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Contains articles by Salaam Corniche, Timothy Abraham, David Combes, Edward Hoskins, Seraphim al Baramousy, an interview of Abouna Zakaria Boutros by Bob Blincoe, and a book review by Duane Alexander Miller.
Contains articles by Salaam Corniche, Timothy Abraham, David Combes, Edward Hoskins, Seraphim al Baramousy, an interview of Abouna Zakaria Boutros by Bob Blincoe, and a book review by Duane Alexander Miller.
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Contains articles by Salaam Corniche, Timothy Abraham, David Combes, Edward Hoskins, Seraphim al Baramousy, an interview of Abouna Zakaria Boutros by Bob Blincoe, and a book review by Duane Alexander Miller.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Formati disponibili
Scarica in formato PDF, TXT o leggi online su Scribd
exile is in itself sorrowful, and the sweetness of their native soil holds nearly all men bound to itself. John Calvin
"And this is the glory of faith...after taking everything captive - percep- tion and understanding, strength and will - to follow the bare voice of God and to be led and driven rather to drive" 2 Martin Luther
The streams of providence never cease to amaze me. At about the same time that I was listening to a series on the book of He- brews by James Dennison of Northwest Theological Seminary, I visited two churches and in each church the pastor preached on the call of Abraham from Genesis 11/12. 3 That same week I happened across a reference to Abraham in an article in the AFMI/ASFM Bulletin. 4 Just what do all of these have to do with each other? As we will detail in this article, Dennison suggests that Abraham is a protological pilgrim--more on that later-- and each pastor tou- ched on the fact that the call of Abraham was a radical call, with a somewhat less than radical recipient. Finally, the article in the Bul- letin by Daniel Shingjong Park suggests that beginning with AbrahamGod reveals a model of contextualization for His king- dom ministry among people groups of other religious traditions. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Salaam Corniche is a career missionary in the Muslim World.! 2 Martin Luther, Luther's Words, Vol 29: Lectures on Titus, Philemon, and He- brew (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1968), p. 238. 3 James T. Dennison Jr. The Epistle to the Hebrews [audio lectures and handouts] www.nwts.edu/audio/jtd/hebrews.htm (Accessed October 2011) 4 In his Contextualizing Religious Form and Meaning: A Missiological Interpretation of Naamans Petitions (2 Kings 5:15-119) in Asia Frontier Missiology Initiative- [AFMI]-Asia Society for Frontier Mission [ASFM] Bulletin, No. 7 (Apr-Jun 2011), p. 24. [This article was originally published in IJFM 27:4 (Winter 2010), p.197ff] St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 2 Part 1 will examine the person and call of Abraham in some de tail, looking at his context, at the exact wording of the call and the response of Abraham to such. We will be conscious to avoid an exemplarist or moralist reading, i.e. Aspire to be an Abraham, as we do so. This will be done by accentuating the Great Keeper of Promises, Faithful YHWH. Additionally we will use the pilgrim motif from Biblical theology to demonstrate that Abraham set his sights from afar on his final destination which he like all sojour- ners already possesses in faith in all that Christ has done. The Bi- blical data will be used to verify the validity of Parks statement. In Part 2 we will continue the theme of sojourning that Israel was to follow, and that the new covenant people of God also must follow in the light of the last and greatest Pilgrim who has led many sons to glory.
2 Abraham
The importance of Abraham to Islam, Judaism and Christianity can hardly be overstated. Islam has been called the religion of the first Muslim, Abraham the Father of the prophets. Judaism has adopted Abraham as the patriarch par excellence and the paradigm of meri- torious obedience; and Christianity sees him as the father of the faith in a fully trustworthy God. Biblically he figures as the most promi- nent human figure in the book of Genesis and multiple chapters (11:27-25:11) detail his life. 5 Theologically, for Christians the life of Abraham must be interpreted by the New Testament witnesses, especially those of Jesus, Stephens speech in Acts 7, the writings of Paul (especially Romans and Galatians), the Epistle to the Hebrews (especially ch. 11) and James. 6 As much as the NT regards Abra- ham as an exemplary father of faith and an example of obedience it goes further than that. Abraham rejoiced to see Christs day (John !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 Gen 22:20-24 is a brief genealogy and 23:1-25:11 could be called an appendix. 6 See T. Desmond Alexanders, Abraham Re-assessed Theologically: The Abraham Narrative and the New Testament Understanding of Justification by Faith, http://beginningwithmoses.org/bt-articles/185/abraham-re-assessed- theologically-the-abraham-narrative-and-the-new-testament-understanding-of- justification-by-faith (Accessed 2011/10/26). St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 3 8:56) and that is the call to modern day believers. In Christ, they too can be counted or reckoned righteous due to their faith, as Abraham was. In Christ, too they are blessed possessors of all the benefits of Christs heavenly position, as Abraham was. The NT describes Abraham as a pointer to a greater One, the truly Godly seed in a royal line who will be the mediator of world-wide bles- sings, namely Jesus ...son of Davidson of Abraham. (Matt 1:1). ! 3 The Call of Abram
3. 1 The cont ext i n Genesi s: These are the generations (Heb. elle toldot) of Terah, reads the section beginning Gen 11:2732 and which sets the stage for the actual call of Abraham in ch. 12:1. Wherever this phrase occurs it begins a narrative that traces what became of the entity or indivi- dual mentioned in the heading. 7 Another way to read this intro- duction is to read it as this is what became of Terah,however, with Abraham at the center. The reader of Genesis would be well aware that in the three previous(Gen. 5:1, 2; 6:9; 10:1-not including Gen 2:4) all start with new beginnings, i.e. creation, Noah, and the survi- vors of the flood, and each ends on a negative note, i.e. with God's repentance about ever having made humans (6:6-8); the curse on Ham (9:29); and the Babel confusion which leads via Shem to Terah. Thus the reader is primed for a new beginning, yet wary of another crash and burn scenario. Thus in this section we are introduced to Abrahams family relations, their movements, and the important, yet understated detail about the sterility of this patriarch and his wife. William Dumbrell, the Old Testament scholar who has made extensive studies of the concept of the phenomenon of covenant, gives a very precise definition of the momentous nature of Genesis 12:1-3 in the context of the preceding chapters of Genesis and in the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7 cf. Gen 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10 and 27; 25:12 and 19; 36:1 (and 9) 37:2. Comment in Biblical Studies Press: The NET Bible First Edition; (Biblical Studies Press, 2006). Also M. H. Woudstra, The Toledot of the Book of Genesis and Their Redempti- ve-Historical Significance, CTJ 5 (1970), pp. 184-89. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 4 Biblical canon as a whole. In his work Covenant and Creation he summarizes:
Gen. 12:1-3 is the rejoinder to the consequences of the fall and aims at the restoration of the purposes of God for the world to which Gen. 1-2 directed our attention. What is being offered in these few verses is a theological blueprint for the redemptive history of the world, now set in train by the call of Abraham 8
The scope of this paper does not permit a thorough examination of the wealth in vv 2 and 3. Suffice it to say, it will touch on many vital aspects of this theological blueprint including: YHWHs self- revelation as the God of glory, His gracious initiative in extending his saving call to Abraham and by extension to his chosen people, the exodus motif in the call, the requirement of the death of old things and a subsequent resurrection in the movement from sterility to fruitfulness or re-creation, the cost of obedience, the concept of faith and the pilgrimage motif. The pain of separation will be shown to be offset by the potential of great promises. This dynamic is brought out by Franz Delitzsch in the words describing the pur- pose of this call, namely the formation of a God-fearing family se- parate from the heathen world, and the nucleus of a future God- chosen people 9 and, we might add, who would serve as a conduit for Gods blessings (cf. Is 51:2). Similar wording has been observed between Gen 12: 1,3 and Gen 22: 2,18. It has been suggested that these form an inclusio (pair of bookends) between which the major themes of the life of Abraham are found. The texts read: "Go (Heb. l!k l"k#) from...your father's household...to the land I will show you" (12:1) "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (12:3) "Go (Heb. l!k l"k#)...on one of the mountains I will tell you about" (22:2) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8 W.J. Dumbrell, Covenant and Creation. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers 1984), p. 66. 9 Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Vol 2 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874), p. 234. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 6 ter of Sin. Finally, Laban (Heb. l!!n) means white, and le!n, the white one, is a poetic term for the full moon. 11
Thus we can safely say that although the line of the godly seed of Seth was to perpetuate that calling, they were well immersed in the religious milieu of their surroundings, including the possession of household gods and likely moon worship. One scholar went as far as to say that it was natural to assume that the patriarchs were actual worshipers of the [moon] deity. 12 Yet miraculously Gods call to Abraham came to him in a rather dramatic way, in a fashion, not unlike that of Saul of Tarsus.
3. 3 The verbal cal l We are introduced to the chapter with the words, Now YHWH said [or had said] to Abram, and grammatically this can indicate the beginning of a new sub-narrative. The Biblical Hebrew Refer- ence Grammar points out that this construction is usually accom- panied by an introduction of the characters of the new story and a change of location. 13 More than just a change of scenes is going to occur as will become evident quite quickly. It was YHWH himself who described his coming and speaking to Abram as a call. In Isaiah 51:2 we read: Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. This call came in the form of a verbal proclamation. It has the sound and feel of a summons, but of a whole different genre, because it links obedience !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11 Victor R. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis Chapters 1 - 17. (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1990), p. 363. See also Andrew F Key, Traces of the worship of the moon god Sn among the early Israelites, Journal of Biblical Literature, (84 no 1 Mr 1965), pp 20-26. 12 Andrew Key, (p. 21) suggests that this was the conviction of the scholar Julius Lewy, professor of Semitic languages and biblical history at Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Institute of Religion. 13 Christo Van der Merwe, Jackie Naude, Jan Kroeze eds. A Biblical Hebrew Referen- ce Grammar. Electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), S. 166. This construction is known as a waw consecutive + imperfect or a prefixed (imperfect) sequential. See fn #6 for details on the translation had said. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 7 with the delivery of a repeatedly promised gifts. 14 The call is un- anticipated, because as Nahum Sarna observes, it seemed to come suddenly out of the blue after 10 generations of seeming silence. 15
It was also the same voice that spoke creation into being (10 x in Gen. 1) and now is calling for a re-creation of a people of Gods own, through Abraham. The theme of a new people of call owing their existence to a gracious verbal call is found in I Peter 2:9:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
In Gen. 12: 1-3 we have an interplay between God who fre- quently says I will and Abraham who is commanded with you/your. Clearly it is YHWH who is the initiator and Abraham is to be the obedient recipient. Might we be so forward as to say that this encapsulates the gospel preached to Abram which Paul alludes to in Galatians 3:8? We see command and promise both in Abrahams call and in the gospel. This passage also has echoes in chapter 22 where Abraham again is given orders by YHWH with the strong imperative: Go and I will show you. In chapter 12 we have orders to leave the past with family and familiar surround- ings, and in 22 we have orders to eliminate the future possibility of continuation of the family through the sacrifice of Isaac.
3. 4 The cal l and l ech l echa The words of YHWH to Abraham start with a Hebrew alliteration for effect and they read l"k l#k!, or lech lecha. Literally, this could be rendered in older style English, Go, yea, you or in the King James Version, Get thee out, or in more modern terms Go, you by yourself/Get up and go/You, get going! 16 The apocryphal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 14 Hans Walter Wolff in Walter Brueggemann, and Hans Walter Wolff. The Vital- ity of Old Testament Traditions. 2 nd ed. (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), p. 47. 15 Nahum M. Sarna. Genesis: the traditional Hebrew text with the new JPS translation. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), p. 88. 16 Gordon J Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 Vol 1. (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), S. 267. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 8 book of Jubilees 12:22 renders this order as, Get thee up from 17
This very small clause packs a powerful punch and formally it is so- called ethical/reflexive/ centripetal use of the preposition lamed" which some have called an ethical dative (or dativus ethicus). 18 Simply put it places a particular emphasis on the sub- ject. 19 Takamitsu Muraoka shows the effect of this construction as having the effect of creating a self-contained little cosmos around the subject. All fine and well, one may say, but what is the point? Recall the posters, Uncle Sam wants you. The finger is pointed at one person who is to receive orders for military service, namely the one observing the poster. Similarly, YHWH says to Abram, I want you. I want you to go. Thus the simple verb to walk/go is changed into separate from/take leave of. Consequently Um- berto Cassuto suggests that when the ethical dative is used with the verb to go it suggests that the person mentioned is going alone and breaks away from the community or group in whose midst he was till that moment. 20 Elsewhere Muraoka states the case even more strongly: This particular usage of the preposition conveys the impression that the subject establishes his own identity, re- covering or finding his own place by determinedly dissociating him- self from his familiar surrounding. Notions of isolation, loneliness, parting, seclusion or withdrawal are often recognizable 21 In a word, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 17 Robert Henry Charles, (Hrsg.): Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004), S. 2:32. 18 Muraoka Takamitsu, On the so-called dativus ethicus in Hebrew. Journal of Theo- logical Studies, ns 29 (no 2 O 1978), p 495-498. 19 As Wilhelm Gesenius states: It emphasizes the significance of the occurrence in question for a particular subject in his and George Wolseley Collins, E. Kautzsch, and A. E. Cowley eds. Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1898), 119s. 20 Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis. Vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1972), p. 310. cf. Gen 21:16, 22:2; Exod 18:27; Joshua 12:4; Cant 2:10, 13; 4:6. 21 Muraoka Takamitsu. Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical Hebrew. (Jerusa- lem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1985), p. 122. Although see Bruce K Waltke, and Michael Patrick O'Connor. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syn- tax. (Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns, 1990), p. 208 who prefer to leave the preposi- tion untranslated when used with the imperative as in Gen. 12:1. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 9 YHWH is calling Abraham to break away and the text details from what and whom.
3. 5 The cal l and t he sel f -di scl osure of YHWH In Genesis 12:7 and 17:1 God appears to Abraham and speaks words of command and words of promise. In Acts 7:3 Stephen uses the same verb [as the LXX of the above] to describe Gods self- disclosure to Abraham. Stephen describes not just a generic God, but literally, the God who is characterized by glory as The God of glory (cf. Ps. 29:3; Eph. 1:17). 22 The irony of a God who is associated with radiance and light appearing in the darkness of a pagan context is not lost to a number of commentators. 23 For Abraham it is as if this radiance is the cause of his expulsion from this context and he is told Get out from your land. (=LXX of Gen. 12.1) The verb get out from from the Gk exrchomai is used as a verb of self-movement signifying change of place from one point of origin. 24 It can also refer to disembarking from a ship, de- mons coming out of a person, demoniacs coming out of tombs, or blood and water coming out of a person. The movement is singular in direction. Other instances of the God of glory appearing to people might include the glory of Jesus that appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), John the Revelator (Rev 1), Isaiah (Is.6) and Ezekiel (Ez.1). All, like Abraham are arrested in their steps, and this Divine self-revelation, in a manner not unlike that of Moses, marks a new beginning and a new commission in their lives. Stephen, however, who finishes his mandate, as it were, is said to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 22 Joseph Addison Alexander elucidates further and suggests that the emphasis is on the self-disclosure of God through his glory (e. g. Ex. 24: 16; Is. 6: 3; Ps. 24: 7- 10) more than on being simply denoted as glorious (Ps. 29: 1; Rev. 4:11) in his, The Acts of the Apostles Explained. Vol 1, 3rd ed. (New York: Scribner, 1866), p. 256. Note that each member of the Trinity has a name associated with glory: The Fa- ther of Glory (Eph.1:17); Jesus as the Lord of Glory (I Cor 2:8); The Spirit of Glory (I Peter 4:14) 23 F. F. Bruce. The Acts of the Apostles; The Greek Text with Introd. and Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1953), p. 192. 24 W. Shenk in Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990-c1993), S. 2:4. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 10 have looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-56).
3. 6 The cal l s t hree mi ns : homel and, ki ndred, and f at her s house The Youngs Literal Translation is unique among English transla- tions in that it carries the force of the repeated Hebrew word min, or from. It reads: Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee. 25 There can be no mistaking that this threefold repeti- tion is for more than stylistic effect. It functions like the pounding of a jackhammer and from and from and from. The effect of the ethical dative re-enforces and the importance of each item in the list is driven home (cf. Gen. 40:2, 2 S. 6:5, Hos. 1:7). Abraham is given orders to make a decisive break from three impor- tant spheres of security and influence in his life, namely: his land [Heb. "ere#], his kindred/ people/relatives/place where they have settled/neighborhood [ Heb. mledet] and his fathers household [Heb. b$yi% &!%]. The possessive pronoun your that precedes each category also re-enforces that these spheres are close to Abrahams heart. We might also say that the spheres have increasing emotio- nal value as they move from country, extended family to nuclear family. Gerhard von Rad observes, "To leave home and to break ancestral bonds was to expect of ancient men almost the impossi- ble." 26
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 25 Curiously Jubilees 12:22 reads almost the same with the repeated words from Get thee up from thy country, and from thy kindred and from the house of thy father unto a land which I will show thee, and I shall make thee a great and nu- merous nation. Robert J.V. Hieberts English rendition of the LXX of Gen 12.1 reads And the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country and from your kindred and from your father's house to the land that I will show you in Albert Pietersma and Benjamin Wright eds. A New English Translation of the Septua- gint and Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included Under That Title. (New York, Oxford Univ. Press, 2007), p. 13. 26 Gerhard Von Rad, Genesis. (Westminster John Knox Press; [Old Testament Library] rev.ed.1972), p. 161. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 11 As an owner of considerable wealth, likely derived from the land, Abraham is called to dissociate with the turf that gives him status. Later on in life he reflects on this with the words in Gen. 24.7:
The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my fathers house and from the land of my kindred [mledet], and who spoke to me and swore to me (ESV)
In this verse he describes his departure, not on his terms of obe- dience, but in terms of the person of YHWH. He, who is the One who speaks and swears an oath is the same who took him from all of these cherished kinship connections. Additionally Nehemiahs pray- er (Neh.9:7) reflects the fact that Abrahams call was due to YH- WHs sovereign choice and power: You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. This verse is a quotation of YHWHs direct address to Abraham in Gen 15:7 with the words: I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess. As we will observe later, this terminology brought out will be applied to the people of Israel and the Exodus (Ex 3:10-12; 13:3; 20:2), and the new people of God and the new exodus (Col 1:13). Finally we note that Nehemiah reasserts the fact that YH- WH gave him the name Abraham which would be equivalent to a new identity. 27
There is no mistaking that order to leave the area where ones relatives have settled (mledet), or we might say the neighborhood, would have caused one to question the call. 28 The Targum Jona- than makes that quite clear in its wording of: Go thou from thy land; separate thyself from thy kindred; go forth from the house of thy father; go into the land which I will show thee. 29 Seth Kunin thinks that the use of this word goes even further, however. He !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 27 Compare Stephens speech in Acts 7 which also demonstrates Gods sovereign gracious initiative: (who appeared [v. 2], spoke [v. 3], sent [v. 4], promised [v. 5], spoke [v. 6], and gave the covenant of circumcision [v. 8]. 28 Mledet cf. Gen 24:4; 31:3; 32:10[EB 9]; 43:7; Nu 10:30; Est 2:10, 20; 8:6+ 29 J. W. Etheridge The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel On the Penta- teuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee, (New York, Ktav Publishing, 1968, original 1862), p. 192. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 12 suggests that because (mledet) has a Hebrew root meaning birth, Abrahams divine birth is associated with a complementary denial of natural birthAbram denies his father, his natural progenitor in favor of his divine progenitor. 30 Curiously, Nahum Sarna who is not an evangelical also makes note of the motif new birth by sta- ting that Abrams immediate response marks the true beginning of his life, his chronological age of 75 notwithstanding. 31 Additionally Kunin observes a contrast between the sterility of Abrams family by natural birth and the blessings of fruitfulness of a new family by divine birth. Yet, as we will see, it was not without some difficulty and, one might say, compromise that Abraham obeyed. Finally, there is the order to leave his fathers household (b$yi# "%#). Literally this means the house of the fathers and could be de- scribed as his clan or a subunit of it. Normally this would include parents, children, close relatives, also servants and those living in relatively close proximity. 32 As we have seen, the pagan religious associations with this family were very strong and God is calling Abraham to break ties with them. If we were to use the language of Paul, Abraham would be leaving the weak and beggarly elements, (KJV) weak and worthless elementary principles of the world (ESV) of his old life, (Gal 4:9) without a thought of return. The re- sult for Paul, as for Abraham, is a dissociation with the familiar, the resultant loneliness as Muraoka has shown, and the temporary loss of identity. Paul put it this way, To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless (1 Cor 4:11 cf Heb 11:3840). The global cost of each of these spheres of the call of the God of glory to Abraham is further delineated by Lyle Eslinger in his pa- per, Prehistory in the call to Abraham. There he states the follo- wing: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 30 Seth Daniel Kunin, The Logic of Incest: A Structuralist Analysis of Hebrew Mythol- ogy. (Sheffield, Eng: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), p. 64. 31 Sarna, p. 88. 32 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament). electronic ed. (Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), S. DBLH 1074, #3 cf. Ge 7:1; 24:38, Ex 6:4 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 13 Territory and human collectivity are the raw materials of a social net- work that has insulated humans from natural perils foryears. In the ancient social order, as for most humans who have ever lived, family and territory were an individual's primary hold on life-sustaining re- sources and a bulwark against adversarial encroachments. This is what God asks Abram to renounce, no less. 33
But just in case we think this is the end of the story, this renoun- cement must be balanced with the fact that promises - even interim ones - were realized as we read in Joshua 21:43-45:Thus YHWH gave to all the land which he swore to give to their fathers....Not one of all the good promises which YHWH had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
3. 7 The dest i nat i on of t he cal l : t he l and t hat I wi l l show you: ! Go from your country and your kindred and your fathers house to the land that I will show you. (Genesis 12:1); Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you (Acts 7:3).
Both the Genesis and Acts renditions show that there is no fixed destination, only a fixed leaving point. This accords with Hebrews which observes that Abraham left not knowing whither he went" (Heb 11:8). What is fixed, is that the God who appeared to Abra- ham is known as The God of glory (Acts 7:3); YHWH, the God of heaven (Gen 24:7); YHWH, the God who chose (Neh 9:7), who reveals himself, speaks, swears an oath on his own name (Heb 6:13), is all powerful to execute His promises, and will cause Abraham to see the land. I will show you is a Hebrew verbal construction known as the hiphil and often it has a causative aspect to it. In a word, YHWH will open Abrahams eyes - those of faith and physical ones - to see this land. Thus it could be rendered the land which I will cause you to see (cf Is 30:30 ESV). This will prove to be true on two le- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 33 Lyle M. Eslinger, Prehistory in the call to Abraham, Biblical Interpretation, 14 (no 3, 2006), p. 196 in pp. 189-208. On p. 196 Eslinger observes: The iterative [=repeated] rhetoric of God's demand focuses precisely on personal resource divestment St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 14 vels: namely, he will be shown the physical land of Canaan, and will have his spiritual eyes opened to see his true homeland, with the better and permanent city in heaven (cf. Heb. 11:10, 16; 12:12; 13:14) built not with human-centeredness as Babel, but by God Himself. A Jewish Midrash or commentary on Genesis has a comment on this aspect of suspense in the orders to go a yet undisclosed land (Gen 12:1) and mountain (Gen 22:2). He whom the Holy One, blessed be he, puts in doubt and holds in suspense, namely, the righ- teous, he then informs, explaining his reasoning.34 John Calvin sets it out in easier to understand word-pictures, as if God were to say: I command thee to go forth with closed eyes, and forbid thee to inquire whither I am about to lead thee, until, having renounced thy country, thou shalt have given thyself wholly to me. An earlier church father from Egypt from the 4th century, Paphnutius, said, It is not a land that you can know or discover through your own ef- fort, but is a land that I will show you, a land that you know no- thing about35 The call of faith, i.e. the assurance of things hoped for, the con- viction of things not seen (Heb 11:1) is further heightened by a nu- ance in the wording of the Acts passage. As Joseph Alexander points out, it would be better to render the land that I will show you which he finds as too definite, as whatever land I shew thee (or may shew thee) and which implies uncertainty. 36 This same nuance is thus translated by Westcott and Hort: whichever [land] I show thee and by Weymouth as into whatever land I point out to you. A number of commentators as well show that the words of Acts 7:3b and go into the land that I will show you can actually be translated, and come (NET)/ hither (Lenski) to the land Lenski !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 34 Jacob Neusner, A Theological Commentary to the Midrash: Genesis Rabbah. Vol 2 Lanham, (Maryland, Univ. Press of America, 2001), p. 118 which cites R. Huna in the name of R. Eliezer. 35 As cited by the church father John Cassian (ca. 360 435) in his Conferences 3:10 36 Alexander, p. 257. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 15 thus translates this verse as follows: Go out from thy land and from thy kindred and hither! Into the land which I will show thee 37
Hair-splitting? Perhaps not. What this construction could show is that YHWH is already in the land to which Abraham would have to go, and is beckoning him to come to it. 38
If we follow the logic of Kunin, we will observe that Abraham had to die to all of the personal resources that came through his na- tural birth, including land, kinfolk and even his fathers house. It is for good reason then, that he is to leave one land (erets) which was denoted as his with the possessive pronoun your and to move to another land (erets) that he is no longer the proprietor of, let alone has neven seen. 39 Yet as he is commanded to move by faith, those things that he has left will be multiplied by Gods initiative and po- wer, i.e. a great nationin quality and in quantity (v.2); a great nameor reputation (v.2); and a great blessednessfor himself and for the nations (vv.2-3).
