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Though my business contact, I met a pleasant young woman who is very dedicated to Islam. I asked her a few questions, then, because time was premium, asked if we could correspond. She has been giving me various pieces of information which I have found most helpful in understanding Islam.
Now it is my turn. I have formulated a response to her. I would very much appreciate it if you would read this letter and make critique of it so it can be edited if necessary and be the best response possible. Here is what I have written:
It was with interest that I read the comments in the link you sent me. Throughout the centuries of debate on various topics, one mode of attacking the position of another is to call into question the sources upon which that position depends. It appears that this is what has been done in regards to the Jewish/Christian Scriptures. I read a couple of sites on Islam as I was doing research on Islam and the Bible and they all pretty much said the same thing - that the Christian scriptures have been corrupted.
The problem with this is that it is an unprovable theory. This is the same theory that Protestant Christians trot out against Catholic Christians, claiming that the practices of the Church were corrupted by Emperor Constantine making Christianity the religion of Rome.
There are, however, sources outside the Bible to which one can go to validate what is in the Bible, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are also numerous writings from the earliest leaders of the Christian faith, those men who are called “The Early Fathers of the Church.” There are secular writers of the first century, men who were not Christian nor had an interest in Christianity, yet who wrote of the “superstition of the new sect” which was teaching that Christ had died and resurrected from the dead.
But since we really cannot prove the truth of the Bible or the Qur’an from just saying that one is true and the other one is not, then let us ask reasonable questions mankind, psychology, and human behavior. One would have to ask what profit would the early believers in Jesus the Christ receive from changing the texts of the scriptures and teaching falsehood, especially if this falsehood (Christ is God and is risen from the dead) meant they would die, sometimes in most gruesome ways? I think it is important to remember just what it meant to be a Christian in those days - a high probability of dying in some awful manner at the hands of the Jewish or Roman authorities. Therefore, if anyone was going to change the Scriptures, it would be for the purpose of alleviating the persecution. Simply put, people do not normally die for that which they know is a lie. If this was some “inside secret” held by the leaders of the Christian Church in the first several centuries, it was a bad joke on them, since a great majority of them were martyred for the faith, and for professing the same doctrines we profess today - that Jesus is both God and Lord. This angered the Roman tyrants, who insisted that they be worshiped as gods on earth. If this was a lie, then we are following the teaching of people who have severe mental instability in that they would die for something they knew was a lie.
The other thing about the Bible is that as you may well know, the Bible is a book that can be interpreted in dozens of different manners. Thus you have a great variety of sects within the Christian religion. One could look at the verses which were in the link you sent me and indeed come up with the theory that Mohammad was the one promised to come, rather than Jesus. And I can point to an equal number of verses - which someone in Islam would no doubt say are corrupted text - to show that Jesus is the Promised One.
In fact, we could go back and forth on this issue of “corrupted text” for days or weeks and never come to a conclusion because we have only our beliefs to go upon. I point out a text that points to Christ saying that He is “one with the Father,” (John 10:30) and the response would be “that is a corruption of the text.” So it is a stalemate at best.
Therefore, let us look at another reality which may shed more light on the subject. What are the teachings of Jesus v Mohammad, and how do they affect us? In the Christian Scriptures, we are told to “love our enemies, to do good to those who despitefully use us, to pray for those who hate us.” Do I have to trot out the verses in the Qur’an that state exactly the opposite, that tell those in Islam to slay God’s enemies? And you cannot brush them aside, because according to Islam, the Qur’an is the Word of God, word for word, and is not to be denied by the faithful. If Jesus is a prophet, then His words are from God, and cannot contradict those of another prophet. Yet in the Qur’an, we find many verse which tell the believer to attack and kill the enemies of God and Mohammad rather than to do good and love them. Do you see a problem here?
