“No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also” — I John 2:23
“It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son” — Qur’an 19:35
How this woman could say that “since entering Islam” she has been a “better Christian” is beyond understanding. Those two statements above cannot both be true. Either she is not taking seriously one or both of the texts that each religion holds sacred, or she is severely self-deluded, or both.
Islamochristian Ann Holmes Redding Update: “Episcopal priest or Muslim? Redding will have a year to think about it,” by Janet I. Tu for the Seattle Times (thanks to all who sent this in):
The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, a local Episcopal priest who announced she is both Muslim and Christian, will not be able to serve as a priest for a year, according to her bishop.
During that year, Redding is expected to “reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam,” the Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf, bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island, wrote in an e-mail to Episcopal Church leaders….
During the next year, Redding “is not to exercise any of the responsibilities and privileges of an Episcopal priest or deacon,” Wolf wrote in her e-mail. Wolf could not be reached for immediate comment….
Redding’s bishop in Seattle, the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner of the Diocese of Olympia, who accepts Redding as an Episcopal priest and a Muslim, said Wolf’s decision is a good compromise.
“It’s a good way to have a timeout and provide an opportunity for Ann to continue to teach … and at the same time take a look at her relationship both with the Episcopal Church and the Christian faith and Islam,” Warner said.
Redding is scheduled to start teaching part time as a visiting assistant professor at Jesuit-run Seattle University this fall. But she will not be able to teach, preach or work at any Episcopal church or institution during the next year, she said.
Redding, who until March was director of faith formation at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, has been a priest for 23 years.
In June, she announced publicly that, for the past 15 months, she’s also been a Muslim “” drawn to the faith after an introduction to Muslim prayers left her profoundly moved….
She believes she has not violated any of her baptismal or ordination vows. And “since entering Islam,” she said, “I have been, by my own estimation, a better teacher, a better preacher and a better Christian.”
Uh huh.