Please clean your heart, seek refuge from the devil, and read.

[moonphantom]

Don't read until your heart is pure, this is the story of the most perfect of women in the worlds:

(15) Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East. (16) She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. (17) She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah." (18) He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son. (19) She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?" (20) He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': It is a matter (so) decreed." (21) So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. (22) And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" (23) But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; (24) "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. (25)"So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with any human being'" (26) At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! (27) "O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!" (28) But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?" (29) He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; (30) "And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; (31) "(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; (32) "So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"! (33) Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute. (34) It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is. (35) Verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that is straight. (36) But the sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming) Judgment of a Momentous Day! (37) How plainly will they see and hear, the Day that they will appear before Us! but the unjust today are in error manifest! (38)




They say: "Become Jews or become Christians and find the right way." Answer them: "No. We follow the way of Abraham the upright, who was not an idolater." Say: "We believe in God and what has been sent down to us, and what was given to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and Jacob's sons, and that which was given to Moses and Christ, and to (all) the (other) prophets by their Lord. We make no distinction among them, and we submit to God."))) (2:135-136)

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Yes. This is the Quranic narrative. You can clearly see Islam's docetic tendency regarding Jesus on display.
Also, there are clear echoes of the Protoevangelium of James.
I don't think it belongs in a Christian history thread, however if you wish to discuss it, we can go ahead and do so.

 

[Shempster]

Not sure where this thread came from and where it is going but I got to spend an hour and a half with a Saudi Muslim.
We had such a great talk and he gave me a huge hug at the end.
It got me to thinking so I went and read some of the Quran. Strange...to me, it seems as though the person speaking is the same person speaking in the bible. At least the poetic form was similar.
Anyway, what I read sounded completely different than what many Muslims portray....but not ALL of them. I am sure there are a remnant who follow the book and the words of their prophet. But just like Christianity, somewhere along the lines, someone introduces a new interpretation of the words and creates a mindset that is actually opposed to the original idea.
Like how so many Christians carry guns and cheered as the US fire bombed villages filled with humans.

They really ALL do that very same thing. So I wondered...since there is practically no way an Arab Muslim is going to accept a Jewish messiah, maybe the Most High God that we serve actually spoke through Mohammed to reach arabs. Perhaps salvation is all about the personality and character of the creator rather than a name and a set of practices......

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Not sure where this thread came from and where it is going but I got to spend an hour and a half with a Saudi Muslim.
We had such a great talk and he gave me a huge hug at the end.
It got me to thinking so I went and read some of the Quran. Strange...to me, it seems as though the person speaking is the same person speaking in the bible. At least the poetic form was similar.
Anyway, what I read sounded completely different than what many Muslims portray....but not ALL of them. I am sure there are a remnant who follow the book and the words of their prophet. But just like Christianity, somewhere along the lines, someone introduces a new interpretation of the words and creates a mindset that is actually opposed to the original idea.
Like how so many Christians carry guns and cheered as the US fire bombed villages filled with humans.

They really ALL do that very same thing. So I wondered...since there is practically no way an Arab Muslim is going to accept a Jewish messiah, maybe the Most High God that we serve actually spoke through Mohammed to reach arabs. Perhaps salvation is all about the personality and character of the creator rather than a name and a set of practices......

That is a slippery slope to relativism. I suggest you check out groups that have followed this path, for they usually end up either as completely morally relativistic like Aum Shinrikyo which carried out terrorist attacks in Japan, or they get mired in ludicrous statements like the Bahai' Faith.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Not perfect, but the Blessed Virgin is the highly favored of God because she was made Theotokos when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, she conceived and in her womb God, the very Son of God, became flesh. As mother of Jesus Christ she is mother of God, and to be highly honored. It is for this reason she is highly honored, for she is the Lord's mother. Her honor is attached to her Son, for her Son makes her blessed, holy, and highly favored.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[samir]

Not sure where this thread came from and where it is going but I got to spend an hour and a half with a Saudi Muslim.
We had such a great talk and he gave me a huge hug at the end.
It got me to thinking so I went and read some of the Quran. Strange...to me, it seems as though the person speaking is the same person speaking in the bible. At least the poetic form was similar.
Anyway, what I read sounded completely different than what many Muslims portray....but not ALL of them. I am sure there are a remnant who follow the book and the words of their prophet. But just like Christianity, somewhere along the lines, someone introduces a new interpretation of the words and creates a mindset that is actually opposed to the original idea.
Like how so many Christians carry guns and cheered as the US fire bombed villages filled with humans.

They really ALL do that very same thing. So I wondered...since there is practically no way an Arab Muslim is going to accept a Jewish messiah, maybe the Most High God that we serve actually spoke through Mohammed to reach arabs. Perhaps salvation is all about the personality and character of the creator rather than a name and a set of practices......

I agree the Quran is similar to the Christian Bible in many ways. I think this was because Mohammed had a copy of the Bible and used it to create his book. Since the Quran contradicts the Christian Bible in many ways, there is no way God, who does not lie, would have created two books that contradict each other because it would mean that one of them is false and tells lies about God. If the Quran taught the same truth as the Christian bible in a different way adapted to their culture without contradicting it then I would have agreed it's possible God was involved in its creation. I'd say it's more likely Satan led Mohammad to take the Christian Bible and twist it to keep people from accepting Christ as the Son of God and their Lord and Savior.