A Deadly Misunderstanding: Quest to Bridges the Muslim/Christian Divide

by Mark D Siljander

Overview

Former Congressman and Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Mark D. Siljander takes us on an eye-opening journey of personal, religious, and political discovery. In the 1980s, Siljander was a newly minted Reagan Republican from Michigan who joined Congress in the same generation as Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, ready to remake the world. A staunch member of the Religious Right, he once walked out of the National Prayer Breakfast when a speaker quoted from the Qur'an.

But after losing reelection, Siljander dove into the Bible to look for the passage in which the Bible says it is our job as Christians to convert others in order to save them from eternal damnation. He couldn't find it; in fact, he couldn't even find a passage saying that Jesus set out to form a new religion. This discovery was the first step on a spiritual and political journey that started with an in-depth linguistic study of the Bible and led to the discovery that Christianity and Islam share many base words and concepts. In his role as ambassador to the United Nations Siljander began sharing his insights on the connections between Islam and Christianity, with surprising results.

A Deadly Misunderstanding recounts Siljander's amazing discoveries as he travels to some of the most remote and hostile places in the world—deep into Libya, Sudan, Pakistan, and India—forging deep ties with both heads of state and religious leaders. What he has learned could radically shift the contemporary religious landscape and help heal the rift between Islam and the West. No Christian or Muslim will be unaffected after reading this book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780997625318
Publisher:	Bridges to Common Ground
Publication date:	07/07/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	242
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Mark Siljander skillfully blends 30 years in America's powerful political inner circles with his travels to 130 countries, gripping audiences with true stories of his private interactions with political and religious leaders in hotspots of global conflict, defying the assumptions of traditional diplomacy. Follow Mark's personal odyssey of spiritual transformation from an anti-Muslim, hard right, Christian political conservative to a pioneer of international peacemaking; acknowledged by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who publicly recognized his "... efforts toward a more just, humane and peaceful world," and by his acceptance of the Mohandas K. Gandhi International Peace Award in 1996. He recounts his discovery of long-hidden linguistic and cultural common ground that connects adherents of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Mark's approach has inspired many of our nation's friends and enemies - to a new path toward peace. However, at times his approach has also fiercely offended the entrenched interests of the power elite, resulting in personal attacks and a federal indictment. After nearly five years of battling the harrowing prospect of hostile and unrelenting prosecution for years to come, Mark agreed to a negotiated plea and the harsh consequences of a short prison sentence. On the eve of his release from prison Mark was diagnosed with terminal cancer, but survived. These tests of faith, character, and courage provided even deeper insight into his transformation from the heights of political achievement to the depths of personal brokenness. He holds Bachelors and Master's Degrees in Political Science and has served on numerous boards and lectured in such diverse institutions as Oxford University, Khartoum University, and Wheaton College.

Table of Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i Original Endorsements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii Introduction: On the Green Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Hostage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Paradigm Crash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Secret Language of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Other Holy Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Miracle in the Sahara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 To Love Thine Enemies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 The Path of Ananias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 My Apology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Full Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Pillars and Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 A Hug from His Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Jesus, the Ruhallah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 To Walk in Another Man's Sandals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Jihad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Scrutiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 On the Green Line Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Path of Peace in a Time of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Appendix 1 Jesus in the Qur'an: A List of Qur'anic References to Isa (Jesus) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Appendix 2 Linguistic Similarities: Key Terms in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Appendix 3 Examples of Aramaic Terms that Clarify Long-standing Biblical Misinterpretations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Index . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211