Sign Of The Times: Christians And Muslims Meet For Historic Dialogue

One is, supposedly, the religion of the Jewish Messiah, and the other is the religion of the god Moloch, devourer of children.

Sadly, my fellow Christians are falling for a great lie.

From Ekklesia ("a new way of thinking"):


The second meeting of an Evangelical Christian-Muslim Dialogue took place in Tripoli last week, and was heralded by participants as an important step forward in understanding between two faith traditions that have often been at loggerheads.

The aim of the gathering in Libya, from 3-6 January, was to engage in conversation on the themes of “Human Nature and the Divine Presence.” The dialogue, which followed a November, 2006 gathering in Chicago, Illinois, USA, began with a welcome keynote address by Dr Muhammad Ahmed Sharif, Secretary General of the World Islamic Call Society, which hosted the interfaith event.

Themes addressed in the three-day meeting included “Sin and Forgiveness in Islamic and Evangelical Christian Thought,” “Salvation and Atonement in Christianity and Islam,” “Religious Freedom and Persecution: Our Mutual Responsibilities,” “Women and the Family,” “Human Rights and the Dignity of the Children of Adam.”

Other panels focused on citizenship and civic responsibility, racial justice, and the nature of worship in the two traditions.

Participants came from a variety of Evangelical Christian and Muslim institutions, including Evangelical colleges and universities such as Wheaton College, North Park University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Arab Baptist Seminary in Beirut, Lebanon, as well as national and international organizations such as World Vision International, Sojourners, Open Doors, Venture International, and Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding.

Muslim participants came from the American Islamic College, Temple University, Loyola University (Chicago), the Hartford Seminary Foundation, Lake Forest College (Illinois), and the University of Western Ontario (Canada).

Nationalities represented at the gathering included Canada, Holland, Great Britain, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, and the United States.

Participants sought to honour three principles in the dialogue: frank and honest witness to their respective faiths, without compromise; a willingness to be challenged and transformed through conversation; and a readiness to change preconceived notions and reformulate ways of thinking.


It will be interesting to see who is willing to have their lives and minds transformed, and how.