Volf's Argumentative Analysis

Volf states that he is a committed christian (I am not disputing this) writing to Christians. However, arguing his thesis without the key component of salvation, it would seem counterintuitive for many Christians. First, Jesus is clear that He is the one and only way to salvation and that NO ONE can come to the Father except through Him (Jn. 14:6). It seems difficult to argue that one can come to the Father via a detour. However, Volf seems to suggest that worshipping God does not necessitate the need for a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This ultimately deprives both Muslims and Christians of their unique claims for their purpose of believing and worshipping God. No one in their right state of mind would believe and worship God as a recreational
activity. There are some profound truths that lead people to believe and worship God. For Christians it is the promise and the redemptive work of Christ that lead us to worship and obey God’s commands. Nevertheless, Volf’s argument is a noble one, as Christians we are called to love our neighbor and live in peace together. However, it is my conviction that Christians should not compromise their doctrinal beliefs for the sake of making others happy. Volf’s main argument that Muslims and Christians worship the same God is based on the pragmatic issue that both religions love God and neighbor has a myriad of weaknesses.
First, Volf states that one cannot truly love God without loving our neighbor. Furthermore, he elevates the love for neighbor with that to the love for God (102). If one is to love neighbor on the equal plains of loving God, this would constitute idolatry. We do not love God because we love our neighbor, we love God because God first loved us. Since God first loved us, we love God and because we love God we love our neighbor. John describes love in the most coherent manner “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10). Therefore, it should logically follow that those who are loved by God through God’s Son are capable of truly loving thy neighbor. It is hardly loving thy neighbor to allow them to continue their lives in unbelief and not speaking the truth and bringing them to the faith in
Christ. Finally, Volf’s attempt to bring about peace between these two religions by arguing that both religions worship the same God is almost a negation of Christ’s great commission (Matt.
28:18-20). We are called to make disciples, baptize and teach people about the great news of the Gospel, not to allow them to continue in their unbelief. Paul when writing his systematic theology in his letter to the Romans, he turns to the practical applications for all believers. First, he exhorts us that we are to give our whole selves to God as an act of worship (12:1-2), then he goes on and describes how believers are to love one another in the household of God (12:3-13). Finally, he closes with how we are to treat the unbelievers. Paul is clearly stating in chapter 12 of Romans that love is in fact discriminatory. We are not to love the world the same way as we are to love God (Rom 8:7; 1 Jn 2:15; James 4:4). The most loving thing we as christians can do for our neighbor is to preach the Gospel and share the love of
Christ.