This week, we watched the video below of apologist Jay Smith examining how the Qur'an and Muhammad hold up in the light of critical scholarship.
The BBC documentary from Tom Holland's work that Jay Smith referenced is below.
The audio version of Tom Holland's book In the Shadow of the Sword is below.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Our Mission to Muslims, Week 3
The Muslim view of God
The substance of Islamic theology is summed up in six articles of faith: Belief in Allah as the one true God, belief in Angels, belief in Scriptures (Taurat, Gospel and Quran), belief in the Prophets, belief in the Day of Judgment, and belief in God's predestination. There is a Friday Sabbath and Muslims observe Jewish dietary laws. Muslims have a fatalistic outlook on history. They believe that Allah dictated everything that will happen and that history unfolds accordingly. This comes from the Muslim’s view of God’s absolute sovereignty.
The Shahada is the central profession of faith (“There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet”). The praise Allahu-Akbar (“God is great!”) is central to prayer. Allah is the Arabic name for “God,” although in pre-Isalmic Arabia, Allah was the name of the god of the moon (one of many idols, Al-ilah or “THE god”) who was married to the sun goddess and had three daughters who were stars. Muslims deny that Allah was originally a pagan deity within a pantheon and assert that Allah was originally viewed as the one God of Abraham and that early monotheism was corrupted by polytheism and later restored by Muhammad.
"Say, He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him" (Surah 112:1-4). Islam asserts that God is one, eternal, absolute, and utterly transcendent. He is not a trinity, does not have a son, and there is none like him. Allah created all things and the purpose of life is to worship him. He is personal, but not intimate. God is utterly holy and just, who punishes us for our sins. He is also gracious and merciful and forgiving, but does not have feelings toward mankind (including love—the idea that “God is love” is foreign to the Muslim mind). Allah offers salvation based on repentance and good works. He has mercy if the good outweighs the bad on the scales at Judgment Day, but even then, salvation is deterministic—he saves whom he saves and damns whom he damns. Allah wills everything that happens. Sin is not really cleansed or pardoned as much as overlooked. Allah is to be worshiped and feared as served as a master.
Allah created man from a blood clot and he also created angels. These messengers do not have free will. They serve as the intermediaries between God and man. There are no formal clergy (imam is the one who leads the prayers), but some imams are paid teachers.
Jinn are creatures who are hidden fire spirits. They have physical form, angelic abilities, and free will. Iblis is the Arabic word for “Satan.” In Islam, he is not a fallen angel, but a jinn.
Islam teaches that all of God's prophets preached the message of Islam—submission to the will of God. The Quran mentions the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Isa is the Arabic version of “Jesus” in Greek or “Joshua” in Hebrew. He is seen as a prophet, not the Son of God. He was Virgin-born of Mary, was sinless, did healings and other miracles, did not die on the cross, was assumed into heaven and will return at the Day of Judgment. Both Jesus and Mary are highly esteemed.
Islam teaches the general resurrection of the dead at Judgment Day. Muslims believe all mankind will be judged on their good and bad deeds and consigned to Jannah (paradise) or Jahannam (hell).
Who is Muhammad?
Muslims believe in the prophets of the Bible (and believe Jesus was one of them) and see Muhammad as the final prophet. “Peace be upon him” is an expression of reverence that Muslims will always use about God’s prophets, and especially about Muhammad.
Muhammad was born in 570 in Mecca into the Quraysh tribe, which ruled the city and served as custodians of the Ka’abah. The branch of the family Muhammad was born into was impoverished. His father died before Muhammad was born and his mother died when he was six. The orphan first went to live with wealthy grandparents, then a wealthy uncle, then to a poor uncle. Many of his family never accepted him as a prophet.
His first visions were in his youth. He claimed an angel has opened his stomach, stirred his innards, and sealed him back up. He worked in the caravan trade and gained a reputation for being trustworthy. At 25, he met and married a wealthy Christian widow of 40 named Khadija and began a life of leisure. In 610, Muhammad was visited at by Gabriel in a cave who called on him to “recite.” He doubted the authenticity of the experience, but his wife encouraged him to pursue his call as a prophet. Muhammad asserted the claim of his family deity Allah to be not just the supreme god of the pantheon, but the only God. He called himself a prophet to appeal to Jews and an apostle to appeal to Christians. He found his audience hostile. Merchants felt that this undermining of the pagan deities at the Ka’abah was bad for business. At first he modified his preaching to appeal to the Quraysh by saying that Allah’s daughters could be worshiped as well. This concession to pagans was later rescinded and claimed that it was not a true revelation from Allah, but from Satan (hence, the “Satanic verses”).
Muhammad’s first wife died in 619 and growing hostility forced him to flee to Medina in 622. This is the Hijra (migration) and the beginning of the Muslim era. On the way, Muhammad preached to the jinns and converted them. He turned to raiding caravans and found Jews to be lucrative targets. His Muslim band defeated the Quraysh at the Battle of Badr. After some setbacks and more attacks, he conquered the city of Mecca in 630 and cleansed the Ka’abah of idols and made it the center of Muslim worship. Muhammad was poisoned by a Jewish woman and died in 632, and without having provided for a successor.
Although the Qur’an forbids more than 4 wives, Muhammad married 22 times. He had two sons who died in infancy and four daughter, only one of which (Fatima) outlived him. She was revered as one of the greatest women who ever lived. Muhammad's marriages after the death of Khajida were contracted mostly for political or humanitarian reasons. The women were either widows of Muslims killed in battle and had been left without a protector, or belonged to important families or clans whom it was necessary to honor and strengthen alliances with. Most controversial was Aisha who was 6 when betrothed and 9 when the marriage was consummated. She became known as Muhammad's favorite wife in Sunni tradition, survived him by decades and was instrumental in helping assemble the scattered sayings of Muhammad that form the Hadith literature for the Sunni branch of Islam.
What is the Qur’an?
Muslims have three sources of doctrine and practice:
1. The Qur’an (or sometimes “Koran”) is the sacred scripture. The word means “recitation.” The Muslim view of scripture is not the same as Christian. We believe in the inspiration of the Bible by God. Muslims believe in the dictation of Allah’s words to Muhammad through the angel Jibreel (Gabriel). They believe there is an “original” copy in heaven and that the earthly dictation corresponds exactly.
2. The Sunna is the collection of written tradition from the time of Muhammad. It is composed of several volumes of Hadith ( “stories”) which are the sayings and biographical stories of Muhammad that are not the dictated recitations from God. They are the next standard for doctrine and practice among Sunnis (less for Shi’ites).
3. Ijma is the sacred tradition, deemed authoritative only by Sunnis, and not by Shi’ites. It is the consensus of imams, commentators, and legal scholars of Sharia.
