Stand­ing Firm Against Manip­u­la­tion : Expos­ing Samuel Green’s Evan­gel­i­cal Tactics

The increas­ing trend of evan­gel­i­cal out­reach tar­get­ing Mus­lims is a mat­ter of sig­nif­i­cant con­cern. This issue is epit­o­mized by Samuel Green’s arti­cle, Intro­duc­ing the Gospel to a Mus­lim, which offers a clear exam­ple of the manip­u­la­tive tac­tics employed by evan­ge­lists. While inter­faith dia­logue holds the poten­tial for mutu­al enrich­ment and under­stand­ing, the approach out­lined by Green often veers into coer­cion and dis­re­spect. This arti­cle crit­i­cal­ly exam­ines Green’s argu­ments, offers a robust counter-nar­ra­tive, and pro­pos­es a com­pre­hen­sive strat­e­gy for Mus­lims to respond effec­tive­ly and deter future pros­e­ly­ti­za­tion attempts.

His­tor­i­cal Con­text of Evan­gel­i­cal Outreach

The his­to­ry of evan­gel­i­cal out­reach to non-Chris­t­ian com­mu­ni­ties is long and com­plex. Evan­ge­lism, par­tic­u­lar­ly in its aggres­sive form, has often been marked by attempts to con­vert indi­vid­u­als by under­min­ing their exist­ing beliefs. This strat­e­gy is not new ; it dates back to the ear­ly Chris­t­ian mis­sions dur­ing the colo­nial era, where con­ver­sion was often pur­sued through coer­cion and cul­tur­al disruption.

In the con­text of Islam, such efforts have been espe­cial­ly per­sis­tent. His­tor­i­cal­ly, Chris­t­ian mis­sion­ar­ies have tar­get­ed Mus­lim-major­i­ty regions, using a com­bi­na­tion of social ser­vices and reli­gious pro­pa­gan­da to influ­ence con­ver­sions. These attempts were not mere­ly the­o­log­i­cal but were inter­twined with broad­er geopo­lit­i­cal and cul­tur­al objec­tives. Today, the meth­ods have evolved, but the under­ly­ing goal remains the same : to con­vert Mus­lims by cast­ing doubt on the integri­ty of their faith.

Samuel Green’s Approach

In his arti­cle, Green describes a per­son­al encounter with a Mus­lim taxi dri­ver, using it as a case study for how Chris­tians might intro­duce the Gospel to Mus­lims. His method involves three key steps : ask­ing Mus­lims what they have heard about Chris­tian­i­ty, show­ing them the books in the Bible, and explain­ing the dif­fer­ences between the Bible and the Quran. Green’s strat­e­gy revolves around two main points : the claim that Mus­lims believe in all prophets, and the asser­tion that Mus­lims mis­trust the Bible.

Green sug­gests that Mus­lims claim to believe in all prophets but only accept what Muham­mad says about them. He pro­pos­es using this belief to chal­lenge Mus­lims by show­ing them the table of con­tents in the Bible and explain­ing that Chris­tians read the prophets’ orig­i­nal writ­ings. Addi­tion­al­ly, Green claims that Mus­lims are often taught the Bible has been changed, which he argues hin­ders evan­ge­lism. He believes that Chris­tians should intro­duce the Bible in a way that makes Mus­lims recon­sid­er this belief.

Rebut­ting Green’s Key Points

Belief in All Prophets

Green states, ​“Mus­lims are taught that they believe all the prophets. You may have heard a Mus­lim say, ​‘We believe in Jesus and all of the prophets. You can­not be a Mus­lim unless you believe in all the prophets.’ What is the effect of this belief ? For some Mus­lims, it makes them open to con­sid­er­ing the gospel, but for the major­i­ty, it stops them from lis­ten­ing to Chris­tians : they think there is no need to lis­ten because they already believe in Jesus.”

Mus­lims do indeed believe in all prophets, as stat­ed in the Quran¹, which empha­sizes faith in the mes­sages brought by all prophets. How­ev­er, Mus­lims also believe that the mes­sages of pre­vi­ous prophets have been altered over time. The Quran is seen as the final and pre­served rev­e­la­tion, con­firm­ing and com­plet­ing the mes­sages of ear­li­er prophets. Green’s approach mis­rep­re­sents the Islam­ic per­spec­tive by imply­ing that Mus­lims have an incom­plete under­stand­ing of the prophets.

The Quran­ic per­spec­tive on prophet­hood is clear and com­pre­hen­sive. Surah Al-Baqarah 2:136 states : ​“Say, ​‘We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abra­ham, Ish­mael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descen­dants, and what was giv­en to Moses and Jesus and what was giv­en to the prophets from their Lord. We make no dis­tinc­tion between any of them, and we are Mus­lims [in sub­mis­sion] to Him.’ ” This verse under­scores the Islam­ic belief in all prophets and their orig­i­nal mes­sages. Surah Al-Ma’i­dah 5:48 fur­ther elab­o­rates : ​“And We have revealed to you, [O Muham­mad], the Book in truth, con­firm­ing that which pre­ced­ed it of the Scrip­ture and as a cri­te­ri­on over it.”

Mus­lims respect and believe in all prophets and their orig­i­nal mes­sages but hold that these mes­sages have been cor­rupt­ed over time. The Quran cor­rects and com­pletes these mes­sages, pro­vid­ing a final and unal­tered rev­e­la­tion. This belief is not a mere asser­tion but is ground­ed in his­tor­i­cal and tex­tu­al analy­ses, which show alter­ations in the pre­vi­ous scrip­tures over time.

Mis­trust of the Bible

Green claims that Mus­lims are often taught the Bible has been changed, which hin­ders evan­ge­lism. He argues that Chris­tians should intro­duce the Bible in a way that makes Mus­lims recon­sid­er this belief. How­ev­er, Mus­lims’ belief in the alter­ation of pre­vi­ous scrip­tures is based on both his­tor­i­cal evi­dence and Islam­ic teach­ings. The Quran acknowl­edges the orig­i­nal rev­e­la­tions giv­en to pre­vi­ous prophets but states that these scrip­tures were altered by humans. Schol­ar­ly research sup­ports this view, show­ing that the Bible has under­gone numer­ous changes and trans­la­tions over the centuries.

Surah Al-Baqarah 2:79 says : ​“So woe to those who write the ​‘scrip­ture’ with their own hands, then say, ​‘This is from Allah,’ to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have writ­ten and woe to them for what they earn.” This verse high­lights the belief that pre­vi­ous scrip­tures were altered by human hands. His­tor­i­cal analy­ses by bib­li­cal schol­ars, such as Bart Ehrman, Bruce Met­zger, and John Dominic Crossan, have doc­u­ment­ed the numer­ous changes and incon­sis­ten­cies in the Bible’s text over time.

The Plu­ral­i­ty of Gospels

A crit­i­cal point that often gets over­looked in evan­gel­i­cal out­reach is the fact that there isn’t just one ​“Gospel.” Chris­tians have four canon­i­cal Gospels : Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These Gospels present dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives and some­times dif­fer­ent details about the life and teach­ings of Jesus. When evan­ge­lists like Samuel Green attempt to intro­duce Mus­lims to the ​“Gospel,” it is impor­tant to ask which Gospel they are refer­ring to. Each of these Gospels offers a unique nar­ra­tive and the­o­log­i­cal empha­sis, lead­ing to vari­a­tions in the por­tray­al of events and teachings.

The dat­ing of these Gospels is also sig­nif­i­cant. Most schol­ars agree that Mark was the first Gospel writ­ten, around 70 CE, fol­lowed by Matthew and Luke, which were writ­ten between 80 – 90 CE. The Gospel of John, with its dis­tinct the­o­log­i­cal per­spec­tive, was like­ly com­posed around 90 – 110 CE. The dif­fer­ences in the dat­ing and con­tent of these Gospels are not triv­ial. For instance, the Syn­op­tic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) share much mate­r­i­al and a com­mon out­look, while John presents a more devel­oped the­ol­o­gy that empha­sizes the divin­i­ty of Jesus in a way that the Syn­op­tics do not.

The The­ol­o­gy of the Syn­op­tic Gospels ver­sus John

The Syn­op­tic Gospels and the Gospel of John present dif­fer­ent the­o­log­i­cal per­spec­tives. The Syn­op­tics focus more on Jesus’ teach­ings and para­bles, his heal­ing min­istry, and his role as the Mes­si­ah. In con­trast, the Gospel of John places a greater empha­sis on the divine nature of Jesus, pre­sent­ing him as the Logos, the pre-exis­tent Word of God made flesh. This the­o­log­i­cal diver­gence reflects the dis­tinct com­mu­ni­ties and con­texts in which these Gospels were written.

