Jemar and Tyler are joined by Dr. Vincent Bacote to discuss the recent controversy at Wheaton College.
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What Does RAAN Mean by “Reformed”?
Pass The Mic: Vincent Bacote
I’m with BLACKRas… the guest is at best confused and engaging in some circular duplicity. At one point, he said that by using the term “same God”, it’s by no means implies “identical” God. That’s a very unfortunate twisting of words and logic. If the goal was to make some explanation on an academic level concerning “same” vs “identical” (with reference to God), then perhaps Dr. Hawkins shouldn’t have made her statement on Facebook where the audience as a whole is clearly NOT academic. Also, I believe there was a false equivalence concerning details and person with respect to God. The statement that condemned Dr. Hawkins wasn’t about the details between the Christian view and the Muslim view of God but about the identity of God. By ignoring how the distinguishing details require us to see the god of Islam as distinct from the True and Living God, Dr. Hawkins was irresponsible on every level-including academically-to say that we worship “the same God”.
As to Dr. Hawkins’ stated intent, the idea of “embodied solidarity” is laudable. I believe that a Christian does well when/if, because of a Christian perspective that acknowledges the image of God in all human life, he/she decides to stand up for someone who is somehow seen as “other”. When it comes to religious freedom or the value/protection of women, etc. every believer ought to be standing for the oppressed. But I think that Dr. Hawkins over-stated the commonalities and may have contributed to misleading many who, in a pluralistic society, are already tempted to blurring lines of faith and even leading to syncretism.
Disagree with the guest. It’s up to her to clarify her view. To be more careful. When I hear “Christians and Muslims worship the same God, albeit differently” (check her interview with Chicago Tonight/Dec. 21st) of course I’m going to think a certain thing. Do I think she’s a Musllim? No but does she sound like a pluralist? Yes, and signing Wheaton statement of faith doesn’t negate that to me.
Hey brother, thanks for listening to the podcast. I’m curious: why does she sound like a pluralist? Even in her original Facebook post, she expresses distinctives that make Christianity different from Islam. So where would we see her pluralism?
Thanks for the podcast. It was helpful.