God, Allah and Good News for Muslims tagged: , , , ,

God, Allah and Good News for Muslims

Posted by in Church & Missions

This article begins with two considerations already resolved from my point of view. The first is whether or not we are to “water down” the Good News, that is, the Story of Jesus. We all agree this should not be done. We are a people of conviction and truth and should never shrink from the Story. Rather, we should strive to make it plain, clear and understood.

The second is whether or not the Arabic word commonly transliterated “Allah” is acceptable when referring to the Creator God revealed in the Bible. It is acceptable. This assertion is based upon the following:

✦The word was in use by Christians prior to the advent of Islam.
✦Arabic-speaking Christian Background Believers (CBB) and Muslim Background Believers (MBB) today use this term when referring to God.
✦All Arabic translations of the Bible, or at least the four I am familiar with, use this term in reference to God.
✦If this term is not acceptable, we must cease using the term “God” when speaking with Mormons and “Jehovah” when in the presence of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

What this article is about is whether or not the god of Islam is indeed the same being as the God of the Bible. In order to answer this question, we must first address the question of the nature or characteristics of this being. Hopefully we can all agree that some of the characteristics are the same (holiness, creative ability, transcendence, etc) and some are different (triune nature, knowability, etc). So, we do agree with Muslims that there is a holy, transcendent creator. However, we do not agree on all of His characteristics. What this article addresses is whether or not both Muslims and Christians believe in the same holy, transcendent creator or are our differences so significant that we must insist he is an entirely different being.

Why is this important? In terms of missiology, an understanding of how our “target people group” understands God(s) is essential. Therefore this is where we will begin. We must first understand where the “religion” aspect of our target people group’s worldview is coming from in order to adequately address it as we proclaim Jesus as Lord. Foundational to this is an understanding of who they worship or who they attempt to worship. Do they worship idols? Do they have a sense of one god that is above all things? Do they worship ancestors? Although I do not enjoy putting anyone or anything in a box, creating a few categories should help us get our minds around this particular concept. Here are the categories of belief I propose:

1. Those who worship the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth in truth. The only people who fit in this category are those who find their life solely in Jesus, God’s Messiah. They worship the Creator and Him alone. They accept/receive God’s vindication based upon Jesus’ sacrifice and value Jesus as infinitely more valuable than all else. Thus their worship is acceptable to the Creator
2. Those who worship the creation rather than the Creator. This includes such groups as animists, pantheists, atheists, polytheists, secular humanists, etc. Their devotion is to the creation and thus misplaced.
3. Those who attempt to worship the Creator but their worship is not acceptable to Him because Jesus is not their Mediator. Ultimately if they do reject Jesus, they also reject the Creator and re-create Him as something they desire, thus refusing to be satisfied in what their Creator has provided. Included in this group are Jews and, I would argue, Muslims. Their devotion is to a false understanding of the Creator and thus also misplaced.

Where do Muslims fit in? They certainly do not fit into the first category as they do not know Jesus as Mediator and King. They also fall short of category two in that they do not worship the creation. Rather they believe in a creator that is exalted, set apart, independent of his creation and worthy of all praise. My contention would be that they attempt to worship the Creator of the heavens and earth, but He rejects their worship based upon their rejection of His Messiah.

Do Muslims reject some of the Bible’s teachings concerning the nature of the Creator? Yes. If they did not, they would be Christians. Since they reject some of the characteristics of the Creator, they have a warped understanding of the Creator. But is He still the same being? Are we still referring to the same Creator?

An illustration may help in clearing this up. Let’s imagine there is a person in Denver with bright purple skin. And let’s say he was the only person on the planet with bright purple skin. One day you meet a stranger at Starbuck’s in Omaha and you begin to “get to know each other.” This man tells you that he once visited Denver. You tell him that you actually lived there for ten years. He then begins to tell you of this really mean man who is never nice to anyone. You ask what his name is and he says, “Bill, but the thing about him is that he has bright purple skin.” Your mouth drops in amazement because you happen to be close friends with the purple-skinned man named Bill, but know him to be kind, gentle and loving. So, you ask how he knows this Bill is so bad. He says he once saw him in the street and it looked like he was yelling at a little girl. Knowing Bill’s true character, you begin explaining how it must have been a misunderstanding. You share of how you personally know this man and have been close with him for many years. Yet your new acquaintance rejects this idea of Bill and holds to his conviction that he is mean.
✦Are you both referring to the same person?
Of course you are – he is the only person in the world with bright purple skin. The other guy is simply not as well-acquainted with Bill.
✦Does his slander of Bill change Bill’s character?
Of course not. While his untrue words can cause greater misunderstandings, Bill has not ceased to be Bill and we are still talking about the same person.
✦Do you address these misunderstandings?
Of course, but it would be a mistake to say, “Oh, we must be talking about a different Bill with bright purple skin.” Rather, you would say, “I think you are missing something here. That’s not how Bill is at all. What you saw must have been a misunderstanding. I personally know Bill and he is kind, gentle and loving.”
In the same way, Muslims are referring to the same Creator as the Creator in the Bible even though they misunderstand his nature in some ways.

But where do we draw the line? What if someone believes in a supreme creator, but this creator is not all-knowing? Would we still be referring to the same creator? That is really the issue we are dealing with here. Are Muslims in error? Yes. Can we say we both worship the Creator of the heavens and earth in truth? No. Are our concepts of the Creator the same? No. So, what we must determine is what are the “minimums” someone must believe about their god for us to be referring to the same being. In other words, “What is the lowest common denominator?”

My contention is that anyone who believes in a being who is self-existent, created all things, is infinitely higher than all things and is the only being worthy of worship is referring to the same Creator of the Bible. While their worship may not be acceptable to the Creator, we are referring to the same being even if there are other fundamental differences.

How do Muslims measure up to this lowest common denominator? They believe in one Creator who is worthy of all praise and glory. This Creator is holy, self-existent, above all and yet speaks to humanity through prophets. Some of those He has spoken through are Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, John the Baptist, Jesus and Muhammad. It would seem Muslims are attempting to worship the very Creator we know so well.

The evangelistic implications of this are simple yet essential if we desire to effectively communicate the Good News to Muslims. While we do acknowledge that the Creator referred to in the Qur’an is the same Creator referred to in the Bible, we must make it clear that there is no way to this Creator except through His Messiah, namely Jesus of Nazareth. To imply anything else to a Muslim is to give him false hope. Not only this, but we should clearly communicate that he must accept Jesus for who He says He is and not who he has been taught He is. While I am loathe to use anecdotal evidence, the MBBs I know and know of typically do not say they have found the true God. Rather, they rejoice since they have found the acceptable Path to Allah and now have a real relationship with Him.

Now comes the discussion. While I have interacted with this question on multiple occasions (with individuals, in group settings and in the blogosphere), this is the first time I have written an article outlining my position on the matter. And it strikes me that it is much easier to answer questions than to monologue and make my thoughts understood. This means that I may not be clear on some points here and therefore encourage questions and comments. During the discussion I do ask a few things of you:

1. If you disagree with my categories, please provide alternate categories.
2. If you disagree with my requirements for the lowest common denominator, please share what you believe the requirements should be.
3. Please leave The Camel Training Manual out of this conversation. In an upcoming post I will be reviewing this book and we can discuss its methodology then.

May the Creator’s grace, mercy and peace be ours during this discussion,
From the Middle East