My French Quran
As my readers know, my last post was about refuting the misuse of Surah 3, particularly verse 78 in the debate over Bible corruption. I posted my new post on Twitter like I always do and Islamic Apologist Paul Williams decided to respond. Well, he didn’t really respond to the points, only to my tweet.
Surah 3
The only thing keeping Islam from utter falsification in terms of apologetics is the myth of Bible corruption. The Quran affirms the Torah and Gospel in multiple areas with Surah 5:68 being the clearest example. The fact that the Torah, Gospel, and other previous scriptures are mentioned endlessly and there is no statement of corruption, backs up what Surah 5 says.
The Hagia Sophia
A Christian Church turned into a Mosque by Muslims, turned into a Museum by Masons.
In the wake of the horrible events in New Zealand, Turkish President Recep Erdogan has dabbled in the idea of reopening the historic Cathedral/Mosque/Museum known as the Hagia Sophia as a mosque. This has recently been blocked by Turkish courts so it appears that Erdogan is just rattling his sabre here.
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
A Shia let me look at her book
What do I think of Isnad chains? Well, to be honest I don’t know. In the late ninth century scholars like Bukhari were finally coming into an Islamic age of literacy. It was now time to put the traditions of Muhammad to paper(or vellum). Bukhari and others then went around the Muslim world collecting sayings of Muhammad and his companions.
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.
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.