Class #1: Why Study Islam and How The Clash of Monotheisms: Christian Encounter with Islam 5/5/2013

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1 Class #1: Why Study Islam and How The Clash of Monotheisms: Christian Encounter with Islam 5/5/2013 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers it is to him you shall listen (Deut 18:15) Introduction True / False pop-quiz All Muslim men must wear a beard and a head covering / turban. (F) The word Islam means peace. (F) The Qur'an affirms that Jesus was sinless and born of the virgin Mary. (T) Reciting the shahadah (There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet) in Arabic signifies conversion to Islam. (T) The word jihad is best translated as holy war. (F) All Muslims are called to jihad. (T, but depends on definition) The Qur'an states that adulterers are to be stoned to death (F, that's in the Hadith) Per your average Muslim, the Prophet Muhammad began writing the Qur'an in 622 AD (F, received not wrote ) Good Muslims regularly read the Qur'an personally and privately in devotions. (T, he recites it orally) The chapters ( suras ) of the Qur'an are arranged topically and chronologically. (F) Islam holds that no verse of the Qur'an has ever been changed or overturned throughout the history of the book. (F, doctrine of abrogation) Q: What are some common misconceptions about Islam (your own or among other Americans or Christians)? Goal of this series Chiefly to understand how Christians should understand and engage with Islam as, arguably, one of the two chief worldviews that will conflict with Christianity in the coming decades (the other being secularism) To clarify our understanding of Islam such that we might grow in our compassionate outreach and prayer for the gospel to advance among Muslims, both at home and abroad To grow in our ability to discerningly engage with other non-christian religions Plan for the series Overview of Islamic theology (next week) History of Islam Qur'an and other Islamic Sources Islamic View of Christianity Diversity within Islam Missions to the Islamic World Insider Movements and Muslim Idiom Translations Reaching Muslims Around You Uptown SS The Clash of Monotheisms: Christian Encounter with Islam, Class #1 1

2 A. Why Study Islam? Q: Why should we study Islam, especially in a church SS setting? Growing importance of the Muslim world Demographics Islam is the second largest religious group in the world 1.57 billion 50 nations are Muslim-majority Not just Arabs 80% of Muslims are not Arab but are African, Asian, Indian, Persian, European, etc. Will soon be 25% of the world population (compared to 33% for Christianity) Growth One of the fastest growing religions in Europe and North America Roughly 4-6% growth per year On average, one new mosque is opened in the US every week; number of mosques in the US has doubled since 9/11 Politics Without question, Islam plays arguably the key role in international and national politics in today's era Q: Examples? 9/11, London bombings, bombings in Africa, Arab Spring (Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen, etc.), Syria, Iran and nuclear proliferation, attack on American embassy in Benghazi, Pakistan-India relations, war in Iraq, war in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Hamas, Hezbollah, Boston Marathon Note that this is not a new trend. Since the founding of Islam, there has been tremendous conflict between Muslims and everyone else. Conquest of Arabia, North Africa, Battle of Tours, multiple conquests of Jerusalem, sacking of Constantinople, Crusades, WWI and the Ottoman Turks, etc. The public sphere in America seems to be particularly confused about what to do with Islam: (a) the PC effort to do everything possible to embrace, encourage, and support it (pluralism as normative) vs. (b) strident anti-terrorism & Islamophobia Opportunity to sharpen our understanding of our own faith Studying other religions helps us dig deeper to understand Christian doctrine Muslim view of God go deeper on articulating Trinitarian Christianity Muslim view of Jesus go deeper on Christology Muslim view of Qur'an shore up our view of the OT and NT Muslim view of culture self-assessment of our own engagement with culture Studying Islam helps us understand how the Christian worldview should interact with other worldviews What are the right questions to ask How do other worldviews understand reality (metaphysics), knowledge (epistemology), and ethics and how can we firm up our own grasp of the Christian view Sharpening our ability to give an apologia for the faith (1 Pet 3:15) Uptown SS The Clash of Monotheisms: Christian Encounter with Islam, Class #1 2

