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Fifteen preeminent Christian scholars of Islam present their latest research and reflections. The book is organized around three themes: encouraging friendly conversation, Christian scholarship, and Christian witness.
Published in honor of J. Dudley Woodberry, it is more than a collection of essays by friends and colleagues. It offers a seldom-available synopsis of the theories of contemporary leading Christian academicians whose work is currently influencing a wide range of Christian institutions, agencies, churches, and individuals. The authors provide cutting-edge and greatly needed resources for developing a better understanding of Muslims.
In an age of increasing challenges facing Muslim-Christian relations, this volume offers Christians a unique opportunity to rethink their assumptions. It also presents practical steps which can inform their daily encounters with Muslims. This book is essential reading for people with research interests in Islam, for Bible school and seminary students, for church leaders, and for all those who want to be informed of the latest empirical research and theoretical perspectives affecting Muslim-Christian relations.
- Sales Rank: #531499 in eBooks
- Published on: 2015-02-25
- Released on: 2015-02-25
- Format: Kindle eBook
About the Author
Evelyne A. Reisacher (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is associate professor of Islamic studies and intercultural relations in the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where she has taught for fifteen years. She spent over a decade in leadership in L'Ami, a Paris-based Christian organization, facilitating relationships between churches and North African immigrants and developing courses, teaching tools, and seminars for sharing the gospel cross-culturally. She has trained Christian leaders and church members in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Helpful book on winning Muslims to Christ
By GreatBooksforyou
Toward Respectful Understanding & Witness among Muslims: Essays in Honor of J. Dudley Woodberry, by Evelyne A. Reisacher, general editor; Joseph L. Cumming, Dean S. Gilliland, Charles E. Van Engen, associate editors., Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library Publishers, 317 pages.
--Reviewed by Scott Hedley, a Bible translator in Asia.
This book is a collection of articles by various authors, all of whom want to honor J. Dudley Woodberry for his "groundbreaking research, his dedication to teaching, his seminal contribution to Christian mission in the Muslim world, and his profound role in fostering healthy Muslim-Christian relations."
The book is divided into three sections: Encouraging Friendly Conversation, Christian Scholarship, and Christian Witness, with five chapters in each section. Evelyne A. Reisacher notes that these three areas were the strengths of Dudley's scholarship. The first section, Encouraging Friendly Conversation, focuses on resources for establishing relationships with Muslims and includes articles highlighting ways of engaging with Muslims from a friendly perspective. The second section, Christian scholarship, relates to how Christians are engaging with Muslims on an academic level. The third section, Christian Witness, covers major issues currently researched by Christian scholars of Islam such as conversion, contextualization, people movements, popular Islam, and peacemaking.
Recently many books have been published on the subject of Muslim-Christian dialogue (Mays 2008, Dardess and Mich 2011, Troll 2011). Therefore when it comes to Muslim-Christian dialogue, it is important that we try to follow the correct approach, if there is one.
In chapter 1, Christian Attitudes toward Islam and Muslims: A Kerygmatic Approach Martin Accad insightfully discusses five different types of Christian-Muslim dialogue (syncretistic, existential, kerygmatic, apologetic, and polemical) and he shows the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Accad then proposes an approach he calls "kerygmatic interaction." A kerygmatic perception of Muslims would say that even though Muslims have as their foremost concern to please God, they lack the ability to enjoy that deep and personal relationship with God, which according to the Gospels is only possible for those who respond to Christ's invitation to approach God as Father through a brotherly sonship with himself.
There is a difference in attitude between an apologetic defense of one's beliefs on the one hand, and a positive proclamation of it on the other. The kerygmatic approach to Christian-Muslim interaction is thus devoid of polemical aggressiveness, apologetic defensiveness, existential adaptiveness, or syncretistic elusiveness; not because any of these other four approaches is necessarily wrong, but because that is the nature of the kerygma: God's gracious and positive invitation of humanity into relationship with himself through Jesus.
