Monday, December 29, 2014

An overview of Islam: Allah's plan for you +

In my experience, Muslims commonly view life as a test from Allah. Those who pass the test go to paradise, those who fail go to hellfire.  Yet the Quran describes Allah as "merciful" over and over.  I never understood this point, and I don't think most Muslims can explain it either.  If you are convinced by the historical resurrection of Jesus, and you don't hear a convincing response from the Quran, then die and land in Allah's hellfire, you might not think that was so merciful.

In the Bible, the first three chapters of Genesis set the stage for the rest of the book, which describes a rescue mission by God after mankind joined Satan's rebellion.

In contrast to the Quran, the basic story of the Bible is this:

  • Creation
  • Fall of Mankind
  • Redemption
  • Restoration

I find it remarkable that the creation, fall and redemption of man are described right at the start of the Bible, before Genesis 3:15. 

If God is willing to send Jesus to die on the cross for us, then he is doing all he can to save us.  Compared to Christianity, in what way does Allah inconvenience himself to save us?

For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
--John 3:17


[The Lord] is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
--2 Peter 3:9

In Christianity, God is on our side, to save those who would be saved from their sin.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Understanding The Trinity +

Is God like his creation, or totally different?

The trinitarian view of God is that he is one being, three persons, so a little of both.

Many people, when trying to understand God as a trinity, make the mistake of assuming that since they are just one person in one being, that God has to be the same way.
The problem with that is that, without realizing it, they are measuring God by using themselves as the standard, and comparing themselves to God, and making an idol for themselves instead of accepting the God who revealed himself.
Since God made man in his image, God is like humans in some ways, but in other ways he is very different from us.

Does 1+1=1=1?
You are likely to by asked this question by Muslims in the topic of the trinity comes up.
First of all, the plus (+) operator only works on things of the same kind, like apples.  But adding apples to oranges does not make sense, unless you are adding fruits in general.

Another answer is to point out that ∞ + ∞ = ∞.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Does the Bible allow a man have more than one Wife?

Several men in the Old Testament had multiple wives.
This does not constitute permission--just as Lot committing incest is not permission for us to do so.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Manuscript Changes in the Quran

I remember around twenty years or so ago, Muslims often claimed that the Quran has been perfectly preserved from when it was first revealed until now.  Back then I had no response to this.
How things have changed!
Recent work by scholars is showing that the Muslims' claim is is no longer defensible.

In the following debate Jay Smith makes very broad and damaging claims about the text of the Quran being corrupt, but Shabir Ally does not defend against them except in small ways.  Shabbir Ally is certainly knowledgeable on this topic--he had defended that the Quran is unchanged in previous debates.
But meanwhile it seems that enough research is available to demonstrate that there are serious problems with the transmission of the Quran, and I expect we will see more of this in the future.

Here is the Jay Smith vs Shabir Ally 2014 debate: (must watch!)

http://youtu.be/fWHV9VnOJtc
In this debate Jay Smith establishes Manuscript changes, Shabir Ally has no response.

 Ṣan‘ā’ 1 and the Origins of the Qur’ān:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sana%27a_manuscript

This is the beginning of the end for the claim that the Quran is unchanged.

Intentional Changes in The Quan (Ph. D Thesis)
http://humanities.rice.edu/events.aspx?EventRecord=22419

A rebuttal:
http://callingchristians.com/2014/11/26/release-a-critical-analysis-of-jay-smiths-mistakes-about-the-quran/ 

Here is an entire debate on the historical basis of the Quran.  Note how the Muslim debaters are rarely on topic:

DEBATE WITH ANJEM CHOUDARY: What Does History Tell Us about How Islam Began
https://youtu.be/_8wYuiV1wPY


In this video Jay Smith shows the Muslims have severe difficulties with the transmission of the Quran and certainly do not have an original Quran, as they often claim:

Textual Integrity of Bible and Qur'an (Jay Smith):
http://youtu.be/HoX5mxBfBoM

This video is fascinating.
Here is is starting with where Jay Smith talks about manuscript changes in the Quran:
7 Areas Christianity Always Wins:
https://youtu.be/fbL5O0u_xbk?t=13m1s


The entire video (above) is absolutely fascinating.
Here it is from the start:
 Jay Smith - 7 Areas Christianity Always Wins:
http://youtu.be/fbL5O0u_xbk


Textual Integrity of Bible and Qur'an (Jay Smith)
https://youtu.be/HoX5mxBfBoM


Examining the Newest Historical Research on Islam and the Earliest Quranic Manuscripts (Jay Smith)
https://youtu.be/fMJRsd8SrhU
Difficult historical questions for Islam.

Here is a series of five simple videos that Jay Smith has made  that show the history of Quran manuscripts and changes:


1. Is the Qur'an Eternal, Sent down, Complete and Unchanged?
https://youtu.be/AMC-MXY3UoQ

2. Muslim scholars look at the manuscripts
https://youtu.be/D5CQ5jQvlBw

3. Muslim scholars assess the earliest manuscripts
https://youtu.be/vRlzBvCoAUM

4. Evaluating the Corrections in the manuscripts
https://youtu.be/KckGHArKC3I

5. CONCLUSION: The Qur'an is NOT eternal, NOT sent down, NOT complete NOR unchanged
https://youtu.be/iThVOVT0oJ4

This video shows Jay Smith at Speakers' corner, his favorite setting.
He raises questions like this:
What is your earliest complete manuscript?
What manuscript(s) is your current 1924 Cairo edition based on?  This is the most commonly used Quran today.
Why do the Birmingham manuscripts contain material that pre-dates the Quran we have today?
Why does the Quran borrow from older sources?

The Birmingham Qur’anic folios, an Historical Response:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYBHl7QdAus

Here Jay Smith debates a Muslim at Speaker's corner, but the Muslim quickly drops out and Jay Smith continues the discussion with one of his students:

JAY SMITH VS ADNAN RASHID SPEAKER'S CORNER DEBATES:
https://youtu.be/qykliXFySWg
For now, all you have to know to show Islam is false is a six-word question:

      "Where is your earliest complete manuscript?"
If Islam can't produce a response to this, then that could be the start of the end of Islam.

In contrast, in Christianity, we can easily investigate the manuscript evidence for any word in the New Testament using this software:

http://bibleworks.com/

There are probably other programs that do this also.


THE 26 DIFFERENT ARABIC VERSIONS OF THE QUR'AN
https://youtu.be/Wa3XIfEyPVg
Jay Smith shows some different Qurans at speakers corner.


26 Different Arabic Qurans: Explained and Unpacked (Hatun Tash and Jay Smith)
https://youtu.be/dcoMB8nJWmw
Jay Smith shows 26 different Qurans in detail.














Sunday, November 23, 2014

Miracles in the Quran

In my experience, the "scientific miracles in the Quran" is not the preferred way for Muslims to justify the Quran, but some Muslims try it anyway.  This approach is historically fairly new, with the 1976 publication of  Maurice Bucaille's book, The Bible, The Quran and Science.