There is also the issue of how both religions were spread. The Christian faith was spread by men and women who died for the faith rather than to resort to violence. They preached that God is love, He has redeemed all mankind through the work of Christ on the Cross, and they were willing to go to martyrdom rather than fight back against those who hated them. Islam, on the other hand, was spread by the sword, an odd way to bring people to believe. And this is simply not up for debate, as even secular historians with no Christian axe to grind, have admitted to this. The history is there for all to see.
What I am saying is that a relationship with God should affect how one treats others. In Christianity, our whole belief system is based around the writing of St. John who said “God is love.” Is there any verse in the Qur’an that states that God is love? Not that God loves, but that He IS love. It is His very being, and the greatest act of that love which He is was to come down to mankind and take upon Himself our sins so that they may be forgiven. And while there have been some sorrowful and sad exceptions to this behavior among professing Christians, the greatest part of Christianity has been to act in love towards others. We are, in fact, commanded to do so. It is the basis of the orphanages, schools, universities, leprosariums, food banks, and many other works of charity that we do. It is a command that we simply do not have the right to pass up, and according to the Book of Matthew, the gift of eternal life will be based on how we treated others with that love.
There is also another issue about which I wish I could refrain from speaking, but it goes again to how our religions work themselves out in practicality. It is the issue of the treatment of women. Prior to the establishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire, women were second-class citizens with no rights at all. So bad it was that female babies were unwanted, and routinely put outside of a house at night for the wolves to take away. It was the Christians who went out at night and rescued these babies, adopting them as their own. The phrase regarding Christians in the Roman Empire was “behold how they love one another.”
In looking over the history of Islam, I do not see the same respect for women that I see in the Christian religion. In the Roman Empire at the time of the founding of Christianity, women were property, along with slaves and children. The idea of “personal dignity” and worth was simply unknown. Female children were unwanted, and were left out at night for the wolves to carry away. Christians went out at night, rescued these children, and adopted them into their families. Christianity has elevated the status of women. I don’t see this in Islam.
Again, I am not attempting to pour contempt on Islam and I mean no offense. I am trying to say that what we believe affects our behavior. We are told that God is our loving Father. I do not believe that in Islam you refer to Allah as “father.” In fact, a rather well-known Christian had lunch with an Imam in his town and during the discussion, made reference to God as Father. He reports that this so angered the Imam that eventually, after unwittingly saying “Father” again, the Imam got up and left the table. Apparently, in Islam, Allah is Master but in no way Father. Yet Jesus taught us that we have One who is a father to us, who loves us as Father, and to whom we can turn as trusting children.
What is the “Good News” which is found in Christianity? The Christian faith of the Holy Orthodox Church goes back to the very beginning, and except for the changes in the mode of worship, is almost unchanged. The Good News that we proclaim is that by death Christ conquered death. In Islam, the death of Christ is merely the death of a prophet of God. But in the Christian faith, we sing this hymn every Pascha:
“Christ is risen from the death, by death He conquered death, and to those in the tombs, he granted life.”
Death is our enemy. Death is not natural, was not the original plan of God when creating Adam and Eve, and held all mankind in bondage and fear. The Good News that Paul went out and preached was that Christ had risen from the dead. Many of the Greeks who heard this sermon on Mars Hill in Athens said to Paul “You come to us proclaiming strange doctrines. We will hear more later about this resurrection of which you speak.”
Acts 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, “What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.”
Acts 17:32 “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.”
This was something strange and novel. A man risen from the dead. Yet it was and continues to be the Good News that death is no longer victor over mankind. That God has found a way, in the obedience of Jesus the Christ, an obedience even unto death, to free mankind from death. More than that, to change man’s very nature, which was corrupted by the Fall of Adam. The hatred, the lies, the violence, the immorality, the many evils which men commit against each other, were never in the plan of God. We were meant to grow into His image and likeness - that is, to be creatures of love - and to love Him and our fellow man. The Sacrifice of Christ has changed the very nature of millions and millions of men and women over the years. This is why it is important that Jesus is God...because by assuming to Himself a human nature, He took that nature and through His obedience unto death and His glorious Resurrection, He can change us from within.
