The Koran.

What is needed is a new interpretation of the Koran.

New interpretations of the Bible have led to the development of Progressive Christianity.

And this approach can be applied to the Koran.

Just as violent and judgemental passages of the Bible have been challenged so can such passages in the Koran be challenged.

God is non-violent.

He does not judge us or punish us.

These passages in the scriptures are the result of the fears and assumptions of the messengers.

Human beings are not perfect.

We dread punishment, assume Dualism, and project our expectations of Natural Justice onto God.

But God is transcendent.

He does not act in the way that we expect.

God loves us.

And even the most heinous sinners are His children.

"Indeed, God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."  John 3:17 (NRSV)

"God is light and in him there is no darkness at all."  1 John 5 (NRSV)

And I say God is Love and in Him there is no violence at all.

So the passages in the Koran which seem to justify violence and judgement are not from God at all, they are the result of the fears and assumptions of the Prophet.

So we need not fear God.

God is our loving Father.

And we can look forward to the Day of Benediction.


[Scripture quotation (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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