Posted on 04/02/2005 11:38:43 AM PST by quidnunc
Does Muhammad fulfill and complete the mission and ministry of Christ? Muhammad answers with an emphatic yes.
Basic Islamic theology teaches that since Allah sent Gabriel down with the Quran to Muhammad the messenger of Allah, Muhammad and the Quran fulfill and complete the mission of Christ and the New Testament. Muhammad seems to recognize the value of the Bible (Suras 4:47; 4:136; 4:163; 5:44-48; 5:82-83; 6:92, 154), but ultimately Christianity and the New Testament must yield to Islam and the Quran, the new and superior revelation.
Sura (Chapter) 5:15-16 illustrates Muhammad's viewpoint. In the context of Muhammad's distortion of the Christian doctrine of the Sonship of Christ (v. 17), and in the context of his asserting that Jews have been cursed (v. 13), this passage in the Quran (representing others) says that Christians (and Jews) have been walking in darkness until Muhammad came:
5:15 People of the Book [Jews and Christians] a light has now come to you from God, and a Scripture [the Quran] making things clear, 16 with which God guides them who follow what pleases Him to ways of peace, bringing them from darkness out into light, by His will, and guiding them to a straight path. (Haleem) (cf. 4:157)
A Bible-educated Christian today immediately recognizes the imagery of light. Jesus says that he was sent down from heaven as the light of the world, and Christians have passed from darkness into the light (John 1:4-5, 8:12, 9:5, 12:46; 1 Peter 2:9). Now, however, Muhammad claims that Christians had been living in darkness, and he has come to clarify matters for them, as if things had been muddied. The Quran offers guidance along a "straight path," a theme often repeated in the Muslim Scriptures (e.g. Sura 1) and makes "things clear." Verse 16 is likely one of the verses a Muslim has in mind when he points out that Islam is a religion of peace. But is it?
A devout, Bible-educated Christian in no way believes that Islam is superior, so how do we break this deadlock? Ignore it? Given recent events like 9/11, this is no longer feasible. Do we pretend that all religions are the same? But this forces us to deny some basic, non-negotiable doctrines that all religions have and that cannot be reconciled. So do we argue over these abstract doctrines?
Debating abstract ideas like the Unity or the Trinity of God has a place in the Christian-Muslim dialogue, but neither claim can be proven by simple observation. The Quran everywhere affirms the strict Unity of God, whereas the New Testament everywhere affirms the divinity of Christ and the personhood of the Holy Spirit. So we have merely pitted one sacred text against another, and to break this deadlock we must go down still other paths. (For more information on the reliability of the New Testament, visit this site; for the problems inhering in the Quran, go here.)
Since Muhammad lays down a serious challenge to Christ and Christianity, we Christians must answer him. What would Christ say? As it turns out, he has given us a clear teaching on how to evaluate a prophet who comes after him in history, especially if the later prophet asserts his superiority over Christ: call it fruit inspection.
-snip-
No, Jesus is God the Son, He has always been with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. His ministry began with the Creation.
Buddah is just some guy that lived then died.
Bible quotes are tricky on these threads-- we're either editing the Sacred Text or flaming the FR (both of which are forbidden). Your excerpt of Mathew 24 stops with the two verses that say not to believe false prophets. That's the easy part and I usually like to stop there too. The hard part is the next thirty some verses that say to keep your eyes and ears open for the real ones.
The prophets came after Moses and foretold of the Messiah. Christians see fulfillment of these prophecies in Jesus Christ. There are no prophecies for Islam to fulfill as the only prophecies made in the New Testament deal with the end times, not a future prophet.
And no, most Israelites did not become Christians, and most Christians did not become Muslims. Where on Earth did you get your info?
And, at one time, there was a copy of the Koran in my collection. I say "was" because I became so disgusted when reading it, I closed it about half way through and dropped it in the garbage.
And that was before 9-11.
The only other book I've thrown away like that was Mein Kampf.
Boiled down to their root messages, Mein Kampf and the Koran preach the same hatred for mankind.
Even an agnostic such as myself knows that the question "Does Islam Improve On Christianity" is, on it's face, so absurd as to be unworthy of serious consideration.
Islam is terribly inconsistent. Firstly, Mohammed and Islam admit the Bible, both Old and New Testaments are divinely inspired, but then denies the claims of the New Testament as to the Divinity, Crucifixion, Atonement and Resurrection of Christ.
How exactly is that accomplished?
Islam improves NOTHING--it is a cult of death.
That's okay because it seems entirely logical. But once you turn to the texts of the Torah and the New Testament, you'd quickly find that no such replacement occurs. Christian texts don't "replace" anything. But they do fulfill them. In fact, you can't even have a New Testament without the Old, for you would have nothing to compare and/or validate the New.
God's promises to Abraham, thus Israel, are valid today as they were when they were written. Replacement Theology teaches that God is completely finished with Israel and the Jews. This, then, would make God out to be a liar.
Check here for more info: Replacement Theology
"Replacement Theology" is a perjorative term created by Dispensationalists as a misnomer for Covenant Theology. There is no "replacement" of Israel with the Church in Covenant Theology, that is a myth created by Dispensationalists. In Covenant Theology Israel is not "replaced", it's expanded to include Jews and Gentiles.
Christianity is inconsistent. First it admits the Old Testament is divinely inspired then denies most of the laws of God as described in the Book of Leviticus.
Actually, your use of the term is accurate whereas the Dispensationalist use isn't.
"Replacement Theology" is a pejorative term created by Dispensationalists for Covenant Theology which is the expansion of Israel to include Gentiles into the Church.
No, Christians do not deny the Levitical Law, we recognize the context those laws were given. Many of the civil laws are still in practice and are incorporated in our legal system of today. The ceremonial laws were for the old covenant and pointed to Messiah. Messiah fulfilled those laws, thus they are no longer applicable.
What do I win?
It's a tough cross to bear ;)
No, it simply says that the Law has been fulfilled and thus no longer applies. Whether you agree with that belief or not, it never denies that the Law was indeed handed down by God.
Matthew 26:27-29
27Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
Good census data for the period 1 AD to 700 AD is hard to come by. Just the same, there was once a time that most of them that considered the Ten Commandments to be sacred were Jews, and later most of those guys were Christians. I realize that some say a Jew is not a Christian and a Christian is not a Jew. I'd argue that you can't be true to the Torah and deny Christ, and that to be a Christian you can't just chuck the old Testament. Sort of like "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me".
During the first half millennium, there were five major cities with bishops- Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. All but one spoke Greek (the language of the Gospels) and Latin was the home language of just the Roman church. Since then, four out of five went for Islam. Of course, during the past half millennium something really deferent's seemed to have happened that's changed everything, but I digress.
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