Posted on 10/12/2001 1:06:27 PM PDT by ArGee
A Vision for "First the Gospel, Then Politics..."
A Passion for "The Love of Hard Questions"
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
"And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning -- the first day."
Genesis 1 is organized in tight poetic structure, with the simple theme that God created the heavens and the earth for men and women to enjoy as his image-bearers. The Hebrew for God is Elohim, which is the title used in the Hebrew Scriptures when God as the Creator is referenced. This title, in the Hebrew, indicates that his nature is greater than the concept of number. When we see the name of the covenant-making God, Yahweh, introduced in Genesis 2, in the Hebrew this refers to God being greater than the concept of space and time. The theme in Genesis 1 is the grand design of the Creator (Elohim), and the theme in Genesis 2 is the first covenant that God (Yahweh) makes with the first man and woman. So when God is introduced in Genesis 2:4, he is referred to as Yahweh Elohim (the LORD God), the personal and covenant-making Creator who is greater than space, time and number.
Thus, the opening words of the Bible, "In the beginning God...", indicates the eternal Yahweh Elohim who speaks into existence the finite universe. The writer of Hebrews captures it this way: "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible" (11:3). God did not make the universe "out of nothing" as it were, but out of his eternal person and nature he formed its substance for our habitation and joy -- out of what is invisible to us, into what is visible. God's creation is an act of giving to men and women as his image-bearers, and this is what I define as the first ethical component in the Bible, the power to give. This power to give is the nature of the sovereign Creator. Thus, as the story unfolds, the first doctrine of the Bible is God's eternal all-powerful nature which is demonstrated in the act of creation, in the act of giving.
The first words of the Bible are when God says, "Let there be light." And this light is good. Thus, the second ethical component I see in the Bible is what I call the power to live in the light. The God of the Bible is all powerful, he gives, he creates light and he is good. In fact, as Genesis 1 unfolds, the phrase it "was good" if oft repeated. The word "Gospel" is from the Greek word euangelion, to "preach the good news," and this is where the word "evangelical" comes from. The Good News begins in Genesis 1 with God's declarations of goodness. And that goodness first evidences itself in the nature of light. By definition in physics, darkness cannot exist in the presence of light -- it flees. By definition in ethics, if we live in the light, hiding nothing from God and one another, those who live in the darkness flee God's presence, our presence, or they seek to extinguish the light. And by definition, in the spiritual domains, Satan is the prince of darkness, the angels of God are often described in terms of fire and light, Jesus calls himself the "light of the world," and he calls us as his disciples to be "the light of the world." Thus, the contrast between light and darkness is pivotal in the Bible. In John 1:1-5, the apostle revisits the themes of Genesis 1:1-5. Verses 4-5 say in reference to Jesus as the Word: "In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." Or it may be equally translated that the darkness "has not overcome it." You cannot overcome what you do not understand.
Thus, we can note two central observations from the opening words of the Bible. First, the biblical story begins with Yahweh Elohim as the Creator who is greater than space, time and number, and who in his eternal nature is good. And second, the ethical qualities of the power to give and the power to live in the light are central. These are the first two of six central biblical ethics I define, which are located through the Bible, and which help us interpret the Bible's consistency.
1. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
2. Praise be to Allah, The Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds;
3. Most Gracious, Most Merciful;
4. The Master of the Day of Judgement.
5. Thee do we worship. And Thine aid we seek.
6. Show us the straight way.
7. The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, Those whose (portion) Is not wrath. And who go not astray.
Perhaps the key to comparing the opening words of the Bible and the opening words of the Qur'an lies in what is assumed. The Bible starts with the story of God making the universe for all people who come from Adam, and fills in the details as it progresses. We learn of God's nature by his actions, and later we learn of human nature through observation of actions in the narrative. The poetic structure is in service to telling this history, and as a story it invites all people to participate in it. Nothing is required of the reader except to observe the actions of the good God, and decide freely whether or not he or she wants to be a part of God's story. The power to give and the power to live in the light are either attractive or unattractive to the reader.
The Qur'an starts with a doctrinal prayer, and gives no story. There are no actions to judge Allah by in this opening Surah. Its poetry is said to be very beautiful in the original Arabic, and it is designed for recitation in prayer. It appeals to wonderful qualities such as grace and mercy, but also, it requires of the reader a confession of belief in Allah ("Thee do we worship..."). Thus it is not universal in its origins or appeal. Non-Muslims are excluded from the outset. There is no freedom to consider its story first, and thus no freedom to then decide whether or not to participate in it. As well, whereas the Bible starts with the goodness of the order of creation before the reversal of the sin nature is introduced later, the Qur'an starts with the assumption of sin already in existence -- thus the need for mercy and grace to be delivered from an already existing "judgement" (sic) and "wrath." No original goodness in Surah 1.
