Earlier this week I released a bonus article on Andrew Tate, his effect on young men, and how we as Christians ought to respond. You can check that out by clicking on this link.

When I began working on this series, about which books protestants should read from a largely unexplored 1200-year period, the main question in my mind, was:

“Which books have had the most profound effect on the Church, for good or for ill?”

Whilst I will be focussing on Christian literature for the rest of this series, it is impossible to cover this period without taking the Qu’rān into serious consideration. To be clear, this article isn’t titled, “I read the Qu’rān so you don’t have to!” but rather, “Reading the Qur'ān as a Christian and a Protestant.” I want you to read the Qu’rān for yourself1. We protestants are famous—or perhaps infamous—for being at the forefront of reacting to cultural trends; Earlier this week I “reacted”, for example, to the Andrew Tate phenomenon. Whilst Tate will soon be long-forgotten, and his reach isn’t huge from a global-historical point of view, the Qu’rān has close to two billion adherents in the world right now—not to mention billions affected indirectly. The historical influences of the Qu’rān in culture, theology and philosophy are undeniable, not to mention the fact that the temple mount, arguably the most geographically important place in Biblical/redemptive history, is currently host not to a temple, synagogue, or church, but a Mosque.

Explaining how to read the Qu’rān in a single article is no simple task. In addition, as Christians, we have to reckon with the Qu’rān’s polemic nature (Polemic: a critique, or strong argument against a world-view), as it was written specifically against Judeo-Christian values and both Judaism and Christianity themselves. Please read it slowly, and carefully, with the following points in mind, which I hope will aid you in doing so well.

Where you live, your experiences and the make-up of your church could influence how important you feel this book is, but imagine for a second that you heard a book had sold two billion copies overnight. Would you be intrigued?

Share

“Whatever verse We2 cancel or cause to be forgotten, We bring a better (one) than it, or (one) similar to it. Do you not know that God is powerful over everything?”

Al-Baqara (The Cow) 2:106

Whether you know it or not, we are stuck in the middle of a reboot renaissance right now. From terrible sequels, no one asked for like the horrendous recent Avatar film, soft reboots like Ghostbusters, or more obvious rewrites like Anne with an E or Wednesday. What many of these have in common is an odd relationship with the source material they’re drawn from. Many commentators on a recent spin-off of Scooby-Doo called ‘Velma’ suggested that the creators were even antagonistic towards the original series—not to mention that Scooby-Doo doesn’t even feature in the show… which is a bold choice. These changes are often made in order to change or modernise, the contents of the source material in order to be more palatable for a modern audience, or even preach a new message foreign, or contrary in nature, to the original book, movie, or TV show.

Reading the Qu’rān I found myself with similar feelings of discontinuity. Whilst the Qu’rān claims to be a successor to the Torah and the Gospel3 if you've read much or anything of the Bible, you'll find yourself scratching your head at almost every call back to the Scriptures. Though an argument could be made that this is similar to Midrash (A form of exegesis by Jewish scholars which expounds on the Scriptures through narrative4); this argument doesn’t hold up though when taking into account the significant alterations made to the Bible in the Qu’rān. Though this is jarring, and taken at face value might seem like an argument against the validity of Qu’rānic authority, the Qu’rān itself addresses these alterations. Scholars call this Abrogation, which is a legal term, meaning to repeal. Abrogation is what occurred not long ago in the States to the laws formed following Roe vs. Wade. These laws became subject to “Abrogation” or in other words, the laws were repealed. Abrogation in the Quran, however, doesn’t refer to just repealing Biblical laws/commands but also to alterations to historical/biblical accounts, the gospel5, as well as who Jesus is6. It is clear from the sixteenth Sūra that criticisms of this practice have been common throughout history, it reads:

“When We exchange a verse in place of (another) verse — and God knows what He sends down — they say, “You are only a forger!” No! But most of them do not know (anything).”

