Professor Larycia Hawkins of Wheaton College was relieved of her post after she wore a hijab to show solidarity with Islamic nation.
Professors Mark Muska and Brad Sickler address questions about the fundamental differences between the Muslim and Christian faith.
Professor Muska elaborates on Larycia Hawkins’ statements,
“She made two provocative statements to say that Muslims and Christians are people of ‘The Book,’ and then she said that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.”
“When you get into that type of a doctrinal statement, Wheaton realized that it contradicted what they – and all evangelical Christians – stand for, and so they’ve put her on administrative leave. There’s going to be a whole process now this is going to go through for the next few months.”
Is the Muslim Allah the same as the Christian God, Yahweh?
“Christians have always affirmed that they are not. There’s no question about this mainly because we also believe that God manifests Himself in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ is God Almighty Himself; He bears all of the divine attributes.”
Professor Muska points us towards Colossians 2:7 and Philippians 2:10, on being rooted in Christ and declaring Him as the Lord and Savior of our lives.
“I love the way Paul says it in Colossians 2:7, where he says ‘all the fullness of the very essence of divinity dwells in Jesus in bodily form.’”
“Jesus is worshiped in Philippians 2:10, ‘that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and those in heaven on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.’”
Professor Muska reminds us to be confident in our stance and continue affirming to others that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives.
“I don’t think we have to be hateful or dogmatic about this, but I do think we have to be insistent to say, ‘This is no trivial thing; this is at the core of the distinctive of the Christian faith.’
Our declaration of Jesus is one of the biggest fundamental differences between Christians and Muslims.
“When we reach out to others in this world, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord…Muslims would never do such a thing. Muslims revere Jesus as one of the great prophets of Islam, but they do not recognize Him as God.”
Professor Sickler adds,
“There are superficial resemblances in saying things like ‘God is all powerful, God is all wise, God is eternal, God is the Creator of All Things,’ but I just completely agree with Mark there are fundamental, irreconcilable differences. The trinity being the main aspect of this, I love that passage in Colossians 1 that by and through and for Christ were all things made and in Christ the fullness of God dwelled and that is just completely at odds with Islam.”
