Unsettled Christianity

From the Qur’an -

Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (for the right); they rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knoweth well those that do right (3:113-115 AYA).

Nearest among them in love to the Believers wilt thou find those who say, “We are Christians”: Because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant (5:85 AYA/82 MP).

I do not believe that the Qur’an is holy unto God, nor contains the truth of reveal Scripture, but I do believe that others do. And, I believe that If I want others to respect me and my beliefs, I should strive to do so to them. Respect is not pluralism. In reading portions of the Qur’an, there are verses and passages that are difficult (so too the Word of God) but then there are portions in which Muslims are told not to kill Christians and Jews, but essentially, to let Allah sort it out.

Nine years ago today, radical, Islamic, terrorists killed thousands of Americans, bringing their hatred home to us. They disobeyed portions of their own sacred text.

For me, I pray that the truth of God reveals to Isaiah becomes a reality and we as Christians obey our sacred texts, turning the other cheek, loving our enemies, praying, charity and good works, and from Micah which I hope rings true soon enough,

In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all– the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. The LORD will mediate between peoples and will settle disputes between strong nations far away. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. (Micah 4:1-3 NLT)

Post By Joel (9,277 Posts)

Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).

Website: → Unsettled Christianity

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