I have the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Muslim friends. While their questions about Christianity are as varied as the people themselves, there are three questions that come up often.
As you seek to engage Muslim coworkers, neighbors, and friends, considering how you might answer these questions is a good place to start.
1. Why is your God so strict?
Various people have given me different accounts of how sin is forgiven in Islam. Some mention a prayer of repentance. Many focus on a feeling of regret or atoning with good deeds. But nearly everyone I’ve talked to says Christianity presents a god who’s harsher than the god of Islam. I often hear, “Who said man has to be perfect? God knows we make mistakes and he will forgive them.” These friends describe a deity who sweeps some sins under the rug, with no explanation of how forgiveness is achieved.
One of my favorite answers is a mildly crass metaphor. Imagine I make you a cup of tea and then put some dog feces in it. Will you drink it? Of course not! When you see the feces and complain, I take it out. Will you drink that tea now? No, it’s still contaminated. Or imagine I simply pour more tea on top to dilute it. Is it safe? Absolutely not.
Our sin contaminates our lives in a similar way (Rom. 3:10–11). God is holy and cannot allow us to simply pour good deeds on top of a polluted life. What we need is complete purification. We need to be born again—cleansed as thoroughly as a teacup poured out, washed with soap and bleach, and filled with new, clean tea. God demands total purity and perfection because that’s necessary for both his honor and our good (Ps. 15).
My Muslim friends can only comprehend the purification that comes through faith in Jesus once they understand the severity of sin. Most Muslims don’t believe in total depravity, so emphasizing our sin is an important step in helping them grasp the gospel. I share that I have no hope of cleaning myself up and that I trust in Jesus alone to wash me and present me to God as pure.
2. How can Jesus be God?
My Muslim friends can only comprehend the purification that comes through faith in Jesus once they understand the severity of sin.
Islam presents manifold arguments against Christ’s divinity. Commonly, my Muslim friends say God cannot become a man because it’s too humiliating. How could the great God of the universe lower himself to use the bathroom, fall asleep, or die? He’s too honorable to dishonor himself in this way, they argue.
This is my favorite question. I like to respond, “That’s the whole point!” A person asking this question understands the wonder and the scandal of the incarnation. God became a man precisely because we need someone to take on our shame. But the shame Christ bore extends beyond his bathroom habits. He took on not only our physical form but our guilt and sin before God. Like an innocent man taking a guilty man’s place on death row, Christ allowed the shame and punishment of our lives to fall on him so we might live free.
3. How can you believe a book that’s corrupted?
My Muslim friends have been taught from birth that their book is perfect, that the Qur’an is an exact copy of the words God gave Mohammed. In contrast, they believe the Bible has been changed, and the more we translate it, the worse it gets. They say the original Jesus and the original Bible agree entirely with Islam.
There’s great value in sharing scholarly resources about the reliability of the Bible. I know people who have come to faith persuaded by such arguments. But as a starting place, I’ve found two points helpful.
First, I ask my friends how God could allow his Word to be corrupted. If the Creator of the universe was generous enough to tell us about himself and how we should live, and if he’s powerful enough to do anything he wants, then why would he let his Word be changed? I argue that if the Bible is corrupted, it means God isn’t powerful enough to preserve it and we shouldn’t worship him anyway. Or perhaps it means the Bible was never his Word to begin with.
If the Creator of the universe is powerful enough to do anything he wants, then why would he let his Word be changed?
Second, I challenge my friends to read the Bible themselves. I always offer to study it with them, to help with comprehension. I say, “If it’s corrupt, then it has no power and reading it will not hurt you. But if it’s truly God’s Word, then it’s good for you! It has power, and it will change you as you read it.” I once heard a wise missionary say, “The Bible is a sword. How do you prove it’s a sword? You cut something with it.” What does the Bible cut? Our hearts and intentions (Heb. 4:12). Open Scripture with your Muslim friends, and by the piercing illumination of the Holy Spirit, they’ll see its veracity.
Opportunities to Engage
The gospel is good news for the whole world. Yet most Muslims haven’t heard the truth about Jesus. These unreached people aren’t only in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. They’re also your neighbors, classmates, and coworkers.
The Lord is calling many Muslims to himself. And while we don’t need to be experts in Islam, faithful Christians have the opportunity to engage with Muslims, provide answers to their questions, and take part in God’s saving work.
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
