By Andy Hale 

A few years back, I experimented with a theological conversation group.

I read poetic passages from the Quran while reading militant and violent texts from the Judeo-Christian tradition. I did not cite what I was reading. Instead, I asked the listeners to identify the texts’ origins.

100% of the violent texts were attributed by the listeners as Islamic.

We tend to think the worst in others while looking past the faults of our own tradition.

“Religions are complex. The major religious traditions that have stood the test of time cannot be reduced to caricatures by outsiders or by insiders,” said Charles Kimball on the CBF Podcast Conversation.

Kimball is the Presidential Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He has a new book out, Truth Over Fear: Combating the Lies About Islam.

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Sponsorship

This podcast episode is brought to you by Fuller Seminary and The Center for Congregational Health.

Andy Hale created and hosts the podcast of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Hale is the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following eight years as the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton and five years as CBF’s church start specialist. Follow on Twitter @haleandy