An-Naḥl (The Bee) 16:101

The message of the Qu’rān—which Muslims believe was recited7 to Muhammed by the angel Jibril (or Gabriel), is different to the Bible by design, but what this verse from An-Naḥl doesn’t tell us is the second reason for these changes. Muslim apologists will often raise an allegation that while the Qu’rān does certainly abrogate what has come before, that any major issues between the Qu'rān and the Bible are as a result of corruption within the Bible itself—though it's unclear when these alterations would have occured. This is worth keeping in mind when speaking with Muslim friends; pointing out the differences between the Bible and the Qu’rān is unlikely to have much effect because the differences in the Qu'rān have been defended on multiple fronts. For us as Christians though, this makes reading the Qu’rān, and accepting it as scripture—or even as being delivered to Muhammed by Gabriel—impossible. Calvin sums up why in his commentary on Galatians:

“It is impossible, no doubt, for angels from heaven to teach anything else than the certain truth of God.”

John Calvin Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians

I raise this because I found this the most difficult element of Qu’rān as at points I was bewildered by the discontinuity, not only from the Bible to the Qu’rān but also within the Qu’rān itself.8

The obvious argument some might levy against Christians disagreeing with these changes is that they believe the New Testament makes changes itself with regard to the Old Testament.
Jesus himself dispels that, saying:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 5:17–20.

This fulfilment presents in a variety of ways but it is clear that where some have claimed the New Testament seems to repeal the Old Testament, it instead either bolsters the original intent of the law9 or renders certain laws unnecessary because the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus1011. If you would like a fuller explanation, please leave a comment to let me know, and I’ll work on that.

Leave a comment

Finally, as protestants, we have a rich history of retrieving historical theology and returning to Church tradition and teaching which the years sought to erode. We have often been rightfully accused, however, of rejecting our catholicity and large parts of our catholic heritage. Note, I don’t say Catholic here, but catholic—not “Roman”, but “universal.” We must not think that the protestant reformation or even our particular denomination—or “non”-denomination—is the “true” representation of the Church. To do so would be to be no different than the adherents of the Qu’rān who themselves claim to be the true remnant of the people of God. We must be universal as protestants, not universalists—we believe in the sole authority and exclusivity of Christ—but we must accept that we are not the arbiters of truth within the church. We have other Christian brothers and sisters around the world from different traditions and churches, and we must join together under the umbrella of theological orthodoxy, even if we disagree on some minor points. Reading the Qu’rān should be a stark lesson for us against claiming authority which is not ours to claim.
The reformation is not a third testament, but a call to return to the two true testaments.

“What is with you fails, but what is with God lasts and We shall indeed pay those who are patient their reward for the best of what they have done. Whoever does righteousness—whether male or female—and he is a believer—We shall indeed give him a good life, and We shall indeed pay them their reward for the best of what they have done.”

An-Naḥl (The Bee) 16:96-97

With the narratives and polemics removed, the Qu’rān is largely a book of laws, most of which are either based on the Old Testament laws, adding clauses or removing protections12, and then some which are analogous to contemporary regional laws. In the Christian tradition, it is largely accepted that there are three uses of the Law for us today, first that it would reflect our shortcomings and highlight our need for grace, secondly in civil cases—either as national laws or as a basis for them—and then thirdly, to help guide us in the way we ought to live as Christians.13

On reflection upon the laws in the Qu’rān, two of these three uses of the law cannot carry over into our understanding of the Qu’rānic laws. The second use, for civil peace, is obviously a known element of the Muslim faith, with articles coming out all the time with varying statistics which suggest anywhere between 20% and 70% of Muslims support bringing in Sharia Law (Islamic Law), and that Sharia Councils exist throughout the UK14. I would like to suggest that whenever I see the statistics cited; I’m surprised and shocked that the numbers of Muslims who want Sharia law in the UK aren’t higher! In fact, I think there is a good argument to be made that 100% of practising Muslims should want this law, not that I agree with it, but because if you asked me—or other practising Christians—whether I would like the law of the land to be based on Christian values, of course, I would say yes. That said, I would make sure when reading the Qu'rān for yourself to make a careful comparison, wherever possible, to Biblical laws, commands, principles, and ethics. I have wrestled with whether or not to do an exhaustive comparison of one or more laws from the Qu'ran here, but I think on reflection that would be unwise, though others have done so to greater effect. What I will say is that we mustn't begrudge others in our country for wanting to adhere to this law themselves—to do so would be proof that we harbour malice against them, something the Qu'rān repeatedly accuses us of—but also that when reading the laws in the Qu'rān we must be cognisant of the fact that there are people around the world currently living under these laws who are not Muslim.

Finally, these laws, rather than reflecting our brokenness and revealing our need for grace, reveal in some their own self-righteousness and promise of reward15 but promise no grace in the end. As a “sucessor” to the Bible, we might falsely assume that salvation plays a similar role within the Muslim faith, but on a close inspection of the text, you’ll find not only a return to the law, but a law without redemption, and with little space for forgiveness16. I will refrain from talking about civil justice here, but I would suggest that in your own reading, this would be at the forefront of your mind, especially with regard to Christians.

Laws are not a bad thing in and of themselves. Unfortunately, laws sometimes come in which aren’t just or are corrupted over time, but we mustn’t think when we read laws which are either unjust or confuse us that this casts a long shadow over the laws of the Old Testament or the commands of the new. In addition, we must be extra careful in this case not to transfer our understanding of Qu’rānic laws back into the Biblical Laws, in fact, we must be diligent in making sure this does not happen.

Subscribe now

I could, as you might well imagine, write ten times more on this subject, and perhaps one day I will, but for now, these two major elements are the main ones I suggest you look out for in your own reading of the Qu’rān. As a final word, however, as a general rule, there are three major elements of any given Sūra in the Qu’rān, which repeat in various ways:

1. Polemics - Criticism of Christianity, Judaism, or some other worldview

2. Narrative - Usually Biblical to some extent, local/cultural, or apocryphal (i.e. the Book/Gospel of Thomas)

3. Laws

These are not always obviously connected and books will zigzag between subjects sometimes without explanation. I wouldn’t take too much time to try and reconcile these in your mind, but I would recommend picking up Gordon D. Nickel’s Qu’rān with Christian Commentary, as he brings together both a Christian understanding, as well as a background in Islamic studies, in order to help Christians to get to the heart of the texts.

In addition, I have linked to some videos in the footnotes by Jay Smith, who is an expert in the historical development of Islam, as well as the development of the Qu’rān over time.

If you’ve made it this far, please do read at least some of the Qu’rān for yourself, even if only to better understand your neighbours. This series is on the 1200 years of literature left largely unread by Protestants, and my hope is that you’ll decide to read at least two of these. If you do read this one, or you intend to, please let me know in the comments and I’ll be happy to get in touch and help in any way I can.

Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill

The Raven's Writing Desk

Leave Your Books Worse Than You Found Them

Welcome to 2023! We’ve been here a little while now, I know, but this is my first newsletter of the year. I’m so thankful to all of you who read, like, and comment on these articles, it helps more than you know, and I hope that in the coming year, I can repay that support with helpful, edifying, and God-glorifying articles…

Read more

3 years ago · 5 likes · 10 comments · Adsum Try Ravenhill

In a series inviting protestants to read pre-reformation literature, I’ll admit that a book written by a Pope is an odd choice to begin with, but I haven’t done so by accident. Whilst we can’t escape the fact that throughout much of church history, the church has sat under papal authority of one kind or another, we must understand that just as there are good pastors, deacons, bishops, convention leaders, and denominational leaders today, the same is true of Popes throughout history. Just as we have differences in ecclesial hierarchy / church authority amongst ourselves in the broader protestant camp, we will also disagree with certain aspects of both this book, as well as quite possibly every other book in this series when it comes to the nature of the church’s chain of command. Although we must recognise these differences, we should not be over-occupied by them, it should be noted that in the face of secondary and tertiary differences, there is more agreement than disagreement between, for instance, Presbyterians and Anglicans, or “Non-Denominational” churches and Baptists. We share a common creed, we affirm the same confessions, and preach the same word of God, and this extends also to the church in the 6th century, as as Gregory the Great.

