Those Other Religions In Your Neighborhood
There are many books that deal with what other faiths believe and how to argue yourself against them. We call this apologetics and apologetics are helpful to a point. Terry Muck wrote Those Other Religions In Your Neighborhood not to be an apologetic but to be a practical guide for living as a Christian in a multi-faith world. There are many other faiths and according to Muck as much as 10% of the US population believes in a non-Christian religion. This means you know someone who has a different faith! Recently other faiths have grown radically in America and although our faith “diversity” lags behind many other countries the church is wondering what to do. It also means that Christians will soon have to figure out, “How do I relate to a boss who is Hindu?” or “Is it okay for our children to play with the Buddhist children down the street?” and “If I invite an Islamic friend to worship, should I go to her prayer service?” Muck seeks to answer these kinds of questions by proposing several different relational approaches to adherents of other faiths. He does not discuss specific religious beliefs but rather a universal approach to loving people who believe differently. This is a far cry from a call to argue and debate – discussion and dialog will take us much farther in today’s society. Most importantly he shows how we can love our neighbors even when they believe differently than us and this is the best apologetic still.-
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