Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
This is a question that at least two American churches have faced of late: should Christians lend their churches to Muslim worshipers for prayer?
According to one Christian, they should:
In Alexandria, Va., a local Islamic center decided to build its own mosque. In the meantime, it asked the Aldersgate Methodist Church if it could use its building for Friday prayers.
"I feel like we are embodying Christianity by being welcoming," said Diane Bechtol, a member of Aldersgate Methodist....
Bechtol said she does not think sharing worship space compromises her faith.
"Jesus called us to give hospitality to strangers. To feed the poor and help the sick and this is walking the walk," she added.
But according to another, Christians should not lend their spaces to Muslim worshipers:
"It is not self-evident that this duty to love your neighbor requires us to provide property for false worship," said Jason B. Hood, a writer for Christianity Today.
Hood also pointed out that good works should not lead other believers to stumble.
One point that Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somalian Muslim-turned-Atheist, made in her must-read book "Nomad: From Islam to America" was that Christianity could serve as an antidote to radical Islam:
In "Nomad," what I try to do is encourage other religions, especially Christianity, but also humanists, atheists, to take their ideas and values to the marketplace of ideas and try actively to convert the young demographic of Muslims on whose minds now only radical Islamic agents have a monopoly.
To Hirsi Ali, Christianity at its best has internalized several virtues that radical Islam shuns: open mindedness, tolerance, and a successful separation of political and religious power.
By lending their spaces to Muslim worshipers, Christians are certainly putting into practice several of those virtues, and more--something to celebrate, I think, don't you?
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May '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Foxman
So you are not aware that the Quran cites the Bible as a holy book and cites Jesus as a great prophet?
Merely a prophet, you mean; not the Word made flesh (God).
Christianity does not similarly reinterpret figures from the Torah. The New Testament augments old stories with considerations of the Holy Spirit and such, but it only adds and clarifies. The Jewish holy book is wholly relevant to Christians as it is to Jews. God's covenant with the Jews, the heart of the Torah, is completely valid in Christian belief.
The same relationship does not exist between the Bible and Koran. The Koran rejects the very foundation of the New Testament -- that Jesus not only fulfills the Jews' prophecy of the Messiah but is God incarnate.
Nov '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Foxman
Lucy Pevensie
Foxman
Just for the record. Do you think Christians and Jews worship the same God?
But the fact that we have some scriptures in common separates us completely from Muslims, whose only scripture, the Quran, is an entirely different text.
Muslims believe (with absolutely no historical substantiation) that the modern Jewish and Christian scriptures are completely changed and distorted from the original texts. (So any positive references to these in the Quran is understood as not applying to anything we actually have today.) Try exporting Bibles or Torahs to Saudi Arabia, and see how far your idea that Muslims respect the Bible takes you. The idea that Jesus is a great prophet as conceived of in Islam, will not stand up to a reading of the Christian bible, and thus Muslims do not read the Bible,
Jun '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
From the State Department's website on Saudi Arabia:
"The Government prohibits public non-Muslim religious activities. Non-Muslim worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in religious activity that attracts official attention. The Government continues to state publicly that its policy is to allow non-Muslim foreigners to worship privately. However, the Government does not provide explicit guidelines--such as the number of persons permitted to attend private services and acceptable locations--for determining what constitutes private worship, thereby leaving the distinction between public and private worship unclear. This lack of clarity and instances of inconsistent enforcement led many non-Muslims to worship in fear of harassment and in such a way as to avoid discovery by police or Mutawwa'in. The Government often deported those detained for visible non-Muslim worship, sometimes after lengthy periods of arrest during investigation. In some cases, those convicted were also sentenced to receive lashes prior to deportation. (more)...
Edited on Jan 24, 2011 at 7:36pmJun '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
More from the State Dept's website on Saudi Arabia:
"In contrast to previous years, there was a decrease in both long-term detentions and deportations of non-Muslims for religious reasons; however, there was a marked increase in harassment by Mutawwa'in and in overall arrests and short-term detentions of non-Muslims. Some former detainees reported occasional government harassment and surveillance following their release.