Muslim:  There are many scientific miracles in the Quran.  Do you want to hear about them?
You: "We have that too in the Bible".

I suggest you get the topic back to the resurrection.  Not many people change their mind based on this topic.  I can't answer all the possible claims that Muslims can make but here are some general answers:

1. You:
The Quran says things about Christianity and Judaism that are obviously false.  This already disproves your claim.

All the scientific claims in the Quran are of no use to humanity.  We have been able to discover these without  help from the Quran.  What would have been useful would have been a detailed explanation on how Christianity changed from the Injeel that Jesus preached to the New Testament we now have.

Are you imparting modern insights into selected parts of a naïve poetic work?

Is this something that was known at the time?  How do I know what was known at the time the Quran was written?

Is this coincidence?


This approach needs more careful study:

2. You: "We have that too."

Actually Christianity  has a surprising amount of  material like what Muslims present, but you just don't hear about it very much.  Here would be the top of my list if I had to answer this challenge from Muslims.

Scientific Facts in the Bible: 100 Reasons to Believe the Bible is Supernatural in Origin by Ray Comfort.
Science and the Bible by Henry Morris.
Number in Scripture by E. W. Bullinger

Old Testament prophesies of Christ --generally

Book of Revelation as explained by Walid Shoebat, (a former Muslim) --generally.



Big claims call for big evidence.


How often does the Quran quote the Bible?  Why are you quoting the Bible to prove your point when the Quran does not even quote a single verse from the Bible?

The list above would have been far beyond the computational ability of anyone at the time the Quran was written.  And yet they are easy to explain to anyone who can multiply.  Numbers have no language barrier.  So in less than one verse Allah could have given proof of higher intelligence for all humanity.

There is a popular claim that in the Quran, the word "day" occurs 365 times, and the word for month 12 times.  Is this a miracle?

First, the calendar has been studied by since before 2600 B.C, as that is when construction of Stonehenge started.  This is proof that the calendar was well understood long before the Quran.

So if Uthman's compilation of the Quran really contained this number of repetitions, it is nothing anyone would get a Nobel prize for.

Also there is the issue that the lunar calendar does not have 365 days.

Some Muslims claim that a certain verse in the Quran shows the development of embryology.  Again, this is not extraordinary knowledge.  Humans have been cutting open animals and observing for thousands of years.

If it had not been from Allah...
http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Farooq_Ibrahim/discrepancies.htm


The Classical Debates - Jay Smith vs. Dr. Shabir Ally...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWHV9VnOJtc











My Best Arguments Against Islam

First of all, the very best argument against Islam is the resurrection of Jesus.  I dispatch Muslims so easily with the resurrection that I almost forgot to list it here.

There are a few ingredients for this argument.  I will list them:

1. You need to watch this video several times:

William Lane Craig: The Evidence for Jesus's Resurrection. Southampton Guildhall, October 2011
https://youtu.be/4iyxR8uE9GQ


The Jesus of Testimony: ( this is another good video):
https://youtu.be/mpwQFYnhqEs

2. Many of the assertions in the New Testament were verifiable or disprovable at the time they were written.
There is a big difference between writing something and people accepting it.
For example, let's focus on Mark's gospel.

Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
--Mark 5:11-13

Mark lists the place where this incident happened.  The time when it happened can also be estimated, since his ministry was only three years long.  So Mark claims that at a certain time, at a specific place, there were 2,000 dead pigs in this lake.  That would either be a big smelly lake or a lot of bacon.  You would think that news of this would have traveled far and have been remembered for a long time.

So Mark sits in his basement and writes out all 16 chapters of his gospel.  That is easy enough, but what happens when he gives his gospel to someone else and he reads chapter 5?  If he has never heard of this incident, then he will never read further in Mark's gospel.  Therefore the fact that Mark's gospel has been handed down to us is evidence that what was verifiable or refutable was found to be reasonable and compelling.
When I read Mark's gospel and began to count the number verifiable incidents, I quickly realized there were just too many to count.  Please try this for yourself.  Two other similar incidents were the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand.  You read of "crowds, "large crowds", "the entire city" seeing Jesus do something.

3. It is most scholars think that the gospels were written before 70 AD, because the destruction of Jerusalem is not mentioned.

4. Having explained what I just wrote, you now ask the Muslim you are talking to to help you understand how the gospels, which were written in the time when many witnesses were still alive, were able to gain acceptance, if in fact Jesus never rose from the dead or was seen by many people (1 Cor 15).

Something took Christianity from Judaism:
from a religion that avoided non-Jews to universally accepting anyone
from dietary laws to none
from circumcision to none
from Sabbath worship to Sunday (the day that Jesus rose)
forgiveness of sins by animal sacrifice to Jesus paying the price for our sin.
from unitarian monotheism to trinitarianism


Surely something very significant happened around the time of Jesus.  A plain reading of the Bible says that it was the resurrection.  What is the Muslim's explanation?

Very few  Muslims been able to answer at this point.

If there is an answer, the next questions are:

  • What in the Quran motivates your answer?
  • Are you helping the Quran or is it helping you?

***** the rest of this article is under construction

As we  know, Muslims actually do not have a lot of justification for Islam, so much of dawah is a matter of reciting endless lists of Bible difficulties, leaving you to conclude that Christianity is not intellectually viable.

Here are two general strategies to defend against this:

1. The Atlas defense (Named after the person who holds up the earth in mythology)

Everyone understands that Muslims can't use arguments that contradict the Quran.
For example, a Muslim cannot claim that Jesus never existed.

But here is a question that has been not been explored: what does it mean when Muslims use arguments that are not motivated by the Quran?

If Mohammed wants to claim to be a prophet he needs to bear a high burden of proof.

More than that, if Mohammed wants to claim to be the prophet who replaces all the prophets that came before him, then he must bear a much higher burden of proof.  He must show that he is right and everyone else is wrong.

To the extent that Muslims employ arguments that are not motivated (or outlined in some way) in the Quran, they are showing that they are the ones who are supporting the Quran, rather than the Quran supporting them.

Here is a specific example:
It is a fact that within the realm of history, there is no satisfactory explanation for how Christianity started.  As Christians we say it started because many people saw the miracles of Jesus and 500 people saw him resurrected (1 Corinthians 15), but to admit that would be outside the domain of historians.  So this unexplained event qualifies as a miracle, and this is the basis of Christianity.
What is the response of Islam?  Ahmed Deedat and Shabir Ally both defended a form of swoon theory, but how is this supported by the Quran?  It does the easy work (4:157) and leaves the hard work to Muslims.

In fact the very act of quoting the Bible to find difficulties is not found in the Quran.
How often do you see the Quran accurately citing Bible verses the way they are quoted by the New Testament writers?  In contrast the New Testament quotes the Old Testament accurately many times.


2. The Peer Review defense

When Muslims question the accuracy of what is recorded in the New Testament, it must be pointed out that what was written was compelling enough to cause it to be read, believed and re-copied for others. All this was done without compulsion. For this reason the documents deserve a lot of benefit-of-the-doubt.

