Western "Christian" Apologies to Muslims

I have posted a few entries on “Loving God and Neighbor Together,” the "Christians'" response to the Muslim letter, "A Common Word Between Us."

Mark Tooley, concludes his article, "Western Apologies," by saying,

Meanwhile, left-leaning evangelicals often naively believe that apologies and niceness will open doors to their evangelism. “They told me that signing the statement would be especially helpful to Christians who live and minister in Muslim-majority countries and cultures,” explained Leith Anderson, National Association of Evangelicals President, about why he signed Yale’s “Loving God and Neighbor,” despite his qualms about it. “In fact, some suggested that not signing could be damaging to these Christian brothers and sisters who live among Muslims.”

In other words, perhaps Yale’s apologies will appease angry Islamists and they might persecute Christians less often. That desperate hope is hardly strong grounds for interfaith dialogue.

Greg Livingstone's Tepid Acknowledgment of Wrongdoing

Last week, in my entry concerning the retraction of signatures to the Yale "Loving God and Neighbor Together," the alleged "Christian" response to "A Common Word Between Us," I briefly addressed Greg Livingstone's comments in the comment feature. The Desiring God blog has posted the full comments made by Greg Livingstone during the Q&A session at the recent Pastors' Conference last Wednesday, February 6. Find the comments here. If you prefer, listen to Greg Livingstone's response here. If you would like to view the video of his response, click here. Find the question and response at 21:19. Below is what I posted in the comments section of Between Two Worlds, the blog that belongs to my friend Justin Taylor.

I agree with all above comments. I am disappointed in Greg Livingstone's acknowledgement. Below is an edited private response I sent to an individual.

It seems to me that Greg Livingstone's response to the question asked of him was rather tepid, even minimizing of the gravity of his actions. For example, he says, "I also am very aware that some of us are more called to defend the faith, and others are always looking for opportunity. Sometimes that opportunity grabs you before you think about asking for counsel."

This response is quite disappointing, but a rather commonplace response these days because people think of everyone as "specialized." He seems to view himself as "specialized." His role is not to defend the faith or even his faith in particular. That, apparently belongs to other people who specialize in apologetics. His specialization is to look for opportunities. Does 1 Peter 3:15 and the gospel call for us to engage in apologetics belong to a specialized set of people or to all Christians?

Ponder the following statement: "But I'm not afraid to also rebuke the American Christian who sees Muslims as bigger sinners than we are. We've loved cannibals and they eat people. Muslims don't eat people. It's not halal; they're not allowed. And I don't think they're any more evil than the people in this room."

Ponder Greg's opening line of this portion of his comments. It comes off as designed to ameliorate the wrongness of his signing the statement. Instead of simply, humbly, graciously, and unequivocally owning his error, he diverts attention away from himself to the imaginary American Christian who allegedly views Muslims as greater sinners than we Christians are. His statement, then, comes off as diversionary at best.

But wait! What kind of view of the human who is in Christ Jesus does Greg Livingstone have? What kind of view is this that sees the human, who is redeemed by God's amazing grace, as equivalent with the unredeemed godless Muslim? Muslims are no more evil than the pastors at the Desiring God Pastors Conference? Amazing! Yikes! What a comment! This is not the biblical view of God's people in Christ Jesus. Is it? Are we not called the saints? And why? Is it not because of the extraordinary work of God's grace that has transformed us from being held captive in the kingdom of darkness to become servants and subjects in the kingdom of his dear Son? Greg Livingstone's comment reminds me of the ubiquitous moral equivalency argument made ad nauseam throughout the Cold War.

I am grieved and disappointed. Greg Livingstone did not show the kind of leadership that Duane Litfin manifested in his statement when he explained why he retracted his signature.

Deeply disappointed to have to write these comments. Let's be leaders! Let's have courage! When we're wrong, let's be man enough to acknowledge it unequivocally.

___________________

Afterthought. Consider the following.

1. Keep in mind who Greg Livingstone is. Greg Livingstone was, until recently, the chief executive officer of Frontiers, a mission organization dedicated to developing new strategies for a penetrating witness among Muslims. In other words, should he not have been more keenly aware of the negative implications, ramifications, and deleterious effects of his signing on to the "Loving God and Neighbor Together" letter in response to the Muslim clerics' "A Common Word Between Us"? Why did it take John Piper's video response to bring these things to light for him?
   
