Muslim apologist Paul Williams has come out with a video where he tries to put Jesus Christ at odds with the apostle Paul in terms of the Mosaic law. In typical Paul Williams fashion he quotes his “Christian” liberal scholars. The scholars that he quotes are Catholic. I encourage everyone to watch my interview with Timothy Flanders to see what a true theologian is. The ones that Williams quoted don’t fit this bill.
Basically Williams goes for a radical interpretation of what Jesus says in Matthew 5:17-20. Basically Christians are obliged to keep all 613 commandments as they’re written in the law. I must admit the that subject of law in Christianity is a complex one. I don’t want to get into that here but I want to refute the liberal interpretation that Williams holds. Jesus Christ even fails this test if Williams’ interpretation is true. Here are some verses where he changes and modifies parts of the law.
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce. But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
– Matthew 5: 31-32
Jesus Christ is changing the law of the Torah because as the Son of God he has this right. There are more examples.
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
– Matthew 15: 10-11
For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
– Mark 7: 19
I could give more examples but those should suffice for now. In addition to this, Paul Williams says that the Islamic view is that Jesus Christ abrogated certain things. He says this at 12:45 of the video.
On top of all this, if Williams’ rigid interpretation is to be taken, then Muhammad is just as guilty as St. Paul. Muhammad never told his followers to follow the 613 commands of the Torah. Muslims don’t observe the sabbath, celebrate the passover, sukkhot or any of the other Torah holidays. If Williams’ takes his interpretation to its logical conclusion he has to throw Muhammad in the same category as the apostle Paul.
A lot of Christians criticize Judaism and say that they can’t practice their holidays because there is no temple. The irony is that Muslims could have restored the temple if they wanted. Instead they built the Dome of the Rock where the temple is supposed to be built, ensuring the full scope of Torah laws would never be fulfilled again. I think Muhammad and the Muslims are the enemies of the Torah in this regard. Because of this Paul Williams should change his interpretation of this verse. He also has the option of converting back to Christianity which I highly encourage.
Here is my recent discussion with Timothy Flanders which I referenced in the post.
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