University of Illinois Press

Richard Hughes, author of the book Christian America and the Kingdom of God, contributed a new piece to The Huffington Post titled Jesus and Strangers: What the Bible Teaches About Christian-Muslim Relations.

“Jesus never mentioned Muslims for one very good reason: he lived almost 600 years before the birth of Islam. But he had much to say about ‘strangers.’ Throughout the biblical text, the term ‘stranger’ refers to people who stood outside the dominant social and religious norms. . . . Jesus never suggested that his followers should fear ‘strangers,’ hate them, or reject them, even if those strangers practiced a different religion, and even if they were perceived as enemies. Instead, he pointedly told his followers to welcome them, love them, and care for them.”