Posted on 11/04/2015 11:52:08 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Protestant pastors are increasingly polarized about Islam, as a growing share label the Muslim faith violent while a sharply rising minority calls it spiritually good.
Although a majority considers Islam dangerous, a small but increasing segment believes Islam is similar to Christianity, according to a new survey by Nashville-based LifeWay Research.
Two-thirds of Protestant pastors agree Christianity and Islam should seek to coexist in America.
The softening of some pastors' views toward Islam is a key finding of a LifeWay Research survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors. Seventeen percent of pastors characterize Islam as similar to Christianity, nearly double the 9 percent from five years earlier. Although views shifted in both directions, positive opinions rose more significantly.
The American public, meanwhile, is twice as likely as pastors to see common ground between Islam and Christianity. In a parallel survey of 1,000 Americans, more than a third say the two faiths are similar.
"To understand the data, you have to understand that Protestant pastors are not of one mind," said Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research, "And minds are changing in more than one direction."
Shifting Views
While more than 8 in 10 Protestant pastors say Islam is fundamentally different from Christianity, just as they did in 2010, minority viewpoints are increasing, LifeWay Research finds.
Compared to five years ago, pastors are much more likely to describe Islam in favorable terms. Fifty percent say Islam promotes charity, up from 33 percent. Significant numbers also describe Islam as spiritually good (32 percent, up from 19 percent), tolerant (24 percent, up from 16 percent) and open (22 percent, up from 12 percent.)
Negative opinions are also on the rise, although the shift is less dramatic. A slim majority considers Islam dangerous (52 percent, up from 44 percent). Almost half say Islam promotes violence (49 percent, up from 42 percent) and is spiritually evil (46 percent, up from 39 percent).
Stetzer explained, "Some mainline pastors and a few evangelicals are answering questions in a more positive way, while some evangelicals and a few mainline Protestants are trending in a negative way. But the biggest move is in the smallest percent—and is in a more positive direction."
The surveys allowed pastors to choose positive and negative terms to describe Islam, and pastors chose more of both this year than they did in LifeWay Research's survey five years ago. Fewer pastors opted for "none of these."
In the most pointed increase, 53 percent of pastors say Islam is "relevant today," an opinion held by only 28 percent five years earlier.
"It only makes sense that Islam is relevant today—it's on the evening news regularly. What's perhaps most interesting is that the majority of that coverage is negative, but some pastors still evidence a more positive perception," said Stetzer.
"Furthermore, it is worth noting that while pastors appear to be increasingly familiar with Islam, the same large majority recognizes unmistakable differences between Islam and Christianity" said Stetzer.
Moving Apart
Evangelical and mainline pastors hold divergent opinions about Islam. Most self-identified evangelical ministers view it as a violent and dangerous faith, while most self-identified mainline pastors associate it with peace, love and compassion.
The gap has widened in the past five years.
Fifty-two percent of evangelical pastors today characterize Islam as spiritually evil (up from 44 percent), while only 32 percent of mainline pastors agree, a rate unchanged from five years ago.
Conversely, almost half of mainline pastors call Islam spiritually good (47 percent, up from 35 percent). Fewer than 1 in 4 evangelical pastors share that opinion (24 percent, up from 16 percent).
Evangelical pastors increasingly say Islam is dangerous (59 percent, up from 50 percent) and promotes violence (54 percent, up from 49 percent), while mainline pastors' views on those terms are little changed. In contrast, growing numbers of mainline pastors say Islam is tolerant (35 percent, up from 25 percent) and open (30 percent, up from 18 percent), while evangelical pastors' agreement with those terms rises only slightly.
Asked which of two well-known descriptions is closer to their beliefs, 59 percent of evangelical pastors choose evangelist Franklin Graham's characterization of Islam as "a very evil and a very wicked religion," while 51 percent of mainline pastors choose former President George W. Bush's comment, "the Muslim faith is based upon peace and love and compassion."
"While these quotes are hardly new, they still embody opposite perspectives held by different theological groups of Christian leaders," said Stetzer.
Americans' Views
Though pastors don't see eye to eye on Islam, an even larger chasm divides them from the American public.