We Christ followers, who follow the kerygmatic approach, will have a genuine desire to learn through a mutual exchange of perceptions about God and faith. Engagement with Islam at a kerygmatic level will almost always be enriching for all involved. A Christ follower using that approach will happily make use of the Qurʾan and other elements of the Islamic tradition as appropriate and acceptable bridges of communication. Extracting Muslims from his or her community--whether induced or self-imposed--can be avoided, so that the community as a whole may benefit from Christ's transforming power.
The kerygmatic approach avoids the mistake that many missionaries make. They think that we are to love Muslims but hate Islam. This notion is disturbing, for it is a very short step from the demonization of Islam and Muslims altogether. Most people are unable to maintain such a theoretical separation between an ideology and its adherents. I agree with Accad's premise: Your view of Islam will affect your attitude to Muslims. Your attitude will, in turn, influence your approach to Christian-Muslim interaction, and that approach will affect the ultimate outcome of your presence as a witness among Muslims.
It seems that a large number of peole I know are engaged in apologetic, and polemical approaches to Islam, approaches that are very ineffective and unfruitful. May we learn from Accad's insights and approach Muslims with a new attitude and perception.
In chapter 2, the Ishmael Promises and Mission Motivation by Jonathan E. Culver notes that we rarely see a missionary passion to reach Muslims marked by respect rather than denigration. American evangelicals urgently need a more constructive attitude towards Muslims if they wish to win them for Christ. One way to do this is to reexamine the promises that God made to Abraham regarding his son Ishmael. These promises have important implications for Muslims when viewed from the perspective of God's mission. A change of attitude regarding Ishmael (from whom Muslims trace their lineage) could help Christians have a more positive and open attitude toward, and a more fruitful conversation with, followers of Islam.
Culver notes that Genesis 16-21 contains four remarkable promises that God conferred on Ishmael and his descendants. Even though the Bible gives the primacy to Isaac's line in God's plan of salvation for the nations, we should not minimize what God does say about Abraham's other son: "And as for Ishmael ... behold, I will bless him ... I will make him a great nation" (Gen 17:20). This is a unique kind of promise because no other individual in the Bible outside of the covenant community is ever blessed by God in such a manner.
When the opportunity arises, Culver asks Muslims, "Did you know that the Taurat (Torah) contains some beautiful promises that God made to Hagar and Abraham (Siti Hajar and Nabi Ibrahim) concerning Ishmael? Would you like me to recite these promises for you?" Culver has never had a Muslim refuse his offer. Culver is convinced that a sincere, heartfelt presentation of the Ishmael promises promotes friendly conversations between Muslims and Christians.
May God give us wisdom on when and where and how we can discuss God's promises to Ishmael in our conversations with our Muslim friends!
In chapter 3, Squeezing Ethics Out of Law: What Is Shariʿa Anyway?, David L. Johnston looks at the ongoing discussion and controversy going on among Islamic scholars and clerics regarding Islamic law, ethics, and the possibility of contextualization and change in Muslim reading of that law. Johnston suggests that the movements for reform within Islam on this topic may be a fruitful arena for new Christian-Muslim conversation. For those that want to engage with Muslims in this way, we should understand and discuss the ethical principles contained in our sacred texts in order to build a more just and peaceful global society in the new millennium.
In chapter 4, Portraying Muslim Women, Evelyne Reisacher examines the attitudes regarding women, comparing Christian views with Muslim perspectives. Reisacher notes that we should not be quick to blame Islam for the repression of women in Islamic societies. She suggested that we also need to look at other factors such as Muhammad, the post-Muhammad era, Antireformism, the Qurʾan, and Shariʿa. Reisacher also suggests that as Christians, we should reexamine our own attitudes regarding the place and role of women in the social and religious life of our faith communities and our societies in general. Such self-examination on the part of Christians could offer a positive and helpful area of conversation, learning, and mutual enrichment between Christians and Muslims.
In chapter 5, Current Trends in Islam and Christian Mission, Warren Larson notes that Islam is at war with itself with top Islamic scholars denouncing certain aspects of Islam (p.90). For example, Tawfik Hamid, a moderate Muslim, says that something is seriously wrong with Islam and the best thing Muslims can do is admit it and take steps to fix it. For example, Hamid says, women are stoned, female circumcisions are permitted, homosexuals are hung from the gallows, and Palestinian mothers teach their sons to glorify martyrdom. In some contexts it is also perfectly acceptable to persecute Christians. Larson also laments that too many `Christian scholars' attempt to `unveil Islam' but these same authors are often historically inaccurate, theologically misinformed.
Secondly, Larson notes that current trends in Islam are opening opportunities for us to share the Good News with Muslims. Even Islamic jihad movements often open the doors to the gospel, for many are revolted by the activities of the militants.
Finally, Larson reflects on Christian attitudes regarding Islamic expansion in the West. He suggests that rather than being alarmist and combative (as many have tended to be, especially after 9/11), Christians need to be aware of the deep changes occuring now among Muslims themselves, including astounding numbers of Muslims becoming followers of Jesus. Quoting Samuel Zwemer, Larson calls for Christians to "awaken sympathy, love, and prayer on behalf of the Islamic world until its bonds are burst, its wounds are healed, its sorrows removed, and its desires satisfied."
May this be our goal as well as we reflect on Muslims and their need for the gospel in the twenty-first century."
In chapter 6, the Christian scholar with Islam: "Go, Take, Learn", Kenneth Cragg contributes significantly to the body of Christian scholarship on Islam. Cragg shows us three redemptive pieces of information that we can use when we speak to Muslims who might be somewhat open-minded. First, we have always heard that Muslims don't believe in `original sin' or `a fallen nature that needs redemption'. I even met a Muslim who thought he was without sin. But the Qur'an doesn't support that notion. The Qurʾan tells of a deep awareness of sin and wrong in the soul and society.Yusuf (Joseph) in his hour of crisis knew his heart was "bent towards evil" (Yūsuf [12]:53). Being able to articulate the human tendency toward sin is a definite starting point when talking with Muslims.
Second, there are three places where the Qurʾan has Muhammad tell his Meccan folk that they did not "think of Allah worthily" (al-Anʿām [6]:91; al-Ḥajj [22]:74; az-Zumar [39]:67). If nothing else, sharing this information with Muslims might cause them to re-think what it means to "think of Allah worthily". If they are open-minded, we could perhaps share some of the other insights that we are learning from some of the other authors of this book.
Third, there may be a place for us to share Jesus' parable of the vineyard and the husbandmen after we discuss the Qur'anic concept of human creaturehood in charge of the good earth. This is emphatic in the Qurʾan's doctrine of khilāfa. Each of us, is a khilāfa (custodian tenant). Sūrat al-Baqara [2]:30 and several other passages record this divine intention for our humanity and the angelic protest against its trustful policy with us, foreseeing how we will "corrupt and shed blood" in our perverse discharge of so large a "vicegerency" as Allah's submanagers. Now if creation has taken a deliberate "wrong turn" and "mismanaged God's earth", there is a divine seriousness behind all that is. This is where we can share Jesus' parable of the vineyard and the husbandmen.
In chapter 7, sifāt al-dhāt in al-Ashʿarī's doctrine of God and possible Christian parallels, Joseph Cumming unveils new research related to how we can help Muslims understand the concept of the Trinity. As a person who loves Muslims and desires to share the Good News with Muslims, one stumbling block I have encountered when I attempt to share the Good News with Muslims is when Muslims tell me that they cannot accept the Trinity because `God is One!'. It is helpful to know that one of their own most influential theologians (al-Ashʿarī) has presented a lot of evidence from an Islamic perspective to show that the Islamic doctrine of ṣifāt is amazingly similar to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. A deeper analysis of al-Ashʿarī doctrines and the Christian doctrine of the Trinity are much closer to one another than most Christians and most Muslims realize.
In chapter 8, Who was "Allah" before Islam? Evidence that the term "Allah" originated with Jewish and Christian Arabs, Rick Brown shares his very helpful research on the origin and meaning of the term `Allah'. As a Bible translator, I have encountered an obstacle from some of my co-workers and Christian friends who insist that the word `Allah' is a pagan term refering to a `Moon God'. Others state that the word `Allah' refers to a demon. However, Rick Brown has studiously proven that the name allâh "is of Christian Syriac origin and was in use long before Muhammad's time." Rick Brown also insightfully shows that the Qur'an even illustrates that pre-Islamic Christians were using the term Allah to refer to God.
People who say that the Allah of the Qur'an is not the same as the God of the Bible are confusing different "senses" (or "conceptions") with different "referents." The referent is the person or entity to which one is referring, who in this case is God. The sense encompasses the characteristics that are attributed to God, the referent, in their conception of him. People can have different conceptions of the same referent.
Brown insightfully closes his chapter with this plea from an evangelical Middle Eastern Christian: PLEASE never never [speak] against the glorious name of Allah, a name that has been loved and revered by millions of God's children down through the centuries.
In chapter 9, Folk elements in Muslim expressions of African religion, Dean Gilliland provides evidence that Islam is always shaped by the local beliefs and practices of the people it encounters. However Gilliland did not really explain the missiological implications of this. In what ways, are Gilliland's observations helpful to us as field practitioners who are attempting to bring the Good News to Muslims? First, perhaps, it seems that we researchers need to look at the underlying animistic beliefs when we produce ethnologies of the cultures we are working in, rather than just looking at the traditional orthodox Islamic beliefs. Second, we need to understand that the animistic beliefs of certain Muslim cultures might be stronger and might `override' the Islamic beliefs that they are supposed to hold to.
In chapter 10, The Kaya "shrine" and the mosque: Religious bifurcation among Miji-Kenda Muslims in Kenya, Stephen Sesi's chapter was similar to the previous chapter by Gilliland. Sesi
helps us to understand that Miji-Kenda Islam is mixed with animism in the form of four different kinds of shrines. But again how does this understanding help us as field practitioners to become more effective in bringing the Good News to Muslims? Sesi does mention a sort of redemptive analogy in the Islamic animist shrines, called Kayas (traditional shrines). These kayas are also known to be places of refuge. When an enemy is chasing a person, the chased person can run into the kaya to flee from the pursuer's wrath. The person or people seeking revenge are forced to forgive the offender as soon as she or he runs into the kaya. If we, as believers in Christ, talk about how Christ is our place of refuge, our protection from evil (similar to the kayas), this might help Muslims understand and perhaps be more likely to come to Christ as a place of refuge and protection.
A second redemptive aspect of these kayas is that the offenders must offer sacrifices in the kaya to their God, Mlungu, in order to appease the anger of the ancestors and in order to help resolve calamities. But we, as believers, can explain to them and show them that we also approach God via sacrifice. But instead of us continually offering a sacrifice, God has offered a one-time sacrifice of his Son in order that we can have peace with God through Him forever.
In chapter 11, How is the gospel good news for Muslims?, David H. Greenlee seeks to discover what factors motivate a Muslim to change his/her faith. This analysis is important because selecting the right approach in evangelism depends on first understanding what factors lead to conversion. But it is important that we have a Biblical definition of conversion in mind. Biblical conversion is when a new believer transfers his or her allegiance from Satan to God and transfers membership from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God. Biblical conversion is not simply transfering membership from one religion to another. The Bible tells us we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against... cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph 6:12). So the struggle is spiritual (involving spiritual kingdoms), not social (involving religions).
Although Greenlee mentions `extraction evangelism' in a negative light (p.212), unfortunately he seems to hold to the sectarian mission paradigm rather than the kingdom of God mission paradigm. The goal of the sectarian mission paradigm is to expand a particular denomination or religious tradition by encouraging people to join it and to comply with the membership criteria. The goal of the Kingdom mission paradigm is to encourage people to enter the Kingdom of God by becoming disciples of Jesus as their King, Savior and Lord, and to obey all he has commanded.
The reason I believe Greenlee supports the sectarian paradigm is because he talks about `conversion out of Islam'. He also asks, "By what processes and under what conditions do people leave Islam?" (p. 208) rather than "by what processes and under what conditions do people decide to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior?"
