THE BIBLE VS.THE KORAN

“Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well;

for so I am” – Jesus Christ (John 13:13)

The following sources are each taken from official Islamic publications, concerning what Muslims believe about the Trinity of God, Jesus Christ, the Bible and other areas of theology and Church history.

The Apostle Paul

In their first publication they make the false claim about the Apostle Paul and then they go onto err in other areas too: “A charismatic speaker who had never met Jesus, and had persecuted many Christians before his sudden conversion. Under his leadership, Pauline Christians [those that accept his Epistles] directed their conversion efforts towards non-Jews and devolved a theology foreign to the Old Testament, including belief in a Trinity (which had been prevalent among the Romans, Egyptians and other pagans), an emphasis on Jesus as the ‘son’ of God, associated concepts of original sin and atonement, and the central dogma of Jesus’ (supposed) crucifixion and resurrection.” 1

Please see the following comments in response to this publication:

Paul, according to Jesus Christ Himself, was personally commissioned and chosen to preach His Gospel to the whole world: “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:15,16.) With this special calling from the Lord Himself, written down by Dr. Luke, and subsequently accepted and authenticated by each of the Apostles (Gal. 2:9.), Paul would himself later affirm how he had witnessed the risen Christ: “And last of all he [Jesus] was SEEN OF ME ALSO, as of one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:8.) So the above statement about Paul never meeting Jesus is simply an historical blunder and inaccurate statement!

The Trinity

The Biblical concept of the Trinity was not first discovered in the Pauline Epistles, or any New Testament Book for that matter, but can be traced right back to the first book of the Bible – Genesis 1:1-3. The word ‘God’ in Genesis is Elohim, which can be translated singular or plural. We also have other Old Testament passages that record the Trinity (although partially hidden from the Jews until the New Testament), and they would be Prov. 30:4 and Is. 48:16. In the New Testament, this Biblical concept is fully explored and revealed in the baptism of Jesus Christ, when all three Members are publicly displayed simultaneously and then written down in Scripture by THREE INDEPENDENT SOURCES:

1) The Apostle Matthew, eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry (Matt. 3:16,17.)

2) The Apostle Paul, enjoyed witnessing the risen Saviour (2 Cor. 13:14.)

3) And the youngest of the 12, the Apostle John (1 John 5:7,8.)

Now the mistake this writer makes is to misunderstand that the Romans and Egyptians (and all other religions) were polytheists – they did not believe in One Supreme God in three Persons, but MANY gods, so to compare Trinitarianism (three separate and co-equal Persons, not three gods) with polytheism is a gross and absurd ignorance. To further explain this, please see the following verses, again written by three separate writers, which state categorically how each Member of the Godhead, is entitled to the office of Deity:

1) Jesus is called my Lord and my God (John 20:28.)

2) The Father is called God (Mark 12:29.)

3) The Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:4.)

With this fact now established, may I show the reader how the Trinity worked in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ:

1) Jesus raised Himself from the dead (John 2:20,21.)

2) The Holy Spirit raised Him from the dead (Rom. 8:11.)

3) God raised Him from the dead (Gal. 1:1.)

The Crucifixion

The crucifixion is absolutely paramount to the Christian faith, so when this is questioned, the Christian needs to be able to show from the Bible where this is taught. In each of the Gospel accounts, the painful and humiliating record of Jesus’ excruciating pain (incidentally the word excruciating was conceived, because before there wasn’t any word to best explain the dreadful fate that Christ went through) is clearly outlined for all to see.

We also are told from the Old Testament how Messiah would die: “For dogs [unsaved Gentiles] have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me [Jewish Sanhedrin]: they pierced my hands and my feet” [Roman method of murdering criminals, prophesies in the Bible SIX HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THERE EVEN WAS A ROMAN CIVILISATION (Ps. 22:16.)

We also have another account of the pain suffered by Jesus: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws [please see this fulfilled in John 19:28]; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death” (Ps. 22:15.)

On these two verses alone, and there many others, the defence rests that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ did happen, and it was NOT poor old Judas Iscariot that died in the place of Jesus. Such utter nonsense and stupidity is not lost on the well informed.

Other Gospels?

Further on in their publication they go onto make other claims, which again don’t line up accurately with Church history: “Tens of gospels and other writings that individual churches had been free to use, some which presented an alternative view of Jesus, were destroyed; only four were included in the New Testament collection, along with a heavy dose of Paul’s writings.” 1

This statement is only partially correct, for Dr. Luke does state that others penned their own gospels at the time of his (Luke 1:1,2), but such accounts were lost (never destroyed) and they were NEVER inspired by the Holy Spirit (because they were not eye witnesses), and further no Church Council ever decided which books were canonical or not, for the early Church had already long decided this, while John the Apostle was still alive.

God became Man?

