Kalau Kristian Macam Mana?
I had a wonderful opportunity to engage in a conversation with some Muslim friends of mine during lunch today. After some usual chatter, one of them suddenly decided to ask me which church I attended. From then on, our dialogue shifted. We began asking questions about each other’s beliefs and faith. As I learnt more and more about Islam, it was not the differences that surprised me but the similarities!
Just like us, Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, that Mary conceived as a result of God’s miraculous work. Though they do not accept the divinity of Jesus, as well as His death and resurrection, they acknowledge that Jesus did perform many miracles and believe that He will come again during the end times. Just like us, they believe that Jesus will come to judge the world. Why do the Muslims and the Quran hold Jesus (or Nabi Isa) in such high regard? Some people have commented that Islam is a ‘Christian cult’, in the manner of Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and etc. All these have similarities to Christianity, but do not acknowledge the divinity of Christ. I think Islam has more in common with Christianity than most people would like to admit. But the dialogue was an eye-opener for me.
The Muslims though, just like the majority of Protestant Christians, believe that they will be the only ones who end up in Heaven. No amount of good works can earn a person a place in Heaven. Ultimately, one must believe that Allah is the only God and that Muhammad is His prophet. It’s quite interesting to learn that the Muslims also believe in a Purgatory-like place where they are cleansed of their sins before entering Heaven.
We were discussing about the Muslim view of salvation and Heaven when one of my friends asked: Kalau Kristian macam mana (What about Christians)? It was then that I suddenly realized that I couldn’t give a direct answer. If they had asked me this question a few months ago, I would have fired straight away with the concepts of original sin, salvation by grace and faith alone in Jesus Christ and etc. I didn’t know what to tell them then. Just say I don’t know? In the end, I told them what different Christians believed, including the ‘salvation by faith in Jesus Christ’ version of it. I concluded by saying that we won’t know for sure until we die. All in all, it was a good conversation. May it be the beginning of a fruitful dialogue between us. I would also like to request my friends to pray with me regarding this. I really need the Holy Spirit to speak through me if ever I am allowed more opportunities to have conversations like this in the future. I need God’s wisdom rather than my own limited mind.
I recall another conversation that I had with another Muslim colleague over yahoo messenger about a month ago. She told me that Muslims believe that Nabi Muhammad is ‘the Helper’ that Jesus said would come. We believe that this ‘Helper’ is the Holy Spirit. I told her that I would be interested to get a copy of the Quran and read it, while she would get a copy of the Bible. I haven’t done it yet though. Maybe I’ll get one the next time I go to the bookstore. I think learning more about another religion will help me to be able to engage with them more even as I try to share the good news of Jesus with them.
However, I will indulge myself in some ‘heretical’ thoughts that just occurred to me. What if the Muslims are right? What if Nabi Muhammad is the Helper that Jesus talked about in the gospels? What if the divinity of Jesus was something conjured up by the early Christians? Did Jesus really say that He was God? What if we deconstruct all current Muslim beliefs and go back to what Nabi Muhammad wrote in the Quran and interpret it in the same way we Christians interpret the Bible (in context, rather than literally as the Muslims do), what will we get? A new kind of Muslim? If we can put aside arguments about Jesus’ divinity (considering that the early Christians weren’t sure about it either, and take it as an unknown factor), will that new kind of Muslim be much different from McLaren’s version of a new kind of Christian? Woah! I think I’d better stop here before I get too far! I’m not ready for this!
Just like us, Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, that Mary conceived as a result of God’s miraculous work. Though they do not accept the divinity of Jesus, as well as His death and resurrection, they acknowledge that Jesus did perform many miracles and believe that He will come again during the end times. Just like us, they believe that Jesus will come to judge the world. Why do the Muslims and the Quran hold Jesus (or Nabi Isa) in such high regard? Some people have commented that Islam is a ‘Christian cult’, in the manner of Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and etc. All these have similarities to Christianity, but do not acknowledge the divinity of Christ. I think Islam has more in common with Christianity than most people would like to admit. But the dialogue was an eye-opener for me.
The Muslims though, just like the majority of Protestant Christians, believe that they will be the only ones who end up in Heaven. No amount of good works can earn a person a place in Heaven. Ultimately, one must believe that Allah is the only God and that Muhammad is His prophet. It’s quite interesting to learn that the Muslims also believe in a Purgatory-like place where they are cleansed of their sins before entering Heaven.
We were discussing about the Muslim view of salvation and Heaven when one of my friends asked: Kalau Kristian macam mana (What about Christians)? It was then that I suddenly realized that I couldn’t give a direct answer. If they had asked me this question a few months ago, I would have fired straight away with the concepts of original sin, salvation by grace and faith alone in Jesus Christ and etc. I didn’t know what to tell them then. Just say I don’t know? In the end, I told them what different Christians believed, including the ‘salvation by faith in Jesus Christ’ version of it. I concluded by saying that we won’t know for sure until we die. All in all, it was a good conversation. May it be the beginning of a fruitful dialogue between us. I would also like to request my friends to pray with me regarding this. I really need the Holy Spirit to speak through me if ever I am allowed more opportunities to have conversations like this in the future. I need God’s wisdom rather than my own limited mind.
I recall another conversation that I had with another Muslim colleague over yahoo messenger about a month ago. She told me that Muslims believe that Nabi Muhammad is ‘the Helper’ that Jesus said would come. We believe that this ‘Helper’ is the Holy Spirit. I told her that I would be interested to get a copy of the Quran and read it, while she would get a copy of the Bible. I haven’t done it yet though. Maybe I’ll get one the next time I go to the bookstore. I think learning more about another religion will help me to be able to engage with them more even as I try to share the good news of Jesus with them.
However, I will indulge myself in some ‘heretical’ thoughts that just occurred to me. What if the Muslims are right? What if Nabi Muhammad is the Helper that Jesus talked about in the gospels? What if the divinity of Jesus was something conjured up by the early Christians? Did Jesus really say that He was God? What if we deconstruct all current Muslim beliefs and go back to what Nabi Muhammad wrote in the Quran and interpret it in the same way we Christians interpret the Bible (in context, rather than literally as the Muslims do), what will we get? A new kind of Muslim? If we can put aside arguments about Jesus’ divinity (considering that the early Christians weren’t sure about it either, and take it as an unknown factor), will that new kind of Muslim be much different from McLaren’s version of a new kind of Christian? Woah! I think I’d better stop here before I get too far! I’m not ready for this!
posted by sojourner @ Thursday, May 19, 2005
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