Perceptions of Islam Among Protestant Pastors
Ed Stetzer shared some interesting polling results:
The Christian Post has released some brand new data about the views of Protestant pastors in regard to their views of Islam.
The article explains:
Protestant pastors in the U.S. have a negative view of Islam and more than half agree with Franklin Graham’s statement that Islam is an “evil” religion, according to a just-released study by LifeWay Research. More than 4 in 10 agree that Islam is dangerous and promotes violence.
Be sure to read the whole story here, but this excerpt may help:
Protestant pastors were asked which is closer to their beliefs: Graham’s widely reported comment that Islam is “a very evil and a very wicked religion,” or former President George W. Bush’s remark that “the Muslim faith is based upon peace and love and compassion.”
Forty-seven percent of the pastors surveyed believe Graham’s assessment of Islam is accurate, and an additional 12 percent agree with both Graham’s and Bush’s statements. Twenty-four percent agree with the former president’s statement only. The rest could not decide.
This graphic helps illustrate some of the other questions asked:
The survey indicated:
- Three out of 4 pastors disagree with the statement, “Christians and Muslims pray to the same God”
- Eighty-two percent say Islam is “fundamentally different from Christianity.”
- Forty-two percent agree that Islam “promotes violence.”
- Four in 10 say the religion is “spiritually evil.”
- One in 3 says Islam “promotes charity.”
- Twenty-eight percent consider the religion “relevant today.”
You can download the full PowerPoint presentation at the LifeWay Research web page.
Please feel free to share your comments and thoughts.
Fascinating research, thanks for sharing. I think that much of the results are attributable to a fear of Islam, but as Christians are acutley aware of the desperate plight of our brothers and sisters in Islamic lands, this is to be expected and is perhaps realistic.
“Three out of 4 pastors disagree with the statement, “Christians and Muslims pray to the same God”
From the conclusion of Martin Luther’s explanation of The Apostles Creed:
“These articles of the Creed, therefore, divide and separate us Christians from all other people upon earth. For all outside of Christianity, whether heathen, Turks, Jews, or false Christians and hypocrites, although they believe in, and worship, only one true God, yet know not what His mind towards them is, and cannot expect any love or blessing from Him; therefore they abide in eternal wrath and damnation. For they have not the Lord Christ, and, besides, are not illumined and favored by any gifts of the Holy Ghost.”
Martin Luther is at variance with what 3 out 4 pastors think as can be read from the quote above. The issue is not that we pray to the same God but does the “Turk”, et. al. know God’s mind and will toward us all apart from His Son Jesus Christ? Luther’s answer: No. In fact, God is wrath. This is the effects of the Law upon sinners. Only in Jesus Christ do we see the heart of the Father for us all in His blood shed upon the Cross. After all, Mohammed was not crucified and rise again.
So I could not say that Islam is totally”spiritually evil”. Islam is a law-oriented religion not only spiritually but also politically: Islam as a type of law keeps order in those societies and cultures. This is good. But as any man-made religion, it has it’s evil aspects, eg jihad, non-tolerance of Christian evangelism, use of force to spread Islam (as in the time of the Reformation) etc, but not in it’s totality. Again, Islam has the political use of the law. Yet, the 82% who stated that Christanity is fundamentally different from Islam does not get to the actual point of difference as Luther does. How come? Maybe, so much of Christianity is so law-oriented, “climbing Jacob’s ladder” etc, that it can not be clear about the real difference: Isalm is about going up God, not the Lord Who has come to us in the Incarnation and saves us apart from works of the Law, and definitely any man-made law such as the five pillars.
PS: Were there any others in the time of the Reformation who wrote so plainly about the “Turk”, i.e. Islam as Luther?
And, Mark, that’s a very poor translation of the passage you cite. The word “although” is not accurate and does not capture the nuance of Luther’s expression, which is lost on moderns who are not carefully schooled in the art of rhetoric, as was Luther, and English speaking Lutherans who can’t understand German, and the distinct usages of 16th century German. Here’s a great resource on understanding precisely what Luther said, and meant, in LC II.66 One True God, see: http://www.cph.org/p-670-one-true-god-understanding-the-large-catechism-ii-66.aspx?SearchTerm=one%20true%20god
I scanned the original article but couldn’t find anything indicating the reason the survey was done in the first place. Was it to determine how many “protestant pastors” have an *accurate* view and understanding of Islam? Or was it to find what the majority view is and from there determine what is an *acceptable* view (or what needs to be done to make it an acceptable view of Islam)?
The first, of course, assumes such a thing as objective truth and universal values. The second is more post-modern and relativistic.
The thing is, there is a universal, objective standard for what Islam is. It’s called the Quran (although it has many different spellings/anglicizations). As much as people rightly say that there are all sorts of different permutations and practices of Islam in the world and in our nation, the only way to deal with Islam as a religion is with its true and original form.
And Christians need to understand that Islam is a thoroughly and explicitly anti-Christian religion that damns its adherents because it is unbelief. Does that make it “evil”? Do we really need to even ask that question?
Ambiguity in the question or the choice of answer. In this case, I have to wonder how the respondents interpret “relevant”. In view of salvation, a protestant pastor would naturally find the religion of Muhammed irrelevant. On the other hand, in view of politics, a global effort against terrorism, international and domestic growth of the religion and the syncretistic nature of American civic religion, Islam becomes perhaps the most relevant of all religions.
I’m pretty sure that I participated in this poll… though I thought it was Zogby that was doing it. But I know that I answered the Graham-Bush question.