My good friend Dr. Bud Colegrove sent a paper to me this week and we decided to share portions of it for your review. We have split the material into three posts and redacted the original paper to conform to the space limitations of this blog. You can download the entire paper at this link.
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Filed under: Christianity, Islam, Jesus
The Qur’an discusses some relatively superficial incidents in the life of Jesus. However, in spite of the fact that the Qur’an, and some Muslims, holds Jesus in high regard as a Prophet, the Qur’an says virtually nothing about the teachings of Jesus. For that, we must turn to the Bible and the New Testament where those who were witnesses to His life, works, and teachings established a record. Muhammad lived 600 years after Jesus and had a poor understanding of the New Testament and a poorer understanding of the teachings of Jesus.
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Filed under: Christianity, Islam, Jesus
Surah 2:87 For, indeed, We vouchsafed unto Moses the divine writ and caused apostle after apostle to follow him; and We vouchsafed unto Jesus, the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and strengthened him with holy inspiration. [Yet] is it not so that every time an apostle came unto you with something that was not to your liking, you gloried in your arrogance, and to some of them you gave the lie, while others you would slay?
Surah 2:136 Say: “We believe in God, and in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and, their descendants, and that which has been vouchsafed to Moses and Jesus; and that which has been vouchsafed to all the [other] prophets by their Sustainer: we make no distinction between any of them. And it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves.”
Surah 2:253 Some of these apostles have We endowed more highly than others: among them were such as.were spoken to by God [Himself], and some He has raised yet higher.’ And We vouchsafed unto Jesus, the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and strengthened him with holy inspiration. And if God had so willed, they who succeeded those [apostles] would not have contended with one another after all evidence of the truth had come to them; but [as it was,] they did take to divergent views, and some of them attained to faith, while some of them came to deny the truth. Yet if God had so willed, they would not have contended with one another: but God does whatever He wills.
Surah 3:42-55 AND LO! The angels said: “O Mary! Behold, God has elected thee and made thee pure, and raised thee above all the women of the world. O Mary! Remain thou truly devout unto thy Sustainer, and prostrate thyself in worship, and bow down with those who bow down [before Him].” This account of something that was beyond the reach of thy perception We [now] reveal unto thee: for thou wert not with them when they drew lots as to which of them should be Mary’s guardian, and thou wert not with them when they contended [about it] with one another. Lo! The angels said: “O Mary! Behold, God sends thee the glad tiding, through a word from Him, [of a son] who shall become known as the Christ Jesus, son of Mary, of great honour in this world and in the life to come, and [shall be] of those who are drawn near unto God. And he shall speak unto men in his cradle, and as a grown man, and shall be of the righteous.” Said she: “O my Sustainer! How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me?” [The angel] answered: “Thus it is: God creates what He wills when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, ‘Be’ – and it is. And he will impart unto thy son revelation, and wisdom, and the Torah, and the Gospel, and [will make him] an apostle unto the children of Israel.” “I HAVE COME unto you with a message from your Sustainer. I shall create for you out of clay, as it were, the shape of [your] destiny, and then breathe into it, so that it might become [your] destiny by God’s leave; and I shall heal the blind and the leper, and bring the dead back to life by God’s leave; and I shall let you know what you may eat and what you should store up in your houses. Behold, in all this there is indeed a message for you, if you are [truly] believers. “And [I have come] to confirm the truth of whatever there still remains of the Torah, and to make lawful unto you some of the things which [aforetime] were forbidden to you. And I have come unto you with a message from your Sustainer; remain, then, conscious of God, and pay heed unto me. “Verily, God is my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer; so worship Him [alone]: this is a straight way.” And when Jesus became aware of their refusal to acknowledge the truth, he asked: “Who will be my helpers in God’s cause?” The white-garbed ones replied: “We shall be [thy] helpers [in the cause] of God! We believe in God: and bear thou witness that we have surrendered ourselves unto Him! O our Sustainer! We believe in what Thou hast bestowed from on high, and we follow this Apostle; make us one, then, with all who bear witness [to the truth]!” And the unbelievers schemed [against Jesus]; but God brought their scheming to nought: for God is above all schemers. Lo! God said: “O Jesus! Verily, I shall cause thee to die, and shall exalt thee unto Me, and cleanse thee of [the presence of] those who are bent on denying the truth; and I shall place those who follow thee [far] above those who are bent on denying the truth, unto the Day of Resurrection. In the end, unto Me you all must return, and I shall judge between you with regard to all on which you were wont to differ.
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Filed under: Christianity, Islam, Jesus
Victor Hanson, of the Hooer Institue wrote the following article, The Gaza Rules which captures my view of the conflict in Gaza.
For several prior weeks, Hamas terrorists had been launching rockets daily into Israeli towns that border Gaza. The recent volleys of missiles had insidiously become more frequent – up to 80 a day – and the payloads larger. Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists were reportedly supplying their own training and expertise.
These terrorists point to the Lebanon war of 2006 as the template for provoking an Israeli counter-response that will bog down the Israeli Defense Forces in the streets of urban Gaza and ensure that Palestinian civilians are harmed on global television.
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Filed under: Islam, Israel, Middle East
Son of Hamas Leader Turns Back on Islam and Embraces Christianity
From the page: “The son of a Hamas MP who is also the most popular figure in that extremist Islamic organization in the West Bank, a young man who assisted his father for years in his political activities, has become a rank-and-file Christian. A few seconds later, he is savoring his meal, explaining that he hasn’t been eating much recently because of financial problems. During the past week he has been living with the friend, a Christian, of course, whom he met at church. ‘Without him,’ he says, ‘I would have become homeless.’ ”
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Filed under: Christianity, Islam
While unexpected, this is a fascinating step by Muslims in Jordan.
Adnkronos International (AKI) is reporting that in the mosaic-rich town of Madaba, a Mosque has been dedicated to Jesus Christ in a bid to boost dialogue with Christians. Verses from the Muslim holy book, the Koran, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ have been inscribed on the facade of the mosque.
According to their source, the pan-Arab daily Al-Quds al-Arabi, a local moderate Osama Abu al-Walid is quoted as saying: “Calling Madaba’s new mosque after the son of the Virgin Mary is an important initiative to improve dialogue in our town, whose Christian and Muslim population coexists, …”
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Filed under: Christianity, Church, Islam
When former drug dealer and now born again Christian Paul Ray wrote in his blog that the Muslim drug gangs in his hometown of Luton were “savages,” he was arrested on suspicion of a hate crime.
“It’s ok for the Muslims to do what they’re doing, and no one arrests them, but then if we start saying and disagreeing with what’s actually happening, then we’re breaching community cohesion and we get arrested for it,” he explained.
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Filed under: Islam, Terrorism
The Christian Post has a great article about the ongoing holy war between Christianity and Islam. Many believe that Christianity will win the war because of the widespread availability of the Christian Bible.
Why isn’t the Koran widely translated and distributed? The Koran must be memorized in the original Arabic and cannot be changed in any way according to conservative Imams.
Sounds like all the sound and fury of the debate over the King James Version. “Only 1611 will do!”
Read the full article here.
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Filed under: bible, Christianity, Islam
Reporter Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, has been jailed for sedition, a crime punishable by death. What did Choudhury do? He advocated establishing peace with Jewish people and developing ties with Israel.
After demonstrating their commitment to open, honest debate of critical issues in the debacle with the Pope, this is the next logical step for Muslims.
Debbie Schlussel’s article is brilliant.
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Filed under: Islam, Middle East
Perhaps there will be peace in the Middle East. Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate, along with the militant Hamas, told a UN Ministers meeting their planned unity government will recognize Israel and renounce violence.
Many are scoffing at the possibility. I am rejoicing with hope and praying for the peace of Israel.
Perhaps this idea will collapse. Maybe it will never get off the ground. The discussions may fail before they even begin. Unless both sides at least try to reconcile, however, the world will remain in peril.
Pray for peace in the Holy Land.
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Filed under: Israel, Palestine
