Mercy and the Cross: A Christian Response to Imam Nasser Karimain’s Misrepresentation

By Dr. Tim Orr

Recently, I discovered a video featuring Dr. Nasser Karimian, the imam of Alhuda Mosque in Fishers, Indiana, delivering a bold critique of the Christian understanding of God’s mercy (My critique is the video below). Known for his zealous engagement in da’wah—Islam’s missionary call to invite others to embrace Islam—Karimian argues that Christianity places an unnecessary and even unjust condition on divine forgiveness by requiring a sacrifice. According to him, the God of Islam forgives freely and inherently, while the Christian God must be appeased through blood. On the surface, his words appear compassionate and even biblically informed, as he quotes passages like Psalm 103:10 to support his view. But upon closer inspection, his argument reveals a shallow understanding of the biblical narrative, a mischaracterization of Christian theology, and a troubling indifference to the demands of justice. In this article, I respond to Karim’s claims, not simply to refute them, but to show how the gospel of Jesus Christ uniquely and beautifully holds together God’s mercy and justice—something no other worldview can offer.

Imam Nasser is not a fringe voice. His platform represents a growing confidence among Islamic preachers in the West who believe that Christianity can be dismantled with selective scripture quoting and appeals to human emotion. But the questions he raises—Is God truly merciful? Does justice matter?—are not merely theological curiosities; they are central to how we understand human dignity, evil, and redemption. They deserve a response grounded not in sentimentality, but in the full arc of Scripture and the historic Christian faith.

Unpacking the Claim: Mercy Without Atonement?

Nasser’s critique of Christianity begins by framing atonement as a divine limitation. He argues that Christians make God dependent on a blood sacrifice in order to show mercy, and he asserts that this is both theologically unnecessary and morally troubling. He sets up a contrast between Islam’s view of God as inherently merciful and Christianity’s God who, he claims, cannot forgive without the violent death of a son. The result is a false dichotomy: mercy that is either unconditional and pure (Islam) or transactional and unjust (Christianity).

This framework, however, misrepresents what the cross actually signifies. Christian theology does not teach that God needed a son to forgive; rather, it teaches that God, being perfectly just and perfectly loving, chose to bear the penalty for sin Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Far from making God dependent, the cross reveals His sovereign initiative in redemption. Mercy in Christianity is not an emotional release but a just response to sin that upholds righteousness while offering grace.

Bblical Mercy and the Necessity of Sacrifice

Karimian quotes Psalm 103:10 to make his case: “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” He uses this verse to argue that even the Bible affirms a mercy that does not require sacrifice. However, this verse is part of a much larger theological framework—the Old Testament sacrificial system. God's mercy is not arbitrary. It flows within the covenant He established with Israel, which required the shedding of blood as a means of dealing with sin (Leviticus 16:15–16).

To isolate Psalm 103:10 from the sacrificial context is to strip the verse of its theological roots. The mercy David praises in this psalm is not a random act of divine leniency; it is grounded in the consistent pattern of God making a way for sin to be dealt with through substitution. This culminates in the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. The psalms, prophets, and laws all converge on this truth: God forgives, but He does so without ever compromising His holiness or justice.

Contextual Reading: Sacrifice in the Psalms and the Old Testament

Karim’s approach to Scripture is not uncommon in Islamic polemics. He lifts verses from the Bible to affirm Islamic claims while ignoring their context and canonical development. He fails to acknowledge that the same Old Testament he references is filled with bloody altars, animal sacrifices, and covenant rituals, all instituted by God Himself as a foreshadowing of a greater atonement to come. Psalm 32:1 says, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,” invoking the sacrificial covering of sin.

This oversight is not minor. The sacrificial system was not a temporary religious quirk—it was God’s means of teaching His people the seriousness of sin and the cost of forgiveness. It formed the theological soil from which the doctrine of substitutionary atonement would later flower in the New Testament. Without that background, one cannot rightly understand the mercy celebrated in the psalms or the cross that fulfills them.

Justice and Holiness: Why God Cannot Ignore Sin

Christianity teaches that God’s mercy is not a divine shrug at sin—it is a costly act of love that upholds the seriousness of justice. If God were to simply overlook sin, He would cease to be just. Hebrews 9:22 makes this clear: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” For God to forgive without atonement would be to violate His own nature as holy, just, and righteous.

This is not a matter of theological preference but of moral necessity. A holy God cannot ignore evil. If He did, He would become complicit in the moral disorder of the world. This is why the Christian gospel insists on both grace and truth. The cross is not a contradiction of God’s justice—it is its fulfillment. And it is through this fulfillment that God can extend mercy with integrity.

