Monday, September 26, 2016
515 - Lamp of Understanding
Spirituality Column No. 515
September 27, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
I spent an immensely, intellectually profitable Saturday recently listening to the Crescent Project’s Fouad Masri discuss Christianity and Islam.
Indianapolis-based Crescent is a global Christian organization targeted at helping Muslims learn about Jesus and helping Christians learn to talk to Muslims about Jesus. Some quarters of both religions would find this effort heresy, anathema, certainly dangerous, and maybe even just plain pointless. I found it fascinating.
Fouad is Lebanese and an evangelical pastor passionate about bridging the cultural and theological chasm between these two vastly different expressions of mankind’s place in this world and God’s lordship in Heaven.
Fouad founded the Crescent Project (www.crescentproject.org) in the 1990s. The organization provides a wealth of tools, information, and mission work bringing the light of Christ to the faith of Muhammad. No single instrument at Crescent is more effective or engaging than Fouad’s own deep knowledge of Middle Eastern culture, Islamic theology, and Qur’anic scripture combined with his love for Jesus, for humanity, his grasp of the Bible, and energy for spreading God’s Word.
As Christians we are challenged to defend our faith, not attack someone else’s. The Apostle Paul in Athens didn’t attack the gods that were worshipped there; He introduced the Greeks to the "unknown" God of Jesus Christ. Fouad mentioned that we are always better off simply sharing the truth of Jesus Christ than trying to argue theology. Other gentle observations about religious differences and similarities included …
- The Qur’an is a very, very different book from the Bible. Muhammad records declarations from Allah that have been passed through the angel Gabriel. Hence, the Qur’an has little or none of the tete-a-tete “story” aspects that make the Bible, for me, so fun, satisfying, relatable, peaceful,and believable to read. It also occurs to me that Allah as a singular God does not afford personal relationship and therefore none of the humanly relational stories or divine love of the Father-Son-Spirit Trinity of Christianity. Absent those dynamics, that’s probably why I have so much difficulty reading the Qur’an.
-There are Five Pillars of Islam (Recitation, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, and Pilgrimage), but no such construct in Christianity. That makes it semantically difficult to describe Christianity to a Muslim. As a parallel answer to “What do Christians believe?” Fouad suggests these five Christian “pillars”: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, the Bible and One Family. You tell me about your five pillars, I’ll tell you about mine, especially my Jesus.
- Fouad noted that many Muslims lack knowledge of the Qur’an the same way many Christians lack knowledge of the Bible. His advice to Christians is to know Jesus, know the Bible, and build relationships based on Christ’s love, not worldly argument.
A lamp of understanding can be lit.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) learned that Jesus in the Qur’an (Sura 3:55) is perfect, sinless, alive and expected to return. Fouad’s line: "Maybe Muslims should read His book." (i.e. The Bible)
September 27, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Lamp of Understanding
By Bob WaltersI spent an immensely, intellectually profitable Saturday recently listening to the Crescent Project’s Fouad Masri discuss Christianity and Islam.
Indianapolis-based Crescent is a global Christian organization targeted at helping Muslims learn about Jesus and helping Christians learn to talk to Muslims about Jesus. Some quarters of both religions would find this effort heresy, anathema, certainly dangerous, and maybe even just plain pointless. I found it fascinating.
Fouad is Lebanese and an evangelical pastor passionate about bridging the cultural and theological chasm between these two vastly different expressions of mankind’s place in this world and God’s lordship in Heaven.
Fouad founded the Crescent Project (www.crescentproject.org) in the 1990s. The organization provides a wealth of tools, information, and mission work bringing the light of Christ to the faith of Muhammad. No single instrument at Crescent is more effective or engaging than Fouad’s own deep knowledge of Middle Eastern culture, Islamic theology, and Qur’anic scripture combined with his love for Jesus, for humanity, his grasp of the Bible, and energy for spreading God’s Word.
As Christians we are challenged to defend our faith, not attack someone else’s. The Apostle Paul in Athens didn’t attack the gods that were worshipped there; He introduced the Greeks to the "unknown" God of Jesus Christ. Fouad mentioned that we are always better off simply sharing the truth of Jesus Christ than trying to argue theology. Other gentle observations about religious differences and similarities included …
- The Qur’an is a very, very different book from the Bible. Muhammad records declarations from Allah that have been passed through the angel Gabriel. Hence, the Qur’an has little or none of the tete-a-tete “story” aspects that make the Bible, for me, so fun, satisfying, relatable, peaceful,and believable to read. It also occurs to me that Allah as a singular God does not afford personal relationship and therefore none of the humanly relational stories or divine love of the Father-Son-Spirit Trinity of Christianity. Absent those dynamics, that’s probably why I have so much difficulty reading the Qur’an.
-There are Five Pillars of Islam (Recitation, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, and Pilgrimage), but no such construct in Christianity. That makes it semantically difficult to describe Christianity to a Muslim. As a parallel answer to “What do Christians believe?” Fouad suggests these five Christian “pillars”: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, the Bible and One Family. You tell me about your five pillars, I’ll tell you about mine, especially my Jesus.
- Fouad noted that many Muslims lack knowledge of the Qur’an the same way many Christians lack knowledge of the Bible. His advice to Christians is to know Jesus, know the Bible, and build relationships based on Christ’s love, not worldly argument.
A lamp of understanding can be lit.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) learned that Jesus in the Qur’an (Sura 3:55) is perfect, sinless, alive and expected to return. Fouad’s line: "Maybe Muslims should read His book." (i.e. The Bible)
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