Our Muslim Brethren: the Contribution of Samuel M. Zwemer to Christian Mission

Our Muslim Brethren: The Contribution of Samuel M. Zwemer to Christian Mission

LYLE VANDER WERFF "O that Ishmael might live in thy sight" - Abrahamic prayer and the motto of the Arabian Mission of the Reformed Church in America. " . .. I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd" (John 10:15-16).

OUR MUSLIM BRETHREN: The Contribution of Samuel M. Zwemer to Christian Mission. Abraham's prayer (Gen. 17: 18) and Jesus' encompassing claims (Jn. 10:15-16) pro vide a basis for the Christian's hope for his Muslim neighbor. The vision of God's coming kingdom in the reconciling work of the Messiah must embrace this community which numbers one sixth of the world's population. For centuries Christians and Muslims have dwelt at a distance, intentionally separated by creed and cultural differences, but inas much as we live in a universe in which "all things were created" and in which "all things hold together" and in which all things are destined to be reconciled (Col. I: 15-20), the gravitational pull of God's grace in Christ means that even alien communities must ulti mately move towards each other. Today we are witnessing increased contact between Muslims and Christians. No longer is this experience confined to those who journey for reason of commerce, diplo macy or Christian mission. Such meeting is as commonplace for the inhabitants of Detroit, Houston, Chicago, and Cedar Rapids as for those in west Europe. It is reported that an all-Muslim community is to be built near Abiquiu, New Mexico, at an estimated cost of ten million dollars over the next decade which will feature a seven-domed mosque and a boarding school. Funded by private Saudi Arabian sources, this 600 member set tlement, comprised mainly of American converts, has as its purpose the "perpetration" of the Islamic faith through radio and television. The Christian Reformed Church in response to the record numbers of Muslims migrating to the Chicago area has announced that a former missionary to Nairobi, will begin a ministry of outreach to these newcom ers. 2 As the Arabian Mission of the Reformed Church in America moves toward its centennial year (founded 1889, adopted by the Reformed Church in America, 1894), members of that denomination have reason to reflect on the challenge of Islam. Fortu nately those in the reformed tradition have a wealth of historical experience on which they can draw. The early confrontation of Islam and Christianity beginning in the Seventh Century led to a difficult, sometimes torturous, relationship. The emergence and expansion of the 25 House of Islam was intricately linked to the cultural explosion of the Arab peoples which within a century spread over the Middle East to India a nd westward across Africa and Spain to threaten Europe. Military clash, economical disruption, and religious domina tion always bring with it pain, rancor, a nd deep-seated rese ntment. For centuries the contest for lands and peoples further a lienated Christians a nd Muslims. Christians in Europe tried to ignore Islam after the tragic failure of the crusades. Christians under Muslim rulers struggled from their minority communions simply to survive. Islam altered between triumphant expansionism and defensive isolationism. From the Middle Ages to the Protestant Reformation, there were few efforts to heal this legacy of friction . Only as the full implications of the life-reforming Word and Spirit worked their way in the churches of the West, did there emerge an evangelical impulse to fulfill the mission man date of Christ. The Nineteenth Century saw a resurgence of the constraining love of Christ which prompted Protestants to reach out towards the Muslim world. Early exchanges between Christian workers and Muslim in India and Indonesia pro vided a testing ground for Protestant missions, especiaiJy Anglican and Reformed . The lessons learned were not lost on those who ventured to Islam's heartlands, the Middle East. Even though the caliphate was declining, Islam was in the dominance, holding sway over Latin and Orthodox churches, penetrating every facet of society. Reformed and Anglican missionaries attempted to cope with a mix of factors that produced frustration among even the most dedicated of witnesses. Yet from these labors and lives sacrifically given in Christ's name, comes light concerning a maturer Christian approach to Muslims. The first half of the Twentieth Century saw the best of Anglican and Reformed mission ary effort exemplified in the figures of W. H. Temple Gairdner (1873-1928) and Samuel M. Zwemer ( 1867-1952). The focus of this article is on the contributions of the latter with a view to application in the present.3 Samuel Marinus Zwemer was born of Huguenot-Dutch American parentage which took seriously the Calvinistic traditions of the Reformed Church in America.4 While completing his theological studies at New Brunswick Seminary, he along with two fellow students, James Cantine and Philip T. Phelps, and professor John G. Lansing conceived a plan for the evangelization of Arabia ( 1889). When the denomination at first hesitated to underwrite this vision, they went to congregations in northwest Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota for support. This "Arabian Syndicate," as it was called, continued to provide resources long after the program was fully incorporated in the Reformed Church in America ( 1894). Zwemer pioneered in the founding of evangelistic, educational and medi cal work in Basrah (Iraq), Bahrain, Muscat (Oman), and Kuwait during the first phase of his career in the Arabian Gulf (1891-1912). In 1912 he accepted a call from the United Presbyterian Church to work in Cairo ma king it a center for the study of Islam and the production of Christian literature. During the sixteen years spent in Egypt, he worked closely with temple Gairdner of the Church Missionary Society (Anglican). A third phase of his ministry took him to Princeton Theological Seminary in 1928 where he taught history of religions and Christian missions. From this base, he joined Hendrick Kraemer in the debates of the International Missionary Conference at Madras ( 193 8). Widely respected as an Islamic scholar, Zwemer also participated in the Edinburgh Conference