3. 8 The response of Abraham t o t he cal l So Abram went as the Lord had told/commanded him, and Lot went with him. (Gen 12:4)and they set out to go to the land of Canaan (v.5)
then he went out [Gk exrchomai] (Acts 7:4) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out [Gk exrcho- mai] to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (Heb. 11:8)
God ordered. Abraham obeyed. It seems very simple. There is a verbal parallel between the go of v. 1 and the Abram went of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 37 R. C. H Lenski. The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles. Vol 1 ch 1-14 (Min- neapolis, Minn: Augsburg Fortress, 1961), p. 260; Also Joseph Fitzmyer notes that this passage uses the adverb deuro as an imperative for come in his The Acts of the Apostles. Anchor (New York: Doubleday, 1998), p. 370. 38 Cf the story of Lazarus and Jesus saying, Come out, (Jn 11:43) and angels beck- oning John the Revelator to come: (Rev. 17:1; 21:9). 39 John B. Polhill states that Land is a major subject of the Abraham portion of Stephens speech. In fact, the entire subject could be described as the promise came, apart from the land in his Acts. New American Commentary Vol. 26 elec- tronic ed. (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c1992), S 190, fn 44. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 16 verse 4. This caused one commentator to gushingly state: "This [grammatical/phonetic correspondence of the order in v. 1 and the response in v. 4] teaches that he went in the paths of his Maker, even more than his Maker had commanded him." 40 Even Cassuto states He carried out what he was enjoined to do forthwith, wit- hout any hesitation. 41 Yet the inclusion of the throw out phrase and Lot went with him in v. 4 and repeated in v. 5 suggests a less than perfect obedience on the part of Abraham. Very likely Abraham is hedging his bets with Lot, just in case YHWH is too impotent to follow up on his promises of extending Abrahams family line. Verse 5 gives us a further glimpse of what Eslinger called a hedging pragmatism. 42 Andrew Vaughn closely analyses vv 1-4 and observes that the verbs and suffixes in v. 4 indi- cate that there are two households traveling in tandem. He thus entitles his paper, Abrahams disobedience in Genesis 12:1-4a. 43
Could it be that Abraham had inherited some of his fathers inc- redulity? With jarring words, Cassuto observes that Terah left the moon cult behind him in Ur only to come back to it in Haran and states: Where he halted he also died. 44 There had been no decisive break with idolatry and consequently he fell back into its spell.
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brothers son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acqui- red in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. (v.5)
Instead of leaving and cleaving solely to the sufficiency of Gods promises, part of Abraham left, but also cleaved to the things that gave him security, namely his possessions, people, and exten- ded family. Yet inspite of this weakness, it was the hand of God !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 40 M.M. Kasher in the Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation (New York: Ameri- can Biblical Encyclopedia Society, 1995), p. 119 citing Yelamdenu as noted by Es- linger, p. 196, fn 15. Also Gerhard von Rad approvingly states, Abraham obeys blindly and without objection. 41 Cassuto, p. 316. 42 Eslinger, p. 197. 43 In Bernard Frank Batto, Kathryn L. Roberts, and Jimmy J. M. Roberts eds. Da- vid and Zion: Biblical Studies in Honor of J.J.M. Roberts. (Winona Lake, Ind: Eisen- brauns, 2004), p. 121. 44 Cassuto, p. 283. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 17 that was stronger, and likely for good reason, Gen 15:7 and Neh. 9:7 describe YHWH as having brought out Abraham.
3. 9 Abraham s reset t l ement The saga continues with a feeble, yet obedient faith on the part of Abraham who continues his west-ward march to Canaan. Yet the powerful hand of God to cause this move was never far away. In Acts 7:4 Stephen tells his audience that God removed him [i.e. Abraham] from there [i.e. his homeland] into this land The words have a somewhat jarring ring to them. Removed? Literally, it could be said that God transferred [Gk. met'kisen auton eis] or resettled him in the land. Another way of saying this would be that God has caused Abraham to change ones habitation, move from one habitation to another, migrate. 45 The verb metoikz' is derived in part from the word house [Gk oikos] and one could say that God caused Abraham to change houses, which ties into the fact that he was commanded to leave his fathers house in Gen 12. 1 [LXX=oikos]. Additionally, the Septuagint uses this verb used to describe the action of God sending someone into exile (1 Chr. 5:6; Amos 5:27) by a forcible deportation. 46
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 45 Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. electronic ed. (Chattanooga, TN : AMG Publishers, 2000, c1992, c1993), S. G3351. A very inte- resting study is the synonyms and the antonyms for this verb: Examples included: Syn.: metaban! (3327), to pass over from one place to another; methst"mi (3179), to cause to move; metatth"mi (3346), to move a person or thing from one place to another; paraphr! (3911), to take or carry away, bring to or before; apoch!rz! (673), to separate, remove; ar! (142), to lift, take up; kin! (2795), to move; astat! (790), to wander about, to lack a fixed dwelling place. Ant.: mn! (3306), to abide; katamn! (2650), to stay in one place; paramn! (3887), to stay continuously; diatrb! (1304), to stay; oik! (3611), to dwell; katoik! (2730), to dwell continuously in one place; paroik! (3939), to reside as an alien; sk"n! (4637), to pitch a tent; katask"n! (2681), to lodge in a tent. 46 Flavius Josephus uses a similar construction to describe the exile as Nabucho- donosor removed our people entirely out of their own country, and transferred [metoikz!] them to Babylon; when it so happened that our city was desolate in his and William Whistons The Works of Josephus : Complete and Unabridged. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1987, S. Apion 1.132. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 18 The old Israel who will also become a pilgrim people, are said to have been brought out of the house of bondage and the new people of God are said to have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred [Gk methist"mi] to the kingdom of his beloved Son. (Col. 1:12) 47 The pattern of out of moving to in to is repe- ated in each instance. In effect, God has exiled Abraham from his former land, into the new one. The disjunction between the old and the new could not be clearer. Abraham is now an exile or might we say a sojourner?
3. 10 A resul t of t he cal l : Abraham as a soj ourner A wealthy man leaves his country of origin, the bulk of his family, and likely a good part of his status, all in response to the self- disclosure and orders of YHWH. Is this lunacy or is this something else? Why leave the comforts of being a permanent resident and become a resident alien or a sojourner. 48
We recall that the story of the call of Abraham is set in purpose- ful contrast to the story of the human-engineered, human-centered, human attempt to form their own society and reach god on their terms. The making of a name for ourselves stands in contrast toYHWH who will make a great name for Abraham; as does the fact that the inhabitants of Babel, found a plain in the land of Sinar and by inference, it was their effort that located the place. Additionally we read in (11:2) that they settled there. Abraham neither finds a place nor settles down. When Abraham is about to purchase some land from the Hittites in Hebron to buy a burial plot for Sarah, he describes himself as be- ing a sojourner (Heb. g"r) and a foreigner (Heb. !"=#]$4%)) among them (Gen 23:4). He uses two words rendered by the LXX as proikos and parepd"mos. The latter is found in Heb. 11:13 1 Pet. 1:1; 2:11. It could also be rendered, a foreigner who has sett- led down. These same words are found in Psalm 39:12, Hear my !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 47 methist"mito cause to move from one place to another 48 See Moses Chin, A heavenly home for the homeless: aliens and strangers in 1 Peter Tyndale Bulletin, 42 no 1 (My 1991), pp. 96-112 for a thorough treatment of OT backgrounds of this concept. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 19 prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my wee- ping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were. In all these cases it is assumed that this resident alien status with all of its implications of transitoriness is a given, one might say a permanent state of affairs. This rootless existence was attested to by a list of name places where Abraham was said to have sojourned: Egypt (Gen. 12:10); Gerar (20:1); the land of the Philistines (21:34); Kiriath-arba/ He- bron (35:27); as well as, by the descriptor, that he lived in tents.To live in a tent, as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did, (Gen 26:17, 25; Gen 25:27; 32:25, 3334; 33:1819; 35:21) conveys much more than no- madic pastoralists on the move. It was a theological statement that they were not prepared to settle down, as they had a more perma- nent city and permanent citizenship in their sights. As William La- ne suggests, it is a sign of refusal to establish a permanent settle- ment in a culture devoid of the presence of God. 49 This theme is picked up in the book of Hebrews 11:9-10 which reads:
By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, li- ving in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose de- signer and builder is God.
Stephen in Acts 7:5 comments as well on this alien status with its tension of living between promise and realization with the words:
Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foots length, but pro- mised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.
The lack of property ownership and the living in temporary shel- ter points us as well to the greatest Pilgrim of all, namely him who said,!Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Mt 8:20 ESV) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 49 William L. Lane, Word Biblical Commentary: Hebrews 9-13. Vol 47B (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), S. 350. It should be noted that in the same breath that the patriarchs are described as living in tents, the author of Hebrews describes them as a group of fellow-heirs. (11:9)!! St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 20 3. 11 Abraham s accept ance of hi s cal l i ng: Just as Abraham had declared his residency status to the Hittites as a stranger and exile, the book of Hebrews (11:13) declares that among the heroes - note the plural - of faith, he acknowledged the same:
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowled- ged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
The word translated acknowledged (Gk: homolog"santes) is a key to comprehending that Abraham accepted his resident alien sta- tus. The word can also be rendered confess, confess publicly, admit- ted openly (GNT), acknowledge openly, profess, admitting (LEB), agreed (CEV), to speak the same, owning (Moffatt). Obviously the connotation is an open acknowledgement and personal ownership of a truth (cf John 1:20; Acts 24:14; 1 Tim. 6:12; 1 John 4:15 etc.). The author of Hebrews also pastorally exhorts his audience to let us hold fast to the confession [same root - homologa - 4:14; 10:23]. Likely this confession included the fact that Jesus (3:1; cf. 13:15) is the apostle and high priest and the Son of God. The pastoral ap- peal is also to ask his audience to hold on tenaciously to what Dun- ning calls their social identity as outsiders. 50 They can find va- lidity in their own marginalization as they look to examples of Mo- ses, Abraham and Jesus as other outsiders. The converse of such would be to deny or refuse to admit their status as such. This acknowledgement has two practical consequences. First, they habitually make it clear (11:14) [Gk. emphanz$ - to manifest, make known, declare, show] or plainly declare by their speech that the driving desire of their allegiances lies elsewhere than the father- land of their birth. There is no hidden agenda here. Secondly, their acknowledgement translates into an attitude of there is no going !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 50 Benjamin H. Dunning, Aliens and Sojourners: Self As Other in Early Christianity. (Philadelphia, Pa: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009), p. 53. See also Wisdom 18:13 where after the destruction of the first-born, the Egyptians finally overcame their disbelief and came to accept and comprehend the truth that Israel was Gods son. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 21 back. This is shown in v. 15 where the heroes of faith, although they might have been tempted to return to their land of origin could not consider that a viable option when compared to the better coun- try, namely a heavenly one (v.16 cf. 12:2224; 13:14). It was on that better homeland that they set their strong desires or earnest ex- pectations, due to their hope in Gods promises. 51 Thus we read:
For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a ho- meland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. (Heb 11: 14-16 ESV)
To close out his argument the writer of Hebrews appeals a se- cond time to the fact that God is not ashamed to be associated with those who as pilgrims fix their eyes on the destination, rather than on their surroundings or from where they have come. Their hori- zon is what is ahead of them, not what is behind them. Therefore [or because of this] God is not ashamed to be called their God (v. 16b cf. 2:11). In effect God is saying that they will not lose out re- gardless of peer pressure or their own perceptions. This was cer- tainly a fear that Abraham must have had as well, and which was responded to by, I will make for you a great name, nation etc. Thus to both Abraham and the audience of the book of Hebrews God identifies as their God.
3. 12 The why of t he cal l As much as we have examined the how, when, where, who of the call, one question remains. Why would YHWH demand such a radi- cal separation from family, language, food, the familiar - all those things of ones culture - and the like? The answer must be influen- ced by the facts that have been observed, namely that this call is initiated, orchestrated, and sustained by YHWH. In His sovereign grace, YHWH chose Abraham inspite of his context. That is to say, only YHWH could get credit for that. Secondly, YHWH has a plan of gargantuan proportions for Abraham and his life as 12:2-3 de- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 51 The Gk. org!ntai literally means "to stretch out especially with the hand, and metaphorically to eagerly desire to accomplish some goal or purpose, so to strive to attain, to aspire to, to eagerly long for!! St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 22 monstrates. It is as if Abraham is a second Adam and so a clean start for a new people of God must happen: and this is through a man as good as dead (Heb. 11:12). Additionally it could be said that the execution of the plan through Abraham and his descendants is linked to his leaving. Some translators render the beginning of v. 2 to read, in order that, i.e. leave in order that he will be in a posi- tion to receive what YHWH will do both for him, his offspring, and to the nations. 52
As well, in strongest terms, YHWH will arrange this exodus, as he does all subsequent exoduses to have it said at the end of the day that it was He and He alone who could execute such. There can be absolutely no glory for this plan shared with Nanna the moon god and his consort Ningal, nor the household gods of the family. This will also permit YHWH to identify himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham too must be stripped of any and all re- sources to which he could derive credit for this divine undertaking. This pattern will reappear in the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, and in the new exodus of new covenant children from the dominion of darkness. All of them must and will say, Salvation belongs to the Lord. 53
4 Abraham as the protological pilgrim:
In order to make linkages between this paper and the following, prior to examining the statement of Park in light of some summary observations about Abraham as we have gathered from the text, we will look at some of Dennisons categories. Recall that James Den- nison is a lecturer on the book of Hebrews who is convinced that the pilgrim motif is one of, if not the dominant theme of that epistle. 54
To set the groundwork for his teaching he distinguishes between four types of pilgrims, namely:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 52 William Yarchin, Imperative and Promise in Gen 12:13, Studia Biblica et theo- logical 10 (1980), p. 169. 53 See Vaughn, p. 122. 54 See his To the Hebrews: A Narrative Paradigm in Kerux: The Journal of North- west Theological Seminary 26/2 (2011), pp. 30-33." St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 23 A. Abraham as the first or protological pilgrim. B. Israel as the pilgrim people between the exodus and the Promised Land who could be called sojourners of the for- mer times. 55
C. The church as semi-eschatological pilgrims between the new exodus and the promised land of heaven which could be called the sojourners of the last times (Heb 1:2) D. Jesus as the Eschatological or last Pilgrim (Heb 12:2). Dennison thus observes that there is a strong linkage between the fact that Abraham was the first to be called a Hebrew (Gen 14:13) while he was a sojourner. This makes him the first of such a line and becomes the father of the household of faith. Secondly, he marshals adequate Biblical evidence to show that the children of Israel were known as Hebrews and they follow Abrahams example of being sojourners, although in the wilderness they were more cha- racterized by hard and unbelieving hearts than those of faith. Using the book of Hebrews with its multiplicity of pilgrimage related words, he then shows that the church is also called to look back re- trospectively at the examples of Abraham and the children of Israel in terms of their responses, or lack thereof to the Great Keeper of Promises, YHWH, in order to learn valuable lessons. These lessons are designed not to fix eyes on Abraham as an exemplar, but rather be an inspiration to also see from afar that which Abraham saw with eyes of faith, and also to eagerly desire a better city as he did. Lastly he shows that Jesus as the eschatolo- gical or last Pilgrim functions as a forerunner for the Christian community in a journey that involves both humiliation and eventual exaltation. By placing their trust in Him, they live in a now and not yet state of presently owning all of the promises of future sal- vation encapsulated in the heavenly Jerusalem to which they have already come (Heb 12:18, 22 with the verb prosrchomai in the per- fect tense); and yet not realizing them all in the present, in a fashion !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 55 In Leviticus 25:23 YHWH address his people concerning their pilgrim status: "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. "" St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 24 not unlike Abraham died without having physically possessed the land, but who owned it fully by faith. Summary observations regarding Abraham: 1. Although a member of the godly line of Seth, Abraham and his family were well implicated in the worship of gods other than YHWH. 2. The use of the ethical dative in Gen 12:1 stresses the perso- nal costliness of the call as well as the radical nature of the extrication of Abraham from things familiar. In a word: se- paration and marginalization. 3. The use of min with concentric spheres of relationship de- monstrates that the call of YHWH is a high call to dissocia- tion of personal resources. 4. Obedience to the call has a response to divine initiative at its root. 5. Abrahams obedience has human frailty mixed into it. 6. The status of being deported has the potential to engender shame 7. The status of living as a resident alien who lives in a state of transitoriness has the potential to engender shame 8. Regardless of both of these shame producing elements, God is honored to associate with this pilgrim who takes Him at His word. 9. The temptation to return to the familiar is mitigated by so- mething superior seen yet invisible. There is no going back. 10. Abrahams resident alien status requires a coming to terms and acceptance of it.
5 Analysis of Park
Daniel Shingjong Park begins his article defending the integration of Naaman into his local life and religion (2 Kings 5), with the fol- lowing statement: beginning with AbrahamGod reveals a mo- del of contextualization for His kingdom ministry among people groups of other religious traditions. The statement is not further qualified other than serving as an introduction to the story of St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 25 Naaman. Yet, based on the Biblical data just examined, we must ask the following questions:
1. Beginning with Abraham. What does God begin? Accor- ding to Dumbrell - a theological blueprint for the redemptive history of the world. The Biblical text shows that begin- ning with Abraham we have the start of the Hebrew/pilgrim line which, as we have seen and will see, implies anything but contextualization as it is defined by moderns. Abraham can not be used as the fore-runner or champion of some kind of 20-21st century model of ministry anachronistically applied. 2. God reveals Is it a model of contextualization? No. First and foremost, as Stephen pointed out, God reveals himself as The God of glory. Listen to what Hugh Martin wrote concerning this revelation and Abrahams response to it:
What could make him a stranger on the earth? "The God of glory appeared unto him." That would do it. From that mo- ment he was alienated from the world. Formerly he had been at home in the world and a stranger to God. Now he is at home with God and a stranger on the earth. Formerly the world had "appeared" to him - and God was not in all his thoughts. Now "the God of glory" has appeared unto him, and the world disappears and fades from view. The "appear- ance" of God he beholds as real and glorious. 56
The LORD appeared unto Abram reads Gen 12:7. Here and in other subsequent self-disclosures, YHWH reveals Himself to Abraham. 3. for His Kingdom ministry This term can have as many meanings as authors, but to give Park the benefit of the doubt, yes, we can see Abraham as a type of a king who will have a multitude of subjects, a great reputation; be the media- tor of blessings for other nations; and have the ability to have judgment inflicted on them by YHWH, per their response to him. He will take up Adams abdicated role of having domi- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 56 Hugh Martin (1822-85), Joyous Spirituality of Christian Pilgrimage St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 26 nion once again and always point forward to a greater King. Both Abraham as a king and Jesus the King are the fathers of the faithful and in assembly, they are known as the church, not just an amorphous kingdom ministry. 4. .Among people groups of other religious traditions What is being suggested? There are two choices. Either Park is suggesting that Abraham would continue to live and work in the context of his old religion, which the text very clearly suggests could not be the case, or that he would do so in the context of the religion of the Canaanites [who] were in the land (Gen 12:6). What is clear from the text is a radical dis- sociation from his old religious context, and the formation of a radically new religion if we can call it that, i.e. of serving YHWH, while living in the context of Canaanite religion. It is more than just living in that context, however. Cassuto shows that Abrahams construction of altars to YHWH at strategic centers of Canaanite worship signifies the procla- mation of the supremacy of YHWH the God of Abram, over the gods of Canaan. 57 This kingdom ministry then is the declaration of the Kingship of YHWH and a corresponding declaration of war over these resident gods. This separa- teness will later manifest itself in the attempted curse by Ba- laam over Israel, where it becomes a blessing instead and he describes Israel as a people who live apart and do not consi- der themselves one of the nations (Num 23:9).
Taken as a complete phrase, then, Parks assertion seems to ap- peal strongly to using the historical precedent of the weighty figure Abraham as a means to prepare his reader to accept his interpretati- on and consequent application of the Naaman story. Rather than listening to the text itself, Park, I would suggest, has illegitimately searched for a legitimization for a current methodology which is all about staying in ones religious context.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 57 Cassuto, p. 306" St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 27 6 Conclusion
The Biblical text demonstrates that the call of Abraham is a call from sterility and death in his old context to fruitfulness and new- birth in his new context. Based on the gracious self-disclosure of YHWH with His promises, it facilitates a life of vulnerability, loss of identity, and loss of secure status. It casts Abraham fully on the veracity of YHWHs promises in Christ and in the better city which he had to see from afar and welcome through God-given eyes of faith. It is no less than the call of Jesus to take up ones in- strument of crucifixion and follow him. Abraham well could have written the words of the Welsh hymn which reads:
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty; Hold me with thy powerful hand; Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more.
For further reflection
1. Extraction - or taking someone out of their familiar context - has been described as the cardinal sin by some working among Muslims. What principles, if any, can be gleaned from the call of Abraham? 2. William Dumbrell encapsulated the impossible cost of leaving for Abraham with these words: The call was to abandon all na- tural connections, to surrender all social customs and traditi- ons, to leave land, clan and family. These were the very areas of strong attachment which in the ancient world would have been thought to provide ultimate personal security." 58 Was this true only for Abraham or could it apply to modern day disciples re- gardless of context? Consider Martin Goldsmiths description of the challenge facing a Muslim in his society: Islam is within the whole warp and woof of society - in the family, in politics, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 58 Dumbrell, Covenant and Creation, p. 57. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 28 in social relationships. To leave the Muslim faith is to break with ones whole society. Many a modern educated Muslim is not all that religiously minded; but he must, nevertheless, re- main a Muslim for social reasons, and also because it is the ba- sis for his political belief. This makes it almost unthinkable for most Muslims even to consider the possibility of becoming a follower of some other religion. 59 Two contexts, same call, same God: are they incompatible? 3. Cassutos description of Terah being wooed back to the idolatry that he never really left ends with the chilling statement, Where he halted he also died. Can modern day applications be made of this statement? 4. The potential shame of rootlessness and lack of social status has been said to be avoided at all costs. What can we learn from Abraham and other heroes of faith in Hebrews 11? 5. Self-determination, i.e. I call the shots as to where I live, with whom I associate, and how I worship. This has been said to be the clarion call of much of North American evangelicalism. How does this square with the story of Abraham, and how might this attitude find expression among missions to Mus- lims? 6. The story of Abraham is replete with verbs of movement. What do the directions of these movements suggest? How do they square with other modern movements? 7. In the call of Abraham promises outnumber commands 2:1 (i.e. 2 verses of blessings and 1 verse of command). How might this be of pastoral use to those who fear shame or loss? 8. Joseph called his first Gershom: for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land (Ex 2:22 RSV). John Bunyan in Pilgrims Progress had a character named Obstinate who, when faced with leaving his friends and family said, I will go back to my own house. Which name would your disciples have? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 59 Martin Goldsmith, Community and controversy: key causes of Muslim resistance. Missiology, 4 no 3 (Jl 1976), p 318.
