When I lived in Turkey, I was often ashamed of being an American because of the generalization that Americans are nonintellectual and self-conceited (which is often very true with tourists from the USA). Thus, when I was asked about my nationality I would reply, “Filipino.” This past week, however, I have felt that same shame creep up again, but this time because I am affiliated with the Evangelical Protestant Denomination. Last Wednesday, February 24, I attended an event entitled, “The Same god? Dr. Larycia Hawkins and Ahmed Rehab at the Chicago Temple.” And I am heartbroken that Wheaton would lose such a Professor. I am also enraged that such a complex question would be boiled down to a simple yes or no answer. And that that answer would terminate someone’s career. I wish that Dr. Hawkins had been shown more grace. What happens at Wheaton has repercussions for the rest of the world; Wheaton is a representative of the evangelical community.
The Context
First of all, in Dr. Hawkin’s facebook post she quoted the Pope. She typed, “I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are a people of the book and as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.” Back in 2013 during an inaugural discourse to representatives of different faiths the Pope spoke these words, “I greet and thank cordially all of you, dear friends belonging to other religious traditions; firstly the Muslims, who worship the one living and merciful God, and call upon Him in prayer.” Here he was alluding to the Lumen Gentium 16 (Pope Paul VI, 1964). The dogmatic constitution of the church reads, “But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator…amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25-28).”
I know that the Pope is not a person of authority in evangelical circles, but I would hope that evangelicals would have enough respect towards his words to at least take them into consideration. Surely, if a Christian leader (albeit Catholic) who reads the same Bible, shares this sentiment there must be some merit to his words (at least enough to acknowledge them and not jump to conclusions of heresy immediately). But I will share more about the Pope and the theological reasons behind his words later.
At the talk on Wednesday, Dr. Hawkins clarified that she was not making a theological statement about soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). She was making a statement of embodied solidarity/embodied piety with her Muslim brothers and sisters who also share the Imago Dei. She was also acting in reaction to the statement of Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty College, who said, “I’ve always thought that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in and killed them…I just wanted to take this opportunity to encourage all of you to get your permit. We offer a free course. Let’s teach them a lesson if they ever show up here.” His words embody a sentiment that is unacceptable in the global arena of civil discourse whether one is religious or not. It’s ironic that when a the President of a Christian University endorses violence and hate during a school’s convocation he passes through scotch free, while a Professor of Political Science at a Christian Liberal Arts School is terminated for posting a status on her personal facebook page quoting the Pope. Hate and love are treated differently; one is rewarded while the other is punished. This is the message this incident sends to the world.
Furthermore, Dr. Hawkins also shared about a trip that the Pope made to a beseiged mosque in the Central African Republic. The Pope took off his shoes and entered the Koudoukou Mosque and told several hundred men, “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters.” Some people don’t even know that CAR is a country. Yet the Pope went in and visited Muslims; he claimed his trip to Africa would not be complete without it. This was the first time the Pope had visited and active war zone and it was to visit Muslims and urge the country to work towards peace. This was the example of embodied solidarity that Dr. Hawkins was trying to portray by wearing a hijab during Advent. It also reminds me of the Nazarene who hung on a cross for those who did not adhere to his theological doctrine. This is what Dr. Hawkins was standing for, embodied solidarity in the midst of Islam-a-phobia in the US today. There is meaning behind her words and actions; they were a reaction to the fear and hatred of evangelicals, not an embrace of Muslim doctrine or rejection of Christianity. However, it seems that in today’s society to identify oneself with Muslims in any shape or form is heresy. This flies in the face of the incarnation.
