Café

• 
  The Hardest Sermons You’ll Ever Have To Preach
  Reviewed by Hans Kristensen
• 
  Little Black Books: Science and God
  Reviewed by Andrew Laird
• 
  Making the Most of the Cross
  Reviewed by Lesley Hicks
• 
  Higher Ground
  Reviewed by Andrew Laird

• Eternity’s new site reports from atheist convention
• We’re publishing daily news articles
• Our new home
• Coming soon a new web home for Eternity

• Ethical Investment
• Sarah’s Key - the consequences of truth
• Ben Witherington III: Jesus and Women
• Harry Potter’s Critique of Western Extravagance

• Should Churches Halt Missions Trips to Mexico?
• Helping Urbana Find Its Voice
• Culture Making Amid Cancer: The Choices That Suffering Makes Possible
• The Choir's Steve Hindalong: Celebrating Sobriety
• Bolder As I Got Balder: How God Used Breast Cancer to Give Me Courage

Facing a Muslim crowd

10:50am Monday, 31st October 2011  

Bernie Power has been engaged in a series of debates and lectures with Muslims in Melbourne. Here is his report from the frontline.

Several young Muslim men I met at a mosque invited me to speak at an Islamic conference sponsored by the Islamic Research and Education Academy (IREA). I was invited to speak for half an hour on “The Christian Concept of God”. Other topics during the day focused on Dawah (the propagation of Islam) in Australia and also “Answering Christian Missionaries”.
After a welcome, I began my talk to the 150 Muslims gathered. My teaching compared and contrasted Islam to Christianity. Among the topics I raised was that Jesus clearly claimed to be the Son of God, and personally accepted worship which was due to God alone. He became a man but was completely sinless. One advantage of the Christian concept of the Trinity is that God can become a man. It was around this point that the chairman calculated my 25 minutes was up and he switched off the connection to the data projector.
We then moved into a question time. A girl complained that I had used a comparative religion approach when I was supposed to speak only about Christianity. However since this Islamic conference was focussed totally on refuting Christianity, it seemed fair to me to apply the same criteria to Islam.
After a few questions, things became rather rowdy, with people standing up and shouting, demanding to ask questions. The microphone was being grabbed from the assistant chairman and the meeting was descending into chaos.
When things eventually calmed down I spoke up and asked forgiveness of the audience in case I had hurt anyone’s feelings with my direct speech. With question time over, we were escorted out of the building. We went to a nearby café for a debrief and prayer.
My somewhat ambitious goals were to present the good news of Jesus, to defend the gospel, and to raise questions about Islamic beliefs and practices. It seemed to be too good an opportunity to miss. It is my prayer that God will use this for His glory.
Bernie Power is the Lecturer at the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths at Melbourne Theological College.