Abolish Human Abortion Admin:
It is so annoying when abortion advocates lie about how al anti-abortionists could care less about children after they are born. This is simply not true and they know it.
On the fence Mark: Saucier Words are plentiful and cheap, but, where is the religious organizations helping to take care of those young babies who lives. Uhm, where is the money, beside our tax paying dollars?
Abolitionist Heather: I believe that some of them actually and truly believe this. But the fact is that they are wrong. There are many organizations such as crisis pregnancy clinics which help women not only before birth but after birth as well. I know that many crisis pregnancy clinics even train women in parenting skills and give them free clothing for the mother and for their baby(ies).
Abolitionist, Colbert: @Mark
There are HUNDREDS of Christian charity organizations that support children and families in need. A simple Google search can point you in the right direction.
The only thing the pro-abortion side wants to do is sell abortions. :/
Katy: Religious organizations teach abstinence,,to not get pregnant and surely if you do not to kill your baby..
Bryce: Love is the key. Even non religious parents can love children.
Abolitionist Lise: @Mark...if you cant find enough resources on the web...try checking with any local Bible believing church in your area. While there are some within those churches who hokd yoyr position (as not every church member is saved), you will find many more who do support women in a crisis pregnsncy, help out with needs, training and guidance...and even adopt the children who's birth moms so selfLESSly chose life. Not every crisis pregnancy results in a child on welfare....which is what you implicitely stated.
Abolitionist Heather: Mark the pregnancy resource centers aren't founded by tax dollars.
Abolitionist, Colbert: Let's also not forget the Christian-funded Crisis Pregnancy Centers that help pregnant women in need without killing children.
Sandy I know how y'all feel about facts, but regardless your's need to be checked. CPC's are funded by tax dollars: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/gops-plan-fund-anti-abortion-activists
Bryce: I only know of two cpcs in my homestate of mississippi that are taxpayer funded.
Abolitionist Lise: I know of none. Not saying there arent any, but of the 3000 + Carenet affilliated CPC's, I know of none. If tax dollars go to support death (abortion), and they do....yet you dont speak out to that, but do speak out about some (and I assert very few, if any) CPC's receiving tax dollars, and CPC's ONLY value and support the sanctity of life...you by your own standards are admitting you in fact are not "pro-choice", but PRO-DEATH.
Abolitionist Lise: @Sandy...come up with a more reputable article to site please. This is so characteristic of Pro Death arguments...Please base your debate on Truth, instead of unsubstantiated rhetoric....
Oh wait...if you did that, you would be a Pro-Lifer!
Pro-Baby Murder Pinhead: How many children have you adopted?
Abolitionist Lise: Two...both special needs.
Rhology: Asking how many children an individual abolitionist has adopted is dangerously close to committing the genetic fallacy.
Bernie: We're looking for churches, organizations, and government programs to step up and take care of all this. Why? Where is the family? That's what was used to handle all these issues in the past, and because of that, they weren't issues. I say we strengthen the family unit first, then argue later.
Pro-Baby Murder Pinhead: "Asking how many children an individual abolitionist has adopted is dangerously close to committing the genetic fallacy."
You care about children, do you not?
Rhology: Yes, I do care about them.
NOw you need to make an argument leading to your conclusion.
Specifically:
P1) every individual abolitionist does not adopt children.
P2) YOUR ARGUMENT HERE
C) Therefore, abolitionists in general do not care about children.
-Rhology
Laure: I love this poster. It's awesome. I have a handicapped brother who has brought joy, laughter and so many other lessons to our family. I don't understand why people think that the Special Needs population is something to get rid of. They are amazing children and wonderful additions to any family.
Pam: Its definatly insane, even those of use who cant currently adopt would love to adopt and even hope to be able to in the future. But even still in the meantime we give money, time and prayers to those organizations that r helping those children.
Abolish Human Abortion Admin: See the picture above "pro lifers are..." That is just a samplinh.of.the many abolitionisf families in our own church that have adopted numerous times. Many who have not adopted have.funded many of these adoptions.
Abolish Human Abortion Admin: How many run away slaves have you helped?
Abolitionist Alicia: Honestly, this is the most inane argument for why abortion should be allowed. Even if NO ONE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH ADOPTED ANYONE, how does it logically follow that someone can kill an innocent person based on the fact that they are not going to be adopted? Just because the system is broken does not lead to the conclusion that children should be killed. The children are not the problem, the system is. If I found out tomorrow that no one loved me, and no one had any interest in supporting or helping me, that doesn't give them the right to kill me. And whether you like the fact or not, every child is wanted by someone. Unfortunately, our adoption system is broken and not every child will be placed in a loving home that wants them forever. That doesn't and never will justify killing them. How stupid is that?
Weird Libertarian Guy?: OK, I'll bite. What WILL they do about abortion? What do they even WANT to do about it?
Rhology: Effect its immediate abolition.
Weird Libertarian Guy?: Abolition as in what? Who do you want to lock up? Abortion doctors? Women that get abortions? Both? Do you think this will reduce abortions?
Weird Libertarian Guy?: That's too much government CONTROL. Who is going to pay for all of this "abortion abolition"? You can't do this and RAISE taxes on the rich, or INCREASE the deficit. So, I'd like to know what you're really gonna do and how in the heck you plan to do it.
Rhology: Is it too much gov't control to outlaw 1st degree murder of adults? Or slavery?
What are you thinking would have to increase in terms of gov't spending? Maybe I'm not following.
And yes, I'd like to lock up all aborticians if they continue to murder children after abortion is outlawed. Women, it's a different matter.
So, what we're going to do is actually laid out in some detail at our site: abolishhumanabortion.com I don't want to retype it all here. -Rhology
Weird Libertarian Guy?: It's gonna cost a LOT in terms of government spending. This is why I can't vote for one of the fake "pro-life" Republicans. I mean, come on. Do you listen to Paul Ryan? As they say, the money has to come from SOMEWHERE. Do you know how much it costs to lock people up in prison? Costs even more to put 'em on death row! That's all coming from the tax payers, and possibly the one percent. We can't have that as good Republicans. Sorry, until you figure out a way to pay for it PRIVATELY via corporations ONLY, then it's status quo!
Rhology: Actually I would be in favor of executing the aborticians if they continue murdering after baby-murder is outlawed. And there aren't THAT many aborticians in the US, so no, it wouldn't cost a ton more.
Death row wouldn't cost so much if they'd execute ppl promptly.
Of course it'll cause problems to enforce the law, but that's not a reason not to enforce it.
I'm not a "good Republican", so what do I care about that?
Further, you haven't considered the other side of things. The 53 million taxpayers and wageearners who are dead b/c of abortion, and their lost ingenuity and working power.
Would you have opposed outlawing the murder of adults until someone could figure out how to fund its enforcement privately? -Rhology
Jamie: It is really stupid when pro-choicers ask "how many babies have you adopted?". Saying that if you save a babies life you should be adopting them is as ridiculous to say that firefighters should only rescue people from burning buildings if they intend to "adopt" the people they save.
Pro-Baby Murder Pinhead: "Specifically:
P1) every individual abolitionist does not adopt children.
... P2) YOUR ARGUMENT HERE
C) Therefore, abolitionists in general do not care about children.
-Rhology"
Because pro-lifers are always talking about how awesome putting a baby up for adoption is. I hear it all the time: "Don't abort it, put it up for adoption!" You talk the talk and don't walk the walk. That's also known as being hypocrites.
Pro-Baby Murder Pinhead: " How many run away slaves have you helped?"
I was unaware that slavery is still happening in my country, unless you count women and girls who are forced to stay pregnant because their state officials view them as slaves. In that case, I helped a runaway slave last year. You?
Pro-Baby Murder Pinhead: " Honestly, this is the most inane argument for why abortion should be allowed."
I agree. The reason it should be allowed is something called bodily autonomy.
Rhology: You are overgeneralising w.r.t. adoption. Willful ignorance. And why didn't you actually make an argument? Ah, probably b/c you can't. You're a big talker with no substance.
As for bodily autonomy, what about the baby's? His body is not his mother's. -Rhology
Rhology: Obviously the point of the runaway slave question was to point out that whether or not one has actually adopted a child is immaterial to whether one can be morally justified in supporting and speaking in favor of a correct moral position. You, again, haven't made an argument. You're just sort of buzzing around and trying to lay guilt where no guilt is fairly placed, b/c you're a hater. -Rhology
Blitzer: There are millions of orphaned kids around the world that need a home, promoting adoption over parenting or abortion is ridiculous, and flat out evil.
Rhology: Did you mean promoting ABORTION over parenting and ADOPTION? I'm afraid I didn't follow... -Rhology
Blitzer: Not over parenting. Parenting is optional, and the best option for some, but abortion is the best option for even more. Adoption is pure evil and does nothing but harm others.
It causes short and long term emotional trauma to the mother, the child, complications for the adopting family, steals a home away from an orphan that needs it, etc.
Blitzer: Adoption isn't even close to an option compared to abortion. Abortion is ending the pregnancy, adoption and parenting both force a woman to go through the pregnancy which may be bad for her short or long term health, her mental and emotional well being, her social and educational well being, and her ability to perform her job/care for the family she already has.
Rhology: So since adoption is difficult, it's just better to kill the child before he can cause problems to others. Is that what you're saying?
Do you realise that there are 1000s of adoptive families around the world who would be shocked and, if honest, would want to tell you to shut your ignorant mouth at your statements about adoption?
-Rhology
Jamie: See thats the problen with you. You only care about the woman. We care for both. Abortions isnt simply ending a pregnancy. It is also ending the life of a human being. Aborion can and often is bad for a womans physical and mental health. Adoption is evil. I truly have heard it all now.
Blitzer: Plus I could point out (addressing your picture) that you guys lie about what "pro-choice" parents will and will not do.
How many times have I heard ppl imply that all pro choice parents will abort every pregnancy every time?
How many times have I heard anti abortion people (I refuse to call them pro-life, they are anything but.) claim the most horribly unscientific things and flat out lies? for example "it's a baby" (if it's a baby you aren't pregnant) "It's murder" (cause it's illegal, unlawful, and a person) "she should have used protection" (cause contraception is 100% effective) and "pro-choiceers will die off in a few decades due to all those abortions" (yes, cause everyone that believes in choice will have an abortion, and being for that is genetic, also anti abortion activists never have abortions http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/anti-tales.html)
Pro-abort Kiran: I say that all women are smart enough to make the right choice for them and their bodys. I do not know one single woman who honestly dosent know that if she didnt have an abortion she would have had a baby. As a proud pro~choicer I find the argument of educating "women" about the fact that a fetus becomes a baby insulting. Call it what you will baby, fetus, clump of cells all girls who have an abortion know exactly what they have choosen. We are not cattle!
Jamie: I and 5 other siblings of mine were adopted. Its nice to know that you think we should have been killed because our mother had to carry us before we could make another woman happy
Jamie: Kiran that is not true. I have heard plenty of womeb say thEy wouldnt have aborted if someone had told them the truth about what was in her womb. Not to mention all the pro-choicers that are now against abortion because they realize what abortion really is and does.
Pro-abort Kiran: All women and girls know their choices be it becoming a parent, becoming a biological mom or having an abortion. please stop saying that women are stupid. we will choose what is right for our lives.
Rhology: Actually Kiran many women are lied to by their "clinics". Wanting to educate ppl shows respect, not contempt.
Fox, when is it morally wrong to kill a very young human being? And how do you know?
Pro-abort Kiran: of all the women I know who have had abortions not one has ever not known that if she continued the pregnancy she would have had a baby. please stop making women out to be stupid!
3 hours ago · Like
Pam: "Adoption is pure evil and does nothing but harm others."
The absurdity of that statement is amazing. I have known of many cases in which adoption has done nothing but help others. Also i would argue that abortion is pure evil (the devil at his finest) and does nothing but kill unborn human life.
Do you honestly think if is better to be dead than to endure some suffering? Than y exactly do we have doctors who save lives who have been in accidents or even those who have inflicted the suffering upon themselves?
Pro-abort Kiran: Thats the whole point of having an abortion is not to have a baby. pregnate=baby. or abortion there is no other ending. even my 8 year old knows that when a woman is pregnant she will have a baby
Rhology: But the question is: IS THIS A BABY *NOW*?
-Rhology
Krauss: Go ahead...call us anti-abortion because most of us who ARE pro life ARE against abortion and pretty darn proud of it too! And asking us how many of these 'unwanted babies' have we adopted is stupid. Just because we cant adopt all the 'unwanted babies' we're suddenly not worthy of being pro life? Thats just a plain stupid argument. Ever heard of Crisis Pregnancy Centers? They not only help the woman BEFORE birth but after as well. They dont leave her hanging in limbo after she decided not to abort. Geez. Look up Crisis Pregnancy Centers and see for yourself.
Krauss: Awesome story Jamie! So glad your birth mother didnt have an abortion and that you could find a loving home. Sad to think that not all unborn babies are so lucky.
Pro-abort Kiran: I am all for education balanced fair education. all three choices given to a woman if she wants it. Sure educate about parenting, adoption and abortion. but be honest and keep god out of it!
Pam: At pro-life are hypocrits, if you really truly honestly believe that there are no forms of slavery happening in this country right now you r very very blind to the evils of this world. What exactly would you call it when 12 year old girls r sold for sex against their will, then become pregnant, and r then forced to have abortions against their will? This is happening here in the US today. Since Planned Parenthood knew this was happening and even helped the men doing this to get the girls abortions and then gave those girls right back to the men who r basically owning them as sex slaves i would argue that planned parenthood doesnt care one bit about women.
Blitzer: After it stops being a "parasite" (it's not because it's the same species, but if ppl can call it a baby and not be called out then w/e) in developed nations. When it wont cause other's to die in countries in China and poor nations that cannot afford to have more children, such as in Africa.
Because the lives of real people always trump those of fetuses and very young babies.
Here's a test:
There's a burning building.
Inside is an 8 year old girl, and fridge full of frozen embryos.
You can only save one, which would it be? Why?
Blitzer: If anti abortion ppl were pro life they wouldn't have killed Dr. Tiller, and after his death condemn him more than the murderer.
Blitzer: In fact if they were they wouldn't be debating on whether or not the murderer was in the wrong, nor trying to pass laws in which murdering doctors is considered "justified homicide"
Blitzer: Pam, where the **** is your source?
Planned Parenthood is a very good, caring organization, less than 3% of the services and costs are abortion related, most are helping to test and treat std's, cancer, and pregnancy related things excluding abortion.
In fact the one closest me told me it's not even allowed to talk about abortion at all when I asked about it for a school project.
Rhology: Why would we want to keep God out of it? He's the creator of all life and the lawgiver. We should listen to what He says.
And we don't allow ppl the option to murder their children. THat's kinda the point.
Fox, how do you know that "not being a parasite" means that the baby has the right to life?
Are you saying that very young babies are not real people? And are you aware that it's VERY rare that women have to end pregnancy b/c of risk to their life? 98%+ of abortions are for reasons other than that. So you need to rephrase, as you've made a poor analogy. DO you mean that the CONVENIENCE of OLDER people is of higher value than the LIVES of YOUNGER people?
Your bldg analogy is flawed. Abolishing abortion does not require that we choose to save a very young baby over an 8 year old. Try sthg else, please. -Rhology
Blitzer: Because:
1) this is not a christian nation
2) it's in your best interest seeing as how if god exists he is the most prolific abortionist in history, with 70% of pregnancies ending in spontaneous natural abortions, or by god giving them an abortion, most likely against their will.
Pro-abort Kiran: Maybe for you god plays a part but for me and many other strong itelligent women "god" has nothing to do with conception. For us it is simple biology. So to cram "god" and your interpretation of his wants really is insulting. I say all the power to you who are religious just dont expect us to give any credit to your thoughts on what god wants.
Blitzer: Young babies can live off of anyone, no one specific person is needed to let them live inside their body for them to live, and thus they have gained rights to their own body.
Just as how being 18 is arbitrary, but I will not be allowed to vote, smoke, move out, obtain abortions, or sign legally binding contracts such as marriage contracts until I am 18, 21 also is arbitrary but I will not be allowed to drink until that age.
Are you saying (my 18th bday is 2 days after the presidential election) that 2 days changes my decision making so dramatically that I shouldn't be allowed to vote? Or that we need real set in stone standards to go by, and that's why it's not up to interpretation or human emotion.
Rhology: The guy who murdered Tiller murdered a mass murderer. Obviously we'll condemn that guy less than the guy who killed 1000s of the most helpless of humans. I don't apologise for that one bit. Good riddance to that devil of a man, Tiller.
That said, "they" didn't kill TIller. One guy did. Be far more careful in your language if you want to be taken seriously, yeah?
Also I love how you uncritically swallow PP's number of 3% w/o looking into it. Seriously, do some reading on the other side of things. Surprise us all. -Rhology
Rhology: God ending someone's life is not the same as your ending it. He has the right and authority; you don't. You keep rehashing the same old tired arguments, Fox Wolf. Pro-aborts don't advance much. -Rhology
Blitzer: And no, those stats are exaggerated, most abortions occur because of an illness either in the child or the mother, because the mother cannot give an adequate life, because the mother is in a poor socio-economic status, etc.
Many go on to have children of their own at a time that they can actually provide for them.
very few are simply for convenience.
Pam: True pro-lifers do not support murder of any kind. I am truly and completely pro-life, no one gets to decide when another human life gets to live or die. Those who murdered that doctor were not truly pro-life, they may have been anti-abortion but they werent pro-life. I do not even support the death penalty, those people r Gods children as well, only he gets to decide whether they live or die. You r going to say something about how it costs a lot of money to keep those people fed, gaurded, ect. Can you put a price tag or a monetary value on a human life? I cannot, my life is not equal to any $ amount and no other human life is either.
Blitzer: many other stories on this site http://www.imnotsorry.net/2010/09/06/ruths-story-2/
Blitzer: Pam, the death penalty costs more than life in prison, it's a fact.
Pro-abort Kiran: I am 100% anti death penalty, however abortion is not murder, as for the vigilanty who murdered the doc he should be locked up forever and made a very good example of.
Pro-abort Kiran: Please google...."the only moral abortion is mine"
Blitzer: Well as soon as god starts living by example I'll listen.
Did you know I used to be jewish?
I know what god advocates, alot.
In fact he doesn't say anything against abortion, the only time he really mentioned it was that it is a sin that if a woman is at any kind of risk, to not end the pregnancy in any way possible, "rip it limb by limb as real life is far more important than potential life, always"
Pro-abort Kiran: I am so happy that I live in Canada where womens right to choose will NEVER be threatened. Nobody takes these rightwing fringe groups seriously here!
Rhology: Illness/hard to provide an "adequate" life (whatever that means"/difficult life circumstances are not the same as certain death.
