Administrators from one of the most influential evangelical colleges in the US have removed their names from a controversial letter addressed to Muslim leaders that some say compromises the Christian faith.
Nearly 300 Christian leaders added their signatures last November to an official response "A Common Word Between Us and You", a letter sent to Christian leaders in October by 138 Muslim scholars and clerics calling for interfaith cooperation to help achieve world peace.
Wheaton College president Duane Litfin, provost Stanton Jones and chaplain Stephen Kellough have now backed away from the letter that they originally endorsed along.
"I signed the statement because I am committed to the business of peace-making and neighbor-love," Litfin stated on Friday in The Record, the student publication of Wheaton College. "I did not savor the document's unnuanced apology section, but swallowed that in order to be a part of reaching out a hand to these Muslim leaders who had courageously taken the initiative.
"Though the statement was not written in the way I would have written it, it seemed to me that I could sign it without compromising any of my Christian convictions."
The statement included such signatories as Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church, and Leith Anderson of the National Association of Evangelicals. It urged for interfaith dialogue that would build relations and reshape the Christian and Islam communities. Christian leaders also asked for forgiveness of sins committed against Muslims in the Crusades and excesses of the war on terror in the letter.
Titled "Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to a Common Word Between Us and You", the statement emphasised the "absolutely central" commonality between both religions - love of God and love of neighbour.
The response, however, drew sharp criticism from highly respected theologians R Albert Mohler Jr, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and John Piper, a prominent US pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Piper called the document a "profound disappointment" in the way it was worded and was surprised that even some of his friends had lent their support to the letter.
