When Christians try to share the Gospel with Muslims, they often encounter some resistance because Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet of God, just like Abraham, Moses, Jonah, etc. “Christ, the son of Mary, was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him.” (Surah 5:75) Then, when Christians try to show that Jesus claimed to be more than a prophet and did actions in accordance with those claims, Muslims will say that the New Testament has been corrupted and is not reliable. The Christian will then respond with a classical, apologetic defense of the reliability of the NT documents. It kind of goes something like this:
Muslim: Why is Christianity better than Islam?
Christian: Because Jesus claimed to be more than just a prophet. In fact, He claimed to be God!
Muslim: Where? Where did Jesus say, “I am God, worship me?”
Christian: Well he didn’t say those words, exactly. But he claimed to be the Son of God and the “I AM” of the Old Testament. He also accepted worship from various individuals and claimed to have the power to forgive sins. *proceeds to pull up NT passages that affirm Jesus’ Divinity*
Muslim: But your New Testament is corrupted. Those words were not really said by Jesus but were added later. The original message of Jesus was corrupted.
Christian: But if we take a look at textual criticism…yada yada yada…when compared to other books of antiquity, we have thousands more manuscripts for the NT…yada yada yada…the Gospels were written within a couple of generations after Jesus and most of the eyewitnesses were still alive…yada yada yada…the pre-Pauline creeds and hymns show that the early church believed in the divinity of Jesus…yada yada yada…
Now, it isn’t wrong to take this approach but I contend that there is a better way that produces greater results! Muslims believe in the Quran as the word of God. If we can use the Quran to provide a basis for establishing the reliability of the NT, then we would be on pretty, solid ground. How does this work? The Quran affirms the truth of the NT.
Say what?
Yes. The Quran affirms the truth of the NT documents (specifically, the Gospels). Let’s take a look at some passages:
1. God revealed the Torah and the Gospel.
He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel. -Surah 3:3
2. Christians are commanded to judge the Quran by the Gospel (this assumes the validity of the Gospels!)
And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah. Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel. To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. -Surah 5:46-48a
3. No one can change or corrupt the words of God.
And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him. -Surah 18:27
If the Gospel was revealed by God and Christians are commanded to judge the Quran by the Gospel and no one can change the words of God, then Muslims have to, either:
1. Accept the validity of the Gospels…which say that Jesus is divine…in which case the Muslims can no longer be Muslims.
or
2. Refuse to accept the Gospels as being reliable, in which case they are denying their Quran, thus they can no longer be true Muslims.
Either way, they can no longer be true Muslims. This argument is known as the Islamic Dilemma.*
Christians can use the Quran to argue effectively and efficiently for the reliability of the Gospels and the divinity of Jesus, not because we believe that it is true, but because Muslims believe that it is the word of God, and as a result they must believe in what it says about the Gospels. The Quran affirms the Gospels in the same way the Gospels affirm the Old Testament. No true Christian can deny the Old Testament because the New Testament affirms it!
In conclusion, this tailored approach can be used much more effectively to show Muslims that Jesus really did claim to be God, and as a result, cannot simply be a prophet for no good prophet would claim the things Jesus did or do the things Jesus did. The above Quranic verses should be stored in every Christian’s apologetics arsenal for situations in which they are required to defend the New Testament against Islam. The Islamic Dilemma can be used, not only to show Muslims that Jesus claimed to be divine, but also to show that he was crucified and rose again, as well (Islam denies that Jesus was crucified and resurrected).
