Modern Muslim apologists are eager to point out the connection with Islam and Jewish Christianity which died out. What they don’t do is actually look at how these early Jewish Christians lived, practiced their faith and what they believed. The big portion of Scripture is Acts 21. It’s the big encounter between their “buddy” James and their “enemy” Paul.
Let’s go over this verse by verse:
Verse 18:
The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.
So Paul and his group of Christians are confronted by James and all of the elders of the Church in Jerusalem. Keep in mind that all of these people are Muslims according to Islamic apologists.
Verse 19:
Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Paul reports in detail what has been going on with his mission to the Gentiles in the diaspora. According to the Islamic apologists this was a mission of heresy and apostasy. James is presumably going to let him have it at this point.
Version 20:
When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.
They praised God? Why would James and the others praise God? Well because James and the Jerusalem Church know full well that Paul had been blessed by the Lord Jesus Christ and that everything he taught to the gentiles was orthodox teaching. James and the Jerusalem Church agree with it 100%.
The next few verses are to do with Paul clearing up some false rumours about him saying things to the Jews in the diaspora that he didn’t say. Regardless, the gentile mission of Paul is 100% endorsed and supported by James and the Jerusalem Church.
Keep in mind that nowhere did Paul preach Tawheed, that Jesus Christ was merely a man and not God incarnate, that Christ didn’t die, that there is a Prophet to come named Ahmad, that we can have multiple wives, that we can’t drink alcohol, that there is a document called the Injeel that we need to follow, that the Torah is corrupted or many other things that Muslims believe and Christians don’t.
This would have been the perfect opportunity for James to confront him on all of this stuff; that is if James was a Muslim. James was not a Muslim and neither were any of the elders in Jerusalem who confronted Paul. Islam started in 7th century Arabia with an Arab named Muhammad. Jesus, Mary, Paul, James, and Peter knew nothing about this religion. It was just as foreign to them as Buddhism. In fact, it may even be considered less foreign because at least Buddhism existed at the time of Christ, though thousands of miles away.
I invite Muslim apologists to read Acts 21:17-26 and go through it verse by verse. Do exegesis and see how you can make James a Muslim. James wasn’t a Muslim. There were no Muslims until the 7th century. Saying that James was a Muslim is just as incorrect as saying Paul or Jesus Christ were Muslim.
That was good that you emphasized and stopped at verse 20.
In our haste (which I have done) to try and explain verses 21-26; I skipped over the significance of that many times too fast.
The rest of it – verses 21-26 seems to be the missionary principle of 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 – to the Jews, I became as a Jew”; “to those under the law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law . . . ” (v. 20)
Acts 21:21-26 seems to be referring to the Nazarite vow. (Numbers 6:9-12) and background of Paul himself and his earlier vow in Acts 18:18
How do you answer the issue of the sacrifice in the temple in Acts 21:26? (since Christ is the final sacrifice and there are no more animal sacrifices) (Hebrews chapters 7-10) – how do you explain that?
Also, how do you explain the 4 recommendations there in verse 25 and Acts 15:20 and 29 – that puts 1/ not eating meat sacrificed to idols and 2. blood, and 3. strangled animals on the same level as
4. keeping away from sexual immorality / fornication / pornea ?
You are right that James and Peter and early Jewish disciples are not teachers of the Islamic understanding of Towheed.
But they (Muslims) are using arguments that Jewish Christians followed the laws of food and separation and then argue that the Ebionites and other Unitarians were proto-Muslims.
Paul Williams and other Muslims first try to separate James and Peter and Jesus from Paul, using modern liberal critical methods, etc. and claim that Jesus, Peter and James are the “historical Jesus” (and Torah observing followers of Jesus) vs. the “Christ of Faith and the Creeds” = Paul and early church history.
Hello Ken,
Sam Shamoun explained this all to me. First, nowhere does Paul tell Jewish Christians to stop following the Mosaic law. This whole things was a formality to clear up false rumours.
“How do you answer the issue of the sacrifice in the temple in Acts 21:26? (since Christ is the final sacrifice and there are no more animal sacrifices) (Hebrews chapters 7-10) – how do you explain that?”
