In somewhat of an inflammatory comment on a normally right minded blog, 'Not A Sheep' could possibly be highlighting a prejudice held within Britain towards the Muslim faith. Though I may be proved wrong and the tone of the post is stronger than it is intended I would like to make my own opinion and understanding known about the story she/he is referencing.
Essentially it comes down to the fact that an Islamic Iranian Director has created a film which shows the story of Jesus from the Islamic perspective. And in an expressed attempt to create dialogue and understanding between faiths he expresses the Muslim understanding of the story, as well as he admiration for Mel Gibson's 'Passion of the Christ' in production if not in plot.
"So the "common ground" would appear to be that Jesus existed and was a prophet but not that he was the son of God, or was resurrected. I think the idea of "common ground" might be a little fanciful."Not a Sheep
I have written a comment on this post within the blog, have a look if you want (though it is awaiting moderation). Here I want to focus more on the above comment by NaS. The common ground is massive between Muslims and Christians on this topic. I would like to ask, what more would you ask of the Muslims to believe before it is acceptable common ground?
That he was the son of god as part of the Holy Trinity?
That he was crucified? (indeed the Muslim view is that his body did not die, but ascended into heaven)
Or that he preached a new gospel?
Well number one is right out. That aspect of the story of Christ IS Christianity.
Number two becomes trivial for Christians or external parties when number one is rejected; who cares how he died? Muslims and obviously Christians find it important but to say it matters that he was Crucified to a Muslim on Christian grounds is missing the point and could be mildly disrespectful. Indeed the perception of Crucifixion is seen by Muslims to be correct, but as wikipedia explains, this was a divine illusion.
Thirdly, jesus within Islam is a vital and important figure. In some ways second only to Muhammad as Jesus was a Messenger from God whose message became corrupted by man. However you look at this, this is high praise, and how this has become corrupted, which areas Jesus can be seen as 'right' and also the historical accounts of the time from the dual faith perspective can all be looked at.
Yes. This does open the possibility that there is open accessible cross-faith dialogue within the world community. The only thing that i can see you could possibly be offended by this news article Not A Sheep is the fact that it has come from Iran. But as you may (or may not) now see there is a real theological basis for what the director was saying and how it is ultimately quite a politically neutral topic if taken as such.
Cheers
Anthony
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