26 (1910), edited The Muslim World (1911-1947), and traveled extensively in behalf of Mus lim evangelization. What are the insights to be extracted from the life and thought of Samuel M. Zwe mer? What does this prominent son of the Reformed tradition suggest to those who are concerned about the Christian obligation to their Muslim neighbors?

Church and Mission

Mission to Muslims must be church based, according to this Reformed churchman. For Zwemer the church's correct self-understanding must precede effective witness, and reciprocally only as she engages in mission can she become what God intended. The church is elected, called into being, that she might be God's witnessing agent among the nations. The founders of the Arabian Mission were convinced that the whole church must take seriously the evangelization of the Muslim world. Initially they were frustrated when the· Reformed Church in America lacked funds for this new beginning. Nevertheless, Zwemer plowed ahead rallying a group of congregations ready to answer the call. He was true to the cry that the church must be "ever reforming" according to the biblical mandates. Much of Zwemer's energy was spent in arousing the church to an awareness of its task. He organized the Cairo Conference ( 1906), served as field secretary of the Reformed Mission Board ( 1907), and was the first candidate secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement ( 1908), crisscrossing college campuses to recruit missionaries of the caliber of Dr. Paul W. Harrison. Ever alerting his home church to new possibilities, he attended the Student Volunteer Movement Convention in Rochester (January 1910) and the historic assembly at Edinburgh (1910), and began to edit The Moslem World. Back in Bahrain, he prepared for the Lucknow Conference, a tour of India, and the YMCA Conferences in Bombay and Calcutta ( 1911). Such was the pace set by this one who advocated that the task of mission belongs to the whole church. Zwemer saw the formation of indigenous churches as the goal of mission. Although he never had the privilege of serving as a local pastor because of his larger role as an ecumenical evangelist and student of Islam, his vision portrayed the church as the local manifestation of the Kingdom of God. He avoided the errors of many evangelical para church agencies which fail to make any enduring impact on Muslims because of a weak ecclesiology. Evangelism must result in the visible manifestation of the body of Christ. The church is ever object and agent, end and instrument of mission even though the ultimate source of mission remains God. It is his glory that is declared by the whole enterprise. Zwemer learned considerably from Temple Gairdner, his Anglican colleague in Cairo, about the strategic role played by indigenous congregations. Gairdner's stress on the incarnational "presence" of Christ's body foreshadows the excellent work of Kenneth Cragg.s Gairdner helped flesh out a church life which balanced worship and song, fellow ship, healing, and witness. His liturgical and musical contributions held appeal for both Muslims and Orthodox Christians. For example, in the drama of worship he would occa sionally prostrate himself before the communion table in Oriental fashion. With the CMS 27 he worked to nurture Arab congregations and pastors. Gairdner had written that: The grand aim should be to raise up a truly militant, evangelical, and there fore evangeli stic Church, however small , a truly Catholic Church with power to absorb and unify the most diverse elements, and gifted with historical order and reverent, inspiring, and liturgical services. 6 He wa5 convinced that the growth and witness of the church remains the most important phase ol mission in that as congregations reach out and draw men in, they demonstrate the love of Christ. Such brotherhood in Christ has great appeal (Jn. 17:21). Only as the church provides a warm spiritual home for inquirers and converts can the work advance . .I Of one of his last papers, "The Egyptian Church as a Home for Christ's Converts from the Islam," Gairdner said to a friend, "If I die before you, promise me that you will give what I said then as my last message to the Egyptian Church. It is far the most important thing I ever wrote."7 The covenant community must be a family of reconciliation, a church continually learning of Christ. Zwemer understood the staying power of the cov enant community. It was no accident that sustained Protestant work among Muslims is by those who share a strong doctrine of the church. The reformed concept of covenant community coupled with a sense that the Sovereign's rule is coming to all nations (Arabs as we ll as Hebrews) provide the stamnia for sacrificial service. Fid elity in witness must continue even where fruit is not immediately forthcoming! The church must be holy, catholic, apostoli c, and doxologic, according to Zwemer. Many may be surprised how this conservative evangelical argued for close cooperation with Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. He considered that the mantles of Ray mond Lull and Francis of Assisi fell on the shoulders of all who love their Muslim neighbors. He praised Armenian, Coptic, and the other Eastern Churches for their faith fulness under pressure, for reform efforts, and for young leaders awakening to their obli gations to Muslims. Of them he wrote: We are too apt to underestimate the spiritual forces that remain alive throughout all the Moslem lands of the East. But the issues at stake are too vital and the urgency too great for anything but united effort. 8 Yet this ecumenical participant expressed concern that the future World Council of Churches devise a "global strategy" of mission including Muslim lands if it was to be effective. The church exists for mission, for the ministry of the Incarnate Word. Only as this is realized, only as the fellowship of Christ's love is actuali zed, will the church reflect God's glory. Disciplining the nations and doxology are inseparable. Restless, energetic reformer that he was, Zwemer was drawn forward by the eschato logical vision of the kingdom which both is and is yet to be. Being reformed meant being in the process of becoming, but it meant also living in the confidence of the King's power. The inscription on the former church and present mosque in Damascus bore for Zwemer a truth that could not be erased: Thy Kingdom, 0 Christ, is a Kingdom of all ages, And Thy Dominion endureth throughout all generations.9 Such convictions undergirded this Calvinist's life long ministry.