.3 The Paradigm defense

When Muslims recite their list of Bible difficulties, they fall short by not presenting an alternative hypothesis that explains how it came to be that the early church formed, wrote the New Testament books, and grew rapidly even in the face of persecution.  The more difficulties they find, the more unlikely it is that the church would emerge and grow.
Again, if the Quran were a sensible book something like this would be found in the first or second chapter.

In contrast, the Bible has explained creation, fall of man and redemption by the third chapter of Genesis.

3. What did the prophethood of Jesus accomplish?

The net result of Christianity is that the largest religion on earth was formed through the mis-perceived crucifixion of Jesus.

4.What reason does the Quran give for why we should believe in its revelation?
The New Testament reads like a historical narrative by people who were drawn into Christianity by what they had seen.  There is nothing else like the Bible.


The person who writes the rebuttal to a certain work always has the advantage. This is why, in the legal system, the defendant is always granted the opportunity to have the last word to the jury.  The Quran came after the Bible, and also has the advantage that it was written by Allah.  And yet we see Muslim scholars quote every sort of  liberal Christian scholars in defense of Islam, but not the Quran.  This proves the Quran does not provide a good roadmap for Muslims trying to disprove Christianity.

The Quran says "Truth stands out clear from Error"
--Quran 2:256
And yet Muslims cannot present a clearly superior case for Islam than Christians can for Christianity.

It is would be perhaps defensible for Allah to cast people into hellfire if he had revealed himself to them and they willingly and openly rebelled against him.  But Allah has not.
  And not only has he not revealed himself but he has actually mislead people by making it appear that Jesus was crucified.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

If there is a God why is there so much EVIL in the World?

,,,Or maybe, if there is NO god, why is there so much GOOD in the world?

Intro: Isn't it Narrow-minded to say that "Jesus is the Only Way" *

No, rather it shows how lost humanity is.
We should appreciate the one way that we have, and what a price was paid for our salvation!

And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
--1 Peter 4:18

I believe that Islam needs to be confronted rather than embraced.  If you believe that it was right for the Pope to kiss the Quran, then this is the wrong blog for you.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Is Christianity a License To Sin?

Muslims often say that Christianity is a license to sin.  You can sin, then repent, then sin again, as much as you want.

One view is that in order to get to heaven you need to keep the commandments of God, but you want to do only the bare minimum of good, and and the maximum of sin while not losing  your salvation.

I am doing all the sinning that I want, but being born again, my desires have changed.  I see how much God loves me and I want to stay in fellowship with him, and do what is good.

I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
--Ezekiel 36:26

Christianity is not a set of laws to to hold you back, it is a living reality.

After writing the above I read this book:
 The Gospel According To Jesus by John MacArthur

He points out that Jesus did not offer an easy "sinner's prayer" salvation.  When the rich young ruler asked him what he had to do to be saved, he told him to sell all he had and follow him

Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.”

But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions. Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!”
--Mark 10:21-23

John the Baptist was also not making things easy:

He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones!
Even now the ax also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.”

--Luke 3:7-9

Both the young ruler and the crowds of John the Baptist were evidently sincere, but they could not come to Jesus unchanged.

Here is another verse that contradicts the idea that Christianity is a license to sin:

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,  but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.
--Hebrews 10:26-27

Sunday, October 19, 2014

If Jesus was God why could he not do miracles in his home town?

Muslim: If Jesus is God why could he not perform miracles "in his own country"?  Here is what it says:

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house.” He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people, and healed them. He marveled because of their unbelief.
--Mark 6:4-6

You:  What is more important is to observe that here is a verse that is embarrassing to the doctrine of the Trinity, and yet they left it in the New Testament and did not change it.

Another interesting point is that if you examine the miracles that Jesus performed in other places, you will notice that they are usually associated with some sort of demonstration of faith on the part of the recipient.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

License to sin: Did Paul do away with Circumcision to make Christianity easy Greeks and Romans?

Muslim: Paul, who invented Christianity, took away the requirement for circumcision to make Christianity more appealing to Greeks and Romans.

You:  The doctrine that circumcision was not necessary did not come from Paul, but from Peter and  James, who was head of the church in Jerusalem.

In Acts 15 Peter who advocated against requiring circumcision starting with verse 6, and James agreed starting with verse 12.

Peter:
But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.
--Acts 15:11

James:
Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God.
--Acts 15:19

In fact, circumcision was really symbolic of  the condition of the heart:

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.
--Deuteronomy 10:16

Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem
--Jeremiah 4:4

Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified?  I just want to learn this from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now completed in the flesh?  Did you suffer so many things in vain, if it is indeed in vain?  He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you, and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?  Even as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”
Galatians 3:1-6

Let me finally point out that Peter did not believe that circumcision was needed because of what he saw the holy spirit do among the gentiles, and Paul also makes the same argument, and the Galatians agreed.  In his letter to the Galatians Paul says they received the holy spirit without works of the law, and even that there were miracles among them.  If these had  not been true assertions or convincing arguments, the Galatians would have simply thrown away this letter from Paul.

Monday, September 29, 2014

License to sin: Does the Bible Command Women to Wear a Veil? *

"The Bible commands women to cover their heads with veil like Muslims do!  Why don't your Christian women not cover themselves?"

Sometimes, Muslims will say that Paul did away with the law to make Christianity more appealing to on-Jews, but other times they find Paul making rules that are not found in the Gospels or the Old Testament.

One popular polemic for Muslims is to accuse Christian women of disregarding the Bible for not wearing head coverings as Paul commanded:

For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
--1 Cor 11:6 (KJV)

Why does Paul tell the Corinthian women to cover their head?

Here is the answer:  In Corinth at that time, the female temple prostitutes had short hair, and the male temple prostitutes had long hair.  If you don't know that, this chapter has no reasonable meaning.

Paul gives reasons why women should be covered, but he finally concludes:

Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled?
-- 1 Corinthians 11:13

Since in our culture female temple prostitutes don't have short hair, it is fine for women to not be veiled.

Also I should point out that we have the story in Genesis 38, where  Judah saw a woman but did not recognize her as Tamar because of the veil she wore over her face. Thinking she was a prostitute, he requested her services.

One difference you will notice between the Quran and the Bible is that Paul tries to appeal to reason whenever possible, while the Quran often simply threatens the disobedient with hellfire.  Normally, Paul starts with what his audience already knows and draws a conclusion.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Was Abraham a Christian or a Jew?

Or do you say that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants were Jews or Christians? Say, "Are you more knowing or is Allah ?.. "
--Quran 2:140

At first glance it appears the Quran is is making a powerful argument.  Abraham could not have been a Jew as Moses came much later, and could not have been Christian as Christ was even later. So he was obviously Muslim, right?

And yet how could he have been Muslim?  Mohammed was even later than both of these.  This is an example Muslim's common trick of equating belief in God with Mohammed-ism.  In fact it shows to the contrary that you don't need Mohammed to be in good standing with God.

