For Shame - Wheaton Alumni Defend Chrislam Professor

The debate rages on about Wheaton Colleges decision to fire a controversial associate political science director who said Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and it now appears she has the support of a group who was named by the Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism funding case.

Dr. Larycia Hawkins caused a stir recently during the Christmas season when she posted a pair of photos of herself on Facebook wearing a hijab, a traditional covering that women in Muslim countries are forced to wear on pain of death. For instance, several years ago young women in a burning building in Saudi Arabia were not allowed out because they were not wearing their hajibs and as a result, were burned to death. 

Although the hajib raised eyebrows because many said it represents oppression of women, Wheaton said that is not the reason she was fired. Rather, it was because of comments she made suggesting that one of the key tenets of Christianity is not a big deal. 

Hawkins stated, "I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book," Hawkins asserted. "And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God."

The claim is ridiculous on its face because one of the foundational truths of Christianity is not just the Trinity, but that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. The first chapter of John makes this very plain when it says "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Paul also affirmed this when he said "God was manifest in the flesh." If that were not enough, Luke recorded in Acts 20:28 that the blood shed on Calvary was Gods blood. Never mind that Jesus said He was the I AM of the Old Testament.

While a person is certainly free to believe what they want, the idea that a professor at a conservative evangelical college should be allowed to hold a position while espousing such heresy while insulting Jesus Christ is the height of insanity. 

Yet, what is amazing is that rather than be outraged over the heretic in their midst, Wheaton alumni are instead taking out their anger on their alma mater. Hundreds of Wheaton alumni have threatened to withhold future donations if the college doesn't rescind its decision to fire Hawkins. In addition, the college's faculty council has unanimously agreed to ask administrators to change their mind.

If that were not enough, the Council on Arab Islamic Relations (CAIR), issued a statement backing up Hawkins, saying that Christians, Jews and Muslims all worship Allah.

"From an Islamic perspective, there is only one deity worshiped by Muslims, Christians and Jews," CAIR's national executive director Nihad Awad explains. "In fact, the Muslim declaration of faith (shahada) states: 'There is no god but God.'"

Awad goes on to explain that this God is not Jesus but Allah.

"'Allah' is merely the Arabic translation for 'God,'" Awad observes, and "all Arabic-speaking Christians refer to 'Allah' in their prayers."

In the Holy Land Foundation case, the organization, which was once the largest Muslim chapter in the United States before being convicted of funneling funds to Hamas, CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator. The group has also been designated a terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates. 

Awad is being disingenuous at best when he says we worship the same God because CAIR knows good and well that Muslims don't believe in the Trinity.

A better question that could be asked is this: do Christians and Muslims both have a correct understanding of who God is? The Biblical God alone addresses and solves the problem of sin by giving His Son.  Muslims reject the idea of God sacrificing His son for our sins and find the idea of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us abhorrent.

In Islam, Allah has no son and, therefore, Christians cannot know God as Allah. In this light, Muslims and Christians not only use different names for God; in reality, these different names refer to different gods whose very nature is different at every level.

Anyone claiming the two faiths worship the same God has no place teaching in the classroom at an evangelical Christian college. If Hawkins is so sure she is right then let her go to a Muslim mosque or school and proclaim that Jesus is God, the great I AM, King of Kings and LORD of Lords. After all, if she is right then the Muslims should not have any problem with this. 

I won't hold my breath.