You've conceded the point. Thank you for playing.
Seriously, what excuse will you offer God when He asks you why you stood by and cheered as His tiny creations were getting dismembered and burned to death? It can't be "the pro-choice arguments were better"; that much is glaringly obvious. You're stuck in the 1980s with your argumentation. -Rhology
Rhology: So... Blitzer when precisely is it no longer OK to dismember a baby inside the womb? Be specific, and let us know how you know.
Also, you think fetuses can live off anyone? Um, what in the world are you talking about? -Rhology
Pam: Oh okay, Blitzer but it still doesnt change my opinion of it. I am pro-life meaning i value all life from conception to natural death.
Pro-abort Kiran: God will never ask me those questions as he dosent exisit
Blitzer: There's no such thing as a baby in the womb.
Blitzer: And no, I think a born child can live off anyone
Blitzer: and it becomes wrong whenever the mother doesn't choose to allow it.
Blitzer: I oppose forced abortions, and I oppose making women into baby making factories against their will.
Abolish Human Abortion Admin: Do you also oppose manipulating women into getting abortions?
Rhology: Blitzer are you willing to be your life on that imagination of yours?
So what is the organism one minute BEFORE birth? Please let me know what word you use.
Is it OK to kill that organism with impunity? -Rhology
Pro-abort Kiran: My friend way back in hight school was forced by her parents to have an abortion. She was 15 and the father was a drug using, drunk unemployed 21 year old. She was heartbroken at the time. I asker her 1 marriage 2 children and 25years later how she felt about it and she said "Thank goodness my parents knew what was right for me"! "I sometimes think about what my life would have turned out like if I was aloud to have that baby and I am thankfull". TRUE Story!
Weird Libertarian Guy?: Look, the vast MAJORITY of pro-life people are REPUBLICANS. So, you can't be pro-life in this country because stopping abortion by turning it into a CRIME is going to cost MONEY. We are right wingers, so we do NOT DO THAT. Get it?! Put a CORK IN IT! Unless you got millions of dollars and are paying for this !@#$ yourselves, I don't wanna hear your whining.
Pro-abort Kiran: Allowed :)
Blitzer: Yes I do oppose manipulating women into getting abortions, forcing women of any age or nationality to get abortions, and oppose adoption agencies and "crisis pregnancy centers" that do the same. I oppose all laws restricting the right to choose, whether that choice is to abort, adopt, or parent.
Pam: Blitzer, did you miss that at every single time in the bible when they refer to a pregnant woman they say she is "with child"? When mary goes to visit the pregnant mother of john the baptist is says the "child" in her womb leapt for joy. Also there is this very signficant passage that say THOU SHALL NOT KILL, it is completely a fact that an abortion ends an unborn human life, that being the very definition of killing. I dont believe thats the calling that God has given you in life, you r not following Gods calling for your life, the devil has weaseled his way in and has convinced you that you r following God will when you r in fact following the will of the devil.
Blitzer: Before birth it is a fetus, before it's a fetus its an embryo, before that it's a zygote, and before then it's an egg that has not yet been fertilized.
Rhology: Weird Libertarian Guy? you've left numerous challenges unanswered.
Pro-abort Kiran: Lol...dante created hell!
Rhology: I oppose all laws restricting the right to choose, whether that choice is to enslave Negros, drown Negros, or free Negros.
Hey look! You have sthg in common with 19th century rich white fat cat slaveowners!
-Rhology
Blitzer: Kiran, that's sad, but I will say that I would support everyone's right to choose. I understand that parents should be able to tell their kids what they want, but it should always be the choice of the person that is pregnant.
That is why I oppose the parental consent laws.
Weird Libertarian Guy?: Challenges? What challenges? You LIE. Of course, that's also a right wing trait ... but we're talking about BIG GOVERNMENT here! That's a big NO NO. Sorry! Whine about legalizing weed or something silly like that. This pro-life stuff is WAY too expensive. There is just no other way to dice it, which is probably why it never gets any traction with you right wing hypocrites. lol. Whenever you get your hands on a loaded gun, you tend to shoot yourselves in the foot because your so damn stupid and ineffective. If those fetuses DO want a chance at life, you're the last group of nitwits they need backing them up. I think we can ALL agree on that!
Pam: So a baby that was born at 24 weeks gestation is only a baby because it has passed through a birth canal where as a fetus that is 24 weeks along and still inside its mother is not a baby even thou it is developmentally the same age and physically looks the same just in a different location?
Blitzer: and yes, not very pro life to oppose abortion, also oppose comprehensive sex ed, access to birth control, and opposing helping to pay poor and disadvantaged women and families that have children.
Pro-abort Kiran: I am against forcing a woman to do anything against her will! when it comes to pregnat children the line becomes fuzzy for me. I will make sure my daughter is very educated when it comes to sex and will make sure she can talk to me about anything without judgment....sex included. If she becomes sexually active as a teenager I will take her to the doc and make sure she is educated on Birth control and we will together make the choice of a shot, pills or IUD
Pro-abort Kiran: 24 Weeks is to late to abort unless it is a health risk for mother and/or fetus.
Pam: how exactly is it "not very pro life to oppose abortion?"
Blitzer: IUD isn't available to ppl that haven't had kids yet, I don't think.
Pro-abort Kiran: In canada even though we have no time line laws on abortion 12 weeks is the accepted norm and it is very difficult to have an abortion after that. unless medically nessacery
Pro-abort Kiran: Blitzer it is here. not sure about there.
2 hours ago · Like
Pam: Kiran, A: that wasnt my point in asking that question, the point was that Fox said it isnt a baby until its been born and
B: if you really believe thats true, you r also blind to the evils of the world, abortions occur through all 40 weeks of pregnancy, they may not always be legal but they happen all the time.
Weird Libertarian Guy?: 8 years old is way TOO late for a coalition soldier to shoot in the head just because he's an Iraqi kid. I think we can all agree on that!
Pro-abort Kiran: Do you live in canada? Have you known anyone personally who has sought an abortion after 12 weeks here? and by the way i said it is very difficult not impossible. and it is legal here as there are no timelines
Abolish Human Abortion Weird Libertarian Guy? Is your memory damaged? Read back thru the responses I've written to you, find the ones you haven't replied to, and reply to them. -Rhology
Weird Libertarian Guy?: @Rhology: Tell me what's worse. A mother who chooses to abort a fetus, or a mother about to have a baby who is murdered along with her child by a United States Marine? Which one do we fight against, because we are really wasting money and lives now. On the one hand, we are fighting against abortion. On the other hand, we are supporting the military machine and wars.
Pro-abort Kiran: So happy i live in a country that is known as world peacekeepers not world police!
Abolish Human Abortion Weird Libertarian Guy? and here you've mistakenly expressed the notion that one can only fight one evil at a time. Untrue. -Rhology (he who is not in favor of the war in Iraqghanistan)
Weird Libertarian Guy?: NO. I have not. Pro-life right wingers are by in LARGE pro-war. These sick bastards routinely post up pro-life stuff , while simultaneously praising war and its horror. In fact, that's EXACTLY how I got the link to your pro-life tripe. From a right winger who does exactly what I just described! Again, you better just shut your yap, step back, and regroup. You aren't getting anywhere with pro-life because pro-life is backed by a bunch of right wing hypocrites.
On the fence Mandy: So here's the deal - I would absolutely never have an abortion because I feel that it is against my personal belief and relationship with God. However, I do not feel it is my right to force those beliefs on other people or insist that people have the same exact religious beliefs as me. In response to the ad, it isn't right for either camp pro-life or pro-abortion to attack the other side. It is just petty and convinces no one that their point of view is perhaps better.
Pro-abort Kiran: Mandy I respect that. That for me is exactly what it means to be prochoice. I salute your choice to personally be prolife and politically prochoice
Abolitionist, Colbert: @Mandy and Kiran
So, you don't like the idea of the government imposing a law that would make it illegal to impose death upon another human being?
Try THINKING about what you're supporting. What if I were to say that I'm personally anti-rape, but think it's wrong to tell a man what he can and can't do with his penis?
Abolitionist, Colbert: @WLG?
So... Since you're OK with slaughtering innocent children, then you have no problem with dropping bombs on innocent civilians in other countries?
Isn't that how your slippery slope works?
Try THINKING.
Pro-abort Kiran: I dont need to think about it. In Canada we abolished the deathpenalty. We now have less crime. Proven fact!
Abolitionist Alisha: Hey Mandy. Your reasoning for why you would never have an abortion is religiously motivated, is it not? That's your basis for being politically pro-choice? I mean no disrespect, but it's still logically consistent to be pro-life based on secular and human rights reasons, which is why I am pro-life, and NOT pro-choice politically. I am not imposing my "religious" beliefs on anyone to tell them that by having an abortion, a woman is killing what science proves to be a human being, and that it is legally inconsistent to allow this since the preborn human being is denied the right to due process as we know it in this country. While I may or may not have religious convictions that do or do not line up with my secular thought processes, the characterization of the pro-life/pro-choice divide is not strictly along religious lines. Supporting the "right" to abortion for others is supporting the "right" to kill human beings that would not be in that position of dependence without the voluntary actions of their parents.
Pro-abort Kiran: Still pro~choice! call it a baby a fetus a potential human being..still pro~choice
Pro-abort Kiran: Women have the right to choose to become a parent or not! right up until that fetus can survive outside the womb on their own. 12weeks unless special circumstances.
