Christian vs. Muslim ... a chance to learn
April 1, 2011
The Bonners Ferry Peace Group welcomes Pastor Steven Benson, Christ Lutheran Church, Libby, Montana, to Bonners Ferry at 7 p.m. Friday, April 15, for a presentation on "A Window into the World of Islam."

Appropriately, it's taking place upstairs at Visitor's Center.

Pastor Benson has practical experience that he will share in Muslim-Christian relations, having minstered in Africa, Asia and North America. In addition to his Master of Divinity in Christian ministry, he has also earnd a Master of Arts degree in Islamic studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from the Duncan Black McDonald Institute of Islamic Studies in Hartford, Connecticut.

He served two years in Cairo, Egypt, before serving four more years on the teaching staff at the Henry Martyn Institute of Islamic Studies in Hyberabad, India, where he taught Islamic history and theology, methodology for the comparative study of religions, and beginning Arabic.

He's published several scholarly articles about Islam and inter-faith relations in a number of academic journals.

With the United States prosecuting three wars in predominantly Muslim nations, the news and entertainment media are flooded with images of Muslim people that often seem strange and frightening. Political agendas are often colored by religious language, and it's difficult to distinguish between rumor and reality.

Pastor Benson, drawing on his years of study and, more importantly, his years of personal encounter with people of the Muslim faith on three continents, offers a clear and unique insight to create a bridge of understanding and a sense of commonality between the Christian, Jewish and Muslim worlds.

Using elements of Muslim scripture and tradition, Pastor Benson will bring an understanding of the world as seen through the eyes of a Muslim. He will delve into the history of religion on society, shaping how people live together in society. He'll show the common battle between good and evil professed by all religions, but as framed in the Islamic world, helping people of all faiths understand the seemingly insuperable dichotomy that exists between seemingly disparate faiths.

In discovering the roots of Muslim social concerns, Pastor Benson will explore the fundamental nature of the struggle between good and evil as seen through Islamic eyes, and help bring an understanding and constructive interaction between their faith and politics and ours, and help show that the differences we might see as insuperable are in truth a mere arm's reach apart. In the reaching out to one another other might come understanding.

Pastor Benson's presentation is expected to last about an hour, but the question and answer period following my go on for a good while.

Admission is free and everyone is invited.

To find out more about this event or the Bonners Ferry Peace Group, call Jerry Pavia at (208) 267-7374.