The com­mu­ni­ty behind the Gospel of John, often referred to as the Johan­nine com­mu­ni­ty, had a unique under­stand­ing of Jesus’ iden­ti­ty and mis­sion. This com­mu­ni­ty’s beliefs were shaped by its expe­ri­ences and con­flicts, par­tic­u­lar­ly with Jew­ish author­i­ties and oth­er Chris­t­ian groups. The Gospel of John reflects these dynam­ics, empha­siz­ing themes of light ver­sus dark­ness, belief ver­sus unbe­lief, and the cos­mic sig­nif­i­cance of Jesus’ life and work.

Apoc­ryphal Gospels and Com­pet­ing Narratives

In addi­tion to the four canon­i­cal Gospels, there were numer­ous oth­er writ­ings about Jesus cir­cu­lat­ing in the ear­ly cen­turies of Chris­tian­i­ty. These apoc­ryphal Gospels, such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, and the Gospel of Mary, offered alter­na­tive accounts and teach­ings of Jesus. These texts were not includ­ed in the New Tes­ta­ment canon but were influ­en­tial in var­i­ous Chris­t­ian communities.

The exis­tence of these com­pet­ing Gospels high­lights the diver­si­ty and com­plex­i­ty of ear­ly Chris­t­ian beliefs. In the first and sec­ond cen­turies, dif­fer­ent Chris­t­ian groups held dif­fer­ing views about Jesus, his teach­ings, and his sig­nif­i­cance. The process of can­on­iza­tion, which deter­mined which texts were deemed author­i­ta­tive, was not com­plet­ed until sev­er­al cen­turies after Jesus’ death. This his­tor­i­cal real­i­ty chal­lenges the notion of a sin­gle, uni­fied ​“Gospel” and under­scores the plu­ral­i­ty of ear­ly Chris­t­ian thought.

Jere­mi­ah 8:8 and Scrip­tur­al Integrity

The issue of scrip­tur­al integri­ty is not new. The Bible itself con­tains ref­er­ences to the alter­ation of texts. Jere­mi­ah 8:8 states : ​“How can you say, ​‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” This verse sug­gests that even in ancient times, there were con­cerns about the fideli­ty of reli­gious texts. For Mus­lims, who believe in the Quran as the final and unal­tered rev­e­la­tion, such ref­er­ences sup­port the view that pre­vi­ous scrip­tures have been sub­ject to human alteration.

The Islam­ic Approach to Prophets and Scriptures

Islam teach­es that the Quran is the final and pre­served word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muham­mad (peace be upon him) as a con­fir­ma­tion and com­ple­tion of pre­vi­ous rev­e­la­tions. Mus­lims believe that ear­li­er scrip­tures, includ­ing the Torah and the Gospel, were orig­i­nal­ly true rev­e­la­tions but were sub­se­quent­ly altered by human inter­ven­tion. This belief is not a rejec­tion of pre­vi­ous prophets but an affir­ma­tion of their orig­i­nal mes­sages, which have been pre­served in the Quran.

The Quran’s role as the final rev­e­la­tion is cru­cial to the Islam­ic faith. It is seen as a com­pre­hen­sive guide for human­i­ty, cor­rect­ing and com­plet­ing the mes­sages of pre­vi­ous prophets. This belief is sup­port­ed by numer­ous Quran­ic vers­es and his­tor­i­cal evi­dence of the metic­u­lous preser­va­tion of the Quran through oral and writ­ten traditions.

Crit­i­cal Ques­tions for Chris­t­ian Evangelists

To illus­trate the com­plex­i­ties and chal­lenges with­in the Chris­t­ian tra­di­tion, it is impor­tant to ask crit­i­cal ques­tions that high­light the dif­fi­cul­ties of the evan­gel­i­cal posi­tion. These ques­tions can help expose the incon­sis­ten­cies in Chris­t­ian evan­ge­lism and pro­mote a more nuanced under­stand­ing of reli­gious beliefs.

