I’m currently reading the book Byzantine Theology by John Meyendorff. I’m doing this because I’m really trying to put myself in the mindset of the Christian world that the early Muslims invaded. One thing that stands out in the Byzantine world at the time was the huge heresy of monophysitism. By the 7th century this heresy was nothing new. It had been an issue in Christendom for centuries and remained an important issue for centuries after.
The supposed Islamic Jesus and Mary
According to Islam, Jesus Christ, the virgin Mary and all of the apostles were Muslims. Jesus Christ was given something called the Injeel. Either his followers forgot to memorize it, write it down or they simply died without passing on the knowledge. These people were Muslims who believed in Tawheed. They believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and was born of the Virgin Mary. They also don’t believe in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. A crucifixion took place but it only appeared to be Jesus crucified.
Jesus Christ
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
– Matthew 7:5
I just finished reading a book called The Mass of the Early Christians by Mike Aquilina. I read the book in two sittings and I’m not a fast reader. It’s a book that documents the history of the Christian practice of the Eucharist. As someone who values history, it is important to look at the history of such a sacred Christian practice. Every group that calls themselves Christian takes part in this ritual in one manner or another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FAsuQmnMNM
Pastor Steven Anderson is an American Baptist Pastor who is part of the King James Only movement. He has absolute faith in the King James Bible; a translation that I’m not too fond of. But he believes in the perfection of this 17th century document.
I’ve been reading the Quran a lot lately. Because of the ordering of the surahs, the early ones seem to take forever whereas the later ones go by super quickly. Anyone who has read it will know what I mean. It seems that after about Surah 50, it’s smooth sailing until the end. As most people know, Muslims say that the Torah is corrupt, even though that view is entirely absent from the Quran. I was plowing through the later surahs the other day and found two back to back surahs that really help explain the Quranic view.
Mecca – The city never mentioned in the Bible
We’ve all heard Muslims try to find Muhammad in the Bible. They commonly use the Prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18 and the Paraclete of John’s Gospel; and let’s not forget my favorite prophecy of Muhammad, the Muhammadim in the Song of Solomon. I think a better way to challenge them would be to ask where they find Mecca in the Bible.
One episode that is covered in both testaments of the Bible is that of Moses and the burning bush. Ironically it appears in the Quran as well. We can draw some interesting conclusions when we read all three of these passages. Let us start with the Torah since Jews, Christians, and Muslims accept it as scripture.
I come from a German family. The main religion of the German people is Lutheranism and that is what my family is. Both of my grandparents died as practicing Lutherans. Although I inherited the Catholicism of my Ukrainian mother, I grew up around Lutheranism.
St. Paul the Apostle
In the 19th century, a rabid anti-Catholic pseudo-scholar wrote this terrible book which included slanders against the Catholic faith. This work is such a joke that it makes John Foxe look like Edward Gibbon. Here are some of his statements against Catholicism: