Christianity And Islam – Chrislam
Ever heard of Chrislam? It is a term being used these days for the union of Christianity and Islam in a brotherhood of faith. In the largest Nigerian City of Lagos, worshippers are being invited to churches for Christians and Moslems in which the lectern holds both the Bible and the Koran, and readings and invocations are given from both. Chrislam! Chrislam in Nigeria is an attempt to break down the walls of hostility between Christianity and Islam. What think ye?
For many years now, Paul Crouch, president and founder of TBN, has presented Christians and Moslems as soul mates, as well as the Holy Bible and the Koran as Volume I and Volume II of the same basic religious orientation. Crouch has stated again and again that Christianity and Islam have more in common than what separates them. Chrislam!
Just recently, Rick Warren, founder and pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Orange County California, addressed the convention of the Islamic Society of North America. Warren stated that Muslims and Christians must work together to combat stereotypes, promote peace and freedom, and solve global problems. Christians and Moslems – faith mates, soul mates and now work mates! Chrislam!
As if the God to end all gods not only could be put on a committee with other gods, but have His name joined to pagan gods, when He declares to us in Isaiah 44:6,
“I am the first and I am the last, and there is no god besides me.”
Even today as permissive parenting has produced a generation of insubordinates, so too tolerant religionists are producing casual non-descript believers in a hybrid god – a god who is neither here nor there, but somewhere in between. To link in the same breath, as Rick Warren did, Christianity and Islam as the world’s two largest faiths, is to put Allah on the same valid faith-level as God.
Every child to a greater or lesser degree grows up with certain misconceptions about the world, people, life and even God. Most of these ill-conceived notions come from misleading remarks made by their parents and other grownups in their formative years. So too for God’s children, they get their minds fried by the mumbo-jumbo of pastors who present lies as truth. So that when Rick Warren, speaking to the Islamic Society of North America, referred to Christianity and Islam as the “two largest faiths on the planet” that must work together, the less than subtle implication is that Christians and Moslems are co-believers who must join forces for the good of mankind. Chrislam!
The fact of the matter is that Christ and Christianity have as much in common with Allah and Islam, as Jehovah and Judaism had with Dagon and the Philistines. It would have been unthinkable for the Jews and the Philistines to bridge the chasm and join faith-forces under some blasphemous label like “Jeho-Dag” or “Jew-Phil.” It is even more unthinkable to speak of Chrislam, and what follows is only a tiny glimpse into why.
THE TRINITY
We first meet the Trinitarian God of Christianity in the mystery of a plural monotheism in Genesis 1:26. The Bible wastes no time in introducing us to this plural mystery of the Godhead. We can only submit our baffled reason and worship with wonder as we read the words:
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness….’”
There immediately we meet the plural counsel of the Godhead in Divine consultation with each other about the creation of man. God doesn’t have to hire a consultant! He perfectly, all-knowingly and all-wisely consults with Himself in the plural fellowship of the Trinity.
Even before that in Genesis 1:1 we read,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
The Hebrew word for God is Elohim, and in the Hebrew language it is presented as both singular and plural at the same time. A singular pluralism!
Who in the confines of their finite yet rational mind would ever speak words such as these, “And God said, ‘Let us?’” Yet at night, we devoutly bow down alongside our double bed to pray to our triple God. When we read Genesis 1, immediately we realize that God is not simply a subject for a weekend seminar, but He is the God for an eternity of worship, wonder and amazement in triplicate. All through our lives, no matter how cerebral and theologically insightful we might be, we must always be as the Apostle Paul states in I Corinthians 1:4,
“…stewards of the mysteries of God.”
The prophet Isaiah becomes even more definitive but no less mind-boggling when he cries out with the angels in Isaiah 6:3,
“And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
the whole earth is full of His glory.”
In the light of the total Bible, we can be sure that the Holy Spirit through Isaiah is not simply echoing the angelic hosts who are merely being unintentionally repetitious when they unleash their threefold volley of Divine Holies. Why not cry “Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy,” or “Holy-Holy,” or just plain “Holy?”
As a child while singing at my father’s side the great hymn of the church,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! Early
in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy, Merciful and Mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!,”
I realized that God was at least three times bigger than my Daddy! And I assure you, to me no one was greater or bigger than my Dad, no one except this three-sizes-bigger God. Frankly when it comes to God, I will always be a little kid singing the old Trinitarian hymn in the amazement of those church-pew moments next to my father. And to be honest about ourselves, when we study theology, we all should have the sign on our chests:
“CAUTION, BABY ON BOARD.”
We are all little kids in the presence of the “Triple ‘G’ God.”
