St Julian of Norwich on the Church and the body of Christ

“He wills that we take ourselves with great strength to the faith of holy Church and find there our most precious mother in comfort and true understanding with the whole communion of blessed ones. For a person by himself can frequently be broken, as it seems to himself, but the whole body of holy Church was never broken and never shall be, without end. Therefore it is a sure thing, a good thing, and a gracious thing to will meekly and powerfully to be fastened and joined to our mother, holy Church - that is Christ Jesus.” 

― St. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love

Why atheism fails

So I mostly focus on Islam here, but I wanted to share something interesting I recently read about an atheist who became a Christian.

Here is the part of the article that really caught my attention:

Briefly, I grew tired of the lack of explanation for: the existence of the universe, moral values and duties, objective human worth, consciousness and will, and many other topics.

Bravo for an atheist who wanted to really think. I have never met an atheist who can really answer the question, why do I believe that good and evil are real? Or, Why prefer good over evil?

Most atheists will give a pragmatic answer, like, prefer good over evil because it will lead to a more enjoyable life, or living at peace with others. But that's is a lousy answer. Why prefer good over evil when evil will benefit me? Why care about the well-being of others?

I have yet to meet an atheist who can answer these questions...

Read it all HERE.

Bernie Powers dismantles Miroslav Volf on Allah

Here is a critical review of Miroslav Volf's book on Allah, wherein Volf argues that the deities of Islam and Christianity are, at the end of the day, one and the same.

Here is a section of the review I really liked:

Unfortunately another key foundation of his thesis, that Muslims along with Christians, are commanded to love their neighbours (pp.14) is simply an illusion. The Qur’an nowhere tells Muslims to love those who are different from themselves. Allah does not love such people (apparently He only loves Himself), so why should Muslims do so? There is only a single mention of preference for others and it is not unequivocal. There are two collections of the Hadith which are seen as sahih or ‘authentic’. In Muslim bin al-Hajjaj’s collection, which Volf quotes, it is rendered as: “None of you has faith until you love for your neigh bour what you love for yourself” 8 (p.105) Al- Bukhari’s collection of the Hadith puts it like this: “The Prophet said, ‘None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself.’” (al-Bukhari 1:12) Muhsin Khan’s translation of al-Bukhāri’s Hadith occasionally contains bracketed insertions. Through their use, he identifies between the most likely meaning. In this particular case, the term “brother” is judged to apply only to fellow Muslims.

Powers is rightly pointing out that Islam, at best, has a golden rule that applies only to fellow Muslims.

Read the whole review HERE.

Islam and the other Religions

Islam and the Other Religions
by Abu Daoud

So here is the question: Is it important for Muslims to learn about other religions?

As I discussed the question with a number of Muslims it became clear that their answer is clearly YES. Then why do Muslims know so little about other religions? Because they believe firmly that everything they need to know about those other religions is contained in the Qu’ran. Who do you believe: the verbatim Word of God that existed with him from all eternity, or texts that have been corrupted and misinterpreted by Christians and Jews?

There is one word that you must learn in Arabic to understand how Muslims look at other religions: muharraf. It means something like corrupted and untrustworthy. This is the word used to describe the texts (called Books) of the other prophets such as the Torah which was revealed to the prophet Moses (Musa); the Zaboor, revealed to the Prophet David (Dahood); and the Gospel, revealed to the Prophet Jesus (Issa).

Indeed, there is a central difference between the Judeo-Christian concept of prophecy and that of Islam. In Islam the prophet does not bring a message inspired by God, but a verbatim message from God that must be recorded in a book. In the Judeo-Christian tradition there are many prophets who did not write a book (Elijah for one) or even have their prophecy recorded by someone else.

This obviously presents a great difficulty for Christians, as we do not have the Book that God supposedly revealed to Jesus, rather we have four recollections of his teachings and life by different men. Again, the Qu’ran is clear that Christians and Jews, though once possessing valid books from God’s prophets, no longer do. Rather, “They have tampered with words out of their context and forgotten much of what they were enjoined” (5:13).

The circular logic of Islam comes into play again here because the Qur'an proves itself:

“Say: ‘Have you any evidence you can put before us? You believe in nothing but conjecture and follow nothing but falsehoods’” (6:148). The Qur'an demands irrefutable evidence for anyone who would challenge what it teaches, but provides no justification for the truth of its own claims other than its own existence.

Enlightened Muslims know all there is to know about the other religions by reading the Qur'an.

Orthodox Archbishop Job on Christianity and secularism

I love this quote:

"The role of the Church is to witness to sanity. To real sanity in a world which has gone berserk. A world in which people speak of freedom, but no longer know what that means...people who speak a language which has lost its meaning."

What a great quote! Check out this interview from the 90s with Archbishop Job.


HT to The Sounding Blog.

The time when Muhammad received a Christian delegation

I am really impressed by this recent article by Fred Farrokh over at Themelios. By all means read the whole article, but here is Farrokh's summary of the time when a Christian delegation came from Najran (in southern KSA today) to establish an agreement with Muhammad.

The encounter in Medina of the Najrani Christians with Muhammad provides a clear picture of Muhammad’s interaction with, and policy toward, Christians. As Muhammad and the Muslims gained political hegemony over Arabia, various tribes came to seek terms of peace with the Prophet of Islam. The town of Najran sent a Christian delegation to seek such a peace agreement. The Najranis, who were accompanied by their bishop, spent three days in theological discourse with Muhammad in Medina. This episode is referred to in Sura 3 (al-Imran). Gordon Nickel provides a thorough recap of the encounter and its treatment by Qur’anic commentators.19 

The Najrani Christians offered to pledge their political allegiance to Muhammad if he would embrace their belief in the divinity of Jesus. This Sura recounts their testimony to the Annunciation (3:42–46), the Virgin Birth (3:47), Jesus’s miracles (3:49, including some apocryphal miracles). 

The Qur’anic narrative then markedly pivots to an antibiblical Christology in which Jesus denies his own Lordship (3:51). Jesus’s disciples then shockingly declare: “We have believed in Allah and testify we are Muslims” (3:52). Sura 3:57 establishes salvation by works, and also states that “Allah does not love those who do wrong,” another drastic departure from biblical theology. The Najrani episode concludes with Muhammad declaring that Jesus was no more the Son of God than was Adam, who also was created without a human father (3:59). 

Because of this theological impasse, Muhammad insisted on a mutual cursing ceremony with these Najrani Christians. Though the Najranis declined to curse Muhammad, Muhammad gathered his daughter Fatima, his son-in-law Ali, and his two grandsons under his cloak, and cursed the Najranis. The incident is known in Islamic history as “The Cursing” (al-Mubahala) with Muhammad’s indictment stated in Sura 3:61: “May God’s curse be upon those who lie!” The Qur’anic narrative ends here with: “This is the true account. There is no god but Allah. . . . If they turn back, God has full knowledge of those who do mischief.” (3:62–63). 

For those keeping track of the verse numbers, the next verse in this passage is 3:64. This is the “common word” verse in which Christians are called to repent of associating partners with Allah (i.e., worshipping Jesus) and to return to Tawhid. Thus, Muhammad’s single notable encounter with a Christian community ended with him cursing that community because of their biblical beliefs regarding the Lord Jesus Christ.

Read it all here.

Positive Infinity interviews Abu Daoud on Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America

What a pleasure to be interviewed again for one of my favorite blogs, Positive Infinity. Here is one question with the answer:

7. How should Christians accommodate the cultures Muslims come out of to aid them in sharing the gospel?

Ultimately we’re working towards evangelizing and sanctifying entire cultures. What does it look like for Yemeni culture to know Christ? What does it look like for Libyan culture to be baptized and sanctified? The challenge is that these cultures are so inextricably intertwined with Islam that it is hard to know where Islam ends and a given culture begins. All of this to say, it is a lengthy, hard work, and we should not expect to be able to answer the question in the lifespan of a single generation of believers. Use Scripture, draw on your own denominational tradition, and be patient as new believers stumble along by the grace of God figuring out how to construct a new convert identity in Christ and his Church.

Check out the rest of the interview HERE.

