The primary purpose of this dialogue group is to work towards creating a common framework for an extended conversation between Evangelical Christian and Muslim scholars and religious leaders. Both groups, having first met in Chicago in 2007, recognize the urgent need for establishing a relationship of trust and friendship between their members. Aware that ignorance and prejudice can only lead to violence and demonization of the other, members of this group see dialogue as one of the most effective means of avoiding these dangers and reversing the historic cycle of Christian–Muslim animosity and polarization. Both groups are guided by their respective Scriptures, the Bible and the Qur’an’s affirmation of the beauty of diversity in God’s creation of humanity and the responsibility of the human community to honor the dignity with which God has favored all human beings. As Muslims, we do this in response to the Qur’an’s universal call to all human beings to submit to the One true God. As Evangelical Christians, we do this in emulation of Jesus, who through his teaching and life invited all of humanity into a relationship with God that transcends any single religious institution.
The ultimate goal of the Evangelical Christian – Muslim Dialogue is to commit ourselves to a dialogue that will build a deep and lasting trust that will remain despite any obstacles that may arise. Through this dialogue leading to trust, we anticipate reaching a stage whereby together we address the most significant problems facing our global community, including racism, poverty, the environmental crisis, political oppression in particular regions, and political and ideological violence. In addition, we believe that if we can create a core group of men and women from both communities who are willing to engage in a respectful presentation of our faiths without exaggerating our differences, a great leap forward on the road of common understanding will have been made. The group is committed to reaching out across the religious boundaries despite the recognized differences in some of our essential religious beliefs. It is our intention to endeavor sincerely to discover our common values and systems of ethics so that we may agree on a common set of shared spiritual values and moral precepts. Through all this we agree that, implicit in our recognition of diversity, is an underlying call to respect our mutual differences, leading to understanding and acceptance of one another.
This Dialogue group, which will be open to new members by invitation only, hopes to further our contacts with each other through national and international conferences, the presentation of papers when the need arises, and through uninterrupted and informal contacts among members. The group looks forward to a day when we can make our deliberations public through the publication of papers, open meetings and media outreach in order to spread the message of tolerance and commonality of values to a wider community of grass-roots groups, as well as a wider community of inter-religious dialogue.