Saturday, March 14, 2015

Muhammed in the Bible: Did Jesus predict Muhammad? *

A common claim some  Muslims make is that the Comforter John 14:16 is a reference to Mohammed:

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
--John 14:16 (KJV)

It takes a fairly knowledgeable  Muslim to be able to support this claim, and if they know that much, they should be smart enough to know that it is nonsense.  Jesus is not going to pray to the Father to send someone who will then deny the Gospel.  Christians won't find this convincing, so this claim is really for the benefit of  naïve Muslims.  So I suggest, from my experience, it is of no use to answer a Muslim who is making this argument, but for someone who has heard someone else say this it is a good opportunity for a mini-sermon.

The Holy Spirit is found throughout the Gospel of John from start to finish:

I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
--John 1:32 (KJV)

(that is, as gently as a dove, not in the form of a dove).

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit
--John 3:8 (KJV)

(The word for spirit in Greek is pneuma, meaning wind, breath on spirit.)


Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
--John 4:21-26 (KJV)


On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
--John 7:37-39 (KJV)

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
--John 15:26-27 (KJV)

(If you can get the Muslim you are talking with to admit that Islam allows "Taqiyya", which is permitted lying, then Mohammed is not a Spirit of Truth.)

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
--John 16:7 (KJV)

What about John 16:12-14?  Do they refer to Mohamed?

12 “I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 
13 However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. 
14 He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you.
--John 16:12-14  (KJV)


(In verse 13 we read "whatever he hears, that shall he speak".  This is sometimes used  to justify the claim that these verses apply to Mohammed.  However, it is also plausible that they are one of the few verses that explain some of the inner workings of the Holy Spirit.  He is not a rogue spirit, but submitted to the will of the Father, just as Jesus is:

"I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don't seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me."
--John 5:30   (KJV)

(After the resurrection, Jesus blew on his disciples to receive the Holy Ghost, as God had:
the LORD...breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
--Gen 2:7)

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
--John 20:22   (KJV)

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