Also, there were two previous interviews from 2012 (Part 1 and Part 2)

David Virtue interview Abu Daoud on Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America

I was very pleased to be interviewed by David Virtue earlier today on my recent book Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America. Read it all HERE.

Also, please do share it, and leave your comments on David's page rather than here.

Here is a taste of the interview:

VOL: Can moderate Islamists co-exist with Christians? 

DAOUD: The Muslim world is trying to figure out what moderate Islam is. I don't really know what that means. Does it mean Islam without shari'a? Then it's not Islam anymore. Does it mean a-political Islam? Islam is and always has been an empire and legal system as well a religion. Like the Ayatollah said, "Islam is politics, or it's not Islam." 

But we certainly can form relations with Muslims in America. You may be worried about cultural queues and what is appropriate or not. Well, get the book because we cover all that. In the end, if you are acting out of love and charity then any missteps will be forgiven. 

Just start praying every morning, "Lord, give me a Muslim friend." Not the most eloquent prayer, I know, but just do it. Let God surprise you!

Read the rest of it HERE.

My new book: Sharing Jesus with Muslims in America

Dear Friends,

I am very happy to share with you this new book which is available both in print and Kindle editions through Amazon.

The Muslim population in the United States is growing quickly, and there are no signs of this growth slowing down. So how should Christians respond? With fear? With tolerance? By ignoring Muslims?  Or with boldness, hope, and the Good News of Jesus Christ, clearly the biblical answer. For centuries the church did not go to Muslims with the gospel because Christians thought it was too dangerous or too difficult. Now God is bringing Muslims to America where Christians can lead them to Christ. But when I share this opportunity with churches around the country, I'm asked, “But how? How do I meet Muslims? How can my church make the connections?” This book seeks to answer those questions and more. If you are a Christian, I hope you will open your heart to God’s plan for Muslims in your community.  You can start by reading this book.

Justin Long on Religion Trends for 2016

Great information from Justin Long:

• Religionists, 1.31%. The world is becoming more religious, not less.
• Christians, 1.3% vs. Muslims, 1.8%. Both Christians and Muslims are gaining ground in the world, but Muslims are gaining ground faster. This is largely a function of faster net demographic growth rates in countries that have large Muslim populations; this in turn is caused partially by declines in mortality.
• Hindus, 1.26%. The Hindu population is making gains worldwide, but not as fast as Christians or Muslims.
• All of the remaining groups (except the very small Sikh population) are declining vs. global population.
• Non-religionists, 0.3% – agnostics are growing at .36%, and atheists at 0.05%. Despite headline-grabbing trends in certain parts of the world (the West, mostly), the world as a whole is becoming progressively and massively less non-religious (and atheists in particular are in sharp decline).

Read more HERE.

More Pressure on Iraqi Christians

Here is the latest sad news from Iraq, where the rights of Christians are far worse than they were under Saddam Hussein.

The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Iraq renewed his opposition this week to an article in the nation’s new national laws requiring minority-faith children to become Muslims if one parent converts to Islam.  

Describing the new law as both unconstitutional and “unacceptable,” Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako has called on President Fouad Masoum to send Article 26.2 of the National Charter back to Parliament to be amended.

Read it all HERE.

Bp John Harrower on context and Bible

I really liked this quote from the outgoing Anglican Bishop of Tasmania:

I often say to people when they say 'Christians should be reading the Bible', 'well, Christians should be reading the newspaper.'

HT to VirtueOnline for this tidbit.

RIP, Anglican Communion

It looks like the Anglican Communion is over. But maybe it is too early to call...so let us wait.

Right now the Anglican Communion (theoretically) is not a confederation, but a true communion of national/regional churches. Over the years I have ministered with and been ministered to, among others, The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, The Episcopal Church of the USA, The Episcopal Church of Scotland, the Church of England, and others. These are the regional churches, we call them provinces. The head of each province is called a primate. There are 37 or so of these provinces around the world (and they cover most of the globe), and these form the Communion.

Previously, a priest of one province was a priest of all the other ones. In other words, they shared their sacraments and holy orders, which is important.

But now it looks like the titular and historic head of the Communion, the archbishop of Canterbury, will call for this communion to became a mere confederation or something like that. Who knows...It is sad news for me because this communion is the only truly global communion of the Protestant tradition.