*For more info on the Islamic Dilemma and objections answered, here is a great lecture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAkcQhQNsaE
A LOVE LETTER FROM HEAVENLY FATHER
(An intimate message from GOD to you)
My dearest and precious child,
You may not know me, but I know everything about you ~ Psalms 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up ~ Psalms 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways ~ Psalms 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered ~ Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image ~ Genesis 1:27
In me, you live and move and have your being ~ Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring ~ Acts 17:28
I chose you when I planned creation ~ Ephesians 1:11-12
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands ~ Isaiah 49:16
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book ~ Psalms 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live ~ Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made ~ Psalms 139:14
Before I formed you in the womb I knew ~ Jeremiah 1:5
I knit you together in your mother’s womb ~ Psalms 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born ~ Psalms 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me ~ John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but I am the complete expression of love ~ 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my unconditional love on you ~ 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father ~ 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly Father ever could ~ Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect Father ~ Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand ~ James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs ~ Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope ~ Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love ~ Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore ~ Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing ~ Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you ~ Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession ~ Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul ~ Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things ~ Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me ~ Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart ~ Psalms 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires ~ Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine ~ Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are broken-hearted, I am close to you ~ Psalms 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart ~ Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes ~ Revelation 21:3-4
And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth ~ Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my SON, Jesus ~ John 17:23
For in Jesus, my unconditional love for you is revealed ~ John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being ~ Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you ~ Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my unconditional love for you ~ 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love ~ Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my beloved SON Jesus, you receive me ~ 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my unconditional love again ~ Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen ~ Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father ~ Ephesians 3:14-15
Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you ~ Hebrews 13:5
My question is ~ Will you be my child? ~ John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you ~ Luke 15:11-32
Your loving Eternal Heavenly ABBA (Father), Sovereign, and Almighty GOD.
Noble, Truth and Holy Bible
God’s Love letter for you…(worth watching)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDe5Enyl134
A Love letter from Jesus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7phiWTPtLpA
He is…….. (Name of GOD)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscHCa395-M
Jesus is Lord!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajQf82CxkCM
Multiple reasons why muhammad is a false prophet (The Child Rapist
& The Vicious Bloodthirsty Warlord)
(Jesus
Christ is still alive in heaven and He is coming back again (He is our Comfort
in the last days and He is our soon coming King of kings and Lord of lords from
Heaven), false prophet muhammad is dead
and burn in hellfire eternally, amen.
The
religion of Islam officially began in 610 A.D.
The
religion of Christianity began from the 1st century to the present.
There
are way too many reasons to nullify
Muhammad’s claim of being a prophet of God. Here are reasons:
No
extraordinary natural signs before the birth
of Muhammad (570 AD – 8 June 632 AD), or predictions from past religious
characters about the arrival of Muhammad
to save the world.
Islam
did not exist at the time Muhammad was born. He was born to an idolater family
and that’s what he followed all his childhood and teenage. That means,
Muhammad, born as a Qafir (Infidel),
spent 70% of his life as a proud infidel before he invented Islam.
His
first marriage was with a Jewish woman and not with any Muslim. So, which
religious rites were followed by his
marriage ceremony with a Jewish woman if Islam wasn’t yet born? Certainly, a Jewish-style marriage ceremony! Even the Qur’an
doesn’t mention anything about the Islamic ceremony of Prophet Muhammad’s first
marriage. That simply shows that even Muhammad didn’t have any idea of the
existence of Islam or his prophecy.
If
Muhammad was an adorable prophet sent by Allah, then why didn’t he reveal the
truth about Islam, when he was a child or when he got young? Why did he waste
40 years of his life as a non-Muslim idolater? If his purpose of coming in this
world was only to reveal Islam and preach it to people, then why he had to wait
until more than half of his life, living like a common man and practicing
idol-worship?
Almost
all the rituals and rules of Islam mentioned in the Qur’an are copied from
Judaism, which shows how deeply Muhammad was inspired by Judaism and attracted
towards the Torah. So, he found copying and pasting from the Torah into his
Qur’an was the easiest way to invent a new religion.
Muhammad
spread Islam on the point of the sword and not with love and preaching. His
strategy was to rule at any price.
Muhammad
killed poor, innocent and helpless people, which can’t be justified in any
sense as an act of a holy prophet.
