Posted on 11/28/2002 7:06:02 PM PST by TLBSHOW
Do Moslems, Christians & Jews Believe in the Same God?
One in a series of excerpts adapted by Robert Locke from Dr. Serge Trifkovic’s new book, The Sword of the Prophet: A Politically-Incorrect Guide to Islam
One of the clichés endlessly repeated by those who would conceal the dangerous potentialities inherent in Islam is that Moslems "believe in the same God" as Christians and Jews. But this is a severe distortion of the truth, for what Moslems fundamentally believe is that they know the true nature of the God that Judaism and Christianity tell lies about. Lies for which Christians and Jews will be punished in hell. The fact that Moslems share Levantine monotheism with us thus makes them more, not less, antagonistic to us on a religious level. Hopes for reconciliation on the grounds of common monotheism, as opposed to a realistic "good fences make good neighbors" civilizational détente, are wishful thinking.
The widespread belief in the non-Muslim world that Islam accords respect to the Old Testament and the Gospels as steps in progression to Mohammad’s revelation is mistaken. Modern Muslim apologists try to stress the supposed underlying similarities and compatibility of the three faiths, but this is not the view of orthodox Islam. Muhammad’s insistence that there is a heavenly proto-Scripture and that previous "books" are merely distorted and tainted copies sent to previous nations or communities means that these scriptures are the "barbarous Koran" as opposed to the true, Arabic one. (Let’s leave aside for a minute the puzzling question of how any degree of "distortion" of the Koran could produce either an Old or a New Testament.) The Tradition also regards the non-canonical Gospel of Barnabas, and not the New Testament, as the one that Jesus taught. The Koran alone is the true word of God and sets aside all previous revelations.
While the influence of orthodox Christianity upon the Koran has been slight, apocryphal and heretical Christian legends are the second most important original source of Islam. In other words, Islam contains an awful lot that Christians have deliberately rejected over the years as religiously unsound. There are also influences of Sabaism, of Zoroastrianism, and of ancient Arabian paganism, including the divine sanction for the practices of polygamy and slavery. The reports in both the Koran and the Hadith (authoritative traditional sayings) concerning paradise, the houris, (virgins) the youths, the jinn (genies) and the angel of death have been directly taken from the ancient books of the Zoroastrians. Zoroastrianism also originated the story that on the Day of Judgment all people will have to cross a bridge stretched across hell leading to paradise on which the unbelievers will stumble and fall down to hell.
The biblical stories been passed on to Muhammad presumably from Jewish and Christian sources, but it is probable that he never read the Old or the New Testament. Those narratives had deeply impressed him, but being incomplete and imprecise, they gave his imagination free rein. Of the books of the Old Testament he knew only of the Torah or Pentateuch and the Book of Psalms, while the Scriptures he treats collectively as "the Gospels." Muhammad took these narratives as they were given to him, and their use in the Koran amounts to random, approximate and often badly misunderstood reproduction of the Talmudic traditions and the Apocrypha. Moreover, they are of course devoid of their original contexts and of the spiritual message of the original.
Many Old Testament stories are changed beyond recognition, and can be treated as a "source" only in the most general sense. Abraham did not offer Isaac, but Ishmael, as a sacrifice. "Haman" was pharaoh’s chief minister, even though the Haman known to Jews lived in Babylon one thousand years later. Moses was picked from the river not by his sister but by his mother. A Samaritan was the one who molded the golden calf for the children of Israel and misguided them, even though Samarians arrived only after the Babylonian exile. The accounts of Moses’ life are sketchy and say nothing of his character, descent, the time he was sent as a prophet, the purpose of his mission, and where, how and why he appointed Aaron as his deputy. It does not relate the argument between them and the people of Israel, which is crucial to the story. The story of Noah reflected Muhammad’s dilemmas and difficulties rather than Noah’s mission, and even the names of the idols that Noah warns against are Arabic.
The Koran makes reference to Jesus, Mary and events related to them, but with a critical distinction. It explicitly denies that Jesus was crucified: Allah made the Jews so confused that they crucified somebody else instead who had the likeness of Christ: "They slew him not nor crucified but it appeared so unto them." Muslims claim that an impostor by the name of Shabih was crucified, and he resembled Jesus in his face only. It seems illogical to those who count "proud" as one of the "99 most beautiful names of Allah" that Jesus, who was capable of raising the dead and of healing the blind and the leper, willingly submitted to the cross and failed to destroy the Jews who intended to hurt him. Islam rejects the whole concept of the crucifixion, claiming that it is against reason to assume that Allah would not forgive man’s sins without the cross: to say so is to limit his power: "He forgives whom he will, and he chastises whom he will."
The denial of the Trinity is also explicit: Allah begets not, i.e. he is no Father; and was not begotten, that is, he is no Son; and no one is like him, which means he is no Holy Spirit. "They are infidels who say, Allah is the third of three." But "Isa" is not the Son of Allah, only a special prophet, and the Christians’ contrary claim shows how they are perverted. The Christians are guilty of blasphemy because of their belief in the "trinity" of Allah, Mary, and Jesus. The "real" Jesus was a righteous prophet and a good Muslim who paved the way for the final prophet, Muhammad himself.
