Islamic call to prayer in Gloucester Cathedral was contrary to the biblical doctrine of the Church of England

The reason Gloucester Cathedral should not have allowed an Islamic call to prayer on its premises is straightforward. This spiritual action on Saturday January 14th in which the god of the Koran, Allah, was declared to be the true God and Muhammad his messenger was contrary to the biblical doctrine of the Church of England.

The Church of England’s 39 Articles of Religion are quite clear on the nature of God, that he is Trinitarian (Article I – Of Faith in the Holy Trinity), that he became human in his divine Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Article II – Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man), and that the Son of God ‘truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and was buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men’ (also Article II).

These biblical truths about the nature of the true God are explicitly denied by the Koran.

Furthermore, Islam teaches that individuals gain eternal salvation through their good works whereas biblical Christianity teaches that people are accounted righteous in God’s sight and thus saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Article XI – Of the Justification of Man – is quite explicit about this: ‘We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works and deservings.’

It is no excuse that the Islamic call to prayer took place to launch an art exhibition in the Cathedral Cloisters and Chapter House and not in the main body of the Cathedral. The Chapter House is where the Cathedral clergy meet to oversee its spiritual work. As licensed Anglican ministers they made promises to uphold biblical truth when they were ordained: ‘Are you persuaded that the holy Scriptures contain sufficiently all doctrine required for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? And are you determined out of the said Scriptures to instruct the people committed to your charge, and to teach nothing (as required of necessity to eternal salvation) but that which you shall be persuaded may be concluded and proved by the Scriptures?’ (The Ordering of Priests in the Ordinal).

Is there no-one in spiritual authority in the Church of England who is prepared to call these ministers to account for unlovingly allowing a false view of God and his work of salvation to be broadcast in a Christian Cathedral?