In a mosque in Southern California, a young man makes a vow that will profoundly change his life: “I declare t hat there is no God except Allah, and the prophet Muhammad is the messenger of God.” It is an authentic conversion to Islam, a ceremony similar in some respects to the Christian ordinance of baptism.
For the six million Muslims who now live in the United States and Canada, it is not a particularly unusual event. But for Christian audiences who witness the experience on a new video produced by the North American Mission Board, it is a sobering reminder of the growing influence of Islam in a nation once considered a bastion of Christianity.
That personal perspective is a common theme of “The Cross or the Crescent: Understanding Islam,” a video-based study of the world’s second-largest religion. By examining Islam and its current practice in North America through the eyes of its followers, the agency hopes to create understanding and address popular misconceptions about Islam among Christians. But they also hope to equip Christians to relate more effectively with their Muslim neighbors when discussing their own deeply held beliefs.
Understanding Muslims
“There is a realization that many Muslims have become our neighbors, and that only a few, especially in our Baptist churches, really know about Muslims,” said Wolf Schumacher, producer, director and writer of the video. “We don’t really know what they believe. And that hinders us in communicating the gospel to them.”
The video is accompanied by a 53-page leader’s manual with more resources on understanding Islam written by Samuel Shahid, a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
Unlike many such efforts produced by Christians for Christians, “The Cross or the Crescent” hopes to ensure credibility by allowing the story of Islam to be told by those who know it best- prominent Islamic scholars and lay adherents to the faith. The video then allows Christian scholars to clearly illustrate the critical theological points of divergence.
For information on “The Cross or the Crescent: Understanding Islam,” contact Life-Way Christian Resources at 1-800-448-8032. An excerpt from the video’s introduction is viewable on the Internet at http://www.namb.net/evangelism/iev/video_islam.asp.
(BP)
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