Sola Scriptura and the "both Muslim & Christian" question

[originally posted at Pursuing_Truth]

In the world of blogging, continuing to talk about something that was news 5 days ago is like discussing ancient history. But, yes, I am posting about the "both Muslim and Christian" story again. There's just so much there worth discussing. This time I want to look at one particular aspect of Rev. Ann Holmes Redding's experience. Here are two quotes from the Rev.:

"She still doesn't know why that meant she had to become a Muslim. All she knows is 'when God gives you an invitation, you don't turn it down.'" [source]

"I was following Jesus and he led me into Islam, and he didn't drop me off at the door." [source]

Without twisting Rev. Redding's comments, it is clear that she believes that God told her to become a Muslim. What is a Christian to do with such a claim? Would God tell someone to do such a thing? If God told someone something, who are we to say that He didn't? How do we know?

This is where the doctrine of Sola Scriptura comes in. Han Solo who? Sola Scriptura, Latin for "by Scripture alone." The 19th c. theologian A.A. Hodge explained the significance of Sola Scriptura this way, "The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, having been given by inspiration of God, are the all-sufficient and only rule of faith and practice, and judge of controversies."

One of my favorite theologians, Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, says, "The Protestant position, and my position, is that all things necessary for salvation and concerning faith and life are taught in the Bible clearly enough for the ordinary believer to find it there and understand." In the same article he states, "As Protestants we maintain that the Scripture alone is our authority" and that Scripture is "the source of religious truth for the people of God." This is what is meant by Sola Scriptura.

Christian apologist James R. White provides this additional explanation: "The Bible claims to be the sole and sufficient rule of faith for the Christian Church. The Scriptures are not in need of any supplement. Their authority comes from their nature as God-breathed revelation. Their authority is not dependent upon man, Church or council. The Scriptures are self-consistent, self-interpreting, and self-authenticating. The Christian Church looks at the Scriptures as the only and sufficient rule of faith and the Church is always subject to the Word, and is constantly reformed thereby."

The concept of Sola Scriptura is often misunderstood today. There are several things that Sola Scriptura does not imply. In a debate with Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid, White stated four ideas that Sola Scriptura does not claim:

"First of all, it is not a claim that the Bible contains all knowledge. The Bible is not exhaustive in every detail."
"Secondly, it is not a denial of the Church's authority to teach God's truth."
"Thirdly, it is not a denial that God's Word has been spoken. Apostolic preaching was authoritative in and of itself. Yet, the Apostles proved their message from Scripture..."
"And, finally, sola scriptura is not a denial of the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding and enlightening the Church."

From Godfrey: "I am not arguing that all truth is to be found in the Bible, or that the Bible is the only form in which the truth of God has come to His people. I am not arguing that every verse in the Bible is equally clear to every reader. Nor am I arguing that the church — both the people of God and the ministerial office — is not of great value and help in understanding the Scripture. As William Whitaker stated in his noble work: 'For we also say that the church is the interpreter of Scripture, and that the gift of interpretation resides only in the church: but we deny that it pertains to particular persons, or is tied to any particular see or succession of men.'"

So there is what Sola Scriptura does and does not mean. How does all that apply to Rev. Redding's claim that God told her to become a Muslim? Or that Jesus led her to Allah? With the previous explanations in mind, it is fairly straightforward. Does Scripture support her claim? Or, does Scripture specifically contradict her claim? These are a couple of the questions that could be asked because it is Scripture which is authoritative in this matter, not personal revelations, dreams, feelings, or experiences. Scripture trumps each of these and is the standard against which they must be tested. I will leave the related cessationism vs. continuationism discussion for another time.

As I mentioned in "Christian and Muslim? No.", when you compare the God of Scripture with the Allah of the Koran, you cannot conclude that the God of Christians and Muslims is the same God. I used the example of God's love for sinners versus Allah's lack of love for sinners as an example of a key difference between the two. Once this has been established (I'm not claiming to have thoroughly established this in these brief posts but I do assert that it can be established), it can be seen that the Bible categorically eliminates the possibility that God could tell a person to become a Muslim or that Jesus Christ would ever lead someone to the Muslim's Allah.

