the great intellectual tradtiion of Islam (of course, not to the exclusion of our own Christian Fathers). I think, if people were properly prepared, it would be great to fill every church basement in North America with a Christian-Muslim potluck! Even presence at prayers of the other faith is a very good thing, not least to inspire Christians with a sense of the holistic mind*body*soul integration in Muslim prayer, and to remind us that this is actually our inheritance as well. But praying together, other than in a sort of personal lament for the brokenness that does exist… that is, joining in formal prayer, I think goes beyond what is truly “possible” for Christians because it fails to take seriously the unspeakable earnestness of the meaning of the Incarnation.
Peace,
Matthew in Canada
October 19th, 2005 at 1:57 pm
I do not think it is praying to the same God. How a muslim, Jew, Budhist, heck even within different denominations and creeds of the contemporary church is not praying to the same God. We are called to love others, not accept their lifestyles or beliefs. It is ok to not like or disagree with people. As long as we love them as Christ loved us.
October 19th, 2005 at 2:27 pm
I find the incarnation to fuzzy at best. Am I lost? Should I put that doctrine on my “Things I better understand correctly to get into heaven list?”
When I meet with my Muslim friend I get confused and conflicted when I try to figure out what I am converting him to. Honestly I wish I never thought so much about the nature of God and salvation because it just gets muddier every day. I long for the ease and clarity of the inside/outside thinking of my past. I tire so easily these days of hiding my personal understanding behind jargon. Sorry for vomiting.
October 19th, 2005 at 3:14 pm
Adam,
Thanks for the post. I used to live down the street from The Islamic Society in Jersey. (I’m now in Philly) I enjoyed your thoughts and have many of the same desires for community as you do and hope that in the near future progress will be made in the developement of those relationships. It’s hard for me when Christians seem so eager to exclude others from relationship. When they are so quick to pick out a couple of verses to be the cement in their theological wall to seperate/protect them from outsiders. Why do we even pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” if we can’t even try to pratice peace, understanding and love with other people in our local community, whether they be jew or gentile, muslim, buddist, atheist or neo-conservative? Jesus came to break down the wall of separation not only between God and man but also men and women, buddists, muslims and christians, etc. In the words of Richard Wright “..the ties that bind us are deeper than those that seperate us.”
Anyway, loved your thoughts. By the way, do you happen to know Steve Bush? (he is at Princeton)
October 19th, 2005 at 4:44 pm
Jon,
I think you throwing a jab in on some of us that isn’t warranted.
I agree that we should strive for relationships and understanding. I just think we stop at saying things such as we worship the same God. There is nothing exclusionary about that. There is nothing non-peaceful in that either.
Richard
October 19th, 2005 at 4:47 pm
Jon,
Also, the you talk about the ties that bind us… The cross is the pivitol moment in history. It is where Christianity diverges from every other religion, even those with the same tradition. While I am not advocating we use it as a means to seperate us from others, it’s offense causes others to seperate from us.
Rich
October 19th, 2005 at 5:01 pm
Um…I am confused, don’t we worship the same God, even if we see islamic understanding as heretical (sorry for the harsh terminology) they claim to worship the same God, yet do not see that God revealed in jesus christ. are people suggesting we do not worship the same God as the jews? cause we do. we however believe he revieled himself in jesus christ thus our worship is much different, and our theology worlds apart. but I do not see how even if we disagree we can not see the connection there, as opposed to hinduism or budhism.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
Well, I was expecting a few comments on this, and…well, there you go. Thank you for your thoughts and comments. Your comments are too many and some are too long to address everything.
Sarah was the only one who, specifically MENTIONED the trinity (although it was implicit in some other comments). Yes, and that is where it does get a little sticky, and where I wasn’t too sure about my “same God” terminology. There is the fact that the God we pray to is a Trinitarian God, and that is not exactly the concept of God in Islam.
But if that is the case, we have the exact same problem with the Jewish faith. The Trinitarian problem exists there, and I am sure that many of you who are coming down on this concept, would have no problem if this had been an event between our Jewish brothers and sisters. Why are we praying to the same God as the Jews do, but not Muslims? I think that is a valid question…
October 19th, 2005 at 5:24 pm
who said we were praying to same god as the Jews? it’s the same thing as with Isalm - out of the same tradition, but a different god. i think.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:25 pm
maybe a different understanding of god could work - i’m not sure about the theological implications of that . . .
October 19th, 2005 at 5:31 pm
What is that old scripture??
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matt 7:14
I don’t consider myself a deep thinker by any means but when I go back to my childhood and recount the scriptures that I memorized (on my own) I always come up with a simple answer (see above)
Take it for what its worth and see where the holy spirit takes you.
October 19th, 2005 at 7:00 pm
We do pray to the same God as do the Jews. Jehovah didn’t cease to be after Malachi.
We Christians, however, have experienced the full revelation of that God through Jesus Christ and can actually worship that God in “spirit and in truth”; the Jews who reject the Messiah cannot.
In regards to the God of Islam, we can say that we are praying to the “same God” up to the point of God’s revelation of Himself to Abraham; however, we all know that it doesn’t stop there. From Ishmael on, the God of Islam, Allah, is revealed in a way that does not find his ultimate expression, embodiment, likeness, and fullness of glory in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we do not accept the God as revealed by Islam to be the true God. We do NOT worship the same God.
(Please understand my arguments concerning the revelation of God from Judaism to Christianity as being progressive: Jesus Christ being the penultimate revelation. This will help us to understand why I contend it to be the same God [however, Christians know Him in the fullest sense]. The problem with accepting Allah as the same God as Jehovah is that Islam’s God, at the final expression of his revelation through Mohammed and the Quran, is altogether different than we Christians know Him to truly be. In childhood they were twins, but as men they are strangers.)
October 19th, 2005 at 7:04 pm
Sorry . . . I meant to say “Jesus Christ being the ultimate revelation.” Not, “Jesus Christ being the penultimate revelation.” Now that just wouldn’t make sense . . . unless, maybe, you were Mormon.
October 19th, 2005 at 10:25 pm
great conversation..and there’s a ton of writing on this..here’s one that trys to deal with the trinitarian problems..
Jacques Dupuis wants to keep the balance between the universality and particularity of Christ. There must be a way to -overcome the dilemma between Christocentric inclusivism and theocentric pluralism, understood as contradictory paradigms (Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, 204).- Dupuis offers what he refers to as a -Trinitarian Christology- that will -put in full relief the interpersonal relationships between Jesus and the God whom he calls Father, on the one side, and the Spirit whom he will send, on the other (205).-
What does this mean for the particularity of Jesus? Dupuis wants to maintain the -constitutive uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ (387).- This uniqueness means that Christ and the Christ-event are -constitutive of salvation for the whole of humankind; in particular, the event of his death-resurrection opens access to God for all human beings (Ibid).- Here is where the balancing act becomes tricky for Dupuis does not want to call this uniqueness absolute because the only absolute is -God-s saving will.-
Instead of absolute, the revelation found in Jesus Christ is -relational.- The Christ-event is singular and unique but at the same time inherently related to all other manifestations of God in the world throughout time. It is in relating Jesus to these workings of the Spirit throughout history Christians find out what God is really up too in the world. Dupuis claims that this relational paradigm allows Christians to move beyond both the exclusivist and inclusivist claims. Truth and grace are found in other religions and these manifestations of truth and grace must not be -reduced to seeds or stepping-stones simply to be nurtured or used and then superseded in Christian revelation (388).-
October 20th, 2005 at 9:14 am
The integrity of the gospel demands that we approach Jesus Christ as “the way, the truth, and the life.” This conversation quickly brings to mind the old story of the king, the blind servants, and the elephant. I’m sure you’ve heard it.
The blind servants each are scrubbing (cleaning) a different part of the elephant, so they each conceptualize the mass and physique of the elephant differently. It is the same elephant, in all reality, to each of them, but their perspectives are myopic (short-sighted) and leaves them in a position of only some understanding (it might be said that their limited perspectives each have their own sort of beauty and existential ground).
Nonetheless, Lesslie Newbigin (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society) rightly reminds us how often we misinterpret this story, as if the fact that the blind servants striving after an understanding of the same elephant made each of their claims “true.” This, of course, calls into question the nature of truth (as every good conversation about epistemology and faith should, eh?).
The oft-missed point of the originally told story (as shared by Newbigin) is that, standing not far from the blind servants and the elephant, stood a king with 20/20 vision who could understand not only what the blind servants were confused about, but who understood and appreciated the vast contours and beauty and wholeness of the elephant in a way that the blind servants could not.
And the point, I think (this is where we get into my own speculations), is not that the elephant is God, but that the elephant is “truth.” The king standing back is God. He alone sees all things (all truth) and has literally stood on existential ground in order to fully embody and embrace the beauty and reality of the very human condition that He created. (And let’s not forget the pinnacle of the real story: his sacrifice and ressurection.)
He has preserved for us a Word and a Tradition through which we might approach Truth and be saved through His Way, through Him Himself. And we are called to show these blind servants “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” This in no way justifies a holy separatism or a judgmental spirit; it, in fact, calls us to the greatest sort of love. But the integrity (and very point!) of the gospel must not be co-opted or misinterpreted by the blind servants’ own vision. The integrity of the gospel must remain: No one comes to the Father but by Him.
October 20th, 2005 at 9:17 am
You see, the blind servants have not understood “God” at all. They have only rightly begun to approach “truth.” The point of the gospel is that WE are the ones who are to embrace them and lead them from a partial “truth” to an impartial (excuse the pun) GOD!
October 20th, 2005 at 10:04 am
how are we sure we are not also blind servants?
October 20th, 2005 at 10:12 am
I think we know that we’re not blind servants because God became a human being and showed us who God is. That revelation is total, though our reception of it may be only partial, and thus our sight has at least begun to change for the better, though blind we most certainly are not.
October 20th, 2005 at 10:43 am
Oh, I agree most heartily that we are not “blind servants.” I hope that I didn’t misrepresent my perspective. I meant to describe the blind servants as the representative religions that each seek after God in their own way, though are ultimately only grasping at a partial portion of “truth”… and we Christians, as those who, rather than continuing to seek after “truth” itself, have turned to follow the King, who is our ONLY true source to the fullness of truth.
October 20th, 2005 at 10:44 am
Therefore, though we are “blind” in that we see but “dimly, as through a mirror,” we are also full of vision, in that, through Christ, though we were blind, now we see.
October 20th, 2005 at 11:12 am
Great thread comments. I think that the idea of sharing meals and worshipping our God (s) are actons that would please our God (s). I think that it is important to wholeheartedly worship God with our hospitality, praise and fellowship. What I think that I most agree with any sort of ecumenism or interfaith community is that all of our worship, praise, actions, etc. is lifted up to God and we have no control over how it is received. God receives what God receives. We have been revieled the way through Christ, but even still, God recieves what God recieves. It is simply our job value the reconciliation we have and work to make this reconciliation a reality for others. Even if we have chosen to label the others as “in” or “out” or “christian” or “non-christian”.
I am continually thankful that my job is this and God’s job is to be the final word on the rest.
peace, shalom, salaam,
David
October 20th, 2005 at 11:14 am
PS - I was in a hurry, so sorry for the typo’s!!
October 20th, 2005 at 3:33 pm
Hey Adam, I haven’t visited your blog in some time, but came by on Pagitt’s link. Glad to see you’re still stirring things up.
I guess my contribution is a very, very old question: “And who is my neighbor?”
October 20th, 2005 at 4:40 pm
All of these folks are our neighbors. I don’t think that those of who have disagreed with who worships the same God or are saying otherwise. That is a different line of conversation all together. Of course they are our neighbors. To say otherwise is to deny the Gospel, or at least a large part of it…
October 20th, 2005 at 6:49 pm
kellen, other people say they know they’re not the blind servants because god revealed it to them too. so who’s to know for sure? that’s faith isn’t it?
October 20th, 2005 at 7:17 pm
Other traditions may claim that they have received revealed knowledge about God, but none of them claims that God actually lived upon the earth as a human being. That’s the difference.
Other faith traditions don’t claim that “God became a human being” in the way that the Christian tradition does. Saying, “I have received a revelation of God” is different from saying, “God made God’s self known to me by actually becoming human.”
Now, I differentiated between the revelation and our reception of it — our reception of it is murky at best. But the revelation is absolutely clear: God became human to show us who God is.
October 21st, 2005 at 2:05 pm
i read about 3/4 of the comments, so if i say something already said, sorry.
one thing i didn’t see, is the addition of the koran, it got mentioned early, but hasn’t been focused on…remember what “protestant” means…i thought it was funny adam, that you mentioned presbys. (which i grew up as) and lutherans (which i am in now), because i think historically they have embodied the word “protestent” very well, but in the past decade especially have become the denominations wanting to unify religions, which makes them “liberal”. so back to the koran, i think denominations, especially protestant ones, and now “evangelical” ones, having a hard time with the same god thing comes back to the scriptures we read. what does “our” bible say vs. what “their” bible says. we see this problem with the mormons, because they have the book of mormon in addition to the bible. while denominations aren’t all that good at being ecumenical within their own “faith system” they have an even harder time with those communities of faith that have additional writings they base their faith from. an other example is the relationship between the protestant, evangelicals, and the catholic church, because of the apocrypha and the teachings the catholic church bases on it.
we fall back on being “protestant” or “in protest of”…
the muslims have the koran, and some are in protest…
it seems, when it comes to the “same god” comment, we would have to compare the “scriptures” and see how they line up in their opinion of whether they are the “same god”
thanks for reading…gregg
October 21st, 2005 at 6:45 pm
islam teaches… there is on God, Allah, and he has no son…
im all for befriending muslims, but give me a break man… they are not your brothers and they are not praying to the same God…
October 21st, 2005 at 10:12 pm
This is so weird to me, because it seems like orthodox Christianity is also monotheist. So there is only ONE God.
Unless there are a bunch of Gods out there for different religions, which is certainly one method of dealing with pluralism but not one I hear very often, isn’t the actual question whether the ONE God hears prayers of those who use the wrong name, or don’t believe he came to earth, or think he is revealed through a prophet and a book that is not the Bible?
I just see the problem as more in what the ONE God will tolerate as far as differing beliefs about him than in the question of to what God are people praying?
Am I off base on this logical progression somewhere?
Anna
(I also posted this on my blog, but couldn’t get to trackback)
October 23rd, 2005 at 2:10 am
Great post, Cleave.
In the end, God will be God, so I don’t think we need to worry, folks.
Peace.
October 23rd, 2005 at 10:10 am
adam…what’s it like getting 40 comments on ONE post?
October 25th, 2005 at 5:53 am
Please share your Ramadan experience at
Ramadan Forums
Ramadan-Blessings.com
October 25th, 2005 at 11:20 pm
NT Wright was asked at a seminary he was giving at Oxford (I believe it was there) if Paul’s words properly understood in their context regarding meat sacrificed to idols and in regards to other religions led him to believe that Paul thought all other religions were false and thus those who worshipped in them were worshipping idols. Wright declined to answer to avoid controversy (but later acknowledged he thought this was essentially true). Judaism and Islam are not the religions of Jesus Christ. Thus they are false and by vitrue of that fact, Paul would say they are praying to demons, not to the true God.
Additionally, even if one were to give you the argument that they all pray to the same God, what help is this to them at all. There is no salvation in any other name but Christ. Only the prayers of righteous men are effectual. That righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. Religious unity that is not based on this is false, misleading, and essentially useless.
I imagine the Princeton Divines would be turning in their graves to hear this from a student of the university today. Thank God for those who still pursue Christ with the dilligence, intellectual vigor, Biblical soundness, and spiritual strength of men like BB Warfield. Oh, that Princeton would return to those days!
October 26th, 2005 at 12:54 pm
In Adam‚Äôs post he shared an anecdote about the Christian who asked, ‚ÄúYou say you believe in our same God, but you pray to Allah? That doesn’t make any sense.‚Äù As Adam put it, the Christian was answered by a Muslim who ‚Äúkindly shared with the other man that Allah is Arabic for God.‚Äù
It seems to me that this illustrates the danger of both the unnecessary complication of the issues and the danger of the unjustified simplification of the issues.
It’s certainly true that “Allah” is the Arabic word for God. Arabic-speaking Jews use the word “Allah” in the synagogue. Arabic-speaking Christians use the word “Allah” as well. In fact, when my Orthodox Christian bishop (who is a native of Syria) sings parts of the Divine Liturgy in Arabic he uses the word “Allah” in reference to God.
The Christian in Adam’s anecdote may or may not have been ignorant of the language issues here. But the Muslim who “kindly shared” his response with the Christian side-steps the real content of the Christian’s question by blithely suggesting that it’s just a matter of language. Regardless of language, the point is that the god that the Muslim refers to as “Allah” is not the same God that the Christian refers to when he speaks of “God.” The god of Islam is utterly transcendent, untouchable by his creatures, ontologically isolated from his creation and isolated in himself. The God of Christians is at once utterly transcendent (in His unapproachable divinity) and utterly immanent (in the Person of Jesus Christ, in his tangible, incarnate divine humanity), who communicates Himself and His life to us; He is nearer to us than we are to ourselves (in whom we live and move and have our being), while at the same time unattainable in His essence; being even in Himself a communion of Love, never isolated, Three Persons in one Essence.
The core truths of Christian revelation are an enormous offense to Islam and the Muslim in Adam’s anecdote does his faith a great disservice by smoothing over the fact. Adam does his faith a disservice in the same regard.