Dave Andrews One verse which needs to be carefully (re)interpreted in terms of the text, the language, the meaning it had for the people at the time it was written, and the meaning it has for people reading it in today’s world, in the light of the Bismillah, is the (in)famous ‘sword verse’ which instructs […]

Dave Andrews In the light of the Bismillah, Abdul Ghaffar Khan says, we need to remember that if we do have conflict with one another, the ‘weapon of the Prophet’ we should use is ’sabr’ or ‘patience’. ‘If you exercise patience, victory will be yours. No power on earth can stand against it.’ He says […]

Dave Andrews Now, there is no better place to begin that process of deconstruction and reconstruction of a Closed Set Islamic ideology than with an Open Set Islamic theology of the Bismillah. The Bismillah stands for the Arabic phrase Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim, commonly translated, “In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate”. According to […]

Dave Andrews There are numerous significant advantages of the ‘Open Set Perspective’ to religion, be it Christian or Muslim. The first advantage of the ‘Open Set Perspective’ is that it is centred. Stanley Jones, the famous inter-faith evangelist, says, ‘Get the centre right, and the circumference takes care of itself.’ The second advantage is that […]

Dave Andrews ‘The essence of Closed Set Religion is all about defining and defending our religion. The essence of Open Set Religion is all about becoming more open to God and encouraging everyone to become more open to God. Conversion for Christians and Muslims from a Closed Set Perspective may mean confessing the creed or […]

Dave Andrews ‘We need to find a way of defining our faith that is not so defensive; a way of affirming our faith that is not so aggressive; a way of comprehending our faith that is true, but doesn’t pretend to have a monopoly on truth; and a way of interpreting our faith that is […]

Dave Andrews ‘The theologian, Robert Brinsmead, comments on the very serious consequences of maintaining the Bounded Set Religion Paul Hiebert talks about. Whether Christian or Muslim, ‘a Closed Set Perspective Of Religion “draws lines of demarcation through the human race. The chosen people are distinguished from the unchosen, insiders from outsiders, clean from unclean, believers […]

Dave Andrews Paul Hiebert, Professor of Anthropology at Fuller Theological Seminary, raised the alarm about the dangerous implications of what he called, ‘Bounded Set’ Religion. ‘What happens,’ Hiebert asks, ‘if we define our “religion” in terms of a “Bounded Set”?’ Firstly, we tend to distort the meaning of what it means to be a ‘Christian’ […]

Dave Andrews “There are two completely different paradigms that Christians and Muslims have used through the centuries to understand their relationship to their religion – the ‘Closed Set Perspective Of Religion’ and the ‘Open Set Perspective Of Religion’. “According to the ‘Closed Set Perspective’, a ‘set’ is defined by its ‘enclosure’. The very nature of […]

(Hear mp3 on http://bit.ly/1Bfsq9H) Fearful – we’re fearful of others. Fearful of contact with people – unless they’re just like us. Fearful – we’re fearful of difference. Fearful of conflict with strangers – who ain’t the same as us. But God’s embrace is great. His amazing grace never fails to save. God’s love conquers hate […]

Today is my birthday. This is my prayer. Dave   When we were young I once believed that we’d see kingdom come I once believed that Christ would come and save everyone. Long ago. When you and I were young. When we were young I once believed we’d do what should be done I once believed […]

Read my article: ‘Let Your Light Shine’- Radicalism In The Sermon On The Mount in ‘On The Road’ http://ontheroad.org.au http://bit.ly/1RtZhSh