It seems that Greenlee has not considered the possibility that Muslims might come to embrace Jesus as their Lord and also remain within their socio-religious culture.
In chapter 12, Contextualization, Phil Parshall also seems to hold to the `sectarian mission paradigm' mentioned above. However, although I might disagree with Parshall on his mission paradigm, I like Parshall's strategy focus. This strategy focus could be adopted by anyone with either mission paradigm. Parshall said, "Our team agreed on a target group for our evangelistic efforts. We would aim for the rural farmer or fisherman who was a married male, preferably literate, and a reasonably well-respected member of Muslim society. We felt such a group of men would present the best possible opportunity for the networking of the gospel to the MBB's circle of friends and relatives. In our context, young persons, or women of any age, would not be appropriate as an initial direction for evangelism. It was hoped that they would follow into the faith of their husband/father."
As this strategy was rural-oriented, it was necessary for Parshall's mission team to take up residence in small towns. From there, village forays could be easily undertaken. Parshall and his team sought to be low profile. They did not allow the purchasing of any kind of property. Basic rented houses allowed for mobility in case of any change in direction of strategy. To the present, this decision has been followed.
Initially, outreach centered around "reading rooms" in large villages. These rented rooms served as a place to meet inquirers. Literature and correspondence courses were given out freely. Out of these contacts came the first MBBs, often within just a few months after the room was opened. This even occurred in areas where there had never before been an MBB.
In chapter 13, Reflections on Jesus movements among Muslims with special reference to movements within Asian Muslim communities, John Travis begins by recalling John Wilder's 1977 vision of "people movements." After providing an overview and critique of the "Jesus movements," Travis interprets several case studies and concludes with ten characteristics of what he calls Asian "ecclesiae." However, the aspects of Travis's chapter that I found most helpful were his `six aspects or factors of ministry that help facilitate movements to Christ among Muslims'.
1. Prayer with and for Muslims: Travis gave this example: "In a movement in one Muslim country, the number of followers of Jesus increased tenfold during the year that hundreds of people worldwide joined together to intercede for that nation. Woodberry states that answered prayer in the name of Jesus was one of the most important factors mentioned regarding people coming to Christ in his survey."
2. An appropriately contextualized message: Travis notes, "When sharing the gospel with Muslims, our message must convey, and they must understand, that Jesus really is for them and not just for others (like Westerners and Christians). In addition, for the gospel to take root and spread through an unreached people group, following Jesus must be understood as a viable or feasible life option for them right now, just as they are."
3. An appropriate messenger: Travis notes, "In Woodberry's survey regarding why Muslims came to Christ, the lifestyle and life message of a follower of Jesus that the respondent had known personally, ranked number one." Travis also notes, "Generally, however, people tend to come to faith and the message tends to spread more readily when the people see the messenger as being one of them."
4. Contextualized Bible translations: Travis notes, "In order for a movement to occur, it is crucial to have an appropriately contextualized Bible (or Bible portions) that a Muslim will read and then want to pass on to fellow Muslims."
5. The use of "power ministries": Travis quotes Woodberry as saying, "the major movements to Christ in the Muslim world are among folk Muslims," with "power ministries" (e.g., prayer for healing, inner healing, deliverance) being an important part of all these movements."
6. Compassionate responses to natural, economic, and political crisis: Travis notes, "The sincerity and selflessness of many Christian relief and development workers, especially those living in close proximity to the community, has afforded many opportunities to share and exemplify the good news of the kingdom."
In chapter 14, Afflictions by jinn among the Swahili and an appropriate Christian approach, Caleb Chul-Soo Kim, a Korean scholar living and working in Kenya, helps us understand the role of jinn and evil spirits in the daily experience and religious worldview of East African Muslims. Kim notes that the Western influenced worldview of many Christian workers in East Africa fails to take seriously this dimension of their Muslim neighbors' concerns, and Kim offers practical proposals for how to redress this through affective sensitivity and building on common ground.
