My Take: Now and Not Yet
by Raj Attiken, April 23, 2015: In her 2015 book, Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now, Ayaan Hirsi Ali argues that a religious Reformation within Islam is the only way to end the terrorism, sectarian warfare, and the repression of women and minorities in the Muslim world. Ali, born in Somalia and raised a Muslim, grew up in Africa and Saudi Arabia before seeking asylum in 1992 in the Netherlands, where she went from cleaning factories to winning a seat in the Dutch Parliament. Currently, she is a fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Drawing some parallels to what Martin Luther attempted to do for the Church of his day, Ali proposes five things that need to be reformed in Islam – central precepts that have made Islam resistant to historical change and adaptation. One of the five precepts she identifies for reform is Islam’s emphasis on the afterlife over the here-and-now. This fixation on life after death and disregard for life before death, she posits, tends to “erode the intellectual and moral incentives that are essential for ‘making it’ in the modern world.” Worse yet, she observes, there is a fatalism that creeps into one’s worldview when this life is seen as transitory and the next is the only one that matters. In a chapter titled “Those Who Deserve Death,” Ali describes at length how the focus on the afterlife and its rewards, inculcated in Muslims since childhood, makes martyrdom a very appealing and desired option. Martyrs have all their sins forgiven and automatically ascend to the highest levels of paradise. Death – not life on earth – is their goal, the event that matters because it leads to the prize of eternal life.
My intent here is not to offer an assessment of Ali’s arguments and proposals. Instead, it is to invite reflection on the fact that Christianity also places emphasis on the hereafter, holding out to the faithful the promises of an eternal future in heaven and an earth-made-new. That the second coming of Jesus ushers in this long-anticipated future is a central tenet of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Jesus, in his teachings, and the writers of both the First and Second Testaments describe elements of the future home of the redeemed in highly desirable and blissful terms.
Despite how attractive and desirable this long-awaited “kingdom of heaven” is, its anticipation does not require that Christians renounce life on this earth, or even worse, seek to end it. Unlike the version of Islam that Ali describes in her book, Christianity’s focus on the future does not depreciate or devalue life in the present. Instead, Christianity urges engagement in this life with the intent of transforming it for the better. Christians are to be “salt” and “light.” They are to “seek justice, help the oppressed, defend the cause of orphans, fight for the rights of widows” (Isaiah 1:17, NLT). Jesus affirmed, “God blesses those who work for peace” (Matt. 5:9, NLT).
Jesus announced the “good news” about the coming kingdom. He also declared that the kingdom of God has arrived – now! Many of his miracles were dramatic exhibits of what happens when life in the present is overlaid with features of the kingdom to come. In the kingdom to come there will be no blindness, so he will give sight to the blind – now! In the coming kingdom there will be no one that is lame, so he will heal the lame – now! In the future kingdom there will be no death, so he will raise from the dead a widow’s only son, the daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus – now! Lives were incredibly transformed when Jesus dragged the future into their present!
The Good News that we bear to the world is not only that a new world is coming; it also is that God is active in this present world. In the world to come there will be no hunger; Christians will, therefore, participate in God’s work to relieve the current world of hunger. In the world to come there will be an abundance of water; Christians will participate in God’s work to bring clean water to the villages, towns, and cities of the world now. In the world to come there will be no sickness; Christians will join in God’s work today to eradicate disease and to bring healing to the sick. In every way possible, Christians will drag the future into the present by being engaged in God’s present activity to bring relief, healing, justice and liberation.
It is not coincidental that Christian volunteers and Christian organizations have played a major role in reducing childhood mortality, illiteracy, hunger and other global social ills in recent decades. Christians have not only proclaimed the hope that there will be abundance in the world to come; they have also been involved in creating a world of possibility for those who spend their days scrapping and scraping to survive. Despite their many failures, the Christian Church, Christian ministries, Christian initiatives, and Christian organizations have, historically, played a significant role in making the world a better place for individuals and communities. The Church’s “success” in this regard over the centuries is unmatched.
