The Religious Pluralization of America: Implications for Preaching, Teaching, Writing, and Reading

by Roy Oksnevad

A 2015 published Pew study on America’s changing religious landscape spanning from 2007 to 2013 indicates that the Christian population in the U.S. is shrinking from 78.4% to 70.6%, a 7.8% decline. This is in contrast with the world religions category, which saw an increase from 4.7% to 5.9%, a growth of 1.2%.

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A 2015 published Pew study on America’s changing religious landscape spanning from 2007 to 2013 indicates that the Christian population in the U.S. is shrinking from 78.4% to 70.6%, a 7.8% decline. This is in contrast with the world religions category, which saw an increase from 4.7% to 5.9%, a growth of 1.2%.

The two groups within this category that see the largest increase are Islam and Hinduism. The unaffiliated group also sees a sharp increase of 16.6% to 22.8%, a growth of 6.7% during the same period. Muslims currently make up 1% of the U.S. population (roughly 2.74 million of all ages) and is projected to increase to 2.1% by 2050, surpassing the Jewish population.

Muslim immigrants granted green cards in the U.S. increased from about 5% in 1992 to roughly 10% in 2012, representing about 100,000 immigrants in that year. When we draw back to a larger perspective, Pew indicates that Muslims are the second largest religion in the world, with 1.6 million adherents, and is projected to be the fastest growing religious block by 2050, overtaking Christianity by the end of this century.

There are two very significant reasons why we need to pay attention to this growing reality and to change the way we preach, teach, and write.

First, the two great evangelistic religions in the world are Christianity and Islam. In other words, in the marketplace of ideas, Christianity, which has held a majority position in the West in the past, is now facing a significant rival. Because Christianity has had the majority status for so long, our myopic perspective or worldview is shaped by our own religious perception of the world in which we live.

Although Christianity has been challenged by secularism, it has not been challenged by another religion. That is now changing.

Second, what sets Islam apart from the other world religions is its specific teaching about Christianity and Judaism. Islamic theology teaches that it is the original monotheistic religion and the true expression of the Abrahamic faith. Islamic teaching has shadows of the creator God and biblical characters found within the Qur’an, but its message denies the foundational revelatory teaching of scripture.

In the current atmosphere of political correctness, coupled with the increasing biblical illiteracy of the Christian community, Christians in the West may lack the integrative teaching necessary to discern and respond to the growing Muslim rhetoric. What is needed is for the academy to enter into the fray of ideas, populated by those who understand Islam truly, to write and teach from a scriptural point of view and provide biblical clarity into the caldron of confusion prevalent in our society.

A Needed Shift in Interreligious Writing and Teaching

The Christian academy has for far too long written and taught their disciplines in isolation. Systematic theology seems to define itself with defending the faith from the historical critical venomous attacks from liberal European theologians. Commentaries on the Bible include new research uncovered through archeological finds or new studies coming out of academic doctrinal studies.

The discipline of world religions is often relegated to the Intercultural Studies department of world missions, as if those seeking to go overseas are the only ones who need to study world religions in context. These evangelical writers interact with each other’s findings, but rarely do they venture out to the wider community to place their truths in the marketplace of ideas.

What I am proposing is a change in the way Christianity is taught through preaching, teaching, and writing that reflects the rapidly changing world in which we live. No longer do geo-political boundaries define and confine local populations. The world is seeing an unpresented shift in its populations. War, natural disasters, economic disasters, and political upheaval have created a destabilization on a scale the world has not seen before.

Both academic institutions and mission organizations recognize the mass displacement of people throughout the world. Missionaries wanting to reach Somalis could go to the country of Somalia, but equally go to Minnesota or Maine.

Reaching large groups of Pakistanis could be done in London or Birmingham as well as New York, Houston, Washington D.C, or Chicago. Moroccans could be found in France or Belgium, but equally in New York, Florida, and Massachusetts. Arabs can be found in California, Michigan, New York, Florida, and New Jersey, while Iranians are found in Southern California in an area called Tehrangeles, which is home to the largest Iranian diaspora in the world.

In other words, Christians leaving an American university will interact with Muslims even without leaving the United States.

Why should the academy consider including Islam in their writings? The primary reason is not that we live in a global world with competing ideas. It is more fundamental than that. Islam is the only major world religion which folds the other two monotheistic religions into its teaching by redefining God and rewriting the story of Abraham.

Islam claims to be the primordial religion that was proclaimed by all the prophets beginning with Adam and ending with Muhammad. It claims that the Jews and Christians have changed this original teaching of this religion.

The biblical record is silent on any trips Abraham may have made (penetrating deep into the Arabian Peninsula), although it is highly unlikely. 

For example, the story of Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael is reenacted in one of the pillars of Islam—the Hajj (pilgrimage). The running (hurrying) between the two hills of Safa and Marwa close to the Ka’ba enacts Hagar’s frantic search for water for her infant son Ishmael. The angel Jibreel (Gabriel) helped Hagar find the waters of Zam Zam to quench the thirst of her infant son Ishmael.