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 WHEN MY BELOVED BECAME TRIUNE: ENCOUNTERING IBN ARABI IN THE RELIGION OF LOVE
By Timothy Abraham 1
My Beloved is my Lord and my Lord is my Beloved. He is the starting point, the Alpha and the Omega. All creatures seek Him and praise Him everyday and hundreds of millions praise him eve- ryday in thousands of languages. Nobody can monopolize Him to himself and say that He is for me and no one else. God is for every- body and loves everybody, and so He had to be triune in three per- sons so that I may be privileged to know Him. For if He remains one and only in His heavens and not reaching out to me or running out to meet me in His incarnation, what good does His monotheism do for me? In what way do I really benefit from theoretically con- crete monotheism such as that? Believing in the unity of God is a de-facto matter, acknowledged by all including the demons. James says in his epistle You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe thatand shudder. (2:19). However, we need more than belief in one God. We need for this one God to become flesh with us, reach out His hand to us in His Advent. We need more than the doctrine of monotheism as strictly dry as it is. Therefore, our Lord comes, will- ingly motivated by intense outpouring love for our sake. He, then, becomes triune without having any qualms about it. At the same time He is the Lord who is One and there is no other. Receiving such a spiritual matter occurs on the level of Faith not the abstrac- tion of ideas, or otherwise we are watching from a distance and re- main detached by a big chasm from our God. All that we know then, is that he is just one God. This is like going to the beach, watching the water from a distance and not allowing our feet to get !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! "Abraham was born into a Muslim Egyptian family. He is married with two chil- dren and is now living in the USA. His interests are languages, notably French and Syriac, and exploring the intersection of church history, Islamic history and the Churchs witness to Muslims today. His testimony can be read at Answering Islam: www.answering-islam.org/authors/abraham/testimony.html." St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 30 wet. We have to plunge into the water of divine love where there is a deeper level. It is the level of the trinity. Within the Muslim world there has been a voice that has pro- claimed an intimacy with God that goes far beyond the traditional Islamic understanding of God and the Muslim relationship with Him. Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 AD) was a poet, a sheikh of Islam and a lover of God. He was endowed with spiritual insight as well as beauty of soul in order to see some things, while still remaining in Islam. This Muslim mystic was able to spot such a significant spiri- tual truth as the Christian doctrine of Trinity in that he ties it in with Gods unconditional love. In a famous poem in his Turjuman, he proceeds to proclaim his love for his God and to commune with Him in affectionate, flirting, poetic verses, even though his religion does not allow for such romance with God. Admittedly, the Quran does not state clearly that God is love or that God is our Beloved or the Lover. Never does the Quran state that the Lord will reach out to humanity in his initiative of love, as is the case with Christianity. Yet Ibn Arabi transcends the obvious cruel, customary rigidity ac- companying the Quranic text and proceeds to love with his God. His God is his Beloved; no wonder he is enormously comfortable around Him. No wonder most of the Arab world is universally drawn to Ibn Arabi and chants his romantic poetry and sees it as a divine gift. We also see how much his heart was vastly big and tol- erant so as to include all people of religions and non-religions, which is in itself incongruent with the spirit of Islam. He showed that he wanted to break free of the restrictions of Islam and love like God loves,loving everyone. Isnt every true love emanating directly from the bowels of God? -Yes, of course! And do we have any love in us that came from within us ourselves -Of course not! For how did we learn to flirt or how did we learn the art of love? And how do our hearts beat with that thrill? Of course this is from our maker, the Lord God Himself! Any love that is not rooted in God or does not come from the heart of God is plain deception for its self-seeking nature. True love seeks what is the others. This means that I get out of myself and pour all my at- St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 31 tention on that individual and seek that persons ultimate good. Often a man loves a young lady because he simply sees his image in her. He sees himself in her, and loves her for the things that she does for him. Such love is narcissism, as when Narcissus saw him- self on the face of the water. But when I love someone this should be for her own sake. I should seek with all my energy to make her happy without expecting something in return. Utilitarianism and love do not go hand in hand. Because we think about love, sex and romance apart from God, we are haunted by the mentality of halal and harram, which are what is lawful and unlawful in Islam, the dos and donts. With this taboo mentality, everything is liable to become unclean because the mind is measuring things in a utilitarian, objectifying light. For them, lovemaking has become a legal right governed by the mar- riage contract, hence the phrase `Uqdad al-nikah (Intercourse con- tract). This phrase describes marriage, on the one hand, as nothing more than a contract and, on the other hand, it is this contract that modifies the act of Nikah (intercourse in marriage). The focus of Islam, here, would be on the idea to have a contract to have the right to have sex. Ibn Arabai saw that Christ was the seal of the Saints while Muhammad was the seal of the prophets. He doesnt place Christ on the same level as ordinary prophets, who according to Islamic theology merely convey the message of God passively. He sees Christ as an intimate saint of God, about whom the Hadith qudsi says, Whoever becomes an enemy to a wali (saint) I have launched war on him. Ibn Arabi brings to mind the people who come to Je- sus under the cover of darkness as they felt and knew deep within themselves who Christ really was. One such person would be Nicodemus. It is no surprise that Christ speaks to him from the heart with impatience, You are a teacher of Israel and you dont know this? (John 3:10) Likewise, Ibn Arabi has his own high es- teem as an Imam in Islam, in the same fashion that Nicodemus held a place of reverence as Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 32 Our honored shiekh, Ibn Arabi, a Nicodemus in his own Islamic way, has his masterpiece of poetry, Turjuman Al-Ashwaq. 2 In poem 12 he says communing with his Beloved:
My beloved has become triune while He is still One, In Him the Persons of Trinity have become a Being.
The Beloved is one, indeed, in his personhood and, so, we might wonder, how does trinity get to him, our sheikh Ibn Arabi? Ibn Arabi would tell us, It is Love! It is by love and for the sake of love that He becomes triune, otherwise he is closed in upon himself in dire detachment. He is not arrogantly peeking from his heaven on his slaves, as Islam would inform us. The trinity is contrary to being closed off. For if God becomes veiled from us, this would be, indeed, hell in itself. May He never hide His face from us! Love was, and still is, His initiative, not ours. We might ask Ramon Llull, who was one of the earliest Christians to take the Gospel mes- sage to the Muslim world in the 13th century, about paradise and hell. In his book he states: They asked the Lover, What is the greatest darkness? He replied, The absence of my Beloved. 3 Para- dise is that of the closeness of the Beloved and hell is that of the ab- sence of the Beloved. True divine enlightenment is that of the closeness of the Beloved. As long as we talk about the Trinity or Christianity at large, it cannot be done apart from the encounter of the loving God that we experience. For He is the Beloved who cannot be absent, or else life would be miserable hell as a result of His absence. The Gospel al- ways presents the doctrine of the trinity in light of the God who is only love. Without talking about the Beloved, and here I mean my Own Beloved, I have no way of talking about the Trinity at all. In the Gospel of Luke Chapter 3 there is elucidation of this concept in the baptism of Christ. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Edited by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson and published by London Royal Asiatic Society, 1912 3 The Book of the lover and the Beloved; Translated from the Catalan of Ramon Llull with an introductory essay, 1923. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 33 When all the people were baptized Jesus was also baptized. While praying the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove and said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" (Matthew 17:5). In this incident the Father who sends His Beloved Son for the salvation of the world is present. So is the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit also. As the Spirit comes upon Christ he announces that Christ is, indeed, Gods Beloved Son. In this verse, there is the beautiful presence of the three persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This Bible passage powerfully and clearly explains the doctrine of the Trinity for our Christian wit- ness. We cannot talk about what is between the Father and Christ the Son without addressing the relationship of love that they have between the two of them. This is the only way to present the doc- trine of the Trinity. In talking about the Beloved who has capti- vated us by His love, what further proof for Christianity do we need than His own love? They ask for a sign, and yet the sign of love is the only thing offered for them. According to the Bible this doc- trine of the trinity has been present from the beginning; it isnt an invention of a church council, as some claim in order to justify re- jecting the triune God of Love. Whenever God the Father and Christ are present in some place, with the Holy Spirit operating in the hearts of people, then you are, indeed, addressing the Trinity. Call it whatever term you wish, for it isnt about the terminology but the profound theological content that it denotes. It is all about the relationship between God the Father and Christ working to- gether in our hearts and renewing them by the Holy Spirit of God. That is why they call Christianity the religion of Love. Therefore, I am inclined to go with Ibn Arabi when he says in his Turjuman, The religion of love shall be my religion and my faith, wherever God's caravans turn. Today, still, Ibn Arabi comes again in the person of an enlightened, open-minded Muslim scholar such as Dr. Mohamed Kamel Hussayn in his literary masterpiece. He is appalled by the hardness of hearts that handed Jesus over to the cross. One of his characters in the novel is mouth-pieced as say- St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 34 ing, Would you ever kill a man that says that God is love? No criminal would utter such a thing! God is love. 4 This kind of love was, indeed, the message of Christ who went about proclaiming it, leaving no room for divisive arguments. With love, you simply cant argue. Love always wins. It is such love that is the most prominent dogma of Christianity, and it is for its sake that Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., leave everything behind and walk with Christ hand in hand. There was a Sikh by the name Sadhu Sundar Singh who had de- cided to follow Jesus. He was asked once by a Hindu professor what it was that he had found in Christianity that he had not found in his old religion. I have found Christ, said Sadhu Sundar Singh. Oh yes, I know, said the professor rather impatiently. But what par- ticular doctrine have you found or principle that you did not have before? The particular thing I have found, replied Sadhu Sundar Shingh, is Christ! It is this Jesus Christ that Ibn Arabi found as precisely characterizing the religion of love in his poem, and yet he could not give up all and follow Him. Sadhu, on the other hand, made a different choice and decided to be cleansed in His heart by His redemptive love. We may wash the outside as much as we want in ablutions, and all that we are doing is washing the outside of the pot. Sadly, the inside of the pot is still dirty (Luke 11:39). It is where Love Divine comes in and purifies us; not a long list of dos and donts, that strict Islamic mentality of the taboo. That Trinity of Love is what it takes to purge our souls of its ills. What people need primarily is not rigid, dogmatic beliefs, but a Person, the Liberator of the souls, Jesus Christ. On his account, things are done out of deep, compelling love of Christ, not out of fear. When the holocaust occurred, people were still dressed in civi- lized clothes and acted refined. The heart, sadly, still had it own disease, the disease of sin. Western secularism in all of its glory never daunted people from the barbarism of the holocaust. What was and is still needed is not an ideology but definitely a change of heart, a heart made once again in the image of God in the religion of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! # "The City of Wrong by Kamil Hussein, Dar Al Shuruq, Cairo, Egypt, p. 19. Avail- able in English in the translation of Kenneth Cragg." St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 35 love, of which Ibn Arabi speaks. Love alone can eradicate evil from mans heart, and man is no longer as Hobbes once claimed - a wolf hunting his own brother. Love, beauty of God, will redeem our souls; no more hunters, but instead achieving the highest potential of the humanity of God in Christ and appropriating it to our beings. We have seen and heard the terror of Islam on every side. Its peace is nothing more than a lip service as it is more of an ideology than a spirituality of sorts. For this reason my God who is omnipotent chose also to be all- humble, all-love in the Trinity. Without the Trinity, he is just a generic deity, direly detached and remote, peeking in from heaven with his severe edicts. In the Trinity, he reaches out both hand and heart to embrace me. He is no longer an idea to be proven or dis- proven, but a person to choose or to reject; a God to experience per- sonally as Lord and Savior, but not a concept that inferentially prevails upon our minds. His is the love story that Fanny Crosby beautifully chants, Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard. Tell how the angels in chorus, Sang as they welcomed His birth. Glory to God in the highest! Peace and good tidings to earth. 5
!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 Complete lyrics available at www.scrollpublishing.com/store/Fanny- Crosby.html. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 36 A CRITICAL DISCUSSION OF INFLUENCES ON THE IDENTITY CHOICES MADE BY BELIEVERS WITH A MUSLIM BACKGROUND IN THE UK
By David Combes
Abstract Identity has been seen as one of the major challenges BMBs (Believers in Christ with a Muslim Background) face as they progress in working out their new faith. 1 In order to better understand this complex issue and the relationship between experience and subsequent choices of identity, four BMBs who all attend one church in England were interviewed. Through the inductive process of a naturalistic research approach these case studies were explored in light of the nature of identity, culture, and community. The culmination was in three proposed hypotheses which investigate the influences of attitude towards Islam, persecution, and community acceptan- ce. Some understanding was achieved in the variety of identities chosen. One unifying element was that all, despite these variables, had chosen to lose their Islamic religious identity in favour for either a Christian label or neutral equivalent. A critical factor in cultivating this change was seen to be the influence of the post-modern pluralistic English society in which they now live. Although generalised rules for identity construction were not formulated, it was possible through the use of sociological and theological insights to understand the challenges faced by these BMBs. The findings of this research are seen as paving the way for future research into the chal- lenges faced by BMBs living in the UK today.
1 Introduction
1. 1 BMB Reserach Over the last twenty years the issues surrounding how a Believer in Christ who has a Muslim Background (BMB) should live and ex- press their new devotion has been under great scrutiny and debate !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! "See footnote 2 for an explanation of the term BMB, 4 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 37 within the missiological world. 2 From this hive of activity has sprung, in some circles, new fervour for the BMB to continue identi- fying with and integrating into their existing culture and religious society as advocated by the Insider Movement (IM). 3 Other Chris- tian practitioners within the Muslim world have seen weaknesses in this view and swung to an opposing method of extractionism out of Islam. 4 Yet within these discussions there continues to be a central concern of identity which remains as significant today as it was two decades ago. In 1998 John Travis wrote:
If perhaps the single greatest hindrance to seeing Muslims come to faith in Christ is not a theological one (i.e. accepting Jesus as Lord) but rather one of culture and religious identity (i.e. having to leave the community of Islam), it seems that for the sake of Gods kingdom much of our missiological energy should be devoted to seeking a path whereby Muslims can remain Muslims, yet live as true followers of the Lord Jesus. 5
Today a BMBs primary concern once they commit to following Jesus is often more related to issues of identity and community ra- ther than style of worship. 6 This dilemma has been echoed in the limited but significant Islamic ministry I have had the privilege to experience. Therefore, the aim of this research is to probe these concerns of identity and community and their mutually dependent relationship. This is not with the desire to produce a fundamental or generalized solution, but to assist in the researchers and readers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 BMB will be used as the most current term for a Believer in Christ with a Muslim Background. However, much of the literature from the last twenty years uses an alternative form of Muslim Background Believer (MBB). 3 The Insider Movement is essentially a believer who remains within and identified with their Islamic community, see, Kevin Higgins, Inside What? Church, Culture, Religion and Insider Movements in Biblical Perspective, St Francis Magazine, 5.4 (August 2009), 74 4 An advocate for extractionism is found in, John Span, The Outsider Movement of Hebrews 13, St Francis Magazine, 6.4 (August 2010), 716 5 John Travis, Must all Muslims leave Islam to follow Jesus?, EMQ, 34.4 (October 1998), 414 6 Green, Tim. Forthcoming. "Conversion in the Light of Identity Theories", in David Greenlee, (ed), Longing for Community, Pasadena, Calif., USA: WIlliam Carey Library St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 38 appreciation of the complex nature of the issues faced by a BMB today. The structure of this thesis is different from the conventional so- cial science model and is more akin to the naturalistic and inductive style within qualitative research. 7 By utilising this approach the structure mirrors the same research process as conducted by the researcher where field work and literature study happen simultane- ously. The aim is to give the reader a similar discovery moment to that experienced by the researcher as the BMBs experiences and choices are unpacked. 8 To this end the Chapter structure closely follows that advocated by John W. Creswell for a naturalistic case study thesis. 9 This introduction is followed by the research ap- proach and the results summary, Chapters 2 & 3. Then the primary focus of the paper follows as each BMB story is unpacked and com- pared to others and contemporary literature, Chapters 4 & 5. The culmination of this process is seen in Chapter 6 where I propose three hypotheses which are evaluated against the experiences of the BMBs interviewed.
1. 2 Li nki ng Research Wi t h Cont emporary Li t erat ure This research focuses on examining the identity choices of BMBs who now live in the UK. However, it is important to note that there is very little literature available on the experiences and theology associated to BMBs in this context. The focus over the last twenty years has been with those who remain within their Muslim majority countries and subsequently which identities they chose. However, this research will still utilise the literature available despite this dis- parity, but will attempt to explore how these assertions and pat- terns translate to the UK setting. It is my hope that through this I will be able to add to the ever growing depth of resources available !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7 Bill Gillham, Case Study Research Methods, Real World Research Series, London: Continuum, 2000, 96 8 Ibid. 9 See section 2.1 for further justification for a naturalistic case study approach, 6, John W. Creswell, Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among five ap- proaches, 2 nd ed., London: Sage Publications, 2007, 80 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 39 to those who have the opportunity to witness and disciple Muslims in this country. 10
2 Research Approach
2. 1 Research Phi l osophy The goal of this research is to understand from the BMBs perspec- tive what identity choices they face today and what contributes to their decision making. Therefore, the best match to this orientation is the case study as written through the naturalistic approach. 11
This gives greater opportunity to reconstruct in detail the BMBs experiences and understand their choices at a level which a widely focused quantitative survey may not offer. Supporting this ap- proach are the foundational assumptions of qualitative research and ideographic knowledge. Qualitative research is concerned with un- derstanding the individuals perceptions of the world around them. 12
Indeed the fact that individuals look for meaning as they interpret these interactions lies at the heart of this research approach. 13 The individuals story of how they became a believer and what reactions they perceived from those around them is an important source of information for us. Judith Bell writes:
It is therefore not enough simply to naively observe what a person is doing or how they are behaving within any given situation. In order to understand what is actually going on within that situation it is ne- cessary to understand the meanings of the actions, the way the situati- on is being interpreted by those performing within it and the reasons behind the ways individuals and communities act in the particular ways that they do. 14
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 Horst B. Pietzsch, Welcome Home: Caring for Converts from a Muslim Background, Nairobi: SIM, 2010, 61 11 Yvonna S. Lincoln and Egon G. Guba, Naturalistic Inquiry, London: Sage Publi- cations, 1985, 359 12 Judith Bell, Doing Your Research Project, 5 th ed., Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2010, 5 13 John Swinton and Harriet Mowat, Practical Theology and Qualitative Research, London: SCM Press, 2006, 29 14 Ibid., 38 (emphasis original) St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 40 As the BMBs share their story they are incorporating their un- derstanding of meaning and purpose into their experiences, and it is the responsibility of the researcher to listen and unpick this mea- ning in order to formulate research data. 15
The second foundation is ideographic knowledge. Unlike quan- titative research, which relies on provable and repeatable experi- ments in order to make generalizations, this qualitative research embraces the concept that meaningful knowledge can be discovered in unique, non-replicable experience. 16 Through the BMBs story we are able to better understand the world and how God reveals himself, sometimes uniquely, to individuals. Fitting with these re- search philosophies a semi-structured interview technique was adopted for this study. 17
Within the naturalistic approach chosen for this research are a few more important characteristics which have been incorporated; the principles of inductive analysis and constant comparison. There was no overriding theory or hypothesis which was externally brought to the table at the start and then subsequently tested, but through analysis one was inductively formed. 18 This does not deny that any researcher approaches their study with previous knowledge or opinion, but importantly these do not govern the course of the research. 19 As the research was conducted each case study was compared to the others and to the growing literature study which developed as the researchers knowledge in the topic increased. As a theory emerged and became delimited a series of proposed hypothe- ses was constructed against the BMB case studies, see Chapter 6. The desired impact of this research is to inspire change from the reader through a wider appreciation of the complexity of BMB life through their resonance with the experiences described. 20 As the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 Judith Bell, Doing Your Research Project, 19 16 John Swinton and Harriet Mowat, Practical Theology and Qualitative Research, 43 17 See section 2.3 for a further discussion, 9. See John Swinton and Harriet Mowat, Practical Theology and Qualitative Research, 63 18 Yvonna S. Lincoln and Egon G. Guba, Naturalistic Inquiry, 333 19 Louis Cohen and Lawrence Manion, Research Methods in Education, 6 th ed., Ab- ingdon: Routledge, 2007, 173 20 Ibid., 47 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 41 reader appreciates the stories of each BMB they might identify with a particular circumstance or issue which either provides some help or comfort for their situation.
2. 2 BMB Group Sel ect i on In order to gain focus a selection of BMBs were chosen for inter- view who are attached to one particular church in England. It pro- ved difficult to reach this goal as many other churches around the UK were reluctant to release their BMBs to external parties over fear of confidentiality and security. 21 However, despite this challen- ge a sympathetic church was located.
2. 3 Int ervi ew Et hi cs 2.3.1 Sampling method From this group of believers a selection according to purposive sampling was chosen who would provide some level of diversity. 22
Rather than accepting any BMB who was available for interview, the group was reduced using a series of criteria to both protect them and the integrity of the research. 23 This can be found in full in Ap- pendix A, but here is a summary of some of the key points. Firstly, all the interviewees must have been born and raised as Muslims within a Muslim dominant country before they came to live in the UK. This ensures that their Islamic heritage had sufficient time to permeate their behaviour and worldview. Secondly, their English language ability must be sufficient so that they can understand the researchers questions and formulate answers which express their stories and emotions. Thirdly, the church worker would vouch that their professed faith was genuine and would be a link for the re- searcher. 24 The next set of conditions allowed for some controlled variety. 25 Firstly, either men or women were considered; secondly, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 21 See section 6.2 for some discussion around the issues that contribute to these fears, 29 22 Ibid., 69 23 See Appendix A for a summarised list of the Sampling Criteria, 43 24 Speaking with one experienced asylum worker false conversion for the sake of enhancing their asylum case is common. 25 With data collection being focused to four BMBs the extent of variety is admit- tedly limited in itself. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 42 the BMB could originate from either Iran or Afghanistan; 26 thirdly, they could be from either Sunni or Shia branches of Islam; 27 and fourthly, the length of time in being a BMB could vary.
2.3.2 Suggested interview questions Before the interviews took place, in order to ensure informed con- sent, the Interview Outline sheet was sent electronically to each volunteer. 28 This introduced the researcher, the research goal, le- vels of anonymity, and suggested topics for the interview. These topics were carefully designed to remain as open as possible, not leading or presumptuous. 29 In following the approach of inductive research these topics had the primary aim of sparking discussion about the BMBs life story. At times these prompts were either not needed or were followed in a different order just as the interviewee wished. The level of power held by the interviewee was an important consideration. To follow a naturalistic case study approach it was important to allow them freedom in describing their experiences in a way that seemed both natural and helpful for them. This follows the focused interview technique described by Judith Bell and relies on the researcher to judge when to listen and when to probe further. 30 This was found to be very successful as it allowed the BMBs to decide the level of detail to provide given the sensitive na- ture of the subject. 31 For example, Jon found discussing his family life from when he was a child too painful and after some time decli- ned to comment further. Professionalism was maintained as much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 26 These countries are of personal interest to the researcher. 27 See section 6.1 for a discussion of the impact the Shia background had on three of BMBs interviewed, 25 Throughout this paper Shia will be used as it is the original Arabic word, but alternatives are Shiite or Shiah, see Ian Richard Netton, A Popular Dictionary of Islam, rev ed., Richmond: Curzon Press, 1997, 230 28 See Appendix B for Interview Outline sheet given to each volunteer prior to discussion, 44 29 Judith Bell, Doing Your Research Project, 162 30 Ibid., 165 31 See section 2.3.3 for a discussion on confidentiality, 11 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 43 as possible during the interviews and the temptation to fall into a counselling role in situations like these was avoided. 32
2.3.3 BMB Confidentiality Another important aspect was in agreeing to sufficient confidentiali- ty with the interviewees. For many BMBs their past association to Islam can cause great suffering for both them and their families if identified by fellow countrymen even in England. 33 Therefore, en- suring they cannot be sufficiently identified throughout this paper was essential for their peace of mind. To that end each BMB chose a false name at the start of their interview which they are thence- forth referred by. Even though two were happy to be identified as living in the particular town, others were not, and so all are identi- fied as simply residing in England. All were happy for their ethnic and Islamic heritage to be identified given that the above two condi- tions were met. It was the original intention that the interviews would be recorded, audio only, and subsequently destroyed. Howe- ver, when permission was requested all declined for fear of future identification. Despite this, sufficient notation was made to enable subsequent analysis of their stories. 34
3 Results Summary: BMB Profile Table ! Figure 1 BMB profile summary from interviews !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 32 John Swinton and Harriet Mowat, Practical Theology and Qualitative Research, 66 33 See later discussions in section 6.1 and 6.2 regarding the impact of persecution on identity, 25, 28 34 See Appendix D for the notes taken during each interview St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 44 Figure 1 is a summary of the key aspects of the background and chosen identities of the BMBs interviewed as understood by the re- searcher. 35 They display an interesting amount of variance between their experiences and subsequent choices. They will now be discus- sed further in the following sections focusing on aspects of identity and culture (community).
