With the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, the subject of radical Islam has been catapulted into a position of media prominence. This has brought, in its wake, a variety of related issues, including the Islamic faith, religious liberty, and the freedom of speech and expression. From this variety of issues, a multitude of separate questions could easily be generated. What should be the relationship of human governments to religious practice? To what degree should Christians champion freedom of speech and expression, especially when that freedom gives rise to distasteful or controversial communication? And how should we understand Islam, the world’s second-largest religion?
No doubt many of those questions are now beginning to fill the minds, and the dinner-table conversations, of concerned onlookers the world over. In the interest of providing some answers, or at least of helping to frame the issues rightly, the GARBC recommends the following resources.
On Islam
- January/February 2015 Baptist Bulletin: Understanding Islam
- Islamic Eschatology: Implications for Christian Witness
- A Closer Look at the Status of Women in Islam
- Israel versus Hamas: An Ancient Conflict in Modern Apparel
- The Religious and Historical Claims to Jerusalem
- The Paris Attack’s Impact on Ministries in France
- Observations on the Islamic Terrorist Attack in Paris
On Freedom of Speech and Religion