Abraham is said to have made at least four trips from Palestine to the present-day Meccan region¹: to take Hagar and Ishmael into the desert; to visit Ishmael but leave without seeing him; to visit Ishmael a second time and leave without seeing him; and finally to build the Ka’ba with Ishmael. Ishmael is implied to be the one who was sacrificed on the altar instead of the son of promise—Isaac—although the Qur’an is not clear on this point. (Note: In the Qur’anic account of Abraham, the name of the child sacrificed is not mentioned. See Surah 37:100-113.)

The biblical record is silent on any trips Abraham may have made (penetrating deep into the Arabian Peninsula), although it is highly unlikely. The only records are his travels to Egypt, where the unoccupied territory of present-day Mecca did not exist at that time. Such a trip would be over 3,060 miles (4,930 km) on today’s roads—an arduous trip for anyone over such a rugged dessert terrain.

Hagar’s first banishment was to the wilderness of Shur (near Egypt) while pregnant with Ishmael (Gen. 16); the second banishment was when Ishmael was 16-17 years old (Gen. 21:8-20), contracting the Qur’anic retelling of the story. The water that was found was in the dessert of Paran, not the waters of Zam Zam near present-day Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. (Note: Muslim sources erroneously say that Paran is the ancient name for the city of Mecca.)

Other stories are mentioned, but the redemptive element is missing. Moses is mentioned, but the tenth and most important plague of death is left out. The story of Joseph (Surah 12) is closer to the story in the Bible. Solomon and the Queen of Sheba is mentioned, but also with a twist.

Even the birth narrative of Jesus has Mary (Mariam in Qur’an)² giving birth to Jesus under a date palm tree far away from everyone (Surah 19:22-34). It would be good for Christian students to know the Muslim arguments and Qur’anic rewriting of sacred history so they can be salt and light in a world that is rapidly changing. Islam’s voice is one that needs to be added into the regular teaching of the Bible in our schools, into commentaries and books, and from our pulpits.

A Needed Shift in Interreligious Speaking and Preaching

The field of Christian apologetics needs to include arguments that Muslims pose to Christians about the Bible being altered.³ Muslims deny the crucifixion of Christ,⁴ (although the Qur’anic teaching seems to be left open for another interpretation), the Trinity, and the Sonship of Christ.⁵ They argue that if Jesus is God, then when Jesus died on the cross, who was running the universe?

Being familiar with the Islamic kalam cosmological argument for the existence of God and using it to speak to atheists is not what is in view here. There needs to be a proper understanding of God in Islamic theology and the Bible so that when our students become pastors and lay teachers in the church, they will know how to give an account for our faith.

They need to be able to speak truth into the milieu of the new tolerance which seeks to reduce religious distinctives into a friendlier version of God. As it stands, both pastors and the person in the pew are confused with the competing voices proclaiming “Allah is a false god” or “Allah and Yahweh are the same.”

Christian apologetics needs to regularly include the voice of Islam in its teaching.

A Needed Shift in Interreligious Reading and Understanding

In addition to apologetics and Christian mission, simply understanding world religions and Islam in particular is necessary for the common good. Everyone in this world is a citizen of the planet, and scripture calls us to live in peace with others as far as it depends on us.

Why is it important to address Islam in our regular teaching? First, the Muslim population is growing in the West. Although the numbers are still small, the current upheaval in the world brings the world of Islam into our family rooms nightly. There is little information about what Muslims actually believe besides the images that are beamed into our homes.

Second, pastors and Christians who want information on Islam have little to choose from other than the books that seek to encourage evangelism, neutrally describe Islam, or denigrate Muslims. There are Christian polemical books that even warn about militant Islam and falsely proclaim that any true Muslim who follows the Qur’an must fall into this category.

Third, pastors and students don’t know how Muslims understand the Bible or interact in the world. They need this integration into the general Christian material they read or listen to so they can better understand the new reality in which they live.

There are two extremes that should be avoided.

First, we must avoid books which focus on how Islam is different and often present the worst of Islam and the best of Christianity. This type of literature views itself as a prophetic voice calling the Church out of her lethargy and to prepare to face the rising tide of secularism and false religions, of which Islam is the primary one (see here for a good piece by Warren Larson on this).

This language creates fear of an Islamic takeover of our society, cultural values, and citizenship, further segregating the Church from the marketplace of ideas. These books ignore the large body of Orthodox Muslim literature, which also seeks to define Islam in light of the Islamic takeover of their religion, society, and their way of life.

Instead of letting scripture inform the way Christians should respond to Muslims, the Church often mixes faith with patriotism so that fear and national security issues dominate the conversations instead of reaching the people God has brought to our country. There is confusion over the role of government to protect citizens (Rom. 13; see here for a good article by Jonathan Chaplin on the role of government) and the role of the Church, which is to share the love of Christ to a lost world.

