Dear N:
Thank you for writing. Your questions are very much like another Muslim who wrote me and I am wondering if you are reading the same book.
Nevertheless, I will answer your questions.
1. If Jesus dies for our sins, why do you guys still get punished....
I am not sure what you mean by being punished. In Jesus' death He made a New covenant which guarantees the forgiveness of sins to all who receive Him as Savior. This means a person
prays to the Lord Jesus to have him enter into our lives now, and becoming a follower of Jesus.
There is forgiveness and the gift of everlasting life in the presence of God. Now, do you know that your sins are forgiven and you are going to have everlasting life in God's presence??
2. "U talk about previous prophets and how they spoke about God. Y didn't mention Jesus as the son of God?
The article was only about the prophets of the Old Testament. I was contrasting the Old Testament prophets to Mohammed. I could have contrasted Jesus to the OT prophets and if I would have done that I would have emphasized that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
You see, N, the most marvelous story in the universe is how the unthinkable happened.
That is, God became embodied in Jesus to reconcile the world to himself. God love you.
You won't find that in the Qur"an. God came in a form you can understand, human form, to love us, transform us, and give us hope for everlasting life. Jesus died on the cross to give his life's blood in making the New Covenant. I would urge you to read the New Testament, the Injil, because the Qur'an says to do it. You have an obligation to read it, and you have the permission of the Qur'an to do it.
3. " In Deuteronomy 18:18-19 Moses stated that God told him about a prophet that he will raise..."
The quote is, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethern,.....v.22. AWhen a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him."
That prophet was Jesus, not Mohammed. There are lots of Messianic prophecies in the OT. about the coming prophet. Isaiah 7:14 describes his Virgin Birth, Isa 9:6 tells of his name, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace...." Many others could be quoted.
Now you have to raise the question: Was Mohammed a Jew? The answer is no. He could not possibly be referred to in Deuteronomy since he was not Jewish. However, Jesus was.
4. Your question refers to Jesus' comment that I have been " sent only to the lost children if Israel"
Mt. 15:24 tells the story of a Canaanite woman (non-Jewish) who pleaded with Jesus to heal her child. He said, " I am not sent but unto the house of Israel." She responded in great faith and because of it, Jesus healed her child at that very moment. Read the story.
Now, after the resurrection, Jesus commissioned his disciples and followers to preach the Gospel to the whole world. Mt. 28:18-20. Check it out.
5. Does God say that Jesus is my son in the Torah?
The Old Testament gives prophecies of the coming Messiah, and the angel Gabriel tells Joseph and Mary that he shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
Do you know that your sins are forgiven?
6. Wife beating in the Qur'an....Mohammed had a low view of women. Women had more freedom and rights before him, than after. His comments about his vision of hell means that hell is populated with women. There are too many stories in Islam about women beaten, raped, etc., and I think Mohammed's comments in the Qur'an give a motivation for such treatment of women.
Why should one beat up a woman?
7. If the Qur'an was written or spoken by Mohammed then why does science not contradict my religion?
The Sura you quote does not give a new view on medicine. "Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators."
Jeremiah 1:5 tells about the same thing. Moreover, the kind of information in the Sura was common knowledge long before Mohammed.
Your references to scientific issues in the Qur'an need to be checked out. Science did not arise in Islam, nor China, but only in the Christian culture. Reason: Muslims did not believe that God was consistent. God was absolute in Islamic thinkers. Therefore, one could not look for laws of science that were consistent. Many imams denounced science through the centuries.
Think about the Sunnah for a moment. The early leaders of Islam destroyed the library in Alexandria with the justification that what is not in the Qur'an is not worth knowing, and what is in the Qur'an is all one needs to know. If the Qur'an is the perfect book of revelation, does it need to be supplemented by the Sunnah?
8. And 1 more thing....Who was Jesus talk about when he mentioned the coming of a comforter?
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Joh 15:27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Joh 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Joh 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
These verses answer your question: The Comforter is the Holy Spirit. 1)He abides in the disciples forever, 2) He is not seen by the world nor known by the world, 3)He shall bring to remembrance all things Jesus taught, 4)because of the Comforter, the disciples would be witness to Jesus, 5) He shall glorify Jesus.
If you read these verses with an open heart, you will know they cannot refer to Mohammed. Mohammed is dead, he was seen by the world, he did not bring remembrance of things Jesus taught, particularly denying the crucifixion, and Mohammed did not glorify Jesus.
He accepted the virgin birth, but not the crucifixion and the resurrection.
N, I hope you will read the New Testament and learn the real facts about Jesus.
This will require you to raise questions about some of the propaganda circulated about Jesus.
If you trust one passage about the Comforter in the Injil, you must trust the ones next to it.
For example, if you think that Mohammed is the Comforter, then you must heed the words of Jesus that " I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him" Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Thanks for writing. If you want to follow up on these issues, please write.
May God's grace come into your heart. Dallas |