We discover in Scripture that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Rom 1:16) and God has given us the staggering responsibility to preach this message. So we must spend some time thinking about the process of evangelism. Most people I know consider the task of evangelism to be a difficult one, however if I ask them what the gospel is, most will quote me something from a book on Systematic Theology. For example, Wayne Grudem, in his excellent Systematic Theology, says that the facts of the gospel are:
- All people have sinned (Rom 3:23)
- The penalty for our sin is death (Rom 6:23)
- Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin (Rom 5:8).1
In my experience, when the gospel is told in this manner, listing the bare facts, Muslims seem to always take offense. In response they tell me:
- No! Prophets are sinless and children are sinless.
- No! Everyone dies; life is a test we must all endure; death is the way to paradise.
- No! Jesus did not die, and it is unjust to punish the innocent for the guilty.
Overall, they feel accused and manipulated by this kind of logic.
It seems to me that although the content of these statements are true (and we can’t back away from that truth), we have to ask ourselves if this is the only way we can speak about the gospel. I think it’s worth thinking through the way we express the gospel for Muslims. There are at least four basic components in evangelism: The message, the audience, the author and the God who is sovereign over all. Let’s take some time to consider how to evangelize with respect to each of these components.
The core of the evangelistic message
Jesus is clearly the core of our evangelistic message. As Paul says, “Him we proclaim” (Col 1:28). But the message of the Messiah is the centrepiece on a rich table of expectation. In the Law of Moses the cycles of judgement and mitigation end with a warning about future judgement (Deuteronomy 28-31); the Prophets all warn about future judgement; Jesus preached about the coming Kingdom in the context of judgement (Matt 25:34); and Paul says that his gospel declares the coming judgement (Rom 2:16). The gospel may be Christ, however it is Christ as the mediator of the imminent judgement. This judgement is clearly one of condemnation for some, and salvation for others (Dan 12:2), and this ‘Gospel of Imminent Judgement’ has an impact on everyone. It transcends culture, class, race, religion, age and empire. As the angel puts it in Revelation:
Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgement has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Rev 14:6-7)
So, no matter who we are talking to, our gospel must centre on Jesus in the imminent judgement. This is the eternal gospel for all people.2
An audience-oriented message
Now that we know the core message of the gospel, the next question is “How do we share the gospel?” And to answer this question, we cannot simply smooth over the diversity of ways in which the gospel is articulated as we did in the section above. The gospel is called the gospel of the Kingdom (Matt 24:14), the gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:24), the gospel of Christ (Rom 15:19), the gospel of salvation (Eph 1:13), and the gospel of peace (Eph 6:15). One person can explain the gospel in a thousand different ways depending on the audience and the circumstances. Paul says there is one gospel (Gal 1:6-12), yet he speaks distinctly of the gospel he preaches among the Gentiles (Gal 2:2).
Clearly we must preach the gospel in a language our audience understands. We have to subscribe to the vocabulary that is already in their heads. Therefore, we can’t give them something entirely new. Furthermore, in order to be clearly understood, we have to take into account not only our audience’s vocabulary, but also their knowledge of history, and the theology that they understand. Just as God has given our audience the common grace of food to eat and air to breathe, he has also given them some common knowledge to work with. But the knowledge we have in common with different audiences will, of course, be different.
In order to share the gospel with a Muslim, our first task is to understand our audience. God has given them felt needs and existential cries, and he has put eternity on their hearts (Eccl 3:11). He has given them an experience of creation that gives some knowledge about the Creator, and he has also woven some of the stories of the prophets into the Qur’an, giving them a small taste of special revelation. There is a lot of common ground for us to build on as we seek to persuade Muslims to trust in Jesus rather than their own good works.
One important difference between you and most Muslims is the fact that you are someone who is reading a journal article, whereas Muslims tend towards functional illiteracy, because their prophet is said to have been illiterate and it is him they want to imitate. Also, their Qur’an is written in a style intended to be memorized rather than analysed. This inherent illiteracy in the mind of the Muslim means that their way of thinking is quite different. Additionally, in their rejection of idols and images, they tend to emphasize the transcendence of God, describing him as largely unknowable. Therefore they tend to focus less on theology and more on the practice of religion. This lack of theology and literacy means they tend to avoid abstract thought and instead tell stories using more concrete language, with much more involvement of emotions.