   
2. On January 17, John Piper posted "Why I Invited Livingstone to Speak at the Pastors Conference." John posted this, undoubtedly, to allay concerns that Greg Livingstone was a signatory on the Yale letter. Later, on January 23, John Piper, host pastor of the Desiring God Pastors Conference, released a video response concerning the Yale letter, which Greg Livingstone signed. In the video, John makes a fairly passionate appeal to express disappointment concerning evangelicals who signed the document, rather obviously thinking of Greg Livingstone.
   
   
3. When Greg Livingstone responds to the question during the Q&A session on Wednesday, February 6, he admits the following: "And I've talked to John Piper, who pointed out that we were hasty and that there were implications and innuendos and issues involved that could, in fact, damage our testimony. I appreciate that." So, Greg Livingstone shows knowledge of John Piper's expressed concerns.
   
   
4. Therefore, when Greg Livingstone spoke at the Desiring God Pastors' Conference last week, he surely had to anticipate that he would be faced with having to explain, to defend, or to retract his endorsement of the document. Did he not? Here is the real question, then. Why did he not come with a prepared statement? Why did he not beat the questioner to the punch? Why did he not use the occasion of the high profile Desiring God Pastors Conference to issue a press release with a prepared statement expressing his sorrow and publicly retract his signature?
   
   
5. Listen to Greg Livingstone's response to the question during the Q&A session at the Desiring God Pastors Conference. Was he not caught in error? Was he not caught flat-footed? Was he not caught wholly unprepared to offer a proper response to the question? Am I imagining this? What a disappointing response to a question that he had to know that he would have to answer! And his defective theology, exploiting the moral equivalency argument, diminishing the transforming power of God's redeeming grace, as he leveled God's redeemed people to the same level as Muslims is astonishing. Is it not? Even worse, he attempted a couple of whacks at humor and roused laughter from some who were present.
   
   
6. Note to self: When caught in error, humbly acknowledge your error and repent immediately. Do not dig your own grave.

Wheaton College Administrators Remove Names From Christian-Muslim Statement

February 8, 2008 12:23PM

Wheaton College Administrators Remove Names From Christian-Muslim Statement

“I signed the statement because I am committed to the business of peace-making and neighbor-love,” Litfin wrote in The Record. “I did not savor the document’s unnuanced apology section, but swallowed that in order to be a part of reaching out a hand to these Muslim leaders who had courageously taken the initiative. Though the statement was not written in the way I would have written it, it seemed to me that I could sign it without compromising any of my Christian convictions.”

“My eagerness to support the statement’s strengths caused me to move too quickly,” president Duane Litfin tells student newspaper.

Litfin goes on to explain that after reading the statement again, he found it was "not carefully enough crafted to avoid encouraging that basic premise of civil religion, i.e., that we are all worshiping the same God, climbing the same mountain, just taking different paths. It appears to me that the statement could have been written so to avoid this problem while still reaching out a gracious hand to these Muslim leaders. . . . To speak unqualifiedly of 'our common love for God,' as if the Quran's Allah and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ are one and the same, and as if what it means to “love God” in these two faiths means the same thing, is to say more than I am willing to grant. I do not criticize others who do not share these qualms. But as for me, I needed to back away."

Read the whole story.

Read Leith Anderson's explanation for why he endorsed the statement.

___________________

Why did President Litfin not recognize the problems with the statement before he added his signature? The problems leaped from the statement upon my initial reading of the document.

Is it not troubling that individuals in such prominent leadership roles sign onto such a defective statement and retract their names only after they get caught by others who point out the defects of the statement and the horrible implications of signing onto it? Why do some of us see the problems and refuse to sign while others sign and only after the damage is already done retract their names? Dare I say that it is just as I explained earlier that political correctness seduced them to sign? I wonder to what extent s fear of lost revenue for ministries and institutions may be the reason others did not sign on or for some to retract their signatures.

Rick Love responds to John Piper

Last week after I learned that John Piper and Al Mohler commented upon the response to "A Common Word between Us and You'" that included many evangelical signatories, I posted Finally, Evangelical leaders speak out.

Today, Rick Love Responds to Piper's Thoughts on "A Common Word" on the Desiring God blog. Rick Love explains "Why I Signed the Yale Response to 'A Common Word'" Read it. Evaluate it for yourself. Is Rick Love convincing? Has he acquitted himself for endorsing the Yale document?

