Sharing our paradoxes – Steps for dialogue between Christians and Muslims

The dictionary explains the word paradox as follows: “A statement or proposition seemingly self-contradictory or absurd, and yet explicable as expressing a truth”. As with all religions, Christianity and Islam contain statements and customs that are contrasting or even apparently contradictory. For example, we hear about the transcendence and the immanence of God, the command to proclaim the truth and also the exhortation to enter into dialogue with other religions, the call to forgive others and also the permission to fight and to exact retribution from them. Jesus uttered many paradoxical sayings, which, at first sight, could surprise or even baffle us. For example: “Many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mk. 10.31) and “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22.14). Efforts to eliminate these paradoxes would seem to impoverish Christ’s teaching. Read more . . .