For cross-cultural reasons, directly telling someone the gospel point by point may be a little too direct. Indirect communication through story telling allows the audience to opt in or opt out of identifying with characters in the story, depending on their own conscience. With all of these things in mind, then, a helpful transition for the evangelist is to move away from the ‘gospel according to systematic theology’ and move towards a gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
It is valuable to see how the four biographical Gospels are oriented to their original audiences: Matthew is well known to have been written to Jews; tradition has it that Mark wrote down the teachings of Peter while he taught in Rome; Luke wrote to a wealthy, elite Gentile, known as Theophilus; and John probably wrote to Hellenistic Jews in Ephesus. I want to outline for you a way of looking at these stories with an audience-oriented approach: to hear, affirm and understand the audience (affirmation); to persuade them to a point of view (development); and to warn them not to return to their old views (warning). This isn’t the only way to read the Gospels, but in order to communicate the gospel to Muslims through story-telling, this structure is very helpful.
An audience-oriented structure to Matthew’s gospel for Jews
Matthew 1:1-7:29 Affirmation
Matthew’s Israelite audience probably understood Jesus to be Israel incarnate. He has the right genealogy, he comes up out of Egypt, he goes through the water, he spends time in the desert and he gives an ethical exhortation from a mountain. He is presented as someone who affirms everything that is Jewish.
Matthew 8:1-21:9 Development
Those weird Gentile Magi who worship Jesus in chapter 2 are followed by a leper in chapter 8, along with a Roman Centurion who calls him Lord. Jesus may be the ultimate Israelite, but the Jews were nothing of the sort (8:10-12). It is the Gentiles who receive Jesus properly, not the Jews. The first will be last and the last first.
Matthew 21:10-28:20 Warning
The Jews had Jesus crucified. We need to obey Jesus because Judgement Day is coming.
An audience-oriented structure to Mark’s gospel for Romans
Mark 1:1-6:13 Affirmation
The Roman audience probably understood Jesus to be the ultimate powerbroker, a true Emperor of Rome. He has power over everything and gathers people under him.
Mark 6:14-12:44 Development
But his predecessor is killed and Jesus withdraws and re-gathers. Jesus may be all-powerful, but every single other person is pathetic (you included). Peter plays the typical Roman and grapples with the concept of a crucified Christ.
Mark 13:1-16:8 Warning
Judgement is coming and everyone deserted Jesus or contributed to his death (and so would you).
An audience-oriented structure of Luke’s gospel for Theophilus
If Luke is read from an audience-oriented perspective, he also seems to have a flow or a structure in how he treats his audience. But instead of it being one long treatment, he cycles his audience through a rhetorical process. If you read Luke imagining you are a rich noble with a Greek name and background like Luke’s audience, Theophilus, Luke’s gospel then becomes a cyclic emotional roller-coaster of remorse, repentance and comfort. As Luke cycles through his ever more challenging treatment of his reader, the most striking thing to me is his transition from warning to affirmation at the start of each new cycle. It feels like Luke leads his reader to remorse and then comforts them into repentance. From my reading, the beginning of each cycle in Luke occurs at 1:1; 2:1; 3:21; 7:1; 9:28; 12:22; 15:1; 17:1; 18:35.
An audience-oriented structure of John’s gospel for Hellenistic Jews
John’s audience are probably Hellenistic Jews from Ephesus. Despite our lack of certainty about his audience, it is still quite clear that John also cycles through the same rhetorical flow, moving his audience into grief, followed by consolation, and then into grief, and so on. From my reading, the beginning of each cycle in John occurs at 1:1; 3:9; 6:1; 9:1; 10:40; 13:1; 19:38; 20:30.
Loving our audience
We are told to love God and love our neighbour. We can love God by faithfully transmitting his message, but we love our audience by showing them respect, affirming them, developing their thinking using common ground, and warning them against idolatry. Perhaps the most vivid way to do this would be to string together a panorama of stories about Jesus that you have memorized and that function to affirm, develop and warn your audience.
An author-anchored message
It goes without saying that we can’t share what we don’t know, and God gives each of us what we need at the right time by his Spirit. Don’t forget the power of personal testimony—it’s not an infantile method of sharing the gospel, it was Paul’s method of sharing the direct revelation he received from heaven right through his life (Acts 26, cf. Gal 1:12). His witness of the resurrected Messiah was the centrepiece of his entire ministry, and he often proclaimed it as a personal testimony.