Many people view Islam through an essentialist lens. Essentialism defines faith in very limited terms: in terms of a particular set of classical Islamic interpretations. But Kim shows us that Islamic practice among the Swahili is very diverse. The Swahili's have a spiritual need for overcoming malevolent spirits. Kim also discovered that Muslims' "folk" belief in jinn was not just a popular idea of spiritual beings but was part of their official teachings based on the canonical traditions of the Qurʾan and the Hadith.
Anthropologists have not dealt adequately with the Swahili's spiritual need for overcoming the uncanny world of spirits or their struggle with spirits. So Kim attempts to look closely at Swahili experiences of jinn from a Christian anthropological perspective, so as to further develop a missiological approach to the same issue.
Kim observes that the Swahili people believe, "...spirits seem to be intruders, and humans are fugitives; people always take the defense when dealing with the force of harmful spirits." (p.247). Kim also shows both animistic methods and Islamic methods of dealing with these spirits (p. 249-251). Kim mentions Christian exorcism but provides no scripture indicating one viewpoint or another on the superiority of evil spirits (p.250). Kim notes that that Swahilis consider spirits to be superior to humans (p.251). But is this Biblical? It would have been helpful if Kim had provided and commented on some scripture that shows the superiority of Jesus over evil spirits (Mk 1:21-28, Mk 5:1-20, Mk 7:24-30, Mk 9:25).
Kim suggested that field practitioners focus on developing friendships with their Muslim contacts so that those contacts can respond positively to doctrinal issues when they "feel" good about the person who addresses them. This is important but perhaps Kim could also talk about the importance of `power ministries' mentioned earlier by Travis. By praying (in Jesus' name) for healing and deliverance, and then seeing the power of Jesus, I believe that testimony would be a very powerful witness to Muslims as well.
Kim wisely shows us how even the Qur'an can help us point Muslims (who are afflicted by evil spirits) to Jesus. The Swahili need to know that a permanent solution exists in ʿIsa al-Masih, God's perfect Prophet whom even Muslims recognize as the great healer (Āl ʿImrān [3]:49; al-Māʾida [5]:110). Field workers must present the gospel in a way that both touches the wounded hearts of the Swahili and opens their intellectual eyes, which have been blinded by the god of this age (2 Cor 4:4).
In chapter 15, Peacemaking as a Witness, Christine Mallouhi discusses the responsibility given to Christ followers for making peace and working for reconciliation. This is the broader, deep-level peace, not described by cessation of war but the simplicity of being with and standing alongside another while taking responsibility for the other's good. Mallouhi also correctly notes, "If anything about Christianity brings peace, it brings peace because of Christ, not because of Christianity." (p.265).
Mallouhi adds, "Peace making means having an open home and inviting strangers into our family and sharing our lives and our bread with them. Sharing bread in the Arab tradition means to enter into relationship with the other and carry a mutual responsibility for the others' good. Bringing people together to share bread is a way to break down walls of hostility and foster true community. Muslims have much to teach us of sacred hospitality and are great at embracing strangers as part of their family.
I liked Mallouhi's quoting of Cheryl Lawrie , where she said, "At what point did Jesus change from being the Prince of Peace to being the Prince of the Pre-emptive strike?"
I found it interesting that when Jesus' disciples were full of fear (after his crucifixion) that they would perhaps be persecuted or killed by the Jewish leaders as well, Jesus mysteriously entered into a house when all the doors were locked and said, "Peace be with you" (John 20:19-22). In fact Jesus said "Peace be with you" three different times in John 20. Faith in Christ brings peace to the heart, and his teachings, when applied, will bring peace between individuals. And if he can bring peace to each heart, he can bring peace throughout the earth.
References
Mays, Rebecca Kratz. 2008. Interfaith dialogue at the grass roots, Philadelphia, PA Ecumenical Press.
Troll, Christian. 2011. Dialogue and Difference: Clarity in Christian-Muslim relations, Maryknoll, NY, USA,Orbis Books.
Dardess, George and Marvin L. Krier Mich. 2011. In the spirit of St. Francis & the Sultan: Catholics and Muslims working together for the common good, Maryknoll, NY, USA,Orbis Books.
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