There is a wishful myth in circulation among liberals that Islam accords respect to all "people of the book," i.e. Christians and Jews in addition to Moslems. While Islam indeed accords them a higher standing than it does to polytheists like Hindus (pace the question of whether Hinduism properly understood is truly polytheistic) or African animists, this hardly amounts to respect. Of all the "people of the book" only Muslims can attain salvation. Jews’ and Christians’ refusal to acknowledge Mohammed as the messenger of God dooms them to unbelief and eternal suffering after death. Christians are mortal sinners because of their belief in the divinity of Christ, and their condemnation is irrevocable: "God will forbid him the garden and the fire will be his abode."
Unlike the Christian faith in God revealing Himself through Christ, the Koran is not a revelation of Allah – a heretical concept in Islam – but the direct revelation of his commandments and the communication of his law. It has been said that the Koran, to a Muslim, is not the perfected Gospel, it Christ, the Word Incarnate. This is a somewhat tenuous metaphor, however, not a valid parallel: Christian God "comes down" and seeks man because of His fatherly love. The Fall cast a shadow, the Incarnation makes reconciliation possible. Allah, by contrast, is cold, haughty, unpredictable, unknowable, capricious, distant, and so purely transcendent that no "relationship" is possible. He reveals only his will, not himself. Allah is "everywhere," and therefore nowhere relevant to us. He is uninterested in making our acquaintance, let alone in being near to us because of love. We are still utterly unable to grasp his purposes and all we can do is what we have to do, to obey his command.
The Koran claims to be the fulfillment of a religious design which was imperfectly revealed to the Jews and to the Christians. It is the crowning synthesis, the final word. But viewing the matter objectively, leaving aside for a moment the question of the actual truth of the book, it seems hard to see how the Koran is a synthesis of anything. The way in which Christianity makes sense – again, simply as a logical matter and leaving aside the truth of it – as a fulfillment of Judaism, is clear even to the unbeliever. But the Koran’s claim is singularly implausible. Non-Muslim commentators fail to see in what way is the Koran an improvement over, or advancement on, the moral teaching, language, style, or coherence of the Old and New Testament. It is looks, feels, sounds like a construct entirely human in origin and intent, clear in its earthly sources of inspiration and the fulfillment of the daily needs, personal and political, of its author.
Finally, one cannot ignore that whatever mildly friendly things the Koran may say about Judaism and Christianity in its early part, the late Surras also signify the final break with the Jews and Christians, who are fiercely denounced. The Muslims must be merciless to the unbelievers but kind to each other. "Whoso of you makes them his friends is one of them." War, not friendship, is mandatory until Islam reigns everywhere. Muslims are ordered to fight the unbelievers, "and let them find harshness in you." They must kill the unbelievers "wherever you find them." The punishment for resistance is execution or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides. By the stage in his life during which these Surras were written, Muhammad was no longer trying to convert his hearers by examples, promises, and warnings; he addresses them as their master and sovereign, praising them or blaming them for their conduct, giving laws and precepts as needed. His raw dogmatism stands, finally, naked of all pretence.
Unlike Genesis, which speaks of giants living among men, and people turned into pillars of salt, and talking snakes. Or the Book of Revelations, which speaks of the seven-headed whore of Babylon.
Truly, this is of no import. I do not expect my grandmother to accept my embrace of the such concepts as the "internet" or "relativity", yet I honor her as I do my mother and father. Reciprocation is unneeded here. It is not a matter of compromise. Einstein, and many other scientists of the 20th century, made comments that 'they were able to see so far only because they stood on the shoulders of [the] giants' of the past, such as Newton, Copernicus, et al. The situation with Jews and Christians is similar, and no less respectful, even were Newton to have major problems with Einstein's discoveries.
They are not prophets.
Then I assume you view Jews in the same light.
Except that a remarkable number of Christians seem to think that Jews do have another way to come to the Father.
Which is it? Both cannot be true.
Either he's the only way or he's not.
There was an article somewhere (The Atlantic Monthly?) that pointed out many of the phrases and sayings of Old and New Testament that have made their way into songs, literature, drama, etc.
"The Sun Also Rises."
"A Time for War, A Time for Peace."
etc...
I would I could link it.
If you compare some phrases from the bible, the logic and context of the bible vs. the koran is striking:
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Proverbs 26:4
Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge
Psalm 4:2 - How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?
Luke 12:57 - "Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?