Rhology: On the fence Mandy, consider this aside from what Abolitionist, Colbert said: I would absolutely never own a slave because I feel that it is against my personal belief and relationship with God. However, I do not feel it is my right to force those beliefs on other people or insist that people have the same exact religious beliefs as me. -Rhology
Rhology: Pro-abort Kiran: Women have the right to choose to become a parent or not! We agree. That right is in play before sex. After a baby comes into being, that right has been given up, and the baby's right to life supersedes the mother's privileges of convenience. -Rhology
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
The Bible Is the Word of God Debate - Saaib's Second Statement
My opening statement
Saaib's opening statement/rebuttal
My first rebuttal
Now, Saaib's second statement, originally posted here:
"Rhoblogy", has published his "rebuttal". I was wondering what will he respond to, as what I had presented were facts, facts and facts. Denying the facts could have been a choice. Oh my God!!! This is exactly what he exactly did. (See his last paragraph, "history tells us")
What exactly did Rhoblogy do to evade a possible humiliation?
Rhoblogy dedicated more than 1000 words (1085?) to refute what I never said. He started refuting Bart Erhman and wrote an essay on it. What I made was an entirely different argument, and to make it factual I quoted a scholar. I argued that we have copies which are separated from their sources by centuries, that for me means we don't know what exactly the words of God were. Its like I say 1+1=2, prove me wrong and you reply 3+3 is not equal to 5 therefore you are proven wrong.
Thus my first argument still stands valid.
I have fallen in a pit fall (according to "Rhoblogy") by talking about textual variants but he didn't bother to bring me out of it, so I still remain there. Anyways what exactly was I talking about, "There is no common version of Bible, as the individual books (Biblical Canon), their contents and their order vary among denominations. Main stream Judaism divided the Tanakh into 24 Books while the Samaritans accept only five. 19 are thrown out." The argument was on "canons" not what the content is. He started talking about content throwing all of us in the pit and covering the pit with his breath taking English.
Myy second (?) argument still stands.
Then "Rhoblogy" quotes us from "Peter" which happens to be the sixth last book of the New Testament. Do the verses prove anything, no absolutely not. "Peter" was written by some "xyz" who was not speaking on behalf of others. The authors of different Books of Bible are different. How do you know who is "xyz" talking about. Do the Gospels claim to be the word of God and how exactly where they "tickled" to write the words. We are still to get an answer for this.
The Quran talks about the Jews and the Christians corrupting their scripture at 2:79. Rhoblogy wants to know why exactly didn't I quote the context and he also wants to know how I concluded that it refers to Ahlul Kitab. (I had already written it in my first paper). Anyways you have quoted the context Mr. "Rhoblogy" but I want my readers to read them after they read verse 75.
75. Do you covet [the hope, O believers], that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of Allah and then distort the Torah after they had understood it while they were knowing?
So you have the context and it proves nothing and I know that it refers to Christians and Jews because “Az-Zuhri said that `Ubadydullah bin `Abdullah narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims! How could you ask the People of the Book about anything, while the Book of Allah (Qur'an) that He revealed to His Prophet is the most recent Book from Him and you still read it fresh and young Allah told you that the People of the Book altered the Book of Allah, changed it and wrote another book with their own hands. They then said, `This book is from Allah,' so that they acquired a small profit by it. Hasn't the knowledge that came to you prohibited you from asking them By Allah! We have not seen any of them asking you about what was revealed to you.'' This Hadith was also collected by Al-Bukhari.” So unless Mr. "Rhoblogy", can explicitly and demonstrably display where exactly, I misquoted or incorrectly applied this ayah of the Qur’an, I suggest that he brushes up on his trade of deceit.
More proof that Islamic position on Bible is that it was faked and corrupted. Ibn Abi Daud writes in his book, Al-Masahif, quoting Yazid ibn Muawiyah Nakhai who passed on the following (interesting) comment from Huzayfa:
“Those before you (people of the book) differed just like this. By God, I will go riding to the leader of the believers, Uthman, the third caliph.”
Huzayfa was a military officer posted in Armenia and Azerbaijan, and had just come back from doing battle. But when he reached Madina, and witnessed the scene in the Prophet’s mosque, instead of going straight home, he went directly to the third caliph and addressed him thus: “O Leader of the believers! Take care of the people, before they fall victim to the differences regarding the book of God just as the Jews and the Christians did.”
Stop begging Islam, it wont help Mr. Rhoblogy.
Yes, even Quran 18:27 wont help. Not even 6:115.
The Qur’an claims that no one can change the Word of God. (Surah 6:115/116; 10:64; 18:27/28; 48:23; 50:28-29).
Now, in as much as I am sure he can read, this really made me change my mind. We have something which we (the educated people) call contextual analysis or literary analysis. Meaning, we do not appeal to the fallacy of reading between the lines, nor do we isolate any verses for our own prejudices. To answer this rather absurd claim, all we must do is lay forth three premises:
1. The Qur’an says the Kalamullah cannot be altered.
2. The Qur'an says that the scripture the Ahlul Kitab have is corrupted.
3. The Qur’an says that Allah’s word was not changed.
So how do we reconcile these three premises? Simple! The Qur’an says quite clearly that Allah’s word cannot be changed, it then goes on to say that the scripture of the Ahlul Kitab was fraudulent, therefore implying that the words of Allah and the scripture of Ahlul Kitab are two different things. This is confirmed in the first ayah which I quoted, of Qur’an Surah 2, Ayah 79. As in lieu of the Ayah "rhoblogy" quoted, it means that Ahlul Kitab wrote words and claimed it to be from God! Simple!
Under the heading "Other Tidbits" Rhoblogy again denies the facts again keeping me in the same pit which I had fallen into (according to him).
God is more reliable than History. (True) But that is what we are debating. "Is the Bible God's word?"
Anyways the question remains, "WHAT HAD THE POOR DONKEY DONE?"
Let me summarize:
Argument 1: The problem of what exactly did God reveal.
Me: What did god actually reveal and how.
Rhoblogy: No answers
Verdict: Busted.
Argument 2: Scripture is self-affirming.
Rhoblogy: Scripture is self affirming.
Me: Not really.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Refuted.
Argument 3: God's actions that can never be explained.
Me: Mass murder, killing of donkeys etc.
Rhoblogy: God does whatever he wishes.
Status: Busted.
Argument4: What has the poor donkey done?
Me: What has the poor donkey done that he should be hanged till death.
Replies: God cant be produced in court.
Status: Busted
Argument 5: Unfulfilled prophecies.
Rhoblogy: Bible has many fulfilled prophecies.
Me. 1. Nostadamus’ book should be the best book to be called the word of God.
2. Prophecy related to Cain. Unfulfilled.
3. Prophecy related to David. Unfulfilled.
4. Prophecy related to Tyrus. Unfulfilled.
5. Forced unfulfilled prophecy of Jesus.
Rhoblogy: No answers for 1, 2, 3, 5. 4: Deny the fact.
Me: Lol.
Status: Busted
Argument 6: Isaiah prophecy about Jesus.
Me: On one end, the Christian Greek Old Testament places divinity on a child, while the Hebrew Old Testament places divinity on God.
Rhoblogy: Keep mum.
Status: Busted.
Argument 7: "An argument from Jesus".
Rhoblogy: Jesus confirms the OT.
Me: Only if we know what Jesus confirmed was OT.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted.
Argument 8: Quran on Bible.
Rhoblogy: Quran affirms that Bible is the word of God.
Me: Quran affirms that Bible is a forged scripture an some parts are corrupted.
Rhoblogy: Skips a few points and replies to a few.
Me: remove any further doubts.
Status: Pending.
Argument 9: Versions of Bible and What exactly did Muhammad confirm.
Me: Different versions of the Bible, Muhamamd confirmed none.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted.
Argument 10: Bible in Muhammad's time.
Me: Bible is Muhammad's time was different and very unlike today's.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted
Argument 11: Quran confirms previous scriptures.
Rhoblogy: Surah 2:86, Surah 2:89, Surah 2:91, Surah 3:84, Surah 4:136, Surah 5:45 confirm the Bible.
Me: No buddy, not really. The don't confirm LXX or Pope Damuscus Canon. Only because it confirms the previous scriptures do we Muslims believe that there were scriptures revealed to other prophets.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted.
Argument 12: Old Testament existence in history.
Me: Old Testament not known historically. Gets destroyed twice.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted.
Argument 13: Muhammad in The Bible. (Off the topic)
Rhoblogy: Muhammad not found in Bible.
Me: Found indeed.
Rhoblogy: No replies.
Status: Busted.
Argument 14: No one can change God's words.
Rhoblogy: Quran says no one can change God's words.
Me: Yes exactly.
Status: Busted.
I didn't talk about Bart Erhman's methodology and Quran's authenticity because it is not part of the debate. What we are debating is Bible not Quran. So we can't conclude Quran is not the word of God unless we debate the issue.
(Word count [as in Wordpress]: 1500)
(Link to comment repository post)
Saaib's opening statement/rebuttal
My first rebuttal
Now, Saaib's second statement, originally posted here:
"Rhoblogy", has published his "rebuttal". I was wondering what will he respond to, as what I had presented were facts, facts and facts. Denying the facts could have been a choice. Oh my God!!! This is exactly what he exactly did. (See his last paragraph, "history tells us")
What exactly did Rhoblogy do to evade a possible humiliation?