Jesus testified to what he had seen and heard (Jn 3:32). John testified to what he had seen and heard (1 Jn 1:3). Mark probably wrote down Peter’s eyewitness. Matthew was also an eyewitness. Luke was the only one who wrote about Jesus as an historian, however his unique two-volume testimony to Jesus demonstrates that his gospel acted as a prequel to his own experiences with Paul (2 Tim 4:11), as documented in Acts. A friend of mine shared the gospel beautifully with one of my Muslim friends and immediately afterwards the Muslim asked him how it worked out for us. There is something more authentic and convincing when we share the gospel as a personal testimony.
God’s role
In evangelism, everything depends on God, and there is a lot that he does that we simply have no part in at all. The essential things for us are a relationship with God and prayer—acknowledging that it is his gospel and his work of salvation. There are cases when the gospel is proclaimed from wrong motives (Phil 1:15-18). I once had a man push his way into my group of friends. He wanted to impress one of the girls, so he did some walk-up evangelism in front of her, even though he did not believe the message. The girl was won over and I lost contact with them both, but a convert from this incident became my housemate a few days later. This simply proves God’s sovereignty. However, as we wish to serve him willingly, so we must prayerfully ask for and acknowledge God’s work in evangelism.
Our evangelism
We have a tough task sharing the gospel with Muslims, but God has been working in their lives already, and he can give us the right words if we depend on him. They are often repelled by the cross or the way we call Jesus the ‘Son of God’, but if we respect them and carefully orient the gospel to their way of thinking, we can overcome these hurdles. And if we remember the core message of the Messiah of the imminent judgement, we please God (and perhaps many Muslims).
*David’s surname is withheld to protect his ministry amongst Muslims.
Pingback: Christian News, August 5, 2012 PM
Hi David,
I have a couple of questions that your article posed for me.
1. You started by saying that a simplistic gospel message of sin, judgement, but grace through the death of Christ is something that Muslims would take offense to. You seemed to be saying that it is much better to avoid them taking offense to the gospel. While i believe we should do everything we can to explain the gospel in a Method that isn’t offensive, isn’t the Content of the gospel actually what IS meant to offend? In 1 Corinthians 1 Paul talks about always preaching the message of christ and him crucified to everyone. He knows that his one message (although perhaps explained differently) is very offensive to both Jews and Gentiles but to those who are chosen by God it is very attractive and excellent. So the offensive message of Christ crucified is actually the thing that divides believers and unbelievers. 1 Cor 1:22-25 says “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” How does this passage (and all of 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5) line up with your aim of trying to minimise listeners offense to the content of our gospel?
2. My second question surrounds the content of the gospel message that you called “the core message of the Messiah of the imminent judgment”. I’m not sure i exactly understand what you mean by it. Is it a gospel that is centered on Lord/Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection and God’s grace to save us from the imminent judgement through him?
And I’m asking these questions because i care about the gospel and care about sharing it with unbelievers. Not at all because i want to pick an argument. And i do appreciate you thinking practically about how to share the gospel with unbelievers and that it looks like that’s what you’re doing among muslims.
It has for a long seemed to me that the best summary of the evangelistic message is “Jesus is Lord”. The hearers are told that he died and rose again and as the risen Lord commands our allegiance and obedience. The fact that he rose from the dead of course starts with the premise that he died, but the meaning of his death is not necessarily (but can be) part of the evangelistic message. Wayne Grudem’s summary above leaves out a vital element- the living Lord.
I suppose what I am saying is that as I see it “Jesus is Lord” must be central to the message but I agree that there are different ways of presenting it to suit it to different audiences. It’s good to read of this ministry. I don’t think I could do it.
Sorry what did you mean by “It’s good to read of this ministry. I don’t think I could do it.”?
Regarding the rest of your comment:
Yeah ok i think i understand what you were saying better now. I definitely agree that proclaiming Jesus as Lord is central to the gospel and was lacking from Wayne Grudem’s gospel explanation.