Adventists, as do other Christians, face the challenge of maintaining a wholesome balance between life in this world and hope about the world to come. When we are consumed with the former, visions of God’s future fade and hope wanes. When we are preoccupied with the latter, we risk becoming incapacitated in our engagement with our world. Irrelevance and insignificance follow. Our voice becomes one of gloom and doom.
Our present-day sensibilities should be informed by the ways in which God has worked in the past to bring his future into the present. The Christian faith compels us to have a “now” and “not yet” focus. A wholesome expression of Adventism will include a robust balance between both foci. That’s my take!
There has been a strain in Adventism that encouraged disavowall of “worldly” pleasures, some that were entirely innocent, for the greater rewards in the afterlife. This was hardly appealing to the young, and still is not.
Many perfectly innocent pleasures were frowned upon because “Jesus is coming soon” and you should make haste to get ready. Fear is never sustained for long.
“The Christian faith compels us to have a “now” and “not yet” focus. A wholesome expression of Adventism will include a robust balance between both foci. That’s my take!”
Exactly. In the context of the historical process, everything has a two fold focus. Simply because a Christian lives in two over lapping ages and belongs to both on some level.
As pretaining to this life, as children of Adam “sold in sin”, we are always considered sinners by virtue of this world identity. And if a person is not “born again into Christ”, they have only this singular identity. Being born again does not eliminate this identity, but rather gives us a new identity in Christ that is at war with the former. So, “The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh…….”
Luther calls it “righteous and sinful at one and the same time.” EGW states, “In ourselves we are sinners, but in Christ we are righteous.” And further comments….
“Are you in Christ? Not if you do not acknowledge yourselves erring, helpless, condemned sinners.” 5T 48
This paradox and enigma is not resolved by saying “I used to be a sinner, but now I am in Christ and righteous.”
And when she speaks of “moral perfection” it does not mean we have reached a point that we are not sinners by nature. It simply means the new man, dominates the old man. Or, as John Wesley said, “Sin remains but does not reign.”
So Christians do bring the life of the age to come into the present and demonstrate the kingdom of heaven in this present evil world.
Heresy always comes when “theologians” try to resolve the paradox instead of simply acknowledging the truth of the matter. And this is why the doctrine of original sin has been relevant through out the Christian age, and simply reflects the same confession of old covenant believers.
You love to quote theologians saying things about theories and theology. Where is your personal experience in all of this from actually being involved and DOING the works of God?
Since you don’t know what I do, how is it you can “judge” on things you know nothing about?
I’m merely looking for evidence of energy being expended in beneficial activity that glorifies God instead of merely expending words about what is right.
Well, I suspect a good deal of “glorifying God” is time expended in writing truthful concepts. Otherwise, we can conclude many influencial writers waisted a lot of time writing books and other material for the evaluation of others and to edify those seeking truth.
And if you read their works, would you be asking them what they were doing to “glorify God”?
It just seems like a very strange question being asked by someone who comments on the forum, probably more than I do, and probably spends considerable more time doing it than I do as well.
“My intent here is not to offer an assessment of Ali’s arguments and proposals.”
But let me try just that. I think the biggest problem with Islam is its adherence to Islamic tradition, known as the “Haddith” over the Koran. Many things we think are ‘Islamic’ are not in fact found in the Koran at all but simply tradition compiled hundreds of years after Mohammed.
So what Islam really needs to do is replicate the Protestant Reformer’s adherence to the principle of sola scriptura. In this way, Islam is actually not fundamental enough.
Even so-called fundamentalist Islam is actually not very fundamentalist but actually more traditional. For example, all the increasingly crusome and unusual killings by ISIS cannot be supported by the Koran, but rely on later Islamic tradition. In fact, some of their killing methods, such as the burning alive of the Jordanian pilot, is expressly forbidden in the Koran.