The Trinity and Self-Giving Sacrifice

A critical flaw in Karim’s critique is his misunderstanding of the Trinity. He presents Jesus as a third-party scapegoat, as though God required someone else to die to satisfy His wrath. But Christian theology is clear: Jesus is God in the flesh. The Father did not punish the Son; the Son willingly laid down His life in unity with the Father’s will. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

This distinction is profound. Christianity does not teach that God demands a sacrifice from another. Rather, it teaches that God provides the sacrifice Himself. The judge takes the judgment. The King bears the curse. This is the essence of divine love—God giving Himself for sinners. Islam offers forgiveness by fiat; Christianity offers forgiveness through self-giving love that satisfies both mercy and justice.

Mercy Without Justice Is Not Good News

If God simply forgives without addressing the moral weight of sin, then evil is trivialized. Victims are silenced, and justice is mocked. The Christian worldview understands that for mercy to be meaningful, it must not bypass justice but fulfill it. The cross does not ignore suffering; it answers it. It is the only place where the cries of the oppressed and the guilt of the sinner are both taken seriously.

The cross comforts the guilty by offering forgiveness and dignifies the victim by declaring that injustice matters. Islam lacks this double assurance. Its mercy is uncertain, and its justice is suspended on divine will. Christianity offers a mercy that heals, a justice that restores, and a Savior who embodies both.

The Concept of Holiness in Islam

One reason Islam lacks a doctrine of atonement is that it lacks a coherent doctrine of divine holiness. The Hebrew concept of qadosh—holiness—permeates Scripture and forms the basis for the separation between God and sin. Habakkuk 1:13 says, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” This is not merely about moral repulsion—it is about essential incompatibility. Holiness demands separation from sin or a resolution through judgment.

In Islamic theology, Allah is transcendent but not relationally or morally holy in the same sense. His forgiveness is based on decree, not satisfaction. Without a concept of holiness, Islam cannot account for the gravity of sin, the need for a mediator, or the logic of the cross. Its mercy, therefore, is arbitrary and untethered from righteousness.

A Quranic View of Forgiveness Lacks Atonement

Karim quotes Quran 39:53 to present a view of forgiveness that is broad, immediate, and unconditional: “Do not despair of the mercy of Allah… Allah forgives all sins.” While emotionally appealing, this verse lacks any mechanism of justice or means of reconciliation. There is no cross, no covering, no substitute. It assumes a mercy that can overlook sin without consequence.

This vision of mercy may comfort the religious but offers no assurance to the wounded. Where is the justice for the abused? Where is the reckoning for evil? A holy and just God cannot simply overlook sin. Christianity alone resolves this tension. The gospel does not deny sin’s seriousness—it faces it head-on and overcomes it through the cross.

The Christian Gospel: Mercy Without Compromise

The Christian gospel offers what no other religion can: mercy without the loss of justice, love without sentimentality, forgiveness without moral compromise. Isaiah 53:5 declares, “He was pierced for our transgressions… by His wounds we are healed.” This is not myth—it is the fulfillment of a covenantal storyline stretching back to Eden. The gospel does not nullify justice; it satisfies it through sacrificial love.

Islam offers a scale. Christianity offers a Savior. In Islam, you work to earn favor. In Christianity, favor is granted by grace and received by faith. This difference is not academic—it changes everything. It produces peace instead of anxiety, assurance instead of fear, and transformation instead of performance.

Conclusion

Nasser Karim’s argument rests on an appealing but ultimately hollow view of divine mercy. By denying the cross, he removes the only place where justice and mercy meet. Christianity does not diminish God’s love by insisting on sacrifice—it magnifies it. The cross is the greatest expression of divine love because it is also the greatest upholding of divine justice.

Only the gospel gives a consistent answer to the world’s deepest moral and spiritual questions. Where can the guilty be pardoned without injustice? Where can the victim be heard without vengeance? Where can sinners be made clean? At the cross. Not in sentiment, but in substitution. Not in theory, but in the person of Jesus Christ.

References (APA Style)

Durie, M. (2013). Which God? Jesus, Holy Spirit, God in Christianity and Islam. Deror Books.

Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2001). Crossway Bibles.

Lewis, C. S. (1952). Mere Christianity. HarperOne.

Qur’an 39:53. (n.d.). The Noble Qur’an.

Habakkuk 1:13; Psalm 103:10; Psalm 32:1; Isaiah 53:5; Hebrews 9:22; Romans 3:25–26; Romans 8:15; Ephesians 2:8–9; 2 Corinthians 5:19. (2001). In The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles.