They are infidels! Why should we talk to them or care if they know truth?
Is this not pluralism or syncretism to embrace aspects of two religions?
Can a person retain their cultural identity and still be a follower of Jesus?
Why do some Christians and Muslims try to convert each other?
Doesn’t Jesus teach that people must convert to Christianity?
What is the Qur’an’s view of the Bible?
Doesn’t everyone have to become a Christian to be saved?
Doesn’t everyone have to become a Muslim to be a true believer?
What is a real Christian like?
They are infidels! Why should we talk to them or care if they know truth?
Who is asking this question… A Muslim or a Christian? We cannot really tell because this verbal assault has been hurled by both Christians and Muslims throughout the centuries. “They are different, they don’t believe what we believe, they are not the true believers.” The larger issue here is that Christians and Muslims don’t really understand where each other are coming from, nor do they understand the true beliefs of faithful adherents of the other religion. If we look through history these sorts of attitudes on either side produced only death and division not peace. We believe that peace begins with understanding each other and engaging in peaceful dialogue. We believe that it is time for this generation to rise up and extend the hand of peace rather than hurl the insults that have kept us so divided.
back to top
Is this not pluralism or syncretism to embrace aspects of two religions?
There is no reason to embrace anything that is not founded in truth, and one should embrace everything that is founded in truth. There is only One God! With that truth in mind, the One God has woven His truth into everything. Creation tells of His attention to detail and His creativity in developing such an array of beauty that all declares His majesty and power. God has also written His truth into history, philosophy, religion and science. Justin Martyr was a philosopher around 100AD and he became a true follower of Jesus because he claimed that his studies of philosophy had prepared him to see and understand truth about God. He called this “logos spermatikos” which means “Seed of the Word.” By this he meant that there are seeds of truth planted within all aspects of knowledge and understanding. In his personal story he claimed that there were seeds of truth contained within aspects of philosophy that had uniquely prepared his heart to understand truth when it was revealed in its fullness to him. Because all truth is God’s truth, He has allowed echoes of His truth to be present in all arenas of humanity and it is those unique and diverse situations that people are born into that actually prepare their hearts to receive the truth of God when it is revealed to them more fully.
This also begs the question regarding cultural and religious identity. (see next question)
back to top
Can a person retain their cultural identity and still be a follower of Jesus?
Absolutely! No where in the Bible is there the example of people being stripped of their unique ethnic and cultural identity to become a follower of Jesus (Isa). In fact, there are many examples of the opposite: (1) The Samaritan woman (Injil, John 4) retained her socio-ethnic identity as a Samaritan when she choose to believe in Jesus. (2) The Gerasene Demoniac (Injil, Mark 5) was from the Gentile region of the Decapolis and when he asked to come with Jesus Jesus told him to stay among his own people and tell them the great things God had done for him. Jesus did not ask him to become a Gallilean or a Jew or a Christian. Jesus told him to remain and tell his own people about the unique work of Jesus. (3) Even Paul in his writings (Injil, I Corinthians 7) urges that people remain in the situation they were in when they embraced Jesus. You do not have to become something different be jumping through some hoops that someone else says you have to jump through…NO! Just follow Jesus. A Muslim should never be asked to leave their family, country or umma (community) and become a westerner! That sort of reasoning is no where to be found in the Bible. If they want to embrace who Jesus is than they should be able to do that without loosing their unique God-given cultural/ethnic/social identity. This is what Jesus taught in the Injil.
back to top
Why do some Christians and Muslims try to convert each other?
The history of Christians and Muslims coexisting together has been a rocky history plagued with wars, fighting, struggle and much unnecessary bloodshed. Oftentimes, it is because of this very issue: Christians are trying to convert Muslims to their ways, and likewise, Muslims are trying to convert Christians to their ways. While some would say that their particular Holy Book justifies this behavior, there is yet any convincing evidence of that notion. To be a Muslim is be surrendered to God. To be a follower of Jesus is to be surrendered to God through Jesus. Ultimately, we are talking about being surrendered to God even though we may disagree about some of the particulars of how that looks. If the Holy Books do not talk about converting someone, but rather talk about what the straight path into the Kingdom of God looks like then this should be the focus of Muslim-Christian dialogue.
See Kingdom Circles video
back to top
Doesn’t Jesus teach that people must convert to Christianity?
Actually this notion is no where to be found in the Bible. There are some English translations of the Bible that have chosen to use the word “convert,” but these are not the most accurate translations of the idea being expressed in these few examples. (There are only 7 verses in different translations that use this word, but the actual context of those verses along with the range of meaning for the actual Greek word does not give room for our modern notion of “conversion”.) Rather, if we look at the example of Jesus he never asks anyone to change what they already are. He never asks any Jew to be anything other than a Jew. He doesn’t ask the Samaritan woman to cease being a Samaritan. He doesn’t ask the Roman centurian or the Syro-Pheonecian woman or even Pilate to change their ethnic/religious identity. Jesus always focused on people and their grasp of who he was. For instance, when dealing with the Samaritan woman she tried to make the conversation about religion, “should we worship on this mountain or in Jerusalem,” but Jesus shifts the conversation to a matter of the heart and responds, “true worshippers worship God in spirit and in truth.” Then he shifts the conversation to revealing that he is the promised Messiah that she was seeking. He never mentions anything about converting to a particular group or ‘club.’ He just wants to make sure that she understands the most important thing, namely, who he is.
back to top
Is Jesus the Son of God?
