Islams beliefs concerning Christianity

there is such as thing as absolute truth. So there cannot be contradictory religions also true. Good books include "The Case For Christ" by Lee Strobel and "The Resurrection" by Hank Haanagraff

Edited by rbaitz

Laurie,

I didn't notice any of your questions on this thread before. Do you have question that are concerning the topic under discussion or you have responded in generality of this whole forum? After going through your response here as well as on some other thread, I think you are more concerned about how Mohammad or Jesus are to be believed in as to what they said. If this is true, then this is a new topic and needs new thread. I think its not appropriate to divert from the topic of this thread to another direction. However, just to reply for your response on this thread; I would say something from my own understanding of relegions and leave its decision to anyone who does not agree to it. I beleive that all relegions, at some point, have some uncertainty attached to their doctrines. Since God is infinite, it is this uncertainity that the religions call it a matter of faith, as no logic works to define or understand infinity. It would be naive (I am assuming that one believes in the presence of God and not of an aeithest belief) to expect God to show the answers to the test while the humans on this earth are still under the test. This is the basis on which, I think, whole circle of faith and logic revoleves around. The degree of uncertainity varies from religion to religion. In Islam, this uncertainity or as we call it a matter of faith has two distinctive features. Other than that, Islam is a religion which asks human beings to recognise God through wisdom and logic. These two are 1). Belief that there is a God. 2). Beleif that Prophet Mohammad is his last messanger. Other than this, everything that exist in nature has a logic attached to its existance and can be understood through human mind and logic. To test how the second point of faith is quite close to logical understanding or nature is through circumstantial evidence and not through direct one. The honesty of Prophet Mohammad was known to his people long before he claimed Prophethood. So it was often difficult for the people of his town to dissmiss him altogether merely on the basis of telling lies. Its not that they didn't use any such slandering, but from their hearts of hearts they knew they are not correct. Again it is from the pagan history that once a delegation of pagan arab went to neighbouring countries to make propaganda against the new relegion (Islam), they couldn't escape the reality but to accept that they didn't find Mohammad ever telling a lie even in his jokes. Second foremost convincing reason that I found to believe in him is the book (Quran) that he said is the actual spoken word of God and not from himself. He doesn't claim to be its author. Of course since he was the messanger of God, therefore God's message would come through His messanger as it used to come to other prophets before Mohammad. The sgnificance of this book is so great that we are left with no other reason but to admit that he indeed was the real messanger of God. In that we find that the book claims its authenticity to be the same (ditto) as it was revealed to Prophet Mohammad 14 to 15 centuries ago (of course in the language of messanger of God i.e. Arabic). There is no book (in history or in any other relegion) that we know to exist on this earth except Quran with such a remarkable quality. The book itself is not easy to understand especially for an uninformed reader, however, for those who have the patience to find the truth, soon find it to be the most logical book to preach faith. The order or composition of the book is not like an ordinary book of history, but its purpose is to guide humans to the right path. Various examples are presented in it to recognise God through wisdom, and logical arguments. This unique feature is non-existent in any other book of faith. There are many other properties of this book but I shall leave it for some other time and conclude that it is because of extremely small uncertainity as compared with other relegions that attracted me to Islam and I found it well upto its claims. Rest it is upto an individual how he/she looks at these merits of Islam. Or he/she may not even count them any merits, that is upto them. Rest Allah knows the best. May Allah guide us all to the ultimate truth. Amen.

Laurie,

Men and women are equally important in God's eyes. The Bible does show the way women were treated back then but this is not the way God wanted it. There are historical events, practices and so forth that took place, but this doesn't mean it was God's order of things. For example the people of Israel worshipped Baal (a false idol) but God had judged them for idolatry. In the New Testament the adulteress woman was found and brought before Jesus so He would judge her, however he showed compassion on her. But where was the man? He was never mentioned.

Men and women are equally important in the eyes of God, yet each have different roles in the context of marriage and within the Church. This is not to say anyone is better than anyone else, however the wife/woman is esteemed in her role as a woman and the man in his. God has made us different, not just physically, but mentally also. I know I couldn't withstand the pain of child bearing, I can't handle many things my wife can because she was made differently. Also as a husband I am supposed to love my wife as Jesus loved the Church, which is to say, I am supposed to be willing to lay my life down for her, serve her, cherish her, comfort her, Love her, which is more then words. Love is an action word that takes action on my part. Love involved self sacrifice because marriage isn't just about me.

This is what the Christian marriage is all about. The marriage is a picture of the relationship we can have with God. That's why the Bible calls the Church (i.e. believers) the bride and Jesus Christ the bride-groom. The awesome relationship we can have with God comes through the self sacrifice of the bride-groom which was demonstrated at Jesus' death on the cross to pay our fine of sins so we can enter into a loving relationship with God by faith.

Jesus didn't treat women the same way as the culture did back then. Just look at Mary Magdallene she was accepted by Jesus upon her repentance for her sins of harlotry. Later she is the first one to find the empty tomb of Jesus as we can read from the Bible. Now as we know a woman's word in that century didn't hold much water, unfortunatly. However here she is first seeing the empty tomb, then Jesus appearing to her and telling her to go tell His disciples that He had risen. God used Mary as His important messenger. Now if the Bible was written by men who wanted to write lies portraying them as true, then they would not have written concerning what Mary had found, saw and heard.

Robin

Well Bro Rbaitz,

Thanks for quoting Quran for me, at least on one particular matter. I pray and shall hope that not only in this matter, you may consult it and get guidance in all other matters as well from the Quran. You have indeed done a great service to me to provide these references from Quran. 

There are many ways to reply to your question. Foremost is that your implied understanding of word "word of God" in verses 6:34, 6:115, and 10:64 is not correct. Here this means the "decree" of Allah and not the "Mushaf" or "the book". There are many instances where God has warned the people of the book for corrupting the book of Allah with their own hands just for petty exchange.

"It was We who revealed the law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed (as in Islam) to Allah's will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's book, and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers. " Quran 5:44.

Kindly note the highlighted and the underlined part of the verse which clearly states that Allah's book was an entrusted job for the people of the book. It was upon them not to sell Allah's signs for miserable price. So your argument, even from the Quran doesn't stand valid. Though there are many other instances in the Quran as well, but due to shortage of time, I am concluding my remarks here with your last argument about the existance of old scriptures at the time of Quran's revelation. True, there were, and they might even exist today. However, with the warning of its corruption by the scribes in Quran, we also know that they have been so obliterated with other stories around them that its really difficult to discern truth out of them, especially once my Christian brothers are bent upon following the conjectures and doing away what is known to them as fact. Kindly let me know if you have heard anything about the "Q, the lost gospel". It may hint as to what happened to the teachings of Prophet Jesus.

   Another aspect to look at this issue is that since we know that original language of Quran is Arabic so any translational difficulties can readily be understood by referring back to the original language i.e. Arabic. In the same way Bible (NT) may also be needed to look back in original Aramic version, the language of Prophet Jesus, and not in any other language. Do you have this Bible known in Aramic any where in the world. Probably not; the most oldest known is in Greek language simply because their authors were not among the 12 diciples of Jesus what to talk of Jesus himself. Quran says to the people of the book to stick to His "revealed" book if they want guidance, and not just any other  book by anonymous authors. God's revelations are such that people of faith live by them for their whole life. Can we say such a thing about these gospels whose basic characteristic is "anonymous authorship" and then interpreting them through the monocule of St. Paul and later day saints.  I hope that you would continue to follow Quran, not only for this matter but others as well especially once it calls the people of the book to come to terms and don't associate anyone with Him and He shall forgive them. I think this is a fair proposition, especially in the light of the fact that afterall, Jesus also used to pray to some one. So let us pray together to the God of Jesus to help us guide in the right direction. Amen.