I have always been reticent to write an op / ed piece for the local paper.  I have a general mistrust of the media. However, I recently decided to write piece for the Saint Cloud Times opinion page.  I found editorial page editor Randy Krebs to be very fair and gracious in our e-mail conversations about my article.  

I wrote my article to counter the assertions of a regular Times writer named Patrick Henry who was using very subjective evidence to judge the “similarity” of the gods of Islam and Christianity.   I don’t want my own members (or anyone for that matter) to judge “God” by my actions.  After all I am a sinner through and through.  Rather I would encourage all people to judge God based on the objective evidence of His own Word.  In so doing they will find that the Allah of Islam and the God of Christianity are not and cannot be the same god.  My article follows.  

Your Turn

(appeared in the July 10, 2016 edition of the Saint Cloud Times)

I agree with a few sentiments in Patrick Henry’s piece on Sunday, July 3.  I agree that any religion which encourages hatred is ungodly and should be condemned.   I agree that Christians and Muslims ought to be neighborly and loving toward one another.  I believe that any true religion should actually improve the society and culture to which it comes, bringing freedom and rights to all humanity.

However, I disagree with what seems to be the main point of Mr. Henry’s article.  In response to his question, “Do Muslims and Christians worship the same god?” Henry seeks his answer in the lives of  each religion’s people.  He also criticizes the assertion of Usama Dakdok that “to know Islam, one needs to read the Quran.”

The very best and intellectually honest way to know a god and a religion is not by looking at its people, but by reading its sacred writings.  Do not Christians believe that the Holy Bible is God’s own word?  Do not Muslims believe that the Quran is Allah’s true revelation of Himself through Mohammed.  If we believe this, shouldn’t the word of our “gods” be the place to which we look to learn about them, compare them, and determine if they are indeed the same god?

The Bible reveals God as “The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19).  The Quran says that Allah has no son (Sura 9:30).  The Scripture says that salvation comes by grace through faith in the sin-atoning death of Jesus Christ on a cross outside Jerusalem.  (1 Cor 1:23, Eph 2:8-9, Rom. 3:21-26).   The Quran denies that Jesus was crucified or rose again (Sura 4:157-158). The Scriptures teach that Jesus is God Himself (John 1:1, 14), while the Quran says he is no more than a messenger of Allah (Sura 4:171) These few examples indicate significant differences.

Let’s be honest in our assessment of Christianity and Islam using their own writings.   Allah and the Holy Trinity are not the same God.  Does that mean we should encourage harm and animosity against one another?  Absolutely not.  But let us not brush aside real differences based upon our subjectivity.  Diminishing our differences through obfuscation will not help.  Instead we can encourage love based on the truth of God’s own Word, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:10-11 (ESV)

Bruce Timm is a resident of Sauk Rapids and pastor of a local congregation