The Government officially does not permit non-Muslim clergy to enter the country to conduct religious services, although some do so under other auspices, and the Government generally has allowed their performance of discreet religious functions. Such restrictions make it very difficult for most non-Muslims to maintain contact with clergymen and attend services. Catholics and Orthodox Christians, who require a priest on a regular basis to receive the sacraments required by their faith, particularly are affected.
Proselytizing by non-Muslims, including the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as Bibles, is illegal, and the promotion of non-Salafi Islam is restricted. Muslims or non-Muslims wearing religious symbols of any kind in public risk confrontation with Mutawwa'in."
Jun '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Mike Riscili
If we are talking about Biblical Christianity then Christianity and Islam are most definitely "mutually exclusive." Either you believe that Christ is God or you don't. I don't see any wiggle room here... John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" If you believe this, then all other religions are mutually exclusive. · Jan 24 at 7:51am
If you believe this then be at peace brother, in this scripture, "through me" does not mean 'through the vestibule' or upon these planks,' but rather 'through God.' Too often people confuse somewhere or something with everywhere and everything. Sure, Christ is somewhere, but also everywhere and it is through Christ, i.e. God, not religion, we'll reach salvation. Neither do we reach salvation through planks of wood.
An old Islamic proverb tells of a man that is criticized for praying in the wrong direction, since Muslims traditionally pray towards Mecca. The man, chastised, replies, tell me in which direction God is not and I will not pray in that direction.
Shalom, baby!
Edited on Jan 24, 2011 at 7:48pmJun '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
So, not only is there ever a question that a Christian would be allowed to worship as a Christian in a Saudi Arabian mosque...but simply publicly worshipping as a Christian in Saudi Arabia, even saying the Rosary on a park bench, can be punishable by arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture.
Christian churches are free to do what they want and open their doors for Muslim services but how many mosques in America have reciprocated? A few? Any? For some reason I can't seem to find any examples on the Internet of an American mosque allowing a Christian service to be celebrated within its walls. Wonder why that is?
May '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Foxman Just how old do you think Mary was when she was betrothed to Joseph? In case you don't know betrothed means married.
No, betrothed means "promised in marriage".
Jun '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Just to keep it real, Saudi Arabia has about the same population of Muslims as Texas has of Christians --and Arabs, of which Saudi Arabians are a small minority, represent about 15% of all Muslims in the world...and they are, all too often, the litmus test for all things Muslim in this world when the part-time theologians put the rubber to the road.
Jun '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Home of the Prophet. Home of Mecca and many of Islam's most holiest of sites...just to keep it real.
Edited on Jan 24, 2011 at 9:30pmJul '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Brian Watt
Home of the Prophet. Home of Mecca and Islam's most holiest sites...just to keep it real. · Jan 24 at 9:09pm
There's a complicated history behind Saudi Arabia, and many people in Saudi Arabia (especially in the Hejaz, the region home to Mecca and Medina) completely disagree with the puritanical brand of Islam imposed upon them by the House of Saud.
Extreme Wahhibism is a disgrace to Islam, and the Saudis have long been a controversial force in the Muslim world. The over-the-top monotheism and anti-rational theology characteristic of the Wahhabi movement, not to mention its urge to cut off the modern world and destroy sacred folk shrines, makes it generally unpopular. It doesn't speak for the whole Muslim world.
Jun '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Charlie Dameron
Brian Watt
There's a complicated history behind Saudi Arabia, and many people in Saudi Arabia (especially in the Hejaz, the region home to Mecca and Medina) completely disagree with the puritanical brand of Islam imposed upon them by the House of Saud.
Extreme Wahhibism is a disgrace to Islam, and the Saudis have long been a controversial force in the Muslim world. The over-the-top monotheism and anti-rational theology characteristic of the Wahhabi movement, not to mention its urge to cut off the modern world and destroy sacred folk shrines, makes it generally unpopular. It doesn't speak for the whole Muslim world. · Jan 24 at 9:43pm
The discussion as it is evolving compels me to draw upon some scholarly works that given the word limitations on this site make it very challenging cite in a timely way and would essentially hijack the entire discussion. Further some of the historical references and scholarly interpretations of Islam I am compelled to cite may be deemed offensive by some followers of the Prophet so rather than continue I will simply let my previous comments express my sentiments on the question originally posed.
