Common Word
I’ve been learning more about the “Common Word” dialogue between Muslims and Christians. Below is a video explaining what has been going on between some Christians and Muslims,
The problem, as I see it, with the above kind of dialogue is that Christian emphasis on commonalities ends up tabling the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
For example, the above video begins with quote from Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, “the most fundamental common ground between Islam and Christianity, and the best basis for future dialogue and understanding, is the love of God and the love of the neighbor.”
But this emphasis on “love” is not as common as it looks. Love is actually the most contested ground between Christians and Muslims because the message of the Gospel is about Jesus and His perfect love for God and neighbor as evidenced by the Incarnation, His death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead. This is the Good News Muslims deny.
Any discussion about love for the Christian has to center in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Even the Christian imperative to love God and neighbor is rooted in the indicative of what Jesus has accomplished. 1“Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity – liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man’s will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God” (J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, 47). When this is neglected the result is moralism. 2“On balance, the imperative without the indicative leads into a soteriological legalism, to using the imperative either to achieve or to secure one’s salvation; it makes Paul a moralist. On the other hand, the indicative without the imperative tends to an antinomianism; it leaves us with Paul the mystic” (Richard Gaffin, By Faith, Not by Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation, 72).
Here is a helpful video explaining indicatives and imperatives (a.k.a. “Gospel Grammar”) and how they relate to the Gospel and Christian obedience,
For further study
John Piper, A Common Word Between Us?
The Official Site of a Common God
Gordon Nickel, “‘A Common Word’ in Context” – argues that the Qur’an’ic verse used to establish common theological understandings between Christians and Muslims (Quran 3:64) is taken out of context.
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