The Qur’an is written in units of chapters and verses. The 114 chapters (called Surah) are numbered and also have names (like “The Cow”, “The Jinn”, “Clots of Blood”) which are arranged from longest to shortest, rather than in any chronological or narrative order.
Roughly speaking, the surahs from the first half of the Qur’an are the later revelations from Medina, when Muhammad had risen to power and deal with government and ethics. The more violent passages occur here (Surah 9 most of all). The earlier revelations from Mecca, where Muhammad was powerless and persecuted, occur are placed in the second half of the Qur’an. The more peaceful passages occur here. They talk about judgment and doctrine.
Muslims believe that God gave revelation before the Qur’an (i.e., the Torah and Gospel), but it was corrupted, and the revelations given to Muhammad sets the record straight. The Qur’an does not have much narrative like the Bible, but is a chaotic collection of sayings and stories with many contradictions. The Islamic view of revelation has the principle of abrogation when dealing with conflicting revelation—later verses always cancel out the earlier ones, even within the Qur’an (e.g., Surah 2:106 - “If We abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten, We will replace it by a better one or one similar. Did you not know that God has power over all things?” c.f., Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” ).
Curiously, although the Islam asserts that Christians and Jews have distorted God’s revelation, the Qur’an testifies to the veracity of the Bible itself and even says to go to the Christians and Jews for help to understand God’s revelations. “If you doubt what We have revealed to you, ask those who have read the Scriptures [i.e., the Bible] before you. The truth has come to you from your Lord: therefore do not doubt it” (Surah 10:94). Also, Surah 4:136 commands the Muslim to “have faith in God and His apostle, in the book He has revealed to his apostle, and in the Scriptures He formerly revealed.” It instructs the Muslim not to argue with the Christians, but to simply assert that God has added to his former revelation.
The substance of Islamic theology is summed up in six articles of faith: Belief in Allah as the one true God, belief in Angels, belief in Scriptures (Taurat, Gospel and Quran), belief in the Prophets, belief in the Day of Judgment, and belief in God's predestination. There is a Friday Sabbath and Muslims observe Jewish dietary laws. Muslims have a fatalistic outlook on history. They believe that Allah dictated everything that will happen and that history unfolds accordingly. This comes from the Muslim’s view of God’s absolute sovereignty.
The Shahada is the central profession of faith (“There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet”). The praise Allahu-Akbar (“God is great!”) is central to prayer. Allah is the Arabic name for “God,” although in pre-Isalmic Arabia, Allah was the name of the god of the moon (one of many idols, Al-ilah or “THE god”) who was married to the sun goddess and had three daughters who were stars. Muslims deny that Allah was originally a pagan deity within a pantheon and assert that Allah was originally viewed as the one God of Abraham and that early monotheism was corrupted by polytheism and later restored by Muhammad.
"Say, He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him" (Surah 112:1-4). Islam asserts that God is one, eternal, absolute, and utterly transcendent. He is not a trinity, does not have a son, and there is none like him. Allah created all things and the purpose of life is to worship him. He is personal, but not intimate. God is utterly holy and just, who punishes us for our sins. He is also gracious and merciful and forgiving, but does not have feelings toward mankind (including love—the idea that “God is love” is foreign to the Muslim mind). Allah offers salvation based on repentance and good works. He has mercy if the good outweighs the bad on the scales at Judgment Day, but even then, salvation is deterministic—he saves whom he saves and damns whom he damns. Allah wills everything that happens. Sin is not really cleansed or pardoned as much as overlooked. Allah is to be worshiped and feared as served as a master.
Allah created man from a blood clot and he also created angels. These messengers do not have free will. They serve as the intermediaries between God and man. There are no formal clergy (imam is the one who leads the prayers), but some imams are paid teachers.
Jinn are creatures who are hidden fire spirits. They have physical form, angelic abilities, and free will. Iblis is the Arabic word for “Satan.” In Islam, he is not a fallen angel, but a jinn.
Islam teaches that all of God's prophets preached the message of Islam—submission to the will of God. The Quran mentions the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Isa is the Arabic version of “Jesus” in Greek or “Joshua” in Hebrew. He is seen as a prophet, not the Son of God. He was Virgin-born of Mary, was sinless, did healings and other miracles, did not die on the cross, was assumed into heaven and will return at the Day of Judgment. Both Jesus and Mary are highly esteemed.
Islam teaches the general resurrection of the dead at Judgment Day. Muslims believe all mankind will be judged on their good and bad deeds and consigned to Jannah (paradise) or Jahannam (hell).
Who is Muhammad?
Muslims believe in the prophets of the Bible (and believe Jesus was one of them) and see Muhammad as the final prophet. “Peace be upon him” is an expression of reverence that Muslims will always use about God’s prophets, and especially about Muhammad.
Muhammad was born in 570 in Mecca into the Quraysh tribe, which ruled the city and served as custodians of the Ka’abah. The branch of the family Muhammad was born into was impoverished. His father died before Muhammad was born and his mother died when he was six. The orphan first went to live with wealthy grandparents, then a wealthy uncle, then to a poor uncle. Many of his family never accepted him as a prophet.
His first visions were in his youth. He claimed an angel has opened his stomach, stirred his innards, and sealed him back up. He worked in the caravan trade and gained a reputation for being trustworthy. At 25, he met and married a wealthy Christian widow of 40 named Khadija and began a life of leisure. In 610, Muhammad was visited at by Gabriel in a cave who called on him to “recite.” He doubted the authenticity of the experience, but his wife encouraged him to pursue his call as a prophet. Muhammad asserted the claim of his family deity Allah to be not just the supreme god of the pantheon, but the only God. He called himself a prophet to appeal to Jews and an apostle to appeal to Christians. He found his audience hostile. Merchants felt that this undermining of the pagan deities at the Ka’abah was bad for business. At first he modified his preaching to appeal to the Quraysh by saying that Allah’s daughters could be worshiped as well. This concession to pagans was later rescinded and claimed that it was not a true revelation from Allah, but from Satan (hence, the “Satanic verses”).
Muhammad’s first wife died in 619 and growing hostility forced him to flee to Medina in 622. This is the Hijra (migration) and the beginning of the Muslim era. On the way, Muhammad preached to the jinns and converted them. He turned to raiding caravans and found Jews to be lucrative targets. His Muslim band defeated the Quraysh at the Battle of Badr. After some setbacks and more attacks, he conquered the city of Mecca in 630 and cleansed the Ka’abah of idols and made it the center of Muslim worship. Muhammad was poisoned by a Jewish woman and died in 632, and without having provided for a successor.
