How should Christians view and consider the Qu’ran and Islam?

The relationship between Christianity and Islam has been tempestuous, to say the least, for generations. Some wish to maximize the differences between the two belief systems, with often malevolent or less than charitable motivations for doing so. Others, perhaps motivated by a more charitable or ecumenical spirit, want to minimize the differences between the two.

And so Mark Robert Anderson has provided a great service for Christians in The Qu’ran in Context: A Christian Exploration. He is well versed in Islamic studies; his respect for the history of Islam and the Qu’ran is manifest in his exposition. But his respect for that heritage compels him to well address the very different perspectives behind the Qu’ran compared to what is expressed in Judaism and Christianity.

The author began by introducing the Qu’ran and how Christians should approach it. He then spoke of Muhammad, the beginnings of Islam, and the context in which Islam began. He described an Arab world still saturated in paganism but highly influenced by Jewish and Christian ideas, with the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires still alive, active, and justifying themselves in terms of war and conflict in religious terms. Muhammad would tend to consider more extra-canonical works of the latter religions and does not seem to reinterpret their Scriptures; his polemic is mostly directed against the pagans of his day.

The author then considered the Qu’ran in light of a series of theological and doctrinal matters: God’s immanence and transcendence, justice and mercy, Adam and his fall, divine relief, sin and salvation, prophets, Scriptures, and Revelation, devotional and social dimensions, and political dimensions. Throughout he suggests how pre-Islamic understandings of nobility inform much of the basic attitudes towards these matters, and thus how Allah tends to remain transcendently remote and concerned very much more with who is a part of, or not a part of, the umma (community) when it comes to matters of justice and mercy, how Adam is seen as having lived in another world, and not having nearly as much belief in human depravity as in Christianity, and addresses many other similar matters. In all these things the author compares and contrasts the presentation of such matters in the Qu’ran with the Jewish and Christian understandings rooted in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

Then the author considered the portrayal of Jesus in the Qu’ran: His origins and person, His words and work, His death, what happened afterward, and Jesus’ community and Scripture. For all the professions of honoring Jesus, the author demonstrated, Muhammad and the Qu’ran do not speak much of Him. The portrayal of Jesus is very much in contrast with what can be found in the pages of the New Testament. Despite protestations to the contrary, promoted by both Christians and Muslims, the author well demonstrated how the strongest evidence in the Qu’ran leads to an understanding that Jesus did, indeed, suffer death, and he also shows how this complicates the picture presented of Jesus. And, of course, he throughout makes the comparison and contrast with the portrayal of Jesus in the New Testament and as understood by Christians.

The author concluded by considering how Christians can well respond to the Qu’ran and Muslims. He persuasively argued how the Qu’ran cannot meaningfully be considered the sequel to the Bible, for the portrayals of God, Jesus, the Spirit, the relationship between God and humanity, sin, justice and righteousness, etc. are quite different. He well contrasted the difference between Judaism and Christianity with the differences between Judaism/Christianity and Islam: Christianity very much bears the marks of descent from Judaism and the influence of the Old Testament in far more profound ways than anything seen in the Qu’ran with Islam. Where there are points of connection, as with Abraham and Ishmael, the stories tend to get radically re-told. The author well demonstrated how the common claim of textual corruption from Muslims has always been difficult to sustain and remains all the more so.

In this way the author well and persuasively shows why we should resist the temptations to fully maximize or minimize the differences between Christianity and Islam: the differences are real but should be discussed with honesty, integrity, and a spirit of charity and respect. It will not do any good to overstate the differences and cast aspersions against Muslims or to understate the differences and act as if the theology and religious viewpoints of Christianity and Islam are completely compatible. This is a very long and involved work, but very much worth it for anyone who relates to Muslims or has interest in Islam and Christianity.