A Brief Guide To the Study of Islam: Anthropology and Soteriology

II. Introduction

Questions about human nature and destiny appeared among humans at almost the dawn of civilization, and may be definitive of humanity itself. However, the universality of these questions should not blind us to the fact that they have been formulated in very different ways by different cultures and different religions. In Christianity and Islam there is the shared assumption that both the nature and destiny of humanity are found in the purposes of God. Both Christianity and Islam place the question of humanity in its relationship to the one transcendent God at the center of religion. And both see that relationship as problematic. Yet profound differences arise between them.

For the Christian religious tradition that problematic relationship arises when humanity grasps for itself the prerogatives of God. The essence of idolatry is Godremade in a human image, or something even lower, and is rooted in humanity's rebellion against God's command. In the Christian tradition the sin of humanity is more than just specific acts, it is a fundamental characteristic of humanity after the Fall, dominating the whole life of a humanity powerless to overcome it or deny it its bitter fruits of death and evil. The first followers of Jesus were anxiously awaiting a Messiah, a Savior who could deliver them from sin. The salvation which they awaited was conditioned by an extensive tradition of Jewish reflection on sin, on Israel's history, on the position of the individual, the nation, and the world in relation to God, and on God's plan for human history. Christian theology was determined by the ways in which Jewish hopes were met, redefined, and extended by the person of Jesus and the content of his preaching. The followers of Jesus discovered that the destiny of humanity is to be restored to full humanness by the eradication of sin and the re-establishment of God as God in human life through faith in Jesus as the Christ. Both the pervasiveness of sin, and the comprehensiveness of the grace required to destroy it, are reflected in the Christian theology of atonement through God's sacrifice of the Son, and the eschatological images of the Kingdom of God found at the center of the message of Jesus Christ. Jesus as the sinless man capable of making and being the sacrifice on the cross is also the image of authentic humanity, the new Adam. While the New Testament authors looked forward to both a day of judgement and a new creation by God, they asserted that the possibility of freedom from sin and authentic human life were instituted by the atonement, and the sending of the Holy Spirit to the church, the Body of Christ. Any Christian understanding of anthropology reckons with Jesus as the new Adam, the crucifixion of Christ on the cross which conquers the human fear of sin and death, the Spirit of Christ which makes his followers holy, and the nature of faith which makes it possible for humans to enjoy these gifts of God's mercy. Any Christian soteriology is rooted in God's own sacrifice of his Son on the cross to pay the price of sin, the Christian hope for eternal life, the strength of the Holy Spirit to persevere in the face of evil and temptation, and the promised reign of God.

In Islam the essential problematic of the human relationship with God arises when the first humans, tempted by the Devil (Iblis ), grasp after the created order as the ultimate reality, choosing the fruit of the tree rather than the command of God. As a result humans are exiled to the earth, away from the Garden which was to be their home and away from their stature as the highest of all creatures. As a conscious choice this sin of choosing the created order is infidelity to God's command, making a person akafir . When reflected in the elevating of the created order to the status of God this is the sin ofshirk . The human condition which makes such infidelity possible is ignorance,jahiliyya , a condition which becomes pervasive in some times and places but which is never a necessary part of human nature. Infidelity, idolatry, and ignorance were the primary characteristics which Muhammed found in his own time and culture. The first revelations which Muhammed received placed the reality of Allah, and Allah's judgement upon those who were idolatrous and unfaithful, powerfully before those who heard them. They called on people to know, and acknowledge, the one God, and to abandon immorality in order to be saved at the judgement day and to attain the lost Paradise. This called for repentance, a change of heart. Yet in Islam the human heart, which is the seat of knowing rather than feeling, is always an isthmus,barzakh , which separates, but also potentially joins, the earthly and the divine.[^1] The fulfillment of human destiny which Muhammed announced was a return to the Garden and the resumption of the status which God originally intended for humanity. This occurs first withIslam , humans submitting to the perfect and final revelation of Allah and Allah's will which came through Muhammed. Ultimately it is realized when Allah destroys the Earth (which is not intrinsically corrupt, but has simply served its purpose) and after the final judgement brings all of those who have been faithful back into the Garden (which was always the destiny of humankind.) While it is by Allah's grace alone that humans are continually reminded of their nature and destiny through the prophets, and are called into Islam, it is up to each individual to make the choices which will lead them ultimately back to the Garden. (25:70).

It is too much to say of course, that Christianity and Islam were determined by their cultural and human contexts. Their founders not only answered, but helped define, the question of the nature and destiny of humanity. Both claim that revelation provides not just the answer to a generic human question, but frames that question properly in the face of human ignorance or sin. So it is important, as we look for shared experiences and categories of theological reflection which allow authentic dialogue, to realize that our Christian questions are not necessarily generic human questions. This may mean that we have no ready answer for the central concerns of our neighbors in a pluralistic society. And it may mean that we will discover in dialogue dimensions of human existence before God that our own particular tradition of Christian theological reflection has passed by.