What about Sura 8, Steve? It is my understanding that imams generally regard later chapters of the Koran as being more authoritative than earlier chapters. Harsh treatment of infidels is definitely sanctioned in the Koran.
I have deep respect for Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and am disheartened by the treatment she has received in the West – particularly by American universities. But the central problem with Islam, as I see it, is not its undue emphasis on the afterlife, but in its harsh, Old Testament picture of God modeled in the life of Mohammed and his followers. This has led Islam to embrace coercion and violence, and exercise those tactics under cover of legal/political authority.
I believe that one of the best metrics by which a religion can be judged is its capacity for self-criticism and growth over generations through history. If we simply look wistfully to the best aspects of a religion or ideology, as seen through our subjective filters, we will fail/refuse to see and identify the evil that hides in idealistic religious garb and rhetoric.
Nazis and communists didn’t believe in an afterlife, but look at the carnage and oppression wrought through those evil, here-and-now ideologies. God has gifted SDA faith with a message that is desparately needed by those who would drift to the fundamentalist extremes of the “sweet by and by” -“here and now” spectrum occupied by religious and secular fanatics.
Nathan I’m no expert on Islam. But from what I know Islam has mixed messages about such things – just like the Bible. Even the NT has Paul telling slaves to obey their masters and Jesus telling His disciples to buy swords.
You can’t judge Muhammed by today’s standards, if even the culture and times of Jesus’ day. Muhammed lived in the Dark Ages, in a violent horrible culture sandwiched between apostate Catholic-Byzantium and Persian empires.
Surely, Steve, you are not suggesting that the statements of Paul and Jesus were endorsements of a politicized Christianity that whould survive and spread through violence and coercion? The problem is that Islam, as a culture, still pretty much reflects violent, horrible, Dark Ages thinking.
I agree with you that Mohammed should not be judged by today’s standards, any more than Moses, Joshua, David, the Crusaders, Medieval Catholicism, or Joseph Smith should be judged by today’s standards. But the religion Mohammed founded can and should be judged by its fruits.
Saying that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject the beliefs and tactics of radical Islam (a dubious proposition), or that the vast majority of Muslims are peace-loving (a meaningless proposition), merely glosses over the disturbing reality that Islam’s preoccupation with the after-life results seems to correlate with a very intense obssession with furthering evil by destroying life and liberty in the here and now. Whether this takes the form of beheading innocents, or implementing Sharia law bymainstream lovers of peace, the result is a pretty horrible culture by any civilized standard – and that is the standard that I’m pretty comfortable applying. Aren’t you?
Like Muslims, Adventists also have their own Midrash or Haddith that have become traditions and not found in the Bible. Should Adventists return to the Bible alone and reject later writings?
And I would add ‘ in the world to come there would be no homosexuality, we therefore fight against homosexuality now.
In the world to come there would not be any confusion between the role of men and women for there will be order on earth, henceforth we fight confusion (at least in the church) between the role of men and women as by the bible.
It is difficult to take your pronouncement seriously when you hid behind the label “Bible Truth” rather than identify yourself honestly. It is, frankly, blasphemy to claim to speak for God in this way. Your behavior (perhaps not your opinions) resemble that of terrorists. If you want to be seen as making a real contribution to the conversation, behave differently. — Monte Sahlin, CEO, Adventist Today
I don’t think your response is valid. If you allow posters without personal identification, why are you chiding “Bible Truth” for not identifying themselves? So, “he, she, or it” as the case may be has not violated any rules and the comment is valid as well.
Neither is it blasphemy to state an opinion on what you think the bible teaches, nor are you “speaking for God” simply because you state that opinion.
The fact is, there will be no sinners in heaven. This includes Sunday keepers, liars, thieves, and/or any other act against God’s kingdom. And this certainly includes homosexuals according to the bible.
As I said, I don’t know who “Bible Truth” is, but don’t chide people unless they have violated your rules for posting, just because you don’t like what they posted.
