Converting to Christianity

[Ishraqiyun]

As some of you may know I am Muslim. I converted about 2 years ago. My childhood and early adult years were spent as a nominal Christian. I admired the ethical code of Jesus and found some of the stories sorrunding him very powerful but I was turned off by the dogmatism and lack of powerful lived experience I saw around me. After a short bout as seeker I found Islam through it's mystical and philosophical masters (especially the Sufis, Shi'ite Irfan, and the Ishraqi philosophers / theosophers). This opened a whole new world to me. Though I greatly appreciated all I've learned from them I have never felt totally comfortable as Muslim though. I found myself again and again being drawn back to Christianity.

In the Muslims literature I read voraciously I came across Firthjof Schoun, Geunon and the other traditionalist authors. From their writings I learned about the inner unity of the worlds religions. Having been influenced by this I started reading about all the other world religions including Christianity. This time I focused on the esoteric, gnostic, and hermetic aspects of Christianity I knew nothing of before in my time as a Christian. Over time culminating in this period now I was drawn back to the Christian faith.

Now I've come to the point that I have decided to go back to the Christian faith. Externally the works of Arthur Verslius (especially "Wisdoms Children, A Christian Esoteric Tradition" and "Theosophia, Hidden dimensions of Christianity") were really the straws that broke the camels back so to speak and lead me to this decision. Internally a few powerful dreams centered on Christian symbolism brought me here. I realize now that the "Christianity" I left was only a shell of what spiritual Christianity implies and that leaving was a mistake.

Please pray for me because I am in need of further guidance.

I guess I should also note that I'm not leaving Islam because I think it's a "false religion" nor do I have any antipathy for the faith in the least. I hope my conversion doesn't upset any of Muslim brothers but I do feel the need to be a Christian once again.

 

[talitha]

I do pray for you.

Christianity has to do with a relationship with the one and only God through His Son Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. If this is what you indeed are looking for, you cannot maintain belief in the god of Islam, nor in the Quran. The two are mutually exclusive. If you are indeed prepared to abandon Islam for Jesus, then welcome back.

blessings
tal

 

[Ishraqiyun]

Yes, I do want relationship, communion, annihilation and subsistence in God the Father through Christ.

The two are mutually exclusive.

One can't practice both at the same time and many of the outer aspects differ but I wouldn't say they were contradictory to one another. Both are providential paths to God. God has His people among many of the worlds great religions. I was wrong to abandon Christinaity when what I sought and desired can be found within it though. At least that's my thinking now. I have learned a lot from the Islamic Spirituals though so my journey certainly wasn't a waste.

 

[talitha]

Both are providential paths to God. God has His people among many of the worlds great religions.

Wrong.

 

[Mr Dave]

You have my prayers

 

[Ishraqiyun]

Thank you for your prayers Talitha and Mr Dave.

 

[paul1149]

Ishraqiyun, I pray that God continues to lead you forward in His path of light.

If we only look at churches, we are going to be sorely disappointed, especially considering the current state of the church in the West. The only safe position is to come to Christ, the person, as Savior of the world and as our personal Savior. With that foundation stone in place, the rest will fall into place in due season, and the storms of life and the winds of doctrine will not be able to shake us off.

 

[EyesOfKohl]

As some of you may know I am Muslim. I converted about 2 years ago. My childhood and early adult years were spent as a nominal Christian. I admired the ethical code of Jesus and found some of the stories sorrunding him very powerful but I was turned off by the dogmatism and lack of powerful lived experience I saw around me. After a short bout as seeker I found Islam through it's mystical and philosophical masters (especially the Sufis, Shi'ite Irfan, and the Ishraqi philosophers / theosophers). This opened a whole new world to me. Though I greatly appreciated all I've learned from them I have never felt totally comfortable as Muslim though. I found myself again and again being drawn back to Christianity.

In the Muslims literature I read voraciously I came across Firthjof Schoun, Geunon and the other traditionalist authors. From their writings I learned about the inner unity of the worlds religions. Having been influenced by this I started reading about all the other world religions including Christianity. This time I focused on the esoteric, gnostic, and hermetic aspects of Christianity I knew nothing of before in my time as a Christian. Over time culminating in this period now I was drawn back to the Christian faith.

