Lutherans and Muslims: Listening for the Sake of Clarity

ABSTRACT The 2019 ELCA Declaration of Inter‐religious Commitments, like its predecessor the 1991 Declaration of Ecumenical Commitments, set forth broad‐based considerations for the engagement of ELCA Lutherans with other religious communities. In this article, I briefly outline how Christians and Muslims stand on important common ground when it comes to the foundations of our calling to care for our world and our neighbors for the common good. However, the Qur'an asks fundamental questions about several classical Christian beliefs: the Trinity, the incarnation, and the crucifixion of Jesus. The Qur'anic claims and Christian responses are not theologically neutral. They are challenging but not necessarily contradictory.