Although I am not against religions working together (which is one thing Christians should do) I am concerned about the relationship of Christians and non Christians compromising certain beliefs and values.
The following letter taken from Fox news article speaks of the many wonderful, sincere and concerned religious leaders of two of the largest religions of the world requesting working together to overcome their differences and bring peace to all man kind.
This objective is one I am all for one hundred percent as many innocent people are paying the ultimate price for the radical fanatics that want to force their beliefs upon others at the expense of death.
However the difference between these two religions are not over how we conduct ourselves and our methods of approaching God, but the on going debate over the one that should be totally and completely in charge of making the decisions for the planned future of mankind.
The deity of Jesus Christ as the only begotten son of God (rejected by Islam)is where we disagree. The belief that God himself came in the flesh, conceived of a virgin, paid the price of redemption on the cross, taught us like no other has ever taught in love and proved he had that power by his own resurrection, is where the division takes place.
As a Christian this is the center spoke of the wheel that other religions reject. It is not the Pope, the Church, Muhammad, Islam or any prophet that should be exalted or trusted with man kinds salvation. I cannot help but wonder if this union of religions who believe that the Mahdi(Islam's Saviour) who will come out of a well and turn the world to righteousness. This union could create the same one who will arise in the last days to become the deceptive trusted ones described in Revelation the 13th chapter as the anti-Christ and religious false prophet that supports him.
The hunger for peace and escape from our own foolishness sometimes brings us to the place of carelessness and false deception. Ahmadinejad of Iran is a great believer in the coming Mahdi along with Jesus (the prophet) supporting the Mahdi in Israel's destruction according to their last day teaching in Islam.
If the deity of Christ is God, "then it is God" who will make the final decisions to separate the wheat from the weeds. It is not ours as Jesus taught. Worship is an instilled desire given to us by God but can also be used by the powers of darkness to subvert and create a self righteous attitude when the heart has not been directed and changed toward the one who really proved his love for all mankind. John 3:16 says For God so Loved the world. That he gave his only begotten son. That who so ever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.This profound and heart lifting statement is either accepted or rejected by the religion and the heart as God's method of salvation for all men and women and is not man's responsibility.
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Fox News article:
The "survival of the world" is at stake if Muslims and Christians do not make peace with each other, leaders of the Muslim world will warn the Pope and other Christian leaders today.
In an unprecedented open letter signed by 138 leading scholars from every sect of Islam, the Muslims plead with Christian leaders "to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions" and spell out the similarities between passages of the Bible and the Koran.
The scholars state: "As Muslims, we say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them - so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes."
The phrasing has echoes of the New Testament passage: "He that is not with me is against me" - a passage used by President George Bush when addressing a joint session of Congress nine days after 9/11.
The Muslims call instead for the emphasis to be on the shared characteristics of world's two largest faiths.
The letter, addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, to the Orthodox Church's Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew 1 and all the other Orthodox Patriarchs and to the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and the leaders of all other Protestant churches worldwide, will be rolled out around the world this morning in a series of press conferences beginning in Jordan. It is supported by the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres.
It is expected to be followed by a joint conference between Muslim and Christian world leaders at on "neutral" ground, such as at an American university.
"Finding common ground between Muslims and Christians is not simply a matter for polite ecumenical dialog between selected religious leaders," the Muslim scholars say, noting that Christians and Muslims make up over a third and a fifth of humanity respectively.
"Together they make up more than 55 per cent of the population, making the relationship between these two religious communities the most important factor in contributing to meaningful peace around the world. If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace."
The Muslims even quote passages verbatim from the Bible, extremely rare in a publication of this kind and at this level and an indication of their resolve to bring the two faiths together and end the present tensions between them.
The letter continues: "With the terrible weaponry of the modern world; with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants. Thus our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake."
It says: "And to those who nevertheless relish conflict and destruction for their own sake or reckon that ultimately they stand to gain through them, we say that our very eternal souls are all also at stake if we fail to sincerely make every effort to make peace and come together in harmony."
Concluding with a quote from the Koran, the scholars say: "So let our differences not cause hatred and strife between us. Let us vie with each other only in righteousness and good works."
The letter is being sent out today by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman, Jordan.
Among those launching the letter in the UK will be two world leading figures in interfaith dialogue Professor David Ford and Aref Ali Nayed.
Professor David Ford is Regius Professor of Divinity, and Fellow of Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. Professor Ford is also the Founding Director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Program and led this year’s international inter-faith conference at Lancaster House in June on ‘Islam and Muslims in the World Today’.
Aref Ali Nayed is a leading theologian and senior adviser to the Cambridge Inter-Faith Program. He is formerly Professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, and the International Institute for Islamic Thought and Civilization in Malaysia.
Signatures include Shaykh Sevki Omarbasic, Grand Mufti of Croatia, Dr Abdul Hamid Othman, adviser to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Dr Ali Ozak, head of the endowment for Islamic scientific studies in Istanbul, Turkey. They also include Shaykh Dr Nuh Ali Salman Al-Qudah, Grand Mufti of Jordan and Shaykh Dr Ikrima Said Sabri, former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
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