Although the Qur’an forbids more than 4 wives, Muhammad married 22 times. He had two sons who died in infancy and four daughter, only one of which (Fatima) outlived him. She was revered as one of the greatest women who ever lived. Muhammad's marriages after the death of Khajida were contracted mostly for political or humanitarian reasons. The women were either widows of Muslims killed in battle and had been left without a protector, or belonged to important families or clans whom it was necessary to honor and strengthen alliances with. Most controversial was Aisha who was 6 when betrothed and 9 when the marriage was consummated. She became known as Muhammad's favorite wife in Sunni tradition, survived him by decades and was instrumental in helping assemble the scattered sayings of Muhammad that form the Hadith literature for the Sunni branch of Islam.
What is the Qur’an?
Muslims have three sources of doctrine and practice:
1. The Qur’an (or sometimes “Koran”) is the sacred scripture. The word means “recitation.” The Muslim view of scripture is not the same as Christian. We believe in the inspiration of the Bible by God. Muslims believe in the dictation of Allah’s words to Muhammad through the angel Jibreel (Gabriel). They believe there is an “original” copy in heaven and that the earthly dictation corresponds exactly.
2. The Sunna is the collection of written tradition from the time of Muhammad. It is composed of several volumes of Hadith ( “stories”) which are the sayings and biographical stories of Muhammad that are not the dictated recitations from God. They are the next standard for doctrine and practice among Sunnis (less for Shi’ites).
3. Ijma is the sacred tradition, deemed authoritative only by Sunnis, and not by Shi’ites. It is the consensus of imams, commentators, and legal scholars of Sharia.
The Qur’an is written in units of chapters and verses. The 114 chapters (called Surah) are numbered and also have names (like “The Cow”, “The Jinn”, “Clots of Blood”) which are arranged from longest to shortest, rather than in any chronological or narrative order.
Roughly speaking, the surahs from the first half of the Qur’an are the later revelations from Medina, when Muhammad had risen to power and deal with government and ethics. The more violent passages occur here (Surah 9 most of all). The earlier revelations from Mecca, where Muhammad was powerless and persecuted, occur are placed in the second half of the Qur’an. The more peaceful passages occur here. They talk about judgment and doctrine.
Muslims believe that God gave revelation before the Qur’an (i.e., the Torah and Gospel), but it was corrupted, and the revelations given to Muhammad sets the record straight. The Qur’an does not have much narrative like the Bible, but is a chaotic collection of sayings and stories with many contradictions. The Islamic view of revelation has the principle of abrogation when dealing with conflicting revelation—later verses always cancel out the earlier ones, even within the Qur’an (e.g., Surah 2:106 - “If We abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten, We will replace it by a better one or one similar. Did you not know that God has power over all things?” c.f., Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” ).
Curiously, although the Islam asserts that Christians and Jews have distorted God’s revelation, the Qur’an testifies to the veracity of the Bible itself and even says to go to the Christians and Jews for help to understand God’s revelations. “If you doubt what We have revealed to you, ask those who have read the Scriptures [i.e., the Bible] before you. The truth has come to you from your Lord: therefore do not doubt it” (Surah 10:94). Also, Surah 4:136 commands the Muslim to “have faith in God and His apostle, in the book He has revealed to his apostle, and in the Scriptures He formerly revealed.” It instructs the Muslim not to argue with the Christians, but to simply assert that God has added to his former revelation.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Altar Guild talk on Sacred Space
Creation of Paradise
To my mind, the best image to illustrate God’s creation is the reliquary. It is so beautiful, we might be forgiven for missing the point. It is only a beautiful display case for something more important. It is a means of setting apart what lies within for special veneration.
God created the heavens and the earth, the sun and moon and stars in their courses. He separated the dry lands from the seas, and brought forth life upon the earth. Genesis 2:8 – “And the Lord God planted a garden in the East, in Eden; and there he placed the man whom he had formed.”
This vast reliquary was a magnificent way to carve out a sacred place for the creature that bore most uniquely the image of the Creator.
The Garden of Eden by Thomas Cole
God has created this sacred space as a dwelling-place for both the human and the divine. They walked together in fellowship in the garden in the cool of the day. The garden was a place of man’s priestly labor—Adam was to tend the garden (Gen 2:15), to cultivate the place where heaven and earth overlapped. Eden was sacred space. It is no wonder that temples throughout the ancient world were richly decorated with images of the garden. The very word “paradise” comes from the Persian term for a walled garden.
(I'm heavily indebted to Andrew Gould for his post about gardens in this section.)
The vision of paradise as an idyllic walled garden is exceedingly ancient and universal. For thousands of years, palaces have been built around courtyard gardens, and the ancient kings lived out their reigns in an artificial landscape of ideal beauty – an icon of the natural world transfigured into paradise.
There is a very old belief that any garden represents a restoration of Eden, and from the earliest times palace gardens have specifically imitated certain characteristics of Eden. The garden was always square. A fountain at the center poured forth water into four channels that radiated outward in the cardinal directions – an image of the four rivers of paradise referenced in Genesis 2:10-14. It is the preeminent image of human longing.
Is it any wonder that at the climax of the salvation story, we again find the setting of a garden. Jesus agonizes with his vocation in the Garden of Gethsemane, choosing to embrace the chalice of suffering. And at the end of his passion, he is laid to rest in a tomb in a garden. And the garden is where he first sets foot in his resurrected body.
Ancient temples and palaces had their gardens, reminiscent of the ancient walled paradise where all was right with the world. It is no surprise then that churches would have their own ancient custom of the garden courtyard. The first house churches were in homes that had a central courtyard as one of the basic architectural features (think Abuello’s).
To enter through the churchyard lychgate is to pass into a different world. To walk through the gardens to church amongst the resting places of the faithful departed is to begin the joyous ascent up the mountain to meet our Lord who sits enthroned in the New Jerusalem.
Even in countries with more verdant climates, the separation of the church gardens from the surroundings was considered very important. Whether by a high wall, or merely a fence with a gate, a church’s grounds were always set apart from the fallen world, and all within would radiate with the beauty of life.
Trees of the Patriarchs
There is a tree of life in Eden (as there are such trees of life-giving fruit in the paradise of the New Jerusalem) and there is a tree of knowledge. Is it any wonder then that after man’s expulsion from paradise, the first place we find sacred space coming back into the scene is under the shade of a large tree? Of all places, the whisper of God would be best heard under a tree.
Pay attention to the first reading at Mass tomorrow morning. Abram is called by God in Genesis 12 to pick up roots in Haran and head out West to a land of promise. He went with his family, not knowing exactly where to go, but knowing that God would let him know when he got there. Where does Abram stop? Where does God speak to him in the promised land?