Second, we must avoid minimalist books that focus on the things Islam and Christianity have in common and avoid the hard exclusive teachings found within the Bible. These books tend to present a Christ of love, acceptance, and peace. They tell stories of sharing Jesus with hardened militant Muslims who are open to hearing about this Messiah of peace.

The focus seems to be more on a friendlier version of Christ which will be accepted by Muslims instead of one who calls for repentance and following Christ alone. There is confusion over the love of God and witnessing about the exclusive message of salvation found only through Christ.

Current Shifts in Christian Writing and Teaching

Our preaching, teaching, and writing should be a voice of reason that presents an accurate picture of Muslims. It should present both the good and bad and an accurate picture of Jesus, who calls us to love our enemies, do good to those who persecute us, but is also the only way to the Father.

Given the growing fear of Muslims in our day, we need more books on Islam that are sympathetic and compassionate concerning the lost.

What does this look like? A few authors have superbly paved the way for us. Timothy Tennent of Asbury Theological Seminary has written a book of theology that exemplifies what is needed in the twenty-first century. Typically, books on theology are written expanding upon the great debates of the Early Church that produced the Creeds or the Reformation. Tennent’s Theology in the Context of World Christianity goes beyond that. He uses world religions as the context of discussing theology.

For instance, he uses Islam to discuss theology (God), Hinduism to discuss bibliology, Far Eastern shame-based cultures to discuss anthropology, Christ as healer and ancestor in Africa to discuss Christology, and so forth. Tennent has done the same thing in his subsequent book Christianity at the Religious Roundtable.

Elsewhere, David Shenk does so in various books such as Global Gods: Exploring the Role of Religions in Modern Societies.

Another notable writer who is paving the way is D.A. Carson. In his book Jesus, The Son of God, Carson goes beyond a purely technical explanation of the Greek text (in light of the New Testament context of the Jewish community of the first century) to include Muslims who misunderstand this basic doctrine of the Church.

In The Intolerance of Tolerance, Carson addresses a cultural shift from “Is it true?” to “Was anyone offended?” of the secular society, where, for example, our society seeks not to offend everyone by not serving pork in schools or prisons. He raises the question that this type of accommodation will offend those who like pork, and at the same time, feed into the “small but significant number of vociferous jihadist imams who believe it is a moral obligation for all people to conform to their understanding of life to be practiced by all” (Carson 2012, 25).

Carson makes his case stronger and broader than a just secular society, and in so doing helps equip the Christian to better understand the new reality in a world of competing voices.

Conclusion

The world in which we live, teach, and preach is seeing seismic shifts in populations and ideas. Our young students are entering into a world in which living and working alongside people of other faiths will become the norm. Islam is the only world religion in which its foundational teaching redefines and retells the biblical record with a specific seventh-century Arabian reinterpretation.

Our teaching, writing, speaking, and reading needs to reflect this new reality. If this teaching is integrated into the teaching and writing, our pastors will integrate this perspective into their sermons, helping to shift the discussion away from fear and isolationism.

If readings that are respectful yet challenging of other religions become more common, our people will be sensitized to love Muslims, yet vigorously challenge their presuppositions of what is true, helping to mobilize believers to become winsome witnesses for Christ. Now is the time to make this shift if the evangelical Christian community seeks to be relevant in our world today.

Reference

Carson, D.A. 2012. The Intolerance of Tolerance. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Endnotes

1. According to Islamic traditional teaching Mecca existed around 2000 BC. Historical records do not exist for Mecca before the fourth-century AD with Yemenis settling the area initially. See http://www.historyofmecca.com/, and http://religionresearchinstitute.org/mecca/archeology.htm.

2. The Qur’an confuses Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, with Miriam the sister of Moses. The Qur’an identifies Mary as the sister of Aaron, the daughter of Imran, whose mother was the wife of Imran Surah 19:27-28. See http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/sister_of_aaron.htm.

3. Some of these arguments are Luke’s prologue (Luke 1:1-4), which does not sound revelatory, or Mark’s postlude (Mark 16:9-20) and John 7:53-8:11, which are footnoted as not found in the earliest manuscripts and used as proof that the scriptures have been altered. These are only some of the arguments Muslims use to discredit the Bible.

4.  Surah 4:157 clearly claims that Jesus did not die but only appeared to be so. Yet the Qur’anic teaching seems to be left open for another interpretation. There are three passages in the Qur’an which seem to indicate that Christ did die: Surah 4:155-156, Surah 33:47-50, and Surah 5:117.

5. For a list of common arguments used by Muslims against Christian teaching, the small booklet, Responding to Muslims by Harry Morin. It can be downloaded at: http://globalinitiativeinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Responding-to-Muslims-updated-Oct-2011.pdf.

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Roy Oksnevad holds a PhD from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. He and his wife have worked among Muslims for over thirty years in Europe and the United States. He is the founder and director of COMMA, a coalition of ministries to Muslims in North America (www.commanetwork.com) and author of The Gospel for Islam: Reaching Muslims in North America and a six-session DVD curriculum, Journey to Jesus: Building Christ-Center Friendships with Muslims. 

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