In his response to John Piper, Rick Love explains,

After listening to your response, I realize that I too might have been disappointed by the Yale response if I had only read the two documents. However, I have just begun as a Post Doctoral Fellow at Yale (as a part of my sabbatical). In the providence of God, I have been led to work in the Yale Reconciliation Program to help facilitate their response to the Common Word.

Is this helpful? Does this acquit Rick Love for signing the document? Review my comments on the Common Word response document in "An Urgent Need for Steadfast Perseverance" but also my comments on the Yale "Reconciliation Program" in "Be Reconciled to God." How does his involvement in the "Reconciliation Program" help alleviate his admission above? Or, does it worsen his case? It seems to me that Rick Love, more than most other signatories, has even more reason to refuse to endorse the letter.

Finally, Evangelical Leaders Speak Out

Many weeks ago, twice I addressed "A Common Word between Us and You'" and the response it received from Christians, ranging from liberals to evangelicals. I called attention to the fact that many evangelicals endorsed this compromising document in "An Urgent Need for Steadfast Perseverance" and later I discussed more details about the document and accompanying documents in "Be Reconciled to God."

At last two prominent evangelical leaders have also addressed the issue and the fact that evangelical leaders have endorsed the politically correct statement that compromises singular devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ. Find a videao response by John Piper here and here. Find a response by Al Mohler via MP3 here.

Also, take a look at RESPONSE TO OPEN LETTER AND CALL FROM MUSLIM RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO CHRISTIAN LEADERS, 13 OCTOBER 2007 on the Barnabas Fund.

Brian McLaren was one of the original signatories on the response to "A Common Word between Us and You'". He has written a three-part piece to critics of evangelicals who endorsed the response to the Muslim clerics. See "A Dialogue too Friendly for Focus on the Family"; "Arab Christians Worship Allah Too", and "Does Humility Risk More Than Arrogance? " Take note of McLaren's anemic responses to crtics of the document he endorsed. Whether all other critics have entertained all the questions that McLaren raises, I do not know. I can, however says, yes, I have thought through everyone of the questions that McLaren raises and a whole lot more questions that he seems not to have entertained himself.

Be Reconciled to God!

Recently, I posted an entry I titled, An Urgent Need for Steadfast Perseverance. I called attention to the fact that many, who identify themselves as evangelicals, have endorsed a statement drafted and sponsored by the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, under the direction of Miroslav Volf. The statement is titled, Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to 'A Common Word between Us and You'.

Receipt of a forwarded news letter from a couple of retired missionaries to the Arabic world, Bassam and Shirley Madany, prompt this fresh entry that offers further background for why I posted my urgent appeal. Shirley's letter, forwarded to me by a reader of this blog, prompted me to do a little more inquiry concerning the original "A Common Word Between Us and You" drafted by 138 Muslim clerics. The letter begins,

Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.

The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour.

These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbour is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity. The following are only a few examples:

Of God’s Unity, God says in the Holy Qur’an: Say: He is God, the One! / God, the Self-Sufficient Besought of all! (Al-Ikhlas, 112:1-2). Of the necessity of love for God, God says in the Holy Qur’an: So invoke the Name of thy Lord and devote thyself to Him with a complete devotion (Al-Muzzammil, 73:8). Of the necessity of love for the neighbour, the Prophet Muhammad said: “None of you has faith until you love for your neighbour what you love for yourself.”

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ said: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. / And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. / And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)

In the Holy Qur’an, God Most High enjoins Muslims to issue the following call to Christians (and Jews—the People of the Scripture):

Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to a common word between us and you: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him). (Aal ‘Imran 3:64)

Read Cranmer's Muslim clerics demand peace, or else.... Cranmer understands the cleric's letter as I do. Their call for peace necessarily entails submission to Allah. They craftily recast "Allah" as "God," for ingenuous readers, such as those at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and those who endorsed their Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to 'A Common Word between Us and You'.

In their piece on "Reconciliation Program," Miroslav Volf and his joint drafters of the above letter of response juxtapose three quotations, one from the Qu'ran, one from the New Testament, and one from the Torah.

Bring about reconciliation between your brothers, and fear God, that you may receive mercy. — Qur’an, Surat al-Hujurat (49):10

God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. / And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. — New Testament, 2 Corinthians
5:19

You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. — Torah, Leviticus 19:18

Volf and associates lift the passage out of context from Qur’an, Surat al-Hujurat (49):10. Once again, here is the citation by the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: Bring about reconciliation between your brothers, and fear God, that you may receive mercy. — Qur’an, Surat al-Hujurat (49):10. Now, consider the quoation within a little more of the context.

