Waging Peace On Islam

Stan Guthrie / Teresa Neumann Reporting : May 6, 2005
ChristianityToday.com

Christianity Today's Stan Guthrie interviewed Warren Larson, director of the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies at Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina. From 1969 to 1991 Larson and his wife were church-planting missionaries in the Punjab region of Pakistan.

In this interview, Larson is asked several questions concerning the differing perceptions of the Crusades and the effects it has had on the world today. He is also asked to explain the major differences between Islam and Christianity. Notably, Larson states that "Islam doesn't teach you to forgive your enemies."

"When you forgive Muslims," he explains, "they recognize the difference. They say, 'We don't forgive anybody, but now we see that you're different.'"

Larson relates a compelling story to illustrate his point. On November 20, 1979, while living in Dera Ghazi Khan, a false rumor caused a mob to form outside their home. "They attacked us at our house" he said, "and burned our jeeps, burned our literature, smashed furniture, and could have killed us, but for the grace of God. During this time, the American embassy was burned to the ground in Islamabad. A few days later, the news came out that [the perpetrators were] not Americans and Jews, but Saudis. The police and the military in our city rescued us and grabbed a few of the rioters and put them in prison. We went to them and said, "We forgive you. We're not going to lodge a case against you." Then, neighbors, some of the people who knew me well, embraced me.

They said, "Mr. Larson, we now know the difference between you and us. We do not forgive our enemies. When there's trouble between us, Sunnis and Shiites, we fight and burn one another's shops. But you have forgiven us."

I said, "We're just doing what Jesus taught us to do."

Larson also credits the film The Passion of the Christ for impacting the Muslim world. "Seeing Christ on the Cross forgive his enemies in The Passion of the Christ was really quite powerful for Muslims. They may have gone to see the movie with wrong motives, but the fact that he forgave his enemies from the Cross seemed to touch them. Many, many Muslims went to see this movie. It was very powerful."