Thursday, November 03, 2011

Gaudeul on why Muslims convert to Christianity

One of hte best studies out there on why Muslims convert to Christianity is the study by the French Roman Catholic priest Jean-Marie Gaudeul, one of the White Fathers.

The name of his book in English is Called from Islam to Christ. He identifies a couple of broad categories of people who convert:


  • those fascinated by the personality of Jesus, they begin to pray, they experience the power and goodness, and they finally recognized as the Son of God;
  • those looking for a community according to God, they find that community in the Church;
  • those who, after recognizing their sin, want to experience free forgiveness, this being interpreted differently by Muslims;
  • especially those seeking a coherent message about life, and desire intellectual certainty, especially those educated in controversy, they discover in the Bible the consistent message of the Gospel which attracts them;
  • especially those who desire to meet God, to pray to him heart to heart, which is not the case in Islam where prayer is a set of rituals.

That is a rough translation of the French from this website. Here is the original list:

  • ceux que fascine la personnalité de Jésus, qu’ils commencent à prier, dont ils expérimentent la puissance et la bonté, et qu’ils finissent par reconnaître comme le Fils de Dieu ;
  • ceux qui recherchent une communauté selon Dieu, communauté qu’ils trouvent dans l’Eglise ;
  • ceux qui, après s’être reconnus comme pécheurs, aspirent à faire l’expérience du pardon gratuit, celui-ci étant interprété diversement par les musulmans ;
  • ceux qui demandent surtout un message cohérent en lui-même et avec la vie, et ont besoin de certitude intellectuelle : instruits dans la polémique, ils ont découvert la Bible et la cohérence du message de l’Evangile les attire ;
  • ceux qui ont surtout soif de rencontrer Dieu, de le prier coeur à coeur, ce qui n’est pas le cas dans l’islam où la prière est un ensemble de rites.

7 comments:

JohnG. said...

Hello Abu,

this reminds me this article, from christianity today : http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/october/42.80.html

Could you reach brother Gallez?

Abu Daoud said...

Hi John,

Yes, I am familiar with the work of Woodberry.

Who is Gallez?

JohnG. said...

Hi Abu,

It's the one you asked me how to contact him : remember this post : http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=36628692&postID=5644738367316013088

Abu Daoud said...

Thank you John, I did just email him. Sorry I did not remember his name.

Anonymous said...

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32

It should not shock us that Christ is attractive.

Abu Daoud said...

Yes CL, and I think this is why he talks about Muslims called TO CHRIST, rather than choosing the word Christianity.

Rong said...

I'm familiar with a number of people who minister in Muslim countries and have always been fascinated with the number of converts who "come to Christ" because of visions/dreams that they have of Him. Have you also heard of converts who have had similar experiences?