Islam And Red Herrings

Peter the Venerable – Twelfth Century Christian Scholar of Islam

With over a billion muslims in the world today, it is not uncommon to come across muslims to dialogue with. I have been to two muslim countries as well as muslim majority regions of other countries. Islamic apologetics is a big field but one does not need to study it in any great depth to know the most important issue in talking with them. In fact, most professional apologists don’t know this trick.

The focus in dialogue should be the Scriptures, Christology, and the Cross. Muslims believe that Christian Scripture has been corrupted, that Jesus Christ was not the divine Son of God, and that he didn’t die on the cross. This is where the discussion should be.

The discussion should not to be about jihad, violence in Islam, treatment of women in Islam, Muhammad’s nine year old wife, the treatment of non-muslims under Sharia, or anything of that sort. These are nothing but red herrings. This approach will get one absolutely nowhere and probably put up a barrier between you and the muslim. Also, at the end of the day, if Islam is true, then all of the practices listed above are vindicated. If it’s false, they are condemned.

In the media we often hear about how bad Islam is because of those details listed above. The West is not Christian so we don’t see any reason why the media should be Christian either. The Christian response should be to be kind with them and discuss the theological issues.

Another reason to avoid these red herrings is that like Christianity, most muslims are ignorant of their faith. Most Catholics have not read the Bible or the Catechism just like most muslims have not read the Quran or Hadith. They will immediately perceive you as an ignorant Westerner and not take you seriously.

I have written in the past how Islam is an ahistorical religion. It is not born out of history but rewrites it. This gives the Christian the clear advantage in the field of apologetics. That is another reason to reject these bogus arguments. Why lose the fight on nothing issues when you can win the fight with facts?

When it comes to the big three topics listed above, we have by far the better material. We have first century historical documents as opposed to seventh century ahistorical documents. The red herrings are completely pointless and prevent us from using what we can use against them.

Many professional apologists who deal with Islam fall right into this trap. These are people who have studied both faiths well and have facts on their side. Despite all this, they waist their time and breath with these issues that do nothing but hurt their cause.

For those people out there who are not convinced to drop these red herring arguments, there is one thing to remember. When they are theological defeated and come to the true faith, all of the unsavory baggage listed above will disappear by default. We don’t have to win two arguments but one.

Also, during the dialogue if the muslim notices that you aren’t throwing out these arguments, he will respect you and take you more seriously. That gives your theological arguments greater power. It all seems so simple but most people don’t realize this at all. It can be so easy but we make it so difficult. It doesn’t have to be like that at all.

I will be writing more about the right arguments to use in the future and how to use them effectively.