4 Case Study Exploration: The Nature Of Identity
4. 1 Level s And Types Of Ident i t y We will now begin to unpack aspects of each case study and compa- re them with the findings and assertions found in literature. This is with the desire to improve our understanding of the challenges fa- cing BMBs in England today. At a spiritual level the identity of believers is rooted in their cre- ator God and with Christ the head of the Church. 36 However, despi- te each BMB being on their own individual journey in discovering this reality, the concept of identity this paper examines is more rela- ted to social science. With many variations of definition available a social-psychological understanding has been adopted due to its par- ticular relevance for Islamic religious and cultural identity. Under this definition, identity results from a combination of psychology, the individual personality; and sociology, the label others place upon you. 37 The interaction between these occurs when a person looks both internally and externally in asking the question, Who am I?. Their internal opinion is influenced by how they understand the people around them, and also how these people in turn view the in- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 35 See Appendix C for the full table and Appendix D for the researchers interview notes, 47, 48 36 For examples of a spiritual source of identity see, Martin Lloyd-Jones, Children of God, Life in Christ: Volume 3: Studies in 1 John, Nottingham: Crossway Books, 1993, 9-20; and, Selwyn Hughes, Christ Empowered Living, Farnham: CWR, 2002, 27-42, and 173-191 37 Green, Tim. Forthcoming. "Conversion in the Light of Identity Theories", in David Greenlee, (ed), Longing for Community, Pasadena, Calif., USA: WIlliam Carey Li- brary St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 45 dividual. 38 This interaction is also influenced in how individual uni- queness is matched against collective similarities. The differences an individual has would naturally produce a unique self-identity if left unchallenged. However, the bonds shared by a community who, for example, are all Muslim provides a connection which unites them under one group identity. 39 Through this we can see that self- identity is made not given, constructed not simply passively absor- bed. There are different ways of describing the concept of self- identity, two of which are presented here as most relevant for BMBs. 40 Giddens and Sutton separate identity into primary and secondary levels. 41 The former is constructed in early life as they socialise and create identities of gender and ethnicity, and they be- come quite rigid. The latter is formed further on in life and is built upon their primary identity but linked to social status, job, or achie- vements and therefore is more fluid. From the interviews, see Figu- re 1, ethnic (not Islamic) identity in each case was retained to some degree, even in Paulines case where she has lived in England for thirty two years and still considers her identity to be part Afghan and part English. 42
Although religion is not mentioned in Giddens and Suttons model whilst ethnicity is, when examining the identity of a Muslim religion it would seem to be an important consideration for their primary identity. 43 Constructed from birth surrounded by their Muslim family and society it is likely to become at least as funda- mental to them as their nationality, proving perhaps a challenge to change. However, despite this convincing logic, all the BMBs in- terviewed had in a substantial way chosen to change their religious !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 38 Anthony Giddens and Philip W. Sutton, Sociology, 6 th ed., Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009, 256 39 Ibid., 257 40 For a survey of a variety of approaches to self-identity which are not presented here see, Harold W. Noonan, Personal Identity, 2 nd ed., London: Routledge, 2003 41 Ibid. 42 See Appendix D, section 3.5, 53 43 Damian Emetuche, The Challenge of Discipling Muslim Background Believers, Global Missiology, 2.7 (January 2010), 4 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 46 identity to become more Christianized or alternatively neutral, see Figure 1. For James a complete shift has occurred towards the for- mer, perhaps influenced by his decision to never return to Iran and hence distance himself from his Islamic roots. Tim Green adapts a three tiered model of identity from work by Beit-Hallahmi, see Figure 2 below.
Figure 2 - Model of Identity 44
Helpfully Green goes on to apply this model for Muslims. 45 The collective identity is that shared by the worldwide ummah of Islam which they were born into, a type of primary identity. 46 The social level is lived out in daily life and can include religious customs which the community shares and which create a strong bond. 47 Fi- nally, the ego-identity is found in the personal commitment and emotional attachment the Muslim has to their faith. 48 This can be subconscious in early life and evolve into a more purposeful and !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 44 Green, Tim. Forthcoming. "Conversion in the Light of Identity Theories", in David Greenlee, (ed), Longing for Community, Pasadena, Calif., USA: WIlliam Carey Library 45 Ibid 46 Ummah is the Islamic term for their united global community. 47 Green, Tim. Forthcoming. "Conversion in the Light of Identity Theories", in David Greenlee, (ed), Longing for Community, Pasadena, Calif., USA: WIlliam Carey Library 48 Ibid., reference located under the The "Ego Identity" Layer section St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 47 chosen attitude later. Greens model has proven to be particularly helpful in understanding the challenges faced by the BMBs inter- viewed. Aspects from both models will be discussed further in the proceeding sections as we continue to explore the case studies.
4. 2 Conversi on As a Ti me Of Ident i t y Transi t i on 49
According to Greens model in Figure 2, religious conversion nor- mally begins by the Gospel targeting the ego-identity of a Mus- lim. 50 This was certainly the case for the BMBs interviewed, but equally seen at the social level when they emigrated out of their mono-religious Islamic society and into the multicultural atmosphe- re of the UK. Both James and Steve, who became believers once they entered England, described how their religious identity drasti- cally changed after this move. James is happy to be identified as a Christian, but Steve adopted a more neutral concept which I liken to a Heaven Foreground Believer (HFB) as described by John Span. 51
It is an inclusive label for all believers worldwide irrespective of ethnicity or previous religious association. Steve wanted to drop his identity and association with Islam but equally was not comfortable to adopt a Christian label which he associates with Western society and the negative history of Christianity. 52
Research by Lori Peek into religious identity formation of se- cond generation immigrant Muslims in the USA has offered a useful three stage process which is applicable to the BMBs interviewed. 53
117 out 127 Muslims interviewed grew up in a Muslim family in the USA and had a Muslim identity ascribed to them. 54 However, they passed through a choice stage as they grew up and became aware !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 49 For the sake of simplicity conversion is understood here as the BMBs accep- tance of Jesus as their Saviour, and their on-going commitment in following his teachings. 50 Green, Tim. Forthcoming. "Conversion in the Light of Identity Theories", in David Greenlee, (ed), Longing for Community, Pasadena, Calif., USA: WIlliam Carey Library 51 John Span, The Outsider Movement of Hebrews 13, 716 52 See Appendix D, section 2.4, 50 53 Lori Peek, Becoming Muslim: The Development of a Religious Identity, Sociology of Religion, 66.3 (2005), 223 54 Ibid. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 48 of the options but decided to remain Muslim. 55 Finally, as they be- gan to feel secure in their choice they would openly declare their religious identity when asked. 56 The interviewed BMBs underwent a similar process within their own context, but they resulted in a variety of external religious identities. 57 Steve became a believer after he had moved to England, but he did not tell anyone of this change for some time. Even if he was asked he was not happy to advertise this change. 58 Only after several months once he had be- come comfortable in his HFB self-identity did he move to this third stage. Interestingly, from the interviews there does not seem to be a clear correlation between the length of time in being a BMB and their stage of identity development. Pauline, a BMB for thirty three years, developed a strong Christian religious identity with a well- established hybrid cultural identity blending both Afghan and En- glish aspects. 59 However, a similarly strong religious identity is expressed by James, a BMB of only two years. For him his attitude and experience of Islam in the past were very negative and so per- haps he was more ready to lose them. 60 However, I also feel that the freedom associated with the post-modern culture in which they now live has provided the cushion they needed to progress to this final declaration stage. Jon remains the exception who has lived in Eng- land for four years and been a BMB for six but still refrains from admitting this change to strangers.
5 Case Study Exploration: The Influence Of Culture
5. 1 Pl ural i sm And Post -Modernt i t y The Western culture in which the BMBs now live is dominated by aspects of pluralism and post-modernity. 61 Radically different to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 55 Ibid., 226 56 Ibid., 230 57 See Appendix C for a summary of their identities, 47 58 Steve translated the persecution he thought he would have received from Mus- lims onto people living in the UK which also kept him silent. 59 See Appendix D, section 3.5, 53 60 See Appendix D, section 4.2, 54 61 Ajith Fernando, Sharing the Truth in Love, Grand Rapids: Discovery House Pub- lishers, 2001, 18 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 49 their mono-religious Islamic culture they are now faced with a vari- ety of religious and cultural options which are generally acceptable to the majority of English society. 62
Post-modernity resulted as a reaction against modernity and its trust in science and the set knowledge of reality. Because truth is individual and subjective, there is no aim for consensus. 63 Everyo- nes opinion is just as good as everyone elses; what is important is if you are satisfied with it. Due to this lack of universal truth Western society has seen the rise of post-modern pluralism. 64 Through this no faith can have the absolute truth, and so all are tolerated as equal within a diverse community of race and religions. Gary Philips ar- gues that society has always had this diversity within it, but that in recent times the magnitude of these divergent worldviews present in one culture is unprecedented. 65
To understand Philips opinion we must consider the concept of globalization. A difficult term to define, Jeannine Fletcher offers useful phrases like compression of the world, and the intensificati- on of consciousness of the world, all driven through the explosion of media and migration. 66 Prior to the end of the twentieth century religions were considered to be bounded sets defined through race and geography. 67 But since then, globalization has threatened these neat identities as people of many different cultures migrate and in- termix. The result is hybrid identities where the culture, religion, and associated identities of an individual are fluid and change as they move within a multicultural society. 68 This impact of globali- zation challenges the rigid definitions of primary and secondary !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 62 Islam as both culture and religion has not been hugely impacted by modernity or post-modernity, see, Mark Sedgwick, Islam & Muslims: A guide to diverse experi- ence in a modern world, London: Intercultural Press, 2006, 38 63 Gary Phillips, Religious Pluralism in a Postmodern World, in David S. Dockery (ed.), The Challenge of Postmodernism: An Evangelical Engagement, Grand Rap- ids: Baker, 2000, 255 64 Ibid., 258 65 Ibid., 259 66 Jeannine Hill Fletcher, Religious Pluralism in an Era of Globalization: The making of modern religious identity, Theological Studies, 69 (2008), 395 67 Ibid., 401 68 Ibid., 407 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 50 identities which Giddens and Sutton offer. The town where this research was based is a typical contemporary British town which has become increasingly multicultural and multiethnic in the last century. Today BMBs regularly mix with a variety of nationalities and religious groups. 69 For example, Jon and James, who are full time students, have many friends consisting of English and non- English people. The impact of post-modern pluralism provides BMBs with the freedom from external expectation to choose a particular identity. 70
Previously in their Islamic community changing identity would ha- ve been unthinkable, but living in England they are faced with un- told opportunities and a society which generally avoids judging change. 71 The community which the BMBs now live in is a strong contributing factor in choosing an external Christianized identity. An exception is found in Jon who became a believer whilst living in Afghanistan but still prefers not to externalise a Christian identity in the UK. He is still influenced heavily by the fear of persecution which he avoided at all costs in Afghanistan. 72
5. 2 Isl ami c Communi t y It is important to understand the difference between community found in Islamic countries and England. We shall be discussing in more detail within Chapter 6 the impact this difference has on iden- tity. Belonging to the global Islamic community is as important to the Muslim as their religious doctrine. 73 Members of the ummah consider themselves distinct from other communities around the world through following the way of life which Allah endorses. 74
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 69 Nicholas Abercrombie, et al., Contemporary British Society, 3 rd ed., Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000, 226 70 Peter Sedgwick, Who Am I Now? - Theology and Self-Identity, Theology, 104.819 (May/June 2001), 197 71 The exception is the portion of society which consists of orthodox Muslims. 72 See Appendix D, section 1.3 and 1.4, 48, 49 73 Phil Parshall, Beyond the Mosque, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992, 26 74 See Sura 3 ayah 110, You are the best community that has been raised up for mankind., Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Quran, rev. ed., Birmingham: I.D.C.I, 2004, 43 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 51 This fuels their incredible sense of collective identity which is not restricted by race or ethnicity, see Figure 2. It is a collectivist socie- ty where group identity is considered an important part of everyday life, whilst in contrast Western culture is more individualistic. Da- mian Emetuche writes:
Both the family and society serve to give identity to a Muslim. It is almost unthinkable to do anything without the sanction or approval of the community or to take an action that will bring disrespect to ones family or community. 75
As a new believer wrestles in deciding to remain within their Islamic community they enter a difficult liminal stage full of confu- sion and doubt. 76 Jon faced this when he became a believer through his mother and an American missionary whilst in Afghanistan. However, all of the BMBs experienced some liminality caused by the immigration process and associated change of community. 77 It is understandable that their sense of identity was deeply shaken.
5. 3 Isl ami c Rel i gi on And Cul t ure 5.3.1 C-Spectrum and Identity The on-going discussion surrounding the Insider Movement (IM) has produced some well needed analysis on the nature of culture and religion in relation to theology. 78 Both impact behaviour and provi- de input to a persons worldview. 79 Some argue they are so inter- connected that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to separate one !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 75 Damian Emetuche, The Challenge of Discipling Muslim Background Believers, 4 76 Edward Evans, Discipling and Training for Muslim background Believers Part 1: A Growing Need, St Francis Magazine, 2.3 (September 2007), 3 77 Adis Duderija, Factors Determining Religious Identity Construction among Western- born Muslims: Towards a Theoretical Framework, Journal of Muslim Minority Af- fairs, 28.1 (December 2008), 372 78 Rebecca Lewis, Insider Movements: Honoring God-Given Identity and Community, IJFM, 26.1 (2009), 16-19 79 Kevin Higgins, Inside What? Church, Culture, Religion and Insider Movements in Biblical Perspective, 82 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 52 from the other and so a complete change is necessary. 80 However, not all agree with this, Timothy Tennent comments:
Those who say that Muslims cannot separate religion and culture are ignoring over thirty years of successful C4 contextualization throug- hout the entire Islamic world which has proved that BMBs new identi- ty in Christ is so powerful that it does, in fact, provide a new religious identity without one having to sever their former cultural identity. 81
C4 is part of a spectrum, depicted in Figure 3, which contrasts the types of Christ-centred communities observed in the Muslim world and can be closely associated to the social identity layer in Figure 2. It was originally published by John Travis in 1998 but has since been eagerly utilised as evidence for those endorsing the IM. 82 The critical difference between C4 and C5 is that of identity and this is the real advantage of using this model within this re- search. 83 Both retain cultural expression of their faith, but with C4 they identify themselves as a follower of Isa. 84
Muslims view C4 believers as a strange kind of Christian and C5 followers as a strange kind of Muslim; there is a danger that neither is accepted by either community. For Steve and James, who became believers whilst in the UK, they have never needed to face these challenges set in a Muslim dominant community. However, for Jon
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 80 John Span, The Critical Kingdom Question: Can one be identified with the Kingdom of God and with Islam at the same time? (Part 1 of 2), St Francis Magazine, 6.2 (April 2010), 324 81 Timothy C. Tennent, Followers of Jesus (Isa) in Islamic Mosques: A Closer Examina- tion of C-5 High Spectrum Contextualization, IJFM, 23.3 (Fall 2006), 106 82 The terms C5 and Insider Movement (IM) are considered by most to be inter- changeable. For original article see, John Travis, The C1 to C6 Spectrum, EMQ, 34.4 (October 1998), 407 83 For an alternative model of cross-cultural church which does not emphasise iden- tity see Saturation Church Planting (SCP), Jim Montgomery His Glory Made Visi- ble: Saturation Church Planting, in Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne (eds.), Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A reader, 4 th ed., Carlisle: Pater- noster, 2009, 660-662 84 John Travis, The C Spectrum, in Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne (eds.), Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A reader, 4 th ed., Carlisle: Paternoster, 2009, 664 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 53 Figure 3 - C1 to C6 Spectrum: Christ Centred Communities
and Pauline who did, both decided to initially keep their new faith a secret (C6). From a cultural perspective, all the BMBs interviewed made a distinct break from a cultural identification with Islam. They all emphasised their ethnic identities and associated cultural practices which has subsequently become blended with English habits. 85 This disparity between these observations and Travis model might be because it attempts to generalise trends over a wide variety of ex- pressions of Islam across the world. But, as the BMBs interviewed come from such a focused ethnic group and being primarily Shia, it is perhaps understandable why they do not easily correlate. 86
5.3.2 Assessing Culture and Religion Once a Muslim becomes a BMB they can react in three ways in how they choose to continue with their Islamic cultural and religious practices. They can completely reject them, attempting minimal contextualization and usually adopting the culture and religious practice of a foreign missionary, typically characterised as C2. 87
Conversely, they can uncritically accept and continue with their Is- lamic practices believing that there is some good in them, but run !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 85 See Appendix C for a summary of the BMBs cultural identities, 47 86 See section 7.1 for a further discussion surrounded further research opportunities which include expanding the ethnic and religious scope, 35 87 Paul G. Hiebert, Anthropological Insights for Missionaries, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1985, 184 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 54 the risk of falling into syncretism. 88 Paul G. Hiebert describes the best option to be critical contextualization of their practices and re- tention of what they consider to be biblically appropriate. 89 Only one BMB interviewed seemed to have maintained any of his Islamic religious heritage. 90 Steve held his Bible whilst praying, kissed it, and placed it on his forehead in a ritualistic manner. 91 It is unclear from the interview if this practice used a local form and local mea- ning from Islam, or if he has changed the meaning to be Christi- an. 92
5.3.3 Biblical Worldview and Culture Supporters of the Insider Movement utilise the Jerusalem councils verdict (Ac 15) and relate BMBs with Gentiles saying, Not only are Gentiles not required to become culturally Jewish, they are not re- quired to become religiously Jewish either. 93 Rebecca Lewis, an advocate for the IM, claims that a persons religious and cultural framework into which they are born is not random but divinely appointed (Ac 17 v 26), and therefore they can and should remain within it once they become a believer. 94 However, critics like Dick Brogden offer an interesting response by interpreting the verse to confirm God only as the creator of culture. 95 Both opinions are fraught with difficulties. 96 For Lewis view many, like Brogden, feel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 88 Ibid., 185 89 Ibid., 186 90 It is recognised that the limited amount of time during an interview is not evi- dence of an absence of Islamic practices from the other interviewees. 91 See Appendix D, section 2.4, 50 92 Kang-San Tan, Can Christians Belong to More than One Religious Tradition?, ERT, 34.3 (July 2010), 262 93 Kevin Higgins, Acts 15 and Insider Movements among Muslims: Questions, Process, and Conclusions, IJFM, 24.1 (Spring 2007), 32 94 Rebecca Lewis, Insider Movements: Honoring God-Given Identity and Community, 17 95 Dick Brogden, Inside Out: Probing Presuppositions among Insider Movements, IJFM, 27.1 (Spring 2010), 34 96 The meaning of the Greek used in Acts 17 v 26 is under on-going debate and proves to be inconclusive, see I. Howard Marshall, Acts: An Introduction and Com- mentary, Leon Morris (general editor), Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Nottingham: IVP, 1980, CD edition St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 55 she is advocating Islam as a value neutral religion and culture, and hence it does no harm remaining within and being identified with it. Lewis responds by saying that all culture is equally fallen; Islamic, the West, even Christian culture has syncretism. 97 Conversely, for Brogdens interpretation of Acts 17 v 26 we need to be careful not to place too much weight on God as the creator of all culture if in- deed we understand all religions, even pagan, to be part of that cul- ture. A solution is proposed by Rick Brown. He defines culture as those social conventions which are specific to and shared by the society. 98 Worldview however is related to the core beliefs and values a person has within the society, which can vary from person to person. 99 He asserts that the purpose of the Gospel is to change the worldview of an individual to become Biblical and theocentric whilst equally supporting diversity in cultural expression. 100 At the heart is the assumption that there is good within each culture which can be retained without conflict with the Bible, a similar un- derstanding to IM supporters and the Lausanne movement. 101
However, the opinions of all the BMBs interviewed were that the Islamic portion of their culture and religion contained no good to retain. For all of them it was associated with persecution and suffe- ring in varying degrees, and hence they chose to relinquish it.
6 Proposed Hypotheses
Through exploring the BMBs stories and identity choices I now propose three hypotheses which attempt to illustrate the relations- hip between them and the key factors of worldview and community. Each hypothesis utilises assertions found in literature and were !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 97 Ibid., 33. It is worth noting that Lewis appears to come from an inclusivist out- look as she frequently asserts that the Gospel can and is indeed designed to save people within any cultural and religious framework. See, Rebecca Lewis, The In- tegrity of the Gospel and Insider Movements, IJFM, 27.1 (Spring 2010), 44 98 Rick Brown, Contextualization without Syncretism, IJFM, 23.3 (Fall 2006), 127 99 Ibid. 100 Ibid., 128 101 See item 7 in the Cape Town 2010 Commitment, The Lausanne Movement, The Cape Town Commitment, http://www.lausanne.org/ctcommitment, accessed on 12 Apr 11 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 56 identified to a greater or lesser degree within the interviews. But this literature is based on studies from Muslim dominant countries, and so a secondary aim is to shed light on the relevance and power of these writings to the BMBs interviewed in the UK.
6. 1 Hypot hesi s 1: Past Associ at i on And At t i t ude To Isl am If a BMBs past association and attitude were lax or negative to- wards Islam they are more likely to relinquish them and become more Christianized in their religious and cultural identity. Joshua Massey has proposed a chart examining Muslim attitudes towards their faith; see Figure 4. Despite the variety found within Islam, Massey believes that all Muslims can be located within three major groupings: Disillusioned, Ambivalent, and Content. Within his chart he also places some ethnic groups, but he admits they are only applicable at the macro level and freedom must be given to in- dividual variance. 102 He created this chart from his extensive know- ledge and experience working as a cultural anthropologist in the Muslim world. I have found little evidence of this model being used or evaluated in literature, yet I believe it to be extremely useful. His goal is to move beyond merely understanding the Muslim, but to link their attitude to an appropriate Christ centred community. 103
Again, Massey admits this correlation is a generalization. For disillusioned Muslims, Massey argues they are ripe for con- version to Christianity and desire to be extracted from their Muslim communities. 104 Therefore, a highly decontextualized form of Christianity would appeal to them. Christ centred communities in the C1 - C3 range have varying levels of imported religious ex- pression normally from a foreign source, but importantly their iden- tity both internally and externally is understood to be Christian. 105
Massey argues from his contact with Iranian BMBs that their expe- rience with Shia Islam has been so negative due to fanaticism that they do not understand why any BMB would want to hold onto !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 102 Joshua Massey, Gods Amazing Diversity in Drawing Muslims to Christ, 13 103 See Figure 4 where Masseys correlation to the C-Spectrum has been added, 26 104 Ibid., 13 105 See Figure 3 for a summary of C-Spectrum groups, 21 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 57 it. 106 Therefore, not only are they motivated to change their reli- gious practices to become more Christian, but they also no longer wish to be identified with Islam. This strong motivation for a Christian identity was seen with James during the interview, but not with Steve. 107
C1, C2, C3 Any level - not many Muslims convert C4 and C5 Figure 4 - M1 to M9 Spectrum: Muslim attitudes about Islam 108 (adapted to in- clude corresponding C-Spectrum groups as described by Massey)
Both Jon and Steve (ex-Shia Muslims) have had considerably bad experiences with their Islamic family and friends which seem to ha- ve pushed them away from their Islamic identities. 109 Jon expresses multiple religious identities as he is hesitant to incorporate a full Christian identity either internally or externally. He prefers the internal label Follower of Jesus which straddles both Christian !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 106 Ibid., 13 107 Both James and Steve originate from Iran, and reasons for their disparity will be discussed below. 108 Joshua Massey, Gods Amazing Diversity in Drawing Muslims to Christ, 12 109 See Appendix D sections 1.2 and 2.2 for a description of their individual stories explaining this hatred towards Islam, 48, 50 Corresponding C1-C6 scale which is appealing to Muslim St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 58 and Muslim labels and can be associated closely with C4. Howe- ver, his external identity is more fluid as he switches between a Muslim label amongst Afghan Muslims out of fear of persecution, and Christian when amongst English Christian friends. To this ex- tent he demonstrates a basic characteristic of multi-religious belon- ging. 110 This flexibility is not dissimilar to that observed by Ber- nard Dutch, a church planter amongst Muslims, where BMBs ex- pressed a multi-faceted concept of identity, one which Dutch says is hard for Western people to understand. 111 A similar neutral label has been chosen by Steve as he prefers both internally and external- ly to be known as a true follower of God. 112 However, James close- ly followed Masseys disillusionment correlation as he quickly relin- quished his Islamic heritage and adopted an English Christian identity. 113
Pauline (ex-Sunni Muslim) falls under the Ambivalent category. Interestingly, after being a secret believer (C6) for a while she quic- kly developed a full Christian identity both internally and externally after immigrating to England. 114 It is probable that as she moved out of her Islamic community and into a post-modern pluralistic culture she found it easier to project her new faith via a label which is already in use by the English Christians she met. None of the BMBs interviewed fell into the Content group or C4 - C5 range. John Span, a critic of C5, presents a convincing argu- ment to those who believe it is possible to remain in practice a member of the Kingdom of God and the community (or kingdom) of Islam. 115 He argues that both kingdoms demand complete loyalty !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 110 Multi-religious belonging - where individuals publically identity themselves as followers of more than one religion, see Kang-San Tan, Can Christians Belong to More than One Religious Tradition?, 252 111 Bernard Dutch, Should Muslims Become Christians?, IJFM, 17.1 (Spring 2000), 15 112 For explanation of the HFB identity see, John Span, The Outsider Movement of Hebrews 13, 716 113 See Appendix D, section 4.4, 54 114 See Appendix D, section 3.4, 52 115 It is worth noting that Span seems to come from an exclusivist understanding of salvation and ecclesiology. His preferred Kingdom analogy has the Church as a fundamental prerequisite and therefore must influence his Outside approach. See, St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 59 and have similar goals in global mission. As such it is impossible to be a patriotic citizen of both at the same time. 116 His choice of words is interesting as it suggests that it is possible to feign loyalty to both, as a BMB might if they were C6, but crucially in their hearts there can only be one master (Mt 6 v 24). For this reason Span endorses lower spectrum expressions of faith which incorpo- rate a distinct Christian identity. Although this argument sounds viable on paper it does come in direct conflict with other missionary experiences. 117
What we have seen by exploring the relationship between past association and attitude towards Islam and BMB identity is that Masseys chart, although useful in theory, does not always follow the patterns shown by the four interviewees. Despite this, an influ- ence does seem to exist and it is a useful aspect to consider in any future Islamic ministry.
