The Challenge of Islam According to the Reformers

In expounding Daniel 9, Martin Luther noted that among others, the prophet Daniel was talking about the Muslim Turks, who at that time were invading Europe: "In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation … He will cause deceit to prosper and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power." Daniel 9: 23 – 25

Luther wrote that the "two regimes, that of the Pope and that of the Turk, are … antichrist."

John Calvin in a sermon on Deuteronomy 18:15 maintained that Muhammad was one of "the two horns of antichrist."

In his commentaries on Daniel (7: 7 – 18), Calvin put forward the theory that the Muslim Turks were the little horn that sprang up from the beast. As the Turks had conquered much of the old Roman Empire, much of the prophecies concerning Rome could apply to the Muslim world. Islam was one of the two legs of the later Roman Empire described in Daniel 2.

Commenting on Daniel 11:37, Calvin wrote that Muhammad "allowed to men the brutal liberty of chastising their wives and thus he corrupted that conjugal love and fidelity which binds the husband to the wife … Mohamet allowed full scope to various lusts – by permitting a man to have a number of wives … Mohamet invented a new form of religion." (Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Daniel – John Calvin).

Luther noted that Christ warned about false prophets coming from the desert (Matthew 24: 24 – 26) and this certainly included Muhammad.

Commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2: 3 – 12, Calvin wrote that … "the sect of Mohammad was like a raging overflow, which in its violence tore away about half of the church."

In his commentary on 1 John 2: 18 – 23, Calvin states that the Turks "have a mere idol in place of God."

Luther observed from 1 John 2: 18 – 22 and 4: 1 – 3, "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son." 1 John 2: 22, that the Mohammadans deny both the Fatherhood of God and the Deity of Christ – hence they are liars. They testify against the truth of God’s Word.

On 1 John 4: 3 – 6: "but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus, is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist … this is how we recognise the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood", Calvin noted that "Mohammad too asserts that he has drawn his dreams only from Heaven … False spirits claim the Name of God."

Luther observed that the Muslim Turks want "to eradicate the Christians."

The 1637 Calvinist Dordt Bible in Dutch, comments on Revelation 16:12 that the Muslim nations of the East would still unite with one another in a Pan-Islamic Jihad against the West.

The 1643 Westminster Assembly’s "Larger Catechism" calls on Christians to ... "pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, that the Gospel propagated throughout the world …" It’s "Directory for the Public Worship of God" instructs congregations to "pray for the propagation of the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ to all nations, for the conversion of the Jews, the fullness of the gentiles, the fall of antichrist, and the deliverance of the distressed Churches abroad from the tyranny of the antiChristian faction, and from the cruel oppression and blasphemies of the Turk."

Commenting on Rev. 9: 1 – 11, the Dutch Dordt Bible of 1637 suggests that Muhammad is "Apollyon" (which is Greek for the Hebrew word "Abaddon" which means destroyer) and the army of locusts and scorpions are the Arab and Saracen armies which wage Jihad in Muhammad’s name.

In his Institutes (Book 2, chapter 6:4), Calvin writes: "So today the Turks, although they proclaim at the top of their lungs that the Creator of Heaven and earth is God, still, while repudiating Christ, substitute an idol in the place of the true God."

Jonathan Edwards, the first President of Princeton University, wrote in his "A History of the Work of Redemption." "The two great works of the devil which he … wrought against the Kingdom of Christ are … his Anti-Christian (Romish or Papal) and Mahometan (Muslim or Islamic) kingdoms … which have been, and still are, two kingdoms of great extent and strength. Both together swallow … up the Ancient Roman Empire; the (Papal) kingdom of Antichrist swallowing up the Western Empire, and Satan’s Mahometan kingdom the Eastern Empire … In the Book of Revelation (chapters 16 – 20) … it is in the destruction of these that the glorious victory of Christ at the introduction of the glorious times of the Church, will mainly consist…"

In a sermon on 2 Timothy 1:3, Calvin explained: "The Turks at this day, can allege and say for themselves: ‘We serve God from our ancestors!’ … It is a good while ago since Mahomet gave them the cup of his devilish dreams to drink, and they got drunk with them. It is about a thousand years since those cursed hellhounds were made drunk with their follies … Let us be wise and discreet! … For otherwise, we shall be like the Turks and Heathen!" (Sermons on Timothy and Titus – John Calvin).

Calvin pointed out that the reign of antichrist will be destroyed by the Word of God (2 Thessalonians 2:8). "Paul does not think that Christ will accomplish this in a single moment … Christ will scatter the darkness in which antichrist will reign, by the rays which He will emit before His coming – just as the sun, before becoming visible to us, chases away the darkness of the night with its bright light.

"This victory of the Word will therefore be seen in the World. For ‘the Breath (or Spirit) of His Mouth’ means simply His Word … as in Isaiah 11:4, the passage to which Paul appears to be alluding … It is a notable commendation of true and sound doctrine that it is represented as being sufficient to put an end to all ungodliness, and as destined at all times to be victorious over all devices of Satan. It is also a commendation when … a little further on … the preaching of this doctrine, is referred to as Christ’s ‘coming’ to us." (Commentary on Second Thessalonians - John Calvin).

"The Kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever." Revelation 11:15

"All nations will come and worship before You …" Revelation 15:4

"The desert tribes will bow before Him and His enemies will lick the dust ... All kings will bow down to Him and all nations will serve Him." Psalm 72: 9-11

Dr. Peter Hammond

(With thanks to Dr. Francis Nigel Lee for his book Calvin on Islam, published by Lamp Trimmers, El Paso, Texas 2000).