Rhoblogy dedicated more than 1000 words (1085?) to refute what I never said. He started refuting Bart Erhman and wrote an essay on it. What I made was an entirely different argument, and to make it factual I quoted a scholar. I argued that we have copies which are separated from their sources by centuries, that for me means we don't know what exactly the words of God were. Its like I say 1+1=2, prove me wrong and you reply 3+3 is not equal to 5 therefore you are proven wrong.
Thus my first argument still stands valid.
I have fallen in a pit fall (according to "Rhoblogy") by talking about textual variants but he didn't bother to bring me out of it, so I still remain there. Anyways what exactly was I talking about, "There is no common version of Bible, as the individual books (Biblical Canon), their contents and their order vary among denominations. Main stream Judaism divided the Tanakh into 24 Books while the Samaritans accept only five. 19 are thrown out." The argument was on "canons" not what the content is. He started talking about content throwing all of us in the pit and covering the pit with his breath taking English.
Myy second (?) argument still stands.
Then "Rhoblogy" quotes us from "Peter" which happens to be the sixth last book of the New Testament. Do the verses prove anything, no absolutely not. "Peter" was written by some "xyz" who was not speaking on behalf of others. The authors of different Books of Bible are different. How do you know who is "xyz" talking about. Do the Gospels claim to be the word of God and how exactly where they "tickled" to write the words. We are still to get an answer for this.
The Quran talks about the Jews and the Christians corrupting their scripture at 2:79. Rhoblogy wants to know why exactly didn't I quote the context and he also wants to know how I concluded that it refers to Ahlul Kitab. (I had already written it in my first paper). Anyways you have quoted the context Mr. "Rhoblogy" but I want my readers to read them after they read verse 75.
75. Do you covet [the hope, O believers], that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of Allah and then distort the Torah after they had understood it while they were knowing?
So you have the context and it proves nothing and I know that it refers to Christians and Jews because “Az-Zuhri said that `Ubadydullah bin `Abdullah narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims! How could you ask the People of the Book about anything, while the Book of Allah (Qur'an) that He revealed to His Prophet is the most recent Book from Him and you still read it fresh and young Allah told you that the People of the Book altered the Book of Allah, changed it and wrote another book with their own hands. They then said, `This book is from Allah,' so that they acquired a small profit by it. Hasn't the knowledge that came to you prohibited you from asking them By Allah! We have not seen any of them asking you about what was revealed to you.'' This Hadith was also collected by Al-Bukhari.” So unless Mr. "Rhoblogy", can explicitly and demonstrably display where exactly, I misquoted or incorrectly applied this ayah of the Qur’an, I suggest that he brushes up on his trade of deceit.
More proof that Islamic position on Bible is that it was faked and corrupted. Ibn Abi Daud writes in his book, Al-Masahif, quoting Yazid ibn Muawiyah Nakhai who passed on the following (interesting) comment from Huzayfa:
“Those before you (people of the book) differed just like this. By God, I will go riding to the leader of the believers, Uthman, the third caliph.”
Huzayfa was a military officer posted in Armenia and Azerbaijan, and had just come back from doing battle. But when he reached Madina, and witnessed the scene in the Prophet’s mosque, instead of going straight home, he went directly to the third caliph and addressed him thus: “O Leader of the believers! Take care of the people, before they fall victim to the differences regarding the book of God just as the Jews and the Christians did.”
Stop begging Islam, it wont help Mr. Rhoblogy.
Yes, even Quran 18:27 wont help. Not even 6:115.
The Qur’an claims that no one can change the Word of God. (Surah 6:115/116; 10:64; 18:27/28; 48:23; 50:28-29).
Now, in as much as I am sure he can read, this really made me change my mind. We have something which we (the educated people) call contextual analysis or literary analysis. Meaning, we do not appeal to the fallacy of reading between the lines, nor do we isolate any verses for our own prejudices. To answer this rather absurd claim, all we must do is lay forth three premises:
1. The Qur’an says the Kalamullah cannot be altered.
2. The Qur'an says that the scripture the Ahlul Kitab have is corrupted.
3. The Qur’an says that Allah’s word was not changed.
So how do we reconcile these three premises? Simple! The Qur’an says quite clearly that Allah’s word cannot be changed, it then goes on to say that the scripture of the Ahlul Kitab was fraudulent, therefore implying that the words of Allah and the scripture of Ahlul Kitab are two different things. This is confirmed in the first ayah which I quoted, of Qur’an Surah 2, Ayah 79. As in lieu of the Ayah "rhoblogy" quoted, it means that Ahlul Kitab wrote words and claimed it to be from God! Simple!
Under the heading "Other Tidbits" Rhoblogy again denies the facts again keeping me in the same pit which I had fallen into (according to him).
God is more reliable than History. (True) But that is what we are debating. "Is the Bible God's word?"
Anyways the question remains, "WHAT HAD THE POOR DONKEY DONE?"
Let me summarize:
Argument 1: The problem of what exactly did God reveal.
Me: What did god actually reveal and how.
Rhoblogy: No answers
Verdict: Busted.
Argument 2: Scripture is self-affirming.
Rhoblogy: Scripture is self affirming.
Me: Not really.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Refuted.
Argument 3: God's actions that can never be explained.
Me: Mass murder, killing of donkeys etc.
Rhoblogy: God does whatever he wishes.
Status: Busted.
Argument4: What has the poor donkey done?
Me: What has the poor donkey done that he should be hanged till death.
Replies: God cant be produced in court.
Status: Busted
Argument 5: Unfulfilled prophecies.
Rhoblogy: Bible has many fulfilled prophecies.
Me. 1. Nostadamus’ book should be the best book to be called the word of God.
2. Prophecy related to Cain. Unfulfilled.
3. Prophecy related to David. Unfulfilled.
4. Prophecy related to Tyrus. Unfulfilled.
5. Forced unfulfilled prophecy of Jesus.
Rhoblogy: No answers for 1, 2, 3, 5. 4: Deny the fact.
Me: Lol.
Status: Busted
Argument 6: Isaiah prophecy about Jesus.
Me: On one end, the Christian Greek Old Testament places divinity on a child, while the Hebrew Old Testament places divinity on God.
Rhoblogy: Keep mum.
Status: Busted.
Argument 7: "An argument from Jesus".
Rhoblogy: Jesus confirms the OT.
Me: Only if we know what Jesus confirmed was OT.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted.
Argument 8: Quran on Bible.
Rhoblogy: Quran affirms that Bible is the word of God.
Me: Quran affirms that Bible is a forged scripture an some parts are corrupted.
Rhoblogy: Skips a few points and replies to a few.
Me: remove any further doubts.
Status: Pending.
Argument 9: Versions of Bible and What exactly did Muhammad confirm.
Me: Different versions of the Bible, Muhamamd confirmed none.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted.
Argument 10: Bible in Muhammad's time.
Me: Bible is Muhammad's time was different and very unlike today's.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted
Argument 11: Quran confirms previous scriptures.
Rhoblogy: Surah 2:86, Surah 2:89, Surah 2:91, Surah 3:84, Surah 4:136, Surah 5:45 confirm the Bible.
Me: No buddy, not really. The don't confirm LXX or Pope Damuscus Canon. Only because it confirms the previous scriptures do we Muslims believe that there were scriptures revealed to other prophets.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted.
Argument 12: Old Testament existence in history.
Me: Old Testament not known historically. Gets destroyed twice.
Rhoblogy: No answers.
Status: Busted.
Argument 13: Muhammad in The Bible. (Off the topic)
Rhoblogy: Muhammad not found in Bible.
Me: Found indeed.
Rhoblogy: No replies.
Status: Busted.
Argument 14: No one can change God's words.
Rhoblogy: Quran says no one can change God's words.
Me: Yes exactly.
Status: Busted.
I didn't talk about Bart Erhman's methodology and Quran's authenticity because it is not part of the debate. What we are debating is Bible not Quran. So we can't conclude Quran is not the word of God unless we debate the issue.
(Word count [as in Wordpress]: 1500)
(Link to comment repository post)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Bible Is the Word of God Debate - My First Rebuttal
Saaib's opening statement/rebuttal was a bit of a mishmash. I have tried to weave the incoherent pieces together to create a cohesive position to rebut.
Bart Ehrman, mercenary
It seems that the main thrust of his argument is contained in:
The problems with Saaib's appeal to Ehrman's argument are numerous, but most importantly, if Ehrman had the courage to apply his same methodology and presuppositions to the Qur'an, Ehrman would come to the same conclusion about the Qur'an, that it misquotes Mohammed. How do we know this?
First, a brief excursus on the problem Ehrman poses. No original manuscript (hereafter, MSS) of the New Testament (hereafter, NT) is yet found. We have many copies of MSS and copies of copies of MSS and copies of copies of copies of...etc. These copies differ from each other; no two are identical. Ehrman then applies his presupposition to this situation. Ehrman's argument is as follows:
P1) No original NT MSS is extant.
P2) The extant MSS copies of the NT differ from each other.
P3) I presuppose without argument that differences in copies mean that God could NOT have superintended the process of copying such that the essential revelation He intended to communicate was in fact preserved, because that's what I believe and I don't examine my beliefs deeply.
C) Therefore, differences in copies mean that God could NOT have superintended the process of copying such that the essential revelation He intended to communicate was in fact preserved.