And if two groups of the Muslims fight each other, then make peace between them, but if one of them commits excessiveness against the other, then fight the one that has committed excessiveness till it reverts to the command of Allah. Then if it reverts rectify between them with justice and do justice. Verily Allah loves the equitable.

Muslims are brothers, therefore make peace between the two brothers and fear Allah that the mercy may be shown to you (Qur’an, Surat al-Hujurat [49]:9-10).

Is it not evident that the Yale Center folks cherry-picked the portion that served their purpose and pulled the quotation out of a context that speaks of making peace with fellow Muslims, not with Christians? Do Christians not properly correct their own as well as Muslims and others who lift a statement out of either the Old or New Testaments and exploit it in ways that its meaning within context neither bears nor permits?

Furthermore, consider the source of the title of the letter from the 138 Muslim clerics, "A Common Word between Us and You." The expression, "a common word between us and you," derives explicitly from the Qu'ran, Surah Al-i'Imran [3]:64. Here is the verse within the context of Surah Al-i'Imran 62-68.

This verily is the true Narrative; There is none worthy of worship save Allah; and verily only Allah is All Mighty, the All Wise.

Then if they turn back their faces, then Allah knows the mischief mongers.

Say you, O people of the Book! Come towards such a word which is common between us and you, that is we worship none but Allah and associate no partner with Him; and none of us make one another as Lord beside Allah; then if they do not accept then say, 'bear witness that we are Muslims.'

'O people of the Book! Why do you dispute about Ibraham? The Torah and Injil (Gospel) were not sent down, but after him, then have you no reason? Behold! you are those who disputed in that of which you had knowledge, then why you dispute in that of which you have no knowledge, and Allah knows and you know not.

Abraham was neither a Jew nor Christian but was a Muslim separate from every falsehood and was not of the polytheists.

Verily, the more rightful claimant of Abraham than all people were those who followed him and this prophet and the believers, And Allah is the Protector of the believers.

Is it not evident that the expression, "a common word between us and you," is used within a polemical portion that calls for Christians and Jews to become Muslims? The Yale Center of Faith & Culture response to the clerics in Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to 'A Common Word between Us and You' fails to recognize this and fails to address it.

It is not difficult to understand that Surah Al-i'Imran denounces Christians and Jews, unless they become Muslims. Read further through Surah Al-i'Imran [3]:85-87.

And whoso will desire for a religion other than Islam that shall never be accepted from him and in the next world he shall be among the losers.

How Allah shall wish to guide such a people who disbelieved after believing and had borne witness that the Messenger is true and to whom had come clear signs? And Allah guides not a people unjust.

Their need is this that on them there is curse of Allah, and of angels and of men, all together.

Does this read like Islam is truly desirous for peace, harmony, reconciliation, and unity with Christians and Jews?

In my previous entry on this subject I commented on the urgent need to be wary of the seductive power of "multiculturalism and diversity," under the tyranny of political correctness, lest we be ensnared to endorse the efforts of the Yale Center of Faith & Culture. I also commented on the pseudo-reconciliation they suppose that they are achieving by offering up presumptuous confessions of alleged sins committed by other alleged Christians in the past and in the present, as though they were priests for others. One of the reasons Volf and his associates do this is that they have embraced the worldview called "multiculturalism and diversity." Do you doubt my assessment? Read what the Reconciliation Program says.

The goal of the Reconciliation Program is to promote reconciliation between Muslims and Christians, and between Muslim nations and the West, drawing on the resources of the Abrahamic faiths and the teachings and person of Jesus.

The Reconciliation Program is the newest program at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. In its initial phase, the Reconciliation Program is focused primarily on bridge-building scholarly research on the major theological, political, cultural, social and ethical issues which traditionally divide Muslims and Christians, and on concerns which unite them.

This is reconciliation? Indeed, this is the kind of reconciliation that "multiculturalism and diversity" worldview preaches and advocates. Is this not "multiculturalism and diversity's" bastardization of the biblical and Christian teaching concerning reconciliation? Consider the words of the Christian apostle Paul.

From now on, therefore we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:16-21).

The only reconciliation program directed toward Muslims that any Christian should embrace is the one that the apostle lays out. Reconciliation with Muslims requires their reconciliation with the one and only God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The only kind of reconciliation that we Christians should seek with regard to Muslims is their acknowledgment of Christ Jesus as Lord and their spurning of Mohammed and Islam.

