Category: Contradict Movement

The Qur’an and the Injeel #2

The first post in this series showed verses from the Qur’an that teach that the Injeel (the Arabic name Muslims use for the Gospels) is revelation given to us by Allah and that Muslims are called to believe in it.  There are blatant contradictions between what is taught within the Qur’an and the Injeel.  Muslims handle these contradictions by saying, “The Injeel has been corrupted, and the Qur’an has replaced the Injeel.”  There are several responses that a Christian could give to Muslims who say this.

Please visit Crescent Project.  The bulk of this series is outlining the Bridges series from Crescent Project.

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Books which Muslims recognize to be from Allah are first the Torah (the books of Moses), the Psalms of David, the Gospel of Jesus (Injeel), and the Qur’an.
Muslims believe that Allah sent the Torah (Tawrat, Arabic name), but that the Torah was changed.  Because of this change, Allah sent the Zabur (the Psalms of David).  These were also changed, so God sent Jesus and his Gospel revealed in the Injeel.  The Injeel was also changed, so Allah sent the Qur’an, given to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel.
Islamic Understanding
Muslims truly believe that Allah’s word was handed down in phases to mankind after each revelation had been corrupted.

Muslims believe that the Qur’an will not be corrupted, since Allah will protect His word.

Muslims will say that the Injeel has gone through many versions and that the real one cannot be found.

They say that Christians have changed many of the stories in the Torah, the Psalms of David, and the Injeel. For instance, Muslims say that Jesus never died on the cross.  It was either someone else or an apparition who appeared to be Jesus.  This means that Jesus never died, he just ascended into heaven.  They also say that Ishmael was the promised son to Abraham, not Isaac, and that Abraham was asked to sacrifice Ishmael.

Christian Understanding

The Injeel is the word of God.

God will keep his word.
There are not many versions of the Injeel (NT).  Instead, there are many translations.  Some translations contain the word “version” in their title which helps lead to this confusion.  Scholars have gone to great lengths to study the original Koine Greek to make accurate translations that truly represent the original text and language.  The many translations when compared, maintain the one message.  A problem that arises from this with Muslims is that they believe the only authoritative text of the Qur’an is in Arabic, and when they pray to Allah they must pray in Arabic, even if they don’t know or understand Arabic.
Now that these two different perspectives on the nature of the Injeel have been presented the next posts will share three approaches, or responses, a Christian may take to encourage a Muslim to read the Injeel. 

Andy Wrasman1 Comment

How is Christianity Different From All Other Religions? – High School Students Answer

How is Christianity Different From All Other Religions? – High School Students Answer

Christianity differs from all other religions in more ways than one.  First of all, in Christianity God makes a divine intervention on behalf of all of humanity.  In other religions, Jesus not seen as the Savior.  Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for all of humanity.  In no other religions do you see a perfect, blameless God take on being a humble man sent to Earth.  You don’t see a perfect God being humiliated and tortured for our salvation.  In other religions, there are lists of works you must perform to be saved.  We, as Christians, are saved by God’s grace through faith apart from our works!

Christianity is different than any other religion.  Christianity does not require any good works for salvation.  Our faith isn’t even of our own doing.  In all the other religions we have studied so far we have seen a list of requirements to reach “enlightenment” or “nirvana.”  Christianity isn’t like that.  It doesn’t mean that if we slip up and don’t follow the law laid out by God that we will go to hell.

 

Christianity is different from other religions because of divine intervention.  Christianity is the only religion in the world where God stepped in to save man.  Christianity is not man’s attempt to reach God, rather God’s saving grace which he has made available for all.  While other religions will require strict adherence to a set of laws, rituals, or codes, the only thing required for a Christian is faith in Christ’s death and resurrection.  What also sets Christianity apart is that our future is certain.  There are no ifs, ands, or buts, if you believe in Jesus, you have been given the gift of eternal life in heaven.

 

Andy Wrasman15 Comments

The Bible or the Qur’an

One Minute Apologist looks at the Bible and the Qur’an – which is the Word of God?  Obviously, neither could the Word of God, but because of contradictions, the both can’t be the Word of God.

Summary of the short video:

They both can’t be true because they contradict each other.
Historically establish that Jesus predicted his violent death and that he died a violent death, then Bible must be correct and not the Qur’an.  If he didn’t die a violent death, then the Qur’an would be correct on that point, however it would be wrong on Jesus being a prophet, because Jesus predicted he would die a violent death, but he did not.  Catch 22.

My comment on this video: I think this argument falls short. Wouldn’t the Qur’an have to contain an account of Jesus predicting his own violent death for there to be a Catch-22. Muslims already say that the Bible has been corrupted, so anything that is a contradiction between the two is erased away under the conclusion that man changed the Bible at some point in time. Of course, it’s a good start to a conversation, because after a Muslim presents the Bible’s been corrupted argument, more in-depth conversation can begin. Not bad for a one-minute video (that was two minutes long).

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It’s the Prince of Peace, Man!

I went to http://www.peacemonger.com.  It’s the website that spearheads the “Co-exist” bumper sticker and t-shirt campaign.  If you visit their site you will see that they sell numerous stickers that advocate for Hinduism or “religious pluralism.”  When they have “Jesus” stickers they are usually condescending, or simply cut-off any aspects of the Gospel narratives that pertain to Jesus being divine, a miracle worker, the Savior of the World, and a harsh judge (which he did quite a lot).

I bought a sticker from their site that says, “It’s the Prince of Peace.”  It has an image of Jesus flashing a “peace sign.”  What exactly does this mean?  Was Jesus a hippie who dropped acid and listened to Hebrew jam bands (I know a stereotype of the 60s counter-culture, so I am committing the same error that this sticker is, but I am trying to figure out what the sticker means.)?  In the context of “Co-exist” and other pluralistic messages from Peace Monger, I think the sticker is trying to say that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, so he wouldn’t be judging other religions as right or wrong, he’d just be loving, accepting, and tolerant of everyone.  Notice what I just did, I moved tolerance and acceptance into a realm of making no judgment calls on what is true and what is not true, which leads to one of two routes, everything is true or everything is false.

Anyways, here’s a video I shot addressing this sticker’s message (whatever it actually is).  I thought it’d be best to start by sharing where the title for Prince of Peace in relationship to Jesus originates and how Jesus was and is the Prince of Peace from a Christian Biblical worldview.

Note: the video is completely ad-lib.  I went in knowing I would share Isaiah 9 and Matthew 10:34-36.  We shot this like 5-6 times and every time different points and verses were shared and none of the shots had a strong conclusion and usually ended awkwardly.  This was one of the better versions, although there is another one that I really like that I might be able to edit to have a conclusion. That’s why this video ends a little sudden without a strong finish…

I’d love to hear feedback and I hope this is helpful to you.

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