3 Rising importance of missions to the Muslim world Understanding Islam better will increase our desire to share the gospel with them God loves Muslims (because they are his creatures) but he does not love the Islam that is enslaving them Reaching someone requires understanding them in a real way, not buying into a caricature or shallow view (which hinders the gospel) Some of the most strategic missions movements are in the window, which is primarily Muslim Uptown supports over 10 missionaries (40% of our roster) who are active in Muslim outreach in at least some way Some of the most hotly debated issues in missions today also have to do with reaching Muslims (which we'll cover in later classes) B. How Should We Engage with Islam as Christians? Q: What sort of key principles do you think we should keep in mind as we attempt to engage with a non-christian religion though from a Christian perspective? Put differently, what are some pitfalls we should avoid? Christian faithfulness (versus accommodationism) Our number one commitment is to maintain biblical Christianity at all points. Within missions in particular, there has been a trend in recent decades to give up ground / get squishy / veer away from orthodoxy (aka going native ) in order to see more results in Muslim outreach We want to be winsome and compassionate, but not sacrifice our own faith Principled evaluation (versus description) In our hyper-tolerant / pluralistic era in which everything is permissible except Christianity (thus, intolerant), there is pressure merely to describe but not make evaluations, since that is judgmental We should avoid this temptation. God's truth makes distinctions. We will describe, but we will also critique, for salvation / truth / glory of God are at stake. At the same time, we must be principled in our evaluation Be fair and make sure we understand what we are critiquing Avoid emotional, personal, or cultural evaluations Avoid straw-man arguing, hateful speech, etc. Reciprocity (versus caricature) It is tempting to pick the worst parts of Islam, put them front and center, and attack all of Islam based on its worst representatives E.g., All Muslims are secretly militant fundamentalist bombers We should strive to be as objective as possible in understanding what Islam teaches about itself (not our misconceptions about it). It is easy to caricature; it is difficult to truly understand. Uptown SS The Clash of Monotheisms: Christian Encounter with Islam, Class #1 3

4 In other words, we should treat Islam the way we would want them to treat Christianity. Namely, understanding what we really believer rather than cherrypicking Jerry Falwell, Westboro Baptist, the Crusades, and Joel Osteen and using them as their basis for Christianity Moreover, we should focus on the big issues (view of God, salvation, etc.) rather than the minor details, even though those are easier to pick on. We should prioritize the core issues, not the peripheral ones. Critically respecting diversity (versus embracing everything) The Bible is clear that certain aspects of God and his truth have been revealed to everyone (common grace / general revelation). Reformed theology has consistently taught that there is a kernel of truth in all religions, however marred. Q: What are some commonalities between Islam and Christianity? We should use these points of commonality as starting points (e.g., monotheism, creationism, Jesus as a special prophet, final judgment, importance of inspired Scriptures, ethics) However, we should not overplay the commonalities and ignore the differences. There are real, massive differences: (a) between Islam and Christianity (b) between different groups within Islam We need to be sensitive to both the massive areas of diversity as well as some common strands of commonality Light and dark (versus gray) Finally, we should be very sensitive to the fact that in fundamental religious teachings, there is Truth, and there is Falsehood. There is no spectrum. E.g., we will argue that Allah IS NOT the same basic God as the Triune God There is a chasm between the spiritual state of the Muslim and the regenerate Christian. Islam is not (normatively at least) preparatory to the gospel. It is a false religion. While there are common grace similarities, we need to keep them in their proper place. The core issues of theology, Jesus, salvation, etc. are not gray. They are antithetical: Christianity on one side, Islam on the other. Admittedly, this can get muddy when you get down into the fine print (e.g., comparing different Christian views of atonement) Ultimately all non-christian religions are parasitic reversals on Christianity Q: What does this mean? They controvert Christian teaching on various issues (substituting a false gospel; the natural man is opposed to the things of the Spirit) They are parasitic on biblical Christianity in some way, such as borrowing assumptions required to make moral claims, or claims about the afterlife, or verbal revelation of a personal God All religions, Islam included, are fundamentally perversions of true religion, stemming back all the way to the fall / Cain-Abel / flood / Babel era Uptown SS The Clash of Monotheisms: Christian Encounter with Islam, Class #1 4

5 C. What is Islam in a Nutshell? Definitions Islam = Submission Muslim = someone in the state of islam (submission to Allah) All the world is originally muslim; non-muslims have fallen away from the true faith; all the world will ultimately return to the state of muslim Six key beliefs Theology: One God (Allah), who is a monad and has no intrinsic plurality of persons. He is not Triune. He is One and only One. Salvation: your deeds will be weighed after death, and if the good outweigh the bad, then you will receive eternal life; two caveats: faith / sincerity / heart motives do matter (not pure legalism), and the final judgment is somewhat arbitrary based on the will of Allah Worship: the religious life of the Muslim is summed up in the Five Pillars (shahadah, salat, sawm, zakat, and hajj) Scripture: the Qur'an was divinely dictated by Allah to Muhammad (the last of the Messengers) from an eternal, heavenly original; it is the final and best revelation (added to the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel of the People of the Book ) Jesus: Jesus Christ was a true prophet, supernaturally born of the Virgin Mary and protected from the taint of sin; he did not, however, secure atonement for sins on the cross, nor was he resurrected Eschatology: there is a final judgment and an afterlife. In the meantime, the goal of Islam is, in short, worldwide subjugation and the return of all things to the state of muslim by sword if necessary. Uptown SS The Clash of Monotheisms: Christian Encounter with Islam, Class #1 5

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