Understanding Our Neighbors

Andy Bannister, a Christian author and speaker with a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, and who formerly served with Ravi Zacharias Int’l Ministries in Canada, was recently invited to address the Edinburgh University Islamic Society on the topic of mutual misunderstandings between Christianity and Islam.

He first named three common Christian misunderstandings of Islam:  1) “Many Christians think that all Muslims are violent, which is not a fair or accurate understanding of Islam.”  2) “In the West, we tend to separate … religion and state; by con­trast, Islam doesn’t tend to make those distinctions.”  3) “Sometimes Christians mistakenly think that Muslims worship Muhammad, which of course they don’t.”

He then noted three common Muslim misunderstandings of Christi­anity:  1) “Many Muslims tend assume all Westerners are Christian.”  2) “Muslims frequently think that the Bible has been corrupted and changed.”  3) Regarding Jesus, “many Muslims think Christians have taken a mere man and elevated him to a posi­tion of deity.  Yet that actually fails to understand the words of Jesus himself.”

Bannister says that after his talk there was a friendly and lively Q&A.  “Many of the Muslim audience had never heard any of this stuff, more than one of them saying they’d never heard a Christian explain and defend what Christians believed.”

“I have been dialoguing and engaging with Muslims for over 20 years now, and they are always wonderfully welcoming, friendly people—who often ask fantastically good ques­tions….  Too often Christians avoid Muslims or are afraid of them, thus it’s hardly surprising that many Muslims have no idea what the Christian faith really is.”

Did you know that Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast each day from sunrise to sunset, begins this Sunday, May 5, and ends on June 4?  The folks at prayercast.com are providing video resources to encourage Christians to call on the Lord on behalf of Muslim friends and neighbors.  Is the Lord giving you opportunities for conversation with Muslims?

Do you share God’s heart for all the world (John 3:16), and will you join in prayer for Muslim neighbors near and far to put their trust in Jesus?  If you’d benefit from more info on Islam, see posts from The Gospel Coalition here, here, and here.  Or check out the free course on Islam at Biblical Training.  And above all, “Let us pray.”