Why hide behind a fake name? If one has something to say say it to someone’s face. That’s how I read the NT.
There will be no sinners in heaven because there will br no sin there. Everyone in heaven will be instantly changed,”in the twinkling of an eye.”
I am sorry you feel that way about me.
God bless you.
I thought my name was not very important. But as you requested it. My name is Lebi Mark.
Just out of curiosity how did bible truth resemble terrorists? Did he kill anyone with those words or threaten to kill or harm someone? You specifically said it was his behavior…I am curious as well in your answer how you would assign your behavior in your post?
In the world to come there is no marriage either. I’m not entirely sure if there is gender in the world to come. Do angels currently have gender differences, because Jesus says we’ll be like them.
Really, what can we be certain of who will be in heaven and what it will be when all that has been written is in very symbolic language, not literal. Unless there are those who believe one can walk on solid gold and walls will be of pearl.
Raj,
You mentioned the good works of Christian volunteers and organizations. One of the most essential elements of needed reform in Christianity is for those who claim to be followers of Jesus to personally embrace their responsibility before God to actually be doing those good works and to realize that merely being a member of a church where a few people are doing good works, or making an occasional cash contribution to support their work, is not enough. If we don’t have a personal stake in the game, we’re not in it at all and just fooling ourselves.
Raj I rather agree with your whole premise. Yes there will be a literal Second Coming but agree with you that Jesus also emphasised the kingdom of God starts now. I think Jesus said it best in Luke 17:20-21:
‘”Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among [or within] you.”’
C. S. Lewis also described it well in Mere Christianity as like the French Resistance. They lived in hope of the literal D-Day, which did eventually come. But in the interim, they lived their lives as free Frenchmen fighting Nazi occupation.
There is just as much danger in those who have given up hope of a literal liberation. They are like the Vichy French who collaborated with the Prince of their world, which was Hitler.
So Christians need a balance: to have hope in the literal historic liberation at the Second Coming; but live our lives today as a liberation movement here on earth – today.
Ali’s take on Islam’s need for a general house cleaning is true, but can’t happen. With the warrior talent of beheading in strong control of Islamic lands, any opposition is immediately silenced. The Arabs
have a long history of raiding, rape, kidnapping, murder, as did Mohammad.
As to the sin of homosexuality, why is it the
worse of all sins?? Every single sin is deadly. There is the sin of judging others!! There is the sin of gluttony!! There is the sin of coveting!! There is the sin of abusing others, physically and mentally!! There are the sins of stealing, killing, adultery!! There is the sin of talk the talk, but not walk the walk. There is the sin of grieving the Holy Spirit!!
We all must seek the grace and mercy of our Creator. “WHAT IS YOUR SIN”, SINS??????
Let’s give the homosexuals a rest and move on. They are responsible for their condition, just as you are responsible for yours. Live and let live. GOD WILL DO THE SORTING AND THE SIFTING
“Let’s give the homosexuals a rest and move on. They are responsible for their condition, just as you are responsible for yours. Live and let live.”
Sorry my friend but same sex intimacy is supported by more and more professed SDAS if the Spectrum blog is any indication. Such conduct is an abomination according to the Bible and we must never forget that.
Living in a same sex relationship is often overt. To compare it with gluttony is not logical since how does one determine that another person is a glutton without being judgmental?
I really don’t want to get into this issue–it’s been beat to death–but I’ve a feeling you might need to think this through a little more.
How does anyone presume on anyone’s sexuality or practice? Gluttony, judgmentalism, stealing and lying can be observed. How can homosexuality can be known for certain? Do you personally know those who advertise their sexual gender?
Raj,
Your inference that those looking for the Second Coming relate in any way to Islam’s coming paradise falls flat.
Islam seems more like the Gnosticism that haunted second-century Christianity. Gnostics had a dark dualism that placed their hope in physical death and translation to a paradisiacal
spirit world. To spread their “knowledge” that the world was a wicked place to escape from was their goal. They denied a resurrection.