Now I've come to the point that I have decided to go back to the Christian faith. Externally the works of Arthur Verslius (especially "Wisdoms Children, A Christian Esoteric Tradition" and "Theosophia, Hidden dimensions of Christianity") were really the straws that broke the camels back so to speak and lead me to this decision. Internally a few powerful dreams centered on Christian symbolism brought me here. I realize now that the "Christianity" I left was only a shell of what spiritual Christianity implies and that leaving was a mistake.

Please pray for me because I am in need of further guidance.

I guess I should also note that I'm not leaving Islam because I think it's a "false religion" nor do I have any antipathy for the faith in the least. I hope my conversion doesn't upset any of Muslim brothers but I do feel the need to be a Christian once again.

Praying for you Ishraqiyun,

I can relate to you. I started heading down the Sufism / Muwahhidun path the other year, but found certain things that no one could answer and I was led to Messianic after that. I gave up on 'Christianity' because of seeing what the Christians were like around me, alot of them were hypocrites and didn't even understand what they were teaching (No offence to anyone here, I'm just saying the ones that I saw around me). Now I'm Messianic and my faith is stronger than it has ever been and everything is supported with scripture. I hope God guides you rightly and you find all the answers that you seek!

 

[razeontherock]

I admired the ethical code of Jesus and found some of the stories sorrunding him very powerful but I was turned off by the dogmatism and lack of powerful lived experience I saw around me.

I made the decision that Christianity was devoid of any power at the ripe old age of 4, for much these same reasons.

I found myself again and again being drawn back to Christianity.

Do you know why?

I learned about the inner unity of the worlds religions.

I expect some here will want to crucify me for saying this, but I believe in this STRONGLY. The ability to see this gives one broader perspective. (Or is it the other way around?) I do think those parts of various religions that disagree or even contradict one another, come from man where we heard wrong. The common elements come from G-d. There's really no other explanation ...

This time I focused on the esoteric, gnostic, and hermetic aspects of Christianity I knew nothing of before in my time as a Christian. Over time culminating in this period now I was drawn back to the Christian faith.

It's important to learn to distinguish between the heresy of gnosticism and the other positive things you mentioned here.

Now I've come to the point that I have decided to go back to the Christian faith. Internally a few powerful dreams centered on Christian symbolism brought me here. I realize now that the "Christianity" I left was only a shell of what spiritual Christianity implies and that leaving was a mistake.

A lot of Muslims get such dreams! Thank you for sharing. It seems like G-d uses me a lot to tell people what you say in your last sentence here. At least somebody gets it

BTW we have a dreams and visions sub-forum. You might post your dreams there? I'm sure MANY would be Blessed, and you'd actually be strengthening the Faith of many, helping us to see things we never have before!

Please pray for me because I am in need of further guidance.

Aren't we all? One thing both C and Islam have in common is recognizing that humility before G-d goes a long way. One thing I will tell you, and I hold it to be a sort of "key to the Kingdom," is PRAY THE WORD.

When you encounter something that sure would be great to have - PRAY FOR IT. Make it personal! Example that works great for me:

"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead"

Hopefully this clues you in to what I mean by "live in the Epistles."

Welcome to the fold! But I must confess I always thought of you as a Brother in the Lord

 

[elman]

Both are providential paths to God. God has His people among many of the worlds great religions.

Wrong.

Perhaps not. God knows.

 

[Ishraqiyun]

Do you know why?

Maybe because I was raised a Christian and baptized and therefore have a special connection to God through the vehicle of the Christian faith?

I expect some here will want to crucify me for saying this, but I believe in this STRONGLY. The ability to see this gives one broader perspective. (Or is it the other way around?) I do think those parts of various religions that disagree or even contradict one another, come from man where we heard wrong. The common elements come from G-d. There's really no other explanation ...

