Tag: God

The Qur’an and the Injeel #1

A Muslim Noodle Shop (LaMian Dian) in Hangzhou, China.
In China, it is very common to see Muslim run
noodle shops throughout the country.

The Islamic creed, when spoken in faith, makes someone a Muslim.  This creed is “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.”


The Qur’an, which means recitation, is the message Muhammad received from Allah. 


The Injeel is the Arabic name given to what Christians call the New Testament. 

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From looking at the Islamic creed, one would assume that Muslims reject the Injeel (The Gospels) to be the word of God, since Muhammad is the messenger of the one and only God, Allah.
This however is not the case according to what is written in the Qur’an…
Qur’an 2:136 – “Say ye: ‘We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah.” 
Qur’an 3:2-3 – “God!  There is no god but He, – the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Eternal.  It is He who sent down to thee, in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus.” 
Qur’an 5:82 –“You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers [to be] the Jews and those who associate others with Allah ; and you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, “We are Christians.” That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant.”
Qur’an 5:46-47 “And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light and confirming that which preceded it of the Torah as guidance and instruction for the righteous. And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient.”

Qur’an quotes taken from Sahih International from http://quran.com.

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The Qur’an clearly defines the Injeel (Gospels) to be the word of Allah.  Muslims teach that Jesus was a prophet of Allah.  If you ask if a prophet speaks the word of God, they would say yes.  Clearly, this brings up a problem because the Injeel records Jesus referring to himself as God and his followers teaching others that he is God.
So how do Muslims get around this contradiction, especially since the Injeel, confirmed by Muhammad to be the revelation of Allah, came before the the Qur’an?Muslims claim that the Injeel has been corrupted, which is why Allah sent his word to Muhammad.

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I will post different responses a Christian can provide to Muslim claims that the Injeel has been corrupted over the next couple of weeks.

Andy Wrasman2 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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Significant Discoveries from Studying Other Religions #3

I gave a test to students on an overview of what religions are, Hinduism, and Buddhism, and for many of them it was the first time they had studied a religion other than Christianity.  I asked a question at the end of the test for extra points: “Explain the most significant piece of religious information that you’ve learned so far this semester from this class and how it has impacted you.”  Here was one response:

I learned so much from these chapters, since I am from Asia where Buddhism is a great influence.  I always wanted to learn about this religion.  However, I never knew that they don’t have God and that their teachings have mostly to do with one’s self.  This was kind of shocking to me because I have believed in God my entire life and couldn’t imagine how a religion could exist without believing in God.  Also, the eight characteristics common with religions helped me to define religion easily.  I actually had an opportunity to talk to a friend in Life Group who is Buddhist.  She said her family is not vegetarian and goes to the temple only for special events.  Talking with a friend of another religion was fun because now I know some key terms from their teachings.  However, I knew more about the Buddha’s words than her.  I learned that knowing other religions’ teachings makes it easier to evangelize people.

 

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