Posted on 11/23/2001 7:18:23 AM PST by RealGem
Can we distinguish between Islam and Christianity?
By John J. Abele
November 23, 2001
Recently, Franklin Graham, son and religious successor to the legendary Billy Graham, caused a furor when he said: "We're not attacking Islam but Islam has attacked us. The God of Islam is not the same God. He's not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It's a different God and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion."
The politically correct and the multiculturalists became unhinged. They criticized him and everything he stands for, from every direction. Of course, relatively few people are qualified to make such comparisons, and I am not one of them. You need not be a divinity scholar, however, to see th at the actions, beliefs and proclamations of Muslims are in no way similar to the beliefs of Judeo-Christians, and particularly those of the United States.
Our nation was founded by WASPs, white, Anglo Saxon Protestants. They were initially from England, and were followed by Irish, Scots, French and others from western Europe. Their ideas were in conflict with the official religions of their country of birth, so they fled to North America where they believed they would be free to exercise their Judeo-Christian beliefs.
From the very beginning, political as well as religious leaders, spoke and wrote about the God they believed in. The United States was founded by these men, and there is abundant documentary evidence to support this
The Pilgrims were Protestants, who rejected the institutional Church of England. They believed that the worship of God must originate in the inner man, and that forms of worship prescribed by man interfered with a true relationship with God. The Separatists used the term "church" to refer to the people, the Body of Christ, not to a building or institution. As their Pastor John Robinson said, "(When two or three are) gathered in the name of Christ by a covenant made to walk in all the way of God known unto them as a church ."
"That all the People may with united Hearts on that Day express a just Sense of His unmerited Favors: --Particularly in that it hath pleased Him,by His over ruling Providence to support us in a just and necessary War for the Defense of our Rights and Liberties; ...by defeating the Councils and evil Designs of our Enemies, and giving us Victory over their Troops --and by the Continuance of that Union among these States, which by his Blessing, will be their future Strength & Glory." --Samuel Adams on behalf of the Continental Congress, November 3, 1778, calling for a day of Thanksgiving during our Revolutionary War
"The Pilgrims came to America not to accumulate riches but to worship God, and the greatest wealth they left unborn generations was their heroic example of sacrifice that their souls might be free." --Harry Moyle Tippett
The first national Thanksgiving Proclamation, issued by the revolutionary Continental Congress on November 1, 1777, expressed gratitude for the colonials' October victory over British General Burgoyne at Saratoga. It was authored by Samuel Adams, the man the other Founders turned to for reasoned statements of liberties as God's blessings, its one sentence of 360 words read in part: "Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to him for benefits received...together with penitent confession of their sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor; and their humble and earnest supplications that it may please God through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance...it is therefore recommended...to set apart Thursday the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feeling of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor... acknowledging with gratitude their obligations to Him for benefits received....To prosper the means of religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth 'inrighteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost'."
When independence from England was achieved, and a Constitution written and ratified, freedom of religion was included. It was clearly stated in the First Amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
At the time the Constitution was written, I doubt that there were any people in the United States who called themselves Muslims. In fact, very few if any even knew there were such people. There were still very few until WW II, when American military men were stationed, and fought all over the globe.
After that war the influx of Muslims, Buddhists, Confucians, and a host of other people with other religions started to immigrate to the United States, in ever increasing numbers. The Constitution guaranteed their religious freedom, and slowly but surely, they started to impose.
Muslims come to the schools in the United States by tens of thousands a year. I would imagine that the number of Americans who go to an Arab country to study could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Simultaneously, they say and do things which clearly show that they, as Muslims, have an inherent hatred of America and Americans. What benefit do we derive from this exchange?
The Muslims who come to the United States as immigrants, and those who become citizens, have no intention of integrating into the existing society They demand special considerations and special privileges - and usually get what they want. Americans have been taught that to do otherwise might be considered racist, and there is nothing worse than that.
No person can live in the United States and not be constantly reminded that we were founded as a Christian nation, and we remain one. You need money to live, and the dollar bill is a constant reminder. Benjamin Franklin believed that no man could create a nation alone, but a group of men, with the help of God, could do anything. "IN GOD WE TRUST" is on our currency. The Latin above the pyramid on the dollar, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means, "God has favored our undertaking." The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means, "a new order has begun."