The next problem to face the writer of this pamphlet is how to comprehend the power and majesty of God. Sadly, the writer has the audacity to limit God’s unlimited omnipotence by stating: “It is impossible that the Creator of the Universe could appear in any human form, whole or in ‘part’, constrained by time and space. As the prophet Solomon is reported as saying after completing the Temple of Jerusalem, ‘But will God really dwell on the earth.’ 1

Now we must understand several things here. First NOTHING is impossible for God to do and this is found in the Bible: “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14.) and in the Koran 3:47: “Rather, when God decides something, He need only say to it ‘Be!’ and it is.” It is interesting that the writer will quote the above verse from 1 Kings 8:27, under the assumption it is correct, but in other places doubts the authenticity of other sections of the Bible. Is it not fair to say that they are simply doing what all sceptics have long done: pick and choose which parts of the Bible they like, or which parts best suit their own biases and pre-suppositions!

One other point that needs to be made about this shallow understanding of God taking on human form, which happened in many places in the Bible and to the following people Abraham (Gen. 18:1), Moses (Ex. 33:11), Joshua (Josh 5:13-15) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:5-8) is the fact that God the Father may not have taken on human form, but rather God the Son – Jesus Christ did (1 Tim. 3:16.) As the Second Member of the Godhead, it was He that has been witnessed throughout Biblical history, for He did He not say in John 1:18 how no one has seen God at ANY TIME. So with Trinitarian theology, all the Christophanies (pre-incarnations of Jesus Christ throughout the Bible) are most easily explained away within the appearances of God in the Bible.

Trinity re-visited

As we continue on in our painful refutation of these flawed publications, we note other heresies along the way: “The fact that there is no mention of the word or concept [Trinity] in the Old Testament is one of the most important, as God surely would have found it important enough to mention to Moses and the many other prophets of Old.” 1

The level of ignorance from this writer is rising and anybody who has ever read the entire Old Testament with its 1,189 chapters, 31,173 verses and 774,746 words, will not fail to understand the old proverb, ‘A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.’

The Bible commands man to believe in the Trinity, never to understand it. However, God is His infinite mercy has allowed mankind many divers way of trying to comprehend this Biblical doctrine. For example, most things in the Universe come in threes. The Earth, the Moon and the Sun. Mother, Father and Child. Body, Soul and Spirit. Army, Navy and Air force. Police, Ambulance and Fire Brigade. These examples are only some of the reflections of the Trinity of God in everyday life. However, for those intellectuals who think this type of analogy and thinking in foolish, we should remind such a person of what the Apostle Paul wrote: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14.)

One final thing ought to be shared with the reader about the Trinity, and one interesting place where this can be found is Qur’an 5:32: “O humankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another.”

It does appear that Mohammed clearly understood that God, who doesn’t work with finite partners, did indeed create the World, along with the infinate Son and Holy Spirit.

Prayers to God

Returning to this publication, we pick up once more, problems with their ideology: “Jesus never taught his followers to pray to himself, and no record of him preaching about a trinity exists.” 1

Now part of this quote is accurate, for while Jesus was on Earth the Apostles had no need to ask God for anything, for He was with them for the best three years of their entire lives. However, with His soon ascension, instructions were given to His Church how they were to petition God for prayers, worship and help in times of need, and all such avenues were to be directed at God, and always in the name of Jesus. Yet this needs further clarification, for this writer makes the same mistake as cults and sects do, when he thinks he’s nailed his hypothesis by quoting, ‘By myself I can do nothing’ and ‘the Father is greater than I.’ Where he falls into the same trap as others, is to fail to understand that when God became man, some of His infinite power was reduced, much like transferring a recording from CD to a cassette tape. A transfer such as this always loses something, and so when God became man this happened, and we find this further exposited by the Apostle Paul: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation [emptied himself of his deity while on earth], and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:6-9.)However, Jesus never stopped being Deity incarnate, but rather allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to anoint Him and empower Him.

As far as the Trinity slur is concerned, we have already dealt with this sufficiently, but one more verse from the Jesus Christ Himself is needed to put this heresy to bed: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the HolyGhost” (Matt. 28:19.)

Biblical Accuracy

After dealing with the many heretical and false statements made against the Lord Jesus Christ, we now turn to dealing with the accuracy of the Bible: “..Many similar statements which support pure monotheism, although other passages in the New Testament contradict it. Many Christians came to the conclusion that the Biblical texts must have been corrupted, as the Qur’an indeed asserts.” 1

What the reader has just read is nothing short of sacrilege, because what the writer is saying is that God hasn’t been able to protect and preserve His word. Yet we discover from reading the Bible how all Scripture is inspired directly from God (2 Tim. 3:16), that is was written down by Holy men of God (2 Pet. 1:21), that God’s word would be forever preserved (Ps. 12:7), and even after Heaven and Earth have passed away, God’s word would never pass away (Matt. 24:35.)

Therefore if all this is true, our Islamic publication is simply blasphemous and should be discarded! For if the Lord of the Universe, after creating the World out of nothing in six literal days, isn’t able to protect His precious word, then He wouldn’t be fit to be called the Lord God. And another point needs to be mentioned: when did the Word of God get contaminated? Before Mohammed or after, and if the latter, when? Exactly when did all the many thousands of manuscripts get collated from around the world and made to line up with today’s unreliable versions?

Some Muslims like to boast the following: “Interestingly, scholars have verified that the Qur’an is the only world scripture that has but a single version (in Arabic), identical to the text that was revealed more than 1400 years ago.” 3

What the writer doesn’t tell his reader is the fact that the Koran has NO original manuscripts in any languages anywhere in the world for people to see. In other words, with no manuscripts to go to, the Koran isn’t actually able to take any credit for being accurate or reliable, for what can scholars in reality check it against? The Bible however has thousands of manuscripts, some dating back to the early 2nd century.

Jihad: Striving For Peace

In the second publication we start by quoting the following: “Is Jihad Holy War?” No. Definitely not. Jihad should never be confused with Holy War – an idea that does not have a place in Islam. The concept of Holy War does not exist anywhere in the Qur’an, nor is it found in classical Islamic teaching. It is a foreign concept introduced by the Crusaders who wages Holy War against the Muslim infidels in the Holy Land.” 2

I was rather surprised to read a Muslim writer trying to blame non-Muslims for causing today’s Jihads around the world. Quite amazing! The writer does not make much sense when the argument is made that Islam is a peaceful religion – for the word Islam means submission – and does not condone violence. Abu Bakr (one of the father in laws of Mohammed) taught that the only assurance of salvation was to be shaheed; this is a Muslim who dies killing infidels in a jihad – he becomes an instant martyr, and 72 black haired female virgins await him. Upon this act, the suicide bomber/martyr can then vouch for the admittance of 70 members of his family to enter Heaven.

The same publication goes to say:

“For instance, prior to the Spanish Inquisition, Jews and Christians lived and prospered in Spain for centuries under Muslim rule.” 2

Well may I say that in most Islamic countries Christians are treated like 2nd or 3rd class citizens, and in Saudi Arabia, there are NO churches or synagogues allowed, period!

We again are told: “Terrorism; indiscriminate killing through means like suicide bombings, and weapons of mass destruction; torture and humiliation as tactics of war; and mutilation and disrespect of the dead are all totally forbidden in Islam.” 2

Again, some of the worst types of human rights abuses are found in Islamic countries.

Conclusion

My understanding of Islam is that of a humanistic religion, which really revolves around man, his glory and what good he is able to boast to God about, should he ever hope to enter Paradise. In other words, man bribes God by his good works, so he can get to Heaven. I am convinced that Islam doesn’t understand what sin really is or how holy God is. The following verses may go some way in showing this: “Furthermore, children are born in a state of purity and do not inherit sin. Life’s test is to do one’s best and to resist evil in the world and within oneself, so that one can stand before Allah with a clean heart on the Day of Judgment.” 3

“If any do deeds of righteousness whether male or female, and have faith, they will enter Paradise and not the least injustice will be done to them” (Qur’an 4:124.)

The Bible is very clear that man is inherently sinful and wicked and only God is good: “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speakinglies.” (Ps. 58:3.) Just ask anyone if they’ve kept the 10 Commandments to demonstrate this. The response is always no. If, however, some say yes, ask them if they’ve ever lied? If they say yes, what does that make them? They will grudgingly say a liar. That would be correct and Revelation 21:8 tells you that ALL liars have their place in the lake of fire, which burns forever. Muslims, tragically, are trusting in their sinful natures (like many in Christendom do) and because they are stained with sin, God will have to consign them to Hell, for nothing unclean can ever enter His presence. And because Bible believing Christians believe this, many travel the world telling people this. However, one doesn’t meet too many Islamic missionaries on their travels.

Now there are other problems with Islam, which contradict the Bible: “According to the Qur’an, there was a Garden of Eden. There was a forbidden tree, but no apple, no snake, and certainly no fault on Eve alone. Both Adam and Eve sinned at the same time. They felt shame, repented, and were forgiven together.” 4

Now Genesis is very clear in the fact that there was a snake/serpent, which the devil spoke through, and Jesus blamed the death of Adam and Eve spiritually on Satan (John 8:44.) As far as apples are concerned, scholars in Christian circles differ on just what Eve ate, but they do agree that she sinned first, followed by Adam. We also read that when God confronted them, they hid from Him (doesn’t this still happen today, just watch any child hide when they know they’ve done wrong), Eve blamed the devil, Adam blamed God and the devil didn’t say anything, because he didn’t care. Nobody took responsibility, nobody repented, therefore all were cursed. We should also note that the Koran is guilty of questioning and changing God’s word, just like the devil did when he tempted Eve!!

This article was composed for the glory of God, with only one purpose: to present mankind with the true and saving Gospel that He wants all to hear: Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, a substitutionary sin bearer for you and for me. The Bible tells us to repent and truly trust Christ Jesus to save you. This will make you acceptable and holy before a perfect and eternal God.

Religion cannot save you. Good works will damn you. Charities will separate you from God. If there were any other way of wicked men being made right with God, He would have ordained it. No other way was possible, so God took on human form, lived like His creation and paid the FULL penalty for man’s rotten and dreadful sins.

To attempt to come to Him any other way, makes you a thief and a robber (John 10:1.)

Sources

1 Jesus: An Islamic View, 2006

2 Jihad: Striving For Peace, 2005

3 What is Islam: A Holistic Vision, 2006

4 Discover Islam: The Muslim Women, 2005