This is what mankind needs. What Islam offers is the command to obey God, which is good and proper, but it offers no power other than the efforts of each individual to do so. This is, in essence, the same as Judaism. St. Paul fought against this. In the book of Galatians, tells the believers in Galatia that the keeping of the law cannot bring us salvation. It is who Christ offers us the power to be able to keep God’s Law and union with Him reunites us to God.
This is the truth that no one can talk me out of, for I have experienced this myself. Helplessly addicted as a young man to wickedness in many forms of which I will not speak, when Christ entered into my very being to live by His Holy Spirit, I found a power over sin that I had never experienced before. In Christianity, God is not only personal, He desires to have a relationship of love with mere creatures of dust. So intense is this love that He will actually enter within the believer to join with the soul of the believer and share His divine life with us. It is love that empowers us to good and fills us with His love for all. This is why so many Christians have accepted martyrdom rather than to deny what they have personally experienced - a real, living union with the risen Christ.
I mean no offense, but I do not see this in Islam. I see service out of fear of the wrath of Allah and the burning hell. I see the command to obey, which even Christians acknowledge is right, but I see no power given within the believer to help the believer overcome the power of evil which lurks over all mankind.
Finally, you have given me links to read regarding Islam and the Qur’an. I now have one to offer you. If the Qur’an is word for word the Word of God, then there can simply be no contradictions in it or the instructions which Allah gives to his people. Yet there are numerous contradictions. Perhaps you, like many Catholics and Protestants who do not know the Bible very well, are not aware of these. I hope you will look them up in your copy of the Qur’an and ponder the ramifications of such contradictions.
Contradictions in the Qur'an | CARM.org
Thank you for your conversation. It has been most enlightening, and I am open to further conversation if you wish.
Sincerely yours,
Ed
It is my hope that in this letter I have done a non-threatening form of evangelization, sharing with her why she needs Christ, as well as the differences between what we believe. Her name is May and your prayers for our conversation will be appreciated.
Now it is my turn. I have formulated a response to her. I would very much appreciate it if you would read this letter and make critique of it so it can be edited if necessary and be the best response possible. Here is what I have written:
It was with interest that I read the comments in the link you sent me. Throughout the centuries of debate on various topics, one mode of attacking the position of another is to call into question the sources upon which that position depends. It appears that this is what has been done in regards to the Jewish/Christian Scriptures. I read a couple of sites on Islam as I was doing research on Islam and the Bible and they all pretty much said the same thing - that the Christian scriptures have been corrupted.
The problem with this is that it is an unprovable theory. This is the same theory that Protestant Christians trot out against Catholic Christians, claiming that the practices of the Church were corrupted by Emperor Constantine making Christianity the religion of Rome.
There are, however, sources outside the Bible to which one can go to validate what is in the Bible, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are also numerous writings from the earliest leaders of the Christian faith, those men who are called “The Early Fathers of the Church.” There are secular writers of the first century, men who were not Christian nor had an interest in Christianity, yet who wrote of the “superstition of the new sect” which was teaching that Christ had died and resurrected from the dead.
But since we really cannot prove the truth of the Bible or the Qur’an from just saying that one is true and the other one is not, then let us ask reasonable questions mankind, psychology, and human behavior. One would have to ask what profit would the early believers in Jesus the Christ receive from changing the texts of the scriptures and teaching falsehood, especially if this falsehood (Christ is God and is risen from the dead) meant they would die, sometimes in most gruesome ways? I think it is important to remember just what it meant to be a Christian in those days - a high probability of dying in some awful manner at the hands of the Jewish or Roman authorities. Therefore, if anyone was going to change the Scriptures, it would be for the purpose of alleviating the persecution. Simply put, people do not normally die for that which they know is a lie. If this was some “inside secret” held by the leaders of the Christian Church in the first several centuries, it was a bad joke on them, since a great majority of them were martyred for the faith, and for professing the same doctrines we profess today - that Jesus is both God and Lord. This angered the Roman tyrants, who insisted that they be worshiped as gods on earth. If this was a lie, then we are following the teaching of people who have severe mental instability in that they would die for something they knew was a lie.