May '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
The discussion here seems to be entirely focussed on Saudi Arabia, but Muslim intolerance is far, far from being a Saudi phenomenon. Lots of so-called "moderate" Muslim nations like Egypt are also hotbeds of every form of intolerance and persecution.
Nov '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Personally, I think that one cannot be an authentic Christian without simultaneously affirming the essential tenets of Judaism. The two places where Christianity and Judaism seem to part company are 1.) the divinity of Jesus (closely related to his role as Messiah), and 2.) the idea that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is, in fact, a Trinity. Obviously, for a number of theological, historical, and linguistic reasons, it is easier for Christians to reconcile the divinity of Jesus and the notion of the Trinity with foundational Jewish theology than it is for Jews. But the fact remains: there is a STRONG line of continuity linking these two faiths, and Christianity without its umbilical connection to Judaism is simply NOT authentic Christianity.
Islam is a different kettle of fish altogether. And while the term "Abrahamic" probably applies to Islam in some very-attenuated sense of the word, Islam has NO theological, textual, moral, or ideological relationship to either Judaism or Christianity. [This comment redacted by an editor. Code of Conduct: "Imagine you're a guest at a dinner party with a group of seemingly nice people you don't know... how would you handle yourself?"]
Edited on Jan 25, 2011 at 7:48amJun '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
The central difference between Christianity and Judaism is Christ's divinity and resurrection. Judaism does not believe Jesus is the Messiah, nor does it believe Christ conquered death...nor even that Jesus ascended to heaven.
Islam believes Christ was the Messiah sent to bring the true Gospel to Israel...born to a virgin birth and at the end of his human existence ascended to heaven. Moreover, in Islam the Messiah will return at the Day of Judgment. The Koran mentions Jesus by name 25 times.
I leave it to you to decide which of the monotheistic faiths are more related and more contradictory of the central tenants of the faith.
As for me, I see a good bit that agrees in all three, even knowing that there are irreconcilable differences that separate all three. It does, however, seem churlish to insist that one of these things is not like the other with such vigor.
Dec '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Tim
... The Koran mentions Jesus by name 25 times.
I leave it to you to decide which of the monotheistic faiths are more related and more contradictory of the central tenants of the faith.
... It does, however, seem churlish to insist that one of these things is not like the other with such vigor. · Jan 25 at 8:18am
Of the Bible’s early books, none mention “Jesus by name ‘25’ times” but the 7th century Qur’an does?
Oh mystery of all mysteries!
Of those “25” citations, only all of them deny Christ’s superiority to Mohammed?
Most faithful of all faithful!
Of the common threads the Qur’an has with the Bible, only all of them abrogate, misrepresent, or insult our Judeo-Christian heritage?
Oh relativistic moral equivalency idolaters, how it always is that your propaganda corrupts knowledge, offends honesty, perverts history, and hastens ridicule for your bona fide bad faith!
Nov '10
Re: Should Christians Lend Their Churches to Muslim Worshipers?
Tim, With all due respect, the "Issa" of the Koran resembles the Jesus of the Gospels about as much as a barnacle resembles an elephant-- which is to say, not much at all. More to the point is the fact that the "New Testament" contains many, many, many affirmations of the basic tenets of Judaism and as many affirmations that the Hebrew Scriptures are entirely trustworthy and the authentic word of God. Yes, I know that some Jewish people are more than a bit uncomfortable with some of the phraseology found in the Gospel of John. But even these somewhat awkward passages in no way abrogate the overarching message of that Gospel, which embodies a resounding embrace of the theology found in the Hebrew Scriptures. The Koran, on the other hand, contains dozens of passages that cannot be construed as being anything other than anti-semitism, of the mosrt virulent sort From a Jewish point of view, it is NOT easy to reconcile Judaism with Christianity. But even the most defensive and orthodox Jews will concede that there is immense theological common ground between the two faiths-- at least, in theory, if not always in practice.