Islam and Christianity

APOLOGIA

By Hendrik van der Breggen

The Carillon, March 16, 2017

Islam and Christianity

What follows are some of my thoughts about Islam and Christianity.

Before I begin, please know this: Vandalizing Mosques or otherwise treating Muslims with hatred and disrespect is wrong, period.

But know this, too: Thinking carefully about Islam is NOT Islamophobia. One can have non-phobic, reasonable concerns.

Let's proceed.

The focus of Islam is the Qur'an and Muhammad. Muhammad, according to the Qur'an, is the “seal of the prophets,” i.e., Muhammad is God's latest and greatest prophet. He calls us to submit to God and His Messenger (Muhammad).

According to the Qur'an, Jesus is to be respected. But, although born of a virgin and doer of miracles, Jesus is merely a prophet. Jesus is not God in human flesh, contrary to the New Testament.

According to the Qur'an, and contrary to the New Testament, Jesus didn't die on the cross (somebody else did) and Jesus didn't resurrect bodily after death.

About the Qur'an: Its revelation about Jesus comes to Muhammad via an (alleged) angel, 600 years after Jesus' life, 1000 kilometers away, in a cave.

About the New Testament: It contains historical testimony for Jesus' life that is close to the events temporally and geographically (i.e., it contains accounts of eyewitnesses and close associates of eyewitnesses).

The Qur'an's chapters are ordered from longest to shortest, not chronologically. Chronologically, the Qur'an's peaceful verses occur before Muhammad gains power, whereas its calls to jihad (war on unbelievers/ “infidels”) occur after Muhammad gains power. According to the Qur'an, the later verses abrogate (cancel) the earlier verses.

According to the Qur'an's last revelation, Muhammad orders his followers to kill infidels, i.e., those who don't agree with his views about God.

According to Islamic tradition (hadith) and biographies of Muhammad (sirah), Muhammad is a warlord, responsible for hundreds of murders plus the enslavement of men, women, and children. 

Also, according to Islamic tradition and the Qur'an, Muhammad has a low view of women (their testimony is worth half that of a man, more women than men will be in hell, they can be beaten) and Muhammad married a girl when she was six, consummating the marriage three years later.

Yes, the Bible has calls to war in the Old Testament. But the Bible's calls to war are specific and limited to particular times and places, whereas the Qur'an's call for jihad is Muhammad's latest revelation and is open-ended—and continues.

According to the New Testament, Jesus promotes his message by allowing his blood to be shed on a cross. But Muhammad, according to the Qur'an and tradition, promotes his message by shedding the blood of others.

Yes, most Muslims don't follow the violent Muhammad, which is good. They elevate his peaceful traits above the violent.

But why do this, if Muhammad's call to violent jihad is his latest revelation and this latest revelation abrogates the earlier peaceful revelation?

If Islamic “reform” means (at least in part) getting back to basics, what are those basics?

We live in an open society. Surely we should encourage investigation of the evidence of competing religious truth claims, while showing respect to those who hold them.

Such investigation isn't a sign of disrespect, nor is it, in the case of investigating Islam, a case of Islamophobia (just as investigating Christianity isn't a case of disrespect to Christians or Christophobia).

Let's welcome Muslims to Canada, especially if they are fleeing persecution. Let's also encourage careful thinking.

Love and truth-seeking can co-exist.

(Hendrik van der Breggen, PhD, is associate professor of philosophy at Providence University College. The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of Providence.)

Recommended resources: 

• William Kilpatrick, Christianity, Islam, and Atheism (book)
• Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus (book, expanded edition)
• Nabeel Qureshi, No God But One: Allah or Jesus? (book)
• Robert Spencer et al., Islam: What the West Needs to Know (online video)
• R.C. Sproul and Abdul Saleeb, The Dark Side of Islam (book)
• David Wood, Answering Muslims (website, see David Wood’s many videos about Islam and his debates with Muslim apologists)
• William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith (website, hear Craig’s podcasts about Islam plus see his debates with Muslim apologists)

Various thoughts: Refugee crisis

APOLOGIA

By Hendrik van der Breggen

The Carillon, November 26, 2015

Various thoughts: Refugee crisis

Sometimes I sit on our deck, puff on my pipe, and think. What follows are various thoughts (and questions) concerning the refugee crisis.

