Ministry finds fault with Yale Christian-Muslim declaration
by Ethan Cole, Christian Post
Posted: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 8:20 (BST)
A leading ministry that works to support the persecuted church found parts of a declaration recently adopted by Christian and Muslim leaders troubling because it did not emphasise the differences between the two religions enough and gave too much credit to Islam.
Barnabas Fund's international director, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, a former Muslim, says the inclusion of the Koranic commandment to speak to Christian and Jews (K 3:64) in the opening passage of the "Final Declaration" of the Yale Common Word Conference held last month actually calls for the conversion of Christians and Jews to Islam.
The opening passage also includes the "ascribe no partner" phrase, which is a Muslim critique of the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and the deity of Jesus, according to the Barnabas Fund.
"It seems that the implications of this verse were not realised or discussed," commented Barnabas Fund in a reflection on the declaration published Tuesday.
The declaration was made at the conclusion of an eight-day conference at Yale University that was in direct response to a letter signed by 138 Muslim leaders last autumn that called for peace between Muslims and Christians for the sake of world peace. Over 140 conference participants unanimously approved a cooperative statement at the end of last month that signalled the beginning of a new collaboration between Christians and Muslims where stronger assertions of faith would not just be allowed but required.
Barnabas Fund raised several concerns with the final declaration. The document raises Islam, Muhammad and the Koran to the same level as Christianity through the language "our common Abrahamic heritage" and "Judeo-Christian-Islamic monotheistic heritage", the ministry argues.
"This is a step towards affirming that Muhammad is a prophet and the Koran a word of God," the ministry said. "As Christians we affirm that the promises of Abraham are fulfilled in Christ."
Other unclear parts in the declaration state that "no Muslim or Christian ... should tolerate the denigration or desecration of one another's sacred symbols, founding figures, or places of worship."
Barnabas Fund said that particular statement needed further clarification because orthodox Muslims consider it blasphemy to say that Muhammad is not a prophet, that the Koran is not divinely inspired, or to invite a Muslim to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God.
The ministry further argued that the declaration was unclear in what it meant by "freedom of religion". It did not assert that individuals have the right to choose, change and proclaim their religion without fear of punishment, nor did it effectively address the full reciprocity of Christians freely sharing Christianity and building churches on Muslim lands - a freedom followers of Islam are given in western countries, Barnabas Fund stated.
"We raise these issues because of our concern for the Biblical Christian faith and for the implications of the 'Common Word' process for Christian minorities in Muslim lands, Christian mission in Muslim lands, and converts from Islam to Christianity around the world," Barnabas Fund concluded.
"Although we respect and love Muslims, Christians cannot accept Islam as an equal and valid revelation from God. The denial of the deity of Christ and His redemptive work as well as of the Trinity will always stand in the way of interfaith dialogue and co-operation," the ministry argued.
"Just as Muslims cannot accept the Christian denial of Muhammad's prophethood and the Koran's status as the word of God, so Christians must take a clear stand on the central doctrines of their faith."
Despite the list of critiques, Barnabas Fund stressed at the beginning of its reflection that it "fully affirm[s] and support[s] all endeavors to work for peace in this torn world", and welcomes the "sincerity and goodwill of all involved in the process."
The ministry also said cooperation on social and economic issues should be based upon the groups' common humanity, rather than a "supposed" common theology as proposed in the declaration.
Copyright © 2009 Christian Today. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Saturday, August 23, 2008, 18:27 (BST)
We always hear these ex-"Muslims" talk about how evil islam is. If what they are saying is true, how is it that the more than 1 billion muslims are not killing the christians in their midst? why is it that the oldest christian churches can still be found in muslim lands? while their christian counterparts in europe were already murdered by their fellow christians and labeled as heretics, these christians are still worshipping in their thousand years old churches?
How can these ex-"Muslims" become expert in islam just because they were "muslims"? If you hear them talking about islam, their knowledge of islam is taken from the very words of the islamophobic missionaries...
sui sen, saudi arabia
Added: Friday, August 15, 2008, 16:55 (BST)
Why do people not listen to ex-Muslim Christians, as to the state of Islamic thought concerning Christianity, Judaism, the West, and democracy as a whole? If they are Christians, then they would surely know the difference between what the Bible says about the true nature of God and what the Qur'an says. These people are either True Christians, or false prophets, placed by an Islam that wishes to deceive and subvert the Truth.
Islam, in their core countries, is in crisis. According to Joel Rosenberg's 'Epicenter' (2006, Tyndale Press), in Chapter 14, he cites both Christian (AND Islamic) sources as saying "Thousands are turning to Jesus every day, via dreams and visions (Joel 2 v 28-31), meeting, some in secret, in Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Islamic countries since 2000, despite Google sources by Islamic leaders trying to state that Islam is the 'fastest growing religion in the world..." (Ch 14, 'Epicenter' - paraphrased). In 2001, Sheikh Ahmad Al Qataani, (a) leading Saudi cleric, gave a live interview on Al-Jazeera TV confirming "Every day, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year, (there are) 6 million Muslim converts to Christianity... a tragedy (for Islam)" (Ch 14, p.211, 'Epicenter' - brackets mine).
If that was 2001, then what of 2008?
It is no wonder that Islamic leaders want to cosy up to Christianity in the way of this meeting in Yale, USA, and the 'interfaith' meeting in Saudi Arabia, the strictist Islamic country to date (though Iran is catching up, with laws lately passed to 'forbid' Christian conversion), through letters of a so-called 'Common Word for a Common Good'.
Do not be deceived! Islam still wants the whole world as an Islamic caliphate, even if it tries to hide it's true intentions to the world. Ex-Muslim Christians, astute Christian and Jewish observers of the Middle East are sounding the warning to a dozy Western Christian Church, and equally dozy Western Governments (Islamic countries have a hold over the West through oil), of the dangers of playing with this particular (oil) blaze - more than fingers will be burnt (remember 9/11 in the States, 7/7 in the UK and the Madrid train bombings)!
We've been lucky, so far, a number of plots having been foiled since, and the plotters screaming violations of their Human Rights with the UK Govt, at least, rolling over and submitting to them, but (radical) Islam is good at playing the long game - after all, they invented chess, and are used to thinking three or four moves ahead.
Everything in this article does nothing but confirm the danger and we must look beyond the precepts of Political Correctness (a Satanic lie if ever there was one!), and appeasement (for the sake of oil - note OUR current oil crisis) in it's coarsest form, and get to asking YHWH what His view on this subject (and the Georgian Crisis, BTW - Ezekiel Ch.38-39), from the POV of the Biblical Prophetic Books and Jesus' own words - the 'Third Lens'.
And PRAY!
Chris Maguire, Ventnor, IOW
