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Who have been among the most influential figures in your intellectual and faith pilgrimage?

I grew up reading the classics of Islam, with religious and historical accounts steeped in the vindication of the things of God. As a child I remember stumbling on Helen Keller's The Story of My Life, which had a profound influence on me. It made me resolved to pursue the world of learning and scholarship. I became a voracious reader. Later on at school I read the works of the Western masters, such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, Keats, Longfellow, Flaubert, Goethe, and so on. All that unlocked the teeming world of the imagination to me, just as Helen Keller intimated.

If you had only one piece of advice to share with readers of Christianity Today, what would it be?

An extraordinary new world of Christianity is now unfolding before our eyes. It is an unprecedented world, something that will change the face of Christianity. In other words, Christianity today has never been more vibrant, more varied, more pro-active, and more widespread. The text for it might be, "Behold, I make all things new." The readers of CT should see that the religion is not about the refusal to accept the old, but about the willingness to embrace the new. That has been one of the most detrimental things to afflict people today. Lest my advice become an excursus, I should stop.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

See also Bonk's review of Sanneh's Whose Religion is Christianity. The book is available from ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

At the Ethics and Public Policy Center in May, Sanneh addressed journalists, scholars, and church leaders on "Evangelicals, Islam, and Humanitarian Aid."

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October 2003, Vol. 47, No. 10