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"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready
always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you with meekness and fear: (1 Peter 3:15)"
Fundamental Truth of Christianity
and Islam
Contents
Objective of this Article
Fundamentalism of a Religion
Similarities between
Christianity and Islam
Overview of the Two
Religions
Treatment of Women
The Nature of God
The Nature of Man
Salvation
Heaven
The Quran
The Hadiths
The Bible
Jesus and Muhammad
Summary and Invitation
Objective of this Article
The main objective is to understand and expound the doctrinal
and theological differences between Christianity and Islam. It is never
intended to instigate and promote disunity amongst the religions.
The truth of the religion shall prevail. This article speaks of nothing
but the truth. If you find any propaganda of false doctrines in this article,
kindly email to me for reasoning
together.
Fundamentalism of Christianity &
Islam
In order to get a better understanding of Christianity and Islam, let us explore and compare the source documents of both religions
namely, the Holy Bible and Noble Quran and Hadith, the written traditions of
Islam, and the historical facts of their founders. On what basis does one
claim to know more about the religion than the founders of the religion
themselves?
A religious fundamentalist is one who is faithful to the tenets
of his religion and strictly obeyed
the fundamental teachings. Fundamentalism is synonymous with orthodoxy.
As comparison is made between orthodox (that is fundamental) Christianity and orthodox
(fundamental) Islam, it shall speak to a variety of audiences, including:
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Those people who are under the false belief that all religions are equally
good, or that all religions ultimately lead to the same true God. |
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Those people who are sincere to learn more about these two religions:
Christianity & Islam. Most Christians know very little about Islam
(the Muslim religion) and likewise, most Muslims have mistaken ideas about
Christianity. Indeed, many people of both faiths do not even know enough
about their fundamental belief to validate its truthful claims. |
Many people, including Christians, Muslims, atheists (or whoever) resist
using reason and evidence. But if you are seriously interested in
pursuing the truth, the following discussion shall be extremely
interesting. Truth is discernible by logical reasoning and falsehood
is discernible once the truth is revealed. Applying rules of logic,
one can show that a truth-claim is not true by identifying arbitrariness
or inconsistency in the claim.
By using the same techniques as used in a Court of Law, one can
determine truth beyond a reasonable doubt. Such techniques— in addition
to using reason and evidence to verify facts— include an evaluation of
witnesses (number of witness, motives of witnesses, corroboration of testimony,
etc.) These same techniques and principles are used to determine
truth-claims in any discipline, including religious truth-claims found
in the Holy Bible and Noble Quran. Both religions claimed that the Holy
Bible and Noble Quran are words of God and Allah respectively. Thus
the words in the Holy Bible and Noble Quran, are of divine origin, infallible,
eternal and holy. As such the evidence before
us are found in none other books than these 2 Religious Books and the historical
facts from these elements such as Manuscript evidence, Archeological evidence,
Prophetic evidence, and Scientific evidence (MAPS). With this "MAPS", we
can surely find the right path. Any contradictions and textual corruptions
found in the Holy Bible and Noble Quran will enable us to determine which
is fake and which is the Truth. We shall leave it to you as a Judge.
Some background of Islam for our non-Muslim readers is essential and
helpful to gain an in-depth understanding of its origin. There are several
Muslim sects. Sunni Muslims represent about 85% of the world's Muslim population.
The second largest sect is Shiite. There is disagreement among the various
sects on some fundamental issues, not unlike theological disagreements
among Christian denominations.
One thing that is confusing to English speaking people is that the English
spelling of Arabic words is not standardized! For example, Moslem is a
variant spelling for Muslim and Koran is a variant spelling for Quran.
Similarities between Christianity and
Islam
Christians and Muslims have some beliefs in common. Both religions agree that
there is one God who created the universe and is sovereign in the lives
of men. Both agree that God is the source of justice and morality and that his ultimate justice is dispensed via life after death in heaven and
hell.
Fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Muslims both consider such
things as pornography and licentious living as pollutants to society. In
fact, one of the reasons for the strong negative reaction to western civilization
in Muslim countries is the influence of such practices emanating from the West.
But there are many things upon which they disagree. The points of disagreement
touch on every important religious doctrine. Indeed, the disagreements
are so severe as to be irreconcilable. Let us look at these issues point
by point.
Overview of the Two Religions
Most Muslims are exceptionally gracious and peace-loving people. And
Islam has many elements of peacefulness in it. However, anyone who wants
to commit violence has perfect justification for doing so from the Quran.
While violence in the Quran is sometimes for self-defense; at other times
it is a religious duty. Many passages in the Quran exhort Muslims to kill
infidels (non-Muslims) wherever they find them. See Suras 2:190-193,
2:216, 4:76, 5:32-36, 8:12-14, 8:39, 8:59, 8:65, 9:5, 9:14, 9:23-29, 9:38-41,
9:123, 47:4, 47:35, 61:4, and 66:9.
Osama bin Laden in the now famous videotape discovered in Afghanistan
in late 2001 is quoted as saying, "I was ordered to fight the people until
they say there is no god but Allah, and his prophet Muhammad." These words
echo language in the Quran itself.
But the Quran is not the only basis for violence in Islam. The example
of Muhammad himself laid the foundation for violence via his deeds and
commands, which are found in the hadiths. Eleven percent of the pages of
the Bukhari Hadiths mention Holy War (jihad). Military jihad is a traditional
and authentic part of Islam.
There are two meanings for jihad. One meaning is a personal spiritual
aspect to kill sinful desires. It also means to permit violence to spread
the faith. Muslims are taught that those who fight and die in the way of Allah
(Jihad) have
their sins forgiven, delivered from the torment of hell fire and they are rewarded with
fair ones with wide, lovely eyes and luxurious
life in paradise. See Suras 3:157-158, 3:169-171, 3:194-195, 4:74, 4:94-97,
22:58-59, 52:17-23, 56:10-38 and also see Bukhari 4:63, 72, 80, 85, 137, 175,
216, 266. So Jihad is a religious duty to kill the infidels for the fairest
of rewards.
Muhammad at the age of 40, first claimed to have a vision from Allah in
the year 610 AD. The first 13 years of his ministry were marked
by peaceful preaching in the city of Mecca. During this period Muhammad
seems to have been a well-meaning man who sought to oppose paganism and
evil in his day.
However, in the year 623 he became a political leader in the city of
Medina. With his religion came a new political power. He attacked
pagan caravans and used violence to spread his religion.
Muhammad personally led at least 27 bloody invasions (some say more
than 60) and ordered his followers to wage many more. Muhammad assassinated
many of his opponents during his lifetime. In his battle against the Quraiza
Jews, women and children were sold into slavery, and hundreds of captured
men were executed. Even some of his own people were horrified.
The tradition of violence in Islam, which started with Muhammad, continues
to this day. There is worldwide evidence that some fundamental Muslims kill or otherwise
persecute people solely for being non-Muslims. This is well documented
in Nigeria, Algeria, Sudan (where modern slavery is documented), Egypt,
Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
According to the organization the Voice of the Martyrs (website http://www.vom.org
or search for Voice of the Martyrs) 160,000 Christians are killed annually
because of their faith— the vast majority being killed by Muslims. If Islam
claims to be a religion of peace, why is there so much oppression or
double standard in every Muslim country?
Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education textbooks contained,
as of the year 2000, a most disturbing teaching. The teaching, which is
from the hadiths (Bukhari 4:176-177) as taught by Muhammad himself, is
required instruction for all middle school children in Saudi Arabia. The
teaching which is entitled "The Victory of Muslims Over Jews," says:
"The last hour won't
come before the Muslims would fight the Jews, and the Muslims will kill
them. So Jews would hide behind rocks and trees. Then the rocks and trees
would call, 'Oh, Muslim. Oh, Servant of God. There is a Jew behind me.
Come and kill him.' "
Included with the text is a list of principles, including the following:
"Jews and Christians
are the enemies of believers. They will never approve of the Muslims. Beware
of them."
Yes, the Bible has its share of violence as well, particularly in the
Old Testament. For example, God instructs the Israelites coming out of
Egypt to take over the land of Canaan and kill all of the inhabitants.
However, there is a clear difference from Quranic violence.
The Bible makes it clear that the Canaanite society deserved
it as it was thoroughly polluted by their wretchedly evil practices, including
the horror of child sacrifice. (Deuteronomy 9:1-6, 12:29-31, 18:9-14, 1
Kings 14:24, 2 Chronicles 33:1-9, Ezra 9:11) Thus God used the Israelites
to administer specific justice, just as he later used other societies to
administer justice against the Israelites (book of Jeremiah).
Instances such as this in the Bible are each a particular limited
circumstance in time, for a particular purpose established by God. But
in the Quran, we encounter general commands to kill and destroy
the enemies of Islam that are applicable for all times and places
and people groups.
While there is indeed violence in the Bible, one thing is certain— Jesus
had a non-violent message. While some people have betrayed the peaceful
message of Jesus in history, the teachings of Jesus have a consistent
tone of peace, service, love, and humility. Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
He never told us to kill anyone, and he disdained violence. Just to name a
few of the numerous biblical passages that could be cited are: Matthew
5:1-12, 5:43-44, 9:36, 19:30, 26:50-52, Mark 9:35, Luke 6:27-36, 9:54-55,
10:30-37, 22:49-51, 23:32-34, John 10:7-18, 13:1-17, Galatians 5:22-23,
Philippians 2:6-8, 1 Thessalonians 5:15, and 1 Peter 3:8-9. You are encouraged to read these moving passages now, and then consider what the world
would be like if everyone practiced the teachings of Jesus Christ. Those who
kill people are in fact, not following the true teachings of Jesus Christ.
Jesus warned, "The time is coming when anyone who kills you will
think he is offering a service to God" (John 16:2-4)
. While
these words were spoken to his disciples, they have a powerful ring today.
There is nothing like the Christian concept of "love your enemies"
or "turn your other cheek" (Luke 6:27-37) found in Islam. While Christianity
says to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 19:19), the Quran instructs
its followers not to even take Christians or Jews as friends (Suras 3:118,
5:51, 64, 60:1-3)!
Another interesting point is that the Islamic concept of charity is
different from the Christian concept. Muslims are required to give alms
to the poor, but only to the Muslim poor. In this way, the Muslim's remaining
wealth is purified. The biblical concept of charity is not limited to any
group. In fact, Jesus used illustrations that encouraged helping those
outside the race and faith (Luke 10:30-37).
Islam is a religion of power and glory. Muslims find it hard
to believe that Christians could worship Jesus, given his lack of political
power and apparent defeat by the authorities. (They fail to acknowledge
that Jesus was the ultimate victor as he conquered even death.)
Islam is more than a religion; it is an ideology with a clear socio-political
agenda. There is no such thing as separation of church and state in orthodox
Islam. Western notions of democracy and freedom are in opposition to orthodox
Islam. Mankind must be controlled by Islamic law in total, and not be allowed
to stray from the authority of Allah. As Dr. Samuel Schlorff, an expert
on Islam with Arab World Ministries puts it, "
Muslims believe that
Islam's destiny is to extend its control until the whole Dar al-Harb [which
means "House of War"— that is, the whole non-Muslim world] is subject to
Islamic law in an Islamic state, and this includes the use of force."
The fact that freedom of religion does not exist in Muslim countries is
evidence supporting the view that Islam wants nothing short of domination
through political control.
There is a credible tradition in Islam that says that there are three
reasons someone may be killed: murder, adultery, or leaving Islam (apostasy).
See Suras 4:89 and 9:12. For detailed documentation of this see articles
on the Internet at http://www.answering-islam.org
and search for "apostate." At least one Muslim country, Pakistan, has a
blasphemy law. This law says that anyone who insults Muhammad may be put
to death. Some Muslim countries have law to prohibit the preaching of other
faith to Muslims lest one can be imprisoned.
An interesting observation made by R. C. Sproul on the audio tape listed
below is that historically the more a society has used the Quran as a source
of law, the more oppressive the state becomes. But the more a society has
used the Bible as a source of law, the more freedom the society has demonstrated.
One commonly hears in the press that Islam is a religion of peace. This
is true only in one sense— peace will come when all competing religions
have been brought into submission to Islam (Sura 9:29). Muslims who say
Islam is a religion of peace, can only say so by ignoring or rationalizing
away its violent commands.
These issues explain why Muslim leaders around the world were so subdued
in their condemnation of the 9/11/01 attack on America. Even in America,
the common response was, "Yes, the attack was wrong, but....." It is what
follows the "but" that is important in understanding their real views.
Muslims are taught that the Old Testament is like grade school; the
New Testament is like high school; and the Quran is like college. Islam
claims to be the final, most perfect religion. If so, why does it seem
to revert back to unjustified violence even worse than the Old Testament?
Sadly, Islam has a dark side, and there is no way to explain it away by
appealing to context.
The fact is Muslims who
commit aggressive acts of violence are acting consistently with
fundamentalist Islam. Christians who might commit aggressive acts of violence
are acting contrary to fundamentalist Christianity.
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Treatment of Women
In Islam, a man can have up to four wives at the same time (Sura 4:3).
In addition, a man can beat his disobedient wife (Sura 4:34, Bukhari 8:68).
An example of Muhammad himself beating his wife is documented in the Sahih
Muslim Hadith, number 2127. (Note, the Arabic word for beat is the
same word as how you would treat a slave or a camel.)
Muhammad himself actually had sixteen wives, two concubines/slaves,
and four women of uncertain relationships. Of note, a Sura conveniently
appeared to give Muhammad an exception to the 4-wife rule (Sura 33:50).
One of his wives was but nine years old when he married her.
Also of interest, Muhammad married his daughter-in-law Zainab (Bukhari
9:516-518). He arranged for his adopted son Zaid to divorce Zainab so he
could marry her. The divorce was prompted by the prophet's admiration for
Zainab's beauty. To deal with the refusal of Zaid to dissolve his marriage,
Muhammad had another convenient revelation from Allah, which not only commanded
Zaid to give up his wife to Muhammad, but also decreed that there was no
evil in a father-in-law taking his daughter-in-law away from his own adopted
son (Sura 33:36-38).