What is worse it appears that the author of the Quran was ignorant of the discussion of Melchizedek in Hebrews chapter 7.
Notice his titles:


Even Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of his spoils.
A priest.
King of Salem (meaning King of Peace).
No end of life recorded, as someone whose ministry remains forever.
So he is an Old Testament "type of Christ"

 Hebrews argues that Jesus could be a priest without the important Levitical ancestry because Christ is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, and that priesthood is more fundamental than the Levitical one.

I used to hear Muslims ask about how someone else other than Christ could have no father, referring to Melchizedek:

 ...without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life
--Heb 7:3

The Jews were very strict about being able to prove what tribe that priests belonged to, but Melchizedek was a priest whose ancestry was not mentioned.


I think that if the Quran really came from Allah that there would be a reasonable expectancy of more persuasive arguments than this.  The discussion should have started where Hebrews 7 left off, otherwise we may conclude the Quran is the result of a human effort without special insights.


Monday, September 15, 2014

Is The Quran The Best Poetry?

Muslims sometimes point to the literary quality of the Quran of proof it is from Allah.

There are about 6000 languages in the world, and Arabic falls in order of popularity after 
Mandarin,
Spanish,
English and
Portuguese.

So if the proof of the Quran is in its Arabic poetry then it can't claim to be a universal religion.

You: The Bible can be translated into any language while preserving its message.

What Language Did Jesus speak in: (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek or Latin)? +

Muslims sometimes claim the Gospels are translations of his words from Aramaic to Greek, which would introduce inaccuracies.

Let me show a Muslim posting to show how this can be useful:

Your cliam that Jesus (pbuh) was reffering to the Holy Spirit is simply wrong. According to the Aramaic Bible Society, the word "Paraclete" back then meant the "Praised One". Muhammad's name was "Ahmed". Both Muhammad and Ahmed in Arabic mean "The Honored One" or the "Praised One".

Also, there is a claim that the Bible is a "translation of a translation of a translation".  Something along the lines of Aramaic to Greek to the Latin Vulgate to English.  Of course, the Vulgate has nothing to do with modern translations, but some Christians don't know this, and most importantly this sounds impressive to Muslims.

Response:

You do not have to concede this Muslim claim.

We know that Jesus and his disciples lived in a multilingual world:
“And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew.”
--Luke 23:38

Also, there are a few short phrases in the Gospels that record Jesus speaking Aramaic, but always accompanied by a translation into Greek.  This would indicate that these were the exception rather than the rule.


Furthermore in John's revelation 22:13 Jesus describes himself as the "Alpha and Omega".  These are distinctly Greek words, and no translation is supplied.
Also the "Old Testament" that was in common use in Jesus' day was the  "Septuagint", was written in Greek.

This makes it likely that religious discussions would more than likely have taken place in Greek.

A modern equivalent of this would be that when computer technology is being discussed by people who speak English as a second language, the conversation will quickly turn into English.



Saturday, September 6, 2014

The Mormon Question *

Just claiming that an angel revealed something to you does not make it true.  After all, the Book of Mormon was also revealed by an angel (according to the Mormons).  Islam and the Mormon revelations both claim to be a correction of the Bible, but only Mormonism uses the Bible.

At the same time both religions suffer from an embarrassing issue.  Paul wrote:

But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.
--Gal 1:8

According to this verse, there is no need for a different gospel, and we should be  especially suspicious of  one that has been brought by an angel.  Neither the Quran nor the Mormon scriptures interact with this verse.  By this I mean, there is no verse that explains why we can now disregard the verse in Gal 1:8.  Any explaining is done by the the Mormons/Muslims themselves.

Friday, September 5, 2014

How did we get from Jesus teaching the Injeel to the Resurrection of Jesus? -

Here is some of what Muslims believe about Jesus, whom they call Isa:

He was Born of the virgin Mary.

As a  baby, he said: "I am indeed a servant of God: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet."

He had disciples.

Allah gave miracles to him.

He was not crucified, but it just appeared so.  Thus the entire Quran answers the claim of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus with just 40 Arabic words:

They said (in their boast), "We killed the Messiah Isa (Jesus) son of Maryam (Mary), The Messenger of Allah"- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety They killed him not-Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise- Quran 4:157-158.

Every Muslim is free to interpret these words how they want.  There is no certain knowledge as to what they mean, but only conjecture.  Most Muslims will say that it was Judas who was made to take the place of Jesus on the cross.  Josh McDowell, in his debate with Ahmed Deedat, lists many of the interpretations of this verse.
Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/cgUnalaJoTs

Christianity exists because those who came before us saw Jesus crucified and raised from the dead.  We simply go what we see.  We believe those who were there and who wrote about it.


To associate partners with Allah is the worst sin of all. That is called shirk and Christians are the poster-child of it because we consider Jesus the son of God.  In Islam that is a sure ticket to hellfire.

Here is the question that Muslims cannot answer: what events took place between what appeared to be the crucifixion of Jesus [whatever happened] to cause the belief in the death, burial, and resurrection to become the prevailing view that emerged from the first century?

Were his disciples Muslims or not?

Every church with a cross on top of it attest to the fact that somehow some people were able to overwrite what Jesus openly taught with shirk beliefs.

Christians have been celebrating communion for as long as there was Christianity.  How did this get started?  Can you imagine you getting your friends together and you telling them to eat this bread and drink this wine and to pretend it is the body of Jesus?

At face value, every New Testament author was more qualified than Mohammed to write about Jesus.

What does the Quran supply to lead us to believe that he had more insight into Jesus than what we see in the New Testament?


Monday, September 1, 2014

Is there Only One God?

One time a Muslim told me he had a proof that there is just one god.
He said that if there were more than one god then they would be fighting each other and not able to come up with a unified creation.

I said, by your reasoning, only one person created my computer.  He did not reply.

An interesting and related question is "Can God lie?"


How can you know which Religion is True? -

Most people have the mindset that God is unknowable, sort of like this conversation:

Person A: "I believe the moon is made of cheese."
Person B: "I believe the moon is made of rock."
Person A: (shrugs shoulders).
Person A: "You have your belief, I have mine."

This is the sentiment of Surah 109.

And yet there is a lot you can know about God just with your hands in your pockets, and once you bring in religious texts you can know a lot more.

For example there are many lines of reasoning to show that God exists.  Basically with the discovery of the 'Big Bang' we know the universe is not in a steady state, but rather had a beginning.  Nobody has been able to explain how we got something from nothing.  This makes atheism as much of a religion as believing in God, and so it is just as plausible or implausible.

Since the fact the universe appeared out of nothing, (no explanation has yet been found for it within science), it is plausible that God created the universe. Now, what about life?

No people-group has ever been found that did not have significant religious beliefs.  So here we are, intelligent, self-aware, all God-seeking, and not finding.

Notice how we, have gone from knowing nothing to seeking an explanation for an apparent God-forsaken humanity situation.

What sort of religion could possibly explain how God created humans God-aware but not knowing who that God is who created them is?

Please understand this point: We know a lot about who God is from the fact that God is not openly revealed to us.  If you wanted to invent a new religion, the first thing you would have to do is think of why we should worship an unseen God.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were a religion that would start out explain what is going on, for example by chapter 3?

