3:24 PM Inspired by the scope of Steve’s challenge. Let’s shake the world.

I would approach the Muslim in the following way.

1. I would acknowledge Mohammed’s recitation to be a dictation of God, and especially for the Arabs. I would dismiss demonic or fraud influences entirely.

2. I would acknowledge that Mohammed saw a heavenly being, at least in the same sense of us seeing a rainbow in the distant shower, and I would acknowledge that Mohammed actually heard voices in his head--he did not know from whence--and faithfully recited them to his followers, etc.,

3. Indeed I would even acknowledge the “Amazing Koran” for its great numerology and pre-science.

4. And then I would suddenly and without hesitation acknowledge that God in his infinite wisdom had put into the Abraham model the representation of the Christ himself, and so who had always been with the Muslims as he was with the Jews before. [see also my weblog.]

5. And then I would assert that the purpose of this hidden icon was fulfilled this very day before you in order to open your eyes to a recreation, namely Christ always with us, with all of us, to each according to his capacity, to Noble Quixote, for example, as a lunatic.

6. Christ is ready to be presented to the Muslim, but not in its present conglomeration but in its purest visible form in the American Episcopalian Church (and perhaps some others).

7. And I would then assert that there are four congregations to which he must become a member as a Christian,

a. the Zachaeens with the laws of their own choosing but without any creed,
b. the Peterians with their ecclesiastical laws and creeds,
c. the Paulians with their creeds but without law, and finally
d. the Kantians without creed and without law.

I would have to present these honestly to the Muslim as scripturally confirmed footprints of the way, i.e., not just a left and a right, but four.

8. I would have to acknowledge that Muslim is on the right track by believing in God.

9. I would want to mention the assurance that comes from believing Jesus, namely that if he (the convert), as a follower in one of the congregations, will simply do the very best that he can to be like Jesus in righteousness, then even though that will not be adequate to the task (of holiness), it is enough and whatever is lacking will be made up for, even though he does not understand how this can be (a mystery). Example (and without presuming cause and effect, I note) the Jewish state arises upon the ashes of the holocaust (think also “Martyrs of Nagasaki”)

10. I might want to develop here the notion of the “binity” of two perfect representations of one and the same thing, and yet different. Like the left and right are both identical hands, and yet cannot wear the same glove. Jesus and the Follower are then two representations of one and the same Christ, the former in perfection the latter stumbling; and so the difference is in their relative perfection, and that is a matter of degree and subject to progression. And so in this idea Jesus and I (as a Christian) are one in the same, except in righteousness, and we do everything for each other and with each other. I have to die because I am a sinner. And so Jesus dies in my stead, in binity with me, and the justice cries to God are answered. And so as Jesus died for me I now live and die for him, for we are one, and we share each other’s punishments (and his reward); but he did it first, for Jesus is the savior. We died together in Christ at Calvary and so I am forgiven, and we live together in the Follower now, for now the Christ is reflected in my own life as I live for him. It’s left hand right hand stuff, but you can’t see it because it is spirit and moral. In an inexplicable way I died at Calvary, for it was my Christ that moved Jesus to do this act of love, to satisfy the voices calling for justice (as is their right), in the same way that he is his Christ now moves me to do my good needs of righteousness. This is the same sort of mystery connected with the trinity and it cannot be figured out but it is no more illogical to say: this is a hand, and this is another identical hand and yet they cannot wear the same glove--I don’t get it (you have to see them in space to understand, but you can’t see a trinity in space, unless you had more dimensions.


Overview: Salute the Koran and assert more wonders are coming yet. Salute Mohammed as a fair and decent and honest man who would not lie. Salute to the limit, and then assert that the greatest wonder of the Koran is that it (along with Mohammed’s traditions) contains the Christ, though hidden in the shape of a slave (Abraham). He was there all the time, waiting to jump out at you, but only now, upon the reconstitution or recognition of the Paulian and other Christian congregations, you as Muslims have more options than you think, and that Jesus calls you as you are to follow him, and accepts you in your condition. You can become a Kantian and be a loner, but if you really care about children (now and in the future) you will join a church and take active part, for then you are able to make a meaningful and emphatic dent into the evil of this world and be encouraged in your own walk upon the Way, following one of the four footprints of the Christ.

And so the key before the approach to the Muslims: the Christian evangelist must present all four alternatives as authentic, and then he can proceed to defend his own perspective as the most desirable of the four for his own individual convert, e.g., perhaps continuing on with Arab customs without creed, like a Zachaeen, or venturing out into the Paulian congregation or even the Kantian congregation.


Again but in brief: we honor the Koran and Islam and then bring the good news of the fulfillment of the Final Revelation (for the four Christian congregations are not a new revelation, but are already historic). We find the good news in the Abba/Daddy take on the Muslim reports of Abraham and his son. It looks like Great Slave, but actually it is Good and Clever Father, who dresses up for a time in the guise of a slave, but now stands forth in the nakedness of a free man. It is now all up to the Muslim: he can convert as a Zachaeen and remain with Arab customs, or as a Peterian with local customs incorporated already in their little laws and with their creeds, or as a Paulian without the law but keeping the magic in the creed, or as a Kantian without creed and without law. The common bond is allegiance to the Law of Love above all else.

It was there all along, just waiting for the right time to spring it on the Muslims. Now is the time that you (Muslims) experience emancipation and can join the growing group of people the Jews call gentile, the gentile Christians who believe that Christ himself personally guarantees their salvation and so who is without fear, and where each moment is a new start, and where all that counts is the sincerity. The conscience knows.

The whole thing seems sort of magical and almost miraculous. The Muslim has been taught to emulate Abraham and now Abraham changes clothes and says follow me to Jesus and meet Abba/Daddy. How else to make God accessible for lowly humans except that he be so loving that he would die for them? for humans can be very skeptical and doubting, especially when considering their own moral standing.

We join with Islam and tell the Muslim: do what Abraham did, but not in abject submission, but in loving and clever liberty. Abraham pulls the wool over God’s eyes and taking advantage of his dream (although surely he would have chuckled at God, his friend, for giving him this rare opportunity). It’s just a dream. But if Ishmael should believe it were command and that he would reap paradise by complying, like an abject slave, to the guidance of God, then no matter if it were just a dream, still the son sees it as a command and by yielding he attains to paradise. "We will see each other again in paradise, but my son gets it now. he gets paradise immediately. thanks to God for his blessing, and so shall I ever consider this dream, that it came from him, in order to gladden my heart concerning the immediate happiness accruing to my son through this act that I am now undertaking." Surely, when stopped, Abraham will have realized that something greater is yet to come which will have been made possible by Abraham’s love for his son.

That’s another story, here the story is the motivation of Abraham now seen as the Loving Father.


Here it is: Honor Islam on its own and then also by showing the Hidden Christ which is now appearing with four footprints in the sands of time. Follow Jesus according to your condition, the Apostle Paul said, and if you can change your condition and you want to change, then go ahead, for that is no sin, but it is better to stay in the condition.