Prac­ti­cal Steps for Muslims

To effec­tive­ly counter evan­gel­i­cal out­reach like that of Samuel Green, Mus­lims should adopt a strong, con­fi­dent, and well-informed response strat­e­gy. Here are detailed steps and prac­ti­cal actions that can be taken :

Edu­cate and Train

Mus­lims must be equipped with knowl­edge about both Islam­ic and Chris­t­ian scrip­tures. This edu­ca­tion should include a thor­ough study of Quran­ic exe­ge­sis (tafsir) and Hadith to deep­en under­stand­ing of Islam­ic teach­ings. Addi­tion­al­ly, train­ing in com­par­a­tive reli­gion is essen­tial to under­stand the basis of Chris­t­ian beliefs and famil­iar­ize one­self with com­mon evan­gel­i­cal arguments.

Work­shops and sem­i­nars can play a vital role in this edu­ca­tion process. Orga­niz­ing edu­ca­tion­al ses­sions with­in the com­mu­ni­ty to dis­cuss effec­tive respons­es to evan­gel­i­cal out­reach can help pre­pare Mus­lims for poten­tial encoun­ters. These ses­sions should focus on strength­en­ing the com­mu­ni­ty’s knowl­edge and con­fi­dence in their own faith while under­stand­ing the per­spec­tives of others.

Pro­mote Com­mu­ni­ty Awareness

Cre­at­ing aware­ness with­in the Mus­lim com­mu­ni­ty about evan­gel­i­cal tac­tics is cru­cial. Reg­u­lar com­mu­ni­ty meet­ings can pro­vide a plat­form to dis­cuss expe­ri­ences with evan­gel­i­cal out­reach and share effec­tive response strate­gies. Dis­trib­ut­ing lit­er­a­ture and online resources that explain com­mon evan­gel­i­cal tac­tics and pro­vide coun­ter­ar­gu­ments can fur­ther enhance com­mu­ni­ty awareness.

Pub­lic speak­ing by knowl­edge­able com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers at mosques, com­mu­ni­ty cen­tres, and events can also raise aware­ness. These speak­ers can empha­size the impor­tance of being pre­pared for evan­gel­i­cal encoun­ters and equip the com­mu­ni­ty with the tools to respond effectively.

Encour­age Pub­lic Discourse

Engag­ing in pub­lic dis­course to high­light issues with evan­gel­i­cal out­reach and assert Islam­ic per­spec­tives is essen­tial. Writ­ing arti­cles and blog posts that address evan­gel­i­cal tac­tics, explain Islam­ic beliefs, and high­light the dif­fer­ences between the Quran and the Bible can pro­vide valu­able infor­ma­tion to a wider audience.

Social media plat­forms offer a pow­er­ful tool for shar­ing infor­ma­tion, engag­ing in dis­cus­sions, and coun­ter­ing mis­in­for­ma­tion. Mus­lims can use these plat­forms to edu­cate oth­ers about their beliefs and respond to evan­gel­i­cal argu­ments in a respect­ful and informed manner.

Par­tic­i­pat­ing in inter­views, pod­casts, and pub­lic debates can fur­ther pro­mote the Islam­ic per­spec­tive. These media appear­ances pro­vide an oppor­tu­ni­ty to present coun­ter­ar­gu­ments to evan­gel­i­cal out­reach and high­light the impor­tance of respect­ful reli­gious interactions.

Set Bound­aries

It is impor­tant to com­mu­ni­cate that while inter­faith dia­logue is wel­come, attempts to con­vert Mus­lims will not be enter­tained. Firm com­mu­ni­ca­tion can help set these bound­aries. When approached by evan­ge­lists, Mus­lims should polite­ly but firm­ly state that con­ver­sion attempts are not welcome.

Encour­ag­ing respect­ful dia­logue based on mutu­al under­stand­ing is essen­tial. Empha­siz­ing the impor­tance of a gen­uine exchange of ideas rather than attempt­ing to under­mine each oth­er’s faith can fos­ter a more respect­ful envi­ron­ment for reli­gious interactions.

Estab­lish­ing sup­port net­works with­in the com­mu­ni­ty to help indi­vid­u­als who feel pres­sured or harassed by evan­gel­i­cal out­reach can pro­vide addi­tion­al sup­port. These net­works can offer advice, resources, and emo­tion­al sup­port to those who need it.

Lever­age Legal and Social Frameworks

Pro­tect­ing the community’s rights and address­ing intru­sive or aggres­sive evan­gel­i­cal activ­i­ties is impor­tant. Mus­lims should be aware of legal pro­tec­tions against reli­gious harass­ment and uti­lize them if nec­es­sary. Seek­ing legal advice and sup­port can help address any vio­la­tions of com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers’ rights.