In the time of the Judges, Deborah held court under “the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel” (Judges 4:5). The Israelites thought it fitting to bury the great Prophetess close the Lord’s dwelling, under the oak tree at Bethel. In the story of the call of Gideon in Judges 6, we read: “Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah” and that Gideon brought his offering to the oak tree there.
I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing brest;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray,
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain,
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Temple in Jerusalem
The tablets of testimony written with the commandments of God (inscribed first with his own hand) were a portable sign of his presence. They were made of the material of the mountain and were inscribed with his will. An ark of acacia wood was made to transport them—again, materials from the mountain where the God of Abraham dwelt. When Moses put them in a box to take them to the Promised Land, it was almost as if they had put God himself in a box to take to the Promised Land. In reality, the tabernacle transported the tangible elements of that first encounter with God on the mountain.
When the structure was complete, the Bible says: “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would go onward; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not go onward till the day that it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel” (Exodus 40:34-38).
God’s tangible presence dwelt above the “mercy seat”—the golden lid of the Ark of the Covenant—between two winged angels bowed down in worship. This was the most sacred space on earth. The closer to this sacred space you get, the more one leaves the realm of earth and enters the realm of heaven. We can see gradations of holiness with gradations of distinction reflected in the layout, building materials, and use of the tabernacle. The closer to God, the more set apart and precious the features become.
When the Ark found a permanent home in Jerusalem, David said he would not rest until a fitting residence was made for the Lord and the Ark of his presence. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement in that the palace of the king and the palace of God (the temple) were essentially a part of the same complex. David was not to live to see it accomplished; that was left to his son, King Solomon. When the temple was finished and dedicated, we find the same description of the Lord descending and taking up residence within the Holy of holies was happened with the portable tabernacle.
It is no wonder then that John begins his gospel with a description of Jesus becoming (as it were) the new temple. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt (literally, “tabernacle”) among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (John 1:14).
In his book Jesus of Nazareth (Infancy Narratives) Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “The man Jesus is the dwelling-place of the Word, the eternal divine Word, in this world. Jesus’ ‘flesh,’ his human existence, is the ‘dwelling’ or ‘tent’ of the Word: the reference to the sacred tent of Israel in the wilderness is unmistakable. Jesus is, so to speak, the tent of meeting—he is the reality for which the tent and the later Temple could only serve as signs.” As tragic an end as it was, it is fitting that the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant came to an end and the Temple of Herod was razed to the ground because Jesus is the eternal sacrifice, the New Covenant, and the living Temple of the Most High.
Facing East
Here is Father Beste at the altar of this church, leading his people in a solemn procession toward Christ in paradise, which is what the Eucharistic liturgy is all about. The common direction of clergy and people is a vivid reminder of their anticipation of, and movement toward, the paradise that awaits with the return of Christ in glory. We’ll ignore the fact that they’re technically headed in the wrong direction. It had long since become customary to consider the altar end of the church “liturgical East” no matter what the compass read. Was it a mistake to put the altar at the western end of this room? My only comment about that is to observe that if it had been put at the eastern end, the altar would not have been struck by lightning!
This gesture is a little passing reminder of how important directionality in worship was to people of days past—not just in ancient times, but approaching the modern era. Even after Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment which both served to detach spiritual matters from the physical realm, we still took the care to orient at least our churches if not ourselves when addressing God in prayer. Even the word “orientation” indicates a physical movement toward the oriens—Latin for “East.”
Some scholars think that at least during the Exile, it was a common practice to face toward the temple mount for prayer, longing for the day when God’s dwelling place would be restored and his people would be brought home. Another explanation could be that by deliberately facing this way, it would be obvious that Daniel was engaging in an act of defiance toward the prohibition of worship by earthly power.
Perhaps nowhere is this more vividly realized architecturally than here—at Christo Rey Carmelite Monastery in San Francisco. The priest is leading the people in that liturgical procession toward paradise as all of the sudden Jesus bursts forth into this world from the Eastern horizon in his glorious return to earth. The anticipation of the parousia has been realized in the advent of his Real Presence.
St. John of Damascus explained: “When ascending into heaven, [Jesus] rose towards the East, and that is how the apostles adored him, and he will return just as they saw him ascend into heaven . . . Waiting for him, we adore him facing East. This is an unrecorded tradition passed down to us from the apostles” (On the Orthodox Faith 4:12). “Facing the Lord” in the liturgy often meant facing the tabernacle because it was there that the blessed Sacrament was reserved. Liturgically speaking, however, it is the eschatological orientation of the assembly toward the rendezvous with Christ in his new Advent which is paramount.
During the time of house churches, it was common to mark the Eastern wall of the home or courtyard with a cross, which would serve to indicate the direction of prayer during the time of worship for the community gathered at the Lord’s table. This was even before the period when the cross became a symbol commonly used in Christian circles.
The Church
Making Space Holy
It’s important to remember that you are the church, the mystical Body of Christ, you are sacred space. St Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are” (1 Cor 4:16-17). When our Lord comes to us, may he find in our hearts a mansion prepared for himself!
For our own spiritual well-being, we have to make sacred space in our own lives. We should put forth the time and effort to turn a part of our world into Paradise—that “walled garden” where order and beauty are cultivated, and where God and man spend time together, enjoying each other’s company. It should look like paradise, like a little corner of heaven. Perhaps the use of icons, or plants, or color, or fabric, or some such means of marking territory as holy and set apart from the rest of the world can help form a sacred space in your own life and foster communion with God.
We have so many exceptions to the rules, it’s sometimes difficult to remember what the rules are. According to the ancient practice and laws of the church, only the ordained clergy may enter the chancel and sanctuary. Like the priests and Levites encamped between the tabernacle and the people, they were gathered close to wait upon the Lord.
As a part of the altar guild, it is your service to stand in for the clergy and attend to the needs of the sanctuary. What can we do to mark off that sacred space? Entering the sanctuary, if it truly is the house of God, begs us to set apart ourselves as well. The rule of silence is paramount. As much as possible, the only words spoken should be words of scripture or words of prayer. A sacredness can be imparted through proper dress. Like the acolytes, perhaps only a special outfit is used when working in the sanctuary. Perhaps the ancient practice of the veil being worn in the house of God would be appropriate. The same attire and attitude can be a way of creating sacred space in our own lives and homes. It can be a way of building that wall for our Eden—setting it apart from the world.
Like Abraham finding rest in the Promised Land, we encounter God at a tree which serves as a place of sacrifice. Let us always have an image of the crucifix to attune us to prayer—perhaps on the east side of a room, marking the direction in which to cultivate our longing for Christ’s return.
A candle or two lit at the time of prayer is a way of invoking Christ’s presence, who once lit up the burning bush on Sinai and called it holy ground, who was named as the “Light of the world”, “the Dayspring”, and the “Bright Morning Star.” May God grant you to find sanctuary in your life this Lent.
