An Approach to Muslim-Christian Relations by Arab Christians

Over at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, there are a couple of interesting articles on attitudes and approaches towards Muslims for Christians.

The first, Christ’s View of the “Other” by Dr. Issa Diab looks at how Jesus’ treatment of outsiders like the Roman centurion and the Samaritans provides a paradigm for Christians to relate to Muslims. The second, Christian-Muslim Relations: Balance Needed More Today than Ever by Dr. Martin Accad addresses the issue of how Christians can positively influence Muslim-dominated societies. He writes:

As Arab Christians, we have a key role to play in the Middle East. We can stand by our moderate Muslim friends and be in constant dialogue with them. We can encourage moderate leadership to challenge the voices within Islam that are calling for retaliation and violence in the name of Islam and engage in continuous dialogue that is constructive on theological, social and political levels. On the other hand, Christians in the West also have a key role to play in today’s Middle East and global conflicts. They can seek more genuinely to understand the complexity and diversity within Islam and attempt to translate this to their own leadership and call for a more humane approach to these conflicts on the part of Western nations. By doing this, Christians in the West not only will be contributing to rescuing our world from disaster, but also will be standing in solidarity with their Christian Middle-Eastern brothers and sisters who are coming under increasing pressure by Muslim governments and leadership that tend to see us as being pro-Western and unsympathetic to their causes.

Interesting pieces written by Arab Christians living in a Muslim majority country.