Men are superior to women in Islamic teaching. (See Suras 2:228, 4:34.
Note: English translations vary considerably here. For example, in 4:34
some use the term "superior," while others say that men are "maintainers"
or "guardians" of women.) In Islamic law, two women's testimony is worth that of
a man because the female mind is considered forgetful (Sura
2:282, Bukhari 3:826). Women are only entitled to inherit half of what
men do (Sura 4:11).
The Quran and hadiths teach that it is morally acceptable to force women
to have sex with their captors (Sura 70:29-30; also Bukhari 3: 432, 436,
5:459, 7:22, 8:600; 9:506; also Muslim Hadiths numbers 3371 and 3433).
According to a reliable witness who grew up in Pakistan,
rape is not prosecuted even today in the Muslim world in some circumstances,
especially if the victim is a non-Muslim.
Men can divorce their wives in Islam, but the wife does not have that
right (Sura 2:228). And interestingly, Islam teaches that the majority
of people in hell are women (Bukhari 1:28, 1:301, and 2:161).
In comparison, fundamentalist Christianity condones none of the above
abuses of women. While Old Testament figures had multiple wives, this is
seen as sinful behavior. Jesus insisted on the sanctity of marriage with
one woman (Mark 10:5-12).
Two books of the Old Testament are named for (and are about) women.
Women play a venerated and prominent role in the New Testament, especially
in view of the low status afforded women in the culture in which Jesus
lived (Matthew 5:32, 1 Corinthians 11:11-12, Galatians 3:28, Ephesians
5:25-33.)
The history of Christianity has elevated the position of women. For
example, it was largely through the efforts of Christian missionaries in
India that stopped the horrible practice of women being burned on their
husband's funeral pyre.
The Nature of God
Islam specifically opposes Christianity on every important
doctrine. For example, Christianity teaches that God is a Trinity— one
God revealed in three persons (or manifestations) based on Biblical truth.
Islam, however, vehemently denies the Trinity as blasphemy (Suras 4:171,
5:17, 5:72-75). Accepting the Christian view of God is the only unpardonable
sin in Islam, and condemns one to hell. While Islam has a high view of
Jesus, it denies his divinity or that Jesus was the Son of God (Suras 9:30,
10:68, 19:35, 43:81-83).
There is a law of logic called the "
Law of Non-Contradiction,"
which says that two contradictory things cannot both be true. At least
one of them has to be false. This point of tension regarding the nature
of God between the two religions is so great that it is clear that at least
one of them must be false. Either the Trinity is a correct description
of God as Christianity proclaims, or it is a false description of God as
the Quran proclaims.
Muslims, as well as others, who have not studied the evidence for the
divinity of Christ find it understandably hard to accept Jesus as both 100%
man and 100% God.
Articles on website that include discussions about the deity of Christ
can be found at: (http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/easter.html
and http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/quest_jesus_is_god.html
).
Information about the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity
can also be viewed on website at (http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/jw.html
).
Christians do not take the belief in the deity of Christ on blind faith.
The evidence itself has convinced many a skeptic. Simon Greenleaf,
a professor of law at Harvard in the 1800's— a man who is considered the
greatest authority on legal evidences in history— became a Christian after
a thorough examination of the evidence.
Anyone truly interested in religion should examine the evidence
for yourself. The evidence demands a verdict. If Jesus is truly who he
claimed to be, his teachings should carry more weight than any other prophets.
It should be said here that Muslims hold some mistaken views of Christian
doctrine. Contrary to several passages in the Quran, Christians do not
hold to three Gods! The Bible makes it very clear that there is only one
God (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 43:10, Mark 12:29, 1 Corinthians 8:4, 6).
Rather, there are three aspects to God's nature— Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Muslims
always argue that the Christian term "Son of God" means that
God had carnal sexual relations with Mary, producing Jesus.
That is incorrect. The term Son of God is a symbolic term only,
implying the unique relationship between Jesus and God whom he called my Father.
Look at Sura 66:12 "And Mary, daughter of Imran, whose body was chaste,
therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit. And she put faith in the
words of her Lord and His Scriptures, and was of the obedient." Muslims
believe the conception of Jesus is of divine origin and yet they cannot accept
the divinity of Jesus because of Sura 5:116 "And when
Allah saith: O JESUS, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take
me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?..." But Trinity never
include Mary, the mother of Jesus as one of the three. Christianity never
teaches that Mary was divine and worship as god. Where did such revelation come
from?
There are other differences between the two religions as to the nature
of God. To Muslims, God is distant and unknowable. His relationship to
man is that of master/slave. He is not the personal God that Christians
know and trust.
The God of the Bible is described as being loving (1 John 4:7-21). The
God of the Bible goes out of his way to find a single lost sheep (Matthew
18:10-14). And the God of the Bible opens his arms to offer comfort and
assurance (Deuteronomy 1:31, Hosea 11:1-4, Isaiah 40:11, Matthew 11:25-30),
as a father would for his children. This concept of God is absent in Islam.
Islamic theology holds that God is good because he causes good. But
goodness is not part of his essence.
Another very important difference is that the God of the Bible is holy—
that is perfect in all respects. He is perfectly moral, perfectly just,
perfectly faithful, perfectly loving, all-knowing, etc. Another synonym
for holy is pure (Hebrews 7:26).
But the God of the Quran does not always come across as holy. He changes
his mind, changes his promises, and does not offer assurance of salvation.
Allah is arbitrary (Suras 4:116, 5:18, 9:15, 25:51). Compare this
to the God of the Bible— with whom it is impossible to lie (Hebrews
6:18) or to treat people unfairly. The God of the Bible is not arbitrary,
but rather is perfect in his justice. If you do a search of the words holiness
or holy (http://bible.gospelcom.net/
) as applied to God, you will see how dominant this concept is in Scripture.
Muslims today say that Allah is merely the Arabic word for God. While
this is true, it is not the whole story. There is substantial evidence
that Allah has roots in pre-Islamic paganism. There were 360 idols (gods)
worshipped in Mecca at the time of Muhammad. The supreme god of the Quraish
tribe (from which Muhammad came) was Allah. Muhammad's father's name was
Abd-Allah, which means "slave of Allah." This supports the notion
that the concept of Allah has its roots in pagan gods.
While not substantiated, some people say that Allah has elements of
the pagan moon god, a dominant deity in pagan Arabia. To this day, the
crescent moon is a symbol of Islam, and Muslims use a lunar calendar. What you see today has true implication of why Muslims adopt the crescent moon symbol
eversince the emergence of Islam. (For
more information search this website: http://www.answering-islam.org
.)
The Quraish tribe had a custom of praying five times a day to Mecca,
had pilgrimages to Mecca, and had a sacred month. The Kaaba House of Allah
is the evidence that still stand today that it has pagan origin. These
things are an integral part of modern Islam. Such practices also tie Islam
to pre-Islamic paganism. Actually, Islam appears to be an amalgamation
of paganism, Judaism, Christianity, other world religions, and a healthy
dose of power politics.
