A Common Word

Tim Challies has an excellent and thoughtful critique of the recent response by notable Christian leaders to A Common Word, a letter signed by 138 Muslim clerics seeking dialogue with Christianity. Challies notes:

Perhaps most shockingly, the documents takes for granted that the God of Christianity is the god of Islam. Nowhere in this document would one come to believe that the God of the Bible is different than Allah of Islam. Nowhere in the Bible do I find Jesus telling us to find common ground with other faiths—with people who chase false gods and who are wholly committed to the downfall of the Christian faith. Nowhere do I see the Apostles, as Christ’s representatives, engaging in dialogue or seeking common ground in which to pursue God together. Rather, I see the promise of division and hatred. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth, “says Jesus.” “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

I have to agree with Challies here. In a recent class I taught at Corinth, we discussed this very question. Is the "god" of Islam and the God of Christianity the same? Beyond the generic understanding of God as creator, we could find nothing specifically similar about the two understanding of God. Even the notions of "love" and "love for neighbor"--which are the basis for the "common word" signed by these Christian leaders--must be specifically defined in light of Christ.

I would find it difficult to believe that Muslim leaders would accept a definition of love that involves the Incarnation and substitutionary atonement of God's Son for our sin. If we fail to define love in light of the cross of Jesus Christ, we have redefined the Christian definition of love. If "love for neighbor" does not involve sharing the gospel of Jesus with them, then can we truly say we have loved them?