December Issue 2014

The polarizing of the issues of interfaith dialogue is becoming problematic to the faithful witness of the Christian church. Greg Good, in the December issue of the Herald, calls the ecumenical and interfaith movements “dangerous”, but I wonder if the fear and mistrust he exhibits might be more dangerous to our witness. First, he seems to assume that seeking common ground with Muslims is antagonistic to the gospel. I think scripture points us in the opposite direction. Second, Good could stand to read up on his Christian history. His comments reveal a severe lack of understanding of the early church out of which the Catholic church grew, and from which all evangelical churches share in common origin. I find it tiring to hear the ignorant sentiments asserted by too many evangelicals that Catholics are not Christian. Our people need to be taught better. This is not to say we ought to pretend there are no differences, but the church must be better equipped to engage in interfaith dialogue, not run from them. To do this we need to practice such engagement and open ourselves to learning from others.