Was Muhammad was the Prophet like Moses?

I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you [you=Moses in context]; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
--Deuteronomy 18:18

Muslims often claim this refers to their prophet.
This  argument is actually self-defeating. 
Mohammed is so un-like Moses that they do not read from the looks of Moses in their mosques, except to pick-and-choose verses that help their case.

Muslims may reply that the Bible is corrupt.  But do modern textual critics find the Quran a helpful source of answers for their investigations?  More likely the Quran is just different.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Evidence For Jesus Outside The Bible

This is a side-note, as Muslims are unable to deny that Jesus existed, and the topic here is to demonstrate Christianity to Muslim audience.  Nevertheless, in case someone claims that Jesus never existed, I find this video convincing, along with the associated text form of the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bLlpiWh9-k (Is Jesus Real? - Non-biblical Evidence of His Existence)


We sometimes view the Bible as a monolithic work, just because it is all between the same two cardboard covers.  Actually it is a collection of (mostly) independent works by different authors who did not always agree on everything.  It contains many historical references that are well-corroborated with secular history.  The authors of the New Testament clearly intended for their works to be treated as true, historically accurate accounts. 

Even without referencing non-Christian sources for the existence of Jesus, the critical question is this: If the New Testament is made-up fiction, how did the New Testament ever get a crowd of followers to read, and re-copy its manuscripts  and pass them down to the next generation all the way to us?  The New Testament is not boring, but it also does not fit the genre of "entertainment".

Did the Early Christians suffer Persecution?

When discussing with Muslims (or anyone, actually), it is often useful to establish that Christianity started out as a persecuted minority.  For example, when it came to believing in the resurrection, people at the time had every incentive NOT to believe it and find rationales for rejecting it.

So it is good to be able to quote some verses to demonstrate the prevailing persecution of the time.

Also, the specific verses where Paul describes his own persecutions are useful to show that he had no selfish motive in his ministry work.



Paul writes:


Now brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
--Gal 5:11

From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body scars for the cause of Jesus.
--Gal 6:17

(Paul could not have credibly said this if he did not have these scars)

...near death many times.
 Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews.
 Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans.
Once I was stoned by my enemies.
Three times I was shipwrecked.
I have spent a night and a day
in the open sea.
 On frequent journeys, I faced
dangers from rivers,
dangers from robbers,
dangers from my own people,
dangers from the Gentiles,
dangers in the city,
dangers in the open country,
dangers on the sea,
and dangers among false brothers;
 labor and hardship,
many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst,
often without food, cold, and lacking clothing.
--2 Cor 11 24-27


You both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens.
--Hebrews 10:4

Also we convincingly have this:

PLINY THE YOUNGER (63 - 113 A.D) Pliny the Younger admits to torturing and executing Christians who refused to deny Christ. Those who denied the charges were spared and ordered to exalt the Roman gods and curse the name of Christ. Pliny addresses his concerns to Emperor Trajan that too many citizens were being killed for their refusal to deny their faith.

"I asked them directly if they were Christians...those who persisted, I ordered away... Those who denied they were or ever had been Christians...worshiped both your image and the images of the gods and cursed Christ. They used to gather on a stated day before dawn and sing to Christ as if he were a god... All the more I believed it necessary to find out what was the truth from two servant maids, which were called deaconesses, by means of torture. Nothing more did I find than a disgusting, fanatical superstition. Therefore I stopped the examination, and hastened to consult you...on account of the number of people endangered. For many of all ages, all classes, and both sexes already are brought into danger..."
--Pliny's letter to Emperor Trajan

Though Pliny states some of the accused denied the charges, a recurring theme in the correspondence between Pliny and Trajan is the willingness of the true believer to die for Christ.
(See this site:)
http://thedevineevidence.com/jesus_history.html






What is the Most Important Claim of The Gospel?

The

  • death 
  • burial
  • resurrection

is demonstrably the central claim of the gospel.

This shows the approximate fraction of each gospel is dedicated the final week of Jesus' life:

Matthew 21 out of 28 chapters before final week => 25% on final week
Mark 11 out of 16 chapters before the final week  => 31% on final week
Luke 20 out of 24 chapters before final week  => 16% on final week.
John 17 out of 25 chapters before the final week  =>  32% on final week.

Muslims see it as their mission to correct Christians' view by describing Jesus as "a prophet" (implying he is like other prophets).

But then why is there such an emphasis on the last week of the life of Jesus?  Jesus certainly was an Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Evangelist, Pastor, (ministry gifts from Ephesians 4:11), but his primary mission was as as "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"


Thursday, August 28, 2014

Claim of Christianity against Islam: The Resurrection

The death, burial and  resurrection is demonstrably the central claim of the gospel. And the Quran does not respond to it.  The closest it gets is denying the crucifixion of Christ in 40 vague words.

The Muslim reality is that the Quran replaces the Bible.  How much time is spent in mosque reading the Bible except to disparage it?

However, what justification does Mohammed bring for replacing the Bible?  The burden of proof is on Mohammed to show Jesus was not crucified and raised, as plenty of Christians testified to this with their lives.

In contrast the New Testament has book of Hebrews (among other material) is a 300 verse block of material justifying why Christianity replaces Judaism.

I never did get a reply to this and I found Muslims would just stop engaging when presented with this.

It is not enough for Muslims to quote Ahmed Deedat or Bart Eherman; the justification needs to be anticipated in the Quran.  Is the Quran from Allah or is it something Muslims have to carry around and prop up like an idol?

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Is there Science in the Quran?

It is often said by Muslims that one of the proofs that the Quran came from Allah is that it describes scientific phenomena that were not understood at the time it was written.

When Muslims present these miracles from the Quran, they can sound impressive.

However if you read the Quran in its entirety you will see that these statements are just pulled out from a body of poetry and are counterbalanced by all the unscientific statements everywhere else, such as ants talking to Solomon.  Ants do not have vocal cords.

When scientists want to solve a hard problem, do they run to the Quran for inspiration?  Do Muslim scientists win all the Nobel prizes?

I encourage you to read the Quran for yourself to judge the whether the "science" it contains really proves that it originates from Allah.

Also here is a book that talks about this topic in great detail.

http://answering-islam.org/Campbell/contents.html

1)  The author of Quran thinks that the people of the Book believe that Mary is part of the Trinity, and that Jesus was conceived in a biological way.

http://simpleargumentsversusislam.blogspot.com/

There is no way to justify that Mary is part of the Trinity from the "Book".

1) We should keep in mind that today's Quran is from 1924.

http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/01/is-there-truly-only-one-quran.html

Even Shabir Ally lets the 1924 claim stand:

https://youtu.be/fWHV9VnOJtc

There anything claimed that was not known in 1924?

3) Is there are there any scientific statements in the Quran that point to things yet to be discovered by science?  Or is it always like last week's lottery numbers?




Islam's Intellectual Contributions to Humanity


A  Jewish  Boycott – Well now,  what do you think of these facts?  

