AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — A North Carolina religion professor's statement that Christianity and Islam talk about “the same God” is causing a furor among Baptists in Texas.
At a February conference in Austin, Texas, Charles Kimball of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., said Islamic teaching about Allah involves “the same God that Jews and Christians are talking about.” Kimball spoke at a conference sponsored by the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
His comments sparked resolutions by two associations of churches, which asked the BGCT to clarify its doctrinal position.
Leaders in Basin Baptist Network in the Midland/Odessa area approved an April 5 resolution refuting the “false and precarious” teaching that God as revealed in the Bible and Allah as presented in the Quran are the same.
The resolution, signed by 14 representatives from eight churches in the Midland/Odessa area, asked BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade, CLC director Suzii Paynter and the BGCT Executive Board to “formally distance themselves and our convention from and publicly denounce such false teaching, and [to] reaffirm the commitment to the doctrine of the triune God as clearly and correctly articulated in the 'Baptist Faith and Message.'”
Meanwhile, Golden Triangle Baptist Association in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area adopted a statement March 20 affirming the Trinity and urging Baptist state and national conventions to “distance themselves from any theological mindset” that undermines distinctive Christian doctrine.
Statements equating the Christian view of God with Allah as presented in the Quran have “compromised the Bible in the name of tolerance and political correctness,” the associational statement said. “This kind of thinking is another step toward universalism or at least is highly influence by it.”
Charles Wade, the BGCT's executive director, responded May 2, saying “Texas Baptists can be assured that the BGCT and the CLC are committed to and worship the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and him alone.”
Kimball expressed surprise at the degree of furor sparked by remarks not significantly different than “anything I've been saying for 30-something years.”
Jews, Christians and Muslims have radically different understandings of God, he said, but all three religions trace their beginnings to a common heritage.
“When you're talking about the God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad, you're talking about the same God. It's not Vishnu. It's not Krishna. It's the God of Abraham,” he said.
Clearly, Christians' belief in the divinity of Jesus and the triune nature of God sets Christianity apart from Islam, but it also sets Christianity apart from Judaism, he noted.
Acknowledging common ground between Christianity and Islam is “not the same as declaring they are equally valid paths to salvation,” Kimball stressed.
“To say that Christians, Muslims and Jews are talking about the same God is one thing. To say that they are worshipping the same God, or that it doesn't matter — that's a whole different set of questions,” he said.
In the same vein, Wade affirmed Texas Baptists' commitment to the doctrine of God as stated in the 1963 'Baptist Faith and Message,' which affirms the Trinity and Jesus Christ's divinity.
“Not only is this the theological position of the convention; it accurately reflects my own theology and that of every BGCT employee,” he said. “Anyone who knows me and knows our staff should know this to be true.”
Any suggestion that Kimball's comments signal “creeping universalism and relativism” in the BGCT “could not be farther from the truth,” Wade wrote.
Wade characterized Kimball's statement as “a bit jarring” and “not how we Baptists normally talk.” But he asserted Kimball was referring to the idea that Christians, Jews and Muslims all trace their theological heritage to “the God of Abraham,” and the word “Allah” is used by Arabic-speaking Christians to refer to God.
“Dr. Kimball made these points in order to say there is some common ground that Christians and Muslims share as we seek to relate in a world filled with tensions, violence and misunderstandings between religious and cultural groups,” he wrote.
There's no final decision yet about whether the issue will be placed on the May 21-22 BGCT Executive Board agenda, Wade noted. “We are certainly willing to take this to the board, but we're not sure that is necessary, since our doctrinal statement is clear and we have affirmed that in various communications,” he said.
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