The Layman – February 2002 Volume 35, Number 1 – Posted February 8, 2002

Be kind to Muslims and faithful to Christ The necessity of taking the war against terrorism into the heart of a region where the religion of Islam overwhelmingly predominates has spawned isolated incidents of shameful acts against our Muslim friends in the United States. Fortunately, many Christians – including Presbyterians – have shown compassion and kindness to Muslims in their communities by following the law of love. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has provided a number of resources through its Web site to encourage Presbyterians to treat Muslims with dignity and fairness. That’s to be commended. But some of the material prepared by the PCUSA falls short of being faithful to the gospel. For example, the PCUSA suggests a prayer for a joint service of Christians and Muslims that says, in part, “Even as we call you by different names, we acknowledge together our common faith that only you are God.” Our common faith? Christianity is not a faith in common with Islam, no more than it is a faith in common with Judaism, Buddhism or Hinduism. Our faith is in Jesus Christ alone and, as Presbyterians have historically said, Jesus Christ alone is Lord and Savior for the world. It should be our burning desire that all would come to know Jesus as Lord. It is because of our faith in Jesus Christ – not in spite of it – that we can honor his commandment to love people who believe otherwise. To suggest, even innocently, that we share a common faith with Islam is to diminish the claim that Jesus has on his disciples. Likewise, the notion that the two religions constitute a common faith is an insult to Christians around the world who are undergoing persecution – including death and enslavement – because they dare to insist that Jesus Christ alone is Lord. Sadly, much of that persecution is instigated in the name of Allah. In compiling its resources for the denomination, the staff of the Presbyterian Church has forgotten that there are two questions with greatly different answers: 1) Who is your God? and 2) Who is your neighbor? If the answer to the first question makes no difference – that “common faith” is universal – then it makes no difference who your neighbor is.

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