An eternal God does not need to be defended using human violence, said the Archbishop of Canterbury this week in response to a letter by Muslim leaders and scholars.
Dr. Rowan Williams was referring to Christian-Muslim relations as he responded to the historic letter, “A Common Word Between Us and You,” signed by 138 prominent Muslim figures last fall that sought a dialogue with Christians based on the common ground of loving God and loving thy neighbor.
In the Anglican leader’s letter, he tackled issues of religious freedom, pluralism and religiously-motivated violence. He insisted that the “eternal God cannot need ‘protection’ by the tactics of human violence.” He also emphasized that there can be no justification for “violent contest” based on the “need to ‘protect God’s interests.’”
To make his point, Williams cited John 19:36 where Jesus says to the Roman governor, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight.”
Meanwhile, the Qur’an Al-Baqarah 2:256, he noted, also says there can be no compulsion in religion.
“[W]e will be aware that to try and compel religious allegiance through violence is really a way of seeking to replace divine power with human,” Williams wrote in the letter to the Muslim leaders.
He called for a Christian-Muslim relation that “breaks the current cycles of violence, to show the world that faith and faith alone can truly ground a commitment to peace.”
Other than expressing his opinion on difficult Christian-Muslim issues, the church leader also expressed the Anglican Communion’s deep appreciation for the Muslim leaders’ effort to develop better relations with Christians. He described the original letter as having a “hospitable and friendly spirit.”
The original letter, sent last October, was signed by Muslim clerics, scholars and intellectuals from all the major sects calling for peace between Muslims and Christians. It was hailed as an unprecedented peace effort by the Muslim community towards Christians.
In return, nearly 300 Christian theologians, ministry leaders, and prominent pastors signed a response letter in November issued by the Yale Center for Faith and Culture.
Signers included Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners; Rick Warren, founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church; John Stott, rector emeritus of All Souls Church in London; and Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals.
But several of the signers soon after removed their names from the Christian letter, citing that they felt it compromised the Christian faith. Wheaton College president Duane Litfin, provost Stanton Jones and chaplain Stephen Kellough withdrew their signatures from the letter.
Critics of the letter said the wording failed to clearly define what Christians believe, especially the unique belief in Jesus Christ as mankind’s savior from sin through his death on the cross and his resurrection. They pointed out that Muslims reject this teaching so they do not believe in the same love of God as Christians do, thus affecting the Muslim letter’s claim to having a common love of God.
Litfin said he could not support a statement in the Christian response letter that speaks as if the Qur’an’s Allah and the God of Christians are the same.
“I need to back away,” he had said, according to The Record, the student publication of Wheaton College. But he added he does not criticize others who do not share the same sentiments.
The Anglican Communion will invite Christian and Muslim leaders and scholars to a conference in October to discuss practical steps to deepen mutual understanding on the anniversary of the publication of “A Common Word Between Us and You.”
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hlerwin,
I think you made a remark about it being more accurate (or better, or something like that) to say "the bibles says" rather than "God said."
You got flagged. I defended your right to write what you wanted. Then apparently your flagged message got deleted.
"Stuff may have fallen off."
Great line! That describes my computer experience several times each week.
Stuff may have fallen off. It happens....
What got deleted here? I've just come back, but I don't recall what I posted. Wonder why there is no "Flagged as inappropriate" remnant of my remarks.....
Hey, let hlerwin post. He's got a right to his beliefs, or lack there of.
If God did not say it, then you have no need to believe anything about it, which it certainly appears to be the case.
rwfitch45,
Sounds good, but goes against what God said.
Jn 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The following poem is one that has been meaningful to me since my college days in the mid-60's. Even more so now, since we live in a world that can no longer afford the atrocities of religious tribal warfare. If there is a 'god' than God is One. Our historical and cultural uniqueness from country to country may perceive somewhat varying images. We must trust Paul's words in I Cor 13: "For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly,* but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. "
=============================
Ad Coelum
by Harry Romaine
At the Muezzin's call for prayer
The kneeling faithful thronged the square,
And on Pushkara's lofty height
The dark priest chanted Brahama's might.
Amid a monastry's weeds
An old Franciscan told his beads;
While to the synagogue there came,
A Jew, to praise Jehovah's name.
The one great God looked down and smiled
And counted each His loving child;
For Turk and Brahmin, monk and Jew
Had reached Him through the gods they knew.
===============================================
HARRY ROMAINE
American poet
(fl. 1895)
in "Munsey's Magazine", Jan. 1895
To expalin all that john 18:36 says would take to long. But Dr. Williams is correct in His reading of that passage of Scripture.
The phrase, " Then would my servants " Fight " that I should not be delivered to the jews."
It does refer to Force. But Christ's Kingdom is not of this world at this time, At this time His Kingdom is Spiritual.
But there will come a day when it will fill the earth.
The Prophet declared, " For the Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea." ( hab.2:14. Rev. chap 19.)
"To make his point, Williams cited John 19:36 where Jesus says to the Roman governor, â