Hopefully, everyone can see the problem - one premise is identical to the conclusion, and that's Ehrman's problem, yet he weasels out of debating people such as Dr James R White on that very presupposition. (Yes, he debated White, but weaseled out of debating that question.) Substantiating that presupposition is absolutely crucial to his argument, but he won't defend it. He merely disingenuously states it as "this is only what I think" and moves on, but then treats it as a fact. I challenge anyone, most importantly Saaib, to listen to an Ehrman lecture or debate (I've listened to many, and attended one in person) and identify the argument he uses to defend that presupposition. So far I've not even heard him try.
What if we apply the same reasoning to the Qur'an?
P1) No original Qur'an MSS is extant.
P2) The extant MSS copies of the Qur'an differ from each other. (Saaib will probably deny this, but that merely means he is ignorant.)
P3) I presuppose that differences in copies mean that Allah could NOT have superintended the process of copying such that the essential revelation he intended to communicate was in fact preserved.
C) Therefore, differences in copies mean that Allah could NOT have superintended the process of copying such that the essential revelation he intended to communicate was in fact preserved.
See how easy that is, and how lazy?
Or what if we make P1 and P2 relate to the chain of narration of the Qur'an, and then simply presuppose that no reliable chains of narration can exist. Sure, sure, Saaib can assert that human memory could accomplish such a task, and maybe it could, but if we get to act like Ehrman and presuppose (without argument) that:
-God is not in charge, and/or
-God didn't care enough to make the process simple, clean, and straightforward (ie, God didn't provide the companions of the prophets in the Qur'an's case, or the prophets and apostles in the Bible's case, with photocopiers and digital voice recorders with redundant backups), and/or
-it is implausible that chains of narration could preserve a long text like the Qur'an with 100% accuracy over the course of many years, therefore that didn't happen,
then we can simply conclude à la Ehrman that the Qur'an misquotes Mohammed. Sorry, we don't know what Mohammed said. If Allah wanted us to know what he said, why didn't he preserve the MSS so that we could?
Or what if we make P1 and P2 relate to Uthman and the burning of all Qur'anic MSS that he did not approve? How does Saaib know for sure that Uthman didn't burn the most faithful MSS copies of the Qur'an? He doesn't. He has to trust his god.
As Ehrman said at minute 7:10 of the first cross-examination during his debate with James White:
Saaib needs to be consistent and allow me the basic courtesy of trusting God to be able to make His Word known to His people. Otherwise, we would know nothing about Him.
Ironically, Ehrman's argument also destroys Saaib's position in another way. Since the Qur'an teaches that the people of the Book are to judge the Qur'an by the Injeel and the Taurat, and since the Qur'an claims that it is a confirmation of those, and since none of us can know, even with our vast numbers of MSS discoveries from vastly varied geographical areas, what the Injeel said (per Ehrman), that means Mohammed couldn't know what the Injeel said, nor could the people of the Book at Mohammed's time. So Allah's command becomes meaningless and literally impossible to follow. Yet it's a central piece of Allah's argument with respect to persuading people of the Book to follow Islam.
If the fact that the majority of the MSS are "centuries removed" from the original writers, what does that tell us about the Qur'an, which is actually in a worse position in that respect?
Saaib fell into a pitfall about which I warned him - he didn't analyse the situation but just gave an argument from authority. The vast majority of textual variants are non-meaningful, misspellings, and transpositions of words, lines, etc. Saaib has not taken into account the fact that less than 1% of all textual variants are non-meaningful and viable. Uncritically citing agnostics criticising theistic doctrine or materials is a dangerous occupation.
More inconsistency
Saaib says:
Muhammad (saw) was clear with what he was saying. These are God's words and these are mine and God's words come into my knowledge through Archangel Gabriel and I pass them onto you.
This is not an argument, but rather simply an assertion. The Bible claims the same thing numerous times.
2 Peter 1:19So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Not "tickled by". Is Saaib taking this debate seriously? The Greek word for "moved" in v20 refers to a boat's sail, caught full by the wind. The sail retains its identity and yet is flexed and moved by the wind.
The Qur'an can't get its story straight
A common objection.
Why didn't Saaib include the context?
76Behold! when they meet the men of Faith, they say: "We believe": But when they meet each other in private, they say: "Shall you tell them what Allah hath revealed to you, that they may engage you in argument about it before your Lord?"- Do ye not understand (their aim)?
77Know they not that Allah knoweth what they conceal and what they reveal?
78And there are among them illiterates, who know not the Book, but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture.
How does Saaib know that this refers to Christians who were committed to preserving and faithfully copying the NT?
How does Saaib know to believe the Qur'an when it says that Scriptures were "faked" but not when it tells him to check the Qur'an by what has already been revealed? Remember, this faking would have had to occur before the Qur'an was written.
Q18:27 - And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him.
Q6:115 - The word of thy Lord doth find its fulfilment in truth and in justice: None can change His words: for He is the one who heareth and knoweth all.
The Qur'an is contradictory when it deals with the Bible. Whatever else may come of this debate, we can know for certain that we must reject the Qur'an as the word of God.
A little more on Bible history
If one small local church in the 4th century had only a couple of MSS, then what other Word of God did they know? Today, we are not in that situation at all; we have MSS from all over the place, a wide variety of time periods and languages, and can check each against all the others.
The people of God had no real means of "officially" defining the Canon of the NT for centuries, and yet for the most part they came to the proper conclusion, independent of each other. Besides, we trust God to bring His people to an understanding of His Word's extent just as Saaib probably trusts Allah to aid in proper narration chains and correctly identity the number of Surat. Non-Christians adding books to the Old Testament (which is what happened at the non-Christian Council of Trent) has nothing to do with my position.
Other tidbits
-Luke 3:23's "(as was supposed)" is an English translation of what is in the Greek - ὡς ἐνομίζετο (hōs nomizō). The parenthetical is included to clarify in English.
-The fact that Allah swears by his creation in the Qur'an shows that Allah considers his word less important and authoritative than Yahweh considers His own word. How can the Qur'an have been existent from eternity past when Allah's oaths appeal to things that were created at a point in time, which didn't exist at times when the Qur'an did?
-Saaib judges Yahweh morally faulty for some of His activities. Saaib needs to let us know on what authority he throws God into court.
-Saaib falls into the warned-about pitfall of citing unfulfilled prophecy without giving, as stated, "proper exegesis to show why we should expect that prophecy should have already been fulfilled."
-Saaib says "history tells us". Does Saaib think we should trust "history" (whatever that means), or the Word of God?
Bart Ehrman, mercenary
It seems that the main thrust of his argument is contained in:
true but when we have them but when we don't have them we can't say "God's" word.I presume he meant to say "true when we have them", and this amounts to nothing more than the tired old canard championed by Bart Ehrman, to whom Saaib directly alludes approvingly.
The problems with Saaib's appeal to Ehrman's argument are numerous, but most importantly, if Ehrman had the courage to apply his same methodology and presuppositions to the Qur'an, Ehrman would come to the same conclusion about the Qur'an, that it misquotes Mohammed. How do we know this?
First, a brief excursus on the problem Ehrman poses. No original manuscript (hereafter, MSS) of the New Testament (hereafter, NT) is yet found. We have many copies of MSS and copies of copies of MSS and copies of copies of copies of...etc. These copies differ from each other; no two are identical. Ehrman then applies his presupposition to this situation. Ehrman's argument is as follows:
P1) No original NT MSS is extant.
P2) The extant MSS copies of the NT differ from each other.
P3) I presuppose without argument that differences in copies mean that God could NOT have superintended the process of copying such that the essential revelation He intended to communicate was in fact preserved, because that's what I believe and I don't examine my beliefs deeply.
C) Therefore, differences in copies mean that God could NOT have superintended the process of copying such that the essential revelation He intended to communicate was in fact preserved.
Hopefully, everyone can see the problem - one premise is identical to the conclusion, and that's Ehrman's problem, yet he weasels out of debating people such as Dr James R White on that very presupposition. (Yes, he debated White, but weaseled out of debating that question.) Substantiating that presupposition is absolutely crucial to his argument, but he won't defend it. He merely disingenuously states it as "this is only what I think" and moves on, but then treats it as a fact. I challenge anyone, most importantly Saaib, to listen to an Ehrman lecture or debate (I've listened to many, and attended one in person) and identify the argument he uses to defend that presupposition. So far I've not even heard him try.
What if we apply the same reasoning to the Qur'an?
P1) No original Qur'an MSS is extant.
P2) The extant MSS copies of the Qur'an differ from each other. (Saaib will probably deny this, but that merely means he is ignorant.)
P3) I presuppose that differences in copies mean that Allah could NOT have superintended the process of copying such that the essential revelation he intended to communicate was in fact preserved.
C) Therefore, differences in copies mean that Allah could NOT have superintended the process of copying such that the essential revelation he intended to communicate was in fact preserved.
See how easy that is, and how lazy?
Or what if we make P1 and P2 relate to the chain of narration of the Qur'an, and then simply presuppose that no reliable chains of narration can exist. Sure, sure, Saaib can assert that human memory could accomplish such a task, and maybe it could, but if we get to act like Ehrman and presuppose (without argument) that:
-God is not in charge, and/or
-God didn't care enough to make the process simple, clean, and straightforward (ie, God didn't provide the companions of the prophets in the Qur'an's case, or the prophets and apostles in the Bible's case, with photocopiers and digital voice recorders with redundant backups), and/or
-it is implausible that chains of narration could preserve a long text like the Qur'an with 100% accuracy over the course of many years, therefore that didn't happen,
then we can simply conclude à la Ehrman that the Qur'an misquotes Mohammed. Sorry, we don't know what Mohammed said. If Allah wanted us to know what he said, why didn't he preserve the MSS so that we could?
Or what if we make P1 and P2 relate to Uthman and the burning of all Qur'anic MSS that he did not approve? How does Saaib know for sure that Uthman didn't burn the most faithful MSS copies of the Qur'an? He doesn't. He has to trust his god.
As Ehrman said at minute 7:10 of the first cross-examination during his debate with James White:
The New Testament, we have much earlier attestation than for any other book from antiquity. What you can't do is then say "well, then you can't trust any book from antiquity". OK... yes, right, that's right.Ehrman is confused. Either his view leads to a complete and opaque agnosticism about history, which would include impenetrable darkness about the reliability of the Qur'an and ahadith, or we should reject this poor presupposition and look for one that is consistent with itself, one that allows us to study history reasonably and carefully.
Saaib needs to be consistent and allow me the basic courtesy of trusting God to be able to make His Word known to His people. Otherwise, we would know nothing about Him.
Ironically, Ehrman's argument also destroys Saaib's position in another way. Since the Qur'an teaches that the people of the Book are to judge the Qur'an by the Injeel and the Taurat, and since the Qur'an claims that it is a confirmation of those, and since none of us can know, even with our vast numbers of MSS discoveries from vastly varied geographical areas, what the Injeel said (per Ehrman), that means Mohammed couldn't know what the Injeel said, nor could the people of the Book at Mohammed's time. So Allah's command becomes meaningless and literally impossible to follow. Yet it's a central piece of Allah's argument with respect to persuading people of the Book to follow Islam.
If the fact that the majority of the MSS are "centuries removed" from the original writers, what does that tell us about the Qur'an, which is actually in a worse position in that respect?
Saaib fell into a pitfall about which I warned him - he didn't analyse the situation but just gave an argument from authority. The vast majority of textual variants are non-meaningful, misspellings, and transpositions of words, lines, etc. Saaib has not taken into account the fact that less than 1% of all textual variants are non-meaningful and viable. Uncritically citing agnostics criticising theistic doctrine or materials is a dangerous occupation.
More inconsistency
Saaib says:
Muhammad (saw) was clear with what he was saying. These are God's words and these are mine and God's words come into my knowledge through Archangel Gabriel and I pass them onto you.
This is not an argument, but rather simply an assertion. The Bible claims the same thing numerous times.
2 Peter 1:19So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Not "tickled by". Is Saaib taking this debate seriously? The Greek word for "moved" in v20 refers to a boat's sail, caught full by the wind. The sail retains its identity and yet is flexed and moved by the wind.
The Qur'an can't get its story straight
But woe to them who fake the Scriptures and say: "This is from God," so that they might earn some profit thereby; and woe to them for what they fake, and woe to them for what they earn from it! Q2:79
A common objection.
Why didn't Saaib include the context?
76Behold! when they meet the men of Faith, they say: "We believe": But when they meet each other in private, they say: "Shall you tell them what Allah hath revealed to you, that they may engage you in argument about it before your Lord?"- Do ye not understand (their aim)?
77Know they not that Allah knoweth what they conceal and what they reveal?
78And there are among them illiterates, who know not the Book, but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture.
How does Saaib know that this refers to Christians who were committed to preserving and faithfully copying the NT?
How does Saaib know to believe the Qur'an when it says that Scriptures were "faked" but not when it tells him to check the Qur'an by what has already been revealed? Remember, this faking would have had to occur before the Qur'an was written.
Q18:27 - And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him.
Q6:115 - The word of thy Lord doth find its fulfilment in truth and in justice: None can change His words: for He is the one who heareth and knoweth all.
The Qur'an is contradictory when it deals with the Bible. Whatever else may come of this debate, we can know for certain that we must reject the Qur'an as the word of God.
A little more on Bible history
If one small local church in the 4th century had only a couple of MSS, then what other Word of God did they know? Today, we are not in that situation at all; we have MSS from all over the place, a wide variety of time periods and languages, and can check each against all the others.
The people of God had no real means of "officially" defining the Canon of the NT for centuries, and yet for the most part they came to the proper conclusion, independent of each other. Besides, we trust God to bring His people to an understanding of His Word's extent just as Saaib probably trusts Allah to aid in proper narration chains and correctly identity the number of Surat. Non-Christians adding books to the Old Testament (which is what happened at the non-Christian Council of Trent) has nothing to do with my position.
Other tidbits
-Luke 3:23's "(as was supposed)" is an English translation of what is in the Greek - ὡς ἐνομίζετο (hōs nomizō). The parenthetical is included to clarify in English.
-The fact that Allah swears by his creation in the Qur'an shows that Allah considers his word less important and authoritative than Yahweh considers His own word. How can the Qur'an have been existent from eternity past when Allah's oaths appeal to things that were created at a point in time, which didn't exist at times when the Qur'an did?
-Saaib judges Yahweh morally faulty for some of His activities. Saaib needs to let us know on what authority he throws God into court.
-Saaib falls into the warned-about pitfall of citing unfulfilled prophecy without giving, as stated, "proper exegesis to show why we should expect that prophecy should have already been fulfilled."
-Saaib says "history tells us". Does Saaib think we should trust "history" (whatever that means), or the Word of God?
The rest are minor matters I might mention later.
(Word count: 1995)
Monday, January 09, 2012
Facebook conversation with Muslims
A recent Facebook conversation.
Note that I never get an answer to my principal question as well as the numerous bizarre and frankly irrelevant questions posed to me.
Also, I don't know why these guys write English the way they do, but it's apparently a pattern among Africans.
Khan:
TO THE DISBELIEVERS.
Each time we tell you that Islam is the solution to your problem, WHY DO YOU DISAGREE?
But we found that you are the largest patronizers of islamic banks (in Nigeria).
Without islam you would have no choice but to patronize those heartless banks you set up. They don't care about you, they can't wait to see you go bankrupt.
BUT ALLAH WANTS EASE FOR YOU.
Rhology
My biggest problem is sin. How does Islam solve that for me?
Khan
Rhology, islam absolves you of sin the same way jesus foretold in the parable of the prodigal son.
When you repent and turn away from sin you will find Allah oft forgiving, most merciful.
When you repent and turn to Allah, its like a baby spreading its arms to its mother to be lifted. And we know mothers are merciful, but Allah is more merciful.
Rhology
So Allah will ignore my sin if I stop sinning?
What if I can't stop sinning? What if I realise that I will never be as good as God?
Khan
If you stop sinning, Not only will Allah ignore your sins, "ALLAH WILL CHANGE THEIR SINS INTO GOOD DEEDS..." Q25:70.
WHAT IF I CAN'T STOP SINNING?
He (Allah) has created DEATH and LIFE that He may test which of you is best in deed. And he is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving. Q67:2.
Our life is a test, to see how much good we can do. Allah knew man would not stop sinning, that is why He opened the gates of Repentance till when the sun rises from the east and sets in the west (the last day).
As for being as good as Allah, know that Allah says: THERE IS NOTHING LIKE HIM (Allah), and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.
Allah is perfect, but man is susceptible to mistakes.
And Allah's aid is sought.
Khan
I meant Allah would leave the gates of repentance open till when the sun will rise from the WEST and set in EAST.
Rhology
But you're pretty confident you've done enough good to counterbalance your evil? How do you know?
Khan
Rhology.
When a student goes to school, he does some tests where he got good grades before the real exam. Tell me pls, if this student relents in his efforts and grows complacent with his efforts, what will happen to the final result after exam? FAILURE?
That is the case of the muslim, he is never satisfied with the little good deeds he has performed, he keeps trying and striving to do more, and he remains in that state till his death. Another benefit of this is that, the whole world would benefit if we could all be in this state and keep striving to do good.
My nxt comment explains another scenario.
Khan
If a student goes to school and he knows that no matter what he does, he will come out with beautiful result. Don't you think this will lead to d student being complacent and lazy? This will also lead to producing students undeserving of their results, mediocres and a nation will be adversely affected.
Likewise, if we all believed that jesus died for our sins, and no matter what we do (steal, kill, fornicate, lie e.t.c) we would still get God's pleasure, what do u think the world will be like.
That is why Allah the All-Wise says in the last verse of Q15,
AND WORSHIP YOUR LORD TILL THERE COMES TO YOU THE CERTAINTY (death).
Lastly, the muslim is never satisfied with the good he does, he continue to do good and repent from evil till he breathes his last.
All praise belongs to Allah.
Rhology
Khan, If the teacher at the school requires a PERFECT GRADE, then yes, the student will fail for missing on question. You seem to think that breaking God's law is no big deal.
Are you sure? You're NEVER satisfied? NEVER lazy? I don't believe that. I believe you're just like the rest of humanity - a sinner. You're not ALWAYS attuned to God. Not ALWAYS seeking him. You sometimes don't care enough to resist temptation.
Your second image is not how it is with Jesus, not at all. I'm sorry you're so ignorant of the Bible, but maybe you could read it some time.
Human nature begins corrupted, enemies of God. We break God's law. We love the world and don't love God.
When Jesus rescues us, He gives us a new heart that loves to serve Him and hates sin. Thus we serve Him because we have love for Him. We are now adopted children and no longer enemies. We serve Him out of gratitude.
However, we are warned over and over that the redeemed heart WILL love holiness and hate sin, so if we engage in unrepentant and consistent sin, it shows us that our hearts are not repentant after all, and that we are still lost, in sin, and enemies of God. Not saved after all. We are to test ourselves all the time to make sure that we are in the faith. God's declaration of salvation of a specific individual is not necessarily known infallibly by that individual.
