Volf’s claim that Muslims, like Christians, are commanded to love their neighbours as themselves disintegrates when it meets Qur’an 48:29, ‘Mohammed is Allah’s apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another’.
Great analysis. I love the way you retain a certain serenity while tearing an argument apart. I wish you could become more active in public debate in Europe as we need someone like you here.
Can you arrange for your books other than The Third Choice to be published on Amazon Kindle? I'm loath to buy physical books any more as I have so many that I feel like I'm drowning in them.
Thanks for this and the many other informative items on your blog. I too apprecieate your calm, measured analysis. I would have thought there was an obvious answer why Christians and Muslims don't worship the same God (at least from a theological perspective). The two defining characteristics of Christianity: Trinity and Incarnation.
Thanks for the observation Anonymous. It is a valid point. However the Trinity and Incarnation are not enough to convince. Jews may disagree about these two divine attributes accepted by Christians, but believe that Jews and Christians worship the same God - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We need to go deeper. And when we do, the differences are very striking.
Nice to see something from you again, Mark. I was at the Streetsville gathering for a day last year. Good clear thinking an no compromise. I marvel at the way Volf and other Christians will rationalize and compromise in order to explain and understand Islam, and in the process extend charity they would not toward others of the same faith who differ in doctrine. Regardless of what Volf's father taught him I don't believe that Christians and Jews worship the same God as Muslims, or that a capricious, angry god who reflects hatred resembles the creator God.
Thank you Mark for such a sensible and even response to this deceitful book by Miroslav Volf. It is difficult to contend with such a highly-regarded theologian, but I too found that Volf does not know Islam very well. I also found that Volf does not say too much about the centrality of Jesus in the identity of God (John 1:18). "Blind spots" indeed. Thanks for not letting Volf's ungenerous reading of your views get to you.
Great piece. Just watched your friend Andy Bannister's presentation on this and found both your article and his video really helpful (http://livestream.com/parkchurch/events/4809810)
Aren't we all 'worshiping the same God', even drug addicts and atheists, if we define 'worship' as to seek and love something that we believe has the greatest value? The difference, would be "how we get there" which includes our role models. Some paths are destructive, ie drug taking, or honor killing, or jihad. Shouldn't the focus of our question be on 'how we get there' not whether or not one definition of God matches with another?
Your definition of God is incredibly vague: so vague as to be meaningless, for it could refer to just about anything that someone adores and aspires to love. Your definition of God is actually a definition of HOW people worship, not of WHAT they worship. Your definition could include Hitler, Satan, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus or the Dalai Lama. Yes, the path does matter, but so also does the final destination. It is not only paths that differ: destinations can be different too. It's not just the journey that's important, and not all paths lead to the same mountain top.
Comments are moderated. Avoid profanities or foul language. Stay on topic. Avoid ad hominem attacks. Posts which violate these principles or are deemed offensive in any way will be deleted.
Volf’s claim that Muslims, like Christians, are commanded to love their neighbours as themselves disintegrates when it meets Qur’an 48:29, ‘Mohammed is Allah’s apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another’.
ReplyDeleteJohnny - yes, this comes immediately after the verse which states that Muhammad's Islam should triumph over all other religions.
ReplyDeleteThe Rev. Dr Durie once more shows up how he missed his true calling... as a forensic scientist!
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis. I love the way you retain a certain serenity while tearing an argument apart. I wish you could become more active in public debate in Europe as we need someone like you here.
ReplyDeleteCan you arrange for your books other than The Third Choice to be published on Amazon Kindle? I'm loath to buy physical books any more as I have so many that I feel like I'm drowning in them.
Thanks Cheradenine for the encouragement. I'll work on the ebook options.
ReplyDeleteBravo Mark. Cuts through the fog. Razor sharp thinking in an age of dullness.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this and the many other informative items on your blog. I too apprecieate your calm, measured analysis. I would have thought there was an obvious answer why Christians and Muslims don't worship the same God (at least from a theological perspective). The two defining characteristics of Christianity: Trinity and Incarnation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the observation Anonymous. It is a valid point. However the Trinity and Incarnation are not enough to convince. Jews may disagree about these two divine attributes accepted by Christians, but believe that Jews and Christians worship the same God - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We need to go deeper. And when we do, the differences are very striking.
ReplyDeleteNice to see something from you again, Mark. I was at the Streetsville gathering for a day last year. Good clear thinking an no compromise. I marvel at the way Volf and other Christians will rationalize and compromise in order to explain and understand Islam, and in the process extend charity they would not toward others of the same faith who differ in doctrine. Regardless of what Volf's father taught him I don't believe that Christians and Jews worship the same God as Muslims, or that a capricious, angry god who reflects hatred resembles the creator God.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mark for such a sensible and even response to this deceitful book by Miroslav Volf. It is difficult to contend with such a highly-regarded theologian, but I too found that Volf does not know Islam very well. I also found that Volf does not say too much about the centrality of Jesus in the identity of God (John 1:18). "Blind spots" indeed. Thanks for not letting Volf's ungenerous reading of your views get to you.
ReplyDeleteBy far the best review on the internet of a very flawed book. Caveat lector indeed!
ReplyDeleteGreat piece. Just watched your friend Andy Bannister's presentation on this and found both your article and his video really helpful (http://livestream.com/parkchurch/events/4809810)
ReplyDeleteAren't we all 'worshiping the same God', even drug addicts and atheists, if we define 'worship' as to seek and love something that we believe has the greatest value? The difference, would be "how we get there" which includes our role models. Some paths are destructive, ie drug taking, or honor killing, or jihad. Shouldn't the focus of our question be on 'how we get there' not whether or not one definition of God matches with another?
ReplyDeleteYour definition of God is incredibly vague: so vague as to be meaningless, for it could refer to just about anything that someone adores and aspires to love. Your definition of God is actually a definition of HOW people worship, not of WHAT they worship. Your definition could include Hitler, Satan, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus or the Dalai Lama. Yes, the path does matter, but so also does the final destination. It is not only paths that differ: destinations can be different too. It's not just the journey that's important, and not all paths lead to the same mountain top.
Delete