Monday, March 13, 2017
Our Mission to Muslims, Week 2
This week, we had the first in our two session crash course covering Muslim doctrine and practice. Week 3 will cover the Muslim view of God, Muhammad, and the Qur'an.
First, we followed up on a topic from Week 1 and looked at a video on Ann Holmes Redding, the former Episcopal priest/practicing Muslim in Seattle.
Second, we looked at the new Sports Hijab, just announced from Nike. My thought was that with 500 million Muslim women in the world, it's hard to believe they never came out with this until now.
Third, we surveyed Muslim practice by looking at the Five Pillars.
Practicing the Faith: the Five Pillars of Islam
1. Shahadah – the Creed. The daily declaration of faith for a Muslim is, Ashud anna, la illaha illa Allah wa Muhammad rasul Allah (“I witness that there is no god but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God”). Muslims take on a duty to witness to the world. The second part affirms the existence of one God by negating the existence of any other god or creature that people might worship. Islam is emphatically monotheistic. The third part of the creed witnesses that God sent prophets to humankind and that Muhammad was the last (and thus the greatest or definitive) prophet, or messenger who received the revelation from God.
2. Salah – Daily Prayers. The offering of five daily prayers are the duty of every Muslim. They perform the recitations and physical movements of salah or salat as taught by Muhammad. In the salah, Muslims recite specific words and selected verses from the Qur’an while standing, bowing, kneeling with the hands and forehead touching the ground, and sitting. Each of the five prayers can be performed within a window of time: (1) Fajr -between dawn and sunrise, (2) Zuhr - noon to mid-afternoon, (3) Asr - between midafternoon and just before sunset, (4) Maghrib - at sunset, and (5) Isha - after twilight until nighttime. The repeated affirmation that "God is great" forms the structure prayer. One can also see a few refutations of Christian claims as well as something reminiscent of the "Glory be." To get a sense of what Muslim prayer is like, we watched a video of the shortest prayer, which is the first of the day.
Prayer time is determined by local time and the direction is always toward the Ka’bah in Mecca. Each prayer time is preceded by a ritual cleansing called wudu. At the end of the prayer, and throughout their lives, Muslims may also pray informally, asking for guidance and help in their own words. If two or more Muslims pray together, one of them will be the imam (prayer leader), and the others form rows behind the imam. In fact, the term "mosque" means "a place of prostration."
3. Zakah – Almsgiving. The word for this duty of charity means "purification," indicating that a person is purified from greed by giving wealth to others. When Muslims have cash savings for a year, they give 2.5% of it as zakat. Zakat on other forms of wealth, such as land, natural resources, and livestock is calculated at different rates. Paying the zakat reminds Muslims of the duty to help those less fortunate, and that wealth is a gift entrusted to a person by God rather than a possession to be hoarded selfishly. Muhammad set the precedent that zakah was collected and distributed locally, and what remained after meeting local needs was distributed to the larger Muslim community through the general treasury.
4. Sawm – Fasting in Ramadan. During this one month each year, Muslims fast by not eating or drinking anything between dawn and sunset. Fasting is a duty for adults, but many children participate partially on a voluntary basis. The fast begins with sahoor (a pre-dawn meal). While fasting, Muslims perform the dawn, noon and afternoon prayers, and go about their normal duties. At sunset, Muslims break their fast with a few dates and water, then pray, then eat iftar (a meal that breaks the fast). Iftar is usually eaten with family and friends, or at the masjid, which hosts meals donated by community members for all. After the evening prayer, many Muslims go to the masjid for congregational prayers that feature a reading of one thirtieth of the Qur’an each night. They complete the whole Qur’an by the end of the month, which is a celebration of the revelation of the Qur'an.
5. Hajj – Pilgrimage to Mecca. The basic act of worship in Islam is the pilgrimage to the city of Mecca (or Makkah) during the twelfth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, Dhul-Hijjah. The hajj rites symbolically reenact the trials and sacrifices of Prophet Abraham, his wife Hajar, and their son Isma’il (not Isaac, as in the Torah) which included Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isma’il in response to God’s command. Muslims must perform the hajj at least once in their lives, provided their health and finances permit. The hajj is performed annually by over 2 million people and different nations are given an annual number of pilgrims allowed to go on the hajj by Saudi Arabia. In the last decade, the Saudi kingdom has spent tens of billions of dollars upgrading the facilities for the hajj.
Sects of Islam
Islam consists of roughly 84% Sunnis, 15% Shiites (largely Iranian) and 1% unorthodox.
Sunni means “tradition,” and Sunnis regard themselves as those who emphasize following the traditions of Muhammad and of the first two generations of the community of Muslims that followed Muhammad. Sunnis believe that the successor to Muhammad (a Calif) should be elected, while Shi’ites believe a bloodline succession should be followed. Sunnis formed the concept of Islamic law called Shari’a (literally: “the way to the watering hole”). The highest authority is the Qur’an (God's revelations), followed by the Sunnah in the Hadith (sayings of Muhammad), and the consensus of the community called the ijma. This ijma became the final resource for law and ethics among Sunnis.
A number of movements to reform Islam have originated in the 20th Century. Most are Sunni movements, such as the Wahhabis (the puritanical version of Islam in Saudi Arabia), the Muslim Brotherhood (of Egypt), and Jama`at-i-Islami.
Shia Islam is the second largest group, and largely Persian rather than Arab. Shi’ites are the “party of Ali,” who believe that Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali was his designated successor (imam) and that the Muslim community should be headed by a descendent of Muhammad. As a result, they believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first real Imam (leader), rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs accepted by Sunnis: Abu Bakr, Uthman ibn al-Affan and Umar ibn al-Khattab. Different branches accept different descendants of Ali as Imams. In contrast with Sunnis who have a more egalitatian leadership, Shi’ites believe their imams to be a fully spiritual guide, inheriting some of Muhammad’s inspiration. The movement also glorifies martyrdom, has a mystical side, and firmly believes in theocracy as the best form of government.
Sufis are Islamic mystics. In response to the growing legalism of mainstream Islam, Sufis went beyond external requirements of the religion to seek a personal experience of God through forms of meditation and spiritual growth. A number of Sufi orders exist, analogous to Christian monastic orders. Most Sufis are also Sunni Muslims, although some are Shi'ite Muslims. Many conservative Sunni Muslims regard Sufism as a corruption of Islam, although most still regard Sufis as Muslims.