Or to put it this way, the Bible starts with creation, sin and redemption; the Qur'an starts with the hope of redemption in the face of an already existing sin nature. Since by definition creation precedes the possibility of destruction and sin, the Bible precedes the Qur'an. The Qur'an is dependent on the Bible, yet as we shall see, is inconsistent with it.
And Islamic scholars know this. In his commentary on the Qur'an, 'Abdullah Yusef 'Ali writes the following on Surah 2:251 when the story of David and Goliath is given reference: "Note how the whole story is compressed into a few words as regards narration, but its spiritual lessons are dwelt upon from many points of view. The Old Testament is mainly interested in the narrative, which is full of detail, but says little about the universal truths of which every story is a parable. The Qur'an assumes the story, but tells the parable."
This contrast is of key importance. The Bible first tells the story, allows all its readers the freedom to enter into it. The Bible gives the meaning, but only after the story is first known. The Qur'an knows nothing of the Bible's written texts. Muhammad's knowledge came from oral traditions in the Arabian caravan routes, where he gleaned some true parts of the Bible, and many false doctrines as well (he met biblically faithful Jews and unfaithful Jews who were into the occult; and maybe the only Christians he met were theologically apostate -- Nestorians and Monophysites). All Muhammad's information on the Bible was second hand. Thus his doctrines come first, and based on incomplete and inaccurate stories. So if the Qur'an "assumed the story," it incorrectly does so, and it does not tell its readers the accurate details upon which the story can be truly known. The Qur'an first gives a summation of doctrine that is required of all its readers to embrace, thus giving no freedom. And it only sprinkles in portions of partial and oftentimes untrue renditions of the Bible, in service to such a required doctrine. The Qur'an has no power to give consistent with Yahweh Elohim, but as we shall see, it instead has a power to take. Also, as we shall also see, the origins of Islam under Muhammad was in a "secret society," the power to live in the darkness, not the power to live in the light.
As we progress in this series, a key question will be how and where we can grasp those postions of the Qur'an that do reflect accurately certain portions of the Bible, and how we can thus reach out to the image of God in Muslim peoples.
The Power to Give and the Power to Live in the Light are two of the six ethical principles that John draws from the Bible as unique requirements for Christian living. You can find out more at his Web site.
Shalom.
Muhammed got rid of 257 of the gods and eventually got rid of the sun and the stars. He took the greatest of the 3 gods [I am going to spell this phonetically, since I don't know the correct spelling] "ee-lah-hee" which means "moon cresent" and made him their "Allah" which was the pagans generic name for a monotheistic god.
Islam is a "monotheistic religion" but it is based on "ee-lah-hee" the moon god, the sword god, the war god--a pagan god.
I do have a problem when they say Allah "akbar" which means Allah is greater. Greater than whom? Who rejected Muhammed? The Jews and Christians did, thats who.
In the Qu'ran Surah 5 verse 51? It says take neither the Jews or Christians as your friends period. They are freinds with one another, period. Anyone who befriends them will become one of their number. ALLAH will seek out the evil doer.
So when they say that Allah is *greater* then there is a problem, because they are saying that Allah is greater than the G-d of the Jews, and who said he was greater than G-d before his fall? Hmmm...guesses anyone???
Comments? If I understand you correctly, you believe there's a much wider gulf between Islam and Christianity.
See post 6 as well.
If I understand correctly, Mecca didn't exactly embrace him. Medina did, but he had to return and conquer Mecca.
Judaism was not spread. The Jews were happy to let anyone who was interested in their G-d come calling. They did take their "promised land" by force, but since then were quite content to stay put without feeling any need for growth.
Christianity spread like wildfire without government support and without arms. The people whose lives were changed by the Gospel simply told others what they had seen and heard (born witness to, which is why it's called "witnessing" today). Wherever the message was received, the Church flourished.
Islam was spread by the sword. All Islamic nations became Islamic by conquest.
Obviously things changed over time. Christianity did become a state religion which converted by conquest and Islam did become a personal religion to which many converted. Interestingly, the Church has repented of using the sword. Islam has not.
Shalom.
P.S. The Jews are still happy for anyone who is interested in G-d to drop by and visit.
[And how are you?]
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