I have not read the Koran, and I doubt that I will, but there are enough quotes easily available to provide an overview. I think that Franklin Graham said it very well: "The God of Islam is not the same God. He's not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It's a different God and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion."
What are you talking about? Islam condemns as a most grievous heresy the belief that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh, that he died on the cross and was resurrected three days later. This "heresy" is the perfect, the absolute and essential foundation of Christian faith. To reject this "heresy" is to deny Christ not just a little bit, but wholly.
Technically, practically, historically, doctrinely, completely and in all ways Islam is anti-Christ.
Hate to break the news to you a_Turk, but anyone who doesn't believe that Jesus is God has no claim to being a Christian.
Our faith requires that annoying stumbling block of actually having to believe that Jesus, God, and The Holy Spirit are One.
Hope to see you in Paradise.
FMCDH
Don't be so hard on yourself. It's a holiday.
kangharue:
No, it's to deny your view of the Messiah. That is not the same as denying the Messiah. If you believe a bunch of stuff about some guy you have never met named Harry, and then someone else comes along and says something different about this same Harry...it's fairly difficult to call him/her "anti-Harry"...since neither of you knows for sure what Harry was really like or all about. To sum up: it's unprovable. Move on...
An astonishing accusation, to imply that a Christian is someone who denies that Jesus Christ is the Word by Whom and through Whom all things were created, God manifest in the flesh.
In your studies, did you ever come across this confession and witness by the disciple named John who watched Jesus Christ physically die on the cross and was witness to his resurrected form three days later?
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Our faith requires that annoying stumbling block of actually having to believe that Jesus, God, and The Holy Spirit are One.The trinity being an invention made in 300 AD..
Given that this teaching is the foundation of Christianity, and taught throughout the New Testament, those who claim Islam builds on the Bible have a rather high obstacle.
Just substitute a reference to the Mormons for Islam here, and you can see the equivalent statement here just about any time the topic comes up.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among usAll that means to me is that He spoke the word of God.
My view of the Messiah? It is Holy Spirit's view first. It has been given to me freely by a wise and loving God.
It is the view of the disciples who were witness first-hand to the ministry, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I am in good company.
It is most decidely not the view of a 6th Century madman who authored the Koran, who slaughtered the Jews of Medina wholesale because they would not accept forced conversion, and whose descendents today forbid Christians to openly worship in the Islamic countries and religiously justify the murder of Muslim men and women who convert to Christianity.
If Islam is not anti-Christ, if it affirms the Messiahship of Jesus Christ, why do its scriptures call for the deaths of Christians who have converted from Islam?
Yes, there's no guide as reliable as the man who doesn't bother to read up on his subject.
I haven't read the Koran either, so I wouldn't make any sweeping judgements about Islam. You can find some very bad quotes in it. But that is also true of the Bible. Don't ask me to tell them to you. We did this all two months ago. If you really want to find them, look through Exodus and Leviticus and you will find some lines that you certainly won't like or approve of. There are some lines elsewhere in the Bible that can also sound pretty bad as well. You can also find many websites specializing in this sort of thing. And we have had our own holy wars.
To make the kind of judgement he wants to make about Islam, one would have to examine all the various schools and currents in Islam, which differ in many respects.
Can we distinguish between Islam and Christianity? Yes, we can. But the distinctions should be more than "Christianity good, Islam evil." It's natural that one believe in one's own religion, but once one starts thinking those who disbelieve evil, there is potential for great harm.
Joseph Smith (An American Prophet) built on Koran with the Book of Mormon, and therefore - all Muslims MUST convert to Mormonism if they want to live in the celestial kingdom. =)
The Trinity, as doctrine, was adopted by the Nicene Council. The Trinity, as an actuality, was very apparent to Christ and his disciples--
Read The Books of Acts, Chapters 1 & 2 in the New Testament for the words of Christ and the words of the apostles on this subject.
More important, Jesus forgave His enemies as he hung on the Cross.
Don't hold your breath!!! They can't do it cause it ain't there.
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