Dear readers, let us not be seduced by the kind of reconciliation with which "multiculturalism and diversity" tempts us, the kind to eliminates the offense inherent within the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, be reconciled to God and implore others, including Muslims, to be reconciled to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through Christ Jesus.

For a news article on the Muslim clerics' letter, read Muslims point to common ground in The Christian Century. Not to be left out is The Peacemaking Process: A call to evangelicals to respond to a significant Muslim overture in Christianity Today by J. Dudley Woodberry.

An Urgent Need for Steadfast Perseverance

What does this blog entry have to do with Christian perseverance? Actually, everything! I am not suggesting that the following two portions of Scripture should be interpreted as referring specifically to Islam and the god of Islam. I am, however, urging all to reflect upon the urgency of these passages concerning yielding to temptation and to intimidation lest we adulterate worship of the One True God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Fear of fellow humans can be extremely intimidating, even to the point of inciting us to act against our stated convictions. Reflect upon the apostle Peter who was intimidated to act contrary to his beliefs (Gal. 2:11-14). We live in an era that is governed by the intimidating forces of "multiculturalism and diversity," forces that seductively mimic Christian graces, especially under the guise of tolerance. Multiculturalism’s virtue of tolerance supplants the Christian grace of forbearance as Christians trade away forbearance toward people for tolerance for ideas, ideas hostile to the gospel. Multiculturalism, which is virulently but seductively anti-Christian, depends heavily upon the new virtue driven by political correctness. As I have published somewhere,

Political correctness is a virus. Intimidation carries this contagion from one individual to another as receiving hosts offer little resistance to the virus. Because the contagion exploits its host’s reluctance to offend the alleged sensibilities of hypersensitive people, political correctness seduces its host to accept the virus as newly acquired virtue to be passed on to others with religious zeal. Herein is the genius and power of political correctness. Once the host accepts political correctness as virtuous, external policing is rarely needed because the virus internally intimidates one’s conscience so that it becomes second nature to use newspeak and to chastise others who do not. Hence, the tyranny of political correctness: newspeak represents itself as virtue.

Are we not obligated to understand the seduction and intimidation that false religions and false religionists will exploit to proselytize us? Satan is a schemer. Is he not (2 Cor. 2:10-11)? Are we so clever that we can tempt the devil and outmaneuver him (Eph. 6:10-12)? Is not our God a jealous God who will not share his glory with another (Isa. 48:10-11)?

_______________________________

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. He who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints (Rev. 13:8-10).

_______________________________

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."

A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."

A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus (Rev. 14:6-12).

_______________________________

From the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, Miroslav Volf, Director.

Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to 'A Common Word between Us and You'

In the name of the infinitely good God whom we should love with all our being

Below is the Preamble to the statement. Does not the preamble trouble you? Does not the Preamble read as though the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ were also the god of Muhammed and of all Muslims? This is made evident when the statement later claims, "In the Muslim tradition, God, 'the Lord of the worlds,' is 'The Infinitely Good and All-Merciful.'" Without any doubt, then, all who sign on to this statement are asking the god of Islam, a false deity, to forgive sins and offenses committed against Muslims by past and present Christians. Is this not astonishing?

Furthermore, does not the Preamble partake deeply of the collectivist doctrine of "multiculturalism and diversity" by confessing the offenses requesting forgiveness for alleged offenses and sins committed toward Muslims by alleged Christians? First they speak as though they have priestly authority to take upon themselves the alleged offenses and sins committed by alleged Christians "in the past (e.g. in the Crusades)". Then they presume to speak as confessing priests for their own contemporaries to confess alleged offenses and sins committed toward Muslims by "many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors". Does it not astonish you that these do-gooders dare to insinuate themselves as priests on behalf of alleged Christians "in the present (e.g. in excesses of the 'war on terror')" who evidently are blinded by bigotry toward their Muslim brothers and sisters?

For a moment, set aside the fact that these Christians are appealing to a false deity. On what Scriptural authority do any of us dare to confess the alleged sins and offenses of others? Please, do not point to Daniel's prayer (Daniel 9). Daniel resided under the old covenant. We dwell under the jurisdiction of the new covenant. There is only one priest who has the authority of Heaven to intercede on behalf of another, and he is at the Father's side.

Here is the Preamble. Read it and begin to weep, my friends. Weep for those who have endorsed the statement. Pray for them that the Lord will open their eyes to see what they have done by signing this statement. Pray that they will repent and seek the forgiveness of the only True God who will share his glory with no other. Then, pray that the Lord will enable you to persevere in faithfulness and steadfast loyalty to our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Father who is in heaven.