This infiltrated most of Christianity and is reminiscent of all nonChristian religions.
EM, you seem to be quite judgemental of Gnostics. they ‘had a dark dualism,’ ‘reminiscent of all nonChristain religions’ etc.
But Steve Ferguson correctly stated above that in the new earth, ‘they shall be as the angels,’ ie, spirits. Neither marrying nor giving in marriage. Which strongly implies to me, non-material in nature. So maybe your gnositcs were nearer to a correct understanding of the new earth reality than you are willing to admit.
Serge,
May I refer you to the writings of N. T. Wright, one of Christianity’s best contemporary scholars. Read his book on The Gospel of Judas, and you will see how far the Gnostics are and were from the true gospel as taught in the early church and in the four gospels.
They believed the creator god to be “stupid” and a bad god, and all that he made is wicked. To escape this wicked world we must be delivered from the material cosmos. The way to this “salvation” is through secret knowledge given by a “revealer” believed by Gnostic Christians to be Jesus who was a spirit. They believed we have a divine identity within us or “spark” of light. This sounds similar to the movement toward a “new age” type of religion and eastern religion that we have today, is based on feeling, and a part of many Christian groups including the secret rapture believers.
All who believe Jesus will remain in a physical body throughout all eternity, is this Love? Or is it the ultimate form of hatred? Why would anyone wish the Son of God, the Word of God, the Eternal,Everlasting, Self-Existent God to spend eternity in a physical body?
He came in the flesh to fulfill the Will of His Father. His life on earth in the flesh was around 33 ½ years. He then returned to the Father.
“5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’” Heb.10:5-7.
What is there to boast in the flesh? It has served its purpose. It will all perish together with the earth: “11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.” Rev. 20:11.
I see seventh day Adventist living the here and now just fine. DATA works their tails off digging wells, supplying food and water, helping in frequent disaster relief efforts, laymen ministries is working slowly and effectively all over the globe. I read the reports monthly. Marinara is building churches and schools all over the globe. Many of our members are teaching english as a second language all over the globe. Doctors and dentists are donating their services in critical areas to the poor, needy and underprivileged. There are many adventists who believe in preventative medicine passionately and confront the focus on remedial medicine. They work to change health of people everywhere they go. DAILY.
Lots of us live and work in the real world every day. And we make sacrifices in order to do so.
I am sorry but this article seems critical and not uplifting.
It seems even more obvious that many downplay the “hereafter” these days in place of the here and now. I am one of those who believes in evangelism and that it does work. I was deeply offended to hear a conference president tell our youth that he doesn’t believe in evangelsim because it doesn’t work.
We need to deal with the pressing needs of the world around us. Adventists are facing pressure to violate the sabbath or lose their jobs (praise God for NRLA, IRLA, and the tireless ans courageous folks at LIBERTY), ADRA, laymen ministries, and other Adventist organizations are working in the here and now while pointing to and teaching about the hereafter. Hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and floods are everywhere. Disease is spreading, drought threatens are food supply. Earthquakes and volcanoes are spreading ruin. The health of the world is threatened by poor concepts of diet and living high on the hog. Many youth are committing suicide in record numbers. Our troops are treated like refuse after coming home emotionally traumatized and/or physically disabled. Many of them commit suicide. We have lots of here and now to deal with. We also have the reality that Jesus has been left waiting at the door. We seem so happy to live in this world (many, not all) while so many suffer.
I have heard many of our beliefs mocked and derided from the pulpit. Do we really believe the words of Jesus? Dis God raise up the seventh day Adventist church for a special purpose in a special time to return the hearts of the fathers to the children and visa versa? Or are we just another church with weird beliefs? Are we having an identity crisis?
I became a seventh day Adventist as a result of visions and dreams and reading the great controversy(while not knowing or having met any seventh day adventists). While i have made many mistakes in my walk and I am not where I could have been had I maintained my focus, praise God I am not where I was.