Then of course, the sacred intricacies of the Trinitarian Godhead are clearly spelled out for us in our Savior’s words in Matthew 28:19,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Why not “names” instead of “name?” Because He is one God in Three Persons! To use the plural “names” would break up the one Godhead into three separate gods. Of course, there cannot be “Three Gods” anymore than there can be “Three Almightys.” If you have all might, no one else can. There is no all-might left to go around. You either have it all or you don’t. So then, if the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were three gods, then the three gods would have no more clout than the “Three Muskateers” or the “Three Amigos.” Furthermore, only God and not gods can have our undivided attention.
Though the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, what it conveys is unmistakable throughout the Word of God. This is not about proving the existence of the Trinity. The Trinity cannot be proven, only believed. I don’t have to prove the Trinity, for the Word of God is truth. That settles the issue. But this is about the fact that “The Trinity” is the fundamental doctrine of the Bible, and the very foundation of the Christian Faith.
Not only that, but the Christian doctrine of “The Trinity” is summarily denied, opposed and denounced by Islam as well as by all other religions. In the Muslim religion, the Bible’s God Who is named and worshipped as Triune, is considered to be a false god not only, but a disgusting and a pagan notion. Moslems believe tenaciously that Christians believe in three separate gods and not in one unified god. Moslems believe and teach the following from their “Qur’an:”
“THEY ARE UNBELIEVERS WHO SAY THAT GOD IS A THIRD
OF THREE. NO GOD IS THREE BUT ONE GOD.”
This of course means that Moslems view all Christians as unbelievers, or, infidels! If you will, Christians serve a false god, while Moslems serve the true God.
Are we overreacting against Islam and this thing called Chrislam? No, not in the least! Moslems not only believe what they believe, but they do so fanatically and militaristically, for militant Moslems view all infidels as enemies of Allah and his prophet Mohammed. To confess faith in the Trinity in front of Moslems is tantamount to standing in front of an oncoming military tank in Tiananmen Square.
Qur’an Sura 9:5, 29, 41states about idolaters (which includes Trinitarians) :
“SLAY THE IDOLATERS WHEREVER YOU FIND THEM, AND
TAKE THEM CAPTIVE, AND BESIEGE THEM, AND PREPARE
FOR THEM EACH AMBUSH. FIGHT AGAINST SUCH THOSE
WHO HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE SCRIPTURE AS BELIEVE
NOT IN ALLAH OR THE LAST DAY…GO FORTH,
LIGHT-ARMED, AND STRIVE WITH YOUR
WEALTH AND YOUR LIVES IN THE
WAY OF ALLAH.”
It is not accidental that Islam is the breeding ground for terrorists who kill infidels. I am not saying that all Moslems are terrorists, but it is a known fact that most of the world’s terrorists today are Moslems.This month Islamist insurgents beheaded 7 Somalis in Somalia’s southwestern town of Baidoa for abandoning their Islam faith. This kind of unspeakable brutality goes on in the world week after week carried out by Moslem terrorists in the name of Allah.
Let us summarize the basic belief of Islam is this statement:
“THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH, AND ALLAH IS ONE.”
And so we read these words in the Moslem Qur’an Sura 4:171 about the Trinity:
“SO BELIEVE IN ALLAH AND HIS APOSTLES. SAY NOT ‘TRINITY’ –
DESIST. IT WILL BE BETTER FOR YOU: FOR ALLAH
IS ONE ALLAH.”
Now to a most important point in all of this! It doesn’t take a great deal of spiritual understanding or discernment to realize that in the Christian faith when it comes to Divine importance:
“GOD IS EVERYTHING!”
Or as we read in Colossians 3:11,
“…but Christ is all, and in all.”
Moslems believe that Allah is all, and Christians believe that Jesus Christ is all. Now then:
“BECAUSE GOD IS EVERYTHING, AND CHRISTIANS AND MOSLEMS
BELIEVE IN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT GODS, THIS MEANS THAT
THEY CANNOT AND DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING
IN COMMON.”
Zero! Zip! Zilch! Therefore, to teach or even imply a commonality between Christianity and Islam (Chrislam) is to totally falsify the Christian faith, to completely deny the Trinity, to essentially shred the Bible, and to blasphemously equate “Elohim” with “Allah.” Moreover, it is also stupid and foolish to ignore the “Jihadist” (holy war) mentality of Islam and its militant intolerance toward infidels.
The only commonality between Christians, Moslems as well as all men is this:
“WE ARE ALL SINNERS WHO GOD LOVES, FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED,
AND WE MUST ALL REPENT AND BELIEVE IN JESUS AS
OUR LORD AND SAVIOR TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
AND ESCAPE ETERNAL DEATH.”
That is the only level ground for Christians and Moslems – all are sinners in need of the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.