6. 2 Hypot hesi s 2: Isl ami c Communi t y React i on To The BMB If there is a strong negative reaction by the Islamic community against the BMB after their profession of faith in Christ, it is more likely that they will embrace and even seek out a new identity and sense of belonging amongst Christians. As a development of Hypothesis 1, this section will examine the specific influences of persecution, loss of community, and extractio- nism over a BMBs identity. Once a BMB starts to externalise some change in their faith Muslims can react very negatively. This is primarily due to the Is- lamic teaching of shirk (idolatry through polytheism) and ridda (apostasy from Islam) as being terrible sins which bring great sha- me not only to their family but also the whole community. 118 A key factor is the misunderstanding of the Christian label as being nega- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! John Span, The Critical Kingdom Question: Can one be identified with the Kingdom of God and with Islam at the same time? (Part 1 of 2), 316 116 Ibid., 326 117 For example of testimony supporting C4 communities see, Timothy C. Tennent, Followers of Jesus (Isa) in Islamic Mosques: A Closer Examination of C-5 High Spec- trum Contextualization, 106 118 Ian Richard Netton, A Popular Dictionary of Islam, 214, 231 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 60 tive and relating only to the lax morals witnessed in the Wests me- dia. 119 Bernard Dutch observes from his work in the Middle East:
To the average Muslim here, Christian means someone who worships three gods, believes Jesus is the product of a sexual liaison between God and Mary, drinks wine, eats pork, defiles himself with ri- tually unclean habits, betrays his cultural heritage, and uses religion to procure assistance from Westerners. 120
There is no divine mandate for believers to use the Christian la- bel, but it was originally adopted by society as a nickname for the first believers (Ac 11 v 26). 121 Dutch continues to argue that if ac- cepting the Christian label results in rejection and suffering, why do it? 122 But this is exactly what John Span would encourage any BMB to do. In his counter offering to the IM 123 entitled the Out- sider Movement, Span utilises the example of Christ to signify the importance and even requirement of persecution as part of our iden- tification with Christ (Heb 13 v 12 14). 124 He spends considerable time carefully relating these verses to the Old Testament sacrificial system which was enacted through Jesus being crucified outside the city gate just as animals were. He writes:
Just as Jesus had suffered outside of the city gate with a purpose, now his followers are also called with a purpose to leave their campground of comfort, the place of privilege, the security of their old religion. 125
It is certainly probable that the original readers of Hebrews were in need of escaping their moral lethargy, but Spans ideology needs further assessment if it can be universally applied as he claims. Firstly, he does not engage in a comparison with the remainder of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 119 Phil Parshall, Muslim Evangelism: Contemporary Approaches to Contextualization, Waynesboro: Gabriel, 2003, 177 120 Bernard Dutch, Should Muslims Become Christians?, 16 121 I. Howard Marshall, Acts: An Introduction and Commentary, CD edition 122 Bernard Dutch, Should Muslims Become Christians?, 16 123 See footnote 3 for explanation of the IM term, 4 124 John Span, The Outsider Movement of Hebrews 13, 726 125 Ibid., 724 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 61 scripture in light of these few verses as he creates his theology. 126
His scriptural focus in the article is particularly limited which he then proceeds to apply universally to modern day Islamic contexts. Secondly, it is reliant on forging a link between Christs purpose on the cross, as he understands it, to the BMBs need to leave their old religion and identity. This link does not seem to tally as neatly as he would like. The purpose of Jesus death was primarily propitiati- on which, Span infers, meant he needed to be crucified outside Je- rusalem to parallel Old Testament law. However, the BMBs pur- pose in leaving the city of their old religion in order to identify with Christ seems not to be equally related to the Old Testament sacrificial system. A BMB does not have to leave his Islamic religi- on and culture in order to experience suffering. 127
None of the BMBs interviewed had directly received persecution as a result of their new faith. For Jon and Pauline, who became be- lievers in their Muslim homelands, they kept their faith a secret to avoid such suffering. However, Pauline is a good example of how the development of a mature faith can help produce a secure Chris- tian identity later in life. She has since been back to Afghanistan and visited family in Pakistan, and at each time she declared that she was a Christian irrespective of what their reaction could have been. 128
A second element to consider is the relationship between identity and community. As already described in Chapters 4 and 5, self- identity is strongly rooted in the relationship the person has with their community, something which is especially important in Isla- mic societies. If the Muslim community reacts very strongly against the BMBs new faith, it is likely that the believer is rejected from that community. This happened to Mazhar Mallouhi, a fa- mous writer in the Arab world, as he chose to become religiously !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 126 Example passages which the IM often use and would be useful for Span to en- gage with are 2 Kings 5, Acts 17 v 26, Acts 15. 127 See the example of Mazhar Mallouhi who received just as much rejection from Christian circles and Muslim circles when we was an outsider then an insider re- spectively. See Paul-Gordon Chandler, Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road: Ex- ploring a New Path Between Two Faiths, Plymouth: Cowley, 2007, 107 128 See Appendix D, section 3.4, 52 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 62 and culturally Christian after his conversion. As he e became alie- nated from his family and all his former friends, he faced a profound crisis of identity. 129 This is typical of a rejectionist approach to conversion from Islam where none of the old religion or culture is considered good enough to retain (practice or identity) and hence a foreign expression is adopted. 130
The impact of community towards the BMBs identity should not be underestimated. Once rejected by one community it logically follows, according to a social-psychological understanding of identi- ty, that they should want to join another community in order to re- tain their self-worth and identity. For BMBs in Muslim countries an alternative community may not be available or may have to be sought in secret, as was the case for Jon. His mother secretly met with Western Christians who helped them through the early stages of their faith. But for Pauline in Afghanistan no such support was available. It was not until she emigrated to the UK and joined a local church that she was able to forge her Christian identity. 131
We have seen through exploring the impact of rejection by the Islamic community how the BMBs identity can be affected and in some cases pushed towards a more Christianized label.
6. 3 Hypot hesi s 3: Accept ance Int o The Chri st i an Communi t y
If the Christian community accepts and nurtures the BMB it is mo- re likely that their identity will become more Christianized both internally and externally. Again this hypothesis is a development from Hypothesis 2, but shall specifically examine the response of the Church community in the UK towards BMBs. From Kathryn Krafts PhD study exploring the influence of community on Arab BMBs, it is interesting that not all churches !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 129 Paul-Gordon Chandler, Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road: Exploring a New Path Between Two Faiths, 105 130 Duane Alexander Miller, Reappropriation: An Accommodationist Hermeneutic of Islamic Christianity, St Francis Magazine, 5.3 (June 2009), 6 131 See Appendix D, section 3.6, 53 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 63 welcomed them despite the BMBs specifically seeking them out. 132
It would seem that within churches in the Arab world there still lies a distinction between believers who are born Christian, and those who covert from Islam. 133 However, in the church where this re- search took place this certainly does not seem to be the case. All were welcomed in despite them being immigrants and Steve is an asylum seeker. Public opinion of immigration and asylum seekers has continued to deepen in the last thirty years in the UK, becoming a hot topic in any political debate. 134 Numbers of asylum seeker applications rose from 4,223 in 1982 to 110,700 in 2002, with over half of new appli- cations being from Muslim countries. 135 This dramatic increase in the numbers of Muslims entering the UK is likely to cause some backlash in public opinion regarding Islam in general. 136 However, it does not seem to have significantly impacted the particular church where this research is based. The parameters of this study did not allow for an investigation into the attitudes expressed directly by church members, but through the BMBs testimonies we are able to understand the general situation. All of them felt welcomed into the church despite the fact that the ethnic makeup of the congregation is overwhelmingly white-English. 137 In fact, Steve has been given the task of helping to serve drinks at the end of church meetings,a sign, for him at least, that he has been accepted into the church com- munity. This churchs attitude supports Peter Riddells opinion that the general view of Christians in the UK has swung since World !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 132 Kathryn Kraft, Faith is Lived out in Community: Questions of New Community for Arab Muslims who have Embraced a Christian Faith, St Francis Magazine, 6.6 (De- cember 2010), 964 133 This is Krafts opinion, Ibid, and is also echoed by Mazhar Mallouhis experi- ence. See, Paul-Gordon Chandler, Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road: Exploring a New Path Between Two Faiths, 107 134 For examples of the current attitudes towards immigration and asylum seekers see blogs on, The Guardian Newspaper, Immigration and asylum, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/immigration, accessed on 05 Jan 11 135 Home Office statistics quoted in, Peter G. Riddell, Christian and Muslims: Pres- sures and potential in a post-9/11 world, Leicester: IVP, 2004, 55 136 Ibid., 55 137 This is how the BMBs described the makeup of the church. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 64 World War II, and under the influence of globalization they are be- coming more inclusivist than exclusivist. 138 They see more in com- mon with those who follow a religion, particularly a monotheistic faith like Islam, and hence are more sympathetic to converts. Krafts comments on the influence community has over identity were strongly echoed in the interviews:
As people join Christian groups, they find their new identities reinfor- ced in community. People who have close regular contact with other converts find this to be especially true, and they work hard to reinforce their identity by seeking opportunities to be with people who share their background and their faith. 139
For Jon, Steve, and James, the home group which the church runs specifically for international believers remains their favourite meeting each week. There they are able to socialise amongst a vari- ety of nationalities and believers who have a range of religious backgrounds. In fact, James was introduced to the church by Jon whilst he was a Muslim, and they have since become great friends. 140 Through her research Kraft recognised a connection between BMB identity and the person who led them to Christ. If they were led by a foreign missionary it is likely that their chosen identity will mirror that of the missionary; they would join a C2 church and leave their Islamic community. 141 However, we must be careful to clearly discern in each situation what influences the BMB to make this choice. In the past missionaries have commonly ex- pressed an exclusivist view and encouraged the BMB to step out of their Islamic heritage. 142 In this research when asked if any expe- rienced this influence directly all the interviewees said no. It would seem that as they now reside in the UK they feel the freedom to choose for themselves an English church with which to be identi- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 138 Peter G. Riddell, Christian and Muslims: Pressures and potential in a post-9/11 world, 33 139 Kathryn Kraft, Faith is Lived out in Community: Questions of New Community for Arab Muslims who have Embraced a Christian Faith, 958 140 See Appendix D, section 4.3, 54 141 Ibid., 963 142 Damian Emetuche, The Challenge of Discipling Muslim Background Believers, 7 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 65 fied.. Perhaps this is because there are no C4 - C5 options for them, or perhaps it is because they view joining a white-English church as a step towards becoming more culturally English. 143 This cer- tainly seems to be the case for James who commented that he is consciously attempting to do this. 144
Through this section we have explored how acceptance into a church community can influence the construction of a new identity for BMBs. However, it is not a guaranteed catalyst for a Christian identity. Although it seems to have this effect on Pauline and Ja- mes, Jon is decidedly mixed in his internal and external identities despite being accepted into the church. The desire to retain his Af- ghan cultural identity, in contrast to James, has perhaps limited how much religious identity he adopts as Christian which he associates so closely with the West. 145
7 Conclusion We have seen through this paper that the concept of religious and cultural identity is complex and often results in a variety of expres- sions. With the BMBs interviewed there seems to be a distinct mo- tivation to lose as much as possible of their religious and cultural association to Islam. This desire spans those who did express signi- ficant negative associations with Islam, but also those who were indifferent about their Muslim faith. It would seem that a critical influence on the development of their new identity has been the freedom associated to living in a post-modern pluralistic society. Within this society individual expressions of religion and culture are not judged harshly or interpreted as an insult, unlike their pre- vious Islamic communities. The acceptance into the Christian community, which is predominantly a white-English expression, has helped to reinforce their new faith and provided a support struc- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 143 This pattern seems to contradict the popular Homogenous Unit Principle which would assert that the BMBs would prefer a church containing other BMBs. See, Donald A. McGavran, Understanding Church Growth, 3 rd ed., revised and edited by C. Peter Wagner, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990, 163 144 See Appendix D, section 4.5, 55 145 See Appendix D, section 1.4, 49 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 66 ture for some to alter their religious identity to become more Chris- tian, and over time their cultural identity to become more English. Although it must be asserted that theologically Muslims are not required topass through a foreign religious or cultural expression of Christianity in order to receive their salvation, it is certainly an op- tion for them if they would desire it post conversion. Therefore, according to this research, other white-English dominated chur- ches in the UK need to ensure they are consciously open to integra- te BMBs into their community, rather than assume they would pre- fer a different expression of Church. This small scale piece of research has only provided a window in- to understanding the challenges faced by the four BMBs. There is now a great impetus to continue onto further study and aspire to create a more generalized model. The first exciting step could be to begin with the three hypotheses proposed in this paper and engage in a more widespread study perhaps utilising both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. This could be centred on BMBs from different areas around the UK, perhaps those who live in a more Muslim dominated community. It would be interesting to explore if this situation would result in a greater reluctance to ex- ternalise a Christianized identity amongst this majority. Other areas for consideration could be to further isolate one particular branch of Islam or even one particular ethnic group. Massey, as discussed from Figure 4, proposes some distinct correlation between ethnicity, attitude towards Islam, and their subsequent new faith in Jesus. Further research could investigate if this correlation is valid within the diverse ethnic BMB population living in the UK. A final development could be to expand the investigation to include Mus- lim converts who were born and still live in the UK. As the popula- tion of Muslims in the UK ever increases they are an important pool of potential BMBs who hold perhaps a unique challenge regarding their future identity choices. It has been the goal of this paper that through the exploration of sociology and theology the BMB case studies might have resonated with the reader, and thereby provided some knowledge or wisdom for todays ministry amongst Muslims and BMBs in the UK.
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 67 Bibliography
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Appendix A - Sampling Criteria 1. They must be linked to this particular church in England. 2. They must be born and raised as a Muslim in a Muslim domi- nant country before they came to the UK. 3. They must be able to speak and understand the English lan- guage sufficiently, to be judged jointly by the church worker and the researcher prior to the interview. 4. They must show genuine faith in Jesus, to be judged by the church worker prior to the interview. 5. They can be either man or woman as both will provide a differ- ent perspective to the research question. 6. They can be from any Muslim dominant country in the Middle East or Southern Asia. 7. They can be from either denomination of Sunni or Shia within Islam but not Sufi or other splinter groups. 8. The length of time being a BMB can vary in order to illustrate any impact on identity development.
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 71 Appendix B - BMB Cultural and Religious Identity Interview Outline
Who I am My name is David Combes. I am final year undergraduate stu- dent at Moorlands Bible College in Dorset studying a degree in BA (Hons) Applied Theology, specializing in Cross Cultural Studies.
What is the purpose of this interview? As part of my final academic year I am undertaking a dissertati- on research project which aims to investigate the complex issues involved in a Believer with a Muslim Background (BMB) working out what cultural and religious identity they should adopt whilst living in the UK. Specifically, how much of their Islamic practice and identity have they chosen to retain and how much has changed to become more Christian, and why. After studying the available academic literature available on this subject my aim is to see how in practice this issue has been resolved, for better or for worse, in real life situations through interviewing a selection of BMBs.
Interview Confidentiality I understand the sensitive nature that this research presents to any BMB who is willing to participate. I would like to record the interview, audio only, only for my personal use whilst I am writing up the report. All recordings will be deleted once this has been do- ne, by May 2011 at the latest. However, if you specifically do not wish to be recorded we are still able to continue with an interview, but please inform me beforehand. I will ensure that nobody will be able to identify you, by using a pseudonym and, if you wish, I will not be referring to personal information, such as where you are from or where you have studied.
Suggested Interview Topics The interview will be semi-structured allowing for free discussion about any relevant issue the BMB feels is important to their situati- on. However, to assist with the development of the conversation I St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 72 have compiled a list of topics below which can act as a guideline or a prompt to ensure that all the main issues identified from my litera- ture research have been covered in some way. Confirm level of confidentiality the BMB is happy with for the written report and if audio recording is possible during the in- terview. Details of the BMB o Which area of the UK do you live in? o How long have you been in the UK? o How long have you been a BMB? o What were the circumstances of your commitment to Isa? MBBs previous Islamic life o How would you describe your Islamic religious commit- ment before becoming a BMB? o Was this previous Islamic lifestyle similar to that of your family or community? o What were your impressions / feelings about Christian- ity before you became a believer? New religious identity of the BMB o What do you call yourself now - for example: a Christian, a Muslim, a Follower of Isa, or another? o Why did you choose this? Challenges the BMB faced after becoming a believer o What difficulties did you face once you became a believer? o How did your family and the surrounding Muslim com- munity react to your new belief? Cultural or religious changes made o Was there a sudden change in your lifestyle, or a slow pro- gression, or nothing? o Did you continue attending the Mosque? Do you still now? o Did you start attending a Christian meeting - for example a church or specific BMB group? o Did you start to eat pork? Do you now? o Others... o How did you come about to make these choices? Support and Advice from other Believers St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 73 o Did you have regular contact with other believers after your commitment to Isa? o Were they BMBs or English Christians? o What advice did they give you in regard to changing or keeping your cultural or religious identity? o Did you find this useful or confusing? Thoughts about English Christian practices and beliefs o Have you attended an English Church since being a BMB? o What were your feelings regarding the style of Church this is? ! way of singing and the music ! mixture of men and women in the Church building ! the way the Bible was used ! Communion / Lords Supper / Eucharist ! Baptism o Were you accepted by this English Church? Any other factor or detail the BMB wishes to contribute St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 74 Appendix C - BMB Profiles
name ApproxlmaLe Age CounLry of Crlgln LLhnlclLy revlous lslamlc branch revlous ALLlLude as a Musllm !on 19 yrs AfghanlsLan Pazara Shla PaLred of lslam SLeve mld 30s lran erslan Shla PaLred of lslam aullne mld 30s AfghanlsLan 1a[lk Sunnl lndlfferenL, noL sLrlcL !ames 19 yrs lran erslan Shla ulsllke of lslam, sLrlcL follower !