Baha’is and Ahmadiyyas are 19th Century offshoots of Shi'ite and Sunni Islam, respectively. Bahai’s consider themselves a new religion, originating from Shi'ite Islam as Christianity originated from Judaism. Ahmadiyyas regard themselves as Muslims. Most other Muslims, however, deny that either group is a legitimate form of Islam. Druze, Alevis, and Alawis are other small, sectarian groups with unorthodox beliefs and practices that split off from Islam. Druze and Alevis do not regard themselves as Muslims and are not considered Muslims by other Muslims. Alawis have various non-Islamic practices, but debate continues as to whether they should still be considered Muslims. Sikhism is a pacifist blend of Islam and Hinduism, resulting in what might be called a “monotheistic atheism.”
Nation of Islam is a black nationalistic Muslim cult of the USA invented by Wallace Fard and Elijah Muhammad. Fard was a white man believed to be Allah incarnate. In 1975, Elijah’s son and successor Warith Deen Muhammad introduced reforms to bring black American Muslims into the mainstream of Sunni Islam. Some disagreed with the reforms, like Louis Farrakhan who leads his own reboot of the Nation of Islam.
First, we followed up on a topic from Week 1 and looked at a video on Ann Holmes Redding, the former Episcopal priest/practicing Muslim in Seattle.
Second, we looked at the new Sports Hijab, just announced from Nike. My thought was that with 500 million Muslim women in the world, it's hard to believe they never came out with this until now.
Third, we surveyed Muslim practice by looking at the Five Pillars.
Practicing the Faith: the Five Pillars of Islam
1. Shahadah – the Creed. The daily declaration of faith for a Muslim is, Ashud anna, la illaha illa Allah wa Muhammad rasul Allah (“I witness that there is no god but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God”). Muslims take on a duty to witness to the world. The second part affirms the existence of one God by negating the existence of any other god or creature that people might worship. Islam is emphatically monotheistic. The third part of the creed witnesses that God sent prophets to humankind and that Muhammad was the last (and thus the greatest or definitive) prophet, or messenger who received the revelation from God.
2. Salah – Daily Prayers. The offering of five daily prayers are the duty of every Muslim. They perform the recitations and physical movements of salah or salat as taught by Muhammad. In the salah, Muslims recite specific words and selected verses from the Qur’an while standing, bowing, kneeling with the hands and forehead touching the ground, and sitting. Each of the five prayers can be performed within a window of time: (1) Fajr -between dawn and sunrise, (2) Zuhr - noon to mid-afternoon, (3) Asr - between midafternoon and just before sunset, (4) Maghrib - at sunset, and (5) Isha - after twilight until nighttime. The repeated affirmation that "God is great" forms the structure prayer. One can also see a few refutations of Christian claims as well as something reminiscent of the "Glory be." To get a sense of what Muslim prayer is like, we watched a video of the shortest prayer, which is the first of the day.
Prayer time is determined by local time and the direction is always toward the Ka’bah in Mecca. Each prayer time is preceded by a ritual cleansing called wudu. At the end of the prayer, and throughout their lives, Muslims may also pray informally, asking for guidance and help in their own words. If two or more Muslims pray together, one of them will be the imam (prayer leader), and the others form rows behind the imam. In fact, the term "mosque" means "a place of prostration."
3. Zakah – Almsgiving. The word for this duty of charity means "purification," indicating that a person is purified from greed by giving wealth to others. When Muslims have cash savings for a year, they give 2.5% of it as zakat. Zakat on other forms of wealth, such as land, natural resources, and livestock is calculated at different rates. Paying the zakat reminds Muslims of the duty to help those less fortunate, and that wealth is a gift entrusted to a person by God rather than a possession to be hoarded selfishly. Muhammad set the precedent that zakah was collected and distributed locally, and what remained after meeting local needs was distributed to the larger Muslim community through the general treasury.
4. Sawm – Fasting in Ramadan. During this one month each year, Muslims fast by not eating or drinking anything between dawn and sunset. Fasting is a duty for adults, but many children participate partially on a voluntary basis. The fast begins with sahoor (a pre-dawn meal). While fasting, Muslims perform the dawn, noon and afternoon prayers, and go about their normal duties. At sunset, Muslims break their fast with a few dates and water, then pray, then eat iftar (a meal that breaks the fast). Iftar is usually eaten with family and friends, or at the masjid, which hosts meals donated by community members for all. After the evening prayer, many Muslims go to the masjid for congregational prayers that feature a reading of one thirtieth of the Qur’an each night. They complete the whole Qur’an by the end of the month, which is a celebration of the revelation of the Qur'an.
5. Hajj – Pilgrimage to Mecca. The basic act of worship in Islam is the pilgrimage to the city of Mecca (or Makkah) during the twelfth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, Dhul-Hijjah. The hajj rites symbolically reenact the trials and sacrifices of Prophet Abraham, his wife Hajar, and their son Isma’il (not Isaac, as in the Torah) which included Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isma’il in response to God’s command. Muslims must perform the hajj at least once in their lives, provided their health and finances permit. The hajj is performed annually by over 2 million people and different nations are given an annual number of pilgrims allowed to go on the hajj by Saudi Arabia. In the last decade, the Saudi kingdom has spent tens of billions of dollars upgrading the facilities for the hajj.
Sects of Islam
Islam consists of roughly 84% Sunnis, 15% Shiites (largely Iranian) and 1% unorthodox.
Sunni means “tradition,” and Sunnis regard themselves as those who emphasize following the traditions of Muhammad and of the first two generations of the community of Muslims that followed Muhammad. Sunnis believe that the successor to Muhammad (a Calif) should be elected, while Shi’ites believe a bloodline succession should be followed. Sunnis formed the concept of Islamic law called Shari’a (literally: “the way to the watering hole”). The highest authority is the Qur’an (God's revelations), followed by the Sunnah in the Hadith (sayings of Muhammad), and the consensus of the community called the ijma. This ijma became the final resource for law and ethics among Sunnis.
A number of movements to reform Islam have originated in the 20th Century. Most are Sunni movements, such as the Wahhabis (the puritanical version of Islam in Saudi Arabia), the Muslim Brotherhood (of Egypt), and Jama`at-i-Islami.
Shia Islam is the second largest group, and largely Persian rather than Arab. Shi’ites are the “party of Ali,” who believe that Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali was his designated successor (imam) and that the Muslim community should be headed by a descendent of Muhammad. As a result, they believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first real Imam (leader), rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs accepted by Sunnis: Abu Bakr, Uthman ibn al-Affan and Umar ibn al-Khattab. Different branches accept different descendants of Ali as Imams. In contrast with Sunnis who have a more egalitatian leadership, Shi’ites believe their imams to be a fully spiritual guide, inheriting some of Muhammad’s inspiration. The movement also glorifies martyrdom, has a mystical side, and firmly believes in theocracy as the best form of government.
