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Christ and Culture (Part 1)
Christ and Culture Part 1 The conflict between Christ and culture is not new and neither is it rare. It is a daily occurrence as the boundaries are blurred and the culture develops. Christians have been viewed more often than not as subversive...
From Orphans to Royalty
The first time I read Ezekiel 16, I cried all the way through it. It's a story of God's heart, as a betrayed husband; with every jealousy, hurt, rage, or emotion felt by humans. Yet, whenever we're hurting, few consider if they're doing the same...
Reforming the State-Church: Solutions For the Church Inc. 501c3 Problem
More and more people are becoming acquainted with at least some of the perils associated with organizing a church or ministry as a "tax-exempt religious organization." Not the least of these perils is the obvious answer to the question asked by...
The Use of Mysticism in The Song of Songs
The Use and Abuse of Mysticism in the Song of Songs: The incorporation of Aristotelian thought into the dogma of Catholicism was not the first attempt to have alchemy co-opted or hermeneutically imbued into the whole system of thought. The fact...
Witchcraft & Christianity
Why Do Some Christians Fear Witches? During my 28 years as a practicing Wiccan, or "witch" if you prefer, I have had occasion to ask myself this difficult question many, many times. With the recent political controversy over the United States Army...
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The Christian-Muslim Conflict: From Scripture to Religions!
Scriptures from the Bible and Koran contradict one another! Should members of these powerful religions have conflict? This article examines the foundation of Christianity and Islam to discover that the conflict and possible resolution begins there.
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The Christian-Muslim Conflict!
Is there really a conflict between Christians and Muslims? There were said to be nine crusades from 1095-1272. This was where Christians got together to fight against Muslims. What is happening in the world today? Maybe we should take a look at the Christian Bible and Muslim Koran before tensions escalate too far? Millions of people revere the writers of these sacred books. The question is, can and will this promote love and respect between neighbors in differing religions?
Have you ever asked yourself who actually wrote the New Testament and Koran? Should you examine the foundation of Christianity, known from the writers of the New Testament? Many of Paul's epistles are recognized by Biblical scholars as actual letters, the first written some 18 years (about 51 AD) after Jesus died. Paul clearly states that he never physically met Jesus. Paul only mentions three of the apostles by name (Galatians 1:18-20, 2:9)! When it comes to meeting Peter, as Jesus' key apostle, Paul states: "When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong..." (Galatians 2:11)
Early letters and other writings do exist from those referred to as “Apostolic Fathers,” yet the apostles are not mentioned by name. (Papias was 'quoted' as having mentioned Matthew; see the footnote below.) Beyond writing more of the New Testament than any other, Paul, in fact, appears to be the primary spokesmen for what became Christianity, even according to the Apostolic Fathers.
"I exhort you all, therefore, to yield obedience to the word of righteousness, and to exercise all patience, such as ye have seen before your eyes, not only in the case of the blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles. ... If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the heathen. But who of us are ignorant of the judgment of the Lord? 'Do we not know that the saints shall judge the world?' as Paul teaches. But I have neither seen nor heard of any such thing among you, in the midst of whom the blessed Paul laboured." [From Chapters 9 and 11 of “The Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians,” see footnote 1.]
The main objective of later Biblical writers -- including the writers of the Gospels -- was to make traditions fit together and convince others that Jesus was the Christ, the chosen Messiah. Was this viewpoint of Jesus intolerant of other faiths? The Christocentric view is stressed in the oft-quoted John 14:6 where Jesus was claimed to have said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
For more than a thousand years the large majority of Christians (strongly) believed that all non-Christians would eternally suffer in hell. For some, this has given Christians the right to coerce and even murder. Currently, many Christians may understand that all good people with or without religion can worship God in their hearts. The priority of love and compassion can save people from damnation. It seems that anyone can go “through Jesus” (referring to the scripture above) by accepting what Jesus established as the priorities in life.
The New Testament stresses to “Love God with all of your heart and mind, and your neighbor like yourself.” Christianity has great spiritual power through the example of Jesus. Good individuals in every religious tradition have loved God, at least their understandings of God. Love and compassion are experienced throughout the world; however, abuse in the name of religion is also a very real experience.
Muhammad was the founding prophet of Islam. If a Muslim, you believe that Muhammad is the seal of the prophets. [3] As the authoritative seal, his prophecies or revelations provide the complete and final truths. As people questioned the authority of prophecies that were developed and expressed throughout the months and years of Muhammad’s life, further revelations sought to clarify given situations.
"When we change one verse for another — God knows best what He reveals — they say: 'You [Muhammad] are an impostor.' Indeed most of these people do not understand. Say: 'The Holy Spirit brought the revelation down from God in truth, in order to strengthen the faithful, and to give guidance and good news to those that submit.' We know they say: 'A mortal taught him.' But the man to whom they allude speaks a foreign tongue, [4] while this is pure, clear Arabic. God will not guide those who disbelieve that these are His revelations. Woeful punishment awaits the disbeliever." (Koran 16.101-104)
Muhammad's viewpoint of Jesus' divine authority clearly contradicts what mainstream Christians believe!