I still have trouble seeing how we can proclaim Jesus as risen Lord without talking upfront about the forgiveness of sins through his name (that always seems to go hand in hand with gospel proclamation in Acts- eg Acts 2:16-36 Peter proclaims Jesus as Lord then in Acts 2: 38-39 he proclaims forgiveness of sins through him. Same pattern in Acts 3, 4, 10, 13…).
Are you saying that with the Muslims I/ we know we should be proclaiming Jesus as Lord and that it’s better that we don’t really emphasise forgiveness of sins in Christ?
Just to clarify for people – David Morrison in the comments is not the David* who wrote this article!
The line in the above comment “I suppose what I am saying is” refers to his previous paragraph, not to the article.
James- The reply doesn’t work (or at least I don’t know how)- I’ll reply here.
My comment about not being able to “do it” refers to the fact that I am not an evangelist and trying to be one to Muslims would seem to be beyond me. On the other hand if a Muslim asked me to give a “reason for the hope that is in me” I expect that I would say first that Jesus Christ is my Lord (or boss or similar term). Beyond that a conversation may unfold.
There is nothing in the verses in Acts 2 which indicate that forgiveness is because of Christ’s death. In Acts 17 Paul mentions Christ’s death only in the context of his being raised, not as a means of propitiation or expiation of sins etc. Forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed but the meaning of the crucifixion may be better left until the person is converted.
With all the theologians reading these comments, I’ll leave it there and duck!
Hi James
1) In answer to your first question about minimizing the offensiveness of the gospel, this is the end of the first paragraph that I submitted. (The editors clearly know their audience and have made the article respectful and affirming of their audience.)
“Overall, they feel accused and manipulated by this kind of logic.
We have to ask ourselves, “Is it the Biblical gospel that seems to always be offensive, or am I being offensive in the manner with which I tell it?” Let’s rethink our gospel for Muslims. There are at least four basic components in evangelism: The message, the audience, the author and the God who is sovereign over all. Let’s take some time to consider how to evangelize with respect to each of these components.”
2) In answer to your second question about the Lordship of Jesus as being central to the gospel, I agree (Romans 1:1-4) but not to the exclusion of forgiveness (Luke 1:77, 3:3, 24:47). Perhaps Lordship is for the lawless, and forgiveness is for the religious one who is weighed down, knowing they are guilty. When I was younger I used to spend a lot of time talking about what was and what was not central to the gospel. I found that Paul would often speak of David when he was presenting the gospel (2 Timothy 2:8), so I told people about Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise to David when I shared the gospel, I also tried to jam in any other Biblical Theology before I got interrupted. I discovered my audience had no idea about David or Abraham or any of the Bible passages I was quoting. Then I discovered how Paul varied his gospel message for different audiences. Please see the below paragraph that was left out of my article by our gentle and kind editor(s).
“One simple method of determining the way to preach the gospel differently to different audiences is to compare Paul’s message to Jews in Acts 13 and his message to Greeks in Acts 17, who were very different types of people. If we were to search for common tenets of the content of the gospel in these passages, and then build our own core gospel outline, we would find that there is not much in common with regard to content. One is built on salvation history, the other is built on a wisdom theology. One refences the Bible, the other references Greek poets. One emphasises justification and the other emphasises future judgment. Though the theological approaches are from two different categories, we can prescribe a common method from these sermons, even though the content is quite different. What they do have in common is their method of audience-orientation. In the table below we see that Paul affirms both audiences, persuades them to his point of view, and then warns them not to return to their old views.
Affirmation, Jewish Audience (Acts 13:16-22) You are a Chosen PeopleAffirmation, Greek Audience (Acts 17:22-23a) You are a Religious People
Development, Jewish Audience (Acts 13:23-27) You have a Chosen King
Development, Greek Audience (Acts 17:23b-28) God made us
Warning, Jewish Audience (Acts 13:38-41) Only Jesus Justifies
Warning, Jewish Audience (Acts 13:38-41) Do not make god
From this we see that we need to affirm their felt-needs, affirm something about them that is central and positive; Get their interest, develop the affirmation, pulling them away from idolatry into true worship. Use their own sources of authority as proofs and premises for your argument. Interpret to them their own experience, their own sacred texts and other testimonies to truth. Then warn them to leave idolatry and misplaced trust.