In the modern world, Muslims recognize that Allah is not the God of
the Bible. The evidence for that is the continual persecution of Christians
in Muslim countries. Countries such as Malaysia have decreed that Christians
may not even use "Allah" in their Bibles, books, or hymns. They often confiscate
non-Muslim literature that uses the word "Allah." Why would Muslims take
such a harsh view of Christianity if they thought they worshipped the same
God as Christians?
Those who say that Christians
and Muslims worship the same God are incorrect. In the two religions, God
is defined differently and has different and contradictory attributes.
The views of God between the two religions are incompatible. God in the
Bible is a Trinity while Allah in the Quran is no God but him.
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The Nature of Man
Christianity insists that man is fallen that is spiritually "dead in sins"—
that men are in fact incapable of standing up to a holy and righteous God.
Islam, on the other hand, says that humankind is weak and forgetful but
not fallen. Islam teaches that man is capable of righteousness— all he
has to do is just do it. The difference has far-reaching implications.
First, examine the evidence. All of history is a testimony to
the sinfulness of man. In the beginning, first man Adam and his wife Eve
were tempted by Satan. As a result of that sin, God expelled them from
the Garden of Eden. That is the original sin coming to mankind. We
certainly do not always love God above everything else, nor love our neighbor
as ourselves. None of us keeps all of the Ten Commandments all the time.
Parents do not need to teach a child to be bad (selfish or mean); it comes
quite naturally, thank you. Everyone has a conscience, and if we are honest
we must acknowledge how far short we fall of God's perfect standard. As
a result, we must face the judgment of a holy God.
The Bible says that whoever stumbles at just one point of the law
is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10). An agnostic friend, who considers himself to be a moral person once expressed doubt about
his own sinfulness. When asked about this question, "If someone goes into a
store a hundred times without stealing anything, but one time does steal
something, is he guilty or innocent?" "Guilty!" he exclaimed.
So it is. We are all guilty and deserve punishment. But we are not just
guilty once. We are all guilty all the time!
We never have perfect love, justice, or acceptance. We often
live as if God does not matter. Our faith is continually subject
to wavering. We constantly are inclined to trust ourselves rather
than God. We are always subject to feelings of revenge, lust, hatred,
jealousy, and covetousness. Selfishness dominates our daily lives.
We stubbornly deny truth in favor of what we wish were true.
Hypocrisy is such an obvious problem that it is a common complaint
toward even religious people. Our narrow-minded attitude is a perpetual
trap for prejudice and indifference. While we are perhaps not as bad as
we could be, sin touches every aspect of our lives. Sin is exceedingly
sinful!
In addition to its theological implications, the variant views on the
nature of man have significant sociopolitical implications. As expressed
by Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship ministries, "The Islamic worldview
denies the sinfulness of man, which gives rise to utopian visions: If man
is corrupted by society, then those who come to power can create the perfect
society by strictly enforcing Islamic law."
Ironically, this is not unlike communism, which is based on the notion
that man is basically good, or at least can be perfected by government.
But states based on such utopian concepts have always been failures and
are particularly oppressive to its citizens.
The difference between
Islam and Christianity on the nature of man is not trivial. If Christianity
is correct on this point, the practice of Islam is futile because their
effort will not get them into heaven. If Islam is correct, the whole purpose
of Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection was a useless doctrine.
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Salvation
Islam has an incomplete view of both the holiness of God and the sinfulness
of mankind. Given man's sinful nature and the gap it creates between us
and a holy God, Christianity teaches that man cannot earn salvation.
God cannot just wink at sin. We need a savior who will bridge the gap and
who will pay the penalty for us. Salvation is only in Christ's finished
work on the cross that God considers our blemishes healed. This is what
Christianity is all about.
As it says in the Bible, in the sight of a holy God all of
us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are
like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:5-7).
But God demonstrated his love
for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans
5:8). What wonderful good news! This is the Gospel which means good
news!
But Islam denies all of this. It even denies that Jesus died on the
cross at all (Sura 4:157)— this in spite of overwhelming evidence both
from the Bible and from historical sources outside the Bible. It denies
that Jesus conquered death by his bodily resurrection— an historical event
acknowledged by rigorous critical scholarship (http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/easter.html
). Islam must deny these things because the religion is based on the idea
that you can earn your way to heaven particularly by martyrdom. Christianity teaches that our salvation is a free gift
through faith
alone in Jesus Christ -- and specifically not by works (Ephesians
2:8-9, Romans 4:1-3, 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Titus 3:5-7, 1 Corinthians 1:29). This
context of works is different from good deeds done to demonstrate faith in
Jesus. However, Islam teaches that one gains entrance into heaven by your works in addition
to faith (but not faith in Christ). These are clearly opposing positions.
Christianity insists that belief in Christ is the only way to heaven.
Rejection of Christ dooms us to the eternal punishment we deserve as rebellious
sinners. (Mark 16:16, John 3:16-18, 36, John 10:7-10, John 12:48, John
14:6, Acts 4:12, Galatians 1:6-9, Philippians 2:9-11, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10,
1 Timothy 2:5, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 John 2:22-23, 1 John 5:12-13.) While this
may seem unfair in one sense, in another sense it is the ultimate in
fairness. God provided a way for sinful man— who otherwise falls helplessly
short and all going to perish in hell's fire — to be forgiven and to come into communion with him!
Because the Christian doctrine of salvation through Christ alone
so often draws accusations of intolerance from non-Christians, it may
be helpful to say a bit more about it. One thing that this doctrine does
not say, is that those who have never heard of the Gospel
are automatically doomed. It is also clear that it is not Christians who
can judge, but only God. God alone can know the heart of each individual.
God loves everyone, including non-Christians, and he wants everyone to
come to the knowledge of a saving faith. But it also clear through this
doctrine that anyone who consciously rejects Christ is rejecting God's
offer of reconciliation. In this case, one gets what he wants, an eternity
without God.
Islam is equally exclusive in its claims, as it teaches that only Muslims
will go to heaven (Bukhari 4:297, etc). Islam similarly insists that anyone
who rejects their Allah and his apostles (read Muhammad) is condemned to
hell. So, again, the two religions are at loggerheads.
While Christians believe that salvation is assured through faith
in Jesus Christ, Muslims never have assurance of salvation (except probably
through martyrdom in a jihad— Sura 9:20-22, etc). Islam teaches that at
the end of your life, Allah weighs your good works against your bad works
on a scale. In general, if your good works are adequate, you get to heaven
(Sura 23:103). But even then it is not assured because Allah can let anyone
in he chooses (Sura 9:15, 27). Muhammad himself expressed doubts about
his own salvation (Bukhari 5:266, 9:131).
For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son— that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; and he who does not
believe the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him
(John 3:36).
If the Bible is correct, the logical conclusion is that belief in
the teachings of Islam does not lead to heaven. |
Heaven
There is a difference between the two religions as to what heaven is
like. The Muslim concept of paradise is a carnal, sensual place. Muslims
in paradise will live in gorgeous palaces and will wear silk clothes. While
alcohol is forbidden on earth, they will drink from rivers of wine, milk,
and honey in paradise! Men will also make love to dozens of virgins devoted
to sensuous enjoyments. (It is not clear what women get!!) See Suras 2:25,
4:57, 13:35, 36:55-57, 37:39-48, 47:15, 52:20-23, 55:46-78, 56:12-40, and
76:5-22. Also see Bukhari 4:466.
