An Atlanta church’s effort to improve relations between Christians and Muslims in their community has turned into a nationwide program that has churchgoers reading English versions of the Quran next to their Bibles.
The scriptural study, called Jesus in the Quran, will take place this weekend at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston.
The program began out of the basic Christian commandment to “love thy neighbor.”
“In 2001, like most Americans, we were pretty awakened to the true Islamic presence in the world and in the United States,” said Jon Stallsmith, the outreach minister at Grace Fellowship Church who initiated the Jesus in the Quran a few years ago. “Jesus says we should love our neighbors. We can’t do that without having a relationship with them.”
Only 30 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Muslims, according to a Pew Forum poll. At the same time, more than half the country says they know “not very much” or “nothing at all” about the Islamic faith.
In a time of Quran-burning threats and mosque debates, the program has unsurprisingly drawn some criticism. Some fellow Christians say the Quran is an evil book and they should not be working closely with Muslims. Jesus in the Quran’s teachers disagree, saying Christian-Muslim relations are more important than ever.
“The recent political developments and the fact that we’re fighting two wars in Muslim countries should sharpen that need to know how to talk to these guys,” Stallsmith said. “We want to find peace, reconciliation around a scriptural understanding of Jesus.”
Jesus in the Quran offers talking points for Christians and Muslims, addressing both shared values and places where they disagree. Through the lessons, churches in major cities like Atlanta, Seattle and Detroit, have been able to reach out to local Muslim populations, especially refugees.