Category Archives: Religion

Christian views of Islam

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In what different ways have Christians viewed Islam?

What follows is a precis of ‘Christian views of Islam’, by Hugh Goddard, in St Andrews Encyclopedia of Christianity.  Online.

1. Initial Christian reactions to the coming of Islam

(a) Islam as a fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham concerning the Ishmaelites

See Gen 21:12f, 17f.

‘The Armenian bishop Sebeos, writing in the period before 661, thus describes Muhammad’s mission in terms of teaching the Arabs to know the God of Abraham, and telling them that God was going to realize in them the promise made to Abraham and his successors.’

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The cult of self-worship

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Self-worship is, arguably, the fastest-growing religion of our day.

According to David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons:

  • 84 percent of Americans believe that “enjoying yourself is the highest goal of life.”
  • 86 percent believe that to enjoy yourself you must “pursue the things you desire most.”
  • 91 percent affirm this statement: “To find yourself, look within yourself.”

And there is no reason to suppose that the picture is very different here in the UK.

The Westminster Catechism’s answer to the question about ‘chief end of man’ has been turned upside down: ‘the chief end of man is to glorify and enjoy himself forever.’…

‘Fundamentalism’ revisited (again)

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Some years ago, I wrote:

‘It occurs to me that theological liberalism reached the height of its influence in the period leading up to 1977.  In fact, Alister McGrath makes a comment to this effect in his biography of J.I. Packer, To Know and Serve God, p212.  In that year two books were published by SCM Press which seemed finally to demonstrate that liberalism was, in the end, an impoverished, negative, destructive influence that was incapable of serving the purpose of Christ in this or any other generation. 

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Responding to the current global health crisis

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In the light of the current viral pandemic, Brian Tabb remarks that disease is iconoclastic: it challenges and destroys our most treasured cultural idols.

What follows is based on (and quotes from) Brian Tabb’s article.

First, ‘disease smashes the idol of security’.  People long for security: physical security, economic security, emotional security, online security.  But the most determined government, the most formidable military force, the most sophisticated surveillance system, cannot protect us against the invisible threat of the Covid-19 virus.…

Is religious belief just a matter of cultural conditioning?

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‘If you were born in Saudi Arabia,’ the argument goes, ‘you would probably be a Muslim.  If you were born in the Bible Belt of the US, you would probably be a Christian.’  Conclusion: religious belief and commitment are conditioned by one’s culture and environment.  Truth, evidence, reason and personal decision have nothing to do with it.

But the argument cuts both ways.  A person born in France, for example, would probably be a secularist rather than either a Muslim or a Christian.  …

Docetism in the Qur’an

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Docetism – the belief that Christ did not assume a truly human body at his incarnation – was around in the days of the later New Testament writings, as the epistles of John testify.

It was clearly as rather stubborn heresy, for it is also found within the pages of the Qur’an (7th century).  According to Sura 4:157-158.

And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.”
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Is religious belief culturally determined?

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If you were born in the UK, then your religion (if any) would probably be Christian.  If, however, you were born in Morocco, you would probably be a Muslim.  This shows (so the argument goes) that religious belief is not something that determined by a calm consideration of the evidence, but rather by where, and by whom, you were raised.

There is, however, a rather glaring problem with this argument, in that it applies to the pluralist who thinks that all religions are equally valid (or equally invalid).  …

The blind men and the elephant

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A famous Indian fable tells of a number of a blind men who try to describe an elephant.  One, touching its side, declares that it is ‘like a wall’.  Another, feeling the tusk, think that it is ‘like a spear’.  Yet another, encountering its trunk, says that it is ‘like a snake’.  Other contenders are ‘like a fan’ (the ear), ‘like a rope’ (the tail) and so on.

The intended moral of the story is clear: no-one has a monopoly on the truth.  …

The plagues of Egypt

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Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, refused to release the Hebrew people from slavery and allow them to leave his country. So the Lord sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians to break Pharaohs stubborn will and to demonstrate his power and superiority over the pagan gods of the Egyptians.

These plagues occurred within a period of about nine months, in the following order:

  1. The water of the Nile River turned into blood (Ex 7:14-25).
  2. Frogs overran the countryside (Ex 8:1-15).
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Reading Hosea 11 with Islam in mind

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Isa Glaser suggests that the book of Hosea is interesting to read with Islam in mind because of (a) its critique of idolatry, (b) its scandalous sexual imagery, and (c) its even more scandalous record of a prophet being called to marry a prostitute.

In Islamic teaching, a prophet is kept from major sin, and it would be shameful for a man to take back an adulterous wife.  Hosea 11 is about about the scandal of God taking back of adulterous Israel.…