Evangelist says Muslims’ view of Quran Burning is akin to crucifying Christ
An evangelical pastor and book author from Minnesota said recently that Muslims value the Quran in the same way as Christians value Jesus Christ.
John Piper, pastor of Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, wrote in his blog Desiring God that it is wrong to say that the bible is the Christian equivalent of the Quran, and that Jesus is the Christian equivalent to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
Piper wrote in his blog, “The parallel between Christianity and Islam is not that Christ parallels Mohammed and the Quran parallels the Bible. The parallel is that the Qur’an parallels Christ (itals his). The giving of the Quran is in Islam what the incarnation of Christ is to Christianity.”
Piper referred to the writings of Andrew Walls, a foremost interpreter of Christianity and the role it played in missions today. Walls, who founded The Center for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World, is a renowned author, Catalyst Resources said.
The books of Walls’ tend to cross many disciplines including history, mission studies, theology, biblical exegesis and church life, according to Catalyst Resources.
Piper quotes generously from Walls’ book, The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History, which points out one main difference between Christianity and Islam—the fact that the bible can be translated into many languages, but the Quran cannot.
Walls wrote, (which Piper reproduced in his blog), “Christian faith must go on being translated, must continuously enter into vernacular culture and interact with it, or it withers and fades.
“Islamic absolutes are fixed in a particular language, and in the conditions of a particular period of human history. The divine Word is the Quran, fixed in heaven forever in Arabic, the language of original revelation.”
Piper further explained the implications of this difference—the words of Jesus can, for Christians, be translated and have been translated from the earliest times. This, Piper said, is reflective of a quality of a faith where Jesus became human himself, to reach out to man, Piper wrote in his blog.
Piper then further quoted Walls who wrote, “Much misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims has arisen from the assumption that the Quran is for Muslims what the Bible is for Christians. It would be truer to say that the Quran is for
Muslims what Christ (itals his) is for Christians.”
Piper said in his blog that in no way does this justify killing human beings, because someone burned a Quran. He calls it “outrageous” that the deaths in Afghanistan and elsewhere were retribution for this, and described it more as “sheer fear”
on their part.
While acknowledging that “[his conviction] stems from a certain view of the world that is not shared by Muslims,” Piper also pointed out that the difference in how Christians would respond as opposed to Muslims is compelling.
When the head of a fringe church burned a Quran, in retaliation some 24 were killed, among them seven employees of the United Nations center in Afghanistan, The Christian Post said.
By contrast, Piper wrote, “In the process of being crucified, Jesus rebuked the use of the sword (Matthew 26:52) healed his enemy’s amputated ear (Luke 22:51), prayed for the forgiveness of his murderers (Luke 23:34), and sent his followers out to love their enemies and do good to those who hate them (Luke 6:27).”