While 83 percent of Protestant pastors believe Islam is fundamentally different from Christianity, only 44 percent of Americans agree. Almost as many Americans (34 percent) consider the two faiths similar.
Overall, Americans tend to be more sympathetic than pastors toward Islam. They are less likely than both mainline and evangelical pastors to view Islam as dangerous, violent or spiritually evil.
But for most Americans, Islam isn't a black-and-white issue, LifeWay Research finds. Their uncertainty is evident throughout the survey.
While 31 percent of Americans say Islam is tolerant, almost as many (26 percent) say it promotes violence. Equal numbers find Islam to be dangerous and open (29 percent each).
Not a single characteristic—positive or negative—gains agreement from a majority, and 13 percent of Americans remain entirely undecided, choosing "none of these."
Americans are also unsure whether Christians and Muslims pray to the same God—46 percent say yes, while 47 percent say no.
-- Lisa Cannon Green is senior writer for Facts & Trends magazine.
Not true...I can name hundreds who promote Chrislam, including the leader of Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis! Since he is the Vicar of Christ, he speaks for all the hundreds of thousands of priests...
Or to put it differently, that taught like Jesus did. People are going to tell you that you are mean sometimes when you do that.
You have to have a church to be a pastor. And these “pastors,” one way or another, won’t have a church to be “pastor” of.
I would say that it is highly unlikely.
If Christians and Muslims pray to the same God then God must suffer from multiple personality disorder and Christians and Muslims pray to different personalities of God.
The Muslims pray to the psychopathic killer personality and the Christians pray to the loving, caring and compassionate personality
Going for superficiality (stuff you can do yourself to supposedly get right with God) rather than genuinely looking for the heart of God (which will graciously stoop to your need and then bless you, if you let yourself be humbled to that point) is going to go that way. We don’t need to go around screaming with our hair on fire about this being a new attitude in the churches. Islam’s involvement may be new, but this kind of attitude would go for a potpourri of non-Christian faiths.
That’s pure bullshit.
what did pure bs ever do to deserve the comparison
It seems like the elites in the west are trying the “submit” option. They are probably hoping that Islam will just go away by the time they actually start having to answer the call to prayer 5 times a day.
They are nothing alike. Islam, like ALL other religions, believes you can work your way to heaven. Christianity is the ONLY religion wher you are saved by grace, specifically by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to atone for the sins of all mankind.
“Growing Number of Pastors Believe Christianity and Islam Are Similar”
Big Media and the leftist freaks tell us God and allah are the same all the time.
Of course, King Hussein of America and his thugs insist on calling Jerusalem al-quds.
LOL true
Are they off their rockers? They are nuts.
Christian faith (and the private revelations that preceded it in the context of Jewish understanding) is the only one that gives you the promise first.
Which is way too easy to take lightly. When you’ve fallen into the hands of the living God insistent on keeping a promise to destine you to get right, the results can be “terrible” in the old sense of terrifying. If you did not fear God before, you’ll fear Him at the end of it.
And yet God somehow works this such that at the end you are willing with all your heart — this is not a game of passive puppet strings. It’s a perspective beyond our mortal ken.
If I were living there now I’d know what church to attend!
I would guess that PC(USA) and the ELCA would be at the top of the list.
All could have bright spots and dark spots among individual congregations. You can pack a person full of theology and yet he still could be giving you baloney about his belief. Few denominations try to fathom the personal relationship of a would-be pastor with Christ; it is very difficult to do that without long knowing the person unless he gives off glaring signs of having gone south. (Mouthing a good game on the spot proves nothing.)
Years ago I did a line-by-line comparison of the Christian faith (”Christianity” = “Christ” plus “vanity” = false religion) and on every item Islam is the exact and perfect opposite of the Christian faith.
The Christian Faith vs Islam
____________________________________
Substitutionary Sacrifice of Christ vs Sacrifice of others
Love, Humility vs Hate, Pride
Love enemies, others vs. Destroy enemies, others
Method: lay down lives for others vs Preserve self, kill others
I could go on for a long time, but you get the idea. Anyone blind to this does not know God. It’s that simple.
Satan is a great deceiver
Idiots. Sharia law is in direct contradiction to the western way of life. It is therefore impossible to “coexist”.
IDIOTS; islam is a political system, NOT A RELIGION.
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