Sufis are Islamic mystics. In response to the growing legalism of mainstream Islam, Sufis went beyond external requirements of the religion to seek a personal experience of God through forms of meditation and spiritual growth. A number of Sufi orders exist, analogous to Christian monastic orders. Most Sufis are also Sunni Muslims, although some are Shi'ite Muslims. Many conservative Sunni Muslims regard Sufism as a corruption of Islam, although most still regard Sufis as Muslims.
Baha’is and Ahmadiyyas are 19th Century offshoots of Shi'ite and Sunni Islam, respectively. Bahai’s consider themselves a new religion, originating from Shi'ite Islam as Christianity originated from Judaism. Ahmadiyyas regard themselves as Muslims. Most other Muslims, however, deny that either group is a legitimate form of Islam. Druze, Alevis, and Alawis are other small, sectarian groups with unorthodox beliefs and practices that split off from Islam. Druze and Alevis do not regard themselves as Muslims and are not considered Muslims by other Muslims. Alawis have various non-Islamic practices, but debate continues as to whether they should still be considered Muslims. Sikhism is a pacifist blend of Islam and Hinduism, resulting in what might be called a “monotheistic atheism.”
Nation of Islam is a black nationalistic Muslim cult of the USA invented by Wallace Fard and Elijah Muhammad. Fard was a white man believed to be Allah incarnate. In 1975, Elijah’s son and successor Warith Deen Muhammad introduced reforms to bring black American Muslims into the mainstream of Sunni Islam. Some disagreed with the reforms, like Louis Farrakhan who leads his own reboot of the Nation of Islam.
Monday, March 06, 2017
Lent 1: Your Rule of Life
On the First Sunday in Lent, I gave and educational message about having a rule of life. Notes are below.
Rule (regula) is the pattern, model, or example by which we wish to intentionally shape our spiritual lives, particularly our prayer lives. In his book about spiritual growth and maturity, titled Christian Proficiency, Thornton explains: “Rule is a help and not a hindrance, something liberating not restrictive, expansive not burdensome, in accord with the freedom of the Christian spirit and absolutely opposed to ‘legalism.’ It is always a means to an end, and never an end in itself, and its content is only ascetical theology.”
Thornton makes a few observations about Rule that flow out of this understanding:
1. Rule is “embraced,” not “promised” or “vowed.” He tells us it would be Pharisaical, legalistic, and quite unChristian to solemnly promise or vow to “keep” this kind of “rule.” Remember: it’s not about a list of rules; it’s a plan for fruitful living. “A Christian regular is one who chooses to undertake his common obligations and duties, and to develop his personal spirituality, by acknowledging, accepting, or ‘embracing’ some total scheme, system, pattern or ‘rule’ of prayer."
2. Rule is wholly opposed to legalism. As Thornton would say, rule is always a means to an end, never the end itself. A legalistic approach would turn it around the opposite way. Legalism is totally concerned with the letter of the law, not the spirit. Rule is totally concerned with the spirit and only uses tools like the letter of the law to foster the spirit.
3. Rule is neither artificial, nor a burden, but the principle of civilized life. Rule of Life is about being a part of Christian culture and civilization which is built around three great elements of the Christian spiritual life: 1. The sacrifice of Christ in the Mass; 2. The Office, which is the prayer of Christ to the Father through his mystical Body, the Church; and 3. Our own personal, private prayers and devotions. As Thornton put it: “So dare we think of the Eucharist as the living heart of the Body of Christ; of the Office as its continual beat, its pulse; and private prayer as the circulation of the blood giving life and strength to its several members according to their need and capacity?” Rule is about being joined to Jesus.
4. Breach of Rule is not (necessarily) a sin. Thornton calls it a fault. We have to keep in mind what sin is—transgressing the revealed will of God, Of put more simply, breaking God’s commandments. Breaking my own will or my own rules is technically amoral. It only becomes a sin if it happens to overlap with God’s laws or the church’s laws (since God told us to obey her law). For example, if I give up chocolate cake for Lent, and then eat some, that’s only a fault. But if I put keeping the Sabbath in my rule, and don’t keep it, that is a sin— not because I broke my own rule, but because I broke God’s rule.
5. Rule is, and must always remain, variable. It should fit the person and the time. Life changes, people change, so it only makes sense that rule of life should change along with it. It can be relaxed, strengthened, modified, or varied. As we said, most people have a special rule just for Lent. Your normal rule should be reexamined from time to time to see if it “fits.” It ought to fit and it should be something the soul should “grow into.” Ideally, your rule should become totally second-nature.
Rule (regula) is the pattern, model, or example by which we wish to intentionally shape our spiritual lives, particularly our prayer lives. In his book about spiritual growth and maturity, titled Christian Proficiency, Thornton explains: “Rule is a help and not a hindrance, something liberating not restrictive, expansive not burdensome, in accord with the freedom of the Christian spirit and absolutely opposed to ‘legalism.’ It is always a means to an end, and never an end in itself, and its content is only ascetical theology.”
Thornton makes a few observations about Rule that flow out of this understanding:
1. Rule is “embraced,” not “promised” or “vowed.” He tells us it would be Pharisaical, legalistic, and quite unChristian to solemnly promise or vow to “keep” this kind of “rule.” Remember: it’s not about a list of rules; it’s a plan for fruitful living. “A Christian regular is one who chooses to undertake his common obligations and duties, and to develop his personal spirituality, by acknowledging, accepting, or ‘embracing’ some total scheme, system, pattern or ‘rule’ of prayer."
2. Rule is wholly opposed to legalism. As Thornton would say, rule is always a means to an end, never the end itself. A legalistic approach would turn it around the opposite way. Legalism is totally concerned with the letter of the law, not the spirit. Rule is totally concerned with the spirit and only uses tools like the letter of the law to foster the spirit.
3. Rule is neither artificial, nor a burden, but the principle of civilized life. Rule of Life is about being a part of Christian culture and civilization which is built around three great elements of the Christian spiritual life: 1. The sacrifice of Christ in the Mass; 2. The Office, which is the prayer of Christ to the Father through his mystical Body, the Church; and 3. Our own personal, private prayers and devotions. As Thornton put it: “So dare we think of the Eucharist as the living heart of the Body of Christ; of the Office as its continual beat, its pulse; and private prayer as the circulation of the blood giving life and strength to its several members according to their need and capacity?” Rule is about being joined to Jesus.
4. Breach of Rule is not (necessarily) a sin. Thornton calls it a fault. We have to keep in mind what sin is—transgressing the revealed will of God, Of put more simply, breaking God’s commandments. Breaking my own will or my own rules is technically amoral. It only becomes a sin if it happens to overlap with God’s laws or the church’s laws (since God told us to obey her law). For example, if I give up chocolate cake for Lent, and then eat some, that’s only a fault. But if I put keeping the Sabbath in my rule, and don’t keep it, that is a sin— not because I broke my own rule, but because I broke God’s rule.