The approach is to go to where your audience is, bring them to your position and close the door behind them. We must actively listen, affirming the common grace given to our audience, showing them respect. Then we must lead them to more correct thinking and warn them against rejecting the message. My experience is that the audience’s expression begins with a smile, moves to a pensive frown, then to raised eyebrows. When I see these expressions, I know I have communicated successfully.
This comparison gives us an approach to evangelism that is not culturally bound, yet it prescribes gospel content that is enculturated.”
My hope for the article was to move on from discussing what is and what is not central to the gospel. (See the footnote referring to Broughton Knox’s Essay for a discussion on that topic). Let’s think more about how to share the gospel. I believed after I read the gospel of Matthew. Later I discovered an old sticker of a giraffe on my bedroom door with the words “Jesus is Lord” at the bottom. The sticker was given to me in a school scripture class and blended in with all the other stickers. Reading those three words “Jesus is Lord” never saved me, but reading the gospel of Matthew led to my salvation. Now, after reading about Jesus, that sticker is the only one left on my old bedroom door.
Hi David,
Thank you for this article. As someone about to be engaged in Muslim evangelism in a cross cultural setting full time, I’m appreciative of this discussion and am looking for as much input as possible.
I am intrigued by your four primary points, especially your first one. I find it a little surprising that you suggest emphasizing the immanent judgment of Jesus as the “core” gospel message. Is this because of the Islamic teaching in this area? Is this an attempt to engage the audience better; a commonality perhaps? Given that Muslims will almost unanimously agree with you that Jesus will return in judgment, how is it that your particular message is any different to their belief already? Could you expand on this a little for me- the practical outworking’s? Do you discuss the differences between Jesus’ judgment according to the Bible and those of the Hadith? How far do you go with this contextual model? How does this message bring them closer to trusting in Christ for salvation given they expect him to return in judgment even as Muslims?
I love the use of storytelling in evangelism, Muslim or otherwise- it’s a lost art form. And I also agree that personal testimony is effective, especially for Muslims who yearn for a God of Love and personal relationship. Sharing this with them is a powerful tool on our belt.
So just to reiterate, I’d ask you to expand for me how the core message of Jesus as judge is particularly effective in an Islamic situation. What nuances do you use to separate it from the Islamic perspective?
Many Blessings,
Mark Topping
Pingback: What I Read Online – 08/07/2012 (p.m.) | Emeth Aletheia
Hi Mark
Thanks for your response. I’m happy that you noticed that a core message of Judgement is actually not too far off what is preached again and again in the Qur’an. I’ve recently spent some time going through the Qur’an, and the hadith of Sahih Al-Bukhari and the theme of Judgement is large and I think it is beyond this comment section (and beyond me right now). I recommend asking a Muslim about judgement day, I’m sure one of them would love to tell you all about it. I make general reference to judgement at the beginning of conversations usually in response to their protest about Jews, America and the Western Economic Engine. I simply keep God’s Judgement and our corruption as central and I tend to work from an Adam Christology. The cross is perhaps the biggest distinction in our gospel. We know that the Gentile representatives along with the Jewish representatives conspired together to crucify the Messiah. The implications of the cross are clearly massive and it is our task to show them that they must deny self and take up their cross to escape the corruption of the world the consequent wrath of God.
I have had Muslims tell me that Jesus will return to judge but I will give you a more normal Muslim view of Judgement from my experience: Just recently after a Ramadan meal a man who is always trying to convert me to Islam was speaking to me so I quoted him some Scripture to explain a few things to him. He told me the verses I had quoted were corrupted. I laughed and asked him if he was a text critic and pulled a Greek-Hebrew Bible out of my bag to ask him when and where the word of God had been corrupted? He then started talking about Judgement Day and told me to see how it goes when I stand before Allah and tell him that he has a son. I asked him “How can you stand before Allah, Allah is everywhere isn’t he?” He told me that Allah can do these things even if I don’t understand how. I told him I did understand these things, I told him that “the Messiah is the visible representation of the invisible God and you will stand before the Messiah on the day of Judgement. (He looked thoughtful but confused) Who do you think was sitting on the throne above the waters (Qur’anic view of creation), Allah was sitting, you know what that means about him!” I was standing in front of the man looking at him in the eyes with my arms out like a cross. I began to explain the vision of the son of man to him and the eyes of the Messiah. He told me that I needed to see a psychiatrist.
