Evangelism Antagonism
Sharing the Good News is not a hate crime.
I'd like to comment on a reader's comments contained in the article, who said "Since when are Muslims nonbelievers? Muslims do not need converting, because Christians and Muslims believe in and worship the same God. Why can't we recognize this simple fact and live and worship together in harmony?" The only way this statement could be considered to be true is if one believes in what we were discussing recently, a human Jesus who had some good ideas who died as a mere martyr two thousand years ago. That isn't a description of Christianity; what it actually describes is nineteenth-century classical Unitarianism, or modern-day Spongism.
The question of whether Christians and Muslims believe in and worship the same God depends on who God is, and one way to test this is to compare God's attributes in these two religious views. In Christianity God sent His Son to "give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45 NKJV). We are told by Jesus, speaking of Himself, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." (John 6:29 NKJV) Also, "this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40 NKJV)
The following information on Islam is based on the book Unveiling Islam, by Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fethi Caner, which I consider to be an excellent reference by two brothers who converted from Islam to Christianity. In Islam, there is no concept of a Son of God, Allah shares glory with no one. There is no concept of fallen man, we are expected to keep the commandments of God through our own efforts, and there is no provision for redemption if we fail. Allah is said to be merciful, but there is no assurance in the Quran about how to obtain it. The creed for Islam is simple: There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet. It denies Jesus' status as Son of God, it denies His atonement, and it denies His resurrection, because they claim He never really died.
Christianity and Islam present two images of God which have different attributes, one claiming the eternal existence of God's Son, and the other denying it. The contradiction forces me to admit those two images of God cannot describe the same God.
Posted by joelfuhrmann at January 29, 2003 10:54 PM