First of all, this wasn’t for salvation. Salvation comes through the grace of Christ as Peter says in Acts 15:11. We know that the Acts 21 episode has the Acts 15 synod in mind because it alludes to it in Acts 21:25 so they know what Acts 15:11 says.
“Also, how do you explain the 4 recommendations there in verse 25 and Acts 15:20 and 29 – that puts 1/ not eating meat sacrificed to idols and 2. blood, and 3. strangled animals on the same level as
4. keeping away from sexual immorality / fornication / pornea ?”
They’re laws for gentile converts.
“But they (Muslims) are using arguments that Jewish Christians followed the laws of food and separation and then argue that the Ebionites and other Unitarians were proto-Muslims.”
The early Jewish Christians followed the Torah laws. Islam doesn’t follow the Torah, they say it’s corrupted.
“Paul Williams and other Muslims first try to separate James and Peter and Jesus from Paul, using modern liberal critical methods, etc. and claim that Jesus, Peter and James are the “historical Jesus” (and Torah observing followers of Jesus) vs. the “Christ of Faith and the Creeds” = Paul and early church history.”
They do try that but they haven’t succeeded. They quote a few liberal scholars and don’t even quote their whole context. The problem is if a Muslim quotes an out of context Bible verse to us we can spot it because we’ve been reading the Bible all of our lives. If they quote Raymond Brown, EP Sanders, or James DG Dunn we may not be able to catch it because we’re not as familiar with this stuff because we don’t focus on it as we know its spiritual garbage. All they have are selected out of context quotes by fake scholars.
I recently rewatched the debate between Paul Williams and Nabeel Qureshi from 2006. Nabeel basically exposed how Williams didn’t research Islam before accepting it. Williams essentially admitted this and said he found Islam attractive because it’s a “simpler faith”. What a joke.
Allan
Hey Allan –
Thanks for answering somewhat –
First, nowhere does Paul tell Jewish Christians to stop following the Mosaic law.
But he does if a Jewish Christian is depending on obedience to laws of circumcision, food laws, feast days, sacrifices, etc. as a way to get saved or stay saved. (Galatians) And also when a Jewish Christian starts either teaching the false doctrines of the Judaizers (the whole book of Galatians) and when Peter / Cephas showed hypocrisy by separating from the Gentiles after eating with them and showing the principle of freedom from the food laws and relational laws with Gentiles, when the Judaizers showed up, Peter did not eat with them anymore, for fear of those Jews; and Paul rebuked him for that. (Galatians 2)
They’re laws for gentile converts.
But everyone should stay away from pornea (fornication, sexual immorality), not just Gentiles.
why is “pornea” on the same level as eating meat that has blood in it, strangled, etc.”
You are right about the Williams vs. Nabeel Qureshi debate; I remember that.
Williams is still doing the same basic thing – all his videos are basically to undermine Christian orthodox doctrines on the Deity of Christ, the Trinity, etc. and seeks to promote Islamic Monotheism.
First of all, this wasn’t for salvation.
I agree.
So, James was just trying to show the other Jews that Paul was not “against the law of God” ?
So, going through the motions of the animal sacrifices in the temple was just a temporary thing during the transition of Old Covenant to the New covenant; Paul applying the missionary principle of 1 Cor. 9:19-23 – “to the Jews, I became like a Jew”
The four recommendations both in Acts 15 and 21 were for “you will do well” (15:29) – what does that mean?
“do well so as to not offend the Jews” ?
You’re correct, you can’t rely on the law for salvation.
“But everyone should stay away from pornea (fornication, sexual immorality), not just Gentiles.”
I agree. Jewish converts already knew this stuff was evil.
“why is “pornea” on the same level as eating meat that has blood in it, strangled, etc.””
I don’t think they are the same level. They’re both sins though.
“The four recommendations both in Acts 15 and 21 were for “you will do well” (15:29) – what does that mean?
“do well so as to not offend the Jews” ?”
I don’t know tbh.
I don’t know tbh.
What is “tbh” ?
tbh = To be honest
I don’t think they are the same level. They’re both sins though.
then why are they put together the way they are?
are you saying that eating non-kosher meat (like a rare steak) is still a sin for the new covenant church era?
I think if a certain group of sins are listed it doesn’t mean they’re equal. Maybe you’d disagree but that’s just my opinion.