After seeing “The Passion” Muslims start searching for the Gospel

Asia News ^ | April 7, 04 | Asia News

[churchillbuff]

Doha (AsiaNews) – “”Do you have the New Testament in Arab? Me and all my friends would like to read it.” This was the request of 2 students from Qatar, after seeing Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”.

Already on the second day after the film started showing in Qatar, many local newspapers are reporting the film on their front pages. According to the English language daily, The Peninsula Qatar, since the first three days of its release, 66,321 tickets have been sold –smashing the record once held by Matrix Reloaded, which had sold 59,000.

The film is becoming so popular in Qatar that some theaters have cancelled showings of other films in order to increase viewings of Gibson’s blockbuster.

Middle East Christians are spellbound by the interest Arabs have taken in the seeing the Gospel portrayed on the big screen.

The movie has sparked hours of discussion between Christians and Muslims regarding questions of faith. Many Arabs were interested in seeing the film only because of the anti-Semitic controversy surrounding it. However the movie’s theme is an unavoidable subject. “The message of loving your enemies and Jesus who, even while up on the cross, prayed for and forgave them strikes all viewers deeply,” said David and Natalie, an American married couple working in Qatar.

The American couple said they were amazed the government had permitted the film to be released in an Islamic country like Qatar. “In the next few weeks tens of thousands of people living here will go and see this powerful retelling of Christ’s suffering and death. Many moviegoers react to the film. For example, those sitting next to us in the theater were moved and breathless. Others wept or had looks of disgust on their facers when watching the brutality Jesus underwent,” they said.

"This film is generating huge interest in Jesus and the Bible,” said David and Natalie. “All this has never happened before!”

[nuconvert]

Paranoia?

[DCPatriot]

Ah! My memory is gone as I get older. :^)

Thanks for reminding me of her actual "quote".

[missyme]

I agree with you and it is always something that I have to remind myself....Muslims are people and G-d created them and they are just as deserving in hearing the Gospels as anyone else is.. We tend to see the Muslim World as barbaric, backwards, violent ignorant, stupid animals but they are people that need to hear the GOSPELS...

[Lion in Winter]

Those "pesky" J.W. do not believe Christ was crucified either AND they do not believe he was the Son of God.

They are MORE than just "pesky"!! LOL.

[SedVictaCatoni]

That's not what "Radical Muslim eyes" see, because they don't believe Jesus was crucified.

Yes, that's a very good point. I should have said "...tried to have God's prophet butchered."

[nuconvert]

what an imagination......

[graf008]

she was speaking of the people in middle eastern countries where people celebrated in the streets at the news of the attacks on us.

In all fairness to the majority of the people in the Middle East - did you really look at how many people there were celebrating in the street? The pictures I remember had about 15-20 individuals actually celebrating on the streets...I never remember mass demostrations in support of the terrorists.

[Lost Highway]

Thankfully Jesus did not have the same point of view about people of other "faiths".

[graf008]

Which countries (currently in existence because I think Afghanistan was as such) is it a crime punishable by beheading?

[CarryaBigStick]

Islam; cut and paste religion with careful omissions and additions to manipulate the gullible, undereducated masses.

Can't speak to the various Jewish sects with much authority, I just know that I must protect their interests.

[graf008]

They also had the disadvantage of being developed after the full development of Christianity. They had to respond to it, while Christianity only had to respond to Judiasm (and did so appropriately). That doesn't excuse the omission (although admitted Jesus was the Son of God would sort of undermine all of their religion)...

[montag813]

I have never gotten the Islamic take on Christianity. They consider Him a prophet...but not the Son of God, so apparently they consider Him a prophet who lied.

They not only say he was a false prophet. They not only say he was NOT the Son of God ("Allah has no son"), they also say that he NEVER DIED ON THE CROSS (it is actually said in the Quran). So yes as usual the Muslims are lying when they say they "revere" Jesus...he is portrayed as a liar and a charlatan.

[montag813]

I'm pretty sure I remember that any muslim who converts to Christianity will be issued a death sentence. They'd have to do it in secret or leave the country.

Yep. Even in so-called "moderate" Muslim nations such as Egypt, Christians are routinely arrested, harrassed and murdered, and daughters are raped. Rape is practically an official weapon of Islam. The entire evil cult is disgusting and should be outlawed.

[graf008]

Does Egyption law provide for this, or is this a function of unorderly mobs?

[oyez]

bfl

[bray]

Pray for The Passion of The Christ and Salvation.

[truthandlife]

'Passion' ping

[truth_seeker]

"We should be praying that God works in the hearts of these people because that is their only true hope of change."

We are trying to bring them to democracy without changing their God.

Maybe the reason virtually no democracies exist in the muslim world, is their God. As it is now, many don't want democray; they want theocracy or dictatorship.

[Tunehead54]

True, but evangelizing isn't that "mysterious." For some reason, evangelical christians often don't seem interested in evangelizing the arab world

---

The reason is that mere possession of a bible much less proselytizing in arab countries can result in lengthy prison sentences. Even soldiers in Iraq may not take nor receive in care packages "religious materials".

[SauronOfMordor]

I have never gotten the Islamic take on Christianity. They consider Him a prophet...but not the Son of God, so apparently they consider Him a prophet who lied. I get cognitive dissonance just thinking about it...and I'm an atheist.

The way they work around it, is by going on the basis that the Gospels are an inaccurate rendition of what happened and what Jesus said. In any conflict between the Qu'ran and the Old or New Testements, the Party line is that whatever contradicts the Qu'ran is incorrect, and the Qu'ran is the correction to it.

Per Islam, the Word was originally given to Moses, and was later corrupted, then Jesus came along to correct it, and his words were distorted, so Allah sent Mohammod the final correction