Anyway, if you are interested, read more here:

Archbishop calls for Primate Gathering

Great Quotes from Francis Schaeffer

Schaefer really influenced me a great deal as a young Christian in college. I read all of his collected works (five volumes!)

Here are some great quotes of his:

Christianity, the Church and Responsibility

Christianity is the greatest intellectual system the mind of man has ever touched.

Tell me what the world is saying today, and I’ll tell you what the church will be saying in seven years.

Christianity provides a unified answer for the whole of life.

Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting.

Culture & History

When all is done, when all the alternatives have been explored, ‘not many men are in the room’ – that is although world views have many variations, there are not many basic world-views or basic presuppositions.

Art is a reflection of God’s creativity, an evidence that we are made in the image of God.

Rome did not fall because of external forces such as the invasion by the barbarians. Rome had no sufficient inward base, the barbarians only completed the breakdown – and Rome gradually became a ruin.

There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people … The results of their thought world flow through their fingers of from their tongues into the external world.

Life and Abortion

Certainly every Christian ought to be praying and working to nullify the abominable abortion law. But as we work and pray, we should have in mind not only this important issue as though it stood alone. Rather, we should be struggling and praying that this whole other total entity “(this godless) worldview” can be rolled back with all its results across all of life.

Christianity provides a unified answer for the whole of life.

But the dignity of human life is unbreakably linked to the existence of the personal-infinite God. It is because there is a personal-infinite God who has made men and women in His own image that they have a unique dignity of life as human beings. Human life then is filled with dignity, and the state and humanistically oriented law have no right and no authority to take human life arbitrarily in the way it is being taken.

Truth and Sin

The beginning of men’s rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart.

I have come to the conclusion that none of us in our generation feels as guilty about sin as we should or as our forefathers did.

In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute.

The inward area is the first place of loss of true Christian life, of true spirituality, and the outward sinful act is the result.

Truth always carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/18-powerful-francis-a-schaeffer-quotes/#ixzz3b8PVoDqb
Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/18-powerful-francis-a-schaeffer-quotes/#ixzz3b8POeLuv

The Triune Human Soul

I very much liked this quote:

The human mind is triune in its being ordered to the transcendental splendor of the good, the true and the beautiful which resides in the Mind of God. Since the metaphysical is best expressed in terms of metaphor, we can say that the head can be seen as the seat of the True (reason), the heart can be seen as the seat of the Good (love or virtue) and the loins can be seen as the seat of the Beautiful (creation, pro-creation and sub-creation). The head, as the seat of the true, is the home of consciousness which seeks clarity; the heart, as the seat of the good, is the home of conscience, which seeks charity; and the loins, as the seat of beauty, is the home of creativity, which seeks chastity.

From HERE.

"For the Sake of the Name: a letter to new missionaries in the Arab world" by Abu Daoud

I am pleased to share with you that I have recently published this article in St Francis Magazine (Vol 11:1).

I had the privilege of being part of the training and mobilization of this couple, and shortly before they moved to the Arab world, I wrote this letter to them. I thought it was worthwhile enough to share with a wider audience.

Here are a couple of the points of advice I offer:

• learn from the ancient churches
• remember that you are Americans and don't try to hide it
• apply yourself to language acquisition above all
• learn the history of the people and the country

And others. But read the article which contains a lot of other good stuff.

Read it all. Download the PDF from St Francis or check it out on Academia.edu.

But before I get to that, let me share with you my favorite Bible verse about missionaries, and I commend this to you: “For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles [that is, non-Christians]. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth” (3 John 7, 8). This might seem like the kind of verse you would use when fundraising, but I like it because it reminds us of who we are and what we do at the heart of our vocation: that we have gone out– out from our culture, from our homeland, from our language– and that this has been done for the sake of “the name”. Jews in the 1

st

 Century (as today) often did not want to pronounce the divine name (YHWH) because of its overwhelming holiness, so they would say “the Name” or “ha shem”. (May I note that the Hebrew 

shem 

 and the Arabic 

ism 

 are cognates?) But here John the elder means not God, but God as revealed in Jesus– 

Jesus 

 is now 

ha shem 

 or “the name”. There is much more one could say on these two brief verses, but let us move on to the heart and soul of this letter.