You
cannot call Muhammad a holy prophet, when he sexually abused a uncountable number of women, including
sometimes ridiculously shamefully, like his marriage with minor Aisha and his
own daughter-in-law Zainab. That proves that Muhammad was just another powerful
dictator, who knew very well how to take advantage of his power and abuse
everyone, anywhere and in any way.
Muhammad
never performed any miracle, which is expected of a prophet. Instead of helping
the suffering people, he used to destroy well-settled, peaceful communities,
capturing their lands and making the captured children and women slaves.
In
his life, Muhammad did immense harm to humanity but that was not enough for his
satanic mind. So, before dying, he left the messages of Jihad to his followers
for conquering the whole world, all of the humanity,
in the name of Islam, which continues causing great sufferings to our lives to
this day. Wouldn’t a true prophet sacrifice his own life for his people,
instead of destroying lives on every flimsy excuse?
It shows that Muhammad was not a prophet – neither in life nor in death.
It
is hard to find a holy personality in other religions, who committed atrocious
crimes like those of Muhammad. Let’s have a look at some other famous religious
characters from history:
Jesus
Christ: He didn’t initiate any war, never killed innocent people, and didn’t
abuse women like Muhammad. He has not left any question mark on his character
before leaving this world.
Buddha:
A man who left his home, luxury life and all the advantages he could have
because of his rich background, just because he was really looking for truth
and peace and make them reach to the humanity, which he did without putting the
sword on anyone’s neck. That’s like a
truly holy personality.
Ram:
Even in Hinduism, Rama, the god of the idol-worshiping Hindus was a much better
example than Muhammad, who spent many years of his life in jungles, leaving
behind his entire luxurious kingdom. He engaged in some war, but on valid
excuses. He never killed or tortured poor people on flimsy excuses as did
Muhammad. He never forced someone to embrace Hinduism.
I am
not justifying that any of the religions mentioned above is true, but all I
want to say is that in comparison to Muhammad, those religious personalities
stand higher in esteem and cleaner in character.
On
the other hand, evil Muhammad did all kinds of things what civilized humanity
and laws deem as criminal and barbaric. Wouldn’t you now say that Muhammad was
a bloody prophet? Oh, come on! Come out of the illusion, accept the reality and
be practical. A man, who cunningly declared himself a prophet, fooled the world
by copying and pasting from the Torah to create his own holy book, the
“Qur’an”, can’t be a prophet. A man, who never gave life to someone but
snatched lives of innocent people, can’t be holy, can he? A man, who before
leaving this world, has left so much pain, turbulence,
and destruction, can not be a God-sent prophet, can he?
Muhammad
by his own actions has left a giant “question mark” on his character because of
which he will never ever be accepted as a holy prophet by sane, educated,
people, brave enough to call dirty what is dirty.
Muhammad: you are the
curse of many widows, orphan children and
helpless parents who got their loving children becoming victims of your cunning
desires. Shame on you the blood-thirsty self-claimed prophet of no God. By Iran
Firasat
Allah the pagan crescent moon god of islam
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm
Violence verses in quran, hadith and sira
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/violence.aspx
Allah the pagan crescent moon god of islam, DOESN’T REMEMBER WHETHER HE CREATED HEAVEN OR EARTH FIRST: The koran is full of errors and contradictions. A funny contradiction is this one where allah can’t remember whether he created earth or heavens first.
The Nabataean ‘Allah’ has a wife named ‘Al-lat’ (as well as ‘Al Uzza’), and these are two of the three names of the goddesses found in the Qur’an, in Surah 53:19-20, which is better known as the ‘Satanic Verses’.
Sura 4:11-12 – Muslim man dies, He leaves behind 3 daughters, 2 parents and 1 wife.