Orga­niz­ing com­mu­ni­ty actions, such as peti­tions or meet­ings with local author­i­ties, can address con­cerns about aggres­sive pros­e­ly­ti­za­tion. Pub­lic aware­ness cam­paigns can also raise aware­ness about the need to pro­tect reli­gious freedom.

Pub­lic Aware­ness and Advocacy

Pub­lic edu­ca­tion cam­paigns can play a sig­nif­i­cant role in coun­ter­ing evan­gel­i­cal out­reach. Media out­reach can edu­cate the pub­lic about the prob­lems with aggres­sive evan­ge­lism. Pub­lic speak­ing engage­ments can fur­ther raise aware­ness about the impor­tance of mutu­al respect in reli­gious interactions.

Inter­faith ini­tia­tives can pro­mote mutu­al under­stand­ing and respect. Orga­niz­ing forums that focus on mutu­al under­stand­ing and respect rather than con­ver­sion can build pos­i­tive rela­tion­ships between dif­fer­ent faith com­mu­ni­ties. Engag­ing in col­lab­o­ra­tive projects with oth­er faith com­mu­ni­ties can also pro­mote com­mon val­ues and fos­ter a spir­it of coöperation.

Exam­ple of Counter-Evan­ge­lism Response

When approached by some­one like Samuel Green, a respect­ful yet firm response can help set bound­aries and dis­cour­age future attempts at con­ver­sion. Here is an exam­ple response strategy :

Ini­tial Response : ​“Thank you for shar­ing your per­spec­tive. As Mus­lims, we hold deep respect for all prophets, includ­ing Jesus (peace be upon him), and we believe in the Quran as the final and pre­served rev­e­la­tion from God. While we appre­ci­ate respect­ful dia­logue, we do not enter­tain attempts to con­vert us. Let’s focus on under­stand­ing each other’s beliefs rather than try­ing to change them.”

Engag­ing in Dia­logue : ​“I under­stand that you might have con­cerns about the integri­ty of the Quran and the role of prophets in Islam. Let’s dis­cuss these respect­ful­ly. The Quran con­firms and com­pletes the mes­sages of pre­vi­ous prophets and has been metic­u­lous­ly pre­served through oral and writ­ten traditions.”

“In Islam, we believe in the one­ness of God (Tawhid) and have a direct rela­tion­ship with Him with­out inter­me­di­aries. This is a fun­da­men­tal dif­fer­ence from the con­cept of the Trin­i­ty in Christianity.”

Set­ting Bound­aries : ​“While I respect your faith and your desire to share it, I ask that you also respect my beliefs. Let’s con­tin­ue our con­ver­sa­tion with a focus on mutu­al respect and understanding.”

Con­clu­sion

Mus­lims must equip them­selves with strong coun­ter­ar­gu­ments, pro­mote com­mu­ni­ty aware­ness, and set clear bound­aries to effec­tive­ly respond to and dis­cour­age evan­gel­i­cal out­reach. Samuel Green’s approach, while well-inten­tioned from his per­spec­tive, fails to respect the depth and integri­ty of Islam­ic beliefs. Mus­lims must assert their faith con­fi­dent­ly, engage in respect­ful dia­logue, and pro­tect their com­mu­ni­ty from unpro­duc­tive pros­e­ly­ti­za­tion efforts.

In a world where the aggres­sive tac­tics of evan­ge­lists like Samuel Green con­tin­ue to under­mine Islam and Islam­ic thought, Mus­lims must stand firm and reject such manip­u­la­tive efforts. Evan­ge­lists must cease their attempts to con­vert and instead respect the integri­ty of Islam­ic beliefs. True dia­logue can­not hap­pen under the guise of con­ver­sion. It is time to con­front and expose these tac­tics to ensure that all faiths are allowed to coex­ist with­out the pres­sure of pros­e­ly­ti­za­tion. Let us defend our com­mu­ni­ties and beliefs with strength and unwa­ver­ing resolve.

To counter these evan­gel­i­cal efforts, Mus­lims must unite and take proac­tive steps. Edu­cate your­selves and your com­mu­ni­ties, engage in pub­lic dis­course, and assert the integri­ty of Islam­ic beliefs. Set clear bound­aries and stand firm against any attempts to con­vert. By stand­ing togeth­er, we can safe­guard our faith and ensure that our com­mu­ni­ties remain strong and resilient against these intru­sive efforts.

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1. Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:136[↩]