Challenging but not Necessarily Contradictory: Christian Learning from Christian-Muslim Dialogue

The 2019 ELCA Declaration of Inter-religious Commitments, like its predecessor the 1991 Declaration of Ecumenical Commitments, set forth broad based consideration for the engagement of ELCA Lutherans with other religious communities. In this paper, I will briefly outline how Christians and Muslims stand on important common ground when it comes to the foundations of our calling to love and care for our world and our neighbors for the common good. However, the Qur’an asks fundamental questions about several classical Christian beliefs: the Trinity, the incarnation, and the crucifixion of Jesus. The Qur’anic claims and Christian responses are not theologically neutral. They are challenging but not necessarily contradictory. I will address the three contested Christian claims of God’s work in this world using the categories of Willem Bijlefeld from his unpublished paper “Christian Witness in an Islamic Context” that served as the genesis of the ELCA’s thinking about Christian-Muslim relations in 1986.