A Debate About ISIS on Premier Christian Radio UK

A moderated conversation hosted  by Justin Brierley, Unbelievable?,

Premier Christian Radio UK

Is the Islamic State Islamic?

Friends of Christian Thinkers Society and HBU:

We are all saddened by the most recent iteration of Islamic terrorism in Paris and Egypt (Russian Metro Jet). Gifted host and British intellectual, Justin Brierley, hosts a weekly moderated debate style broadcast engaging the fundamental questions of Christianity with Christians and non-believers. Justin has invited Dr. Jeremiah Johnston and Professor Craig Evans to discuss the question Is the Islamic State Islamic? (rebounding off our their most recent book Jesus and the Jihadis) with two prominent British Islamic Scholars: Adnan Rashid (Hitting Institute) and Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra (Muslim Council of Britain). We ask you to pray for God to give Jeremiah and Craig wisdom and grace as they engage Justin’s question with Adnan and Ibrahim. Jesus is opening the hearts of Muslims all over the world. Jeremiah and Craig’s desire is to share the truth they discuss in Jesus and the Jihadis with the result of reaching Muslims and equipping Christians. The broadcast will air Saturday 21 November throughout the UK on Premier Christian Radio. For those outside of the UK, the program can be heard digitally via their website.

The rise of the Islamic State (a.k.a. ISIS, ISIL or “Daesh”) in the last two years and the atrocities this self-proclaimed “caliphate” has committed have stunned the world. Most people in the West have no idea what to make of it. Western leaders have been taken completely by surprise. Many Christians, for the most part, are completely unprepared to discuss ISIS and Islam intelligently. The church continues to suffer from a woefully inadequate understanding of the world’s second largest religion. That ISIS is willing to kill and to kill brutally, to commit heinous acts against men, women, and children, is well known. What is not well known is why they do it. Why the violence? Why do they do these things in the name of God (which is the driving force behind Atheism’s claim that the world would be a much better place without belief in God)? In our quest to answer these questions, and many more, we wrote Jesus and the Jihadis: Confronting the Rage of ISIS – The Theology Driving the Ideology to serve as a go-to-guide for Christians. The book is available at your local LifeWay store or at all of the online retailers. 

The times in which we live require all Christians to be equipped to engage in meaningful and missional dialogue with Muslims and our book will help the church do just that. Therefore, the book has been written in an accessible manner, focused on guiding the reader by the hand through the halls of history showing how the violence and extremism of terrorist groups like ISIS are rooted in a deeply flawed understanding of God and the human condition. Current opinions about ISIS often suffer from a “politically correct” notion that focuses on this group’s practices but ignores its theology.

This book is beneficial for personal study, and it will also make for an excellent resource for Sunday school classes and small group Bible studies. As you read Jesus and the Jihadis, we ask you to please help us spread the word about it on social media, in your churches, ministries and universities. Please consider posting a 5-Star review on Amazon. This, of course, is only requested if you love the book and are behind the message. We love hearing from readers and influencers like yourself, so please feel free to contact us and to schedule a Jesus and the Jihadis event for your organization, information can be found at to www.ChristianThinkers.com.

Sincerely yours,

Craig A. Evans and Jeremiah J. Johnston