Customer Reviews

Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road: Exploring a New Path Between Two Faiths

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Amongst the plethora of books on Christian-Muslim relations, Paul-Gordon Chandler's Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road takes a fresh approach. It starts neither from comparative theology, apologetics nor sacred texts but from the life and ministry of a "Muslim follower of Christ" - the Syrian writer Mazhar Mallouhi. Thus, Chandler approaches this critical issue from the inside rather than the outside, and gives a more personal and experiential contribution. The pilgrim road he charts contains innovative and exciting ministry approaches, as well as others that sail close to syncretism and sectarianism. Even if you'd avoid travelling this road yourself, the book takes a challenging, thoughtful and deeply relational trip through the eyes of a Muslim who was transformed by Christ.
What I find helpful about this book is its relational approach, its reclamation of the Eastern heritage of Jesus and the Bible, and that it addresses the difficult questions. Its two main problems are on the issue of identity - identifying yourself as Muslim while following Christ- and the church - isolating new believers from any contact with existing fellowships.
Despite my criticisms, the book stirs in me with a great desire to meet this pilgrim of Christ, Mazhar Mallouhi. I'd love to sit in an ahwa (coffee shop) with him, share about Christ's work in our lives, discuss how we can present Christ more clearly to Muslims, and pray with him to that end. More importantly, it has provoked and challenged me about what is truly essential for a Muslim to follow Christ.

I'm glad to say that I know Mazhar, the focus of this biography/study/journey. When I first heard that Paul-Gordon Chandler was writing this book, I was concerned that it would be hagiography rather than a realistic portrait. However, as I read this book I found myself nodding at the portrayal, remembering many of Mazhar's challenging sayings and enlightening stories that Chandler reports. There is plenty of detail here that fills in things I was unaware of from Mazhar's past. But the overall picture is clear, the picture of a devotee, "a lover of God" on the path of Christ, seeking to live out his life in true freedom in spite of the misunderstandings of some of those around him.

There are readers who may misunderstand the picture being presented here, seeing it as a universalist, everyone-will-go-to-heaven sort of thing. Mazhar is very clear in presenting the incredible value of knowing Jesus as Messiah and Lord, and following him through the joys and challenges of life. He is also strongly committed to his Arab Muslim culture and civilization. Some Westerners will find it hard to understand and value Mazhar's faith, wrapped and shrouded as they are within the dusty folds of age-old Western Christian interpretations, traditions and practices.

Many Westerners are surprised at how highly Muslims respect and venerate Jesus Christ. But the stories in this book are true...there is a large body of Muslims who are excited to hear about Jesus and his teachings when they are not tied to Western politics and religious systems. They would like to know how they can emulate Jesus and the prophets and put his teachings into practice.

This book is a wonderfully eye-opening look at spiritual dynamics in the Middle East, framed outside of the "conflict model" of Muslim versus Christian.

I found this book to be well written and thought provoking. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking into the growth of Christianity within Islamic nations. It offers a perspective that is seldom heard and while western Christians might not be able to agree completely with that perspective it does not mean that they have no responsibility to understand it.

Well worth reading

This book is an attempt to glorify the "Insider" movement and/or C5/C6 "contextualization" approaches by Christians who minister to Muslims.

Chandler attempts to prove his premise that "someone who comes from a non-Christian faith can follow Christ and remain within his own religious culture, thereby bridging the two" (p. 4) by "examin[ing] and learn[ing] from Mazhar [Mallouhi]'s attitude and approach to Islam as a follower of Christ within the context of his life and today's religious climate" (p. 6). While this makes for an interesting read the lines are often blurred between the author's sentiments and Mallouhi's. Chandler should have done a better job of differentiating between the two.

The book, while addressing the very real cross-cultural issues facing those who minister to Muslims, is full of heretical statements and innuendo from both the author and his subject--relativism, universalism, and syncretism. The following are some quotes from Mallouhi, the subject of the book:

When I hear the Psalms read, for example in church, and when it says "The God of Israel," I find this a stumbling block for me, because this presents a tribal God. (p. 181)

I cannot reconcile God ordering massacres in the Old Testament. (p. 181)

We are part of several groups of Muslim mystics, Sufis; sometimes we meet in our home, other times in theirs. But we walk together this spiritual journey toward God. (p. 193)

I have met many Muslims who I believe are farther spiritually than me, and a million miles closer to God, loving God and devoted to God with complete sincerity... The difference Christ makes for me is that through his life and teachings I am able to see the heart of the Father. The benefit of Christ is that we see the beauty of God through him. Without Christ, something of the picture of God is missing for me. (p. 193)

"If people do not have the revelation of God in Christ, this of course does not mean that they do not know God," says Mazhar. (p. 91)

"I fully expect to see Gandhi when we are privileged to enter God's presence in eternity." ...In Tertullian's sense of the soul being naturally Christian, he views Gandhi as a "natural Christian." Mazhar meets many Muslims who are in the same predicament. (p. 123)

Author: Let's address the issue of eternal destiny, as both Christians and Muslims often emphasize this. Do you believe in a hell?