28 Islamics

T he church is obliged to be the student of those to whom she is sent. When Zwemer accepted the call to serve in Cairo ( 191 2- 1928), he set out to make it a center for Isla mics, for productio n of literature, and for interdenominational cooperation. While working closely with Presbyterian, Anglica n, and independent presses, he also taught at .he Pres byteria n Seminary and the Center for Oriental Studies. His editorial staff :.nd list of contributors included eminent Islamic sc hola rs such as Arthur Jeffery, D. B. MacDonald, Tor Andrae (Sweden), Alfred Neil sen (Denma rk), Julius Richter (Germany); converts from Islam such as Mikhail Mansoor; plus contacts at the famous university of Al-Azhar. J ames Hunt said of Zwemer: He may be said to be a man of one idea. While his interests a nd knowledge were wide, I never talked with him ten minutes that the conversation did not veer to Islam ... He also had an inventive mind, fertile with fresh pla ns for the work. Almost too much so, in fact, for practical work. In a committee meeting, his mind would scintillate with new ideas that would commend themselves to the rest of us. 10 The Cairo press refe rred to him as the "leading authority on Isla mics from the Christian standpoint." As a missiona ry a nthropologist, Zwemer surveyed the Muslim world in order to provide fi rsthand reports to the church catholic. He visited nearly every country where there was even a Muslim minority between 1922 and 1928. On his trip to the Dutch East Indies where young Hendrik Kraemer la bored, Zwemer attended fifteen conferences and gave ninety- nine addresses. No wonder Temple Gairdner called him "a steam engine in breeches." His prolific pen produced at a steady pace out of the conviction that the printed pages were "leaves for the healing of the nations." For thirty-s ix years he edited The Moslem World to which he personally contributed over one hundred articles based on his field experience a nd research. It remains an encyclopedia of cultural a nthropology. In addition, his prodigious output included over fifty books in English, six in Arabic, twenty-four tracts for Muslims, numerous surveys a nd works co-authored with others. 11 His most scholarly efforts treat historical and popular Islam. Zwemer sought to under stand the cultura l phenomena which would ma ke for more effective tra nsmission of the gospel. Two stages in Zwemer's developing understanding of Islam are observable. Early in his career (ca. 1890-1916), he reflected the legacy of Nineteenth Century missiologists which pitted C hristianity over against non-Christian systems. The goal of "radical dis placement" is seen in The Disintegration of Islam (1915) a nd Mohammed or Christ (1916). Later (ca. 191 6- 1938), a second approach appears which might be entitled anthro pologic a nd C hristocentric. Without compromising his critique of Islam as a system, he writes empathetically of the Muslim as a person longing for and seeking after God. Islam is an attempt to solve life's problems and includes partial truths which find fulfillment in Christ. T he hungers and aspirations expressed in Muslim devotional life can be met in Jesus. Zwemer's studies in popular Islam (the practices of the man on the street a nd in the village), Al-Ghazali , and Sufi mysticism prompted a change in his vocabulary as he writes

