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BULLETIN EDITION: English | Englisch ISSUE 2 | AUG 2019 BULLETIN EDITION: English | Englisch Thomas Schirrmacher Discussing insider movements in the Islamic world Theses from the perspective of the World Evangelical Alliance ISSUE 2 WEA DTC Bulletin Page 2 With the Grand Mufti of Lahore Prof. Dr. theol. Dr. phil. Thomas Schirrmacher, sociology of religion and received two honorary PhD, ThD, DD, serves the World Evangelical Alli- doctorates from the USA and India. He is Distin- ance as Associate Secretary General for Theological guishedProfessorofGlobalEthicsandInternational Concerns(Theology,TheologicalEduaction,Intra- DevelopmentatWilliamCareyUniversityinShill- faith Relations, Interfaith Relations, Religious Free- ong (Meghalaya, India), extraordinary professor of dom,GlobalSchoilars)andasChairoftheTheolog- the sociology of religion at the state University of icalCommission.AsPresidentoftheInternational the West in Timisoara (Romania) and director of Council of the International Society for Human the International Institute for Religious Freedom Rightsheregularlytestifiesintheparliamentsand (Bonn,CapeTown,Colombo,Brasilia).Heisprofes- courtsinEuropeandtheAmericas,theOSCEand sor of social ethics as well as president of Martin theUNinGenevaandNewYork.Hishasauthored Bucer European Theological Seminary and Research and edited 102 books, his newest including ‘Funda- Institutes (with branches in Berlin, Bielefeld, Bonn, mentalism’, ‘Racism’, ‘Human Rights’, ‘Suppressed Chemnitz, Hamburg, Innsbruck, Istanbul, Izmir, Women’, and ‘Human Trafficking’. Bishop Schirr- Linz,Munich,Pforzheim,Prague,SaoPaulo,Tirana, macher earned four doctorates in ecumenical theol- Zurich). ogy, in cultural anthropology, in ethics, and in the * * * * * These theses were presented on Jan. 10th, 2013 in just with something called ‚Jesus‘? (Example: A Gießen at a workshop about insider movements and C5-groupcannotactually,discernablytoothers, were slightly modified for printing. Evangelikale Mis- worship Jesus, without attracting attention.) siologie 29 (2013) 4: 171.175. • The second key question concerns Christology/ In my experience in the World Evangelical Alliance soteriology and ecclesiology: Is it possible to belie- (WEA), the present discussion about insider move- ve in Jesus and his salvation, without the Body of ments in Islam hermeneutically and dogmatically Christmaterializing–insomeformorother–as focusses on two key questions: achurch?Andwhataretheindispensablebasic requirements and characteristics of such a visible • The first key question concerns Christology and church?(Example:CanaC5-groupcelebratethe soteriology: What does it mean to „believe in Lord‘s Supper without turning into a C4-group, Christ“? Is it sufficient to have a „relationship“ because it would attract their Muslim neighbours‘ with him, which we ourselves can define and attention?)Anotherquestion,whichalwayscomes which leaves the question open, who Jesus really up in situations of heavy persecution, plays an is?Oristhereabasicsetofthingswehavetoowe essential role here: To what extend can one be a toJesus?Isthereabasicsetofdoctrinalcontents, Christianinprivateandwithoutbeingapparent which one has to consider as true, in order to have a relationship with the real Jesus at all, and not ISSUE 2 WEA DTC Bulletin Page 3 to others, and to what extend is the corporate and dialogue partners merrily talk at cross purpo- aspect of the faith and the church of Jesus ses. If you describe a movement and have it classi- indispensable? fied by various experts, you often get various • Finally, a further question repeatedly comes up: classifications. Can„C5“alsobeamissionstrategyintherealm • New ideas and movements, which are beforehand oforthodox/ArabicIslam,orisnot–duetothe prophetically declared winner and model for the specificcharacterofthisIslamandthecorrespon- future, are thereby usually more impeded than ding Muslim communities, the goal, to continue benefitted.Inthatcaseonecannolangerclaimto to be considered as Muslims by the environment, want the movements to develop themselves, wit- inconsistent with missionary objectives? That houtexternalinfluence. means: Is not in an orthodox Islamic or Arabis • Moreover, many mission strategies cannot be environment the same thing doomed to failure, „made“. Presently it is undisputed, for instance, whichisquiteconceivableinHinduism,butalso thatmanyMuslimscometoChristianfaithbydre- inSufism,inPopularIslam,inIndonesianorChi- ams.Only,thiscannotbepropagatedasmission nese Islam, in certain non orthodox-Islamic com- method (even though some people do just that); munitiesliketheDruze,orinareasofAfricawith but one can only observe it, learn from it and rejoi- strong amalgamation of Islam, Christianity and ce in it. Likewise there is a big difference between