Do Adventists and Muslims Share Commonalities?
I googled “connection between Adventism and Islam” and got some disturbing hits. Most of them were actually Adventist websites.They seemed to be touting the commonalities between the two religions and encouraging the pursuit of those and of some form of cooperation between the two.
Do you know anything about this trend? I didn’t know anything about it when I was an Adventist growing up. I would really appreciate your perspective on this.
Thank you for all you do.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: Thank you for writing. Yes, indeed, the Adventists have been reaching out to the Muslims for the past three-ish decades, at least. Adventist evangelism to Islam focusses on their commonalities, their mutual reverence for the Torah and for the clean and unclean food laws. In an interview I conducted in the mid-90s with the then-director of Adventist-Islamic Relations, he told me that they teach Muslims who Jesus is, and then they tell them they do not have to stop being Muslims to believe in Jesus—they just now know who He is. And they teach them to observe the Sabbath. Of course that act is divisive, but they don’t have to deny Islam.
I am attaching a couple of links to articles from the Adventist Review on Adventism and Islam. The first one is a reprint of an article by the late William Johnsson, written in 2010, that is very telling: he would rather have been known as an Adventist (to Muslims) than as a Christian. The second article is also from Adventist Review and is by Paul Dybdahl and Gabriela Phillips and is entitled “Adventists and Muslims: A guide to engagement” written in December, 2022.
Ten Commandments: A Sign of God’s Character
Miss Tinker are the Ten Commandment a sign of God’s character? If so, why would you not want to keep them? Also, if we make void the law, how would you know what sin is? What does it mean when they say we establish the law?
—VIA YOUTUBE
Response: The Ten Commandments are never called a “sign of God’s character”. Rather they ARE called the very “words of the covenant” (Exodus 34:27 28—and that means the Mosaic covenant). They were given on Mt. Sinai for Israel, and they came 430 years AFTER God’s covenant promises to Abraham (Galatians 3:17), and they were in force “until the Seed” (Galatians 3:19). The Ten Commandments were for Israel.
The New Covenant in Jesus’ blood has a new law: the Law of Christ. Because God is the source of law, the moral principles of law are the same. That’s why the New Testament has many of the same commandments as those in the Ten Commandments. But the law is different. The Sabbath, for example, is never commanded in the New Testament but is explained to be fulfilled in Christ. The Sabbath was never universal but was a SIGN for Israel of God’s faithfulness to provide for His people.
Hebrews 7:12 tells us that with a change of the priesthood comes a change of the law: we have a new High Priest: the Lord Jesus. The new covenant is in His blood, not in a two-way covenant with Israel. We now have Jesus, and without the levitical priesthood, the Ten Commandments can’t even be in effect! When Paul says we establish the law, he is speaking contextually: the law did what it was given to do: it pointed out sin; it delivered a death sentence for sin, and it was a shadow of what the Lord Jesus would do (Romans 3:20, 21 and Hebrews 10:1).
Paul wasn’t saying we establish the law as authoritative for US. He was saying we establish its intended function: it revealed that sinners must die, and only blood could satisfy God’s demand for atonement. Jesus came and fulfilled ALL of what the Law established and pointed out. It prepared Israel to recognize their Messiah when He came—but they refused to believe on the whole. Yet He came and fulfilled the law’s shadows and established a new covenant in His blood. We now live by the Spirit when we believe—not by the law. We have the living law actually living IN US when we are born again. †
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