29 of "our Muslim brethren." Field studies must supplement the historical-literary treatments of Islam by Western scholars if the church is to atune her message to those whom she professes to love. On the other hand, Christian scholars must not lose their critical capacity for evaluating all religious activity by Christ, God's measure. Popular Islam practically defies Muhammad and ignores the prophet's failings which are well documented in early Arabic sources. The tragedy of Islam is that it offers a cheap salvation without a mediator, incarnation, atonement, or demand for a change of character.12 While appreciative of Muhammad's effort to bring reform in Arabia and to restore Hanifism (Abrahamic reli gion), he faults him for neglecting the seriousness of sin and hence the need for atonement and mediation. In many ways, Muhammad neglected the new avenue opened to God by the incarnation and reverted to a natural theology. Foreshadowing Karl Barth and Hen drik Kraemer, Zwemer insisted God's Word in Christ remains the unsurpassed measure of all religions. Working with the Hadiths and traditional commentaries, he cites Islam as too deistic in its portrait of God. 13 Allah is viewed as absolute power impervious to human petition lest his eternal essence be polluted. As a Calvinist, Zwemer respected the ideas of divine sovereignty and predestination, but Islam lacked knowledge of God as the father whose sacrificing love touches human life. The Quran, however, left room for dialogue. Such questions as Christ's death (cf. Surahs 3:47-50; 4: I 57ff.; I 9:33) are open to discussion. Unfortunately later traditions (Hadiths) are the spoilers, for they deny Jesus as the Son of God, the pre-existent One, who died on the cross to achieve the way of salvation. In time, thought Zwemer, the traditions had transferred the glory of Christ to Muhammad and the Quran. Thus one task of dialogue must be to get behind the Hadiths to the prophet's earliest teachings which disclose a Hanifism which allows room for movement towards the Messiah. A starting place for conversation with Muslims concerning the identity of Christ is found in Jesus' titles: "the Word of God" and "the Spirit of God" (Rom. 8:9ff.; 2 Cor. 3: 17; Gal. 4:6, 5: I 6-25; Eph. 4:4-6; Phil. 1: I 9). Islam needs a reformulation of Christ's role in the Almighty's plan. Zwemer identified with young Muslims revolting against the totalitarian political-social-economical-religious structure of Islam. Muslim lands still await the kind of reformation and emancipation that Europe experienced in the Sixteenth Century. Zwemer's hope was that such an awakening might lead not to a secularization of culture but to a gradual leavening of society with the transforming love of Christ. He prayed that Islam, like Judaism, might eventually see her finest sons and daughters pointing to Christ's kingdom. After 1916, Zwemer seemed freed of the necessity to take Islam to task. Since God is working out his redemptive, regal will in the movement of history, one need not fret. Zwemer could devote his energy to the love of Muslims as persons. His sympathetic anthropological-Christocentric approach netted a wealth of material; e.g., The Irifluence of Animism on Islam ( 1920) and Studies in Popular Islam ( 1939). The Christian commu nity must not play the "elder son" as Islam the "prodigal son" seeks the gracious Father. Islam is the prodigal son, the Ishmael, among the non-Christian religions; that is a fact we may forget. Now we read in Christ's matchless parable of the prodigal son how 'When he was yet a great way off his father saw him and ran out to meet him and fell on his neck and kissed him.' Have missionaries 30 always had this spirit? No one can read the story of Al-Ghazali's life, so near and yet so far from the Kingdom, so eager to enter and yet always groping for the doorway, without fervently wishing that Al-Ghazali could have met a true ambassador of Christ.14 Zwemer advocated that Christians might employ excerpts from the writings of Al-Ghazali as starting points for introducing Muslims to the biblical accounts regarding Jesus.15 Al Ghazali's pupil, the poet-mystic Jal-al-ad-Din ar-Rumi, also saw God at work in Jesus: Thyself reckon dead, and then thou shalt fly Free, free, from the prison of earth to the sky! Spring may come, but on granite will grow no green thing; It was barren in winter, 'tis barren in spring; And granite man's heart is, till grace intervene, And, crushing it, clothe the long barren with green. When the fresh breath of Jesus shall touch the heart's core, It will live, it will breathe, it will blossom once more. 16 Some day, thought Zwemer, these men might serve as schoolmasters leading Muslims to the Messiah. When true religious freedom comes to Middle Eastern lands and the dreaded Islamic law against conversion to Christ is removed, a spiritual reformation will come. 17 Such freedom of choice will allow many secret disciples of Christ to declare themselves publicly. Christians must courageously pioneer for such religious liberty in every land. In one of his last books, Heirs of the Prophets (1946), Zwemer saw the importance of Chris tians working closely with Muslim leaders (Ulema: imams, mullahs, sheikhs) to foster religious freedom and the re-interpretation of Islam which allows for Jesus' significant role as set forth in the Old and New Testaments. Zwemer was amazed that so many converts came from the ranks of the Ulema. He urged close personal friendships with these seekers who might become "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ."