animism? gladly observing the spontaneous emergence of For a fruitful discussion and for the sake of the com- movements in the Islamic world, or thinking, these moncommission,Ifinditbeneficialtoconsiderthe movements could be recorded, planned and effec- following: ted, and that such – ‚artificially‘ planned – copy-movements should have the same impact. • Those who try to understand and to classify insi- der movements, should steer clear from exube- • At this point I see evidence mainly of strong cultu- rantly positive categories (like ‚mission strategy of ral differences between the US-American way of the future‘, ‚more relevant than the reformation‘, marketing new concepts as new and surely to ‚the beginning of a new age in church history‘), become very successful („how to make elephants but likewise from negative categories (like ‚signs bigger and better“) – a way, which, due to the oftheLastDays‘,‚self-surrenderofChristianity‘, heavy dependence of some evangelical groups on „new attac strategy of Islam‘). Judgements such as American role models, is soon to be found world- these may at best stand at the end of a long pro- wide – and the approach of other cultures with cess of observation; they often anticipate, what their own strengths and weaknesses (as for instan- really can only be said decades later in retrospec- ce the German, the Arabic or the Turkish). These tion. Apart from that, there is not ‚the‘ insider differences very much complicate the discussion movement, anyway, but each phenomenon should (the development in Turkey is a case in point.)We really be considered separately. in addition to that, wouldn‘thavetoholdoursymposiuminthefirst there is not yet sufficient information and expe- place, if the issue hadn‘t been brought to market rience available. and made a dogmatic yes-no question. We dare not, however, make new movements dance to our • Those who still want to use such categories, should tune and describe them the way we would like firstofallrevealtheirhermeneutical,dogmatical them to be, or as they would avail our theses. and other presuppositions; or else fruitless front Whereever I had the chance to become acquainted discussions are impending, because the diffences with movements, which others had described pre- of opinion do not first arise in the evaluation of viously, I usually found, at least in part, something insider movements, but are already fixed quite different, and the description turned out to beforehand. be biased (as surely my experience was also). • CategorizationsliketheC1-C6classification,alrea- Many descriptions say more about the author than dy abrogated by their originator as hardly helpful, aboutthedescribedobject–awellknownpheno- are hardly helpful indeed. Within described insi- menon in cultural research. Here it is also com- der movements the followers or wings range over mon knowledge, that each culture, in the process severalcategories(sayC3toC6).Diemovements of being studied and described, is thereby also themselves shift through the categories, as time changed. passes, and, as all young movements, tend toward • TherehaveatalltimesbeenCrypto-Christiansin gradualinstitutionalizationanddoctrinalpeculia- great numbers, especially under the pressure of rity.Moreover,thedefinitionsaresoairy,thatthey persecution. As a result, many strategies evolved, are often understood in completely different ways how to survive in an environment hostile to the ISSUE 2 WEA DTC Bulletin Page 4 Christianfaith.Whetherweappreciatethisornot, can take ever different forms and must not be itisfirstofallagivenfact.Howthesestrategies dogmatically straitened. In no culture we find are to be dogmatically and ethically evaluated, is a onlyonetruecontextualizationorinculturation, differentkettleoffishandshouldbeverycarefully but these can happen in different ways. judged, particularly by Christians, who are not • Mission history is more multifarious than we being persecuted. often think. Nobody dare pretend that earlier • For sociologists of religion it is quite natural, that generations tenaciously only wanted to save the there is a large grey or transition area, with all individual and were immune to contextualizati- sorts of shades, existing between the two biggest on.Itstrikesmethathardlyanypersonsproficient worldreligions(ChristianityandIslam).Herealso or interested in mission history, are involved in we need to clearly distinguish between surveying the discussion about insider movements, hardly the facts and propagating or combating certain any persons who are well informed about the his- methods. tory of Islam, of the churches in the Islamic world • Wemustsetapart„syncretism“betweenChristia- and of the missionary enterprises in the Islamic nity and Islam from other kinds of syncretism with world. There have
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