How to have this conversation
The argument is easy to deploy badly. This page is about not doing that.
An argument this tidy is dangerous to hold. It fits in a paragraph, it lands hard, and it tempts you to treat a person as a position. Most of the damage done in Christian–Muslim conversation is not done by bad arguments; it is done by good arguments deployed by people who wanted to win.
Before you open your mouth #
Know what it costs them
For many Muslims, leaving Islam is not a change of opinion. Depending on the family and the country, it can mean losing a marriage, a job, a community, or a legal status — and in some places, a great deal more. When you ask someone to weigh evidence, you are asking them to weigh it against all of that. Impatience at their reluctance is a failure to understand the question you have asked.
Earn the right to be heard
Eat together first. Ask about their family, their mosque, what Ramadan is actually like, what they find beautiful in the Quran. A person who has been genuinely listened to will hear a hard question as a hard question rather than as an attack. Nobody has ever been argued into the kingdom by a stranger with a checklist.
Read something they respect
Read the Quran itself — Abdel Haleem's translation is clear and unpolemical. Read a Muslim scholar rather than only Christian summaries of Muslim scholars; there are suggestions on the reading list. It will make you slower to caricature, and it will show.
Ask rather than announce #
The dilemma works best as a question, because a question invites someone to look at their own text rather than defend it against yours. Compare:
| Rather than | Try |
|---|---|
| "Your book contradicts itself." | "When Surah 5:47 tells the People of the Gospel to judge by it — which Gospel did they have in front of them?" |
| "The Bible was never corrupted." | "We have complete copies from about 300 years before the Prophet. Would it be worth looking at what they say together?" |
| "You don't understand the Trinity." | "Can I check something? What do you understand Christians to mean when we say 'Son of God'? I want to make sure I'm not defending something I don't believe either." |
| "Muhammad was not a prophet." | "What first convinced you the Quran is from God? I'd like to understand it properly." |
| "That's been refuted." | "That's a fair point and I don't have a good answer. Let me look into it and come back." |
Things to avoid #
- Mocking the Prophet, the Quran, or Islamic practice. It ends the conversation, and it should. You are not entitled to the trust of someone whose faith you have insulted.
- Ambushing. Springing a prepared argument on a friend who thought they were having lunch teaches them to be careful around you.
- Overclaiming. "The Bible has no variants" is false and a Muslim who reads will know it. One overstatement costs you the credibility of everything else you say.
- Talking about Muslims in the third person. Especially online, especially where they can read it.
- Treating conversion as the metric. You are responsible for being truthful and kind. You are not the Holy Spirit, and no amount of argument produces faith.
- Winning in front of an audience. Nobody changes their mind while losing face in public. If a crowd gathers, slow down.
Where to steer the conversation #
The dilemma clears ground; it does not plant anything. Once someone is genuinely willing to consider that the New Testament may say what it appears to say, the most useful thing you can do is stop arguing and hand them a Gospel.
Luke is the usual suggestion — orderly, written for an outsider, and full of the concern for the poor and the disreputable that Muslims often find surprising in it. John is more direct about who Jesus claims to be, which suits someone whose question is precisely that. Read it together if they will; a chapter over coffee once a fortnight has done more than most debates.
Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.