_______________________________________________________________________
O ye who believe! Choose not for friends such of those who received the Scriptures before you Surah V:57
"Any wife or concubine who dies while her husband was pleased with her will enter Paradise." Hadith 61
Oh readers of the book! And slay them wherever ye find them ... Such is the reward of disbelievers. Surah II:191
The point of view that Islam, Christianity and Judeism are based upon the same God is largely established by Freemasonry. It might be noted that if one states they believe in God through the Lord Savior Jesus Christ, the fundamental tennet of Christianity, they will not be accepted into Freemasonry. This is an indicator of recent Freemasonry deception as with the proposed question.
Jewish Scripture in the Torah, books of Poetry, History, and Prophecy are accepted as the Word of God and were recognized as such by the Lord Savior Jesus Christ.
The Koran written some 6 centuries after Christ, deviates considerably from the Scripture. Much of its divergence is based upon opposites to Scripture. E.g. Isaac vs Ishmael, Temple doors facing east and the priests are never to turn their bask on God, hence always face to the west, whereas Islamic Prayers are all facing east, why would a sound Scripture present blatent opposite Scripture from previous Scripture? Obviously they are not the same.
Blood sacrifice is required for atonement of sin , but the enemies are slaughtered generally in preservation of a bloodline to Christ in Scripture. Prior to Christ, the Jews are the chosen people and God's relationship with man focuses on them. Upon the blood sacrifice of the Perfect Lamb, the Temple curtain was rent in two and man's body became the Temple of God (for the Holy Spirit in one person). A time of the Gentiles was introduced wherein all man has had atonement for sin via Christ.
Six centuries later, the crucification and resurrection of Christ are denied by Islam. Accordingly, Islam is not the same God as Judeo-Christian Godhead.
The closest common denominator between the three groups might be the identification of Satan. Considering he is the father of all lies and Islam asserts Christ is not a person of God, then one must decide upon the identity of Christ with respect to God before further discerning the truth between the beliefs. If one accepts Christ as the Savior, then the God of Islam might share some common features with the Father to those poorly educated in Scripture, but ultimately the Scripture will point Islam towards Satan rather than God.
Commie Basher: "Unlike Genesis, which speaks of giants living among men, and people turned into pillars of salt, and talking snakes. Or the Book of Revelations, which speaks of the seven-headed whore of Babylon."
Commie Basher, first of all, from SkyPilot's post, it is obvious he was speaking about the manner in which the text is written. I take it YOU have not read the Koran. SkyPilot is 100% correct. This is not only his opinion. Do a search on the Internet and you will find that SkyPilot's criticism is justified. This is the worst text I've ever tried to follow or make sense out of. As a "book of literature," it would get an "F" grade.
You, Commie Basher, instead of addressing the syntax, sequence, of thought and word attacked CONTENT. This is not what SkyPilot focused on. That is another subject matter, altogethr. The CONTENT can be "believed" or "disbelieved." Because SkyPilot does NOT believe what is written in the Koran does not negate the poor sentence structure, sequence, logic, thought processes in its writings.
--Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821.
A treaty with Tunis approved unanimously by the US Senate on June 10, 1797:
Article 11 reads, "As the government of the United States of America is not founded in any sense on the Christian religion - as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] - and as the said states have never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
I was incorrect. John Adams was President at the time, not Jefferson. But the treaty was negotiated under the administration of George Washington.
Looks like the first three US presidents disagreed with you.
The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." [CCC, 841]As I understand it, this teaching says that, insofar as the Muslims worship the same God as Abraham, they worship the One and Only true God. This does not mean that Islam is "just as good as" Chistianity; it does mean that Muslims perceive a piece of the Truth, but not the Whole Truth. When a Muslim sees Allah he sees God, but a warped, distorted image of God, filtered through the dark glass of Arab tribal paganism and Satanic disinformation. The Whole Truth exists solely within the Church; therefore, there is no salvation outside the Church.
However, this does not mean anything as crude as "only baptized Catholics go to Heaven". Rather,
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.In other words: Christ is the only Way to Heaven, and only those who seek and accept Him as Lord and God will be saved; however, God is not bound by His Own sacraments, and may, though acts of Divine Mercy, preserve those who sincerely seek Truth (and therefore Him) at the Last Day. How God saves people is His Own affair.This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation. [CCC 846-7]
But this does not mean that all religions are equal! This simply means that only God is a Perfect Judge, and only He can be counted upon to give every one of us the afterlife that he or she truly deserves. (The thought of myself getting what I truly deserve frankly scares the crap out of me.) We cannot judge who is saved; our job is to tell the world Who Jesus is so that they can be saved:
"Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize ." [CCC 848]So: do the Muslims pray to the same God as Christians and Jews? If they are praying to the God of Abraham, the answer is yes. But despite that, Islam is still an error, a heresy, and a damnable lie based upon the denial of the Incarnation, Resurrection, and Eternal Kingship of Jesus Christ, and should be vigorously opposed by all followers of Our Lord and Master. Satan's claws are sunk deep into Islam; although his infernal power cannot extinguish the spark of Truth that lies at its heart, the fact remains that any Muslims in Heaven will be there in spite of the teachings of Mohammed, not because of them.
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