Iran's Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the Muslim World to boycott anything and everything that originates with the Jewish people.

In response, Meyer M. Treinkman, a pharmacist, out of the kindness of his heart, offered to assist them in their boycott  as follows:

"Any Muslim who has Syphilis must not be cured by  Salvarsan discovered by a Jew, Dr. Ehrlich. He should not even try to find  out whether he has Syphilis, because the Wasserman Test is the discovery  of a Jew. If a Muslim suspects that he has Gonorrhea, he must not seek  diagnosis, because he will be using the method of a Jew named  Neissner.

"A Muslim who has heart disease must not use Digitalis, a  discovery by a Jew, Ludwig Traube.

Should he suffer with a  toothache, he must not use Novocaine, a discovery of the Jews, Widal and  Weil.

If a Muslim has Diabetes, he must not use Insulin, the result  of research by Minkowsky, a Jew. If one has a headache, he must shun  Pyramidon and Antypyrin, due to the Jews, Spiro and Ellege.

Muslims  with convulsions must put up with them because it was a Jew, Oscar  Leibreich, who proposed the use of Chloral Hydrate.

Arabs must do  likewise with their psychic ailments because Freud, father of  psychoanalysis, was a Jew.

Should a Muslim child get Diphtheria, he  must refrain from the “Schick" reaction which was invented by the Jew,  Bella Schick.

"Muslims should be ready to die in great numbers and  must not permit treatment of ear and brain damage, work of Jewish Nobel  Prize winner, Robert Baram.

They should continue to die or remain  crippled by Infantile Paralysis because the discoverer of the anti-polio  vaccine is a Jew, Jonas Salk.

"Muslims must refuse to use  Streptomycin and continue to die of Tuberculosis because a Jew, Zalman  Waxman, invented the wonder drug against this killing  disease.

Muslim doctors must discard all discoveries and  improvements by dermatologist Judas Sehn Benedict, or the lung specialist,  Frawnkel, and of many other world renowned Jewish scientists and medical  experts.

"In short, good and loyal Muslims properly and  fittingly should remain afflicted with Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Heart Disease,  Headaches, Typhus, Diabetes, Mental Disorders, Polio Convulsions and  Tuberculosis and be proud to obey the Islamic boycott."

Oh, and  by the way, don't call for a doctor on your cell phone because the cell  phone was invented in Israel by a Jewish engineer.

Meanwhile I ask,  what medical contributions to the world have the Muslims made?"

The  Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000; that is ONE  BILLION TWO HUNDRED MILLION or 20% of the world's population.

They  have received the following Nobel  Prizes:

Literature:


1988 - Najib  Mahfooz

Peace:


1978 - Mohamed Anwar  El-Sadat
1990 - Elias James Corey
1994 - Yaser Arafat:
1999 -  Ahmed Zewai

Economics:


(zero)

Physics:


(zero)

Medicine:


1960 - Peter Brian  Medawar
1998 - Ferid Mourad

TOTAL: 7 SEVEN

The  Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000; that is FOURTEEN  MILLION or about 0.02% of the world's population.

They have  received the following Nobel  Prizes:

Literature:

1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 -  Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pasternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef  Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis  Singer
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine  Gordimer World

Peace:


1911 - Alfred  Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 -  Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 -  Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak  Rabin

Physics:


1905 - Adolph Von  Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908  - Gabriel Lippmann
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard  Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 -  Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck
1925 - Gustav Hertz
1943 - Gustav  Stern
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1944 - Isidor Issac  Rabi
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born
1958 - Igor Tamm
1959  - Emilio Segre
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert  Hofstadter
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1962  - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman
1965 - Julian  Schwinger
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 -  William Howard Stein
1973 - Brian David Josephson
1975 - Benjamin  Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1978 - Arno  Allan Penzias
1978 - Peter L Kapitza
1979 - Stephen Weinberg
1979  - Sheldon Glashow
1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
1980 - Paul  Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron  Klug
1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1986 - Dudley  R. Herschbach
1988 - Robert Huber
1988 - Leon Lederman
1988 -  Melvin Schwartz
1988 - Jack Steinberger
1989 - Sidney Altman
1990  - Jerome Friedman
1992 - Rudolph Marcus
1995 - Martin Perl
2000 -  Alan J. Heeger

Economics:

1970 - Paul Anthony  Samuelson
1971 - Simon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow
1975 -  Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Milton Friedman
1978 - Herbert A.  Simon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987  - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Markowitz
1990 - Merton  Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert  Fogel

Medicine:


1908 - Elie  Metchnikoff
1908 - Paul Erlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto  Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto  Loewi
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser
1945 -  Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1950 - Tadeus  Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs
1953 -  Fritz Albert Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur  Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob
1965 - Andre  Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
1969 -  Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod
1970 - Sir Bernard Katz
1972  - Gerald Maurice Edelman
1975 - Howard Martin Temin
1976 - Baruch S.  Blumberg
1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980  - Baruj Benacerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart  Brown
1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita  Levi-Montalcini]
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1991  - Erwin Neher
1991 - Bert Sakmann
1993 - Richard J. Roberts
1993  - Phillip Sharp
1994 - Alfred Gilman
1995 - Edward B. Lewis
1996-  Lu RoseIacovino

TOTAL: 129!

The Jews are NOT  promoting brainwashing children in military training camps, teaching them  how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other  non-Muslims.

The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill  athletes at the Olympics, or blow themselves up in German  restaurants.

There is NOT one single Jew who has destroyed a  church.

There is NOT a single Jew who protests by killing  people. The Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad  and death to all the Infidels.

Perhaps the world's Muslims  should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming  the Jews for all their problems.

Muslims must ask 'what can they do  for humankind' before they demand that humankind respects  them.

Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel  and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more  culpability on Israel 's part, the following two sentences really say it  all:

'If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no  more violence.

If the Jews put down their  weapons today, there would be no more Israel."

Benjamin Netanyahu:  General Eisenhower warned us. It is a matter of history that when the  Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found  the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be  taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered  through the camps and even made to bury the dead.

He did this  because he said in words to this effect: 'Get it all on record now - get  the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the road of history  some bastard will get up and say that this never  happened'

Recently, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust  from its school curriculum because it 'offends' the Muslim  population which claims it never occurred.

It is not  removed as yet. However, this is a frightening portent of the fear that is  gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into  it.

It is now more than 65 years after the Second World War in  Europe ended.

Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others,  claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the  world never forgets.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Do you interpret the words of Jesus literally?

Someone may say that  Jesus is advocating self-mutilation with words like this:

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear
it out and throw it away!
--Matthew 5:22

However, we see that we need to interpret this verse in light of the fact that  Jesus uses hyperbole:

You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
--Matthew 23:24

The words of Jesus have to be interpreted the way they were intended to be understood.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

An overview of Islam: Why was Hell created? *

Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
--Matthew 25:41

Jesus points out that hell was created for the devil and his angels, and some people are sent there also.  This is no coincidence.

