Posted by Rachel on: 11.05.2007 /
I first heard about A Common Word Between Us and You when Brian McLaren talked about it at OTM Live this weekend. I learned that this statement was published in October by 138 Muslim leaders “to declare the common ground between Christianity and Islam.”
A Common Word Between Us and You
Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.
The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbour is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity. The following are only a few examples:
Of God’s Unity, God says in the Holy Qur’an: Say: He is God, the One! / God, the Self-Sufficient Besought of all! (Al-Ikhlas, 112:1-2). Of the necessity of love for God, God says in the Holy Qur’an: So invoke the Name of thy Lord and devote thyself to Him with a complete devotion (Al-Muzzammil, 73:8). Of the necessity of love for the neighbour, the Prophet Muhammad said: “None of you has faith until you love for your neighbour what you love for yourself.”In the New Testament, Jesus Christ said: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. / And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. / And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31) continue reading
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Comment by: Elaine
1 11/11/07 9:56 PM | Comment Link |Thank you for sharing this. This is very encouraging to know a step has been taken toward reconciliation between Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
Comment by: Benjamin
2 11/12/07 1:02 AM | Comment Link |I love this. Thankyou for finding it for us Rachel. Brian Mclaren seems to be saying (and I haven’t read his book yet) that the only way to fix all the other big problems is to first fix the problem of the religious warring against each other. Or something very like that.
Megs and I got to speak for about 15 minutes to an astoundingly beautiful lady named Ann. Ann is an Episcopal (Anglican) priest, and she is botha Muslim and a Christian. She makes both religions more attractive to me.
Comment by: Rachel
3 11/15/07 5:12 PM | Comment Link |I agree that “A Common Word” is very encouraging, Elaine! This morning I got to tell a Muslim friend of mine about it. She hadn’t heard about it yet and she was very excited.
Right now I’m reading a book called Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War and it says the following in a chapter on Cooperative Conflict Resolution:
It seems to me that “A Common Word” is helping to build that sense of shared morality.
Comment by: Elaine
4 11/17/07 8:34 AM | Comment Link |I would agree Rachel - there is more that is alike then different in these 3 major religions. For starters - we worship the same God.
(I also think there is a lot to learn from all religions, not just these 3)
The more I learn of other faiths and ways of believing - the bigger God becomes for me - I begin to see His face more clearly - staying stuck in my “Christian” world view - has made God too small.
Comment by: benjamin ady
5 11/21/07 1:08 PM | Comment Link |Elaine,
I love what you said–how learning of/experiencing other faiths makes God bigger.
did you ever read Fynn’s “Mister God, This is Anna”? Anna couldn’t cope with Sunday school, she said, because the way that the people at Sunday school made
God bigger was by making people smaller, a method she didn’t like at all. She preferred making God bigger by other methods =).
Comment by: Justice and Compassion
6 11/28/07 9:58 PM | Comment Link |[...] this month I posted about A Common Word Between Us and You, a statement published by 138 Muslim leaders “to declare the common ground between Christianity [...]
Comment by: Elaine
7 11/29/07 1:44 PM | Comment Link |Benjamin - yes, I read Anna - and I love the “child like” approach to God.
Those were the best years for me - I am trying to shed the things I have “learned” as an adult and return to my “child like” faith. :)