Evangelicals Back-peddle from "A Common Word", some softly

After a recent firestorm of criticism, some prominent Evangelical leaders are apologizing for having signed the Yale response to "A Common Word", the Muslim document that sought a common ground for Christian and Muslim humanitarian relations.

Wheaton College President Duane Litfin and college provost Stanton Jones both signed the Yale document. In the college newspaper, Litfin wrote: "Though the statement was not written in the way I would have written it, it seemed to me that I could sign it without compromising any of my Christian convictions.” After receiving sharp criticisms from other Evangelical leaders such as Albert Mohler, John Piper, and Focus on the Family, Litfin began to rethink his initial assessment of the document. Stating that he believed he moved "too quickly", Liftin added: "To speak unqualifiedly of “our common love for God,” as if the Quran's Allah and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ are one and the same, and as if what it means to “love God” in these two faiths means the same thing, is to say more than I am willing to grant. I do not criticize others who do not share these qualms. But as for me, I needed to back away." Both Liftin and Jones withdrew their names from the Yale document.

Greg Livingstone, founder of Frontiers (a mission organization seeking to evangelize Muslims), also signed the document. When questioned about this during the Pastor's Conference held by Desiring God Ministries, Livingstone responded by acknowledging some thought his decision to sign was hasty and that he regretted that his missions organization was losing financial support because of it. This is not exactly a back-peddle, more like a crazed cyclist who has just veered his bicycle into the oncoming traffic.