ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: READING UNCOVER WITH MUSLIMS LAST UPDATED: 26/06/15
Muslims learn about Jesus as part of their religion and so you will find that they are happy to talk to you about him. For this reason do not be shy but invite them to read Luke with you. However, since Muslims are taught about Jesus there is some basic information you should know. GENERAL INFORMATION You need to understand what the Bible is if you wish to talk to a Muslim. The Bible is not one book but a collection of many books from many different prophets, in different locations, speaking different languages, over about a 1500 year period. It contains the Law of Moses, the books of the prophets, the Psalms, and the books of the Gospel. The prophets build on each other and are meant to be read together. Christians believe all the prophets and make no distinction between them and what they believe about God comes from reading all the prophets. What about Islam? Islam is very different. The Qur an only contains what Muhammad said. It does not contain any of the books of the Bible. What Muslims believe about God and Jesus only comes from what Muhammad said. Muslims say they believe all the prophets but they do not read them, instead they only believe what Muhammad said about the prophets. The reason Christians and Muslims believe different things is because what Christians believe comes from all of the prophets while what Muslims believe comes only from Muhammad. BIBLE QUR AN Torah Prophets Psalms Gospel Muhammad < c. 1500 years > 23 years Humanity is created in the image of God Maybe? The Fatherhood & Son of God God dwelling with His people The Priesthood & Sacrifice for Sin One Story of Redemption 1
Give you Muslim friend this leaflet first to introduce them to the Bible What is the Bible? at http://engagingwithislam.org/leaflets/ What_is_the_Bible.pdf Then invite them to read Luke with you. The Qur an commands Muslims to believe in the Bible (Q. 2:136, 285, 3:84, 4:136.), and it says that its teaching confirms the Bible (Q. 4:47). However the Qur an does not confirm the Bible even in the most basic sense (see table above). The result of this is that Muslim leaders accuse the Bible of being changed and may ban Muslims from reading it. Therefore do not be surprised if a Muslim says to you the Bible has been changed and that the Qur an is perfect. What they say is not true. The Bible has been well preserved and we have ancient copies to prove this, and regarding the Qur an, there were many different versions of the Qur an and only one has survived till today. For more information see Engaging with Islam session 9 And there is a leaflet on this topic The Preservation of the Qur an at http://engagingwithislam.org/leaflets/preservation_quran.pdf ANSWERING COMMON QUESTIONS The Qur an teaches Muslims to reject the incarnation, Trinity and death of Jesus, therefore you may have to explain these doctrines to your Muslim friend. How do you do this? The best approach is not to start with the doctrine itself but to progress towards it step by step giving the background information that is required to understand it. Consider these examples. IS JESUS GOD? The steps to understanding the incarnation are the following: 2
1. Image. God made us in his image. We represent God and can display his character and glory. There is a connection between us and him. Islam does not have this idea but all the prophets do. 2. God s Presence. God is transcendent but he always creates a way of expressing his presence to his creation: He walked with Adam in the garden, dwelt with Israel in the temple, and expresses his person through his word. God s plan is the dwell with his people and for them to know him. This comes to its fulfilment with God dwelling with us through Jesus. 3. God accommodates himself to us. There is a difference between God as he is in eternity and God as he expresses himself to us. God is all-powerful but he does not express all his power to us. God limits himself in dealing with us. Jesus is God accommodating himself to us. After considering steps 1-3 you are now ready to look at the NT evidence about the divinity and humanity of Jesus. However, you still have the right to say that you are a young Christian and that you have just started learning these things, and that while you may not know everything fully you can at least see that this is the message of the prophets. For more information see Engaging with Islam session 10 TRINITY If a Muslim says Jesus is not the son of God you can ask them what they mean by this phrase. The steps to understanding the Trinity are the following: 1. God must reveal himself to us for us to have correct knowledge about him. 3
2. God has both unity and diversity. Any description of God must be able to explain his unity of being/essence and his diversity of attributes and actions. For instance, Genesis 1 says there is only one God, yet it shows a diversity of this God in that he sends his Spirit and word, and has various attributes. God is not a singularly but has unity and diversity. Saying God is one is not enough, you must also explain his diversity. Muslims cannot do this and so they teach that the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel. This may sound odd to Christians but the reason Muslims say this is because they cannot explain God s diversity, and so they have to cut God into pieces. You must get your Muslim friend to acknowledge that God has diversity as well as unity. 3. The image of God shows that God can share his attributes and maintain his unity. God calls us to share in his glory! This is consistent with his nature not opposed to it. Again we see unity and diversity. 4. Persons are complex. How can three persons be in one being? Why not? Ask your Muslim friend what they know about persons. Yes, it is reasonable to say that a human, who is bound in 3 dimensional space and time, has one person, but it is not valid to project this understanding upon God who transcends our experience of space and time. How do persons relate in higher dimensional beings? And spirit beings have a different type of spacial existence to humans. Consider the case of spirit possession; here multiple spirit beings can inhabit a human. Muslims believe in possession so ask your Muslim friend to explain how so many beings can be in one being. 5. The Father-Son-Spirit relation did not start with Christianity but is the central relationship in the Torah, Prophets, Psalms, and Gospel. 6. The descriptions of Jesus as the Word of God (John 1) and the glory of God (Heb. 1) are both monotheistic verses yet with more 4
than one person. And again, you still have the right to say that you are a young Christian and that you have just started learning these things, and that while you may not know everything fully you can at least see that this is the message of all the prophets. For more information see Engaging with Islam session 11 THE DEATH OF JESUS Christians and Muslims both use the word forgiveness but we mean different things by it. For the Muslim it simply means Allah no longer considers your sins, but in the Torah, Prophets, Psalms, and Gospel it means that our sins are atoned for so that we can draw near to the presence of God. This is what the sacrificial system of the Old Testament temple demonstrated and Jesus is the fulfilment of this. Therefore since Christianity and Islam have different goals relating to God, the way we get forgiveness is different. In Islam Allah simply forgives but in Christianity much more is being achieved and therefore atonement needs to be made to restore the presence of God. Atonement is not the same as forgiveness. The death of Jesus atones for our sins and so brings forgiveness among other things. We need to discuss atonement first with Muslims before we talk about forgiveness. Show Muslims how atonement is the message of all the prophets. For more information see Engaging with Islam session 12 5
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