This picture seems strange to Christians, who believe in a heaven unmarred
by carnal things. The Bible says that the kingdom of God is not a matter
of eating and drinking (Romans 14:17). In heaven people will not be married,
but will be like angels (Matthew 22:30). And in heaven we will have
resurrected perfect bodies— the pain and tears will be gone (Revelation
21:4). This perfect place of happiness is for men, women, and children
equally.
The Quran
The Noble Quran is divided into 114 Chapters called Suras. A designation
of, for example, 10:1 means Sura 10, verse 1. The original revelations
is said to be made in pure Arabic language. The Suras are not arranged
in the chronological orders of the so-called revelations given to Muhammad.
The date and place of revelations are rarely mentioned and some similar
accounts of the characters can be found in the Holy Bible in greater details.
One can hardly understand Noble Quran without reference to the Holy Bible.
Quran confirms that the revelations in the Bible are truthful and it is
never meant to reprove or correct the Bible. Take the English translation
by Marmaduke Pikthall for Sura 46:30 says: "They
said: O our people! Lo!
we have heard a Scripture which
hath been revealed after Moses,confirming
that which was
before it
that which was
before it, guiding unto the truth and a right road." Sura
3:3 says: "He hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad)
the Scripture with
truth,confirming that
which was ( revealed) before it, even
as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel."
Muslims are taught that the Quran is perfectly preserved, word-by-word,
syllable-by-syllable, and letter-for-letter. Indeed, the Quran is the actual,
literal (and pre-existent) word of God. Muslims think so highly of the
Quran, that one could say that they worship it. In this sense, all Muslims
are fundamentalists. It has been said that the closest comparison to it
in Christianity is Christ himself.
However, let us consider the evidence to see if this assumption is valid.
The history of the Quran is most interesting. For the benefit of our Muslim
readers, we will liberally document essential points from reliable Muslims
sources.
Muhammad claimed to begin having revelations from God when he
was 40 years old. It is generally believed that Muhammad was illiterate,
which Muslims think is a testimony to the miracle of Quran.
People memorized things Muhammad said or they wrote them down on palm
leaves, rocks, and bones (Bukhari 6:509). Bukhari also records that Muhammad
allowed some variation regarding the recitation of the Quran (Bukhari
3:593, 601, 4:442, 6:514, and 9:640).
The following situation between Muhammad and his associate Abdollah
b. Abi Sarh, recorded in Islamic hadiths, should be interesting to our
Muslim readers (source: the Geisler/Saleeb
book http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/#geisler on the list below, page 157):
"On a number of occasions he had, with the
Prophet's consent, changed the closing words of verses. For example, when
the Prophet has said, 'And God is mighty and wise' ('aziz, hakim),
'Abdollah b. Abi Sarh suggested writing down 'knowing and wise' ('alim,
hakim), and the Prophet answered that there was no objection. Having
observed a succession of changes of this type, 'Abdollah renounced Islam
on the ground that the revelations, if from God, could not be changed at
the prompting of a scribe such as himself. After his apostasy he went to
Mecca and joined the Qorayshites."
Sarh was later killed. Did he know too much? Geisler/Saleeb
(page 157) relate yet another item of interest: "It is also an accepted
fact in Sunni tradition that on a few occasions Quranic revelations were
prompted by the suggestions of Muhammad's loyal follower, Umar b. al-Khattab."
There was no organized manuscript of the Quran prior to Muhammad's death
(Bukhari 6:509). Shortly after his death, it was noticed that some of
the people who had memorized parts of the Quran were being killed in battle.
Some verses did not survive as the people who remembered them died or
verses were otherwise lost (Bukhari 4:62, 6:509-11, 527, 550, 552).
There were (at least) four people that were companions of Muhammad who
compiled the Quran: Masud, Salim, Mu'adh, and Ubai (Bukhari 6:521,
526). Even though these men were all authorized by Muhammad himself and
each version was widely accepted, these versions were not identical (Bukhari
6:468, and 6:527).
It was another man named Uthman who standardized the Quran. Incredibly,
this man had rival texts of the Quran burned about 19 years after
Muhammad's death (Bukhari 6:510).
The question must be asked, why did he do so unless the other copies
were different? In fact, a few copies survived the burning and they
vary somewhat from the Uthman manuscript. It is also clear that Uthman
edited and selected Suras for his version. Uthman's copy did not contain
several Suras collected by Ubai, who was one of the four authorized compilers.
Further, it may surprise some Muslims that none of the original Uthman
copies is in existence today. The earliest one in existence is from
the second century after Muhammad.
Contrary to popular belief, not all Muslims accept the same version
of the Quran. While some accept the Uthman version, others accept
the tradition of Masud, who was one of the four authorized compilers. This
version has 150 variations in the second Sura alone compared to the Uthman
text. Arthur Jeffrey's collection of variants between Uthman's text
and the Masud text takes 92 pages in his book Materials for the History
of the Text of the Quran (Bill, Leiden, 1937). (Search for articles
on http://www.answering-islam.org
or see http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/#geisler the Geisler/Saleeb
book p. 192).
Another interesting aspect to the Quran is that there were verses
in the original version of Muhammad's Quran that have been abrogated, that
is, eliminated from the text. In fact, the Quran itself justifies this
practice (Suras 2:105-106, 13:39, 16:101, 22:52)! Bukhari also recognizes
this (3:170, 4:57, 4:69, 4:299, 5:416, 5:421, 6:8). This practice is
unique among world religions. Some Shiite Muslims say that up to 25%
of the Quran was removed for political reasons. We have not seen evidence
to suggest that the practice was that extensive, but there is absolutely
no doubt that abrogation did occur.
One famous aspect to the Quran is the so-called "Satanic Verses." Sura
53:19-20 says, "Have ye thought upon al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat, the
third, the other?" According to Bukhari, these three are known to be goddesses
of the Quraish tribe. In fact, these three were daughters of pre-Islamic
Allah. The original version of the Quran followed with the following
words, which were subsequently abrogated: "Those are the swans exalted;
Their intercession is expected; Their likes are not neglected."
These words are idolatrous because there should be no intercession for
pagan goddesses. It is particularly significant because Muhammad was speaking
in the name of Allah for the intercession of pagan idols! For more on this
including evidences from Muslim scholars, see http://answering-islam.org
and then search for "Satanic Verses."
Muslims claim that the literary style of the Quran is evidence for its
divine inspiration. But if that is a valid test, they would have to accept
that the writings of Homer and Shakespeare as divinely inspired as well.
But even Muslim sources recognize that the Quran is not always as eloquent
as is claimed. The Iranian Shiite scholar Ali Dashti contends that the
Quran contains numerous grammatical problems. He says, "The Quran contains
sentences which are incomplete and not fully intelligible without the aid
of commentaries..." (Geisler/Saleeb
page 187-190).