Evangelism

Evangelism springs from God's redemptive action in Christ. Awareness of the human need for God's love should prompt every disciple to be a communicator of God's offer in Christ. Zwemer's view of evangelism was undergirded by the strengths of the Reformed tradition as seen in the comprehensive theology of Abraham Kuyper who envisaged the transformation of all spheres of culture and the conservative piety of Albertus Van Raalte (founder of Holland, Michigan) who insisted that the claims of Christ not be compro mised. There are amazing affinities between Calvinist and Muslim theologies in the areas of God's sovereignty, the authority of the Word, order in nature and society, predestina tion, and human dependence on divine mercy. Calvinists are especially well equipped to confer with Muslims at these points. Reformed missions also benefit from an awareness of the mystery of divine patience while at the same time they are energized for proclama tion and action by an assurance of the coming kingdom of Christ. Zwemer admired the solid work done in Indonesia by the Dutch Reformed churches. Forty-five thousand con verts from Islam in Java reflected a thorough program of Bible translation, comprehen sion of the cultural context, pre-baptism instruction, continuing nurture through Christian literature, and incorporation of new believers into the indigenous church. 31 As a representative of Reformed evangelical theology, Zwc mer was at hi s best when providing a biblical exegesis of God's promises for the Arabs in li ght of covenant and kingdom. 18 The primary task remains that of evangeli sm, proclamation of the Word , rather than rati onal apologetics or polemics. Already in 1907, he advised: Preaching must have for its subject the essentials of Christianity. Preach Christ crucifi ed .. . The right a ngle fo r the presentation of truth ca n best be learned by stud ying the strength and the weakness of Islam. The hi story of Moslem theology, for example, shows that heterodoxy has nearly always been connected with a strong desire for a mediator. This natural longing for an intercessor and an atonement is fully supplied in Christ, our Saviour ... Preach to the Moslem, not as a Moslem, but as a ma n- as a sinner in need of a Saviour.19 Even before World War I and the cry of Barth, Zwemer insisted that onl y God's revela tory act in Christ could restore our alienated world. He is able to reconcile peoples of diverse religious backgrounds to each other as we ll as to himself. Evangeli sm must deal with the incarnation, atonement, a nd mediation in an expe- riential fashion. A loving a nd yet bold presentation of the distinctive truths of our religion and of the surpassing grandeur and beauty of the character of Jesus Christ will never alienate a Moslem heart .. . We should ask Moslems to stud y the gospel in any way they like, but with only one objective in view, 'namely, that they may come face to face with Jesus himself; that they may lea rn to know him, and see how He claimed to hold a supreme position in the matter of the attitude of all men toward God, a position which none other has ever claimed.' In other words, we should press home the question which Jesus himself put to his disciples and to the world, 'What think ye