THE FATHER AND HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
There is no handshake, not even a secret one behind ecclesiastical or political doors that will ever make Christians and Moslems brothers and sisters. Not all of the words of affection or cordiality can create this imaginary and fictitious thing called “Chrislam.” Why? Because Moslems believe that Allah is the only god, and Christians believe that the Triune God is the only God and that Jesus is the only Savior of the world. In fact, Christians passionately believe the words of Acts 4:12,
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under Heaven
that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
If you will Christians believe that:
“THERE IS NO GOD BUT THE TRIUNE GOD AND THERE IS NO
SAVIOR BUT JESUS.”
Moslems reject both, when in fact they desperately need each! Moslems believe that salvation results from submitting your life to Allah and faithfully carrying out his demands. Christians believe that salvation comes only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the Cross.
First, about God the Father! To be blood brothers and sisters, people must have the same “Father.” And none of us can have the same “Father” until we embrace His Son Jesus Christ Who is God the Son and the Son of God, and have His blood covering and cleansing us from all sin. Jesus said in John 14:6,
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father but through Me.”
In all of Islam’s nearly 100 different names for God, not one of them is “Father.” That would make God far too personal and intimate, and Islam throws buckets of cold water all over the notion that God can warmly be experienced and freely approached. None of this Daddy-God stuff of Christianity where God is a loving Father Who hugs and kisses His children as with the father and his repentant son in Luke 15. Allah is austere, demanding, uncompassionate and anything but an endearing father-figure.
True, the Koran addresses and describes Allah in these words:
“In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.”
But in practice, a Moslem’s relationship with Allah is rooted in duty and not first of all in endearment. Islam is about Allah’s rules to be obeyed rather than a loving Father-son relationship to be enjoyed. Listen:
“A GENUFLECTING AND CHANTING WORSHIPER MAY HAVE HIS
GOD’S EYES AND EARS, BUT ONLY AN ADORING AND
LOVING SON HAS HIS FATHER’S HEART.”
This is another unbridgeable gulf which separates Christianity from Islam, besides the fact that Moslems vociferously deny and oppose the Trinity with their mantra, “There is no God but Allah, and Allah is One.” Christians love and serve a loving, hugging and kissing Father-God which in and of itself means that you can kiss Chrislam goodbye. No Moslem would understand or slightly embrace the God of Luke 15. Aren’t you thankful that we can call God, “Abba Father?” (Romans 8:15) Aren’t you thrilled that Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father Who art in Heaven?” (Matthew 6:9)
Praise be to our Heavenly Father that He is not some sort of black-hooded inquisitor wielding a cat-o’-nine-tails every time we mess up. Praise be to Abba Father that we never, no matter how bad we have screwed up, have to play the sick game of “He loves me-He love me not.” He is the God of love! (I John 4:8,16) Abba! Dear Abba! I will never again ask frivolously or demeaningly the question, “What’s in a name?”
Second, about the only begotten Son of God! Chrislam is a completely antithetical contraction. Why? As we have already seen, Islam denies the Trinity. We are not surprised therefore that Islam also denies that Jesus Christ is God the Son, let alone that He is the Son of God. Qur’an Sura 43:59 states:
“JESUS WAS NO MORE THAN A MORTAL WHOM ALLAH FAVORED AND MADE
AN EXAMPLE TO THE ISRAELITES. THEY ARE UNBELIEVERS
WHO SAY THAT GOD IS MESSIAH, MARY’S SON.”
As a matter of fact, any Muslim who believes that Jesus Christ is God the Messiah has committed the unpardonable sin, which sin will send him to Hell. Christianity teaches that those who believe that Jesus Christ is their God, Messiah and Savior will go to Heaven. Islam and Chrislam are as far from Christianity as Hell is from Heaven.
That Jesus Christ is God the Son is the essence of the Christian Faith. He is God (John 1:1), the Divine Creator of all things (John 1:3), the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:6), and the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Christians trust Jesus as their Savior and they worship and serve Him as their God. In that double confession the very heart of Christianity beats. Fact:
“THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR LORD
AND GOD, CANNOT HAVE HIM AS THEIR SAVIOR.”
He is not either or! There are those who try to shortcut their way to Heaven by a multiple-choice faith. Sorry! He is both the Lamb of God and God the Lamb. Many people want forgiveness without obedience. They want the cross of Christ without the throne of God. It is the ole short-circuit-salvation syndrome. The blood of Jesus does not flow there!
