Bert De Ruiter

A Single Hand Cannot Applaud: the Value of Using the Book of Proverbs in Sharing the Gospel with Muslims Bert De Ruiter

Christians who want to share the truth about God with their Muslim friends understandably try to encourage them to read the Bible. Unfortunately, many Muslims believe that Jews and Christians have corrupted the books that God has given them. As a consequence, Muslims are hesitant about reading the Bible. Given this antagonism among a large percentage of Muslims towards Christianity in general and the Bible in particular, there is a need to prepare the ground before a Muslim can be persuaded to read the Bible. To stimulate Muslims to read the Scriptures, we need to find common ground between their world view and the Bible. This book argues that we find such common ground in the book of Proverbs. The universal character of the book of Proverbs makes it a useful bridge between the truth of God and those outside the Christian faith, including Muslims. The use of proverbs is very common in many Muslim cultures. God's wisdom found in the book of Proverbs resembles the content of proverbial sayings in many Muslim cultures. Therefore using this book as a tool in sharing the Word of God with Muslims can create openings where there were none. Muslims are familiar with the Solomon of Scripture because he is mentioned in the Qur'an, but most have never read his words. The wisdom God gave Solomon is a natural link to Muslim people so they can come to know more about God. The book of Proverbs is one of the most valuable tools, particularly in combination with local proverbs, to lead our Muslim friends from accepting familiar truth, to embrace less familiar truth, and then to worship the One who said "I am the truth" (John 14:6).