Allah thus commands you concerning your children: the share of the male is like that of two females. If (the heirs of the deceased are) more than two daughters, they shall have two-thirds of the inheritance; and if there is only one daughter, then she shall have half the inheritance. If the deceased has any offspring, each of his parents shall have a sixth of the inheritance; and if the deceased has no child and his parents alone inherit him, then one-third shall go to his mother; and if the deceased has brothers and sisters, then one-sixth shall go to his mother. All these shares are to be given after payment of the bequest he might have made or any debts outstanding against him.
Wife gets 1/8 = 3/24
Parents get 2/6 = 8/24
Daughters gets 2/3 = 16/24
Total it is 27/24
Allah in the quran can’t do simple maths? Or did muhammad give the verses in the quran from his own head that’s why the maths is screwed up?
More than dreams
http://morethandreams.org
“Holy Quran Converted Me to Christianity” – Former Indian Imam Sulaiman (Mario Joseph)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsMccnb_270
Is the Quran corrupted?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cifU-AfbzfE
To All Muslims: The Quran Confirms The Bible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ5P-CLktsY
ALLAH, the Moon God
Review of The Moon God Allah in the Archaeology of the Middle East
biblebelievers.org.au
Major
Errors in the Quran
Part 1 & 2 : This presentation highlights 18 major
errors (Scientific and Historical) in the Quran. This proves that the Quran is
a false book, Mohammad is a false prophet, Allah is a false god, and Islam is a
false religion.
Please
click the below link for details :
Major Errors in the Quran Part 1 of 2
Major Errors in the Quran Part 2 of 2
Allah, Satan, and Jehovah Compared
Contradiction in quran
Historical Errors Of Quran
Well, actually your arguments doesn’t prove that Jesus says he is God. The word “I AM” doesn’t claim divinty, anyone can say I am. The word “ego eimi” if it really meant Jehovah, it wouldn’t have been translated but it have been written Jehovah. Besides, others said it: Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” (John 9:9), so the beggar also may become a divine!! But it actually means “I am the Messiah”, and this is very clear with what he said to the Samaritan woman:
Joh 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things. Joh 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Which was said in other translation:
(MKJV) Jesus said to her, I AM, the One speaking to you.
This is a very clear proof that he didn’t mean to claim divinity by that word.You can read more here:
http://jesus-is-muslim.net/did-jesus-really-say-i-am-god/
You are awaiting to be saved… Too bad it will all go to Waste.
What becomes of the people before Christ? Does Yahweh destroy them all because he couldn’t spread the news well enough? Why does our generation get this special privilege? We certainly didn’t earn anything!
The Chronology is all messed up: The Father keeps ‘prophesying’ about the Son of Man. Son of Man lives and teaches. Son of Man is Worshiped forever. Son of Man returns, and kills all the Jews! Why would God play these redundant games?
The Quran came as a Furqan, root word: F-R-Q, means to guard, preserve, separate etc. That is, the Quran only addresses false misconceptions and interpretations of available scriptures in the 7th Century. It did not bring new things, only separated/guarded the Truth from Satan’s Handiwork. There are many truths in the Injil(Gospels NOT Letters), but there are also falsehoods. For example, a non-objective reader of the 3 Synoptic Gospels would not come to the conclusion that Jesus is some form of God, as a pose to John’s Gospel, which blatantly states it in verse 1. Many Biblical Scholars today say that the early Jewish-Christians didn’t believe Jesus was in a Trinity(<50AD), if anything, they were probably closer to Muslims' beliefs.
As for the Jesus Infancy in the Quran, it is obviously based on a Late 4th-Century Coptic scripture. The Quran(i.e. Muhammad's Revalation) is indifferent to whether a story was historically accurate or not. This obviously wasn't, and the document has 'Son' instead of 'servant.' The key to reading the Quran is not to worry about the details, but the MESSAGE. To the Arabs, this might have been true, but we know it's not. As Jewish translator Muhammad Asad would put it, the story is a means to convey the MESSAGE. Christian history is dubious at best, so leave the rest to Allah and read the Quran.