Why? Here are some verses of Scripture which would preclude such a thing:

"You shall have no other gods before Me." Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7
"Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." John 8:24
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
"For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time." 1 Timothy 2:5-6
"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'" Matthew 28:18
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19
"I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." Luke 13:3-5

How can we know if God told Rev. Ann Holmes Redding to become a Muslim? As A.A. Hodge has said, Scripture is the "judge of controversies." All claims of personal revelation, feelings, or impressions must be held subject to the Word. If this is true, then it can clearly be demonstrated that God has not told Rev. Redding to become a Muslim and Jesus Christ has not led her to Allah.

See also:
Salvation sans Jesus by J.I. Packer
For Whom Did Jesus Taste Death? by John Piper
What Do We Mean by Sola Scriptura? by Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
Sola Scriptura by A.A. Hodge
Does The Bible Teach Sola Scriptura? James White vs. Patrick Madrid

"Muslim & Christian" Reverend: Jesus Is Not God

[originally posted at Pursuing_Truth]

Yesterday I wrote, "I hope that she [Rev. Ann Holmes Redding] will look beyond her childhood baptism and finally come to a conclusion one way or the other regarding the deity of Christ, which she has struggled with 'for years.'" An article posted yesterday has shed some more light on the situation. According to her comments during an interview with Norah M. Joslyn for "the Diocese of Olympia newspaper," Holmes Redding has indeed made her decision and it is very clear:

Said Ms. Redding, "When we say Jesus is the only begotten one, we are saying he's unique in some way. Islam says the same thing. He's the only human aside from Adam who is directly created by God, and he's different from Adam because he has a human mother. So there's agreement-this person is unique in his relationship to God. We Christians, in struggling to express the beauty and dignity of Jesus and the pattern of life he offers, describe him as the 'only begotten son of God.' That's how wonderful he is to us. But that is not literal," she continues, "I agree with both because I do want to say that Jesus is unique, and for me, Jesus is my spiritual master."

Redding says what Islam does is take Jesus out of the way of her relationship with God, "but it doesn't drop Jesus. I was following Jesus and he led me into Islam, and he didn't drop me off at the door. He's there, too." Islam and Christianity are complementary, she suggests, and that the Muslim profession of faith that there is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God, does not contradict anything in Christianity. Nor do the professions made at a Christian baptism contradict anything in Islam. "For me to become a human being means to identify solely with the will of God. Islam gives me the tools to do that," she explained.

If Holmes Redding had ever accepted the orthodox Christian understanding of the diety of Christ, she has rejected it in favor of the Muslim teaching. As I wrote yesterday, she can hold to one or the other but not both. But what about what she says about Jesus in the quote above? Isn't that an acceptable "Christian" belief? Couldn't Jesus be "unique" but not God? No. Let's examine why.

As the case usually is with most novel teachings today, Christians have examined and sufficiently answered this question in the past so a little research into church history can be very helpful in situations like this. Rev. Redding's claims provide a good opportunity for Christians to beef up our understanding of the issues related to this matter.

Holmes Redding's beliefs about Jesus share similarities with both Arianism and Ebionism, centuries-old heresies refuted and rejected by the early church. Arianism developed from the teachings of Arius, a 4th-century presbyter from Alexandria. The church condemed the beliefs known as Arianism at the Council of Nicea in 325. Arianism held that the deity of Jesus Christ was not compatible with the uniqueness and transcendence of God [material used in this review of Arianism is taken from Millard J. Erickson's Christian Theology, 2nd ed., pgs. 711-15]. Jesus could not be one in essence with God because that would contradict the indivisibility and unchangeable nature of God. The deity of Jesus was seen by Arians as a challenge to monotheism by contradicting the oneness of God.

