On Saturday, July 27th, an audience consisting of Muslims and people of other faiths came together at the Boettcher Auditorium at the University of Denver to hear Dr. Jerald Dirks, a guest speaker invited by MILA, give his talk entitled "In Search of Abraham: Conflict and Consensus in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity".
Dr. Dirks spoke of the common origins of the three Abrahamic faiths, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Dr. Dirks described how these three traditions all refer to Abraham as the "Friend of God" indicating how greatly Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all revere the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him). All three religions are monotheistic faiths, or faiths that recognize that there is only One God, and all three are prophetic traditions, meaning they share a belief in the concept of revelation through various chosen Prophets of God. Many of the prophets and people mentioned in the Judeo-Christian traditions, including but not limited to Abraham, Lot, Noah, Isaac, Ishamel, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, John the Baptist, Mary, and Jesus (peace be upon them all) are referred to by name in the Qur'an.
 Dr. Jerald Dirks |
Dr. Dirks then discussed some of the differences between the perspectives of the three faiths in the areas of Original Sin and the concept of the Trinity. Unlike the Judeo-Christian view, Islam does not recognize the existence of Original Sin or the concept that the sin of Adam and Eve was inherited by their descendants. Instead, the Islamic belief is that Adam and Eve asked for and received forgiveness from God. Dr. Dirks further discussed how the strict monotheism of Judaism and Islam differed from the concept of the Trinitarian Godhead in Christianity. He analyzed how the earliest Christian perspectives varied in their approach to the divinity and/or humanity of Jesus Christ, with some perspectives stressing his divine nature and with other perspectives very close to the Islamic view that Jesus Christ was a Prophet of God and not the Son of God.
Referring back to the earliest Christian sources, the Bible, and the Qur'an, Dr. Dirks explored the similarities and differences between these traditions with respect to the stories of Jesus Christ and his mother Mary (peace be upon them both). The Qur'anic accounts of how Mary was promised to the service of God even before her birth, how she was raised in purity and virtue, and how she was then chosen to be the virgin mother of Jesus Christ, are mirrored in various early Christian sources and in the Bible. Similarly, the Qur'anic accounts of Jesus Christ speaking while still in the cradle and of his many miracles find their counterparts in the current Bible and/or in early Christian sources.
Acknowledging the differences between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, and exploring the many common threads that bind together these three monotheistic, Abrahamic, and prophetic faiths, Dr. Dirks then urged the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities to recognize the importance of working together towards the common goal of improving and helping the larger American and human family. Accepting the fact that there are various social and moral problems that require our immediate attention, he stressed that we need to work together in the context of our shared values and common beliefs.