Mallouhi: It is very hard for me to picture God, whom I love, and whom I know loves humanity; his creation, sending anyone to an eternal hell. God is just. And if he treats evil with evil then what difference is there between him and us. (p. 198)

Notwithstanding some of the valid cultural issues that Mallouhi raises, Chandler has chosen a poor doctrinal example to promote "insider" movements and C5-C6 contextualization/"Muslim followers of Christ" models. There are valid ways in which we can "be all things to all men" without compromising the truths of Scripture. After reading this book I prefer to keep Biblical faith and "ask for the old paths" (Jer. 6:16).

There has never been a book like this for Muslims and Christians alike. It is a stand alone and a must read. Why have I never heard of Mazhar Mallouhi? I did realize I've read a book by his wife Christine a few years ago. He does for us what E. Stanley Jones did for us with India and Hindu's. The principles of this book can be applied to any culture or context. Once you pick it up, it will be very difficult to put it down. What makes it so powerful is that it isn't about western missiology, or a Middle-Eastern convert from Western Christians, but a man who finds God by seeking for him on his own. There is not a more significant issue in the world today than how Christians and Muslims view one another and relate. This book will go a long way toward promoting that. It's a fast paced narrative filled with principles and lessons. Having worked around the world with the "powers that be" this book is a must read. I'll be making copies available for young pastors and immams alike. Thank you Thank you thank you Paul-Gordon Chandler for your book. Mazhar, may peace be upon you - thank you for teaching me so much - I will be indebted to you for it. Bob Roberts - Auhor, Transformation, Glocalization, and soon to be realsed The Multiplying Church.

Never before has the subject of cultural understanding been so important. This book crushes Western stereotypes of Islamic and Arab culture and gives life/death insight into the opportunity we have to provide a peaceful future. Many people have ideas, but few have the experience to make their ideas relevant. The "Pilgrims" of this book are men and women who have paid a high price to forge a viable path between Islam and those that follow Jesus Christ. No matter what your religious, cultural, or political background, you will be impacted by this book.

Finally! A book that treats Muslims with respect and affection, and returns Christ to his original Middle Eastern roots. With love and intelligence, the author and Mallouhi show us practical ways of living peacefully with Islam. As an American Christian living in the Middle East, I've never been comfortable with the missionary approach of some Western christians. The section on assuming a "guest posture" among other faiths therefore had great resonance for me. My other favorite chaper gives the Middle Eastern context for many well-known Biblical texts. Who knew that "heaping burning coals" on your enemies heads (Proverbs) is in Bedouin culture a symbol of generosity, not vindictiveness?

I loved this book. The message is not new -- that as followers of Christ we should all seek to be more Christ-like in the way we treat others. But here, beautifully told through the life of a unique individual, it takes on a fresh urgency.

The earliest Christian movement was so completely Jewish that followers of Jesus continued to worship in their synagogues, Rome considered it a sect of Judaism, and Paul described the later influx of Gentiles as "wild branches" grafted onto the natural and nourishing trunk of Judaism. The first major conflict of the movement was whether and how Gentile converts could join this Jewish faith. Given this heritage, it's a bitter irony that centuries later Christianity earned a reputation that was anti-semitic, anti-Arab, and pro-western.

Paul-Gordon Chandler, a U.S. Episcopal priest who has lived and served most of his life throughout the Muslim Middle East and Africa, argues forcibly against the status quo of cultural and civilizational clash. Just as the apostle Paul insisted that Jesus "destroyed the dividing wall of hostility" between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:14), he intends to show how and why Christians can bridge the bitter divide between the Christian West and the Arab-Muslim Middle East. He does this through a comprehensive study of the life of Mazhar Mallouhi (b. 1935) a Syrian novelist and "Sufi Muslim follower of Christ." Chandler finds earlier wisdom in The Christ of the Indian Road (1925) by E. Stanley Jones, and in his notion that "Christianity" with all its attendant sociological, religious, cultural, political, and historical baggage, "is not the same as Jesus."

