Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Beyond Muslim-Christian Syncretism

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Matt Stone

2007-06-26

In my last post I voiced my objections to Muslim-Christian syncretism, but I would be neglectful if I merely left the conversation in that negative space without offering a positive alternative. So in this post I would like to offer an alternative option to people who, like Rev. Redding, are attracted to aspects of Islam yet still wish to hold onto their Christian identity.

This alternative is something missiologists call the critical contextualization of Christianity.

To those interested I would suggest they read this article on the “Followers of Isa”. It explores the difference between extractionism, syncretism and contextualization for Christians engaging with Islam. What it identifies as “C4” contextualization is widely accepted in missiological circles. Hopefully it is fairly evident that what can be helpful for Muslim converts to Christianity can also be helpful for Christians drawn to Islam.

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7 responses to “Beyond Muslim-Christian Syncretism”

Makeesha

2007-06-26

good stuff. My husband and I were talking about how to live in a similar way as Redding while maintaining a distinct Christian orthodoxy and critical contextualization is exactly what we were talking about. Michael Frost explains it well on many occasions as well.

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sally

2007-06-26

thanks Matt.

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Matt Stone

2007-06-26

Yes Mike does explain it well. I have recommended his introductory article at http://www.cegm.org.au/articles/risky-negotiation.html on many occasions. I myself aspire to “C4” though my context is Esoteric Spiritualities rather than Muslims. Its unfortunate that more people don’t realize this missiological approach is equally applicable in the west.

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joe

2007-06-27

In fairness, however, I think you’ll find that article refers to people from a Muslim background engaging with Christ rather than Christians engaging with Islam and finding forms of life and expression that are not openly ‘christian’.

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Matt Stone

2007-06-27

True, its the reverse situation, I stated as such in the last sentence of the article. Are you implying contextualization is invalid in such circumstances or are you merely reinforcing the technical distinction? As a counterpoint I would suggest that, in fairness, the C4 approach being advocated here is still openly Jesus centered.

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joe

2007-06-27

I’m not sure Matt. It feels to me like it is more acceptable for a Muslim to find his own way of being a Jesus follower than for a Christian to become a C4, although I can’t really analyse my own thinking on why that is.
I also think there are forms of Arab christianity that are distictive – and sometimes have a good relationship with Islam.
I guess we also need to remember that there are different kinds of Muslim – so there are different ways to be Jesus to them. I’ve spent time with fairly secular Muslims in arab countries, and I would suspect they would not be affected by a C4 approach.
Dunno. I appeciate I need to do more thinking about this.

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Matt Stone

2007-06-27

It’s a good one to wrestle with. And its good that you raise Arabic Christianity cause something like that might actually be what we are looking at as the end point of the process. Sometimes what people are drawn too in other religions is more cultural than religious anyway. Teasing these things out is what its all about.
In the past cultural identity was not something most had any choice with, so things like the Rev’s situation were rare. But culture has become a commodity in post-modernity and cultural identity is now something one may actively construct. Must we restrict ourselves to our culturally inherited forms of Christianity? Many would say no. Many are emergents, for instance, are actively appropriating NeoCeltic Christian identities. Would it be any different for a Christian to appropriate a NeoCoptic identity? I am fully aware of the romanticism that sometimes accompanies this, and do not minimize it, but instead of rejecting such options outright without qualification I am more inclined to argue for sharper application instead.

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