We have all made lots of mistakes and miss the mark every day, but Christ does not abandon us. Doing good works for others as noted in the judgment scene of Matt. 25:30 on, is evangelism.
Today the spoken word succeeds most when it focuses on Jesus; not so much when it focuses on other things, even prophecy. This may be because our messages are related to a denomination when so many are wary of organized religion. Perhaps evangelists need to use different methods to reach the different countries they live in.
The consistent use of “evangelism” often means public meetings are handing out abridged versions of the Great Controversy that Wilson promoted.
But evangelism is less the above and more healing the sick, helping the homeless to have homes (Habitat for Humanity), shelters for abused women and children and the homeless, aiding countries to have potable water supplies and many more. This is the true test of discipleship that Jesus instructed his followers: “To clothe the naked, feed the hungry….Matt. 25).
ADRA(not DATA-autocorrect types whatever it wants) works their tail off. And there are many homeless ministries serving homeless and displaced people. Our church had a very active homeless ministry in columbus, giving out clothes, food, water, toiletries, tents, tarps, and temporary housing. Until the city put a stop to it.
Scripture promises that each believer is empowered by the Holy Spirit to minister in ways that demonstrate the love and power of God. You spoke of the work being done by others. Have you yet discovered the ways God wants you working for Him? If not, I hope you will very soon. Discovering what ministry God wanted me doing was life-changing. It doesn’t involve preaching, teaching, giving Bible studies or passing-out literature, yet I’ve seen God use me to produce more results in this other ministry than when I tried using the traditional ways used to define “evangelism.”
If Jesus’ post resurrection appearance is clue to all who will be resurrected, it was not always in a physical body. Mary, one of his closest followers (was it His mom?) did not recognize him; neither did his disciples on the road to Emmaus, nor the disciples meeting in the upper room know how he walked through closed doors; something no physical bodies can do.
Remember he also ate bread and fish, somethg physical body can do, but I don’t think spirits can.
If you believe that Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead, why would anything be impossible for him?
Also, if you accept the Bible’s accounts, how did Jesus suddenly appear to the disciples on the way to Emmaus and looked normal, as they recognized him. He is not limited by what we humans are, especially after His Resurrection.
Before his death Jesus walked on water somethg physical body cannot do. But Jesus did it with his physical body. So Jesus can do things with his physical body that you and me cant. So because he seemed to go through walls doesn’t mean it wasn’t his physical body.
What am saying is that before his death Jesus did already wonders with his physical body.
Also we already know that there are actual human beings in heaven now.
Who? Please explain yourself.
Talking about Moses and Elijah who appeared to Jesus, E.G White wrote: ‘ chosen above every angel around the throne, had come to commune with Jesus concerning the scenes of His suffering…’ The desire of Ages p. 425
Without going into great detail, the vision of Moses and Elijah are the Law and the Prophets testifying of Jesus. Moses did not even enter the Promised Land, he was buried by God and no one knows where. Elijah was taken up into heaven as it says in 2 Kings 2:11, but even if he was “translated” as Enoch was, it does not mean they are in heaven as “human beings” as you wrote.
There are many things that are difficult to understand in the Bible, but one thing is for certain, we can always believe and trust what Jesus says:
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. John 3:13.
To quote EGW over the Words of Jesus or the Bible, I find there is no credibility in that at all.
So we can say for sure that at least Moses and Elijah are in heaven now.
Only in this form:
“9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.” Rev. 6:9-11.
Do you believe Elijah and Enoch were taken to heaven?
You should read Gen5:24, 2king2:11 and jude9
According to the verses I gave you Elijah and Enoch were taken directly to heaven while Moses was resurected and taken to heaven.
I hope you know that Mt17, the transfiguration of Jesus was a literal event.
We know that the writers reported it that way. But How did they know where was heaven? Doesn’t a NT writer refer to the third heaven?
Enoch “vanished because Good took him”. This is the phrase often used today at someone’s death: “He was taken from us.”
If you look at History, Isis is the way Islam/Mohomedans have a reformation…..
I have been experiencing some cognitive dissonance with the whole notion of distinguishing religions on the basis of the emphasis they place on the “here and now” vs. the “sweet by and by.” I don’t think it is valid or particularly relevant to understanding the pathologies of Islam – or Christianity for that matter. Every religion, it seems to me, has strains which emphasize differently the present order and the order to come. And these strains are often more or less in tension with one another at various points in that religion’s history. This tension seems healthy to me, even if it often produces divisiveness within a faith community.
One of Islam’s profound pathologies is that there is so little appetite or space for robust intellectual and spiritual tension between and among those who take the faith seriously. Islam’s supposed emphasis on the afterlife, far from leading to a detached attitude toward the present life, has profound practical implications on what is done in the here and now by adherents to that faith. In fact, as the impotance of life in the present order is denigrated in Islam, in favor of the afterlife, the greater the destructive impact of Islamic life in the here and now. But that is not a necessary byproduct of belief in the afterlife.
I would submit that theocratic, non self-critical religions are the problem – not religions which emphasize the Kingdom to come over the present earthly kingdom. Certainly the early New Testament Christian churches placed enormous emphasis on the Kingdom to come, as did early Adventists, along with all Christians who, through the lenses of their historically conditioned experiences, have seen the Second Coming on the horizon.
This looking toward the Kingdom to come is not in itself associated with violence and indifference to human suffering. Rather, it is generally correlated with a posture of political weakness, where there is little in the present order that gives pleasure, and scant basis for hope of a reversal of course in the earthly order of things. Christians, Jews, and Muslims have all felt this hopelessness and powerlessness at various times in history. But their respective views of God, as revealed through their sacred texts and collective experiences, have resulted in “afterlife” beliefs which empower and constrain them in profoundly different ways.
“Ayaan Hirsi Ali argues that a religious Reformation within Islam is the only way to end the terrorism, sectarian warfare, and the repression of women and minorities in the Muslim world”
As Ali now concentrates on the Islamic world, the world has seen many so-called reformists: Mahatma Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Hitler and others. The striking resemblance to all these and many other reformists is their resistance to accept the only Savior of the World, Jesus Christ. On the surface all these people appear to be working for a good cause, but they reject the One Who is Peace, Jesus Christ. Attempting to bring justice to the people without the Just One is of no effect. By their human efforts they are achieving nothing, and are in fact antichrists.
Muslims are fully aware of Jesus, but to them He is only a prophet. What they need is, not reform within the Muslim faith, but introduction to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How this work becomes effective will prove an enormous task, because once someone is influenced by a religious leader, breaking away from that tradition is near impossible.
Yes, Daniel, you are correct, Jesus Christ is the LIGHT, the only way to the Kingdom of God. Islam must have Jesus!! i also believe the antichrist is possibly Islamic. Islam is a religion of disillusion, abuse, hate, coercion, intimidation, torture, murder. It’s view of the male only, having value, and the woman a slave to the males total domination is totally
anti Christian. “Male and Female” were created as equals, in
the image of God. The “written belief” of 70 virgins in heaven awaiting the faithful warrior of Allah, is so weird, as to negate the whole truth of Islam. Yet, the education of Islam’s gullible accepts this and all the other asinine beliefs, and threatens death to all who will not accept its
written beliefs. It is a religion predicated on fear. The LOVE of our Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only hope for Islamists.
Earl, you point out their belief: “70 virgins” awaiting them in heaven. Talk about the “lusts of the flesh”. How blind they are. Also, their “Koran” (I have not read it, but have heard what a Muslim friend told me) is a compilation of craftily selected passages of our Hebrew Old Testament, together with their so-called “prophet’s” sayings. I added the word “craftily”, he didn’t see it that way, of course.
Yes indeed, they need to know Jesus Christ and His Love.