"What might it look like," Chandler wonders, "for Jesus to be naturalized upon the Arab Muslim road." Side-stepping questions of Islamic theology, he focuses on the implications of Mallouhi's conversion and subsequent Christian experience. It's a colorful and compelling story, well worth reading in its own right. Chandler's narrative reminds us just how deeply and tragically so much of what passes for Christianity has been deformed by its marriage to western values.

But whether someone like Mallouhi can "bridge" the Arab-Western and Christian-Muslim divide remains to be seen; he himself has paid a very high price for his allegiance to Christ. He's hardly an "orthodox" believer, he rarely attends church, he has little use for the historic creeds, and he's been roundly ostracized and persecuted by both sides. And alert believers on both sides will not miss the point that, despite a more culturally-friendly evangelistic style and means (less confrontation), the substance and end (religious conversion) remain the same. And that's a profound theological matter that I'd love to read a book about that's written by Chandler or someone like him who combines his personal experiences, cultural sensitivity, pastoral care, and theological nuance. Like most good books, this one left me scratching my head with many complicated questions.

This book lionizes Mazhar Mallouhi, a man intent on creating a Christianity that does not offend Islamist sensibilities in the Middle East. Mazhar Mallouhi asserts that baptism is good, but "not necessary" for Muslim converts to Christianity. The last I heard, this was one of the few sacraments that all Christians share.

He says he finds going to Christian worship services (aka "Church") like going to the dentist and finds himself more at home in a mosque. In their contempt for the Christian west, which is palpable throughout this text, both its subject (Mallouhi) and its author Chandler have abandoned the indigenous Christian populations of the Middle East. For Mallouhi and Chandler, it is Christians who must always adapt to their Muslim surroundings. The notion that Muslim societies need to respect the rights of citizenship of their Christian minorities is simply not that importnat.

The odd thing about this book is that Mallouhi has harsher things to say about Westerners despite the fact that it is people from the Middle East who have treated him so badly. His own uncle tried to kill him after learning of his conversion to Christianity. He has been surveilled, imprisoned and tortured by the regime in Syria. And yet most of his anger is directed at Western Christians and the United States.

At the end of the book, there is a picture of Mallouhi standing alongside Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah, who is described in the book as the former spiritual leader for Hezbollah. He was also a Holocaust denier who supported suicide bombing attacks against Israel. Is this the face of the proper expression of Christianity in the Middle East, someone who would meet with a man like Fadhlallah? I don't think so.

For Paul-Gordon Chandler to lionize Mallouhi is an insult to the Christian faith. People are dying for their adherence to the authentic expressions of the Christian faith in the Middle East. Mallouhi does not represent the ideal that Christians should be following or lionizing.

This is an important book that people should read, but not because it is good, but because of the problems it presents. It represents a betrayal of the Christian faith disguised as evangelism and peacemaking.

Although I have had many people say that this book is rambling and poorly written, I actually thought it was well written and easy to read. The other positive is that people that do not know about muslim culture could learn some things. Unfortunately, through a very post-modern reading of culture the west is seen as totally bad and the Arab world as totally good. Maybe Chandler has lived in the Arab world some, but he has not entered into the culture very much. I have lived in the Arab world for 10 years and I really enjoy being with Arabs and both receiving and giving hospitality. However, there are also some bad things about it. Also there are good things about the West.

The main problem with the book in my opinion is doctrine. Most of this revolves around what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Take Ghandi for instance. Would he have said that following Jesus is what his life was all about? I don't think so. I talked to some Indians about this and they said that Ghandi admired Jesus and really liked the Sermon on the Mount. But does that mean that he was a follower of Jesus? Did he take up his cross and follow Jesus? I don't think so. Also , I doubt that Ghandi would have said that his loyalty was to Jesus. All hindus would be open to following Jesus' teachings, but also following others. "A Muslim Follower of Jesus" is not clear either. Most Muslims would say that they follow all the prophets. It would be like saying "I'm a human being that breathes oxygen." It is a statement that needs explanation.

Also while the book technically doesn't teach universalism. It moves in that direction. See p. 193 and the bottom of p.198. This is the "anonymous Christian doctrine of Carl Rahner. Also Mallouhi claims that if God does send people to eternal punishment he is unjust. Does God need our approval to do things? He says "It is very hard for me to picture God, whom I love, and whom I know loves humanity, his creation, sending anyone to an eternal hell." Well that just says something about him not about God.

I find it very interesting that both the main part of the book and the interview ends with plugs for Mallouhi's translations of the Bible. I'm sure that this is no coincidence. I find it amazing how much money he and the people who he works with have available.