The purpose of Satan's rebellion was to try to overthrow Gods's rule by unleashing evil on an inexpressibly vast scale into God's creation that previously only knew goodness.  This was a premeditated and well-understood act.  Hell is the just and fitting punishment for this: for Satan and the angels that joined in his rebellion.

However, naïve humanity was tricked into joining in on this evil scheme.  It is because of this entanglement with that rebellion, that we are separated from God and in need of salvation.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Trinity: Typical Muslim Attacks on Jesus as a man and God +

As soon as the conversation turns to "Jesus is God", you can expect a flood of questions that can catch unprepared Christians off-guard.

1)
Muslims believe that it is undignified for God to become a man.   This set of questions may be  asked graphically or euphemistically to various degrees:

Q: Is it is befitting that God should take on human characteristics
Q: Does your god use bathroom?
Q: Was your god born from the private parts of a woman?

A: Yes, absolutely, all the above and more!

The extreme measures God took to save humanity from sin shows God's love for us, and shows how big or problem with sin is.
Jesus fully took part in the human condition.
Jesus paid a big price to redeem us for sin.
God did not just ignore our sin and pretend it did not happen.
Our salvation was expensive!  There is a penalty for sin that must be paid.

[We] were bought with a price.
--1 Cor 6:20

The Word became flesh
and took up residence among us.
We observed His glory,
the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
--John 1:14

[Jesus] was tempted in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.
--Hebrews 4:15

2)
Q:Can God die? Did your god die?
Q: Jesus died, therefore he cannot be God.

A:Jesus died, but that does not mean he stopped existing.    "Death" means he was separated from his body. Jesus still kept on ministering after his resurrection.

3)
Q: Could you become God?
A: No, I am a human being.
Q: Was Jesus a human being?
A: Yes.
Q: Then how could Jesus be God?

With God all things are possible.
--Matt 19:26
Our God is able take on human form and live with us as a man.


4)
Q: Do you believe Jesus was God or that he was sent by God?
A: Both.
Q: Why is God is all-knowing, by definition, but Jesus was not?  For example:
Concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—except the Father.
 --Mark 13:32
A: Jesus is not all-knowing because:
he emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
--Phil 2:7

5)
Q: God does what he wants, Jesus did not.  For example:
I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
--John 5:30

A: Jesus did God's will:
being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
--Phil 2:8

6)
Q: Jesus prayed to God. why should God pray?
A: Jesus prayed because he became human like us.

All these show the Muslims' initial definition of God needs to be revised.
When God reveals himself for how he is, Muslims complain that God does not meet their preconceptions of what God should be like.



Friday, August 15, 2014

Is there Compulsion In Christianity?

No, there is no compulsion in Christianity.  It is fundamentally contrary to Christianity in many ways.

The Bible has this very definitive verse:

God is love.
-- 1 John 4:8

Love is also the greatest commandment in Christianity:

 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all 
your soul, 
and with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 
The second is like this, 
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
--Mark 12:30-31

Is it possible to force (or use compulsion) to love you?  No, absolutely not!  That is not love.

Love is contrary to compulsion.  It is impossible to force someone to love you, and if love is out of incentive, then is it out of true love?

What is God seeking then?

“But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
--John 4:23

To worship in spirit and in truth is the opposite of compulsion.

Therefore Christianity generally does not have prescribed rituals:

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
-- 2 Cor 3:17

Love is a very individual response and cannot be confined to ceremonial actions.
That is the opposite of that fake forced worship that Muslims do.

Question for Muslims:
Is there compulsion in Islam?  Are Muslims free to convert to Christianity in majority-Muslim countries without fear of harm?










Tuesday, August 12, 2014

What does "Mohamed" mean? --

"Mohammed" means "Praised one"--referring to the prophet himself.

All the Old Testament prophets have a name that describes an attribute of God.  For example, Joshua means God (or Yahweh) saves.

Did any of the the prophets in the Bible have names that brought glory to themselves?  I don't know of any.

[All this copied to another article. ]

Why don't Christians take their shoes off when entering Church?

Muslims point out they take off their shoes like Moses did in the presence of God.

This reminds me of what Jesus said of the Pharisees:

Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.
--Luke 11:39

True Christianity emphasizes an inward spirituality, not an outward show.

Some Muslims say that Jesus was acting like a Muslim when he says: “Peace be unto you”, when he appeared to his disciples them after his resurrection (John 20:19)

Actually, it is the other way around. When Muslims greet each other they are acting like Jesus in a superficial way.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

If Jesus is God, then why does he say "The Father is greater than I"?

Muslims often point out that Jesus is not God because he said, "The Father is greater than I".
To them this is proof that Jesus is not divine.

You have heard Me tell you, 
‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ 
If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
--John 14:28

And yet one wonders why Jesus had to point this out.  I know that I have never felt the need to clarify on this point.

If this means that Jesus was only a human prophet then what does it mean three chapter later Jesus prays:

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
--John 17:5

This says that Jesus had glory along side the Father in eternity.  How can this be?

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
--Philippians 2:4-11

Most scholars agree that Paul is quoting an early Christian hymn in this passage.

Here is a video that answers this by Sam Shamun:
https://youtu.be/VzBesvLK5bE

John the Baptist: A fore-runner of Christian Martyrs under the Anti-Christ

In the Bible, John the Baptist was beheaded for speaking out against sin.  He is the only person mentioned by name who is beheaded in the New Testament.

Interestingly the martyrs in the book of Revelations are specifically called out as being beheaded under the Anti-Christ.

Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the people who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of God’s word, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with the Messiah for 1,000 years.
--Revelations 20:4

Beheading is one of Islam's sanctioned ways of executing people.

It is ironic (as well as prophetic) that they respect John the Baptist as one of the prophets, and yet prefer the same style of execution that he suffered.


Thursday, August 7, 2014

Why Does Islam not have Female Imams?

Why do women become Muslim when they don't have female Imams?

If a female Muslim is called a Muslima, then what would a female Imam be called?
An Imama?  Pronounced "e-MAMA"?

Seriously now.  The Bible documents many women in ministry including female prophets.  A small sample are found on my page here:

http://simpleargumentsversusislam.blogspot.com/2013/10/holy-books-named-after-women.html

Thursday, July 31, 2014

We Muslims Love Jesus. That is Why We Grow a Beard

It is typical of Muslims to focus on external appearance of spirituality rather than what is on the inside.
Your beard will not draw you closer to heaven, nor will a lack of beard keep you out.

Jesus said:

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
--John 14:23

It is also curious there is no verse in the New Testament that states that Jesus had a beard.  So that can't be so important.
But we do read where Jesus taught against the religious teachers of their day, who emphasized their external appearance:

 They do everything to be observed by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.
--Matthew 23:5-7

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Muslims Love Jesus, don't they?

Muslims are quick to claim they love Jesus.
Actually the name "Jesus" does not appear in the Quran.  It only has "Isa". 
Their version of Jesus is very different from the Jesus of the Bible, and Muslims know this. 
The bottom line is that it is far worse to LIE about Jesus than it is to deny him.

James 3:1 says this:

Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment

So unless you are sure about it, you should not teach something, lest it be wrong and you receive this  judgement mentioned above.


