An Episcopal priest in Seattle has made a confession that she is both a Christian and a Muslim, which has provoked a mix reaction among Christians.
Reverend Ann Holmes Redding, formerly the direction of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral located in Washington State, U.S. has told the Seattle Times she is both a Muslim and a Christian since at the most basic level, the two religions are compatible.
"I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both," she said. "Why would I spend time to try to reconcile all of Christian belief with all of Islam? At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That's all I need."
This has drawn scorn from Chuck Colson, a Christian evangelical from the Prison Fellowship Ministry, who wrote in the Christian Post that to deny the Christian doctrines is to deny the Christian faith.
"It's about feelings. She can call herself anything she wants, but she's only truly a Muslim if she denies Christian doctrines such as original sin, the Trinity, or the divinity of Christ," he wrote. "And to deny those truths is to deny the Christian faith."
In his blog, Reverend Albert Mohler, the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote that Christianity and Islam can never be comparable since Islam denies the deity of Jesus Christ who died on the Cross and rose from the dead, to which Christians hold on to dogmatically.
Nevertheless, her local bishop, Rector Reverend Vincent Warner, accepts the notion that she is both an Episcopal priest and a Muslim and he seems excited by the interfaith possibilities, reported the Seattle Times.