Thursday, May 25, 2017

"Agree with thine adversary quickly" - Islam and the Kingdom of God



In the National Diet (Parliament) Building, Tokyo

Islam and the Kingdom of God

One of big differences between Christianity and Islam is the scope of governance by the religion.

In Christianity, the separation between the worldly power and the Heavenly power is assumed.  Emperors and kings of European countries govern politically their nations, but the Vatican or Christian churches govern spiritually peoples.  But in Islam, the words of the Koran and the teachings of God revealed in the Koran govern politically and spiritually all the Muslims in any Islamic nations.

However, in Christianity, the Kingdom of God should be governed politically and spiritually by words of God and teachings by God.  But, of course, no Christians would admit that Islamic society is a kind of the Kingdom of God.

In the modern times, the Christian countries and especially Western nations have almost completely separated the domain of science and technology from the domain of religion and faith based on the traditional concept of profane and sacred.  Science and technology have become great sources of modern material wealth.  And as development of science can be pursued without limit, material wealth can be pursued without limit.  Therefore Western commercialism, a framework for  pursuance of wealth, is expanding even over religious barriers.  Commercialism is arousing lust in people in a boundless manner.  Accordingly, the domain of religion and faith has dwindled.

On the other hand, Islamic societies have strong restriction in development of science and technology and pursuance of material wealth.  Economy and trade must be subject to the Koran.  So, there is always force to check the way of development of science and technology linked to lustful commercialism.

But if Muslims see economic success of the Christian world or the Western world, they must feel frustrated.  But they cannot blame God only because Islamic societies have fallen behind the Western world in terms of success of expansion of material wealth.  So, some Muslims might blame the Western world, because Westerners are pursuing material wealth while neglecting restriction set by God or the Koran.  It may look a kind of envy to the eyes of the Westerners, but those provoked Muslims have a religious background.

So, in the worst case, this situation would result in the so-called Islamic terror on the Western world.  And the situation has deep roots.

To address this problem, Christians have to review their separation between sacred and profane, since Christ Jesus never formulated such a rule but He encouraged acceptance of the Kingdom of God.



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Mat 5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.