This question can only be understood properly based on who is asking the question?
If a Muslim is asking this question then we must understand that there are linguistic and cultural issues taking place before giving a reply. Since the Arabic for ‘son’ (ibn) comes with the connotation of sexual intercourse to produce offspring, this IS CRITICAL to understand in response to this question. So if a Muslim asks this question we should understand them to be saying, “Do you believe Allah had sex with Mary and produced the offspring Jesus?” The answer would be, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” So with the proper cultural understanding in mind then Jesus is not the sexual offspring of God.
If you are a Christian asking this question then one must understand that this question is a deeply rooted theological question at its core. What is really being asked by the Christian is, “Do you have a proper understanding as to who the person of Jesus is and what his relationship to God is.” This is a much more complex issue and it has absolutely nothing to do with any sort of strange sexual connotation between God and Mary. That notion of Jesus being the product of sexual intercourse is blasphemous at its core and has never been a belief held be true followers of Jesus.
The Bible and the Qur’an both agree that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary by the Spirit of God, that he is called the Word of God, that he performed miracles, healed the sick, raised the dead, that he is called the Messiah (Masih)-the anointed one, that he is a sign from God and that he is highly exalted in this world and the next. So the question must be addressed… “Who is this Jesus (Isa al Masih)?”
See Signs in the Qur’an video
back to top
What is the Qur’an’s view of the Bible?
See Bible in the Qur’an
back to top
Christian missionaries are forced to hide their identity because they will be hurt, killed or forced to leave the Muslim country.
Unfortunately, this is often true. The blame, however, cannot be pushed in one direction only. Many in the western world are quick to point out that this reveals the true heart of Islam and that they want to harm anyone that disagrees with their religious beliefs. This shows either a deep sense of religious conviction that the Muslim way is the only way, or shows a deep sense of control and fear that does not want Muslims to think for themselves and even consider another way. Although this is problematic, there is another issue here. That problem stems from the fact that many Christian missionaries are still practicing a colonialism that they are unaware of. These missionaries are going to other cultures and seeking to import their western culture into the indigenous culture. They are telling people in these cultures that they must “become Christians” which typically involves them leaving their family and community and taking a Christian name and joining a new community of westerners. This practice is entirely inconsistent with the teaching of Jesus and the Bible! So if missionaries are practicing these types of unbiblical practices that destroy the culture and communities of other nations, than it is no wonder that many nations react against these sort of practices that look nothing like the example of Jesus.
back to top
Doesn’t everyone have to become a Christian to be saved?
The Bible does not ever talk about people having to “become a Christian.” The word “Christian” only appears three times in the Bible (Twice in Acts & once in I Peter ). Two of these examples have unbelievers using this word against believers. There are hundreds of other things that true believers are called in the Bible. They are called disciples of the Kingdom, followers of Christ, believers, etc. Although the word “Christian” literally means “Christ-one” or one who is like Christ and this is a wonderful way of talking about followers of Christ, the word itself carries with it all the ungodly historical baggage that has been done in the name of Christ. Some of the associations that come with the word Christian are: the Crusades, immorality, polytheism (some Muslims think Christians worship three gods), western, impure (pork-eating, wine-drinking, loose-dressing), corrupt (politics and movies color the way the world sees the “Christian” west) just to name a few. So if these are some of the connotations associated with “becoming a Christian,” why would a religiously devout Muslim who is submitted to living a life of purity and surrender before God want to become like this?
back to top
Doesn’t everyone have to become a Muslim to be a true believer?
While the Qur’an does imply that all true believers must be Muslim we must ask what that really means? To be a Muslim means to be surrendered or submitted to God. A Muslim is one who believes in the One God, who believes the signs of God and who lives his life surrendered to the will of God. A Muslim who really understands what the Qur’an says will believe in all the Revelation of God as revealed in the Tawrat (OT), Zabor (Psalms), Injil (NT) and the Qur’an. Muslims believe in the return of Jesus (Isa) one day, and that when he returns he will convince everyone that they need to be a Muslim. The Qur’an even testifies to the fact that “…[Allah] will make those who follow [Isa] superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection” (Qur’an, Imran 3:55). So the Qur’an is constantly pointing Muslims to take a closer look at who Jesus is and it is clear that if they are a true Muslim they will be one who follows Jesus at the Day of Resurrection.
back to top
What is a real Christian like?
See “What is a Christian, What is a Muslim”
back to top
What is a real Muslim like?
See “What is a Christian, What is a Muslim”
back to top