A Common Word between Us and You
Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor
Ted Peters
Substack ST 2041 A Common Word: Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor. Religious Pluralism vs Comparative Theology, Part 4
About two decades ago, I met on multiple occasions at the World Health Organization in Cairo with the Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences (IOMS). At that time, IOMS was formulating bioethical principles to govern human embryonic stem cells (hES cells) in research and in clinical settings. I was asked to serve as an expert consultant. At that time, I knew more about stem cells than I do now (Peters, Lebacqz and Bennett 2008). It was a fascinating assignment.
I made one delightful observation: Muslim scientists and mullahs did not divide their thinking between Islamic theology, on the one hand, and secular institutional policy, on the other. Guiding institutions according to religious ethics was so natural, so normal, so acceptable. I envied my Muslim colleagues. More. My scientific and theological suggestions were respected and received with gratitude.
But this is not the point of the present Substack post. More to the point, I recall how my Islamic colleagues prompted me, “Ted, have you read yet A Common Word?” They were excited to share with me that 138 Islamic theologians had signed a new document proposing theological and ethical harmony between Muslims and Christians, A Common Word between Us and You (2007).
As I sat in a hotel coffee shop devouring this document, I thought, “This is amazing! I love it!” I began to hope that this Islamic initiative could prompt excitement among Christian leaders everywhere in the world. But, alas, other than some ambitious theologians at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Christendom largely ignored what I hoped would be a watershed breakthrough. So, I bring it up again as an exercise in Comparative Theology.
Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, principal author
What does A Common Word between Us and You say about loving God and neighbor?
Theologically, our Muslim friends emphasize that both traditions — Islam and Christianity — commit themselves to loving God and loving neighbor. The document parallels passages from the Qur’an and the Bible to verify this shared commitment. Here is an example on loving God.
A Common Word between Us and You juxtaposes passages from the Qur’an and the Bible.
Of God’s Unity, God says in the Holy Qur’an: Say: He is God, the One! / God, the Self-Sufficient Besought of all! (Al-Ikhlas, 112:1-2). Of the necessity of love for God, God says in the Holy Qur’an: So invoke the Name of thy Lord and devote thyself to Him with a complete devotion (Al-Muzzammil, 73:8). Of the necessity of love for the neighbour, the Prophet Muhammad ( صلى الله عليه وسلم ) said: “None of you has faith until you love for your neighbour what you love for yourself.”
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ ( عليه سلام ) said: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. / And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. / And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
Yes, indeed, the Qur’an and the Bible agree on love of God and love of neighbor. Whew!
What does A Common Word between Us and You say about the political implications?
The signatories to A Common Word want peace, not war. Because Islam and Christianity together constitute more than half of the world’s population, a religious war could devastate the entire world. Similarly, concerted efforts by Muslims and Christians together could affect the entire world for the better. Can we make a deal?
“Finding common ground between Muslims and Christians is not simply a matter for polite ecumenical dialogue between selected religious leaders. Christianity and Islam are the largest and second largest religions in the world and in history. Christians and Muslims reportedly make up over a third and over a fifth of humanity respectively. Together they make up more than 55% of the world’s population, making the relationship between these two religious communities the most important factor in contributing to meaningful peace around the world. If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. With the terrible weaponry of the modern world; with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world’s inhabitants. Thus our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake.”
Document critics asked the authors frankly: “Is your reference to the danger to world peace a disguised threat?” How did the authors answer?“No, it is a compassionate plea for peace” (Muhammad and Nayad 2007, 176).
Miroslav Volf, Yale
Miroslav Volf and the Yale Response
As mentioned above, the Yale faculty organized a thoughtful and thorough response to both theological and political concerns. After thanking Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordon and its other authors, Yale Professor Miroslav Volf concurred that the double commandment – love God and love neighbor – is revered by Christians as well as Muslims. This foundation provides a basis on which to engage in further dialogue and cooperation. “The common commitment to love of God and neighbor does not eliminate all conflicts,” writes Volf. “What common commitment does is this: It provides a basis on which Muslims and Christians can productively discuss and overcome these conflicts” (M. Volf 2011, 21-22).
Volf takes the time to delineate theological subtleties such as divine unity in light of the Trinity in order to clarify further commonalities and distinctions. Then Volf turns to public theology. This dialogue between Muslims and Christians could very well serve the planetary common good (Volf, A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good 2011).
“The significance of the Common Word initiative goes beyond relations between Muslims and Christians. The initiative holds the potential for providing a good platform for Christians and Muslims together to engage great and troubling problems facing humanity today” (M. Volf, A Common Word for a Common Future 2010, 25).
A partnership between these two giant religious traditions could go a long way toward establishing and maintaining world peace.
Conclusion
Now, at this juncture I would love to re-analyze the Muslim-Christian debate regarding the oneness of God and the sin of tawhid. But, I’ve done that in “Islam on the Trinity.” So, I won’t bore you with a repeat.
Instead, I’d like to conclude with a hearty applause for both the Islamic initiative in A Common Word and the Yale Divinity School faculty for their ruminative response. I only wish more thoughtful Christians would read and respond to this healthy Islamic initiative.
So, I conclude with the words of Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry of Massachusetts. Kerry’s take is invigorating.
“While demagogues play cynically to the worst human instincts, most leaders of good conscience and people of genuine faith believe and talk otherwise. They believe we can, we must, and — God willing — we will find a way to live together” (Kerry 2007, 193).
“I believe we have a duty to understand each other in the name of living peacefully. We have a duty to engage with each other. The Abrahamic faiths — Christianity, Judaism, and Islam — have to find new meaning in the old notion of our shared descent” (Kerry 2007, 196).
Meet Ted Peters. For Substack, Ted Peters posts articles and notices in the field of Public Theology. He is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and emeritus professor at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union. His single volume systematic theology, God—The World’s Future, is now in the 3rd edition. He has also authored God as Trinity plus Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society as well as Sin Boldly: Justifying Faith for Fragile and Broken Souls. In 2023 he published. The Voice of Public Theology, with ATF Press. This year he has published an edited volume, Promise and Peril of AI and IA: New Technology Meets Religion, Theology, and Ethics (ATF 2025) and along with Arvin Gouw an edited collection, The CRISPR Revolution in Science, Religion, and Ethics (Bloomsbury 2025). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com and Patheos blog site.
References
Kerry, Senator John. 2007. “Common Word, Dialogue, and the Future of the World.” In A Common Word: Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor, by Miroslav Volf, Ghanzi bin Muhammad, Melissa Yarringer and eds, 193-200. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans.
Muhammad, Ghazi bin, and Aref Nayad. 2007. “Frequently Asked Questions that Muslims have been Asked about A Common Word.” In A Common Word: Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor, by Miroslav Volf, Ghazi bin Muhammad, Melissa Yarrington and eds, 171-. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans.
Peters, Ted. 2023. The Voice of Public Theology. Adelaide: ATF.
Peters, Ted, Karen Lebacqz, and and Gaymon Bennett. 2008. Sacred Cells? Why Christians Should Support Stem Cell Research. New York: Roman and Littlefield.
Volf, Miroslav. 2010. “A Common Word for a Common Future.” In A Common Word: Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor, by Miroslav Volf, Ghazi bin Muhammad, Melissa Yarrington and eds, 18-27. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans.
—. 2011. A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good. Grand Rapids MI: Brazos.