Arians also pointed to several passages of Scripture to support their claims. Erickson organizes these passages into four sections:1. "texts that suggest that the Son is a creature," Proverbs 8:22; Acts 2:36; Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 3:2. Col. 1:15, for instance, Paul refers to Jesus as "the firstborn over all creation."2. "texts in which the Father is represented as the only true God," such as Jesus' prayer in John 17:3: "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."3. "texts that seem to imply that Christ is inferior to the Father," such as John 14:28 where Jesus says, "the Father is greater than I."4. "texts that attribute to the Son such imperfections as weakness, ingnorance, and suffering." Mark 13:32 seems to point to an imperfection in Christ when Jesus states, "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."

So Arians combined well-established theological and philosophical principles regarding God with certain passages of Scripture to come to the conclusion that Jesus was an exalted creature, even the highest of all creatures, but not God. The texts of the four categories cited above can all reasonably by shown to, in fact, not contradict the deity of Christ but I will not run down each of those verses at this time. This could be discussed further in the comments section if anyone is interested.

Those who hold to similar beliefs that deny the deity of Christ must ignore each of the passages that affirm the deity of Christ. Erickson provides a helpful point: "It is true that Jesus did not make an explicit and overt claim to deity. He did not say in so many words, 'I am God.' What we do find, however, are claims that would be inappropriate if made by someone who is less than God." This is an important point to make. Christians cannot point to such a statement but it is not an adequate argument to simply point out that Jesus did not make the statement, "I am God." Christians acknowledge this point of fact. Even without such an explicit statement, Scripture testifies to the deity of Jesus Christ.

I will not provide an exhaustive list of references but I will provide some examples. First, Christians certainly affirm that there is indeed only one true God. Deuteronomy 6:4 is clear: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" I don't believe any further explanation is necessary here.

Second, Christians also believe that there are three divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Those who deny the diety of Christ would at least agree that God and Jesus are two distinct persons (I won't go into whether or not God is a "person" except to say that the personhood of God is indicated by his having a name, the meaning of the those names and the relationship to mankind that is indicated by those names, his interactions with mankind and the knowing, feeling, acting, and willing demonstrated in these interactions). James R. White explains, "The Bible teaches that all things have being, but only God, humans, and angels are personal. I as a human being am one person, James White. My being makes me human, my personality differentiates me from all other human beings. Since my being is finite and limited, only one person can properly subsist in it, namely, me. But since God’s being is infinite and unlimited, it can be, and is, shared by three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." So Christians believe that there is only one true God and that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons.

Third, and this is key, Christians believe that the Bible teaches the full equality of the divine persons, namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. For Scriptures which indicate this, see Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2. The Bible reveals that the Father, Son, and Spirit interact with mankind in different ways, with different "roles," but they are fully equal in essence. All persons are God and there is one God.

Any doctrine which denies the deity of Jesus Christ can rightly be called a non-Christian teaching. Ann Holmes Redding may claim to be 100% Christian and 100% Muslim but this is simply not possible. I do not make a habit of attempting to determine who is and is not a Christian but if Rev. Redding denies the deity of Christ, and she does, than she is denying a central, foundational doctrine of Christianity. Is Jesus is not God, Christianity is a lie.

I do not write these posts in order to attack Rev. Redding. I simply believe that she is making claims about foundational matters to Christianity that are false and extremely misleading. I hope that no Christian would be convinced by her claims but, unfortunately, I am sure that her ideas about Jesus Christ and the compatibility between Christianity and Islam will gain traction with some. Christians should be able to discern fact from fiction when stories like this pop up. It important not just to discern that an idea is false but also to positively explain why your view is correct. I hope that my meager posts have been an encouragement in this regard.

Muslim and Christian? No.

[Originally posted at Pursuing Truth]

"I am both Muslim and Christian." So said the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, the former director of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, Washington. Read the article here. I want to share a few comments regarding Rev. Holmes Redding's claims.