Monday, June 23, 2014

Where is Circumcision in the Quran?

Actually there is nothing in the Quran about circumcision. 
There may be something in the hadith where Mohammed recommended  female circumcision (horrible).

Sunday, May 18, 2014

How do you know that the Bible is the Word of God?

"How do you know the Bible is the Word of God?" 
This was asked by a Muslim.
Muslims sometimes think the Bible has the same status in Christianity as the Quran does in Islam.
Really, if you think about it, there were Christians before there was any Bible.
The central point about Christianity is that Jesus rose from the dead.
Paul tells us that when he came to the Corinthians, he came with a short creed about Jesus that he received from Peter when he visited Jerusalem.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,

  • that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  
  • and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
  • and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
  • After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time,

most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;  

  • then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and
last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.  Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
(1 Cor 15)

Why else would Paul mention that most of the five hundred are still alive unless as a challenge to the Corinthians to investigate his claims if they did not believe him?

Therefore Christianity was verifiable to the earliest Christians, and that is why they believed--more so than from the Bible being the Word of God.

All this is really better explained in this video.

William Lane Craig on Evidence for the Resurrection

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Uthman's Quran and the Zionist conspiracy to control Islam

Scholars are starting to question whether or not Mohammed really wrote the Quran.
According to the Hadiths, the Quran was written down on whatever was available when the revelations came, such as rocks, sheep skin and palm leaves.  The Quran was actually not compiled during Mohammed's lifetime.  This is evidenced by the fact that it is not in any sort of chronological order.

Muslims do get upset when someone burns copies of the Quran nowadays.  However, it is well known that Uthman, who is credited for compiling the Quran, was also the first Quran burner, for the stated reason of trying to unify the various readings of the Quran in his time.  What is less well known is that he was a Zionist conspirator. 

Evidence for this includes that Uthman had a long nose and black hair, plus his name follows the characteristic Jewish pattern for last names, ending in "man".

Thursday, May 1, 2014

When you speak against Islam, does that mean you hate Muslims?

When you warn someone, you do so out of concern.
This is not hatred.

Are you an Islam-o-phobe?

A phobia is an irrational fear.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

What did Thomas mean when he said "My Lord and My God?" in John 20:28

Some people will want to talk about whether or not "My God" is an exclamation of surprise.
The trick here is not to discuss the meaning of the words used, but to point out that in context, Thomas is talking to Jesus who came back from the dead.

This means that all the so-called "blasphemous" statements that Jesus made are vindicated.  Anyone can make blasphemous statements but not everyone can present themselves as risen from the dead afterwards.

For example here is one such statement from Mark 2:

Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
But some of the scribes were sitting there, thinking to themselves: “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Right away Jesus understood in His spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He told the paralytic, 11 “I tell you: get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Why do Christians Sing in their Church Services? +

There is a belief in some Muslim circles that music is sinful.

Why do Christians sing in their church services? First, the book of Psalms shows that singing was part of the Jewish tradition.  There are 150 psalms in the Bible.

  Sing Joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.
--Psalms 331

Jesus was also recorded to have sung.  On the day he was betrayed, it is written:

After singing psalms, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
--Mark 14:26

What about musical instruments?

The fourth psalm starts with this heading:

For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm by David.

There are many other similar directives to use musical instruments like this one in Psalms.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Is Allah like is Creation?

I have heard it said that Allah is nothing like his creation.  We are like bacteria in comparison to Allah.

This is useful to say if your religion explicitly teaches against that God did clothed himself in a body and lived among us.
They argue like this: "Allah is so high above us, it is like an ant trying to reason with a human being".

But the fact of the matter is that we as humans enjoy having relationships with lower beings, say for example, dogs, because we do have common ground between us. 

However, we do not normally keep ants as pets.  Ants do not know or care about people.  There is nothing to fellowship with. 

Nor do we get any satisfaction from programming a computer to act like it is worshipping us.  There is no doubt a cell phone app for everything, but I have yet to see one like this.

So I say that the fact that God expect us to worship him must mean we are on a similar plane of existence.

Let me give another example:  When people engage in a competitive sport, like for example Chess, they always seek out somewhat equally matched opponents.  It is of no interest to beat an opponent in 3 moves or is there any satisfaction in an easy win.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Is Islam a Religion of Peace? Does Islam promote Women's Rights?

I wanted to comment on these assertions generally. 

Observe they are both positive assertions.  By this I mean they put the burden on the person making the statement.  If someone wants to make this point, they have to show that Islam is not neutral on Women's rights, but positively promotes women's rights.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Did Mary wear a Hijab?

Muslims also like to justify their position on women wearing a veil by claiming that Mary wore a hijab.  Is this really true?  We actually do not have any verses on what Mary wore.
Even if we did, that would not translate into a mandate for us 20 centuries later in a different culture and different climate, where people have the ability to turn on air conditioning, heating, and so forth.

But the fact that there is no verse that says what Mary wore shows her wardrobe is not that important.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Can God Die? Did God Die?

This is one of the more common arguments Muslims use, as silly as it is.
They say that Jesus is God, and when Jesus died, then God died.

The natural response is that there is more than one meaning to death.  For a doctor, it means time to finish the paperwork.  In a religious arena, death is just the start of a new eternal life.  If there were no such eternal life then all this discussion would be without meaning.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Trinity: Is Jesus "Begotten"? *

You may as well be the one who brings up the "only begotten son" subject.  Even with Muslims who I thought should have known better, I discovered that they thought that Christians believe that God had inappropriate relations with Mary to beget Jesus.  This misunderstanding is motivated by verses in the Quran and is also part of the prevailing cloud of anti-Christian polemics that Muslims spread.

The King James Version famously translates John 3:16 like this:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son...
--John 3:16 (KJV)

Modern versions translate this in various ways and usually have footnotes, but English-speaking  Muslims have focused on this phrase to justify this attack.

 One of the reasons we still use the KJV is that it is a word-for-word translation, and, since the words have not changed much, it is hard to improve on it.  And so, in this case they naturally translated the word "Monogenēs" as "only begotten".

However, it is really not that simple.  "Monogenēs" only occurs a few times  in the New Testament, and is rare in ancient literature.  You can't use a word that has unclear meaning, and  is not even part of the topic of this verse to justify a doctrine.

Muslims sometimes say there are thousands of sects of Christianity.  Indeed, it seems every possible way to interpret the Bible has been described, given a name, debated, and dismissed by one group and adopted by another.  But I am unable to find a sect that believed that God had carnal relations with Mary at any time in history.  Muslims haven't either.




Saturday, March 1, 2014

Is Adam Greater Than Jesus Because Adam Had No Mother Or Father?

This is just a quick observation.  Both Jesus and Adam had no earthly father.  However, Adam could not have been born of parents because otherwise he would not have been the first person.
Jesus is born of a virgin in Christianity because he already existed before he was born.  He was always with God.  He did not have an earthly father like us.  Islam does not explain why Jesus was born of a virgin unlike everyone else.