of the ChristT20 Western science and technology, idealistic philosophies, a nd philanthropic programs ca n never meet the longings of Muslim lands. "Because there is only one God there can be only one gospel .. . "21 Any witness to Muslims who wavers concerning Christ's central role in God's redemptive plan in history will be ineffective. Christ is the key to the mercy and forgiveness which Muslims seek. Zwemer stood by D. B. MacDonald's contention that any Christianity which neglected the Incarnation would fai l. Evangelism must call men to repentance, to submission to Christ's Lordship and new life in his church. In the process the cross must not be bypassed, for it represents the mystery of God's justice and love. "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world" addresses itself to Muslim as well as Hebrew ears. Zwemer's enthusiasm for evangelism was sustained by knowledge that the Holy Spirit touches every Muslim and aids in interpreting the Word.22 His labors were strength ened by the eschatological perspective of the coming kingdom. The risen Christ alone is empowered to meet the deep hungers which humans share in a groaning creation (Romans 8). 23 Zwemer advised an affectionate person-to-person evangelism rather than confrontation and apologetics. Whether he was among the Arabs of Basrah, Bahrain, and Cairo, or with the citizens of Capetown, Cologne, and Chicago, he was involved in per sonal evangelism. Books may have been a lifelong fascination for Zwemer, but his first love remained people, especially Muslims. His personableness was a great asset. He was convinced that the human personality remains the best bridge for communicating the 32 gospel. The incarnation set the pattern for disciplined witness. He strived to model what he taught. Zwemer's views on evangelism were sharpened by the crisis in theology and mission which climaxed at the Missionary Conference at Tambaram (Madras) in 1938. Zwemer joined Hendrik Kraemer in a defense and restatement of the evangelical view of mission. Theological liberalism, humanism, and the ass umption that all religion is of the same essence (uni generis) grew in influence during the early part of the twentieth century to the point that it challenged the evangelical concept of mission. These forces influenced church and missionary leadership such as William E. Hocking, professor at Harvard and chairman of the Laymen's Inquiry. In Re- thinking Missions ( 1932), he argued that mis sions should no longer aim at proclamation of the gospel with a view to conversion and church building, but that they should simply concentrate on humanitarian service. Zwemer and other evangelicals saw this as a betrayal of the biblical mandates. Even before the Hocking report, Zwemer assessed these erosive ·trends which did violence to the biblical norms. In Christianity, the Final Religion ( 1920), he attests to the uniqueness (sui generis) of God's reconciling work in Christ, mankind's only hope. This work which is contem porary to Karl Barth's explosive Commentary on Romans ( 1919), provides a prophetic glimpse of the theologies of crisis, judgment, and Word that would arouse the West. By the 1930s, Zwemer was caught in the midst of the debates about the finality of the claims of Christ.

