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Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? Lessons for and from Evangelicals

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Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? Lessons for and from Evangelicals Louvain Studies 40 (2017): 260-272 doi: 10.2143/LS.40.3.3245491 © 2017 by Louvain Studies, all rights reserved Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? Lessons for and from Evangelicals Wouter Biesbrouck Abstract. - This article interacts with D’Costa’s Chapter 4, “The Council and the Muslims: Worshipping the Same God?” by looking for ways in which his research can bear fruit in Evangelical theology of interreligious dialogue and in the Muslim- Evangelical interreligious dialogue. The wider question tackled is, “Can Evangelicals learn from Catholics with respect to theology of interreligious dialogue?” and more specifically, “Does D’Costa’s book offer help in this respect?” The article also investi- gates whether a recent discussion among Evangelicals on the issue of “do Christians and Muslims worship the same God” can also contribute to D’Costa’s analysis and the wider Roman Catholic-Muslim dialogue. This article, then is not merely an exercise in theology of religions, but also in ecumenical theology. In response to Donald Trump’s call for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,”1 dr. Larycia Hawkins, associate professor of Political Science at Wheaton College, Chicago, IL, USA – a Liberal Arts College and flagship of Evangelicalism in the USA – wrote the following on her Facebook page on 10 December 2015: I don’t love my Muslim neighbor because s/he is American. I love my Muslim neighbor because s/he deserves love by virtue of her/his human dignity. I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of humankind – a cave in Sterkfontein, South Africa that I had the privilege to descend into to plumb the depths of our common humanity in 2014. I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God. But as I tell my students, theoretical solidarity is not solidarity at all. Thus, beginning tonight, my solidarity has become embodied solidarity. 1. http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/ (accessed 28 March 2016). DO ChRistiaNs aNd Muslims WORship the Same GOd? 261 As part of my Advent Worship, I will wear the hijab to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state that initiated one of the first anti-Sharia laws (read: unconstitutional and Islamophobic), and at church. I invite all women into the narrative that is embodied, hijab-wearing solidarity with our Muslim sisters – for whatever reason. A large scale movement of Women in Solidarity with Hijabs is my Christmas #wish this year. As this Facebook post started to receive attention, the College Adminis- tration expressed concerns that stating that Christians and Muslims wor- ship the same God contradicts the College’s statement of faith “to which all faculty are expected to agree.”2 Prof. Hawkins, who also happens to be the first tenured black female professor at Wheaton, was requested to meet the provost of Wheaton College on December 15. After this meet- ing, she was put on paid administrative leave and requested to provide a written explanation of her statements. At that point, the story exploded in the media.3 As the unsavoury story unfolded, it generated heated discussions amongst Evangelicals in the USA and abroad. After provid- ing the College Administration with a written response,4 the College requested further theological discussion and clarification, something which dr. Hawkins refused. Early in January, the school started the process to terminate the employment contract of dr. Hawkins.5 However, on February 6, Wheaton and Hawkins jointly announced a confidential agreement to part ways.6 2. Brian M. Howell, “Wheaton College, One God, and Muslim-Christian Dialog,” Occasional Bulletin Special Edition (2016): 4. 3. Articles appeared, amongst others, in the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time Magazine, USA Today, The Guardian, as well as in Christianity Today, evangelicalism’s premier magazine in the USA. The topic was hot in evangelical blogosphere. For a helpful description of this phase of the controversy, see Howell, “Wheaton College,” 4. 4. http://drlaryciahawkins.org/2016/01/06/theological-statement-by-dr-hawkins/ (accessed 28 March 2016). For her defence, Dr. Hawkins made use of the argumentation in Allah: A Christian Response by leading Evangelical theologian Miroslav Volf. Volf’s argument is summarized by him as follows (p. 123): “To the extent that Christians and Muslims embrace the normative teachings of Christianity and Islam about God, they believe in a common God. To the extent that Christians and Muslims strive to love God and neighbor, they worship the same true God.” 5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/01/05/wheaton- is-planning-to-fire-professor-who-said-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same- god/?tid=a_inl (accessed 28 March 2016). 