Even if Quran of today were a carbon copy of the one originally
dictated by Muhammad, it does not logically follow that it is from God.
Irrespective of the quality of today's copy, the internal and external
inconsistencies in the Quran disqualify it as being from God.
We have already pointed out some of the mistakes in the Quran. The Quran
itself says that if a book is found to have discrepancies, it could
not be from God (Sura 4:82). In fact, there are many internal contradictions
in the Quran. Here is a sample:
|
The
Quran teaches that on the one hand "no change there can be in the Words
of God" (Sura 10:64, also 6:34). Yet the Quran itself teaches the doctrine
of abrogation. |
|
The
Quran claims that humans are responsible for their own choices (Sura 18:24).
Yet it also claims that God sealed the fate of all in advance (Suras 10:99-100,
17:13).
|
|
The
Quran says emphatically, "Let there be no compulsion in religion" (Sura
2:256). Yet in other places it urges Muslims to "Fight those who believe
not" (Sura 9:29).
|
|
Sura
7:143 says that Moses was the first to believe. Sura 6:14 says Abraham
was the first to believe.
|
|
Suras
7:54, 10:3, and 11:7 say the earth was created in six days, but Sura 41:9-12
says it was created in eight days.
|
|
The
same Mary (Miriam in Hebrew and Arabic) is not both the mother of Jesus
and the "sister of Aaron" who lived hundred of years earlier (Sura 19:28).
|
|
In
an apparent contradiction, the Quran denies the divinity of Christ, yet
acknowledges that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary (Suras 3:37-45, 19:16-28,
66:12). The hadiths further acknowledge that Jesus was not touched by
sin (Bukhari 4:506). An obvious question is: How could Jesus not be
divine if he was born of a virgin and was free of sin? Only God is sinless and
Holy.
|
Here is just a sample of external contradictions in the Quran:
|
The Quran presents as a scientific fact that the sun sets in a "muddy spring"
(Sura 18:86). However, it has been proven scientifically that this is not
true. |
|
A famous passage in the Quran says that human beings are formed from a
clot of blood (Sura 23:14). This, of course, is an inaccurate description
of an embryo. |
|
A Samaritan could not have molded the golden calf in Moses' time (Sura
20:85-87, 95-97) because Samaritans did not live in Moses' time. |
There are several things found in the Quran about Christian theology that
are quite plainly wrong. Sura 5:116 says that Christians believe that Mary
is God. Sura 9:30 says that Jews believe that Ezra was the Son of God.
These statements are incorrect. There is no evidence that Christians and
Jews ever believed these things. What seems to be the most likely explanation
why things like this are in the Quran is that there was no Arabic translation
of the Bible in the time of Muhammad. Muhammad picked up bits and pieces
of Christian and Jewish theology from hearsay and was simply mistaken about
it.
There are dozens of contradictions and inaccurate statements in the
Quran. For further documentation, go to http://answering-islam.de/search.html
and search for "contradictions."
There are several articles at Answering-Islam on the web (http://www.answering-islam.org
)that serious students of the development of the Quran may want to explore.
In summary, it is clear
that Muslim belief in the word-for-word/letter-for-letter preservation
of the Quran is incorrect. It is also clear that the claim of an error-free
Quran is incorrect. The question we ask our Muslim readers is this,
What else have you been taught that may be incorrect?
|
The Hadiths
The hadiths are considered extremely important documents, but they are
not considered letter-for-letter perfect like the Quran. According to Islamic
sources, each report in the Bukhari and Muslim hadiths (also the Sunan
Abu-Dawud Hadiths) was checked for compatibility with the Quran and the
veracity of the chain of reporters back to Muhammad had to be painstakingly
established. The hadiths are used, along with the Quran, to govern every
detail of the life of the Muslim— down to toilet habits. (Don't face "Kibla,"
that is Mecca, when answering the call of nature— Bukhari 1:147).
Hadiths ("ahadiths") are written compilations ("traditions") of the
sayings and actions of Muhammad. Muhammad's example and authority are prominent
in Islam. There are several collections of hadiths, but the one compiled
by Bukhari (or "Al-Bukhari" or "Sahih Bukhari"), who lived 200 years
after Muhammad, is considered very important, especially by Sunni Muslims.
We will make reference to Bukhari primarily in this article, and also to
the hadiths collected by "Sahih Muslim," who was a student of Bukhari.
The Bukhari Hadiths are divided into nine volumes, then various books,
then hadiths by number. The numbering system is governed by the volumes,
not the books. So, a designation of 5:416 means volume 5, hadith number
416. Bukhari is usually presented online in book order, so you might have
to hunt for a few seconds to get the correct volume. It might help to use
the following table. Here are nine (9) volumes with the book number at
which the volume begins being in parentheses: 1 (1), 2 (13), 3 (27), 4
(51), 5 (57), 6 (60), 7 (62), 8 (73), 9 (83). The Muslim Hadiths are numbered
consecutively, uninterrupted for the entire collection.
Because of their importance to Muslim life, a critical review is necessary.
There are clearly contradictions and errors in the hadiths. To give a sense
of this, consider this hadith:
"Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, 'If
a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the
drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for
the disease.'" (Bukhari 4:537, and 7:673)
This practice is scientifically false. There is no evidence that a wing
of a fly has a cure for a disease resting on its other wing. Also consider
this passage:
"And if a man's discharge proceeded that of
the woman, then the child resembles the father, and if the woman's discharge
proceeded that of the man, then the child resembles the mother." (Bukhari
6:7)
Again, this analysis is obviously wrong scientifically. A child's traits
are not determined in this way. A legitimate question is: In the search
for truth, what can one expect from the religion of Islam?
There is a quite a bit of other material in the hadiths that falls in
the category of just plain interesting. Consider this passage from Bukhari
4:516, which offers insight into the blind acceptance Muslims have for
Muhammad,
"The Prophet said, 'If anyone of you rouses
from sleep and performs the ablution [ritual washing], he should wash his
nose by putting water in it and then blowing it out thrice, because Satan
has stayed in the upper part of his nose all night.'" A footnote to the
printed volume says, "We should believe that Satan actually stays in the
upper part of one's nose, though we cannot perceive how, for this is related
to the unseen world of which we know nothing except what Allah tells through
his apostle."
Muslims sometimes point to the Old Testament dietary laws as comparable
concepts from the Bible. But one difference is the Old Testament dietary
laws have not been found to have any scientific errors. Further, the New
Testament specifically overrides those cultural practices as no longer
being appropriate (Matthew 15:11, 17-18, Mark 7:14-15, Acts 10:9-15, Romans
14:17).
For more information about hadiths, go to http://www.answering-islam.org
and search for "hadith." A particularly interesting listing of hadith subjects
can be viewed at http://answering-islam.org/Silas/indexintro.htm
. Take the time to look at this latter link.
The Bible
Like the Quran for Muslims, the Bible for Christians is considered to
be the "Word of God." But Christians do not mean exactly the same thing
as Muslims when they use this term. Believers in the historic orthodox
Christian faith believe that the Bible is "inspired" by God, and believe
that the original manuscripts of the Bible are without error ("inerrant"
or "infallible.") But they also accept the view that the Bible has come
to us from human writers whose unique personalities and literary styles
are evident. Christians also acknowledge that the Bible of today, while
extremely faithful to the original texts, is subject to slight variances.
Muslims have been taught that the Bible has been grossly corrupted.
Many non-Muslims wonder about this possibility as well. Therefore, it is
appropriate to submit the Bible to rigorous scholarly testing. This is
a vital exercise because the Christian faith rests on the reliability of
the Bible. Let us just touch on a few points.
Yusuf Ali, the famous modern translator and commentator of the Quran,
has said that the earliest date for an Old Testament manuscript is 916
AD. This is quite wrong. In 1947 there was a discovery of ancient biblical
and non-biblical manuscripts now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. These manuscripts
contain portions of or complete copies of every Old Testament book except
Esther. They have been reliably dated from 250 BC to 68 AD.
In addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls, there are other manuscripts of
the Old Testament that date before Christ. Yet it is the remarkably extensive
discovery in the Dead Sea Scrolls that confirms that the modern day Old
Testament has been unchanged since at least before the time of Christ.
The Dead Sea discovery verifies that today we are in the possession
of the Old Testament that Jesus read and used. And Jesus himself testified
as to the correct books of the Old Testament and to their accuracy. (Here
are just a few of many examples: Matthew 5:17-18, 12:40, 13:14-15, 19:3-9,
23:35, Luke 16:31, 24:44, John 5:46-47, 10:35.) Jesus' testimony is an
important substantiation that the Old Testament was consistently preserved
up to his time. Absent any contrary evidence, the belief that the Old Testament
has been reliably preserved is warranted.
The Dead Sea Scrolls also contain what many scholars believe are fragments
of New Testament books, including Mark, Acts, Romans, 1 Timothy,
2 Peter, and James. The fragments are small enough that some skeptics (who
perhaps hope not to find the Bible reliable) are unwilling to accept them.
But the importance of the discovery is that it adds to already existing
evidence that the New Testament was written in the first century. The modern
Bible agrees with the earliest manuscripts, so we have an unbroken chain
from very early in the Christian era.
While we do not have the original New Testament manuscripts ("autographs"),
we do have over 25,000 ancient copies of New Testament manuscripts,
or pieces thereof. Careful analysis by scholars can compare the various
manuscripts and reproduce the originals with great precision. Only about
40 lines of text in the New Testament are in doubt, and these do not effect
any Christian doctrine.
Since there are numerous extant New Testament manuscripts from hundreds
of years before Muhammad which agree with the modern Bible, the Muslim
charge that the modern Bible has been changed is a hollow claim. Thus,
the Bible (Old and New Testaments) being read during Muhammad's time and
hundreds of years prior is the same Bible we have today.
There is no longer any real doubt that the New Testament is what it
claims to be— a reliable record of Jesus and his apostles written by eye
witnesses and interviewers of eyewitnesses of Jesus. Many scholars are
convinced that the entire New Testament was written between 40 and 70 AD.
The possible exception to this are some of the writings of John, who lived
to be a very old man, and may have been written as late as the 90's AD.
(We recommend the final section of the Geisler/Saleeb book listed below
as good summary.)
In addition to the manuscript evidence itself, we have quotations from
the New Testament from the early church fathers (from 97 AD to 325 AD).
These quotations allow reconstructing all but eleven verses of the modern
New Testament— even without any manuscripts themselves! This is significant
to Muslims, since these attestations are from hundreds of years before
Muhammad.
Yusuf Ali also said that the New Testament we have today is not the
same as in Muhammad's time. Wrong again. The accumulation of evidence proves
that the case is really closed in this matter. The New Testament has been
reliably preserved through the ages.
A final charge by Muslims is that the Apostle Paul changed the message
of Jesus. There is absolutely no evidence for this claim. Besides, there
are simply too many well-attested ancient manuscripts for this to be even
remotely possible. Further, Paul's message was both checked and approved
by the original apostles (Galatians 1-2, 2 Peter 3:15-16)!
Also significant for the Muslim is that the Quran itself has a high
view of Scripture. While this will be a bit tedious for our non-Muslim
readers, we think it is important to document that the Quran does indeed
support the Bible in these key areas (information from the Campbell book
on the list below):
|
These passages show that the Torah was true at the time of Jesus: Suras
3:48-50, 5:49, 5:113, 19:12, 61:6, 66:12. |
|
These passages show that the Torah and the Gospel were true and unchanged
at the time of Muhammad: Suras 2:91, 3:3, 4:162-163, 5:51, 6:154-157, 9:111,
10:37, 12:111, 34:31, 35:31, 40:69-70, 46:12, 46:29-30. |
|
There are 24 passages in the Quran where Muhammad actually quotes or appeals
to the Torah and/or the Gospel. |
|
55 other verses say that the Torah or the Gospel are good. Some of these
include Suras 3:187, 4:47, and 5:46-48. |
|
No one has ever brought forth a copy of the Torah or Gospel that differs
from the one we have now. |
|
Sura 10:94 specifically says, "If thou wert in doubt As to what We have
revealed Unto thee, then ask those Who have been reading The Book [the
Bible] from before thee: The Truth hath indeed come To them from thy Lord:
So be in no wise Of those in doubt." |
|
Sura 5:48 says that God guarded the Bible in safety, so either the Quran
is wrong or Muslims who say that the Bible is corrupted are wrong! |
So, there is no basis in reason for the Muslim, especially, to deny the
accuracy of the Bible!
The logic is quite simple and unavoidable. The Quran says that the Bible
was true at the time of Muhammad. The manuscript evidence unequivocally
verifies that the Bible we have today is the same as the one in Muhammad's
time (and before). So Muslims who say the Bible is corrupted are either
mistaken themselves, or else the Quran is wrong. Since Muslims cannot
accept that the Quran is wrong, the Bible must be accepted as reliable
and true. And thus it is logically consistent for the Muslim to accept
the Bible and therefore its doctrine of the deity of Christ.
In summary, neither the Bible nor the Quran that we have today is identical
to the originals. But both have been substantially preserved. There is
no evidence that any important doctrine of either Christianity or Islam
has been altered from the originals.
Let us summarize the evidence why the Bible can be trusted. There are
four important approaches to considering the evidence for the reliability
of the Bible:
-
Manuscript Evidence. Regarding the New Testament, the evidence supports
the view that all of the New Testament was written by eyewitnesses or other
contemporaries of Jesus, and that it has been reliably preserved. There
are no abrogations or destruction of manuscripts as there are in Islam.
-
Archeological Evidence. Over 25,000 sites have been discovered that
pertain to the Bible. As Nelson Glueck, renowned Jewish archeologist said,
"It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever
controverted a biblical reference." This is really an amazing testimony
for the Bible.
-
Prophetic Evidence. Some 2000 biblical prophecies have already been
fulfilled, including over 300 about Jesus—with no prophetic failures. The
probability of just 16 predictions being fulfilled without an error is
1 in 10 to the 45th power. For 2000 predictions to be correct without a
failure is an inconceivable probability number. There is nothing at all
like this in any other holy book.
-
Statistical Evidence. The Bible contains 66 books, written by approximately
40 different writers, over 1500 years, on 3 different continents, in 3
different languages, on thousands of different subjects—with no errors
or contradictions. (Norman Geisler in his book written with Abdul Saleeb
discusses this, and emphasizes that from his 40 years of studying the Bible
he has concluded that every so-called error or contradiction is a red herring.)
Yet there is one beautiful central theme in the Bible: God's redemption
of mankind from sin won for the whole world by the life, death, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. So, regarding the Bible, there are multiple reliable witnesses,
many of whom did not know each other, whose stories can be corroborated.
This compares to the Quran, which was revealed by one illiterate man
who, according to Islamic sources was bewitched (Bukhari 4:400, 4:490,
8:400), and in which are found numerous confirmed errors and contradictions.
These facts, and much more supports the Christian view that the Bible is
indeed from God. For more on this topic, see the website http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/quest_main.html
and the final section of the Geisler/Saleeb book list at the bottom of
this article.
The only apparent reason
why Muslims claim that the Bible has changed is that there is so much contradiction
versus the Quran. There is no evidential basis for the claim that the Bible
is anything other than reliable. If the Bible is true—Allah is not God,
Muhammad was not his prophet, and the Quran is not the Word of God.
|
Jesus and Muhammad
There is a significant difference between the founders of the two religions.
Muhammad was a sinner. In Suras 40:55 and 48:1-2, Allah tells Muhammad
to ask for forgiveness for his sins (translated frailties in some
translations.) Certain sins of his are mentioned in Bukhari 1:234 and 8:794-796,
which include cutting off people's limbs, burning out their eyes, and making
them die of thirst. Other mention of his sins are found in Bukhari 1:19,
711, 781, 3:582, 4:319, 7:1, 8:319.
Jesus, on the other hand was without sin (Acts 10:38, 1 Peter 1:19,
2:21-24, 1 John 2:1, 3:5). Even his enemies, those who betrayed and crucified
him, acknowledged his perfect life (Matthew 27:3-4, Luke 23:14-15). This
is an important theme in the Bible, but as we have previously mentioned,
it is also confirmed in Islamic teaching (Bukhari 4:506).
Modern Islam is generally considered to be free of racism. However Muhammad
himself owned slaves, including a black slave named Anjasha (Bukhari 3:711,
6:435, 8:182, 8:221, 9:368, etc.). For more information, see http://www.answering-islam.org
and search for "slaves." Of note, the only place where slavery is practiced
today is in Islamic countries.
Slavery was common practice in the ancient world. Indeed, the Bible
seems to acknowledge it as common practice. But Christianity teaches that
all people are created equal (Genesis 1:27, Galatians 3:28). And the Bible
specifically condemns the slave trade (1 Timothy 1:9-11).
Consider Jesus, the sinless prophet. In contrast to Muhammad, Jesus
|
was never forgiven because he had no sin, |
|
killed no travelers in cold blood, |
|
never told us to kill anybody, |
|
was not prejudiced against classes of people, |
|
did not own slaves, |
|
did not succumb to the devil and was not bewitched (Matthew 4, Luke 4) |
|
had high moral standards (never said forcible sex was OK), |
|
promised to pay the penalty for your sins, |
|
suffered and died for you and me, |
|
has no tomb for he rose from the dead, and |
|
is the Prince of Peace. |
Muhammad by his own admission was merely a mortal man (Sura 18:110), and
never performed a single miracle (Suras 3:183-184, 17:90-95, Bukhari 6:504,
9:379). The Quran itself acknowledges that Muhammad's opponents challenged
him with, "Why is not an angel sent down to him?" to settle the matter
of his prophethood (Sura 6:8-9). But Muhammad could not deliver. Yet Jesus
performed numerous miracles before many witnesses (Mark 7:37, John 10:38,
et. al.) Jesus' miracles are even confirmed in the Quran (Sura 5:110-113).
Muhammad said of himself that he could do nothing for you (Sura 11:31),
but only Jesus can forgive your sins (1 John 2:1-2). (For more on miracle
claims, see Geisler/Saleeb, indexed on page 335).
In addition to being powerful, Muhammad was wealthy (Bukhari 3:495),
which brings into question his true motive. But Jesus was a lowly itinerant
rabbi whose motive is not in question. Jesus' status is important because
he could relate to the common person of any time:
He was despised and rejected by men, a
man of sorrows and familiar with suffering...Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows...He was pierced for our transgression, He was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon
him, and by his wounds we are healed...We all like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the
iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53).
We do not have a high priest who is unable
to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted
in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus' influence came not from wealth or political power, but from his
words and actions that challenged people's very concept of truth (Mark
1:27, John 18:38). He said,
I am the way, the truth,
and the life. (John 14:6)
Let's consider further the subject of prophecies. One thing that has
convinced many of the true identity of Jesus is the evidence from fulfilled
prophecies. Jesus fulfilled over 200 prophecies and implications, many
made hundreds of years before his birth. While some of the prophecies are
subtle, many are precise— including his place of birth, and the details
of his life and death. Few of these on the website at http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/maps_p.html
. Jesus even predicted his own death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21, Acts
10:40, etc.)!
The interested reader may want to take the time to look up these prophecies
and the details of their fulfillment. It is hard to get the color and richness
of Christianity without understanding this aspect of it.
Abdul Saleeb, who converted to Christianity from Islam, says
the two primary things that convinced him that Jesus is more than just
a prophet were first, the character of Jesus, and second, Jesus' amazing
fulfillment of prophecy. This element of prophecy, which is such an important
part of Christianity, has no parallel in any other religion. Jesus is the
focus and fulcrum of all of history.
Why would you be a
follower of Muhammad - or anyone else - when you could be a follower of Jesus,
the Savior of the World?
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Summary
It is clear that fundamental Christianity and fundamental Islam are
incompatible worldviews. If either one is right, the other must be wrong.
The evidence demands a verdict.
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies
that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the anti-christ—he denies the Father
and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges
the Son has the Father also...I am writing these things to you about those
who are trying to lead you astray. (1 John 2:22-23, 26)
Consider Christian faith because those who follow
Jesus Christ are superior to those who reject {this} faith. Sura 3:55 Behold! God said: "O
Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear
thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make
those who follow thee superior to those
who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all
return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein
ye dispute." (Yusuf Ali)
Invitation
Speaking especially to our Muslim readers, we invite you to consider
the Christian faith. The Christian faith offers assurance of salvation.
It also offers love and intimacy with God. Consider especially the person
of Jesus—his beauty and gentleness. May your hopes and dreams be fulfilled. Many
Muslims have found the truth by seeking for it and humble themselves before the
true God. Those who found the truth are sharing their testimonies so that you
too may find it and rejoice together. True
testimonies can be found at this link: http://answering-islam.org/Testimonies/index.html
Reference:
-
The website http://www.faithfacts.org
is dedicated to exploring God through reasoning and evidence.
-
One source for the Holy Bible oneline is http://bible.gospelcom.net/
-
Quran and Hadiths online that can be found through a search engine and
one source is http://www.answering-islam.org
.
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