Archbishop Williams seeks reconciliation with Muslims

Dr Rowan Williams, the current archbishop of Canterbury has discussed one of the major misunderstandings that Muslims have of the Christian religion. In a lecture he was giving at al-Azhar in Egypt, one of the main Islamic learning centres, Williams spoke of the misunderstanding that Christians worship three Gods.

The topic came up as Williams spoke on the third anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks in America. In his speech, the archbishop denounced violence that was committed in the name of religious faith.

“Whenever, a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew refuses to act in violent revenge, creating terror and threatening or killing the innocent, that person bears witness to the true God,” Williams declared.

He continued, “In no way does the true Christian say that the life and action of God could be divided into separate parts, as if it were a material thing. In no way does the true Christian say that there is more than one God or that God needs some other in order to act or that God promotes some other being to share his glory.”

He expressed the Christian opinion that God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit could be thought of as different dimensions of divine life. Williams then went on to discuss areas where Muslims and Christians often disagree in their understandings of God.

“God is a loving God, as we all agree; but, says the Christian, God does not love simply because he decides to love. He is always, eternally, loving. His very nature, his definition is love,” Rev Williams declared.

Archbishop Williams then went on to say that Christians should be challenged in conversations with Muslim friends to ponder more deeply about the unity of God.

Dr Williams also greeted the Muslim reaction to the Beslan tragedy, and agreed with them in their condemnation of the perpetrators. He commended the recent proposals in Britain for a Muslim Christian forum to ease inter-faith tension. The forum was in fact first discussed some years ago, and now Rev Williams revealed his hopes for a national forum “in which the anxieties of Muslim communities may be expressed and freely discussed.”

He stated his hope that if one religious community faced troubles or persecutions that other religious communities would provide their support.