6. http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/february/wheaton-college- larycia-hawkins-same-god-reinstatedochawk.html (accessed 28 March 2016). This joint statement occurred a couple of days before the hearing Hawkins was to have in front of a faculty personnel committee. It was preceded by a public apology and a request for forgiveness by the provost of Wheaton who revoked his recommendation that started the 262 wOuteR biesbROucK The above makes clear that stating that Christians and Muslims worship the same God is a moot issue for Evangelicals, and far from being settled. D’Costa, in the book under discussion,7 makes it clear that Catholics since Vatican II may be confident in affirming that “Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.”8 Although this does not literally say that Catholics worship the same God as Mus- lims, it would be surprising if Catholic professors of political science would be sacked from their Catholic University by making such a claim.9 My brief interaction with D’Costa’s book in this article will be look- ing for ways in which his research can bear fruit in Evangelical theology of interreligious dialogue and in the Muslim-Evangelical interreligious dialogue. This approach means that it is not merely an exercise in theology of religions, but also in ecumenical theology. The wider question tackled is thus “Can Evangelicals learn from Catholics with respect to theology of interreligious dialogue?” and more specifically “Does D’Costa’s book offer help in this respect?” Perhaps the recent discussion among Evangelicals on the issue of “do Christians and Muslims worship the same God” can also contribute to D’Costa’s analysis and the wider Roman Catholic-Muslim dialogue. 1. What Evangelicals Can Learn from D’Costa’s Chapter 4, “The Council and the Muslims: Worshipping the Same God?” As noted above, the Wheaton College crisis has generated a lot of discus- sion amongst Evangelicals. Most of the theological discussion that took termination process. Even before that, on February 6, Wheaton’s Faculty council had unanimously asked the college to keep dr. Hawkins (see http://www.christianitytoday. com/gleanings/2016/january/wheaton-faculty-council-asks-college-keep-larycia-hawkins. html (accessed 28 March 2016)). On March 3, the University of Virginia announced that dr. Hawkins will join its Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture as the “Abd el-Kader Visiting Faculty Fellow,” named for a 19th-century Algerian leader who was committed to intercultural dialogue (http://www.religionnews.com/2016/03/03/wheaton-prof-gets- new-post-named-for-muslim-leader/ accessed 28 March 2016). 7. Gavin D’Costa, Vatican II: Catholic Doctrines on Jews and Muslims (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014). 8. Vatican Documents, Lumen Gentium: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (www.vatican.va, 1964), # 16 (my italics). 9. For a problematization of the ‘same God’ discourse from a Catholic point of view, see Gavin D’Costa, “Do Christians and Muslims Believe in the Same God? Reflec- tions on M. Volf’s Allah: A Christian Response,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 24, no. 2 (2013): 151-160; Gavin D’Costa, “Interreligious Prayer between Christians and Muslims,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 24, no. 1 (2013): 1-14. DO ChRistiaNs aNd Muslims WORship the Same GOd? 263 place happened in blogposts by American Evangelical theologians.10 Many of these theologians tried to make the necessary distinction between the theological question and the validity of a disciplinary sanc- tion, as most of them were not privy on the details of this particular case. If anything good came out of this crisis, it certainly is the theological discussion that took place on whether Muslims worship the same God as Christians. One of the most interesting responses to date, is the publication of a Special Edition of the journal Occasional Bulletin in January 2016.11 This journal is published by the (North American) Evangelical Missio- logical Society.12 More than twenty missiologists reply to the question what are the missiological implications of affirming, or denying, that Muslims and Christians worship the same God?13 It is clear that such academic responses raise the level of interactions considerably. A similar effort by Evangelical systematic theologians is still lacking.14 If that were to hap- pen, these theologians would greatly benefit from reading D’Costa’s Vatican II: Catholic Doctrines on Jews and Muslims. A number of lessons could be learned from the content and method of D’Costa’s fine work to ensure a richer and more fruitful debate.
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