Evangelicals Now
<< May 2008 >>

Letter from America

A Common Humanity but a Different Word

After various senior Moslem and Christian clerics co-signed a document called ‘A Common Word’ in the New York Times, John Piper appeared on YouTube distancing himself from the document. More recently still, Yale University is calling a conference to further develop the ‘common word’ agenda. You can find details about that at http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24022

Here are some excerpts from a document some of our Yale students looked at recently as a response to these new ‘common word’ initiatives:

‘We should affirm in the strongest possible terms that the ideal of peaceful co-operation between Muslims and Christians is a good one.

‘We should deny in the strongest possible terms that the only basis for this is the construction of a theory that different religions agree in all essential points. The Christian tradition of tolerance is built upon the mutual coexistence with people with whom ‘we don’t agree’. We want a situation in which there is a free exchange of ideas, a free market of ideas, if you will, and are confident that in that freedom of speech the truth will come out.

‘We should assert that the basis for dialogue between people of different faiths is their common humanity. As Christians, we believe that all people, of whatever creed or race, are made in the image of God. On this basis we are to respect the values, culture, and livelihood, rights and activities, of any human being whatsoever wherever and whenever. This is a solid basis on which coexistence and co-operation can and should take place. It is not a distinctly religious basis, for it is based on creation and the natural properties of humanity, and, as such, it is available as a principle not only for those of different religions, but also for people of no religion whatsoever.

‘We should note, then, that ironically ‘a common word’ is deeply exclusive, for it excludes by nature any one or any faith which does not hold a common word, unless we decide that every faith holds a common word, which is not the current project, or attainable. If the basis for co-operation between people of different faiths is their common revelation, their common ‘word’, then I can only be kind, considerate, and thoughtful to those who I have established in my mind foundationally agree with me on those principles.

‘We should also note that the Christian word specifically has encouragement to those who are seeking to discover whether Christianity, if held as true, is necessarily aggressive. While we acknowledge that sometimes in Christian history Christianity has been used in aggressive ways, we deny that is an authentic representation of the Christian message, nor the activity or attitude of the first Christians. Within the Christian ‘Word’ there is a command to love not just your neighbour, but, according to Jesus, to love your enemy as well. We follow someone who is the model of altruism, giving up his life for the world, and who gave us the example of forgiveness by saying from the cross, ‘forgive them’. Within Christianity, then, there are resources to redeem the world from violent means of communication.

‘We want gladly to admit that there are Muslims around the world who are by no means violent in their understanding of their own faith. We do not presume to interpret their own texts for them, but understand that within the principles of interpretation there is a wide variety of views on various controversial texts, and are glad that many Muslims distance themselves from extremists.

‘We also want gladly to notice that many Muslims are quite genuine in their desire to encounter God. We realise, obviously, that Islam is monotheistic, as is Christianity and Judaism, and that Islam believes in the omnipotence of God. This does not mean that what they believe about God is the same as what Christians believe about God, which, in point of fact, is clearly not the same, for Christians believe that Jesus is fully God and fully Man.’

With these principles in mind, the particular opportunities and dangers of our increasingly interconnected globe can be negotiated. Christians especially should know that ‘the truth will set you free’.

Josh Moody,
Connecticut