The Irony
The most memorable part of the talk for me was when Dr. Hawkin’s shared her personal faith. Both Dr. Hawkin’s and Ahmed Rehab are highly educated people. They know that Christianity and Islam are different entities. Dr. Hawkin’s shared the doctrine of the divinity of Christ, the trinity and the resurrection. These are all concepts that Muslims do not accept. Dr. Hawkin’s was not spitting in the face of Jesus. You can read her own words describing herself as, “A woman on a spiritual journey is who I am—a journey that for me, has always pointed to Jesus. Throughout my years of service at Wheaton College, I have never wavered from my commitment to the Christian doctrines elucidated in the Statement of Faith.” You can find Wheaton’s statement regarding the review and resolution process here. I personally do not see how her facebook post stands against the statement of faith. Honestly, I had come to the event with my mind already made up. I thought the answer was an irrevocable “No, Muslims and Christians do not serve the same God.” But after hearing Dr. Hawkins speak, I realized this is not a simple yes or no answer.
The Implications
There are two responses to Wheaton’s decision. One is that this further proves the notion that the US’s evangelicalism is “narrow-minded, culturally and racially-myopic… sliding into irrelevancy (Howell, 5*).” This is the stance that I am trying not to hold, but it is very difficult. I don’t understand why dialogue is not able to be had. Why does one facebook post blow up into everyone’s face? Why do Catholic teachings and the Pope make evangelicals cringe? Why is finding commonalities with Muslims considered so repulsive?
And yet on the other side there are those who see this as a victory “of an institution standing up to the forces of liberalism and pluralism that would devalue the truth-claims of the gospel and Christian theological distinctive in the name of tolerance (Howell, 5*).” To some, there is no need for any dialogue. But, do those who answer “no” point-blank deal with Muslims? Are they missionaries or missiologists? Have they ever made any attempts towards interfaith dialogue?
There is a fear that if we answer “yes” to the question there will be no need to evangelize. There is a fear that if we build bridges with the Muslim community we are compromising and diluting the gospel. And yet can we not transcend the divide? Can we let go of our religious concepts? What if Dr. Hawkin’s intention was, “to build bridges in service of a positive Christian presence and witness, while still affirming that salvation comes only in and through the work of Christ (Cashin, 8*)?” However, such a notion is impossible in a binary mindset.
Linguistics
In Arabic speaking countries there is no difference linguistically between the Allah of the Muslims and Allah of the Christians. Actually the word Allah pre-dates Islam. The translation of the word God is always difficult to translate in target cultures. Even in Acts 17, when Paul spoke to the Athenians about God, he used their common Greek word Theos, not Yahweh or Elohim (Priest, 3*). Many have come to God through this missiological approach of using common ground to present the gospel. “Countless millions have embraced the Christian gospel and come to what evangelicals understand as a saving relationship to the God of the Bible, a God they continue to refer to as Hananim, if they are Korean, as Apajui, if they are Agurana, and as Allah, if they are Arab (Priest, 3*).” Once an Arabic speakers was told to translate the statement “we don’t believe in Allah; we believe in God.” To say that in Arabic it would come out as, “we don’t believe in God; we believe in God (Greenlee, 14*).” Many of our views of “objective reality” are based on our language and culture. And yet we are so foolishly quick to judge.
Theology
I find in Christ’s interactions with the Samaritans that He did not shut them down. In John 4:22 he says to the Samaritan woman, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” He does not discredit their worship. She is reaching out to the one true God.
Todd Aglialoro writing in response to the Pope’s claim that Muslims and Christians worship the same God wrote, “I think we can say with confidence that any monotheist who calls out to the Lord is heard by the Lord, whether it’s a Muslim, a pagan philosopher seeking the God of reason, or a Native American petitioning the Great Spirit. As Lumen Gentium 16 continues, God is not “far distant from those who in shadows and images seek [him].”
From an Eastern Orthodox Perspective, (Rommen, 27*) there are three reasons why we could answer yes to the aforementioned question.
- There is only one true God.
- Every human being has the image of God no matter how sinful or distorted and thus every human desires a relationship with God.
- “Every human being has been included in at least one of the divine covenants. while the earlier covenants may not contain the fullnesss of the knowledge of God afforded by the covenant in Christ, if the individual is acting in faith in what they do know, then they must be responding to the one true God (Rommen, 27*).”
My view
The answer to this question for me personally is both yes and no. There are undeniable similarities between the God of Islam and the God of Christians: eternal, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, Creator, Judge, etc. Of course, Islam does not have the full revelation of God. There are differences between Christianity and Islam, i.e. Trinity, divinity, resurrection, but I still believe in embodied solidarity. I believe that we do have common ground to work on. I believe in the incarnation. I believe in the necessity to take on the likeness of those to whom we preach the gospel too.
In the case of Dr. Hawkins, I also believe in forgiveness and mercy. American society is so polarized. Not only that, but we evangelicals are so quick to throw each other under a bus. I am sick and tired of seeing this narrow mindedness. (Theologians are scattered on both sides of this issue. The answer is not black and white). I am saddened by the loss of the first African American woman tenured professor at Wheaton. (The only other time a Wheaton tenured professor was placed on academic leave in the past 20 years was for a case of possessing and trading child pornography*. I am angered at the inability for two parties to hold differing views on an issue and interact cordially.
My hope is that we would get comfortable with tension. That we would be able to embrace diversity within unity, that we would hold our essentials tight, but not the non-essentials. I don’t feel as though Dr. Hawkins was rejecting an essential of the Christian faith. It is from the Trinity that I learned diversity in unity. It is from the incarnation that I learned embodied solidarity. It is in the words of Jesus Christ that I learned to love my enemies. But I don’t see that lived out in the case of Dr. Hawkins.
What about you? How would you answer this question? Do you agree or disagree? What do you think of interfaith dialogue?
__________________________
* signifies articles from here: Wheaton and the Controversy Over Whether Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God
This is a really good starting point to discuss what “worship” really means. In reality, everybody has a different image of God. For instance, UBFers do have, as I painfully found out, a completely different image of God – a God that is more interested in loyalty and obedience and numbers than truth and justicy and love. But even I have a different image of God before, during and after UBF. Do I worship a different God in these times?
This question is difficult to answer and maybe both answers “yes” and “no” are correct. In one sense, if we look from our perspective we’re worshipping a different God, since our image of God is different. In another sense, there is still only one God, so we’re worshipping the same God. So maybe the question is just wrong. A better question would be: “Are we worshipping God *properly*?” There is much less ambiguity in this question. And this is a much more important questions.
Amos 5 says to the Israelites: “Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.”
So, it seems, even when you are the “right” people (Israelites, Evangelicals) and do everything according to the “recipe” (your religious traditions), you may still not worship God properly.
Mt 9 says about God: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
So it seems that people who recognize that they are sinners and who are merciful towards others are much more on the right track than those who demonstratively and religiously “worship” God in certain ceremonies. Worship is more a matter of the heart.
James 1 says: “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”
So in that sense, Muslims are very well capable of worshipping the same God, particularly since they also have teachings of a merciful God and showing mercy to other people. Also, it’s not a yes/no question. Some Muslims/Christians are worshipping God more properly and some less.
Anyway, to sum up, whether “we worship the same God” is a difficult, not well defined question that can be answered in both ways. So Wheaton should have shown mercy by allowing both answers as well. Seems they don’t know what proper worship is either.
But here is another aspect that worries me: Are Muslims automatically worshipping the same God because Islam is considered an Abrahamic religion? If it’s all a matter of the heart then I believe it doesn’t matter to God in which culture a person was born and raised and whether that was Abrahamic or not.
I even go one step further and claim that just like many religious people inadvertently are *not* worshipping God contrary to what they believe, many atheists *are* worshipping God contrary to what they believe as well.
“I even go one step further and claim that just like many religious people inadvertently are *not* worshipping God contrary to what they believe, many atheists *are* worshipping God contrary to what they believe as well.”
Excellent comment Chris! I completely agree. God is love.
I share this sentiment expressed succinctly and crisply by Rev. Dr. David Gushee: “I personally renounce any identification with that side of American evangelical Christianity that arrayed itself against Larycia Hawkins. I will fight, alongside many others, for a better version of Christian faith than the one you offer.” – See more at: http://davidgushee.religionnews.com/2016/02/10/larycia-hawkins-wheaton-dreyfus-affair-evangelicalism/#sthash.vXAV1Qy5.dpuf
I think I have to answer this like Chris and MJ, with “yes” and “no”. If we look at the doctrinal and cultural belief systems, then we can see that Christians, Muslims and Jews do not worship the same God.
But I see these cultural and doctrinal systems as caricatures of God. If indeed God is love (and not merely loving) then there is one God.
Even the thousands of Hindu gods are really more of individual expressions of attributes of the One God.
I stand with the Pope on this one. His point was that we should rise above the doctrinal and cultural differences, and see the common humanity, and stop killing each other.
Doctrine and culture will ALWAYS be diverse. Such things can never unite. This is why UBFism keeps failing over and over again. Arrogantly holding onto your culture and doctrine destroys community and harms human beings.
Pope Francis says it best:
“Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Allah. These are all names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world. For centuries, blood has been needlessly shed because of the desire to segregate our faiths. This, however, should be the very concept which unites us as people, as nations, and as a world bound by faith. Together, we can bring about an unprecedented age of peace, all we need to achieve such a state is respect each others beliefs, for we are all children of God regardless of the name we choose to address him by. We can accomplish miraculous things in the world by merging our faiths, and the time for such a movement is now. No longer shall we slaughter our neighbors over differences in reference to their God.”
Pope Francis – Koran and Bible quotes
Apparently, some chimpanzees worship God.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mysterious-chimpanzee-behaviour-could-be-sacred-rituals-and-show-that-chimps-believe-in-god-a6911301.html
But do they worship the same God as us?
And does God accept their worship?
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
On a more serious note, I wholeheartedly agree with MJ that the question “Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?” cannot be correctly answered as yes or no, because the question is poorly formed, and there is no guarantee that the one who asks and the one being asked are understanding he question in the same manner. The only reasonable way to respond is, “Please explain in detail what you mean by that question.”
Other questions that could be asked (others have alluded to them):
Do all Christians worship the same God? (Maybe not.)
Does God accept the worship of all those who call themselves Christian? (Probably not.)
Does God refuse to accept the worship of all those who call themselves Muslim? (Probably not.)
Do all atheists reject the same God? (Probably not. And many of the notions about God that they reject, I reject too.)
In light of the Incarnation, should disciples of Jesus be more concerned about pointing out the errors they perceive in people of other faiths, or in finding common ground based on our common humanity? (I think the latter.)
Joe, right, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.
Regarding the chimpanzees, yes, I believe that animals can worship God in a certain way too. But not only in “sacred rituals” and not only chimpanzees – in fact all animals and even the inanimate creation. Just read Psalm 148 to understand what I mean. By their sheer existence they praise God, and God certainly accepts their praise since he created them.
It’s interesting how this article is accepted on this forum, but it’s so hard for me to find like-minded colleagues willing to engage in this conversation at my school. Most people I’ve met had given me a straight up “No.” I find it patronizing/belittling for those who have made up their mind so quickly to not understand that I personally cannot give an answer so easily, but that doesn’t mean I am not a Christian.
Walking away from the talk that night, I realized how important good theology is. We need to think through our soteriologys. What are we working towards? Is salvation a transfer of ideas/culture/doctrine or is it a transformation, an incarnation of Christ in the culture? Thanks for mentioning the incarnation, Joe, that is an indispensable aspect of Christian theology. It also is a mystery. Our theology must be lived out; the word became flesh. We need flesh on our skeletons of doctrine. I like how Chris said, “If it’s all a matter of the heart then I believe it doesn’t matter to God in which culture a person was born and raised and whether that was Abrahamic or not.” God sees past culture and past doctrine.
I think Trump is a good example of doctrine but no application. Nominally he is a Christian, but all his actions/words show otherwise. There is no evidence of the incarnation of the gospel from him. I’m afraid that sometimes we get so obsessed with doctrine/verbal confession, we forget that we must walk the walk and not just talk the talk (all justification by faith and not faith and works). We have the dangerous comfort of statements of faith, where we let our guard down. We read a church’s mission/vision/faith statement and it’s all good at surface level, but there can be poison there. This is the danger of the Christian culture, we become comfortable. The North American Church is ethnocentric and we don’t even realize it. Islam-a-phobia and racism are rampant. It’s in our rhetoric, but it is also played out non-verbally in our actions or lack of action. And that’s what Dr. Hawkins asked that night. She asked, “Where are our bodies?”
“It’s interesting how this article is accepted on this forum, but it’s so hard for me to find like-minded colleagues willing to engage in this conversation at my school. Most people I’ve met had given me a straight up “No.”
MJ, perhaps we ubfriends contributors have nothing to lose. We are not defending any doctrine and none of us are creating an organization.
I’ve received the “straight up No” answer too, for many topics. Christendom just has too many people who refuse to discuss taboo topics.
I think I know why, at least partially. In addition to clinging to a hamster wheel gospel, I have also noticed that many in Christendom have an odd understanding of Jesus.
Who is Jesus? He said he is the way, the truth and the life.
Here is how Christendom tends to see Jesus:
-The truth is absolute, and must be defended.
-The way is hard to find, and must be discovered.
-The life is privileged, and must be protected.
So they go about making statements as “truth” without really understanding the complexities behind those statements. They think the narrow way is complicated and can only be found by years of research and theological musings. They build a certain kind of lifestyle and claim they must protect that lifestyle.
I say all this by the way because “they” is me; I used to think just like this. But I no longer do. Here is my new understanding, which gives me peace and contentment beyond compare:
-The truth is hard to find, and must be discovered.
-The way is easy to see, and must be lived out.
-The life is a privilege, and must be shared.
So I now go about discovering truth through relationships. I know the way of Jesus is love–and I spend my time trying to figure out how to live out love-infused justice, love-infused mercy, love-infused charity, etc. The life of freedom Jesus gives is a privilege, so I seek to share this privilege with everyone, with the fire of inclusion burning brightly for all to see.
“The truth is hard to find, and must be discovered.
-The way is easy to see, and must be lived out.
-The life is a privilege, and must be shared.”
I agree wholeheartedly with this characterization of Christian life. It more accurately reflects what I read in the Bible, I think.
It is important to have these discussions. It seems that often we rely on rhetoric grounded in a mere semantic assumption rather than take the time to talk about what we really mean. What does it mean to worship the same God? It’s a much more complicated question than it seems.
One thing I am glad of is that I’ve learned about Christ. I do believe him as the way, the truth and the life, the Son of God and the very Word of God.
That being said, the few years before I really knew anything about the Bible, God was working. He looked down on me and had mercy.
I went through many spiritual experiences that continue to this day. In those days, I thought it was the stars, or chakras, or any number of patterns.
thsoe things might exist, but the Bible taught me the truth behind their maker and their Lord.
The funny thing is, it was through chakra meditations that I came to terms with the stunning number of coincidences in my life, and the deep pain my family (and their struggles) had inflicted in my life. Realization of how deeply my family’s issues had affected me in youth eventually brought me to how in a way I had beleived in God but turned away from him because of my own pain.
God saw through the idolatrous systems I was learning, but there was a kernel of truth there, and he saw my heart was looking for answers and for healing.
I am sure there are Muslims out there who are really seeking God, and he knows them.
He feeds, clothes and waters every single life on earth. I think he can manage all these questions.
Mr.C. What you’re shared speaks to my own story and journey, as I “knew” and “sensed” “someone” searching me out before I came to UBF, studied the Bible and became a Christian.
Clearly there was “God” out there who was plodding me and seeking me while I was trying to figure out this confounding mystery called life.
Here is another question that is hidden here: How do the sacred texts of Muslims and Christians relate?
You might be surprised to know that the Bible and the Koran are VERY similar. So the simple answer is yes, pretty much they worship the same God and have much common ground in their sacred texts.
My publisher/designer finished an incredible project
The Quran – with References to the Bible: A Contemporary Understanding
“This is a revolutionary translation that can be used for reconciliation between Muslims & Christians. There are over 3000 Bible verses comparing them to similar Qur’anic verses. The English used is much easier to read and understand in it’s modern form. The Qur’an translation is approximately 166,000 words and there are around 122,000 words in the footnotes comparing similar Biblical concepts.”
But I balk at the step you’re taking with this BrianK.
While God knows the heart of the person who seeks him, historically it’s pretty obvious that Islam piggybacked of the Christian texts.
Coming from such an authoritarian ministry, it shouldn’t surprise you that a person of great talent could maniacally manipulate texts to suit their own narcissistic dream of power
: P
We can reconcile JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY as one God who revealed himself in unique ways through history. We can see God’s plan for the atonement from Genesis to Revelation. It is a God who is just, who is only good, and works all roads to end in Christ, who redeems the world through his Blood.
You might as well compare the Noah story to Gilgamesh. But there’s no point. The differences are apparent, no matter how many people say that Genesis came from Gilgamesh. It’s just as easy to believe that the Flood happened and that many ancient religions included it as a matter of fact with differing interpretations.
Beware of anyone who begins talking about the Quran and numbers, too. There are some frightening numerology relationships in the Quran which leads me to believe (coming from a background in Tarot, mind you) that false spirits love to use number correlations to win the minds of those who would love to simplify God to a numbers game.
If a Muslim gains a soft heart for Christ (since his faith was the most enduring part of the 900 years leading up to Islam) that’s a good thing. But to say that it’s the same God and the texts are related (like cousins) is borderline, my friend.
Just see if any Muslim would accept that Jesus is the Word who was with God in the Beginning (Gen 1:1; Jn 1:1-3) and that Christ’s ultimate mission was that the Love the Father had for Him before the beginning of the world might be in us, and that He Himself might be in us (Jn 17).
Hey Mr.C, if I hear you correctly, you are pointing out challenges with reconciliation of doctrine. I would ask is such reconciliation possible?
What I am advocating for is reconciliation of people. The book project I mentioned (and the ministries associated with many of the people involved with the book) is attempting to show some common ground between the sacred texts, not so the faiths can be reconciled, but so the people might be reconciled.
The book mentions 3,000 common verses between the Koran and the Bible. This is only 10% of the Bible’s 31,000+ verses. So yes there is much to point out, if you want, about the other 90%. Christianity and Islam are very different, and present very different views of God and the world.
My point is that we ought to seek the common ground in doctrine (little that it may be) so that we may have some chances for bridges of peace. Or as the Pope says, so that we might stop killing each other.
I think Brian’s clarification is very helpful.
Similarities and differences between the Bible (which is not a single book, but a diverse collection of writings from different time periods and of different genres) and the Koran are difficult to discuss. Like the question that prompted this article, “Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?”, there are so many facets to that question. How many Christians know enough about the Koran to have an informed opinion? Not many, and I put myself in that category. I found this article very helpful for laying out some of the dimensions.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2015/12/16/the-same-god-12/
“Coming from such an authoritarian ministry, it shouldn’t surprise you that a person of great talent could maniacally manipulate texts to suit their own narcissistic dream of power”, right
Actually I completely agree that we should find common ground with Muslims. I think the animosity we see is more historically oriented than we realize.
Still, they are completely different religions.
In general, we should be eager to find common ground with all groups / faiths / religions. Saul the Persecutor never really had another persecution. He focused on helping people to know Christ after his conversion and I think that needs to be our focus, too.
Sorry if I came off as salty, but from what I’ve seen, it’s very likely that real spiritual elements were involved with the creation of the Quran, and I hesitate putting the Bible on even terms with any other text.
…four sufficiently similar themes about God:
1. There is only one God, the one and only divine being: Mark 12:29; Muhammad47:19.
2. God created everything that is not God: Genesis 1:1; Al Shura 42:11.
3. God is different from everything that is not God: 1 Timothy 6:16; Al An’am 6:103.
4. God is good: 1 John 4:16; Al Buruj 85:14.
Therefore, Volf concludes, the God of the two is sufficiently similar.
Summary:
1. There is only one God.
2. God is creator.
3. God is radically different.
4. God is good.
5. God commands we love God.
6. God commands we love others.
“When Christians and Muslims agree on the above six claims about God, then in their worship of God they refer to the same object.”