Christianity without Jesus: writing about an article in Hungryhearts

As I began to read several articles in the Fall/Winter 2009 Hungryhearts Journal of Reformed Spirituality, published by the Office of Theology and Worship, PC (USA), I found some contradiction. This particular issue is entitled “An Elephant in the Room” and is about interfaith dialogue. But for the most part it is about more than dialogue. It is about letting go of the view that people of other faiths need Jesus.

And yet the introduction by the Editor, Tammy Wiens, is different. There is an expressed concern for the uniqueness of Jesus.

In the introduction Wiens writes about praying in Jesus’ name. She suggests that prayer in Jesus name is more than simply a formula, “there is a long tradition in the church to suggest it should be otherwise.” Quoting from the book Christian Prayer for Today she writes, “To pray in Jesus’ name is no small thing! ‘The name of Jesus is not just a required tagline,’ writes Moore-Keish, ‘but is the foundation, goal, and resting place in which we offer our prayers.’”

Wiens goes on to point to the Westminster Confession writing:

“Christians believe that apart from Christ we would have no access to God. We pray in Jesus name to gain access to the throne of God’s grace. (Heb. 4:16)"

Then after quoting Westminster (7.290) she commends the other articles as a means to strengthen our own spiritual practices. This is a contradiction that I do not understand.

Several days ago I wrote on the article, “Blessed by an Elephant? Why Not?”. The article I am troubled with tonight is “Contemplative Interfaith” by Ben Campbell Johnson, Professor Emeritus of Columbia Theological Seminary.

Johnson writes about being called to a contemplative life and then a ministry of interfaith work between Christians and Muslims. The writings he began reading as he entered the first part of his contemplative journey were by Thomas Merton, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Willigis Jäger. For those unfamiliar with Jäger (I was not) he is a Priest and a Zen Master who has been censored by the Roman Catholic Church. He advocates a global spirituality founded on the Zen of the Soto tradition.

Johnson explains that as he went further into the contemplative life he found that “Theological issues like the incarnation and the Trinity did not seem as pressing as at other times in [his] life.” Stating that he did not let go of the articles of faith he nonetheless writes “The longer I followed this passage way, the more rigid, doctrinal statements began to melt.”

Johnson moved on to the interfaith ministry, reading books on Islam for two years and then meeting a Muslim woman. After several meetings he writes:

“As she was speaking about her love for God and her devotion to God’s will, a beautiful smile covered her face and a twinkling light shone from her eyes. In that moment I realized I could no longer look upon other faiths as inferior to my own. I no longer felt that I had to convert everyone who did not possess the same truth that I held. That day Aisha became my sister.”

He does not write about his or her thoughts on Jesus, except that he now saw that aspect of his faith as not so important. But in this video they both speak of Jesus Christ.
Notice at the end she is talking about sharing the same values while he is talking about sharing prayer and worship. Aisha has far more integrity in her faith then Johnson has in his.



Oh please tell Aisha the good news:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the word might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged.; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-19)"

That is good news to those who are told and believe.

Islam's connection to Christianity versus Judaism's connection

He turned his eyes about him; his mouth opened and his lips curled back over his teeth. Then he seemed to make an effort towards control, and began to mutter something to himself. ‘Not much yet, lord god!’ Richardson heard. ‘Slowly, lord, slowly! I’ll make sacrifice—the blood of the sacrifice,’ and at that a sudden impatient anger caught the young man.

‘Fool,’ he cried out, ‘there’s only one sacrifice, and the God of gods makes it, not you.’ (Charles Williams The Place of the Lion)

Many years ago, when I began college, I took some classes that would give me knowledge about some of my immediate experiences. For instance my husband and I, with our six children, often made trips to an orphanage in Baja so I took a class on Mexican history. The teacher was intrigued with the history of the Aztec period so we didn’t get very far into the modern history of Mexico. We stood far too long around the bloody altars of the Aztec’s human sacrifices.

To supplement my knowledge of the Hebrew Bible I took a wonderful class on Jewish history taught by Mrs. Gabriel. That class was one of my favorite classes even though the teacher used the book The Passover Plot to teach about the beginning of Christianity. Yes, I understand that Jewish people do not believe Mary was a virgin or that Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified.

So Walid Khalidi, the scholar who spoke at the UN this year (2009) on the "Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people" did not shock me when he inferred that Jewish scholars held some very poor views of Jesus and Mary.

But I was shocked while listening to the videos of Khalidi’s UN speech posted at the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Khalidi, who is speaking about his concern that Israel is trying to make Jerusalem a Jewish Capital, in the second video, attempts to make the case that Islam is closer to Christianity than Judaism because of the former’s high regard for Jesus and Mary.