With regards to this Pope in particular, it might surprise you to know that if he was here and you said to him, “I don’t think you should have been Pope!”… that he would likely. have agreed with you. Although it does not seem that Gregory was opposed to the papal office itself, he had no desire to adopt its authority, rather it was foisted upon him. Not only this, but—as we will come to learn in this book—his standard for what a Pastor of a church should be was incredibly high, not simply with regards to their piety, purity, or pastoral ability, but above all else, their humility.

It was this humility, and it’s place in his life, which John Calvin was struck by when he wrote:

“[Gregory the Great] assumes no more power over others than he elsewhere yields to all over himself, when he admits that he is ready to be corrected by all, to be amended by all. In another letter he actually bids the bishop of Aquileia come to Rome to plead his case in a doctrinal controversy that had arisen between himself and others”

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

This short biography encapsulates both Calvin’s view of Gregory, but also the reason which, for Calvin, Gregory stands as a pivotal player in the history of the church, and the decline which led to the necessity of the reformation. Calvin mentions Gregory, in both critique and fondness, on more occasions than any other early member of the early church, which should give us some indication not only as to his importance, but also his influence. Whether he was the last remnant of what the Papal office could have been, or simply a humble and Godly man, trying to woo the right men into the pastorate, it’s impossible to ignore how important Gregory was for the church of his time and in the centuries to follow.

When I hear the nickname, “the Great,” my mind doesn’t conjure an image of a monk turned Pope, but a conqueror, namely Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered great swathes of the known world at the time, influenced both culture and language, and now occupies the same space in our cultural consciousness as Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, and Napoleon. In stark contrast, Gregory’s greatness in the memory of the church can be summarised in the title he took upon himself, which every Pope since has inherited, but which he truly lived out. That title being, “servus servorum Dei” or servant of the servants of God.

This is, above all else, the main point I hope you will take away from this book. Whilst it is aimed at Pastors, we believe that all are called to be a part of the priesthood of all believers, and so while it is aimed at shepherds in particular, I believe this book will be as much of encouragement to sheep.

Whilst with one hand Gregory doles out encouragement, with the other he dishes out a kind of discouragement. This comes in the form of warnings. Within the space of just a couple of chapters, he warns those who have been gifted for and called to the office not abstain from that calling, because to do so would be to, “deprive themselves of the very gifts which they received not for themselves alone, but for others.” He then warns of the inverse temptation, for those who notwithstanding their lack of calling nevertheless seek to attain it. He explains that whilst Paul speaks of the priestly office as a noble calling, he does so with some caveats:

“While praising the desire, [Paul immediately] turns what he has praised to fear when at once he adds, but a bishop must be blameless (1 Tim. 3:2). And, when he subsequently enumerates the necessary virtues, he makes manifest what this blamelessness consists in. And so, with regard to their desire, he approves them, but by his precept he alarms them; as if saying plainly, I praise what ye seek; but first learn what it is ye seek; lest, while ye neglect to measure yourselves, your blamefulness appear all the fouler for its haste to be seen by all in the highest place of honour.

The Book of Pastoral Rule, Gregory the Great

Having laid out in the first part of this book in detail both the kind of man who should desire office, and be called by others into office, he then moves on to describe both the life of the pastor as well as how he should go on to teach others.

“For, since the pride of the devil was the origin of our [damnation], the humility of God has been found the means of our redemption. That is to say, our enemy, having been created among all things, desired to appear exalted above all things; but our Redeemer remaining great above all things, deigned to become little among all things.

What, then, can we bishops say for ourselves, who have received a place of honour from the humility of our Redeemer, and yet imitate the pride of the enemy himself?”

The Book of Pastoral Rule, Gregory the Great

In parts 2 & 3 Gregory speaks to the life and works of a pastor in great detail not simply from experience or personal wisdom—though these do factor in—but chiefly by expounding upon the Bible. In the example above, he explains rather poetically the major distinction between the desire of the enemy and the desire of God, and then—a somewhat sarcastic tone—challenges the readers as to which example he should take after. The answer is obvious, but it’s also characteristic of the core of Gregory’s philosophy of pastoral care.

