An outnumbered Columban priest made his points about the nature of God, Jesus and Mary when challenged by a group of Muslim men.
By Fr. Denis Carter

One day while shopping in the Pakistani bazaar for some cloth, I was instantly befriended by the owner of a small shop. I was plied with tea and made to sit on a bench as he displayed his wares. He soon extracted from me my name, place of origin, occupation and the number of wives and children I didn’t have. I was soon to find out that this was the big event of the day for him.

In Pakistan, religion is central to everyone’s lives and is a subject that will come up in every discussion. For the Sindhi, sharing one’s knowledge and experience of God is often more exciting than a cricket match.

“Ah!” he said, “You are a Christian. You believe in three gods!”

“No,” I retorted. “There is only one God!”

“There, you are right,” he said.

Raising his finger, he continued. “There is no God but God! But the Holy Qur’an says that you people believe in three gods: God the Father, God the Son and God Mary.”

As tactfully as my knowledge of the Urdu language would allow me, I tried to correct his misconception. I pointed out that while the Qur’an, the Holy Book of Islam, does rightly condemn the notion of three gods, Christians, in fact, believe in only one God as revealed by Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

This one God we believe in has three distinct characters or persons expressed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Mary became the mother of Jesus, who for us is the word of God, through the will of God and the power of His Holy Spirit. She wasn’t married to God, nor was Jesus born out of any human action other than the consent of Mary to God’s will.

My new friend got a little upset at the notion of Jesus as the Son of God.

He quoted the Qur’an, saying “God forbid that God would have a son!”

He then called for a few of his friends to come and join in the fun with this mad heretic of an Englishman.

Six Vs. One
Once the formal introductions were over, I found myself confronted by five more bearded men. Crowded in the little shop, the men settled on the bench or squatted on the floor. The shopkeeper explained what we had been talking about and what I had said about Jesus. They were quick to reassure me that they had great respect for Hazraat Isa (Jesus) but to them, He was only a prophet, not God.

I quickly realized that not only was I outnumbered, but I could also expect a long conversation. I asked someone to read from the Qur’an to see what it really said about the birth of Jesus. It took some time to find someone who could actually read it and translate it into Urdu from the Arabic language.

There was some discomfiture when they discovered that what I had said was very similar to what was written in the Qur’an. But they insisted that Jesus was only a prophet. While accepting that He was special, they insisted He was only a man and that He had come with a revealed book, the Injeel (Gospel).

According to the Catholic faith, I explained, a prophet is one who brings a message. But in the case of Jesus, I said, He not only had a message, He is the message. He is the Good News. I was challenged to explain myself. The temperature was rising, but more drinks were ordered. I struggled to explain, putting all my linguistic skills to the test. I said that Jesus was sent to tell us that God loves us all and wants to make us His children to live with Him forever.

According to Jesus, we must come to know God as the Father and Jesus as His Son. In this knowledge, we will have eternal life, living in God and He in us.

One of the men challenged me. God, he said, is pure spirit, and there is no way we can even begin to come to know Him. How can we know who He is or what He is like?

Agreed, I answered. That is why God in His love and compassion has sent us His Word, Jesus Christ.

The Peace & The Spirit Of God
A short tea break followed, while more reinforcements came and were introduced to me. One of the men, who looked as if he commanded a lot of respect in the area, made a sort of summary of what I had been saying.

Then he looked hard at me and said, “You tell us we are to call ourselves children of God. That then would make us out to be the same as God. There is no God but God!”

I suddenly thought about the trial of Jesus and began hoping that this wouldn’t have the same conclusion.

I then had a little inspiration. I asked the old man who was it that the Muslims call Jesus in the litany of the prophets that Muslims recite most nights. He tugged his beard for a moment or two. I supposed he was trying to figure out what I was getting at.

He softly started to recite the litany, but soon others were adding their voices to the chant. Caught up in the mood and the rhythm of it, I almost missed it near the end.

I asked them to repeat the verse: “Isa Al Salam Rhuh ‘Allah.’” I asked for a translation, and he said, “Jesus, the peace and the spirit of God.”

Feeling quite triumphant, I asked them, “If God is a pure spirit, and you call Jesus the Spirit of God, what does that make Jesus?”

There was a long silence followed by a lot of muttering under the breath, but no answer.

The discussion started again, but the subject had been subtly changed. Gradually, one by one, the men made their excuses and asked for permission to leave. The encounter was over.

I made no converts that day, but I hadn’t been crucified either. Stretched in my faith and linguistic skills, I had grown a little more in my understanding of my new neighbors.

And, with the aid of numerous cups of tea, I think I had grown a little more in my understanding of God. Many more discussions of this kind were in store for me.

Columban Father Denis Carter was ordained in 1981 and served on mission in Britain and Pakistan until 2002. He is now the Britain Region director for the Columban Society.