If you are going to a cross cultural setting full time, I encourage you to think hard about the people you are reaching. This should take you years and years. The fact that you are reading ‘The Briefing’ tells me that you have already thought a lot about the gospel. There is a lot of variety in how the people of the world think. A simple way that I think about the people side of evangelism is to ask myself “What are they trusting in that is not trustworthy (idols), what do they already believe that should turn them away from idolatry, and what do they believe that I can totally affirm?” I see this approach to people in Scripture so I try and use it in evangelism.
To more directly answer your question, I think that the gospel of the Messiah of the Immanent Judgement is a statement of the core, unenculturated, uncontextualised, universal gospel (It is the eternal gospel for all people Revelation 14:6-7). Not just the gospel for Muslims. However I do not encourage people to spend their thoughts in this theological stratosphere. Instead we need to be asking ourselves what God wants to say to our unbelieving friends. A man came to me with domestic violence problems. For him the whole of the Bible and the whole gospel was all about peace and God’s reconciliation with man meaning reconciliation with each other through God become flesh. Others want a community and for them the whole Bible is about the Kingdom of God. For others justice is their felt-need and for them the whole Bible is about the coming Judgement. We have not been made to have knowledge for knowledge sake. God gives us knowledge for our own walk and ministry (Deuteronomy 29:29). So it is better to ask what the gospel is for our people rather than what is the universal gospel. The subject of what is core to the gospel does my head in and I would prefer to leave that topic to Broughton Knox (http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2007/04/what-is-the-gospel/)
Our ministry and our theology must grow together. I had a man who made a commitment to the Messiah after I presented the gospel sympathetically satisfying his felt needs and then turning him from sin. He was functionally illiterate, poor with the language, in poor health, with bad eyesight yet under 30 and when I told him Bible stories for discipleship he would forget the start of the story before the end came. For him, I made him memorize visions in Revelation. This also seems to be what God is doing on his own. Many Muslims I speak to have already seen a vision of the Messiah. John says that the message he has received and delivered is that God is light (1 John 1:5) I wonder if John thinks the gospel is the glory of God in Christ that shines in the darkness. This visual description of the gospel seems to be the starting point for most prophets (eg. Isaiah 6). I wonder if this is the universal gospel or perhaps John was preaching to Greek Gnostics with a dualistic view of the world, who thought in terms of light and darkness. I don’t know. I am simply more and more convinced that everyone needs to hear the gospel in a different way, in a way that gets to their heart yet is anchored in the Scripture.
Blessings
David
David
Your key argument appears to be that the reciting to Muslims of select biblical verses such as those identified by the author Wayne Grudem as the “facts of the gospel” is counterproductive and that it is better to “preach the gospel in a language that the audience understands……..by indirect communication through story telling…….”. You continue by suggesting that this be accomplished by the use of audience-oriented structured stories based around Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is not clear from what is said in the paragraphs relating to audience-oriented structures what this is or how it is to be accomplished.
The article references a work by DB Knox. In its full form this referenced work ‘The Gospel of the New Testament’ states that “The judgement of God through Jesus Christ was the message that the apostles preached…..Although it deals with the present, calling for a response now, it has an eternal dimension. It is startling news. Moreover it overlaps cultural divisions and requires no cultural reinterpretation for it quickly reaches the conscience of the hearer, whatever his culture. Indeed, it is impossible to re-interpret this message to fit the age. It is “an eternal gospel””.
You say that God has given Muslims “some knowledge about the Creator.” Perhaps then, (and bearing in mind what DB Knox says above) an appropriate approach to sharing the gospel with Muslims could be one based on Paul’s approach to speaking to the Areopagus (Acts 17:22-34). Is this what you are trying to say?
I find the statement regarding functional illiteracy of Muslims surprising given that in medieval Islam mathematics flourished. And it wasn’t just mathematics that flourished under Islam. What caused the change?
Also, functional illiteracy can lead to unquestioning acceptance of what the local Imam teaches, which is a shame as it is fairly easy to demonstrate that the logic underlying critical elements of Muslim theology are fatally flawed.
In summary, I found the article on evangelising Muslims to be somewhat confusing and suggest it would have benefited from editorial or peer review. This notwithstanding, I would encourage you to keep readers informed of your work.
John Ryan