But while Islam does hold Mary and Jesus in high regard one might ask, “Which Jesus and Mary would that be?” Or “Why is the Hebrew Bible Sacred to Christians but not the Qur’an?” And of great importance to those who love Jesus and love their brothers and sisters in Christ, “Why in light of Khalidi’s appeal to the relationship between Muslims and Christians do most Islamic countries persecute those Christians who evangelize Muslims?”

Khalidi believes it is wonderful that the Muslim God did not allow Jesus to suffer crucifixion and instead raised him to heaven to return at the end of time. And he also sees the Islamic belief that Mary was a virgin as a sign of Islam’s strong connection to Christianity. But Islam’s connection to Christianity falls and is broken on the person of Jesus Christ as do all other attempts at redefining the biblical Jesus.

To the Muslim, Jesus is not God and so, although Mary may have been a virgin, she was not carrying God in her womb, but merely a perfect human who was to be a prophet. And if Jesus was neither God nor died on the cross, and therefore was not raised from the dead, then as Paul stated, our Christian faith is worthless and our sins are not forgiven. (The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins is the holy Trinity’s great gift.) But this worthlessness of the Christian faith is doubly certain without the Hebrew Scriptures for then Christ for us would have no meaning at all.

John Calvin was quick to remind his readers that the Jewish sacrifices and their sacraments looked forward to Jesus Christ the perfect sacrifice. And when Jesus taught his disciples, it was always from the deep riches of the Hebrew text. When Jesus walked the road to Emmaus with two of his disciples after his resurrection, he explained his mission, suffering and resurrection from the Hebrew Scriptures, including the law, the prophets and the writings. His words, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” It is from the Old Testament text that we know Jesus not from the Qur’an.

If Khalidi wants to prove there is a close connection between Christianity and Islam he must go to the biblical text and understand who Jesus Christ is within that text. He could then reframe his assertion offering a true understanding of who Christians believe Jesus is. Next he must understand the close connection between the Jewish and Christian community since they share the same sacred text, the Hebrew Bible. They also share the same biblical understanding about God and humanity. That is that humans are all sinful and in need of God’s forgiving grace. And God, for both peoples, is the one who provides the sacrifice:

“Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the Lord it will be provided. (Genesis 22:13-14)”

Finally Khalidi must plead for his own faith leaders to stop persecuting Christian converts as well as those Christians whose communities have existed since the first centuries of Christendom.

Dr. Tawfik Hamid, a former radical Muslim who now teaches the reform of Islam

Over thirty years ago I experienced a young Egyptian man in my home ranting against the Jewish people and the State of Israel. He was an overnight guest, I had fed him dinner and breakfast, and yet he stood in my kitchen telling me he would like to line the Israelis up and shoot all of them. He would later kidnap his young son taking him to Egypt as a means of forcing his estranged American wife to come to him. He took away her official papers and held her against her will in Egypt. She had one more son, and then finally on a return trip to the United States she was able to secure her and her son's freedom.

I do not know what happened to him but I recently saw a story about an Egyptian Islamic man who overcame his radical bent and now is promoting a moderate Islam. He is attempting to reform Islam. And he has some good things to say about Israel.

On his web site Dr. Tawfik Hamid, who is Muslim, shows true integrity. The biography on his first page begins:

“Dr. Tawfik Hamid (aka Tarek Abdelhamid), is an Islamic thinker and reformer, and one time Islamic extremist from Egypt. He was a member of a terrorist Islamic organization JI with Dr. Ayman Al-Zawaherri who became later on the second in command of Al-Qaeda. Some twenty-five years ago, he recognized the threat of Radical Islam and the need for a reformation based upon modern peaceful interpretations of classical Islamic core texts.”

There are several interesting areas on this site, including a test to tell if someone or an organization is radical. Also there are several videos including two videos of Hamid talking to the European Parliament about Hamas.

On YouTube there is a video of his testimony just recently placed there:

A dialogue between a Christian and a Muslim.

While I am gone for two weeks I want to recommend a dialogue on Christianity & Islam. Several videos on the subject are posted at Pure Church The Pastor there is Thabiti Anyabwile and at one time he was a Muslim. This is his testimony:

"I was once a Muslim, and by God's grace I have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. By God's unfathomable grace I am a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in which I hope to serve Him until He returns or calls me home! "

Anyabwile's latest postings are of his part in the dialogue. Scroll down and you will find Bassam Zawadi' explaining who God is for the Muslim and what salvation is about in Islam.

I am sure there will be more postings. This is an excellent dialogue by a Christian and a Muslim who truly believe in their own faith. No dishonesty. This is helpful. Please listen.

I will put the first video with Anyabwile here (It will start with Zawadi) to help you see how interesting this is: