Our relationship with Islam became topical after the September 11, 2001, attacks and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the past few centuries, Islam has been primarily a distant phenomenon for Western Europe. With the arrival of guest workers and asylum seekers, Muslims did become more visible in the Netherlands, but the current political attention to Islam is not unrelated to these attacks.

Islam and Violence⤒🔗

The question of whether violence is part of Islam is being answered very differently. On the one hand, there is considerable violence throughout Islamic history. Comparing how Muhammad and Jesus spread “their” religion reveals a striking difference between the use of coercion and violence and the call to love enemies and abandon the sword. Among the countries with the highest persecution of Christians are many Islamic countries, and various terrorist groups explicitly invoke Islam as a source of inspiration for their violence. On the other hand, and no less importantly, many Muslims live peacefully together with their non-Muslim neighbors. Most of ISIS's victims were Muslims, and many Muslims abhor such violence just as much as other Dutch people. Many Muslims, in calling for “jihad,” the holy war, place all their emphasis on the fight against the evil within their own hearts, not on armed struggle against non-believers.

How the use of violence relates to Islam is not a question we need to answer first. Let Muslims reflect on this for themselves. And in any case, this need not hinder a Christian attitude toward Muslims.

In our society, the question of violence quickly extends to religion in general. After all, the Bible and the history of Christianity also contain ample instances of violence committed in the name of God (the Crusades, the persecution of Jews). There is no reason to deny or condone this. It is crucial, however, to make it clear that the message of the Bible is crystal clear: that a Christian is called to love their neighbor and live in peace with all people as much as possible. Christians worldwide agree on this. Christianity has no movements or religious leaders who, by appealing to the source texts, encourage, condone, or silently allow violence to occur. This seems to be a difference from Islam. In a cultural context where all religions are lumped together, it is important to continue to acknowledge the differences between Islam and Christianity, including in public discourse.

Christianity and Struggle←⤒🔗

Whatever your perspective on Islam and violence, there is also mention of strife in the New Testament. However, it becomes very clear there that the kingdom of God will not come through human violence. Peter must put away his sword in Gethsemane. Paul calls for war, but a spiritual war (Ephesians 6:10-20).

We live in the time between Christ's victory over Satan and the great final judgment, the time of God's patience. Jessica Stern, who has done extensive research on the causes of terrorism (Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill), has pointed out that religious violence often stems from impatience with God’s failure to respond to the plight of his followers. Seen in this light, terrorism stems from impatience. The New Testament notion of God’s patience (2 Peter 3:9) allows for leaving the coming of God’s kingdom to God.

Beatrice de Graaf, terrorism expert and professor of history, explores a biblical perspective on violence, evil, and our security in her essay “Holy Struggle.” This theme is much broader than “Islam and violence” (she deliberately avoids exploring that relationship), but it does share common ground. An interesting observation in this book is that, after World War II, there was less and less discussion of evil and the devil in Western societies, because those categories do not fit within a secular, liberal ethic. However, after the attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001, the discussion of evil has made a resurgence. De Graaf demonstrates that a secular explanation of evil is insufficient. Anyone who wants to explain and combat evil implicitly presupposes a moral order and thus a concept of good. Therefore, theological reflection is also necessary.

Many people in the Netherlands feel unsafe, young people even more so than older people, according to figures presented by De Graaf. In general, citizens in the liberal West seem to have difficulty coping with insecurity, uncertainty, failure, and adversity. This raises the question of our resilience, as a society and as Christians.

Small and Big Struggles←⤒🔗

Battle is not an attractive image for Christian life. Yet, a greater understanding of the spiritual warfare of Ephesians 6 can make us more alert to what the battle of the spirits is all about. This brings us to the heart of preaching the gospel and of Christian life today. That heart must also be the core of what we, as churches, focus on. Do we spend our (meeting) time on the good things in light of Christ’s coming? Many issues and struggles from the past and present are then much less important or are in fact unholy warfare.

Battle requires practice. It is not without reason that soldiers spend so much time and money on training. On the battlefield, there is no time for the instruction manual. Spiritual warfare poses the question of whether we are sufficiently prepared for the difficulties that following Jesus Christ will entail. Does preaching prepare us for this? Those who live solely on affirmation and encouragement will not be resilient against difficulties in life, whether they be pressure from Islamic or secular sources, or some form of illness or setback. When a crisis arises, people can simply fall away from the faith. We already knew this from the parable of the seed: how someone can receive the word immediately and with joy, but also stumble immediately when oppression or persecution arises. Scripture repeatedly makes it clear that suffering is not an option for those who follow Christ, but a certainty. Are we perhaps assuming too much of an easy life, where serving the Lord does not entail too much effort from those around us?

Finally, it is important to fight properly. De Graaf, drawing on Augustine, distinguishes between the small and the big struggle. The big struggle, which demands the most effort, is the fight against sin in our own hearts. The small struggle is the fight against evil outside of ourselves. This fight, however, may be fought in the knowledge that evil has been defeated in Christ's cross and resurrection. God himself fights, though we often fail to see how: “His fight is the only holy fight.”

Our desire for security is perfectly legitimate, De Graaf writes at the end of her essay:

But no one should expect that this fight will not be marked by fear and trembling. And those who think that we don’t have to suffer ourselves (and not only the alleged perpetrator) are mistaken. Earthly security is, after all, always imperfect and cannot be the highest good. But those who join this fight under the banner of the risen Christ know that our enemies have already been taken as prisoners of war. With Augustine, the church may proclaim this anew every Sunday.