Jesus.

While it shouldn’t surprise us, I think if we take a step back here and think about how we as Protestants view not only the modern catholic church, but also the historic catholic church, I think we’d be lying to ourselves if we didn’t admit that our assumption—whether right or wrong—is that their authority rests on their own shoulders, not on that of Christ. Many have described Calvin’s view of Gregory as denoting that he believed him to be the “last good pope” and while this may be correct, the popes since should not tarnish our view of Gregory and should not steal from us the opportunity of being humbled by his writings, challenged by his corrections and rebukes, and stirred up and equipped by them for good works, not because he wrote them, but because he wrote them guided by the light of the word of God.

While I don’t have time to delve into each of these points, the Book of Pastoral Rule covers:

• When to be silent and when to speak

• Speaking the same doctrine to all, but speaking to each at an individual level

• The tender balance between rebuke and loving-kindness

• What is means to be well thought of by people (1 Tim 3:7) without seeking to please them

• The art of preaching

• How to address congregations so that it might encourage, exhort, and admonish them all

• The work and the voice of preaching

If any or all of them peak your interest, this book is worth reading not once, but time and time again. In the final section, which we will only touch on briefly, Gregory then goes back to humility—you’re probably seeing a pattern emerge here—in that it’s clear that he worries that having told the pastor how to live and what to do, that by doing well in these things he will fall again into pride.

I will end this article with a Gregory’s final words, but before I do, let me offer an invitation. If having read this article you’re convinced to read this book, please don’t just plug it into a reading list. Instead, why don’t you comment below, let me know you’d like to read the book and then I will set up a group and a reading plan and we can read the book together, sharing notes and insights with one another as we do so. If that’s you, here’s that chance:

Leave a comment

Finally, here are the final words of the book. They begin by speaking with the reader, but at some point tail off into prayer. These words are the most important in the whole book, as they show us not only that Gregory’s heart is that the church would be led and “ruled” by good Godly men, but that he himself leads those men in what it the most important step on that journey, and one which needs to be taken over and over throughout.

Repentance.

See now, good man, how, compelled by the necessity laid upon me by thy reproof, being intent on shewing what a Pastor ought to be, I have been as an ill-favoured painter pourtraying a handsome man; and how I direct others to the shore of perfection, while myself still tossed among the waves of transgressions. But in the shipwreck of this present life sustain me, I beseech thee, by the plank of thy prayer, that, since my own weight sinks me down, the hand of thy merit may raise me up.

The Book of Pastoral Rule, Gregory the Great

Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill

We left the house at 11:00 to go and pick up a new laptop for Anna, we didn’t get back home until 17:00, a whole six hours later. What should have been a quick trip to the local computer store became a test of our patience and the endurance of our phone batteries—a battle my phone sadly lost. One section of the motorway (highway) had been closed entirely, and in the ensuing chaos, two severe crashes had taken place. The result was almost a week of road closures, accidents, and angry drivers. One small gap in an otherwise constant road had caused more trouble than anyone could have predicted.

As protestants, we love our history and the books which have survived from it, but often with a large exception. Recently in an article on Tim Challies' website, Challies answered a question from a reader who wanted to know which old books she should begin with from the Christian canon. The list was a sound one, with many notable inclusions such as Augustine’s Confessions, Brooks’ Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, and Ryle’s Holiness. Though this wasn’t by any means meant to be an exhaustive list, it still presented a common and unfortunate flaw in the way we, as protestants, often view Christian history.

Confessions → Pilgrim’s Progress

“…as far as I can tell, this was not an era in which there were a lot of devotional works that have since been affirmed by Protestants. (Authors like Thomas à Kempis and Brother Lawrence are still read and treasured today, but typically not by Reformed Protestants.)”