As members of the worldwide Christian community, we were deeply encouraged and challenged by the recent historic open letter signed by 138 leading Muslim scholars, clerics, and intellectuals from around the world. A Common Word Between Us and You identifies some core common ground between Christianity and Islam which lies at the heart of our respective faiths as well as at the heart of the most ancient Abrahamic faith, Judaism. Jesus Christ’s call to love God and neighbor was rooted in the divine revelation to the people of Israel embodied in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18). We receive the open letter as a Muslim hand of conviviality and cooperation extended to Christians world-wide. In this response we extend our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and
our neighbors.

Muslims and Christians have not always shaken hands in friendship; their relations have sometimes been tense, even characterized by outright hostility. Since Jesus Christ says, “First take the log out your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye” (Matthew 7:5), we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the “war on terror”) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors. Before we “shake your hand” in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world.

Read the whole statement here. Below is a partial list of signatories, many whom most evangelicals will recognize. Most of those that I did not include in the list below are not identified as evangelicals.

The Yale Center for Faith & Culture provides an easy opportunity for you to fail to persevere and to add your name to the list here.

Would you add your name to the list? Would you endorse the statement? I pray that you will not.

_______________________________

Miroslav Volf, Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology, Yale University

Dr. Martin Accad, Academic Dean, Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (Lebanon), Director, Institute of Middle East Studies (Lebanon), Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Fuller School of Intercultural Studies

Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals

Dr. Don Argue, Chancellor, Northwest University, Former President, National Association of Evangelicals, Commissioner, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

David Augsburger, Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Fuller Theological Seminary

James A. Beverley, Professor of Christian Thought and Ethics, Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, Canada

Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Professor of Reconciliation Studies, Bethel University

Kent A. Eaton, Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Associate Dean, Bethel Seminary San Diego, California

Timothy George, Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary

Lynn Green, International Chairman, Youth With A Mission

Judith Gundry-Volf, Adjunct Associate Professor of New Testament, Yale Divinity School

David P. Gushee, Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University and President, Evangelicals for Human Rights

Bill Hybels, Founder and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL

Robert K. Johnston, Professor of Theology and Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary

Stanton L. Jones, Provost and Professor of Psychology, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL

Tony Jones, National Coordinator, Emergent Village

Rev. Stephen B. Kellough, Chaplain, Wheaton College (IL)

Peter Kuzmic, Eva B. and Paul E. Toms Distinguished Professor of World Missions and European Studies, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Rektor, Evandjeoski Teoloski Fakultet, Osijek, Croatia

Tim Lewis, President, William Carey International University

Duane Litfin, President, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL

Rick Love, International Director, Frontiers and Adjunct Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, author of Peacemaking

Douglas Magnuson, Associate Professor of Intercultural Programs and Director of Muslim Studies, Bethel University

Brent D. Maher, Graduate Assistant to the Provost, Taylor University, Upland, IN

Danut Manastireanu, Director for Faith & Development, Middle East & East Europe Region, World Vision International, Iasi, Romania

C. Douglas McConnell, PhD, Dean, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Seminary

Brian D. McLaren, Author, Speaker, Activist

Greg Meland, Director of Formation, Supervised Ministry and Placement, Bethel Seminary, Minnesota

Richard Mouw, President and Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary

David Neff, Editor in Chief & Vice-President, Christianity Today Media Group

Doug Pennoyer, Dean, School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University

Dr. Evelyne A. Reisacher, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies and International Relations, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA

Rev. Dr. Robert Schuller, Founder, Crystal Cathedral and Hour of Power

Glen G. Scorgie, Ph.D., Bethel Seminary San Diego

David W. and K. Grace Shenk, Global Consultants, Eastern Mennonite Missions, Salunga, PA

Wilbert R. Shenk, Senior Professor of Mission History and Contemporary Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary

Marguerite Shuster, Harold John Ockenga Professor of Preaching and Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture, Regent College, Vancouver, Canada

Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Chrisian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary

Rev. Dr. John Stott, Rector Emeritus, All Souls Church, Langham Place, London, UK

George Verwer, Founder and former International Director, OM

Miroslav Volf, Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology, Yale Divinity School

Jim Wallis, President, Sojourners

Rick Warren, Founder and Senior Pastor, Saddleback Church, and The Purpose Driven Life, Lake Forest, CA

Nicholas Wolterstorff, Senior Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia