이슬람권에서 기독교적 종교교육의 방법

Abstract

Islam makes up around 20% of the world‘s population. Muslims are the fastest growing major religious group, largely as a result of high birth rate. To this, many Christians respond in a negative way, considering it as a challenge or a threat of the Muslims to Christians. For example, they think of Islam in a purely negative way, encouraged perhaps by mass media emphasis on the horrors perpetrated by the Middle Eastern terrorists or on the armed conflicts among the area. As a result, any attempt made to share their faith with individual Muslims may be expressed in terms so negative and aggressive that the natural response of the Muslims is to close their ears and their hearts. Mostly, it is the one who bear witness to the Muslims, are to be blamed. For they were in lack of sharing the meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in a sense that Muslims could understand from their worldview and language. Thus, it is the task of the one who brings the good news to the Muslims, to make understood the meaning of the Gospel in the boundary of Islamic cultural settings. Christians who seek to bring the good news of the Gospel to Muslims, in language they can understand, and in a way that reflects God's love, need to have accurate knowledge of Muslim belief and practice. It is to understand where Muslims are coming from spiritually and to consider some ideas as to how to share the love of Christ with them. This is based on the example of Jesus Christ who walked the way of the cross to show the love of God to us. This is the good news we want to share with the Muslims by walking the way of the cross. Then, what does it mean to walk the way of the cross in all our thinking about Islam and our relating to Muslims? Walking the way of the cross in our relationships with Muslims will mean following the example of the one who was willing to cross barriers of race, class, sex and religion, in order to meet people where they were in joy, their pain and their need. Walking the way of the cross in understanding Islam will mean trying to get inside the mind and heart of Islam. Our desire will not be to judge or condemn, but to sit where they sit, and to show that words such as identification and empathy can be more than easy slogans. Walking the way of the cross in discussion and dialogue will mean patient and attentive listening, which understands the words and appreciates the total worldview and the feelings that they express. Walking the way of the cross in our witness will mean testifying as best as we can how it is 'in the face of Christ' that we see 'the light of the knowledge of the glory of God'. Finishing this thesis, I felt the need of more understanding based on the current information about Islam. I myself relied on the articles which were mostly out of date. Nevertheless, I expect that these small attempts to reach the Muslims will grow and bear abundant fruits in the soon coming future.