Tim Challies - So You’ve Been Told You Should Read Some Old Books…

The era Challies is talking about here—from Confessions to Pilgrim’s Progress—spans 1200 years, an absence which is frankly absurd and saddening. To be clear, I’m not knocking Challies at all, he’s right, we often miss this period, but that doesn’t mean that we should continue to do so. Imagine if instead of one section of the motorway being closed last week, it had been twelve what kind of havoc would that have wrought? Though work has been done to remedy this in recent years, I don’t think we’re nearly as aware of this era as we should be. To my mind, there are three main reasons we can’t continue like this, and why we need to read more broadly from this time period:

1. We need to dispel the notion that the post-early-church-father → pre-reformation period is devoid of helpful and theologically invigorating work which we can acknowledge and affirm

2. As well as explicitly Christian writings, there are also works from this period which we ought to be more aware of because of their influence on our cultures and/or the history of the church

3. To round out our understanding of history before Zwingli & Luther, and to retrieve texts which are of vital importance for the life of the church today

If any of those three points tugs at you, I hope this series will give you an oppurtunity to respond. I’ve often said that in the life of the Christian there are only well-worn paths, many have trodden them before, and their footsteps are to be found in the literature they’ve left behind. Unfortunately, many of them have been covered up by the dust of the decades and are still waiting to be uncovered once more, at least by those in our camp.

Subscribe now

Accounting for the Absence

For many of us, when modern audiences think of this era, four major focal points spring to mind:

1. The period between the 5th and 14th centuries which some still think of as “the Dark Ages”

2. The schism between the Western and Eastern Churches

3. The Rise of Islam

4. The Crusades

In addition, we as protestants enter with another point, that being the issues within the Catholic church which lead to the second major Church split, after which we’re named. In the time since we’ve experienced the worst and longest-lasting mental health pandemic the world has ever known, more denominational splits than anyone could possibly count, the “Rise of the Modern Self",” as well as two worldwide wars in the last century alone. Our “era” is not all that different. In addition, while we’ve adopted an unfavourable understanding of the period from badly researched documentaries and wildly inaccurate period films, the truth is that bastions of knowledge and learning were founded during this time, one notable inclusion being Oxford University which was established in 1096. Due to the efforts of both the Catholic Church, as well as Muslim communities and establishments, original copies and translations of both newer books and older ones were being kept and protected like never before. This retention and dissemination of knowledge were what lead to works like Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, and Lombard’s Sentences before it, which laid the groundwork for later works of a similar nature. In addition, this period introduced Christianity’s most enduring and impressive opponent, the Quran and the religion that it upholds. Though it’s long been available to read in English, and though many of us now rub shoulders with Muslims on a daily or weekly basis, most of us have never read and never intend to read what is, arguably, one of the most influential books in history. Whilst I don’t believe it should in any way inform our own faith or understanding of it, it’s nonetheless important that we not unduly disregard it as unimportant.

Sidenote: With each book, we’ll also look deeper into the specific history of that time. This is by no means an exhaustive history of the period.

A New Old Thing

A friend of mine often talks about what’s next for the church as a “new—old—thing,” because truly there’s nothing new under the sun, and we ought to remember that. This series may contain books which are new to you, or even to me, including some you’ll have heard of but never personally read. These include:

• The Book of Pastoral Rule by Gregory the Great

• The Quran

• Bede - The Ecclesiastical History of the English

• The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

• Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

As well as seven more which to cover the period, one hundred years at a time. This will not be an exhaustive list, in fact, one book every hundred years is about as break-neck as we could get, but it’s necessary. My aim is to release one article in this series every month for a year, starting at the end of October and running through until next September.

My hope is not that you’ll read the articles, get the cliff-note versions and then forget about them. I would love it if you would commit to purchasing—or simply downloading in some cases—one or more of these books, taking the advice in mind, and then work through it/them at your own pace. In addition, if there’s a greater interest in one or more of the books, we might even run a month-long read-through where we can gather with others to share insights, thoughts, and struggles.

This is a pretty short article today I know, but one I hope has convinced you to think about the gaps in your own reading. In around a month we’ll be looking at Gregory the Great’s Book of Pastoral Rule, but until then, let me leave you with this:

“It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.”

―C.S. Lewis

Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill

Leave a comment