name Chosen lnLernal 8ellglous ldenLlLy Chosen LxLernal 8ellglous ldenLlLy Chosen CulLural ldenLlLy LengLh of Llme belng a 8M8 CLher !on lollower of !esus varlous dependlng on slLuaLlon Afghan wlLh some Lngllsh culLural pracLlces 6 yrs lull Llme sLudenL SLeve Peaven loreground 8ellever (Pl8) Peaven loreground 8ellever (Pl8) lranlan, 'member of planeL LarLh' 2 monLhs Asylum seek- er aullne ChrlsLlan ChrlsLlan Pybrld of Afghan and Lngllsh 33 yrs Llved ln Lhe uk for 32 yrs !ames ChrlsLlan ChrlsLlan MlxLure of lranlan and Lngllsh 2 yrs lull Llme sLudenL St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 75 Appendix D - BMB Interview Summaries
Section 1
Name - Jon Age - 19 years old Ethnic Origin - Afghanistan, Hazara people group
1.1 Length of time living in the UK 4 years living in the UK, since the age of 16 years Came to UK to flee from the violence and trouble in Afghanistan, not specifically because he is a BMB, but this did contribute
1.2 Attitude and Practice of Islam previously Shia branch of Islam, as are 90% of Hazara people groups in Af- ghanistan o religious practice was more lax than an orthodox Sunni, for example they prayed only 3 times a day not 5 o as Shia, community expectations are they dont need to attend Mosque weekly unlike the Sunni members of his society Islamic hypocrisy o He believes that Muslims in fact do not love their neigh- bour as they claim o Sunnis kill Shias o Shias do not look after other Shias, they are all selfish o Family branded by Sunnis as Kafir or infidels for being Shia - this means not a Muslim, loose morals, a real in- sult The Taliban (Sunni) killed his father for being a Shia, so Jon hates Islam as it seems to advocate such behaviour and division
1.3 Circumstances of their conversion Became a believer whilst in Afghanistan through Western aid workers who were Christian St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 76 His mother became a believer first, and then she shared the Gospel to Jon and his siblings His mother secretly worked in the aid workers office and they kept their belief a secret for fear of persecution or death They secretly attended an underground church run by the aid workers. They were the only non-Western people there Was secretly baptized by aid workers whilst in Afghanistan
1.4 Changes in their religious practices and identity Previously labelled as a Kafir or infidel by the Sunnis for being a Shia o This is the same label given to apostates, so he already had it A secret believer with his family in Afghanistan from both Sunni and Shia for fear of persecution and rejection As Shia they werent expected to attend the Mosque regularly. Therefore as believers in Afghanistan they stopped going with the exception of community wide festivals which would expose their absence if they didnt go Not told Afghan friends in the UK that he is a believer Self identity - very much a Follower of Jesus rather than Chris- tian o he knows English people understand what the term Christian means, but for him it relates too much nega- tive understanding from his past External identity - various o amongst his Afghan friends in the UK he remains a Shia Muslim (expected as he is ethnically Hazara) o amongst English Christian friends or other BMBs he is happy to say he is a believer, but always cautiously
1.5 Changes in their cultural practices and identity Cultural identity will always be Afghan even if he gets a British passport o born an Afghan, so always one Considers England to be his home now, no intention to return to Afghanistan St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 77 Current identity - a mixture of Afghan and English as he grapples to keep hold of Afghan (e.g. food), but cant help but absorb some English customs, e.g. music, language, clothes Is happy to separate Islamic and Afghan culture as he attempts to hold onto Afghan part
1.6 Support and acceptance of the Christian community in the UK Attends particular church in Southern England Happy in this church, was accepted by members and feels welcome there Goes to Sunday services, but prefers the house group style meet- ings held during the week o member of the particular house group which specialises in multi-cultural believers Does not know of any other Afghan BMBs, so all of this Chris- tian discipling done by English people ! Section 2
Name Steve Age - mid 30s Ethnic Origin - Iran, Persian people group
2.1 Length of time living in the UK 2 years, travelled to the UK in 2008 as an asylum seeker
2.2 Attitude and Practice of Islam previously Shia Muslim Raised by very strict Shia parents, considered fanatical Muslims Abused as a child by a Muslim and is now homosexual Family found out about sexual orientation and attempted to kill him; he fled home at the age 21 years old As a result he hates Islam St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 78 o generally, because of the fanatical attitude of his parents which he likened to the Taliban with whom he didnt agree o specifically, their unloving attitude to his abuse situation Admits that most Shia Muslims in private still sinned by having alcohol, illicit sex Very cautious about making friendships with Muslims in UK
2.3 Circumstances of their conversion It is fair to say that Steve gave up his Muslim identity whilst in Afghanistan after he fled from his family. Then he had a period of liminality where he had no secure identity In October 2010 he met the church worker in this particular town who showed Christs love to him He received a Bible in Farci, his native tongue and so read about Jesus Considers now Mohammed to be a good teacher, but a liar Became a believer through the work of this particular church Relies heavily on Jesus provision for his food and accommodation each day Pursuing healing from the abuse of his past
2.4 Changes in their religious practices and identity Wanted by Iranian community as an Apostate from Islam and as a homosexual (considered a great sin) Self identity - doesnt like being labelled as a BMB, or as a Chris- tian. o He is just a true follower of God like all other believers across the world o The term Christian is too heavily linked to Western be- lievers, and BMBs are associated too much with Islam. He prefers to lump everyone together in one unified identity - is he trying to replicate the great ummah identity he felt as a Muslim? o I have likened this identity to Heaven Foreground Believ- ers (HFB) St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 79 External identity - Since being the UK he knows many Iranian and Libyan Muslims, but avoids religion and is a secret believer. An Islamic religious/cultural form retained o When praying together at the end of the interview he in- sisted on having his Farci Bible in hand, kissed it and pressed it to his forehead, a- sign of respect as shown in the Islamic religion and culture. However, interest- ingly, he was happy to store the Bible on the floor going against Islamic tradition in this way
2.5 Changes in their cultural practices and identity Conscious effort to give up all Islamic culture as it is all related to Islamic religion which he considers stupid He considers that anyone can become a believer from any culture or religion - a radical change from previous attitude whilst he was a Shia Self identity - very much Iranian, however prefers to consider himself a member of planet Earth o a similar attempt by him to unify all peoples under one identity, to link himself to everyone so as not to be di- vided Practically however he seems to have given up most of his cultural practices since being in the UK, e.g. food , clothes o Food example - linked to new religious understanding that God has made all food clean including pork
2.6 Support and acceptance of the Christian community in the UK Attends particular church in Southern England Happy in this church, was accepted by members and feels welcome there Goes to Sunday services, but prefers the house group style meet- ings held during the week o member of the particular house group which specialises in multi-cultural believers Helps out in serving drinks and setting up chairs in church meet- ings St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 80
Section 3
Pauline Age - mid 50s Ethnic Origin - Afghanistan, Tajik people
3.1 Length of time living in the UK First visited in 1976 but settled in 1978, so 32 years
3.2 Attitude and practice of Islam previously Sunni Muslim She and her family were Sunni, but were not fanatic or strict in their observance As a result it was common for her and her family to not attend the Mosque each week o this was accepted by the local community as specific to her family, not a general expectation of the whole Sunni community Indifferent attitude, neither love nor hate, just the way of life she was taught as natural Did think that Islam was the only true religion
3.3 Circumstances of their conversion Whilst attending University in Afghanistan she met an American couple who sowed the seeds of the Gospel message She then visited UK for the first time during her course in 1976 and attended a Catholic church for the first time When she returned to Afghanistan in 1977 God worked in her heart so that she became a believer. She says it was all God and not people who guided her She was given a Bible of her own and the Spirit spoke to her through particular verses. In 1978 she moved to live in the UK and has been here ever since She kept it a secret from her family until 1992 She has been a believer for 33 years
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 81 3.4 Changes in their religious practices and identity Once she had become a believer in Afghanistan she kept it a secret o she was still living with her parents who were from a well-educated and respected family o she feared if they found out they would have married her off quickly to a Muslim and her new faith would have died o motivation of parents was rooted in shame After she became a BMB in Afghanistan, she no longer partici- pated in the shrine prayers in the street which is normally ex- pected - after Gods prompting for her Other Islamic practices she didnt perform anyway, so it was eas- ier for her new faith to go unnoticed She kept her conversion from her family for some years believing it was Gods will Eventually in 1992 she returned to Afghanistan to visit her family and told them she was a Christian o The familys reaction was not too negative as the country was at war and their concern was more on survival than shame o She had to explain what the label Christian meant as they understood it to relate to Western values and infi- dels Paulines understanding of the label Christian changed after she was living in the UK and met some good Christians. She was then happy to use it as a label External identity - now it is fully Christian, but this has taken time to develop Self identity - fully Christian Rejected all Islamic culture and religion in order to avoid syncre- tism
3.5 Changes in their cultural practices and identity Despite living in the UK for 32 years, she still has a mixed cul- tural identity of Afghan and English o she picks the best of both to create a hybrid She has kept her native language, and eats both types of food St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 82 Self identity - she still considers herself to be Afghan when people ask her where are you from? o So within this hybrid identity, internally her Afghan part is dominant, whilst externally it is more of a mixture o She considers her Afghan cultural identity to be God given (like Rebecca Lewis)
3.6 Support and acceptance of the Christian community in the UK Importantly, she married an English Christian man which has helped her considerably in feeling secure in this identity Before coming to the particular church in England, she attended other churches in the early part of her BMBs life o no mentor during this phase; she just passively observed o she did have a stable environment as several churches welcomed her in Now part of the researchs churchs life, she has been welcomed and accepted for some years
Section 4
James Age - 19 years old Ethnic Origin - Iran, Persian people group
4.1 Length of time living in the UK Two and a half years as a full time student Reason for coming to the UK is unclear, but his father is a Mullah and wanted him to study the Quran in order for him to become one also. James did not want this. He fears for his life if he should return to Iran now
4.2 Attitude and practice of Islam previously Shia Muslim His father is a Mullah and wanted him to study the Quran in or- der for him to become one also. James did not want this. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 83 Hypocrisy he saw this in the lives of Muslims around him - mostly in the lack of love o his father divorced his mother and they all got socially re- jected o his father regularly beat him, not showing any kind of love or mercy
4.3 Circumstances of their conversion After being the UK for a short while a BMB invited him to this particular church where they prayed for him to stop having bad dreams (traumatised from the beatings by his father) He was healed and saw the power in God Was baptized soon after by the church and felt a real sense of cleansing
4.4 Changes in their religious practices and identity Previous understanding of Christian label was very negative as fuelled by Islamic teaching When arrived in UK this label was reinforced by English society, but eventually challenged when he visited this particular church He has given up most of the Islamic religious and cultural past as closely associated to his father Self identity - Christian External identity - Christian, even with Muslim friends in the UK o he is happy to use the Christian label externally as he knows that in the UK people understand what it really means Actively witnesses to Iranian and Muslim friends telling them about his healing and inviting them to church
4.5 Changes in their cultural practices and identity He has given up most of the Islamic religious and cultural past as closely associated to his father Iranian cultural identity still very strong in him If he gets a British passport in the future he might consider calling himself English St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 84 o ultimately, he is happy to and considers it possible not to be Iranian, but English Considers Christianity to be the English religion, and so he is one step closer to becoming culturally English Now enjoys a mixture of international foods and music Importantly - he has a stable English girlfriend o although not a Christian, she is interested after James in- troduced her to Christianity o this relationship provides a link with English culture
4.6 Support and acceptance of the Christian community in the UK Attends particular church in England Happy in this church, was accepted by members and feels welcome there Goes to Sunday services, but prefers the house group style meet- ings held during the week o member of the particular house group which specialises in multi-cultural believers St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 85 INTERVIEW WITH FATHER ZAKARIA BOUTROS
By Bob Blincoe 1
Bob Blincoe, Ph.D., interviewed Father Zakaria Botros in May 2009. Father Botros is a Coptic priest who became an expert in Islam. He uses his television show, books, and website to answer questions about Islam posed by Muslims and Christians. What follows is a live interview; only repetitions and minor grammatical errors have been edited. Bob says, The Kurdish believers in northern Iraq hold Father Botros in high esteem. Noteworthy is Father Botros surpri- sing opinionBe as you areto Muslims who put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Bob Blincoe: We are with Zakaria Botros, our honored guest. You are our teacher and the subject is Islam. This mornings newspaper has an unpleasant article. 2 It says, Saudi girl, 8 years old, was mar- ried to a 50-year-old man. Recently she was granted a divorce from him. I quote: An 8 year old Saudi girl has divorced her mid- dle-aged husband after her father forced her to marry him last year, her lawyer said Thursday. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages. Of course we are all more than disturbed by this story. We are disgu- sted. Its an outrage to every sensible person. But is child marriage a fundamental principle of Islam or is there the possibility that Is- lam could turn its back on this terrible practice?
Fr. Zakaria: Thats a good question. You know that for twenty- five years Mohammad was married to only one wife. She was called Khadija. She was older than he by about twenty-five years. And she was very rich. He was married according to the Christian law of marriage one womanbecause a priest of Mecca was a Christian but adhering to a cult called Ebionism, performed the marriage for Muhammad and Khadija according to the Christian law. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! "Bob Blincoe served overseas in Thailand (two years) and the Middle East (seven years). He became US director of Frontiers in 2000." 2 http://www.canadaeast.com/rss/article/652415"" St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 86 But after Khadija died, Mohammad married thirteen wives some died, some he divorced. In all he had 66 women, and one of them was a young child - Aisha. She was six years old when he married her. Six years old, and he had sexual intercourse with her after she became nine years old. So, like prophet, like people. They are fol- lowing his steps. So that is very shameful, very shameful.
Bob: The next question I want to ask is about the Islamic teaching about al-dhimmi. This is the practice of treating Christians and Jews as second-class citizens. Is this a permanent unchangeable doctrine of Islam, and what has been the Coptic experience of dhimmi in Egypt?
Fr. Zakaria Its very generous for Muslims to treat Christians and the people of the book Jews and Christians as second-class citizens. Its very generous because the Quran Sura 9:5 says,Kill them. In their translation in the Quran to English they choose some beautiful words instead of the hard words. But the Arabic says, Slay! Slay those people who do not believe in God and Muhammad and his prophet/message. But when they translate it to English they say Fight. But, in Arabic it means, Kill! because it is from the verb qaatilu, Kill!, not fight. So they have this verse to kill the people of the book who do not believe in Allah and his messenger Muhammad. But the verse says, Kill them until they pay heavy taxes (jiziyah). If they pay, leave them and treat them as second-class citizens.
Bob: Id like to ask about the Shia doctrine of temporary marriage, al-mutah.
Fr. Zakaria: Yes. Actually, this is a verse in the Quran. Give them (women) their wages while you enjoy sex with them. And Mohammad applied this to himself and all of his followers. But the third caliph, Omar, stopped this. But the Shia do not follow the Caliph Omar, so they did not abrogate the verse. Who is the Ca- liph Omar, to cancel the word of God? But in Sunna, there are about 17 kinds of marriage. A male writes a female privately a pa- per, I give myself to you. And she the same; that is a marriage that lasts for ten minutes or half an hour. And he agrees to pay a St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 87 certain amount. And this is zawaj al-urfi, a paper marriage. Ano- ther kind of marriage: when you are on a holiday and you find a woman there, a man can marry her for a month, or any length of time, and marry her on paper. There is more about this on my web- site.
Bob: Honor and shame are important principles in the Arab cultu- re. Can you help us to understand honor and shame in the Arab culture?
Fr. Zakaria: Honor is like pride in the Arab culture. It is like when a man has a daughter, when his daughter is unmarried and has sexual relations, her father is ready to kill to restore his honor. The society will allow the killing in order to restore his honor.
Bob: When you lost your brother, what helped you to love and ho- nor Muslims instead of fearing and despising them?
Fr. Zakaria: That is a good question. When I lost my brother, I was not a true believer; I was overcome with sadness and grief when Muslims tore out his tongue for preaching the gospel. But when I became a Christian, I discovered that these people are victims of the doctrines of Mohammad, who told his followers to kill Christians. So I had pity on them, and I began to pray for them, that they be delivered from their satanic religion. And in time God gave me a ministry to rescue them from darkness and bring them to Christ.
Bob: In this office, our ministry is praying to God to send out labo- rers into His harvest. Our message is that Americans should sell their possessions and leave all that they know to make disciples in the Muslim world. What advice do you have for us to prepare us to go?
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 88 Fr. Zakaria: We have to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. When God wanted to save people, He came as a man to live among us, to feel what we feel, to share life with us. So, if any per- son wants to serve God and reach Muslims, he should incarnate as a Muslim. He should adopt his language, his culture, his way of thinking. He should learn the lifestyle; speak Arabic to Arabs. Arabs have a stumbling block; they hate the foreigners, because it reminds them of the invasions of the West; the French into Syria and Lebanon, Italy into Libya, the British to Iraq and Egypt and Jordan. Islam is not just a religion; this is a misunderstanding in the West. You think that Islam is like Judaism or Christianity or Buddhism, so we give Islam lots of opportunities to grow in the West. No, Islam is a State, and religion is a factor to establish this state. It is a Kingdom, the Kingdom of Islam. Non-Muslims in their country are invaders. The invaders brought missionaries with them. So, if you want to reach Muslims, its a very hard thing, but we are obliged to do that. We are obliged to learn their habits and their language and to adopt their culture, as God did, when He came as a man and spoke as a man, and lived among them, and behaved like them. So I think any missionary should know that he is not preaching his culture, but He is preaching Christ. Samuel Zwemer wrote a book analyzing why the West failed in its mission to suc- ceed among Muslims. He said that we have too much preached our culture and too little preached Christ. St. Paul said, I became a Jew for the Jews, a Gentile for the Gentiles, in order to win them.
Bob: We look at Matthew 10 and Luke 10 where Jesus sent out His disciples, and sent them out to find the man of peace. Jesus said, When you find the man of peace, stay with him. We are trying to understand what Christ means to find the man of peace or the woman of peace in the Muslim world, that is, to find the influenti- al believer through whom many, many more Muslims will come to faith. Would you comment?
Fr. Zakaria: Yes. This is Biblical teaching. Its good. Its right. But all missionaries have to learn the right words in order to reach St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 89 Muslims. It is good for Americans to go and preach, but success depends on learning, learning, learning.
Bob: Our ministry at the US Sending Base is praying to God to send out laborers into His harvest. Our message is that Americans should sell their possessions and leave all that they know to make disciples in the Muslim world. What advice do you have for us to prepare us to go?
Fr. Zakaria: It is good for Americans to go and preach, but success depends on learning, learning, learning.
Bob: We believe in starting churches of Muslim Background Be- lievers (MBBs). That is, we accept a cultural difference between historical churches and Muslims, and we promote the gathering of Muslims, after they believe and worship God through Jesus Christ, with like-minded people, based on the decision of the Jerusalem Council, Acts 15:19, Lets not make it difficult for the Ethne/Gentiles who are coming to faith. What do you think of starting churches of Muslim-Background believers, with elders ap- pointed from a Muslim background, elders who see their identity as people who are culturally Muslims? ! Fr. Zakaria: Yes. This exists. I want to say that there are MBBs in every Arab country. And this idea is a good idea; I know many MBBs in Arab countries and here in the West. I think this is very important because Christian churches are afraid to accept MBBs into their congregations. The churches are afraid of the Muslim governments. The church leaders will whisper to the MBBs, Dont make trouble for us; dont come back. The only thing that I want to say is that we have to take care not to divide the body of Jesus Christ: These are MBBs; those are Pro- testants; these are Catholics; those are Orthodox. We need to be united. Yes, it may be that there are many denominations, but we have to be united in love, together, because we are the spiritual body of Jesus Christ. We are one. So it is good to make local chur- ches of MBBs; only take care not to divide the body of Jesus Christ.
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 90 Bob: And this problem of unity is one we have yet to solve in our movement; we have not thought through how to make true our faith in the one body of Christ. I want to ask you ask you about using the Quran in order to bring Muslims to the truth of Jesus Christ. Some of us are open to using the Quranic references to Jesus and the Bible and to people of the book in order to find common ground. What is your opin- ion of this approach?
Fr. Zakaria: It is good to take this approach. We have to start with what they know and what they will accept, and move them gradu- ally to the full light. So I use that style and method. I take some quotations from the Quran or the hadith in order to reach that per- son. So, that is good.
Bob: In the Quran we see that Jesus disciples are called Mus- lims. Is it possible that Muslims, after coming to faith in Jesus Christ, and submitting to the Bible, will still refer to themselves as Muslims?
Fr. Zakaria: This is a good question. I encourage that in my minis- try. Why? Because Muslims dont care if any Muslim becomes an atheist, or denies God, or undermines Mohammad. They dont care. But if any Muslim becomes a Christian, ah! No! They kill him. Why? Here is an example from the soccer clubs of Cairo. There are two main soccer clubs, Al-Ahli and the other, Zamalik. They dont care if a member of one club changes to another club, but if one from Al-Ahli goes to Zamalik, then they want to kill him. These are the enemy clubs. Muslims look to Christianity as their enemy. Better to become an atheist! But dont convert to Christianity. What do I do in order to avoid this? And how have we reached many Muslims with the gospel? I tell them, Be as you are! Mus- lims! Or remain Buddhists! Or what you are! We are not preach- ing a religion, or Christianity. We are preaching a man: Jesus Christ. Be a Muslim, and accept Jesus Christ only; he will lead you in the way.
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 91 Bob: Muslims oppose the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, but in your book God is One, you refer to the Quran to support the Chris- tian Trinitarian belief.
Fr. Zakaria: Yes. There is one verse in the Quran that says Jesus Christ is the Word of God and the Spirit of God (Surah 4:171). So, this is our key. God has a Word and has a Spirit. It is also true, as the Muslims say, that Jesus is a messenger from God, and this speaks of Jesus humanity. But then we have this reference in the Quran to Jesus as the Word of God and the Spirit of God, so you can use this verse.
Bob: Few of your Muslim listeners know their religion as well as you do.
Fr. Zakaria: Even if the Muslim has no formal knowledge of Islam, he knows many things about the differences between Christianity and Islam. He knows that Christians are infidels. So I simplify my words, to tell the truth simply, so that any Muslim can come to the truth. Even the poor Muslims have satellite dishes on the roofs, and they can follow our lessons. ! Bob: What truths about Islam help wake up the Muslims? What are the most surprising, shocking teachings in Islam that make Muslims want out of Islam?
Fr. Zakaria: As we have experienced our ministry over the years, the most effective thing is the Islamic doctrine of breast-feeding adults. What! they react, No, we dont have this doctrine. But they do, and we show it to them in their books. On a television show, a sheikh of al-Azhar admitted that this teaching is valid in Islam. That is, it is legal for a woman to breast-feed any man, in order to sit privately with him. This was a shock for all Muslims. So we send inquirers the TV episode of the sheikh of Al-Azhar. One story: A young man came to talk about this story. His fa- ther was a sheikh in Sweden. The young man went to ask his fa- ther. Why do you ask? said his father. There are people who say that we have this story. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 92 Dont listen to those people. But I want to understand my religion. The father denied the story. But the father went to his room to study, and closed the door, and stayed two weeks, and studied for himself. His wife brought him food and water. And after two weeks, he opened his door. The father passed by the son, who watched as his father threw all his books into the trash. Then the father came to the son, and hugged him. Thank you, my son. And the father and mother and their son and others in the family were all baptized on one day. And they bought some cakes to celebrate. But the fathers brother heard of this, and challenged him. What did you do? We were baptized. You became a Christian! Yes, today. The fathers brother took a knife and killed his brother on the spot. The killer was arrested and jailed. The dead mans son visited his uncle, the killer. I forgive you, said the nephew. My father is in heaven, but I pray that you will not go to hell. In time the uncle too was baptized in prison. Praise the Lord. ! Bob: Thank you. We will close the meeting here. ! Fr. Zakaria: God bless you and bless your ministry. Jesus Christ is very happy that many workers are preaching the gospel to lost peo- ple. God bless you more and more. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 93 THE HADITH: WHAT EVERY CHRISTIAN NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE ISLAMIC TRADITIONS
By Edward J Hoskins, MD, PhD
1 Introduction
Twenty years ago my wife and I drank tea with a Muslim couple. The topic turned to the number of cups a guest needed to drink to be polite. The answer was an odd number; one, three, or five, but not two or four. I mentioned to my friends that I believed this came from their Islamic traditions, the hadith (ha-DEETH). Earlier that week I had read the tradition dealing with this. Although the wife said, No, thats not possible, the husband corrected her, stating that I was correct. Following that incident I wondered if the hadith might provide answers to other quandaries in understanding my Muslim friends. I started reaching out to Muslims sharing the hope of Christ more than thirty years ago. Since that time I watched as western- ersincluding myselfmade many errors in relating to Muslims. In my opinion, the majority of these were due to simple misunder- standings. Unfortunately, what we dont understand we fear. And what we fear we try to avoid. If avoidance is impossible, then con- flict becomes inevitable. So what is the cure? We must travel to a Muslims core beliefs. Although core beliefs may not always match exactly with specific actions, they will always provide the framework for a persons deci- sions and ultimate goals. If we are to understand Muslims, we must know what they believe at the center of their being. Is Islam really a religion of peace? Do women have to wear the veil? What do they believe about heaven and hell, terrorism, freedom of speech, or the state of Israel? The answers to these tough questions are not, as commonly sup- posed, found primarily in the Quran. In fact, many of them are not found in the Quran at all. If we rely strictly on the Quran for in- formation, we will find verses that support both sides of these many St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 94 coins. Coming to firm conclusions is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. Most Christians and other non-Muslims studying Islam have relied almost exclusively on the Muslim holy book, the Quran, as well as other books written about Islam by non-Muslims. When discussing this uniform reliance on the Quran, a close friend com- mented, Ed, weve only been playing with half a deck. Years ago I felt slightly myopic regarding Islam. What do Mus- lims believe? How do they think and why do they do what they do? Studying the hadith was like putting on a pair of prescription glasses; everything became clear. I want it to become clear for you too. My source of information was the other half of the deck, the hadith (the Islamic traditions). These are their major books of relig- ious instruction. I read the complete works of Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Ibn-Majah, Nasai, Tirmidhi, and Maliks Muwatta. In addition, I read through two of the most respected books of Shi- ite traditions, Kitab al-Kafi (Part I, Usul al-Kafi, online) and Kitab-e- SulaymIbnQays al-Hilali, for a total of more than 37,000 Arabic tra- ditions. The foundation of this article is that these traditions the hadith - complete the deck and answer most of the difficult ques- tions non-Muslims ask about Islam. They helped answer my own! I hope they do the same for you too. As I studied, I prayerfully kept my eyes, ears, and heart open for those topics that tend to cause difficulty for non-Muslims. For all hadith presented in this article, the translations from the original Arabic are my own and were checked against existing English translations of respected Islamic translators. For any mistakes in my own translations, I take full responsibility. By way of clarification, note that the Arabic word hadith is offi- cially singular in form. The plural is ahadith or hadiths if Angli- cized. However, much common usage today by both scholars and laymen, both Muslims and Christians, use hadith as a collective noun with the number being determined by the context. For this reason, as well as for the sake of readability, that is how it will be used in this article. In addition to relating to hundreds of Muslims over the years other questions arose from my study of the hadith. Is knowledge of St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 95 the hadith limited to educated Muslims? Are men more likely than women to know the hadith? How about geographical differences? That is, since the hadith were written originally in Arabic, are Ara- bic-speaking Muslims more likely to be familiar with them? In ad- dition, from the valuable informational aspect, a delightful surprise was finding many examples where their prophet evidently borrowed freely from the Bible. As a result, I wanted to see if the hadith could be used as conversation-starters with my Muslim friends, i.e. bridges to real Gospel truth. In order to answer those questions I spent the last five years field-testing what I learned from the hadith with Muslims from at least 30 different Middle Eastern, African, Asian, and Far Eastern Islamic countries and all walks of life. These dear Muslims have been my real teachers. In the paragraphs to follow I present my boiled-down findings for your benefit. The purpose of this article is threefold. The first is to introduce you to the Islamic traditions the hadith. The second is to give you a taste of how the hadith provide answers for the difficult questions non-Muslims ask about Islam. The final goal is to show how I used the hadith in relating spiritual truth to my Muslim friends. As a final introductory note, in this article there is not time nor space available to give detailed answers to the previously mentioned difficult questions. Those are available in the book, A Muslims Mind: what every Christian needs to know about the Islamic tradi- tions. 1 But concerning those questions I must warn you - not all of the answers will be popular or politically correct, but they are there in the hadith and they are clear. And now on to the hadith!