Well then, not only does Islam denounce the Triune God and God as Father, but Islam denies that God has an eternal Son who is Himself God. Islam does not recognize the Father-Son relationship in the Triune God, which relationship is the bedrock of the Christian Faith! Islam cannot embrace the eternal Father-Son relationship because that would mean to Moslems that the Father in Heaven would have to have had sex with a woman in order to be able to have a son. Islam totally confuses anthropology and biology with theology. And because it does, Moslems cannot, never have and never will accept the Christian God’s eternal triune essence, character or paternalism apart from the totally regenerating and overpowering miracle of the Holy Spirit. For that we as Christians must constantly pray!
The fictional god Allah never had a son. The true God has always had a Son! We read these phrases over and over again in the New Testament as in John 1:14,
“The only begotten Son of the Father,”
or as in Hebrews 11:17,
“His only begotten Son,”
or as in John 1:18,
“The only begotten Son.”
Did you notice the adjective “Only?” Jesus is God the Father’s only begotten Son! Haven’t you ever heard a father or mother so passionately and with great pride say something like, “Johnny is our dearest and only son.” Now put the word “Only” in the mouth of perfect and infinite love – God the Father Himself.
This is the same Father Who at Christ’s baptism couldn’t contain Himself and proudly declared from Heaven to earth “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) The Father bragging about His beloved One-and-Only. Again, here is the Heavenly Father oozing with loving pride – in the vernacular – that’s My Only Boy and I love Him so and I am so high on Him! God the Father celebrating His One-and-Only. Live into it, for only then can we even begin to sense what it did to the Father’s heart to punish His beloved One-and-Only for your sins and my sins, and suffer my Hell and your Hell.
The only Son’s “Begottenness” does not refer to His incarnation. The Son of God did not begin at Christmas! In point of fact, He never began. He is the eternal, only begotten Son of the Father. Yes, He was incarnated in the Virgin Mary and became her “Firstborn” (In the Greek – Prototokes). But He eternally is God the Father’s “Only Begotten Son” (In the Greek – Monogenes). Two totally different realities.
Christian Theologians have called it throughout the centuries “Eternal Generation” or “Eternal Begottenness.” This means that God’s only Son is forever being begotten. This is nothing else like this begotteness in all time or eternity. It is an eternal state of being. Someone I sense is saying by now, “Come on Bob, just keep it simple.” Sorry, I can’t oblige you, for there is nothing simple about the Triune God.
In summary, the Son’s eternal begottennes means that God the Father eternally has His only begotten Son, and the only begotten Son eternally has God His Father. God has forever been “The Father,” and the second person of the Trinity has forever been “The Son.” The eternal Father has never been Sonless, and the eternal Son has never been Fatherless. An eternally non-Father and non-Son God is not only a false God, but a complete contradiction to the God of Christianity! That is Islam, which is why Chrislam is sheer nonsense and yet another last’s days fabrication.
CONCLUSION
We have only scratched the surface of this trip to the edge of nowhere called Chrislam. But for sure there are many who are reading this who by now would like to tell me to quit being such a poor sport, and to loosen up for crying out loud. No, not in this day in age of the wholesale compromising of Biblical truth and religious blending! The Triune God just doesn’t blend in well with other gods. Instead of cutting people like the Chrislamites more slack, we need to not only patrol the streets of Biblical truth today, but do so with lights flashing and whirling and emergency sirens blaring.
How dare we mix Christianity and Islam when our Christian brothers and sisters are being beaten and martyred for Christ by Moslems around the world? Years ago, Islamic raiders kidnapped ——- and her seven children from their village in southern Sudan. They sold her as a sex slave to a Muslim man in the north. The man repeatedly asked her to deny Christ but she refused. ——-‘s Muslim captor set her on fire after she tried to escaped with her children.
With no medical care, ——-‘s severe burns did not heal properly. Her arms were frozen into 90-degree angles by the thick scar tissue on her back and down her arms. She could not dress herself or care for her children.
In October 2006, in partnership with two other ministries, (The Voice of the Martyrs) arranged medical treatment for ——-. She has now become a leader in her community, ministering to widows and other former sex slaves. She started a Bible study for women using digital music players with Scripture. Few in ——-‘s community, including herself, can read. For income, the group makes soap the women sell in the market, along with tea and other essential items.
——-‘s faith remains vibrant. She has no regrets about refusing to deny Christ. When asked how she could remain so strong, she says in a quiet, humble spirit, “Allah isn’t God, how could I worship Him?” After surgery and recovery, ——- is finally able to stretch her arms to 160 degrees, nearly straight. She can dress herself and perform household tasks like making tea. ——- has lived through unspeakable horror. Yet through slavery, abuse, loss, poverty and pain, she continues to praise the Lord who sustains her. *
*Used By Permission – The Voice of the Martyrs
PO Box 443
Bartlesville, OK 74005
1-918-337-8015