First, the Reverend has denied Christ by professing the Shahadah. How so? Here is the English rendering of the Shahadah: "[I testify that] there is no god (ilah) but God, and [I testify that] Muhammad is the messenger of God." Why does affirming the Shahadah deny Christ? Read the words of this Islamic scholar:

"The theological beliefs are irreconcilable," said Mahmoud Ayoub, professor of Islamic studies and comparative religion at Temple University in Philadelphia. Islam holds that God is one, unique, indivisible. "For Muslims to say Jesus is God would be blasphemy."

Yes, for a Muslim to say that Jesus is God would be blasphemy for them. So when Holmes Redding, as a Muslim, proclaims that there is no god but God, she is denying the deity of Jesus Christ because Jesus is not God for the Muslim. As the professor said, it would be blasphemy to claim such a thing. If Holmes Redding is truly professing this fundamental tenet of Islam, then she is necessarily denying Christ and Christianity by denying the deity of Jesus Christ. She may say that she is doing no such thing. However, either Muslims are correct when the claim that Jesus is not God or Christians are correct when they claim that He is.

But isn't "Allah" just another name for God? Yes and no. Arab Christians today call God "Allah." This is what "Allah" means in it's basic sense. Arab Christians do so because the term pre-dates Islam. "Allah" and "Muhammad" are Arabic names, not Islamic ones, and carry no inherently Islamic meanings. When Christian Arabs call God "Allah" they do so in a pre-Islamic sense as Christians did during the first centuries of Christianity before Islam. They use the name "Allah," not because they believe that Allah of the Koran and Yahweh of the Bible are the same God. They do so because it is historically accuracte and legitimate to choose to use the name in the manner it was used in the centuries before Islam. So in this sense "Allah" is another name for God.

But "Allah" is not just another name for God in the way that many suppose today. Some believe that the Allah of Islam and the God of Christianity are the same God. Muslims prefer one name, Christians another. This is a popular notion but it is simply not accurate. I am no scholar but the Koran and the Bible do not describe the same God. Take the love of God for mankind for instance. The Koran does not speak of God's love for the sinner. To the best of my knowledge, the only love of God spoken of in the Koran is Allah's love for those who have great virtues that benefit mankind, for example. The Bible actually criticizes this sort of love. It is no great virtue to only love the lovely. Compare this with Romans 5:6-8: "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." The contrast between Allah's lack of love for sinners and the Christian God's great love for sinners is enough to conclude that the Allah of Islam and the God of Scripture are not merely different names for the same God.

It is one thing for Arab Christians today to call God "Allah." But claiming that the Muslim's Allah is just a different name for Yahweh can only come from ignorance of both Islam and Christianity or willfully ignoring the facts. Unfortunately, Rev. Holmes Redding has chosen to devote herself to a man-made idea about God that has no basis in reality.

What the Reverend is doing is actually disrespectful to both religions. By claiming to be both Muslim and Christian, she is denying the central doctrines of both religions. Rather than serving as a bridge between Islam and Christianity, the Reverend is poking her finger in the eyes of both. Affirming one necessarily denigrates the other. For instance, the article states, "Being Muslim has given her insights into Christianity, she said. For instance, because Islam regards Jesus as human, not divine, it reinforces for her that 'we can be like Jesus. There are no excuses.'" Denying the deity of Christ is a tremendous insult to and a basic denial of Christianity. Likewise, a failure to deny the deity of Christ is blaphemous to the Muslim. It is that simple.

There are several other points raised in the article that are worthy of discussion but I will bring this post to a close. The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding is something but she is not both a Muslim and a Christian. No one can be. I wish the Reverend well on her spiritual journey but I am saddened that she believes "I could not not be a Muslim." I hope that she will look beyond her childhood baptism and finally come to a conclusion one way or the other regarding the deity of Christ, which she has struggled with "for years." I hope she will be reconciled to God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone as all Christians have been for centuries.

For more on the Christian understanding of salvation, click here.