Presiding bishop responds to Muslim leaders
Posted by Robert Fisher on October 19, 2007
Commands to love God and one’s neighbor flow through the sacred writings of Christians, Jews and Muslims, and people of all faiths can “read the beauty of these passages found in the sacred texts of the Abrahamic faiths, which signify God’s vision for how and whom we love in a broken world,” ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson wrote in response to an Oct. 11 letter sent to him and several global Christian leaders by 138 Muslim leaders from throughout the world.
The 29-page open letter, “A Common Word Between You and Us,” calls for Muslims and Christians to work more closely together for peace.
“Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population,” the Muslim leaders wrote. “Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians. The basis for this peace and understanding already exists.”
“I receive this letter in the sincere expression of faithfulness intended by its drafters, and with the hopeful expectation for peace that calls to us from the origins of our sacred texts and professions of faith,” wrote Hanson, who is president of the 60-million member Lutheran World Federation. “I encourage prayer and planning for communities of justice, peace, and security where Muslims, Jews, and Christians draw from these origins as from essential wells of living water.”
