Heated Blankets Save Lives

I was excited yet nervous to read selections from the Quran this week.  I had heard that it was like the Bible in some ways, but I had also heard that it was radically different.  I was interested to find out for myself what was in it and how it compared to Christianity and the Bible.  While there were some similarities, there were differences in how man is to relate to nonbelievers and how man relates to God.

The intolerance of nonbelievers in the Quran was almost shocking to me as a Christian.  It is rather straight forward with its stance on this issue when it says “Thou canst not… love anyone who contends against God and His Apostle” (Surah 58, Page94).  Again, at the end of Surah 60, it says “Be not friends with people whom God has condemned!” (Surah 60, Page 979).  This is drastically different from the Christian perspective on this issue.  During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5: 44 ESV).  This is a difference that cannot be overlooked by either side.

In both religions, man is called to love God.  However, the Bible and Quran can help provide insight to the motivation behind this love.  The Quran mentions the men and women who “offer up unto God a goodly loan” and expect to “be amply repaid, and shall have a noble reward” (Surah 57, Page 954).  To me, this sounds as if man is motivated to serve God out of selfish desires, to be rewarded for their love.  Can this actually be considered love?  I would say no as I have never seen anyone truly love another for the sake of gaining something.  The converse of this can be seen in the Christian’s motivation for loving God.  The Bible says that “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4: 19 ESV).  Christians don’t love God for a reward.  Christians love God because of who He is and what He has done.  I was recently reminded of what God has done for me when I visited The Shrine of Christ’s Passion with a friend this past weekend.  The Shrine of Christ’s Passion has many life-sized bronze statues that depict Jesus’ journey from the last supper, to his death on the cross, to his resurrection.  The life-sized statues really helped to remind me of what God has done for me and the rest of humanity, even before we loved him.  Therefore, the Christian loves God.

The interaction between man and man and man and God is critical to both religions discussed in this blog post.  These relationships impact the way that others perceive and interact with these religions and their religious texts.  For both religions, it is important to know who to love and why one should love.

           

Title note:   I found comfort in my ignorance on the topic of the Quran.  Much like one finds comfort in a heated blanket.  However, it is sometimes necessary to leave our comfort zones as we cannot grow or accomplish anything in comfort.