Any faith which challenges the finality of Christianity and professes to give a supplementary message, another gospel, higher ethics, a more adequate social program, must produce the equivalent of Jesus Christ. To call Chris tianity the absolute or final religion is, as Dr. Mackintosh asserts, "to con tend not merely that in Jesus Christ God is presented in a form higher and more spiritually satisfying than elsewhere, but that the relationship to the Father on which believers thus enter, is such that it cannot be transcended."24 ' Zwemer's fuller rejoinder to Hocking came in Thinking Missions with Christ (1934). He viewed the three prime motives for mission as: obedience to Christ's commission; the love of Christ which constrains us to meet our neighbor's deepest need; and the call to labor to the glory of God. The latter is the chief end of mission. Mature reflections on the nature of religion and Christ's unique role were clarified in The Origin of Religion (1935). Zwe mer's studies pointed towards the now famous work presented by Hendrik Kraemer at Madras, The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World (1938). One could fairly claim that Kraemer stood on the shoulders of this Dutch-American. Madras is now history and yet it remains a landmark in the evangelical restatement of mission. The biblical mandates, the normative claims of God's Word, survived the crucible once again. It is perhaps fitting that one of Zwemer's last books, Evangelism Today ( 1944) concluded that the message of Christ remains far more important than the method or messenger. Thus Samuel Zwemer, a son of the Reformed Church in America, served as an apt spokesman for the renewal of a biblical theology of mission and of concern for the Christian obligation to "our Muslim brethren."

33 FOOTNOTES ' Christianity Today, June 26, 1981. ' Mi.uion Courier, Grand Rapids, Christian Reformed Church, June 1981. 'Vander Werff, Lyle, Christian Mission to Muslims: nie Retvrd. Pasadena, William Carey Library, 1977, ch.1-111. • Additional biographical detail may be found in J. Christy Wilson. Apostle to Islam, A Bioirraphy of Samuel M. Zwemer, Grand Rapids, 1952, and Vander Werff, op. cit .. pp. 174ff .. 224 ff. ' Cragg, Kenneth, 7he Call of Minaret, New York, 1956; Sandals at the Mmque: Christian Presence Amid Islam. New York, 1959. etc. ' Pad wick, Constance E., Templar Gairdner of Cairo, London, 1929, pp. 263f. 7 Ibid.. p. 276. • A Factual Survey of the Moslem World ( 1946), p. 28. 9 Ps. 145 :13 (LXX) quoted by W. H. T. Gairdner, 7he Reproach of Islam , Edinburgh, 1909, pp. 336f. '° Wilson, op. cit. pp. 84f. 11 For a full bibliography see Vander Werff, op. cit .. Appendix K. pp. 29 1-295. 12 Arabia: nie Cradle of Islam , New York, 1900, pp. 179ff.; Islam, A Challenge to Faith, New York, 1907, pp. 29ff. " nie Moslem Doctrine of God, 1905, pp. 21f. 14 A Moslem Seeker After God: Al-Ghaza/i, New York, 192 1, pp. 12f. " Ibid.. p. 181. " Quoted in Ibid.. p. 294. 17 711e Law of Apostasy in Islam, London, 1923, pp. 7ff. " Arabia: the Cradle of Islam, pp. 300ff. 19 Islam, A Challenge to Faith, p. 212. 20 71ie Moslem Christ, 1912, pp. 181 - 185. " Disintegration . . ., 1915, pp. l 84ff. " Mohammed or Christ? p. 282. " 7he Moslem World, vol. 18, 1928, pp. 221ff. " 7he Moslem World, vol. 24, 1934, p. 109.