The other thing about the Bible is that as you may well know, the Bible is a book that can be interpreted in dozens of different manners. Thus you have a great variety of sects within the Christian religion. One could look at the verses which were in the link you sent me and indeed come up with the theory that Mohammad was the one promised to come, rather than Jesus. And I can point to an equal number of verses - which someone in Islam would no doubt say are corrupted text - to show that Jesus is the Promised One.
In fact, we could go back and forth on this issue of “corrupted text” for days or weeks and never come to a conclusion because we have only our beliefs to go upon. I point out a text that points to Christ saying that He is “one with the Father,” (John 10:30) and the response would be “that is a corruption of the text.” So it is a stalemate at best.
Therefore, let us look at another reality which may shed more light on the subject. What are the teachings of Jesus v Mohammad, and how do they affect us? In the Christian Scriptures, we are told to “love our enemies, to do good to those who despitefully use us, to pray for those who hate us.” Do I have to trot out the verses in the Qur’an that state exactly the opposite, that tell those in Islam to slay God’s enemies? And you cannot brush them aside, because according to Islam, the Qur’an is the Word of God, word for word, and is not to be denied by the faithful. If Jesus is a prophet, then His words are from God, and cannot contradict those of another prophet. Yet in the Qur’an, we find many verse which tell the believer to attack and kill the enemies of God and Mohammad rather than to do good and love them. Do you see a problem here?
There is also the issue of how both religions were spread. The Christian faith was spread by men and women who died for the faith rather than to resort to violence. They preached that God is love, He has redeemed all mankind through the work of Christ on the Cross, and they were willing to go to martyrdom rather than fight back against those who hated them. Islam, on the other hand, was spread by the sword, an odd way to bring people to believe. And this is simply not up for debate, as even secular historians with no Christian axe to grind, have admitted to this. The history is there for all to see.
What I am saying is that a relationship with God should affect how one treats others. In Christianity, our whole belief system is based around the writing of St. John who said “God is love.” Is there any verse in the Qur’an that states that God is love? Not that God loves, but that He IS love. It is His very being, and the greatest act of that love which He is was to come down to mankind and take upon Himself our sins so that they may be forgiven. And while there have been some sorrowful and sad exceptions to this behavior among professing Christians, the greatest part of Christianity has been to act in love towards others. We are, in fact, commanded to do so. It is the basis of the orphanages, schools, universities, leprosariums, food banks, and many other works of charity that we do. It is a command that we simply do not have the right to pass up, and according to the Book of Matthew, the gift of eternal life will be based on how we treated others with that love.
There is also another issue about which I wish I could refrain from speaking, but it goes again to how our religions work themselves out in practicality. It is the issue of the treatment of women. Prior to the establishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire, women were second-class citizens with no rights at all. So bad it was that female babies were unwanted, and routinely put outside of a house at night for the wolves to take away. It was the Christians who went out at night and rescued these babies, adopting them as their own. The phrase regarding Christians in the Roman Empire was “behold how they love one another.”
In looking over the history of Islam, I do not see the same respect for women that I see in the Christian religion. In the Roman Empire at the time of the founding of Christianity, women were property, along with slaves and children. The idea of “personal dignity” and worth was simply unknown. Female children were unwanted, and were left out at night for the wolves to carry away. Christians went out at night, rescued these children, and adopted them into their families. Christianity has elevated the status of women. I don’t see this in Islam.
Again, I am not attempting to pour contempt on Islam and I mean no offense. I am trying to say that what we believe affects our behavior. We are told that God is our loving Father. I do not believe that in Islam you refer to Allah as “father.” In fact, a rather well-known Christian had lunch with an Imam in his town and during the discussion, made reference to God as Father. He reports that this so angered the Imam that eventually, after unwittingly saying “Father” again, the Imam got up and left the table. Apparently, in Islam, Allah is Master but in no way Father. Yet Jesus taught us that we have One who is a father to us, who loves us as Father, and to whom we can turn as trusting children.
What is the “Good News” which is found in Christianity? The Christian faith of the Holy Orthodox Church goes back to the very beginning, and except for the changes in the mode of worship, is almost unchanged. The Good News that we proclaim is that by death Christ conquered death. In Islam, the death of Christ is merely the death of a prophet of God. But in the Christian faith, we sing this hymn every Pascha:
“Christ is risen from the death, by death He conquered death, and to those in the tombs, he granted life.”
Death is our enemy. Death is not natural, was not the original plan of God when creating Adam and Eve, and held all mankind in bondage and fear. The Good News that Paul went out and preached was that Christ had risen from the dead. Many of the Greeks who heard this sermon on Mars Hill in Athens said to Paul “You come to us proclaiming strange doctrines. We will hear more later about this resurrection of which you speak.”
Acts 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, “What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.”
Acts 17:32 “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.”
This was something strange and novel. A man risen from the dead. Yet it was and continues to be the Good News that death is no longer victor over mankind. That God has found a way, in the obedience of Jesus the Christ, an obedience even unto death, to free mankind from death. More than that, to change man’s very nature, which was corrupted by the Fall of Adam. The hatred, the lies, the violence, the immorality, the many evils which men commit against each other, were never in the plan of God. We were meant to grow into His image and likeness - that is, to be creatures of love - and to love Him and our fellow man. The Sacrifice of Christ has changed the very nature of millions and millions of men and women over the years. This is why it is important that Jesus is God...because by assuming to Himself a human nature, He took that nature and through His obedience unto death and His glorious Resurrection, He can change us from within.
This is what mankind needs. What Islam offers is the command to obey God, which is good and proper, but it offers no power other than the efforts of each individual to do so. This is, in essence, the same as Judaism. St. Paul fought against this. In the book of Galatians, tells the believers in Galatia that the keeping of the law cannot bring us salvation. It is who Christ offers us the power to be able to keep God’s Law and union with Him reunites us to God.
This is the truth that no one can talk me out of, for I have experienced this myself. Helplessly addicted as a young man to wickedness in many forms of which I will not speak, when Christ entered into my very being to live by His Holy Spirit, I found a power over sin that I had never experienced before. In Christianity, God is not only personal, He desires to have a relationship of love with mere creatures of dust. So intense is this love that He will actually enter within the believer to join with the soul of the believer and share His divine life with us. It is love that empowers us to good and fills us with His love for all. This is why so many Christians have accepted martyrdom rather than to deny what they have personally experienced - a real, living union with the risen Christ.
I mean no offense, but I do not see this in Islam. I see service out of fear of the wrath of Allah and the burning hell. I see the command to obey, which even Christians acknowledge is right, but I see no power given within the believer to help the believer overcome the power of evil which lurks over all mankind.
Finally, you have given me links to read regarding Islam and the Qur’an. I now have one to offer you. If the Qur’an is word for word the Word of God, then there can simply be no contradictions in it or the instructions which Allah gives to his people. Yet there are numerous contradictions. Perhaps you, like many Catholics and Protestants who do not know the Bible very well, are not aware of these. I hope you will look them up in your copy of the Qur’an and ponder the ramifications of such contradictions.
Contradictions in the Qur'an | CARM.org
Thank you for your conversation. It has been most enlightening, and I am open to further conversation if you wish.
Sincerely yours,
Ed
It is my hope that in this letter I have done a non-threatening form of evangelization, sharing with her why she needs Christ, as well as the differences between what we believe. Her name is May and your prayers for our conversation will be appreciated.