Awesome. Have you ever read the works of any of the traditionalists or perennial philosophers like SH Nasr, Schoun, Geunon, Martin Lings, Titus Burkhart, etc? I'm not sure I would call myself a traditionalist but I strongly agree with their idea of the esoteric unity of of religions. "The Transcendent Unity of Religions" by Frithjof Schoun really helped to convince me. He discusses the inner unity of religions at their apex and focuses especially on Christianity and Islam. Phillip Sherrard is another one and he is a Christian so I just bought his book " Christiantiy Linaments of a Sacred Tradtion". A friend recomended it to me because he defends the current orthodox understanding of the Trinity which I seem to have trouble with. I can understand the older formulations of the Trinity like that of Origen and Athenagoras but the later Trinitarian thought doesn't make much sense to me.

BTW we have a dreams and visions sub-forum. You might post your dreams there? I'm sure MANY would be Blessed, and you'd actually be strengthening the Faith of many, helping us to see things we never have before!

I don't think I can do that now. It's still kind of personal to share right now and certain elements people might find offensive or just bizarre.

Welcome to the fold! But I must confess I always thought of you as a Brother in the Lord

Thank you brother.

It's important to learn to distinguish between the heresy of gnosticism and the other positive things you mentioned here.

Some of the more extreme pessimistic gnostics are really a turn off for me but some of the more "moderate" (Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Valentinus) ones have been very inspirational. I don't think the world was created by some evil beast that wants to keep us trapped here. I believe it is a beautiful adornment of the Logos though spirit should take precedence over mater. Plotinus took some of the more extreme gnostics to task and made some good points about them.

 

[razeontherock]

Maybe because I was raised a Christian and baptized and therefore have a special connection to God through the vehicle of the Christian faith?

These things may be connected, but many people were raised Christian and baptized but seem to never come to a present reality of G-d in their life. (Sad but true) Anyway, here's the Scripture i was getting at, to see if you would recognize it in your own situation:

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him"

The significance of understanding this is it creates a more thankful heart, which is the MAIN thing satan can't get anywhere with. Seeing this also helps w/ humility, which helps keeps us anchored in Him.

Some of the more extreme pessimistic gnostics are really a turn off for me but some of the more "moderate" (Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Valentinus) ones have been very inspirational. I don't think the world was created by some evil beast that wants to keep us trapped here. I believe it is a beautiful adornment of the Logos though spirit should take precedence over mater. Plotinus took some of the more extreme gnostics to task and made some good points about them.

Just checking to make sure you aren't buying into something that looks good but may lead astray. Sounds like you've got that covered! I haven't really studied early heresies, but I understand a Disciple of John (the Revelator, beloved and theologian) wrote down what John taught him about Revelation, somewhere in his series of books "Against Heresies." I want to get to that ...

 

[maizer]

As some of you may know I am Muslim. I converted about 2 years ago. My childhood and early adult years were spent as a nominal Christian. I admired the ethical code of Jesus and found some of the stories sorrunding him very powerful but I was turned off by the dogmatism and lack of powerful lived experience I saw around me. After a short bout as seeker I found Islam through it's mystical and philosophical masters (especially the Sufis, Shi'ite Irfan, and the Ishraqi philosophers / theosophers). This opened a whole new world to me. Though I greatly appreciated all I've learned from them I have never felt totally comfortable as Muslim though. I found myself again and again being drawn back to Christianity.

In the Muslims literature I read voraciously I came across Firthjof Schoun, Geunon and the other traditionalist authors. From their writings I learned about the inner unity of the worlds religions. Having been influenced by this I started reading about all the other world religions including Christianity. This time I focused on the esoteric, gnostic, and hermetic aspects of Christianity I knew nothing of before in my time as a Christian. Over time culminating in this period now I was drawn back to the Christian faith.

Now I've come to the point that I have decided to go back to the Christian faith. Externally the works of Arthur Verslius (especially "Wisdoms Children, A Christian Esoteric Tradition" and "Theosophia, Hidden dimensions of Christianity") were really the straws that broke the camels back so to speak and lead me to this decision. Internally a few powerful dreams centered on Christian symbolism brought me here. I realize now that the "Christianity" I left was only a shell of what spiritual Christianity implies and that leaving was a mistake.

Please pray for me because I am in need of further guidance.

I guess I should also note that I'm not leaving Islam because I think it's a "false religion" nor do I have any antipathy for the faith in the least. I hope my conversion doesn't upset any of Muslim brothers but I do feel the need to be a Christian once again.

Great to read this. I hope you are feeling more happiness, peace and love.