Prayer to Jesus in the Manger

Prayer to Jesus in the Manger

O Divine Redeemer Jesus Christ, prostrate before Thy crib, I believe Thou art the God of infinite Majesty, even though I do see Thee here as a helpless babe. I humbly adore and thank Thee for having so humbled Thyself for my salvation as to will to be born in a stable. I thank Thee for all Thou didst wish to suffer for me in Bethlehem, for Thy poverty and humility, for Thy nakedness, tears, cold and sufferings.

Would that I could show Thee that tenderness which Thy Virgin Mother had toward Thee, and love Thee as she did. Would that I could praise Thee with the joy of the angels, that I could kneel before Thee with the faith of St. Joseph, the simplicity of the shepherds. Uniting myself with these first adorers at the crib, I offer Thee the homage of my heart, and I beg that Thou wouldst be born spiritually in my soul. Make me reflect in some degree the virtues of Thy admirable nativity. 

Fill me with that spirit of renunciation, of poverty, of humility, which prompted Thee to assume the weakness of our nature, and to be born amid destitution and suffering. Grant that from this day forward, I may in all things seek Thy greater glory, and may enjoy that peace promised to men of good will.

What countries have the smallest Christian population by %?

The folks at Pew Research have provided us with another great chart that provides information on religious composition by country, and it can be viewed by percentage, or by number. A bit of clicking got me the countries of the world with the lowest percentage of Christian populations. And guess what? Not until you get to place 13 do you find a country that is not Islamic. Here are the top 13 places:

1. Morocco
2. Somalia
3. Afghanistan
4. Iran
5. Tunisia
6. Western Sahara
7. Yemen
8. Algeria
9. Bangladesh
10. Mauritania
11. Maldives
12. Turkey
13. Cambodia (Buddhist majority)

What does this mean? I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but one possible factor (of many, I would think) is that Muslim countries do a good job keeping the Gospel out, or making sure that converts leave (or die).

Please pray for those top 13 countries, and do visit the Pew site, HERE.

New research on contextual theology and Christian converts from Islam

Hi All,

Well, it's not light reading, but here is a new doctoral dissertation about Christian converts from Islam. The focus is on field studies of some Arab believers in the Middle East, and some Iranian congregations in the West.

The title is Living among the Breakage: Contextual Theology-making and ex-Muslim Christians, from the University of Edinburgh by Dr. D A Miller.

Download the PDF from his academia website, HERE.

Matthew Hanley: How Islam Set Back Western Civilization

Wow. Check this out and then read the whole article:

Pirenne stressed that the source of the Roman Empire’s vitality cannot be disassociated from its essentially Mediterranean character and orientation; that clearly remained intact for quite a while. Western trade flourished as before, connected with the great cities of the East – where prosperity, population, and learning were concentrated. The overall features of life throughout the region in 600 were similar to what they had been in 400.

It was not until the advent of Islam in the 7^th century, precisely then and only then, that destruction really arrived. Recurrent Islamic raids altered the very orientation of the littoral peoples; they fled the Mediterranean and for the first time looked to the north. East was severed from West, and the previously unified Mediterranean, “having become a Musalman lake, was no longer a thoroughfare of commerce and of thought which it always had been.”

Unlike the German invaders, wherever the Arabs went they ruled. This was a dimension of their religious claims. They sought not conversion per se, but demanded subjection, creating an insuperable barrier between the conquered and the Muslims: “What a contrast between them [the Arabs] and Theodoric, who placed himself at the service of those he had conquered, and sought to assimilate himself to them!” The whole region was thereby transformed, as the Arabs ushered in “a complete break with the past.”

Egyptian papyri, which had been widespread in the West (and a solid indicator of literacy), disappeared, as did distinctive coins that were in use right up until the Arab conquest – leading to the barter system. Despite the literary and archaeological sources, however, Pirenne’s arguments were dismissed in favor of the view that Islam had been (unlike “repressive” Christianity) an enlightening force.

A brilliant and important article. Read it all HERE.