2 What are the Hadith?
Muslims believe the Quran is the mechanically dictated, verbatim word of Allah delivered from the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) to the prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years. It concluded with his death. Muslims also agree that because the Quran is heavenly; it is also mysterious and it does not completely address every minute aspect St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 96 of life. It can only be fully understood by Allah himself. Therefore, the most complete way to know, understand, and apply the Quran to daily life is to scrutinize every word, gesture, and deed of their prophet. Muslims believe Muhammad was the only man to perfect- ly live out the Quran. If the Quran is the skeleton, then Muham- mad is the flesh on the skeleton, which puts all of Islam into action. The introduction to the Mishkat al-Masabih states, In the Quran Muhammad was given the actual words of God; in the tradi- tion the words used were his own but they were uttered under divi- ne guidance. 2
One Muslim told me, The Quran tells us to pray, but it doesnt tell us how. The hadith gives us the details of how to do it. From the early seventh century A.D., every word and deed of Muhammad was chronicled and memorized by his immediate family and close friends (companions), then told to others (followers) who related them to still others. These stories include everything Muhammad did, from dressing to dining, marrying to mating, and details of birth and death. It encompasses dreams and visions, crime and punishment, as well as buying and selling. It even includes sneezing and passing gas. There is no aspect of Muhammads per- sonal life left untouched. Muslims believe that Allah, through his prophet, provided for every situation. Because these stories were related from person to person over many years, each hadith consists of two parts: an isnad (iss-NAAD) or chain of transmitters, and a matn (MA-tin) or main text. The chain appears something like this: I heard so-and-so mention that he heard on the authority of so-and-so, who related to him that he heard such-and-such companion say that the prophet said . . . . For ease of readability I have put all hadith used in this article in bold print. I have also included the first and last names of each chain transmitter in the endnotes. In addition, some of the hadith presented in this article contain the initials pbuh following the name of Muhammad. This stands for prayers and peace be upon him, the typical Islamic words of respect Muslims apply to the na- me of their prophet. Whenever they occur in the original text I ha- ve included them in my English translation. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 97 More than a thousand collections of hadith existed by the begin- ning of the ninth century A.D. These were filtered down to the Si- hah as-Sittah (si-HAAH as-SIT-tah) or the authentic six, and are the collections of the following six Imams (ee-MAMs), or religious teachers: al-Bukhari (810870 A.D.), Muslim (819875 A.D.), at- Tirmidhi (d. 893 A.D.), Abu Dawood (817888 A.D.), IbnMajah (825887 A.D.), and Nasai (831916 A.D.). A seventh collection is also considered next to the authentic six, Imam Maliks Muwatta (712796 A.D.). Because they are the most respected hadith collec- tions throughout the Sunni Muslim world, these are the ones I cho- se to survey comprehensively. Even among these seven works there is a gradation of acceptan- ce. The most respected collection of all is the Sahih (sa-HEEH, for sure) al-Bukhari. The second most respected is Sahih Muslim. The next four are still considered good and authentic but are called sunan(SUU-nan), plural for sunah or practice. One reason Bukharis collection is considered preeminent is because three of the other au- thentic six were his pupils (Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, and IbnMajah). I have never met a Sunni Muslim who did not accept the Sunnah (col- lection of hadith) as authentic and authoritative for practical living.
3 The Hadith Shedding Light on Islam
The premise of this article is that the hadith clarify questions non- Muslims ask about Islam. Even though there is not time nor space for a comprehensive review, I still want to give you a taste. In or- der to do that I selected a few representative (and hopefully balan- ced) topics: Muhammad, Islamic Potpourri, Women, Jews & Chris- tians, Jihad, and finally Jesus. Here goes!
3. 1 Muhammad Most people know Muhammad as a lawgiver, a statesman, and the founder of a new world religion. Its not hard to find answers to many of the basic questions about his life: Where and when was he born? How did his ministry begin? When did he die? But, if youre like me, the easy answers arent sufficient. The hadith give surprising insights into his life and fill in the white spaces on the page, the gaps between the facts. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 98 3.1.1 His generosity According to the hadith, one hallmark of Muhammads character was his generosity. How did he respond when others came to him with requests?
The messenger of Allah (pbuh) was never asked for anything and he said, No. 3
3.1.2 His courage The following episode shows how Muhammads courage turned the tide of battle:
The messenger of Allah (pbuh) got down from his mule. Then he grabbed a handful of dust from the ground and threw it in their faces and said, May their faces become ugly! And there were none of those whom Allah created but had their eyes filled with the dust from that handful and they fled. 4
3.1.3 His violence Muhammad did not shy away from violence.
Then he [Muhammad] killed their men and divided their women, chil- dren, and property among the Muslims, except for some of them who joined the messenger of Allah (pbuh). He kept them safe and they be- came Muslims. 5
3.1.4 His care for the poor, widows, and orphans He was concerned for widows, and the poor.
The prophet (pbuh) said, Caring for a widow or a poor person is like a fighter in the path of Allah or standing [in prayer] all night and fasting all day. 6
3.1.5 His position on the Day of Judgment He saw himself in an exalted position.
The messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, I am the Lord of the descendants of Adam on Resurrection Day, and the first who will be taken from the grave, and the first to have the right of intercession, and the first to in- tercede. 7
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 99 3.1.6 Was he truly illiterate? Muslims believe the Quran is miraculous. One reason for this is that they teach Muhammad was illiterate. The tradition below sug- gests an alternate view. While negotiating a written treaty, Muhammad was asked to agree to a title for himself other than messenger of Allah. His companion and scribe flatly refused and urged Muhammad not to agree.
So the messenger of Allah (pbuh) took the document and wrote, No arms will enter Mecca except in their scabbards and no one of the peo- ple [of Mecca] will be allowed to go with him [Muhammad] even if they want to follow him and he will not prevent any of his companions from staying [in Mecca] if they want to remain. 8
3. 2 Isl ami c Pot pourri
3.2.1 The Five Pillars of Islam Many have wondered where the Five Pillars of Islam come from. Now you know from the hadith.
The messenger of Allah said, Islam is based on five [pillars]: testify- ing that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messen- ger of Allah; to offer prayers; to give charity [Zakat]; the Hajj [pil- grimage]; and fasting during Ramadan. 9
3.2.2 What about the 99 Names of Allah? With lots of work the 99 names of Allah can be ferreted out from the Quran. Wouldnt it be nice to have a composite list?
The messenger of Allah said, Truly, Allah has ninety nine names, one hundred less one. Truly He is odd [in number] and loves odd numbers [witr]. He who memorizes them enters paradise; and these are . . . [a complete list of the ninety-nine is given, including merciful, generous, just, and ninety-six others]. 10
3.2.3 How was the Quran collated? By the time of Muhammads death, many individuals had memorized the entire Quran. The Quran also existed in numerous fragments which were written on parchment, flat bones, and animal skins. After a battle in which many of the Quran memorizers were killed, Uthman, the third Caliph after Muhammad, made it his goal to unify and preserve the Quran from loss. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 100 Uthman sent a message to Hafsa, Send us all the copies [of the Quran] so we can transcribe them into one copy. Then we will return it to you. . . . Uthman ordered Zaid bin Thabit, Abdullah bin az- Zubair, Saeed bin al-As and Abdur-Rahman bin Harith bin Hisham to transcribe them into [perfect] copies. . . . [Uthman] sent to every province a copy of what had been transcribed and ordered all the rest, whether whole copies of the Quran or fragments, to be burned. 11
3.2.4 Fighting against other Muslims Is it any wonder that Muslims hesitate to join efforts to fight other Muslims?
The messenger of Allah said, A Muslim is a brother to a Muslim. Do not oppress him nor hand him over [to an oppressor]. 12
3.2.5 Admitting mistakes/confession of sin Being able to say, Im sorry or I was wrong is almost unheard. This is one reason why.
The messenger of Allah said, All my followers sins will be forgiven except those made public. That is, when a man commits a sin at night and then makes it known during the day, even though Allah has screened him at night. 13
3.2.6 The Law of Apostasy Isnt the law of apostasy just something fabricated by radicals? Un- fortunately, the punishment for leaving Islam is unequivocal.
According to the statement of the messenger of Allah saying, Who- ever changes his religion, kill him. 14
3. 3 Women
Muslims tend to see people not as separate individuals but as mem- bers of a larger group. As a rule, societal rights of the larger group are not voluntarily sacrificed in favor of a single member. Addition- ally, one of the most important commodities in this culture is honor. Female modesty and morality rank near the top of the list. Keep that in mind as you read the following.
3.3.1 Do women have to wear the veil? While the Quran does not absolutely command the veil, the issue is clearer in the hadith. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 101 O messenger of Allah (pbuh), righteous as well immoral people come in on you. So command your wives to wear the veil [al-hijab, hi- JAAB]. Then Allah revealed the verses of al-hijab. 15
3.3.2 Why might marital age differences mean less than in the West? Even today, having Muslim marriages with this much age gap is rare.
The prophet (pbuh) . . . married Aisha when she was six years old and cohabited with her when she was nine. 16
Before we label the above hadith as distasteful we must remember that Muslim girls are eligible for marriage as soon as they start having menstrual cycles.
3.3.3 Could they have a greater fear of hell? This one must be especially discouraging for women. The prophet said, I was shown the fire [hell] and behold, most of the occupants were unbelieving women. 17
3.3.4 The best in character The wives he admired were those who were practical, affectionate, and responsible.
I heard the messenger of Allah (pbuh) say, The Quraishi women are the best women. They ride camels, are affectionate with their children and watch over their husbands wealth. 18
3.3.5 Parts of the body to be covered In conservative Muslim families it is common to see nothing but face and hands:
The messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, When a woman starts menstruat- ing it is not proper for her to expose more of herself than this and this. He pointed to the face and the hands. 19
3.3.6 Treat them well! In this hadith Muhammad encouraged kindness to women. The messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, Treat women well. A woman is made from a rib and the highest part is the most curved. If it is straightened it will break. If you leave it alone it will remain curved. So be nice to them! 20
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 102 3. 4 Jews and Chri st i ans
What do Muslims think about Jews and Christians? Another question logically follows: What do they believe about Jesus and the Bible? It only takes a quick glance at the days headlines to see that there is much tension between Jews & Christians, and Muslims. Many Muslims see Jews and Christians as destabilizers and usurpers who stole the land in the Middle East that rightly belongs to them. Often the U.S. (which they consider a Christian nation) is seen as the modern exploiters and colonizers of the world, much as England was during the height of the British Empire. Lets see what the hadith has to say.
3.4.1 How far back do problems go? In my comprehensive survey of the hadith the overwhelming majo- rity of hadith I found were decidedly negative and similar to the one below.
When the messenger of Allah was dying he said, May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians . . . for they make places of worship out of the prophets graves. 21
3.4.2 Has the Bible been changed? Some Christians believe that Islam supports the authenticity of the Christian scriptures. In places, the Quran does appear favorable to the Bible. But the hadith makes it clearer. Muhammad categori- cally stated that Jews and Christians distorted the Bible.
Allah has told you that the people of the book [Jews and Christians] distorted Allahs book and changed it. 22
3.4.3 OK to tell their stories Here is one of the few positive hadith I found.
The prophet said, Tell the stories of the people of Israel for it is not sinful to do so. 23
3.4.4 Respect for their souls Here is another one of the few I found. It shows respect for Jews.
A funeral bier passed in front of him [Muhammad] and he stood up. He was told it was a Jew. He said, Wasnt he a soul? 24 St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 103 3. 5 Ji had
3.5.1 Has Islam been high-jacked? Is it possible that violent radical fundamentalists are interpreting the hadith in a more literal fashion than their peaceful counterparts?
The messenger of Allah said, I have been commanded to fight people until they say, There is no god but Allah. 25
3.5.2 The tangible benefits This promise here is an immediate ticket to paradise.
The messenger of Allah said, To the one who fights in Allahs path and who goes out for the sake of jihad and belief in His words, Allah promised to admit him to paradise or return him to his home with the booty he has earned. 26
3.5.3 Non-violent Hadith Performing the Hajj Out of the many thousands of hadith I read I found only four that could be considered non-violent. Three of them dealt with perfor- ming the hajj for women, the weak, and the elderly. This one con- cerns women.
I (Aisha) said, O messenger of Allah (pbuh), shouldnt we fight and go on jihad with you? He said, the best and most beautiful jihad is the hajj, the righteous hajj. 27
3.5.4 Non-violent Speaking truth to an oppressive ruler Here is the fourth one and deals with courage.
A man asked the prophet (pbuh) as he put his foot into the stirrup, Which jihad is the best? He said, A word of truth before a tyrannical ruler. 28
In these final examples lets prime the pump for redemptive ana- logies as we segue way into the last section - using the hadith to build bridges for the gospel.
3. 6 Jesus
3.6.1 His uniqueness I love this one. It can generate great discussions with my Muslim friends.
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 104 The prophet (pbuh) said, At birth, every son of Adam [human] is touched by Satans two fingers except Jesus, the son of Mary. Satan tried to touch him but failed. He touched the placenta instead. 29
3.6.2 The bridge to heaven This hadith played a part in my Iranian friend coming to Christ. His grandmother told him only a lamb could lead people across the bridge. Ive heard this same story more than once.
The messenger of Allah said, When the believers safely pass over hell they will be blocked by a bridge separating paradise and hell . . . and when they are cleansed and purified from their sins they will enter paradise. 30
3.6.3 Assurance of salvation in Islam The prophet said, There is no one who will be admitted to paradise based only on his deeds. A man said, Not even you O messenger of Allah? He said, Not even me, except that He [Allah] wraps me in mercy. 31
3.6.4 Jesus His return Like us, Muslims believe Jesus will come back at the end of the age. But the manner of his return will surprise most Christians.
The messenger of Allah said, By Him in whose hand is my soul; the son of Mary is at the point of descending among you. He will judge justly. He will break the cross and kill the pigs, establish jizya [JIZ- yah, a tax on non-Muslims] and wealth will pour forth until no one will accept it. 32
4 Using the Hadith to Build Bridges for the Gospel
One of the best ways to build rapport with someone is to share a common interest. Asking about something important to a person works, whether the individual is a Chicago Cubs fan or likes to ride motorcycles. If its important to a friend and I ask about it, Im building rapport. This is also true with Muslims. Over the past five years, by as- king a few simple questions, I field-tested several hundred hadith with Muslims from at least 30 different nations. With one excepti- on, every Muslim I talked to smiled and wanted to talk about the hadith. Even more important, in nearly every case they felt free St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 105 enough to open their hearts and allow deeper discussion. Using the Islamic traditions built instant rapport. Why? Because the hadith are near and dear to the heart of every Muslim I have ever met. In fact, the word hadith is best translated as narration or story and is related to the Arabic word for conversation muhaadatha. Everyone likes stories, especially those with which they are already familiar.
The prophet (pbuh) said, None of you has faith till he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself. 33
The first time I read this hadith I was struck by how close it was to what Jesus said in Matthew 7:12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. I thought, I wonder if this could be used as a point of spiritual contact with Muslim friends? The answer is yes! I have seen this over and over again. When these hadith are understood and appreciated, they can lead to natu- ral bridges to conversations about the Gospel. When I speak with a Muslim friend about the hadith, I like to take along a small notebook with a few of the Islamic traditions I have collected. I have one or two hadith printed on each page with an accompanying Bible passage where I have found a similarity. Each sheet is in a plastic page protector. I pull one out when I sit with my friend and let him read the tradition and accompanying Bible verse. After this I ask a few questions. One or two usually suffice. Here are a few questions I have found useful: o -Have you heard of this tradition before or something like it? o -How does this hadith practically influence your life as a Muslim? o -What does this hadith tell you about the character of God? o -What does it say about the condition of man? o -Does it suggest a possible way to bridge the gap between the two? o -Do you recall a personal story where you saw this hadith illustra- ted, either as a child or as an adult? When Im done I always ask if they have any questions they want to ask me. These questions often produce the most fruitful discussions. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 106 A Bangladeshi Muslim friend sat at the next table in a coffee shop. He noticed my notebook of hadith. He came over and asked if he could look at them. As he turned the pages, he commented, Ive heard that one before. Flip. Yes, Ive heard of that one, too! Smiling, he continued turning pages. Two other Muslims wal- ked by. He called out to them, Look, Dr. Ed is studying the ha- dith! and asked them to join us. He saw one tradition about Gods judgment and said, Dr. Ed, I think Easter should be a more signifi- cant holiday to Christians than Christmas. You know, with the re- surrection of Jesus and all. I read this book about Lazarus. I was so impressed with this one sentence (John 11:25)I am the resurrec- tion and the lifethat I memorized the whole thing. He quoted the whole verse and ended with and will never die. Dr. Ed, when I first read that sentence it felt so powerful and awesome! Then he realized where he was and who was with us. He added in a subdued tone, But . . . in Islam we have the same thing too. Below I share three more instances where I used hadith and a similar Bible verse as segue ways to Biblical truth. I discussed the following hadith paired with an accompanying Bible passage with a South Asian Muslim:
The messenger of Allah said, The one Allah wants to do good for He afflicts him. 34 Job 5:18For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal.
Yes, he had heard this hadith before. He then told a story about his uncle who was an engineer. His uncle was fired from his job in Pakistan and then went to Canada to work. His uncle said that be- ing fired was a turning point in his life. It made him to work har- der. It made him stronger and more compassionate.
My friend then turned to me, Dr. Ed, I have a question for you. If Allah made me a Muslim and you a Christian, which religion is correct?
The hadith had served as a bridge to share Gospel truth. I sha- red an illustration with him about Gods kingdom and ended with, St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 107 Jesus the Messiah told us specific ways for how to enter Gods Kingdom. Next time Id be happy to share some of those with you.
I visited an African friend and asked if he had heard the follo- wing hadith:
I heard the messenger of Allah (pbuh) say, Allah made mercy into one- hundred parts and He kept ninety-nine parts and sent down on the earth one part, and because of its one part creatures are merciful so that even the mare lifts up its hoofs from its foal so as not to trample it. 35
He also read two verses from the Bible, found in Lamentations 3:2223Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Yes, my friend was familiar with this hadith. He then explained the importance of showing mercy on Judgment Day: Allah will say, I was hungry and you did not feed me. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was sick and you didn't take care of me. He shared all this without prompting. This opened a door to share Jesus words from the New Testa- ment. He asked to see it and together we read Matthew 25:3140 - the parable of separating the sheep from the goats on Judgment Day. My friend laughed with pleasure at the words of Jesus.
The messenger of Allah said, Truly Allah does not look at your ap- pearance or your wealth, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds. 36
Compare that with 1 Samuel 16:7The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. A friend from Yemen and I discussed this tradition and the Bible verse. He said, One time I was driving in a storm with other cars. I stopped because the road was blocked by flooding. There was lots of thunder and everyone was afraid, except for one man who looked to be a beggar approaching. This man was very calm and not afraid. He tried to calm us down and give advice. I realized we had been looking at his outward appearance. Suddenly, my friend looked as if someone had flipped on his po- wer supply. With tears in his eyes, he began quoting hadith after St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 108 hadithI kept track; nearly 20 in alland two verses from the Quran. This opened a natural opportunity for me to share more Scripture and my personal faith story. To Muslims, the hadith are familiar stories that play explanatory and practical roles in their daily lives. Making use of these, we have a bridge that makes spiritual conversations relevant and accessible.
5 Conclusions
Our brief journey through the hadith has come to an end. But though youre nearly finished with this article, the real journey has just begun. It begins in earnest when we sit down with Muslim friends and have heart-level conversations based on our newfound understanding of their culture and beliefs. I end with five broad conclusions plus two cautions:
1. The hadith fill in the gaps of understanding left blank by the Quran. As Christians, we can abandon the idea that the Quran will give us most of the answers we want about Is- lam and Muslims. As valuable as the Quran is to help us understand, it leaves many wide gaps. We get a more com- plete picture of a Muslims heart and mind by becoming as familiar with the hadith as we are with the Quran. 2. In my field-testing research I found essentially no gender, geographical or language ability differences. Men or wo- men, Arabic speakers or not, whether from Asia, Africa or the Middle East, well over 90% of all Muslims field-tested were familiar with my randomly-selected hadith. 3. Knowledge of the hadith can give greater understanding and compassion for our Muslim friends and acquaintances. My own were challenged and increased. May it be the same for you. 4. Using the hadith builds near-instant rapport and facilitates deeper sharing. People talk easily about things most near and dear to their hearts and the hadith are precious to every Muslim I have ever met. Each time I mention one to a Muslim, I get a smile. Thats rapport. And rapport opens the door to greater sharing. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 109 5. Bridges for communicating Biblical truth abound in the ha- dith. 6. During my study of the hadith, I found many with signifi- cant similarities to our own Bible. The hadith are jam- packed with topics like the golden rule, control your temper, God looks at the heart, blessed are the merciful, feed the hungry, and many, many more. As of now, I have 38 single-spaced typewritten pages of these. Not even a left- brained introvert like me could miss the significance and spiritual potential of these nuggets.
Finally I share two cautions. First, with further study you will discover that many hadith portray Islam and their prophet in less than positive terms. Frankly, many are embarrassing. Out of re- spect for my Muslim friends I have chosen not to include any of those in this article. When you come across these, please, please do not use them as weapons to bludgeon Muslims. They are definitely valuable for increased personal information, but I have found them hurtful to my friends feelings and overall non-productive. Second, in our desire to seek commonality and relate with our Muslim friends we can wind up giving away what is most precious to us the centrality of the person and work of Christ. Twenty-five years ago, I was on duty as an ER physician when paramedics brought in a gunshot wound victim. A bullet had pierced a womans heart, but she was still alive. A leak in the heart wall was partially sealed by clotted blood, allowing the heart to keep beating. I knew that at most, she had a few minutes to live. I also knew if her blood pressure could be maintained, there might be time for the surgeon to arrive, get her to the operating room, open her chest, plug the leak, and keep her from dying. I realized that only one thing could keep her alive for those precious few needed minutes: giving her lots of oxygen-carrying whole blood in a hurry. My patient was still conscious and able to speak as I was preparing her intravenous access. She said slowly but clearly, Doctor, you can give me any type of fluid or medicine you want except for blood. I explained, Maam, you only have a few minutes to live. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 110 The only thing that might keep you alive long enough for the sur- geon to arrive is blood. She refused, and we couldnt save her. Every person who has ever lived is dying from a diseased heart. The disease is sin, and that separates us from God. It is a vicious disease that causes terrible bleeding. There is only one treatment the life-giving blood of Jesus. It would be wonderful if other treat- ments were sufficientthings like greater compassion, cultural un- derstanding, or a guaranteed land-for-peace proposal in the Middle East. But that would be false. We need Jesus. Whether we are born Muslim, Christian, Hindu, or Jew, our disease demands the oxygen-rich whole blood of new life in Christ. Nothing else will do.
Soli Deo Gloria
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 111 Bibliography and Endnotes
Sections of this article were adapted from A Muslims Mind: what every Christian needs to know about the Islamic traditions (Dawson Media, 2011)
All Bible passages used are from the New International Version.
All hadith passages were taken from:
Al-Bukhari, Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail ibn Ibrahim ibn al-MughiraibnBardizbah al-Jafi. The Translations of the Meanings of Sahih Al-Bukhari.Arabic-English, Volumes 1 9. Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Islamic University, Medina al-Munawwara, Kingdom of Saudi Ara- bia. Dar AHYA Us-Sunnah Al-Nabawiya, 1991.
Al-Qazwini, Imam Abu Abdullah Muhammad binYazidIbn-e-Majah. SunanIbn-e-Majah. Arabic-English, in five volumes. Trans- lated by Muhammad Tufal Ansari. New Delhi, India: Ki- tabBhavan, 2000.
An-Nasai, Imam Hafiz Abu Abdur-Rahman Ahmad bin Shuaib bin Ali. Sunan an-Nasai.Arabic-English, in six volumes. Trans- lated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab. Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2008.
Bin Anis, Imam Malik.The Book of al-Muwatta.Arabic. Sidon, Lebanon: NajibMajidi, 2005.
Imam Abu Dawud al-Sijistani.Sunan Abu Dawud. English, in three volumes. Translated by Ahmad Hasan.New Delhi, India: Ki- tabBhavan, 1990.
Imam Muslim. Sahih Muslim: Being the Traditions of the Sayings and Doings of the Prophet Muhammad as Narrated by His Companions,completed under the title Al-Jami Us-Sahih. Arabic-English, in eight volumes.Translated by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi. Lahore, Pakistan: Sheikh Muhammad Ashraf Book Sellers and Exporters, Ashraf Islamic Publica- tions,1990. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 112
University of Southern California Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/ texts/muslim/search.html
Parshall, Phil: Inside the Community: Understanding Muslims through Their Traditions. Published by Baker Books, Grand Ra- pids, Michigan, 1994.
Endnotes
1. A Muslims Mind: what every Christian needs to know about the Islamic traditions: Edward J. Hoskins, MD, PhD (Dawson Me- dia, 2011).
2. Mishkat-al-Masabih. By Abu Muhammad al-Husain bin Masud bin Muhammad al-Farra al-Baghawi. Translated by Dr. James Robson. Published by Shaikh Muhammad Ashraf Publishers, Booksellers,and Exporters, Lahore, Pakistan, 2006.