"They say, 'We killed the Christ, Jesus son of Mary, apostle of God.' They did not kill him nor did they crucify him, though it appeared to them so. Those that disagree in the matter are lost in doubt. They have no knowledge about it other than conjecture, for surely God did not kill him." (Koran 4:157-158)
"They are certainly unbelievers who say, 'God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.' For the Messiah had only said, 'O
Children of Israel, serve God, who is my Lord and your Lord.' Whosoever associates others with God will have Paradise denied by God and shall be cast into hell. None shall help the evil-doers. They are certainly unbelievers who say, 'God is one person of the three.' There is but one God. If they do not desist from saying what they say, those of them that disbelieve shall suffer stern punishment." (Koran 5:72-73) [5]
The Koran mentions Jesus in numerous scriptures. Muslims place Jesus with the other Jewish prophets. Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah! Christians say the Jews killed Jesus! Muslims state Jews and Christians require Islam! With the ever-popular Bible and Koran, potential conflict is written and widely circulated throughout the world. This is a fact!
According to recent statistics, Christianity and Islam are the largest religions in the world, making up about 33% and 19.6% of the population. [6] Many Christians and Muslims have experienced God's power in their lives. Both can agree that God represents the qualities of love and compassion. For religion to survive in the world, priorities must be established by leaders and members within the major religions. Will this ever happen? Only God knows. As an author, I recognize, respect and affirm the spirituality within all world religions, yet discover contradictions within the accepted foundations of each. Written scripture and traditions can pass along what obviously has and will lead to conflict. As intelligent humans, it is time to discover the real world religions.
[1] Papias was said to have lived from 60-130 AD. None of his writings were found. Bishop Irenaeus, born around 140 AD, quoted Papias as saying, "And the presbyter said this. Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered. It was not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied Him ... Matthew put together the oracles in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could." Polycarp was said to live from 69-155 CE. Along with Papias, the other Apostolic Fathers are: Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Hermas, and the authors of The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistle to Diognetus, and the Didache. Selections from Irenaeus and “The Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians” are translated by the Rev. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson from Volume I of The Ante-Nicene Fathers; American Edition, 1885; Electronic version, newadvent.org, 1997.
[2] My current book "Love Your Neighbors? Discover the Real World Religions" mentions much more about the writer of this Gospel, particularly the claim that Jesus brought Lazarus back to life after being dead for four days (John 11).
[3] The "Twelvers" are the larger group of minority Shi'ite Muslims. They believe the twelfth leader in Muhammad's true line of successors disappeared and will return to restore order. Some might recognize similarities with Jesus' second coming.
[4] This verse clearly hints at the fact that Muhammad had corresponded with some individual, who was probably espoused with some form of Judaism or Christianity. Some scholars point out that the “foreigner” might refer to Salman the Persian, Adas the Monk, or Suhaib bin Sinan. The issue of Muhammad and the writing of the Koran are detailed in "Love Your Neighbors? Discover the Real World Religions."
[5] Muhammad knew Jews and Christians. During his lifetime individuals and groups espoused various views of Jesus. One group, Monophysites, flourished in Egypt and Syria. They said Jesus Christ had only one nature that was divine. Because these people completely associated the divine power of Jesus Christ with God, it followed that the actual humanity and suffering of Jesus were only apparent. Jesus was not actually crucified. The Crucifixion was an illusion. This was an early Christian view called Docetism, stemming from the Greek "dokeo", “I seem.” There are indications that Monophysites, which heavily influenced the Christian traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy, held essential elements of this view where Christ’s suffering was “apparent,” or in other words an illusion. It might be noted that in 1984 the Syrian Orthodox patriarch and the Catholic pope signed a declaration proclaiming historical differences were due to linguistic inadequacies and that everything was semantics.
[6] References for these and other statistics: Barrett, D.B., G.T. Kurian, & T.M. Johnson, "World Christian Encyclopedia: a comparative survey of churches and religions in the modern world." Oxford University Press: NY, 2001;
2001 "Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year"; "Time Almanac 2001"; and Adherents.com
________________________________
Scot Aaron has a University degree in Religious Studies. He also created Independent Travel-Study Programs and spent years "backpacking" through many countries to learn about religion, history and culture. "Love Your Neighbors? Discover the Real World Religions" (ISBN 1-58916-777-5) is his most current book. Please visit his web pages at PsalmPublishing.bei.t-online.de
About the Author
Scot Aaron has a University degree in Religious Studies. He also created Independent Travel-Study Programs and spent years "backpacking" through many countries to learn about religion, history and culture. "Love Your Neighbors? Discover the Real World Religions" (ISBN 1-58916-777-5) is his most current book. Please visit his web pages at PsalmPublishing.bei.t-online.de
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