● Besides taking in refugees (reasonable people of good will can disagree on the numbers), it's important to keep in mind there are also other ways of helping. These include: (a) stopping the immediate cause of the refugees fleeing their homes, so they needn't flee in the first place (and so they can eventually return to their homes); (b) providing food, shelter, schools, and security in refugee camps (security for all, of course, but especially so religious minorities—Yazidis and Christians—are not persecuted even in those camps); (c) supporting NGOs (such as Samaritan's Purse) as they assist refugees on the roads/ boats; (d) etc.

● All (most) of us agree that we should help refugees, but we might differ on the best way to help. I say: work this out with fear and trembling, and act accordingly, all the while showing respect to those with whom one might disagree. (By "fear and trembling" I don't mean with fear mongering; I mean work it out humbly, before God, acknowledging one's limitations.)

● I favour caring for and accepting refugees, and I favour some degree of caution. I realize there's a terrible urgency in the refugee crisis that stands in tension with my concern for caution. Still, in our zeal to help (which is good), let's at least not engage in faulty reasoning (which isn't good). Let's help wisely. (I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do believe careful thinking is part of the answer.)

● Doesn't my neighbour (whom I am called to love) include refugees and the folks down the street?

● Is Saudi Arabia's tent city—100,000 air-conditioned tents that can house 3 million people—still empty?

● Careful thinking shows that the analogy between the Syrian refugee crisis and the plight of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany is not wholly apt.

"There was no international conspiracy of German Jews in the 1930s attempting to carry out daily attacks on civilians on several continents." Also, "A recent Arab Opinion Index poll of 900 Syrian refugees found that one in eight hold a 'to some extent'-positive view of the Islamic State (another 4 percent said that they did not know or refused to answer)." Thus: "A non-trivial minority of refugees who support a murderous, metastatic caliphate is a reason for serious concern. No 13 percent of Jews looked favorably upon the Nazi party."

(Reading assignment: Ian Tuttle, "There are serious, unbigoted reasons to be wary of a flood of Syrian refugees," National Review, November 18, 2015.)

● Treating Muslims with disrespect (e.g., prejudice, burning Mosques, etc.) is wrong, period. But let's keep in mind that we can think carefully about Islam (in its various forms) and not be Islamophobic. It shows respect to people by taking them seriously enough to find out what they believe and what motivates them. It's not phobic to ask questions like: What do you believe? Why believe it's true? It's not phobic to assess the answers using reason and evidence, all the while showing respect to those with whom one might disagree.

● The Quran's chapters are ordered from longest to shortest, not chronologically. Chronologically, the Quran's peaceful verses occur before Muhammad gains power whereas the calls to jihad (war on unbelievers) occur after Muhammad gains power. Apparently, the later verses abrogate the earlier verses.

(Reading assignment: Yoel Natan, "164 Jihad Verses in the Koran," Answering Islam. Viewing assignment - 5 minute video: Nabeel Qureshi, "Does Islam really teach peace?")

● The Bible's calls to war are specific and limited to particular times and places, but the Quran’s call for jihad is open-ended.

● Jesus promotes his message by shedding his blood on a cross; Muhammad promotes his message by shedding the blood of others.

● If Islamic "reform" means (at least in part) getting back to basics, what are those basics?

(Hendrik van der Breggen, PhD, teaches philosophy at Providence University College. The views in this column do not always reflect the views of Providence.)

Postscript

I like Rick Mercer's rant on the current refugee crisis (see Rick's Rant - Refugees). But he misses a couple of important points. I would add the following:

Yes, quickly throw the rope into the sea of grey. Also keep in mind that there's a very small but not insignificant chance of pulling in a shark. (Background information: I watched The Perfect Storm a few nights ago.) In other words, we should couple caution with zeal, so there won't be nasty surprises. ALSO, we should stop those who are forcing people into the sea in the first place.

Islam

APOLOGIA

By Hendrik van der Breggen

The Carillon, September 4, 2014

Islam

I've been thinking about Islam lately, to better understand ISIS/ the Islamic State. Let's look at four topics: Jesus and Muhammad, jihad, "religion of peace," and terrorists.

1. Jesus and Muhammad

Jesus is an important prophet, according to Islam, but Jesus is not God in human flesh, contrary to Christianity.

Also, Jesus didn't die on the cross (somebody else did) and Jesus didn't resurrect bodily after death—all this according to the Qur'an, written in another country 600 years after the events. (Note: Christianity's New Testament evidences are closer to the events geographically and in time because they contain accounts of eyewitnesses and close associates of eyewitnesses.)

The focus of Islam is the man Muhammad, who is (allegedly) God's latest and greatest prophet. Significantly, whereas Jesus shed his own blood for others, Muhammad shed the blood of others.

2. Jihad

Is jihad a holy war against unbelievers (infidels) or merely a personal spiritual struggle? Consider these observations from Irving Hexham, a well-respected professor of religious studies at University of Calgary, from his book Understanding World Religions (2011):

"[T]he popular milk-and-water version of Islam found in most religious studies texts [in Western universities] is, to say the least, misleading. Jihad is indeed primarily a form of warfare in defense of Islam [i.e., it's not merely a spiritual/ personal struggle against one's carnal desires]."

According to Hexham, "This means that, however much one may disagree with the methods of people like Osama bin Laden [ISIS, etc.], it is highly misleading to dismiss them as 'extremists' or argue that they 'don't understand Islam,' as some writers suggest."

Hexham adds: "The truth is, bin Laden [ISIS, etc.] have decided that Islam is under threat from the West and that Western values are undermining Muslim societies. Therefore, in their own eyes, they are fighting a legitimate war, or jihad, in defense of Islam."

3. "Religion of peace"

When Muslims talk about Islam being a "religion of peace," peace isn't what we in the West usually think. It's not live and let live.

Hexham writes: "For Muslims, Islam is a religion of peace, because the imposition of Islamic rule brings areas under Muslim control to peace and order in accordance with Islamic teachings about the will of God. Thus it is a Pax Islamica, which imposes peace by dominating all opponents by force or arms."

Hexham concludes: "it seems clear that to say that 'Islam is a religion of peace' is not the same thing as saying that 'Islam is a peaceful religion.'"

4. Terrorists

So, are all Muslims terrorists? Answer: No, definitely not.

Zane Pratt, a Christian missionary to central Asia, is author of the article, "10 things every Christian should know about Islam." Pratt (correctly) observes: "The vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists."

Pratt adds: "In fact, normal Islamic religious law forbids the intentional killing of non-combatants in battle. It also forbids suicide. It's a small minority view that allows these things, and it's a small minority who engage in terrorist activities."

But let's pause a moment. According to Pratt, "it's a small minority [of Muslims] who engage in terrorist activity." Yet, according to Hexham, it is "highly misleading to dismiss them [this small minority] as 'extremists' or argue that they 'don't understand Islam.'"

Enter: the need to think carefully.

Review: (1) Islam denies the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who spread his message peacefully, but Islam admires Muhammad, who spread his message violently; (2) those Muslims who take jihad as killing non-Muslims understand Islam and are not extremists; (3) Islam, as a "religion of peace," tends to view "peace" as submission to, i.e., forceful domination by, Islamic rule; (4) the vast majority of Muslims are (truly) peaceful.

What should we do? I recommend that we show love to Muslims, pray for them, discern truth, plus speak truth with gentleness and respect.

I also recommend Nabeel Qureshi's book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity (2014).

(Hendrik van der Breggen, PhD, is associate professor of philosophy at Providence University College. The views in this column do not always reflect the views of Providence.)