3. Sahih Muslim, Volume 4A, Number [2311], page 35 (Book 30, Number 5726 in English-only version); chain: Abu Bakr bin Abu Shaiba narrated that . . . Jabir bin Abdullah said:
4. Sahih Muslim, Volume 3A, Number [1777], page 198 (Book 19, Number 4392 in English-only version); chain: Zuhair bin Harb narrated that . . . Eyaas bin Salaama said:
5. Sahih Muslim, Volume 3A, Number [1766], page 186 (Book 19, Number 4364 in English-only version); chain: Qutaiba bin Saeed- narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
6. SahihBukhari, Volume 7, Book 64, Number 265, page 202; chain: Yahya bin Qaza narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
7. Sahih Muslim, Volume 4A, Number [2278], page 20 (Book 30, Number 5655 in English-only version); chain: Al-Haakim bin Musa Abu Salih narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 113 8. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 49, Number 863, page 536; chain: Ubaidalla bin Musa narrated that . . . Al-Baraa said:
9. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 7, page 17; chain: Ubaidullah bin Musa narrated that . . . Ibn Umar said:
10. SunanIbnMajah, Volume 5, Number 3861, page 221; chain: HishamibnAmmaar narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
11. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Number 510, page 478; chain: Musa narrated that . . . Anis bin Malik said:
12. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 85, Number 83, page 69; chain: Yahya bin Bukair narrated that . . . Abdullah bin Umar said:
13. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 95, page 60; chain: Abdul-Azia bin Abdullah narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
14. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 84, Number 57, page 45; chain: Abu Nuamaan Muhammad bin al-Fadl narrated that . . . Ikrima said:
15. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 313, page 296; chain: Muhammad bin Minhaal narrated that . . . Ibn Umar said:
16. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 236, page 153; chain: Ubaid bin Ismail narrated that . . . Abu Hishaam said:
17. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 28, page 29; chain: Abdullah bin Maslama narrated that . . . IbnAbbaas said:
18. Sahih Muslim, Volume 4A, Number [2527R2], page 151 (Book 31, Number 6139 in English-only version); chain: Harmala bin Yahya narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
19. Sunan Abu Dawood, Number 4104, page 578 in Arabic-only version (Volume 3, Book 32, Number 4092, page 1144 in English version); chain: Yaqub bin Kaab al-Antiqi narrated that . . . Aisha said:
20. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 548, page 346; chain: Abu Kuraib narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 114 21. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 8, N umber 427, page 255; chain: Abu al-Yamaan Abdullah bin Abbaas narrated that . . . Aisha said:
22. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 461, page 339; chain: Musa bin Ismail narrated that . . . Ubaidulla bin Abbaas said:
23. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 56, Number 667, page 442; chain: Abu Asim al-DahhaakibnMakhlad narrated that . . . Ab- dullah bin Amr said:
24. Sahih Muslim, Volume 2A, Number [961], page 65 (Book 4, Number 2098 in English-only version); chain: Abu Bakr bin Abu Shaiba narrated that . . . Ibn Abu Laila said:
25. Sahih Muslim, Volume 1A, Number [21], page 21 (Book 1, Number 30 in English-only version); chain:Abu al-Tahir nar- rated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
26. Sahih Bukhari,Volume 9, Book 93, Number 549, page 413; chain: Ismail narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
27. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 29, Number 84, page 49; chain: Musaddad narrated that . . . Aisha said:
28. Sunan Nasai, Volume 5, Book 39, Number 4214, page 140; chain: Ishaq bin Mansur narrated that . . . Abu Abdullah Tarik bin Shi- haab said:
29. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 54, Number 506, page 324; chain: Abu al-Yamaan narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
30. Sahih Muslim, Volume 1A, Number [155], page 104 (Book 1, Number 287 in English-only version); chain: Qutaiba bin Saeed narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
31. Sahih Muslim, Volume 4B, Number [2816R2], page 303 (Book 39, Number 676 in English-only version); chain: Qutaiba bin Saeed narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 115 32. Sahih Muslim, Volume 1A, Number [155], page 104 (Book 1, Number 287 in English-only version); chain: Qutaiba bin Saeed narrated that . . . Abu Huraira said:
33. SahihBukhari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 12, page 19 chain - Musaddad narrated that Anis said:
34. Maliks Muwatta Book 50, Number 50.3.7, page 524 chain - Malik narrated that Abu Sasa said:
35. Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 73, Number 29, page 20 chain - Al-Hakim bin Nafia narrated that AbuHuraira said:
36. Sahih Muslim Volume 4A, Number [2364R2], page 174 (Book 32, Number 6221 English only version) chain - Amru al-Naqid narrated that Abu Huraira: St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 116 TOWARD PRAYER: REFLECTIONS OF A COPTIC MONK
by Abouna Seraphim el Baramosy
We cannot speak adequately about prayer because words cannot convey intangible facts. For the word is the implement of this world, that interprets its facts; but prayer is a way of living life and an experience tasted by the heart the instrument of Eternity that can express, in silence, matters unseen. In this way, we are endeavoring here to draw near prayer while in the formidable and awesome Presence of God, clothed with silen- ce, appropriate for approaching His Presence. We walk in its horizon, and feel the rays of light emanating forth from it, while a halo of light surrounds it. When we approach prayer, its flame warms us and nourishes in us a desire toward God, Who is the subject of our prayer. Prayer is not an aimless scream in a heart of a valley, neither is it a crying out in a desert; nor does its echo fade into the horizon as the sun sets, vanishing with the disappearance of word and voice. Prayer is not an obligation fabricated by religion or created by hu- mankind speaking to emptiness, imagining in it the god of rescue and help. It is not a necessity of a sick imagination, escaping to talk with himself, visualizing in this other self, a listening god!! It is not an alter-ego or a shadow chattering words to itself, nor a wine on which the soul becomes intoxicated and blindly turns away the facts of reality, departing from the rationality of earth, bo- dy and time. But prayer is a necessity of life. It is a deep action that touches the divine immortal part of the human being, his spirit, which is the gift from God to us and in us. Prayer is not about consuming time and wasting that which will not produce tangibly; but it is transforming time into eternal value and intensifying time to embrace its purpose and its end, which is Eternity and timelessness.
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 117 Prayer is the water that nourishes the tender plant of Eternity deeply rooted in our hearts, implanted by God Himself when He brought us from emptiness and meaninglessness to make us masters over Creation and sons of Himself; and without this pure and flo- wing water prayer this tender shoot will wither, shrivel, and die while its young shoot was eager for life and light.
Prayer in my opinion is being twenty-four hours in communion with the commandment of Jesus by living for Him, with Him, and in Him. Mother Theresa
Prayer is putting the Bible into action and transforming it from written papers into life, engraved on the tablets of the heart; as the commandment lives only when it becomes a prayer and an applica- tion, it will not be transformed into effective action until it passes through a heart, poured out in prayer. For prayer is a fount of life, that Jesus brought to us, rather than the concrete letter of the Law, and the stony heart used to performing repetitive religious practi- ces. Prayer is the main entrance into the essence of Christianity, be- cause without prayer, Christianity is just a remarkable mental the- ory or a unique collective social behavior with amazing communal status!! Prayer is a laboratory where the soul interacts with the Holy Spirit to produce a mystical meeting with God, wherein the human soul witnesses the truth of the Incarnation and the Mystery of Life poured out as a Sacrifice of Love. Through prayer, the soul can also witness the pain of death, the joy of resurrection and the departure of Christ from the Mount of Ascension, to inherit what He had of glory, where the whole redeemed humanity will join Him. So, all Christs movements on earth and in time which occurred historically, develop into actions, transcending time and touching the reality of humanity, each day. Christs deeds become the power of life from which the soul derives its sustenance while facing the world, with its deep passion and true desire for Eternity. And pray- er becomes our companion through the journey toward Eternity, St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 118 holding us through the stresses of life, pressures of daily living, and the pain of the moment, to deliver us to this One who is limitless in His existence and pure in His presence, who feeds the soul with the actual Bread of Life which is Love. Then, the soul descends with a renewed vision and a fresh power as an invigorated being, allowing those living in the desert of life to discern who the God of Love tru- ly is. Prayer is an abundant desire to meet Jesus, a desire that takes the soul, and inflames the longing heart every moment; and this longing intensifies, as the soul prays, as the yearning to meet Jesus does not stop or cease or extinguish, for prayer kindles and ignites the fire of longing, and the spirit becomes vibrantly alive and joyful- ly ablaze in each moment of prayer. The Holy Spirit pours into the soul this feeling that it needs Jesus, as if prayer serves not to quench the thirst of this encounter, but to deeply intensify it, so that the soul can be in communion with Jesus while its tongue utters wit- hout ceasing:
Sir, we wish to see Jesus. John 12:21
Moments of prayer become marks in time for the destined mee- ting during which the soul waits in eager longing and anticipation; for prayer in these moments moves as the inner leaps within the depth of the individual toward this Infinite Being, whom we behold as Jesus of Nazareth. And these leaps are not hindered by place or time, for they are leaps of the spirit toward God, just as a child who springs towards his mother, freely stretching his hands to reach her, tugging at her and ignoring the distance that might be separating them, is unmindful that he might fall, for he desires the embrace of his mother where he feels safe and comforted. Those are the souls who experience the presence of the Savior. They cannot be patient while separated from Him, even for one moment; and they ask with boldness and humility of prayer, that His Image be imprinted on their hearts and in their lives as well. They desire to be His light flooding to others from His loving heart; to be His salt melting within the world and creation, saturating it, and returning to it the taste of Life in the Spirit and the beauty of the unique relationship with God. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 119 The warm comforting bosom, on which the soul rests while praying, becomes its longing that draws it back from the midst of the world into its chamber of prayer. It desires to be sent out to the world, yet not to be separated from the precious holy intimacy of the prayer chamber.
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15
The soul feels as if it is pushed by another force, after experien- cing and tasting the Presence of the Savior, for it cannot enjoy the glory of life with God, alone, amidst a world that is dying, for the experience of prayer is indelibly imprinted on its heart. It can do nothing but proclaim what it has glimpsed; and the transfigured God on Mount Tabor becomes its subject of preaching and crying out to the world. It experiences Him every day, renewing mortifying the old man, and dressing the soul with the new man. For this new man, born in the shadows of Light, is the one who is fitted for the Eterni- ty of Light and sonship of Light.
Believe in the Light, that you may become sons of Light. John 12:36
In this moment, prayer is no longer a mystical action, but beco- mes a blend of deep need and longing. Thus the soul inhabits this sphere between deep hunger and yearning, swaying between them, and when it recognizes its own counterfeit image, it turns toward the scream of need It screams for deliverance from the cruelty of the world, the lies of the devil and the pressure of its own fleshly carnality.
Your prayer will not be, mostly, anything but a deep scream it will be like a modest and silent expectation, but it is an expectation of longing!! Renee Voyaom
Where were You, O Lord, when I was screaming to You? In your heart, St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 120 says the Lord, or you wouldnt be able to scream to Me. St. Catherine of Sinai
This Prayer develops into an aching desire in those moments when the soul leaves its ego and its self-centered existence by mel- ting into the Infinite Divinity. It melts as if it is a flying spirit wit- hout body, without needs, without lusts, tasting a little of the Glory which is hidden and predestined for those who climb hills of Life along with the Lord, stepping over the mountains of this world, waiting for the Chariot of Fire to take them into Eternity, the true indwelling of humanity.
whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows!! II Corinthians 12:2
The habitation of the longing, the meeting, the screaming and the tears is the heart, the wide place, in which God loves to dwell more than His own heaven. It is that sacred place wherein soft and gentle knocking is always heard; it is the place where Almighty God refuses to enter by force, because on its steps the freedom of Love is experienced. On its steps there is another departure (kenosis), not from the glory of Divinity, as in the Incarnation, but from using the power to impose His presence; for He will not allow Himself to break into the heart of man, unless this man genuinely and willfully opens his heart, earnestly desiring His Presence. Those knocks of love, heard on the human heart become a risk that God would go through, in His love a risk carrying the possi- bility of freely choosing even to refuse God Himself!!
Open to Me, my sister, my love, my dove, my spotless one, for I am wet with the heavy night dew, and my hair is covered with it. Song of Songs 5:2
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 121 Christ is the only truth in life that enlightens all matters, illumi- nating its essence. He is the only One in this universe Who is Omniscience; and He is the only One who opens the eyes of the soul to comprehend the meaning of the Invisible Eternity, for which all intellectual and academic knowledge is inadequate to move yet one step forward in this journey toward enlightenment and illumination. But when the soul stretches forth its hands and bends its knees, it will receive the actual truth from its Original Source, Lord Jesus Himself. So prayer is a conscious savoring of the truth declared in the awesome Divine Presence. This truth would not be revealed apart from the prayer chamber inside the heart.
and when I became convinced that all the humanitarian efforts, which we try in order to understand this eternal truth, are insufficient and they will not lead me to a unity with the truth and owning it as if its mine, I turned into prayer Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov
The importance of insight in the spiritual life as spoken of by St. Antony, is simply about, owning Jesus, the Precious Jewel, in our depth, to enlighten our inner man (the invisible essence of the hu- man being), as expressed by St. Antony (in his sixth epistle), to be able to discern the truth from falsehood. And this can only be dis- covered in those times when we are veiled from the world, wherever we might be, in the world or in a desert. In prayer we taste the eternal truth in accordance with our own limitation to receive, as finite human beings. And when we touch the depth of this truth, the real prayer will be unveiled in us; the prayer which grows and nourishes, not by ex- panding superficially, but through deepening inside. At this point prayer will not be a matter of time, but a profound and conscious awareness of the Presence of Gods love outpoured from the depths of His heart. And if we allow time to participate in St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 122 such a deep and inner activity, it will be measured in the time spent away from prayer as Love requests a continuous and permanent meeting.
What makes the Presence of God continuous in our lives, is not our instant feeling, but the Consciousness of love Renee Voyaom
Prayer is the perfect response of the one who feels within, the sonship he has received from Jesus as a gift, this sonship which is the delectable fruit humanity picked from the Tree of Incarnation. And the one who fully understands kenosis, incarnation, and the dwelling of God amidst a created humanity, imitating their lives without sin!!will find in this realization no other response for this Indescribable Love, than prayer, praise, thanksgiving, confession and kneeling, as the Divine Incarnation has brought us adoption and we become sons through grace. So those who were sons of darkness and under the wings of dea- th have become, by grace, members of the household of God, heirs with Christ, our First Fruit, our Priest and our Sacrifice.
The Son of God became the Son of Man to make sons of men, sons of God. St. John Chrysostom
Therefore, our relationship with God develops so intimately, as that of a son and his father in natural and spontaneous relationship, deeply rooted through continuous communication. This relations- hip raises us above the emotionality of prayer without abandoning emotions in prayer! We can say that we are born in the New Cove- nant, once again, from the Water and the Word, and become car- riers of the Divine genome which leads us as a compass toward God as our Father, and sweeps off the dirt of transgression from the image, fulfilling in us the likeness which was the aim of our creation when the hands of the Creator fashioned us.
Man has taken the honor of the image in his first creation, but the fulfillment of the likeness of God will be given to him, only at the end of ages. Origen St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 123 God gave us the gift to unite with Him spiritually through the Eucharistic table, and He gave us also the ability to touch Him in the poor, the sick and the hungry so our prayer cannot be com- pleted unless we serve His body that is in pain. So, how can I declare that I am praying to the Lord with longing and honesty, while not hearing the crying, mourning and groaning of those who are in need!!
Poor people are our prayer Mother Theresa
It does not mean, of course, that serving the poor replaces pray- er, but when the prayer of the lips ceases and the mind is engaged in other activities, then God is transfigured in the poor, the needy and the those who are in pain; so every activity in this sphere, of freely given love to them, is a complete prayer in its fullest meaning.
You can find this altar (suffering people) every day standing in the streets and you can always offer on him, your sacrifice. St. John Chrysostom
So, we cannot taste the freely given Grace through prayer apart from serious listening and participation in the needs of the Body of Christ which is suffering. For our hearts will not be able to receive the Heavenly Light until we are free from our selfish ways, moving toward the other, with abundant and sincere love, not cloaked with the garments of superficial practices called worship and attending services, while ignoring the needs of those who are in pain
They filled the air with praises and hymns so they are not able to hear the calling of the orphans and the sighing of the widows! Kahlil Gibran
The Desert Fathers worked with their hands and gave the poor of their own necessities and from their daily food, that was their prayer during their labor, as one of the Desert Fathers responded, St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 124 countering those who adopted the idea of the Messalians !"#$%&$.3 Prayers of the Desert Fathers were kindled by the joyful Spirit dwelling in their hearts, as a pushing force lifting them up to the heavens, while loving every single person on this earth with practi- cal and sacrificial love. Without such love, prayer loses its power and is transformed from sweet incense rising up to the Holy of Ho- lies in Heaven, to sheer black smoke, separating humanity from God.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this worlds goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth I John 3:16-18
The Paradise of the Fathers tells us about St. Serapion who was perfect in worshiping God, as the book records; he sold everything, even his robe which provided him warmth in winter and
Sat naked with the Bible in his hand
And when one of his disciples asked him the reason for that, he responded with those famous words and pointed to the Bible, and said:
That is what unclothed me
And even that was not enough for him, he sold his Bible, the source of his comfort, and when he was asked about the reason, he replied:
The Bible was telling me every day; sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, so I sold it.
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 125 This relationship between the Bible and prayer is essential, for prayer inspires the ability to fulfill the calling of the Bible. It un- leashes the words of the Scripture from limitations of paper and ink by intangibly etching and inscribing them deeply into the real life of mans existence; for it is this calling in prayer which enables the Ho- ly Spirit to provide day by day from the Priceless Treasure which Christ left us. So we can say that we feel burdened by the commandments of Scripture in our daily lives only when attended by poverty of prayer and lack of the daily gift of the Holy Spirit, when we close the door of communication with Heaven by ceasing to pray. Prayer becomes a channel through which our needs are heard in Heaven, and in turn Divine gifts are given, only with surrendered pure prayer, hoping but still submissive, requesting and yet not im- posing. Surrender here is a positive action, which means asking without childish nagging, receiving the Divine gift with mature and thankful acceptance. And this requires trained senses to understand the depth and the full meaning of the gift. These senses grow in dis- cernment through Biblical praying and prayerful reading of the Word of God. As the reading of the Bible must be in the spirit of prayer, the prayer itself should originate from the thought of Christ inscribed in the Word of God. As the full understanding of the will of God in our lives, the se- crets in His dealings with us and the value of the gift given to us, do not come from Heaven as a fleeting instantaneous inspiration upon us; nor by devoting some moments for prayer, dwelling in darkness prior to, and living in darkness after they end!! But the will of God is declared in our natural day when it is full of the incense of prayer and the fragrance of obedience to His commandments - every mo- ment and in each situation. The will of God is not only concerned with big decisions before which we stand in a quandary, fainting, but it encompasses the enti- re life in all its small details, for experiencing God every day in prayer is the only way to own such knowledge. The will of God for some is a mystery that involves searching everywhere and anywhere, asking for an answer; yet the answer is St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 126 within us if we live by the Spirit and for the Spirit. The real crisis is that we want a computer-like God to whom we give some information in what we call a prayer, and then wait for the answer, after which we shut down until there is another need!!! But prayer is more than a temporary tool used to impose our will over God and then imagining an answer through signs and tests put to Him. By such means we are only found dampened through the dew of prayer and not found immersed in it. So our conscience is anesthe- tized while waiting for those imaginary signs imposed over God; then we thank Him for what we have imagined as an answer!! When we wake up from our sedation, we find ourselves in a tra- gedy after which we scream, Where were You God in all this? Wasnt this Your will? Wasnt it Your answer? And God stands in front of us and He is broken over mans rephrasing of His commandment, when he distorted the channel of communication and love between the heart of God and the heart of man, into a devi- ce for begging and persisting to get what he wants, when he wants and the way he wants. And thus, by doing this we reject the concept of a life surrende- red to the Lord by asking only for an approval to accomplish our desires. It is as if we are the ones who control the helm of a craft. Yet we ask God to put His hands on the helm, without giving Him any aut- hority to change the course of the vessel of our lives which sails throughout the world. So some may wonder, isnt it God who says seek and you will find? (Matthew 7: 7) Wasnt He the One who gave Gideon signs on the fleece, once to be damp with the ground dry and once to be dry with the ground damp? (Judges 6: 36- 39) In order to comprehend those verses, we have to understand some facts of the spiritual life:
We should differentiate between asking for what is personal and appealing on behalf of the others, for most of the re- cords of the Old Testament were about the nation of Israel as a whole, the revealing of Gods presence to His people and victories achieved by His hand. St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 127 There is a marked difference between the one who comes to prayer only in the time of need, and abandons it after the fulfillment of his needs, and another who lives in a conti- nuous attitude of prayer, and his demands are a part of his steady relationship with God. When the books in the Old Testament focused on answers for material needs, this took place because the Jewish people required what was tangible to believe in Him who is Invisible, and to comprehend that all their needs are met in God, not in the gods of the nati- ons.
So there is always a background for every Biblical situation, and the circumstances behind these situations also require a life filled with prayer and surrender.
There is a distinction between the ways of God in dealing with the people of the Old Testament and the ways of God dealing with the people of the New Testament. For we in the New Testament receive the Holy Spirit with complete indwelling. This Spirit guides us when facing any situation. In the same way, the signs and symbols were the manner in which God dealt with the people who had not yet received the complete indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But one who has the Holy Spirit and requests outward signs, insults and misunderstands the role of the Holy Spirit and His effect in our hearts.
We must realize that the asking Christ demanded from us in Matthew 7: 7 is:
Asking for what is for God, asking for the virtues of the Holy Spirit, asking for the Kingdom of Heaven, asking for the kindling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, asking to be rid of the darkness, asking for one last exodus from sin
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 128 Yet the Lord speaks quite obviously about earthly material things, that they shall be added to us (Matthew 6: 33). Although we cannot stop asking for the material things because of our continual needs, our demands must be sealed with true and honest surrender for such things, because paramount in our lives is the need to discern the will God with an open heart and enlightened insight. Finally, if we cannot reach the Prayer of Life, we will not be able to realize the will of God in our lives
we will not see His Light that penetrates our selfish fog
And we will walk round and round in empty circles to the un- known
Running in vain
St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 129 BOOK REVIEW: INDONESIAN REVIVAL: WHY TWO MILLION CAME TO CHRIST BY AVERY WILLIS, JR. (WILLIAM CAREY LIBRARY, 1977)
By Duane Alexander Miller Duanemiller.wordpress.com http://duanemiller.wordpress.com/
I believe that this book is the single best case study on conversion from Islam to Christianity ever written. Willis is better known for his work with the popular Masterlife series; this was his 1974 dis- sertation for Southwestern Baptist Seminary, which was subse- quently published in book form. He has many advantages that other scholars do not have: his ob- vious ease with the local languages and many years of living in In- donesia as a missionary mean he is able to use indigenous sources extensively. He is deeply conversant with important aspects of Ja- vanese historypolitical, religious, cultural, ritual. Also helpful is that his sample is quite sizable500 interviews. He is studying Javanese converts, so the limitation to one ethnicity in a diverse and populous nation like Indonesia is also a plus. Perhaps his greatest strength is that, while writing from an avowedly confessional point of view, he is able to appreciate the complexity of conversion, how it almost always comes about through a combination of different factorsspiritual, yes, but also sociological and political. His detailed use of the records of five de- nominations, and his awareness of the different ethos and history of each one, shows his ability to appreciate the diversity among con- servative evangelicals, a group which many secular academics simp- ly lump together without justification. His years of missionary la- bor in Indonesia appear to have paid off, as he is able to marshal the research aid of numerous indigenous pastors. It is hard to picture research of this depth and quality coming about from a handful of field research visits, even lengthy ones. That his volume was published in 1977 begs for a follow-up from some ambitious researcher (or, more likely, team of researchers). His final analysis of the hundreds of interviews performed yields the following list of reasons for conversion, in order of how many peop- St Francis Magazine Vol 7, No 5 | December 2011 ! 130 le mentioned them: Spiritual need, Government, Protection, Church, Family, Society, Christian Life, Gospel, Reaction, Service, Miracles. He explains that the Islamist violence directed at suspected Com- munists after the attempted Communist coup in 1965 was the occa- sion for the conversion of many Indonesians who were put in a place where they had to choose a religion (to prove they were not godless Communists). The Javanese were nominally Muslims, though they tended to practice a form of Islam which had syncretized numerous elements from the traditional, pre-Islamic religion. Confronted with the revenge killings exacted by Muslims and the need to choo- se a religion, a significant number chose Christianity. He spends a full three chapters giving the political background and also lets us know about the nature of Javanese society, and proposes a list of reasons why Javanese culture (as opposed to other Muslim cultures in Indonesia) appears to have been more disposed towards conversi- on to Christianity. Finally, he is refreshingly frank about the failu- res of his own community (Baptists) and their short comings at dif- ferent timesboth among the missionaries (and he was one of them) and the Indonesian leaders. The scope and depth are com- mendable; if there is one drawback it is that among his interviews there is a disproportionate number of church leaders and pastors, and fewer regular church members than one might hope. The most unfortunate thing about this book is that in the field of conversion studies it appears to be relatively unknown. Even a me- ticulous scholar like Lewis Rambo, who delved deep into this litera- ture for his ground-breaking 1993 volume Understanding Religious Conversion (Yale), does not mention Willis important contribution in his bibliography. There is much here for the scholar, confessional or secular, to analyze and contemplate. This book will be of interest to historians, missiologists and anthropologists, and scholars in the fields of politics and religious studies.