5. Rule is, and must always remain, variable. It should fit the person and the time. Life changes, people change, so it only makes sense that rule of life should change along with it. It can be relaxed, strengthened, modified, or varied. As we said, most people have a special rule just for Lent. Your normal rule should be reexamined from time to time to see if it “fits.” It ought to fit and it should be something the soul should “grow into.” Ideally, your rule should become totally second-nature.
Our Mission to Muslims, Week 1
These are some notes and videos from our Friday Lenten Study Series at S. Francis Anglican Church in Dallas on the topic of "Our Mission to Muslims."
We started off with an oldie, but goodie: an article from the newspaper in St. Louis about an Episcopal priest who decided to take up the practice of Islam for Lent back in 2011. It begins: "The Rev. Steve Lawler should have just given up chocolate or television for Lent. Instead, Lawler, of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Ferguson, decided to adopt the rituals of Islam for 40 days to gain a deeper understanding of the faith. On Friday, he faced being defrocked if he continued in those endeavors."
Click here to read the whole story.
Lawler was trying out Islam in a limited fashion as a Lenten gimmick. I guess he gave it up because he wasn't disciplined by his bishop. Not so with Ann Holmes Redding, an Episcopal priest in Seattle was also more a practicing Muslim for a little over a year and seemed far more into it than Lawler. She was given an ultimatum in 2008 by her bishop to repent and was eventually defrocked when she did not.
We also viewed an episode of Anglican Unscripted in which Father Argo was interviewed. It was important to get a first-hand perspective from someone on the front lines. The interview we watched is below.
Father Argo also did a follow up interview on Anglican Unscripted, which I have put below.
Then we looked at the following hand-out.
Witnessing to Muslims
Remember the context. Islam is a false religion that could be called a Christian heresy. It has many of the same cast of characters, but false ideas about things like what God is like, who Jesus is, how salvation works, etc.
All of us are called to defend the faith, but we are also called to confront the errors of false religion. Think of it like a sports team. We all get to play defense (apologetics—explaining the faith), but sometimes we are chosen to play offense (to go on the attack). The gospel is, by definition, offensive. Consider it a privilege when you have an opportunity to talk about Jesus with a Muslim.
Not all Muslims are the same. There are 175 sects of Islam. There are 4 schools of jurisprudence within just the largest, Sunni Islam. And a Sunni from one part of the world will be different from a Sunni from another. Get to know them; listen to them.
They view the Qu’ran like we view the Sacrament, not like we view the Bible. It is deemed nearly divine itself, and is in many ways distant to them. Muhammad got more violent as he got older, and that’s unfortunate because the later verses trump the earlier ones.
Muslims like to talk about religion. They are looking to communicate their beliefs. Don’t seek commonality. And keep it on religion and not on politics. Always be loving, but also be sure of yourself and what you believe. Ask blunt and provocative questions, like “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God; what do you think?” or “I believe Jesus’ death on the cross atoned for our sins; what do you think?” or “I believe that Jesus rose from the dead; what do you think?” Let them answer and be the skeptic. Sit back and look for weakness in their arguments. They are often circular.
Talk about Jesus, not about Muhammad. Let Jesus get bigger, and their prophet get smaller. They will be interested in Jesus and respect him already. They believe he heals and will let you pray for them in Jesus’ name!
Do what God is doing. Take advantage of opportunities the Lord brings into your life. Pray and fast and confess your sins. People are not converted without humility and love.
Do not be discouraged when you do not see results. These things usually happen slowly. We are a part of the Holy Spirit's work of challenging assumptions, creating doubts, declaring truth, and instilling faith.
We started off with an oldie, but goodie: an article from the newspaper in St. Louis about an Episcopal priest who decided to take up the practice of Islam for Lent back in 2011. It begins: "The Rev. Steve Lawler should have just given up chocolate or television for Lent. Instead, Lawler, of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Ferguson, decided to adopt the rituals of Islam for 40 days to gain a deeper understanding of the faith. On Friday, he faced being defrocked if he continued in those endeavors."
Lawler was trying out Islam in a limited fashion as a Lenten gimmick. I guess he gave it up because he wasn't disciplined by his bishop. Not so with Ann Holmes Redding, an Episcopal priest in Seattle was also more a practicing Muslim for a little over a year and seemed far more into it than Lawler. She was given an ultimatum in 2008 by her bishop to repent and was eventually defrocked when she did not.
We also viewed an episode of Anglican Unscripted in which Father Argo was interviewed. It was important to get a first-hand perspective from someone on the front lines. The interview we watched is below.
Father Argo also did a follow up interview on Anglican Unscripted, which I have put below.
Then we looked at the following hand-out.
Witnessing to Muslims
Remember the context. Islam is a false religion that could be called a Christian heresy. It has many of the same cast of characters, but false ideas about things like what God is like, who Jesus is, how salvation works, etc.
All of us are called to defend the faith, but we are also called to confront the errors of false religion. Think of it like a sports team. We all get to play defense (apologetics—explaining the faith), but sometimes we are chosen to play offense (to go on the attack). The gospel is, by definition, offensive. Consider it a privilege when you have an opportunity to talk about Jesus with a Muslim.
Not all Muslims are the same. There are 175 sects of Islam. There are 4 schools of jurisprudence within just the largest, Sunni Islam. And a Sunni from one part of the world will be different from a Sunni from another. Get to know them; listen to them.
They view the Qu’ran like we view the Sacrament, not like we view the Bible. It is deemed nearly divine itself, and is in many ways distant to them. Muhammad got more violent as he got older, and that’s unfortunate because the later verses trump the earlier ones.
Muslims like to talk about religion. They are looking to communicate their beliefs. Don’t seek commonality. And keep it on religion and not on politics. Always be loving, but also be sure of yourself and what you believe. Ask blunt and provocative questions, like “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God; what do you think?” or “I believe Jesus’ death on the cross atoned for our sins; what do you think?” or “I believe that Jesus rose from the dead; what do you think?” Let them answer and be the skeptic. Sit back and look for weakness in their arguments. They are often circular.
Talk about Jesus, not about Muhammad. Let Jesus get bigger, and their prophet get smaller. They will be interested in Jesus and respect him already. They believe he heals and will let you pray for them in Jesus’ name!
Do what God is doing. Take advantage of opportunities the Lord brings into your life. Pray and fast and confess your sins. People are not converted without humility and love.
Do not be discouraged when you do not see results. These things usually happen slowly. We are a part of the Holy Spirit's work of challenging assumptions, creating doubts, declaring truth, and instilling faith.
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