Wisdom from the Qur’an

“Truly, God will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.”  (Qur’an 13:11)

I like this thought.

And it seems to me to work well in dialogue with a comment made by President Ezra Taft Benson during his October 1985 conference address:

“The Lord works from the inside out.  The world works from the outside in.  The world would take people out of the slums.  Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums.  The world would mold men by changing their environment.  Christ changes men, who then change their environment.  The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”

The two statements, from the Qur’an and from President Benson, might seem to contradict each other.  I prefer to see them as being in fruitful tension, but broadly reconcilable.  Certainly, they’re worthy of reflection.

Posted from Detroit, Michigan