So, if the Muslim repents of evil, Allah just ignores the lawbreaking? Does a just judge ignore lawbreaking when rendering judgment? Or if he ignores sin, is he not UNjust?
Khan
Rhology, the teacher does not require a perfect grade, he only require that you make an effort. He requires that each time you stumble, you pick yourself up and never give up.
Khan
Is a student who is preparing for an exam ever satisfied with his preparation? Rather he continue his preparation till the last minute.
So Allah says, in the Quran,
~ Help one another in virtue, righteousness and piety. Q5:2.
~ Hasten towards all that is good. Q2:148.
~ Race (compete) with one another towards forgiveness of your Lord and Paradise... Q57:21.
Competitiveness does not make one lazy, tired, satisfied or complacent.
Khan
You claim that human nature begins with corruption.
But islam teaches that it is from human nature to choose and love what is good. But along the line, an individual could choose to corrupt himself.
Ask anyone to choose between,
honey&fire, love&hate, happiness& sorrow. If you choose that which is good then it shows that your human nature is not yet corrupted. But some humans can decide to be a source of sorrow to others even though they know joy is better. These ones have corrupted their own good nature.
Khan
So if you still need to evaluate yourselves after jesus died, then it means you are still responsible for your sins and jesus did not die for your sin. And he did not want to die anyway.
But it is a common claim amongst christians that they now live in a period of grace, so they can do as they wish.
There are two types of sins that the muslim should repent of:
1. The one that involves the right of a fellow human: if i wrongly slap or abuse a person, then i have to ask the person to either take revenge or forgive me.
2. The one that involves the right of Allah alone: such as worshipping idols or disobedience to Him. if a muslim repents from this, Allah says, "I will accept their repentance. And I am the One who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful." Q2:160.
Rhology
So the teacher does not require perfection? That means that imperfection and sin can enter Paradise. How precisely does Allah guarantee that Paradise won't end up like Earth - full of sin and disobedience to Allah?
Yes, I know Islam teaches that man is born good. That is part of Islam's great deception. The Taurat and Zabbour teach the opposite. So does the Injeel. Are you comfortable with the fact that the Qur'an appeals to those books for its confirmation, yet teaches contrary to what they teach?
How many murders must one commit to be a murderer?
You said:
--"So if you still need to evaluate yourselves after jesus died, then it means you are still responsible for your sins and jesus did not die for your sin"
What is your argument for this statement? You simply asserted it but did not prove it.
Specifically, the evaluation is, as the Bible says:
2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? 6But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
Faith is a SIGN OF one's sins being forgiven and one's heart being transformed, and good works are a sign of that faith. So you really still don't understand.
You said:
--"And he did not want to die anyway."
That is only half the truth. Just as humans are complex creatures and can have varied emotions, so Jesus, being God and human both, does.
The same Jesus who cried out to the Father "IF IT BE YOUR WILL, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, let this cup pass from Me" (even though He knew the cup could not pass), these things are ALSO true of Him:
Luke 9:51 - 51When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem
Matthew 17:22And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
Matthew 20:28 whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Luke 19:10“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
So, Khan, please answer my question. Does Allah simply ignore sin?
Khan
God has not created man to be perfect. But a repenting soul will enter paradise.
Allah will forgive and overlook the sins of whomsoever he wills. Just like teachers overlook their students errors when marking their scripts.
Khan
Quran does not require any book for its authenticity, but the earlier books depend on the Quran which confirms what is true in them as well as distinguishes what is false, " And when there came to them a book (Quran) CONFIRMING that which is with them..." Q2:89.
So it is the Quran that authenticates the previous books, not the other way round.
Khan
If you still need to evaluate yourself, then it clearly shows that jesus did not die to save even a rat.
You have done nothing do dispel my assertion.
Your bible says, the son shall not bear the iniquities of the father and vice versa, did God contradict the rule later on by making jesus die for a sin he was innocent of? THIS IS REAL INJUSTICE.
I said, jesus did not want to die and this has not been denied by the verses you quoted. If jesus wanted to die, why did he cry out:
1. O lord, why hast thou forsaken me?
2. Let this cup (of death) pass away from me, not as i will. But as you will.
Do these sound like he wanted to die?
Akim
@Rhology in order make dis argueement easier 4 u, pls try and get translation version of only QURA'N and authentic BIBLE version and read both. I know dat at end u will embrace ISLAM inshaallah.
Rhology
Akim, I have already read the Bible many times, and I have also read the Muhsin Khan version of the Qur'an and taken copious notes. The Qur'an is a mess of inconsistencies, stupid arguments, and random stream-of-consciousness rambling. I need a Savior from sin. Islam says "do better!" Jesus says "I did it perfectly and give righteousness as a gift for those who recognise they can never be perfect on their own."
I'm sticking with Jesus.
Khan
Have a nice day.
Rhology
Khan
So a judge who ignores lawbreaking is a good and just judge? Isn't it true that a just judge must PUNISH all lawbreaking?
It sounds like you don't think the law is a very big deal. Which means that sin is not a very big deal.
Is sin a big deal, or is it insignificant? If Allah overlooks sin, why doesn't he just overlook shirk too?
You didn't quote the right passage from the Qur'an.
Surah 5:45 If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers. And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah.*** Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein.***
But even what you said destroys your case. The Qur'an does not CONFIRM what came before it, since it teaches the exact opposite in many ways. "Confirm" does not mean "contradict fundamentally".
You said:
--" the son shall not bear the iniquities of the father and vice versa"
Where does anyone claim that Jesus bears the iniquity of His Father? I don't get it. Or that the Father bears the iniquity of Jesus? Since neither sinned, how is this passage relevant? Did you even study the passage you're quoting and view the context? Probably not, since you have a very poor understanding of the Bible.
Rhology
You said:
--"I said, jesus did not want to die and this has not been denied by the verses you quoted."
You must have a short memory, because I clearly said that Jesus experienced BOTH OF THOSE EMOTIONS. Look, I know it's hard when your arguments are wrecked, but if you want to be honest, you have to learn when to stop using terrible arguments.
Khan
I never said jesus bore the iniquity of d father.
Chk eze18:20.
Q5:45 only states that the revelation to jesus (not matt, mark, luke, john, paul) confirmed the previous revelation of moses.
Akim
@Rhology Remember dat there no other punishment more severe in front OF ALLAH dan his hellfire,u read QURA'N and u said d holy book his full of rubbish,arguement etc .Stop ur stubboness and listen 2 d only way 2 salvation b4 it's 2 late 4 u.Remember again dat d most painfull punishment in front ALLAH is his hellfire.
Khan
The judge sentences the criminal to jail but releases him when he serves his term.
When a muslim commits a sin he is like a prisoner but when he repents he is discharged and acquitted and Allah will never ask him about the sin he repented of again.
You are still yet to produce proof that jesus wanted to die.
If jesus wanted to die, why did he ask God to save him.
Rhology
Akim, have you read the Injeel?
Khan
Rhology, i wonder if u wld know that the injil existed without the Quran?
If u agree that the NT is the injil wc d Quran mentions, then you would agree with what the Quran says about the injil:
1. That it was revealed or inspired to jesus not matt, mark, luke e.t.c
2. That the followers of jesus differed and changed the word of God to suit their desires.
Rhology
Khan, so Allah allowed Jesus' revelation to be lost, and His followers/companions got it completely wrong? What's your evidence of that? Why did Allah allow that?
Ezek 18 is referring to God's refusal to punish heinous sins committed by a father to someone else in his family, like his son. If it meant that everyone who ever sins will die, nobody would ever go to Heaven to be with God.
God always knew that He would send the Messiah, the Savior.
So what is the sentence for sin that you will have served if you make it to Paradise? You've sinned, haven't you?
If you repent and Allah forgives, it sounds like NO justice has been served. NO sentence, NO punishment. Just repent and you're OK. Allah doesn't care about sin enough to punish it. Is that right?
Yes, actually I have produced numerous verses that say Jesus intended to die, that it was His mission. Did you not even read them?
Rhology
Yes, the Injeel existed a long time before the Qur'an. What does that even mean?
Khan
How did you know the injeel existed long before the Quran if not through the Quran.
Khan
Allah gave the responsibility of guarding and spreading the information in the injil, as a test to them, but they failed.
Q2:101. And when there came to them a messenger from Allah (Muhammad) confirming what was with them, a party of those given the scripture THREW AWAY THE BOOK OF ALLAH behind their backs as if they did not know.
Khan
You still have not mentioned a single verse where jesus wanted to die.
According to the bible, jesus was not the only messiah.
Allah will however punish the sinners except those who repent.
Omar
@Rhology,u said jesus is u savior.is he God or son of God?
Rhology
Khan, yes, A PARTY OF THEM did so. Nobody's arguing with that. How do you know who they were?
Doesn't it say in Surah 3:52
But when Jesus felt [persistence in] disbelief from them, he said, "Who are my supporters for [the cause of] Allah ?" The disciples said," We are supporters for Allah . We have believed in Allah and testify that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].
Our Lord, we have believed in what You revealed and have followed the messenger Jesus, so register us among the witnesses [to truth]."
That doesn't sound at all like what you said.
You're confused.
Or Surah 61:14
O you who have believed, be supporters of Allah , as when Jesus, the son of Mary, said to the disciples, "Who are my supporters for Allah ?" The disciples said, "We are supporters of Allah ." And a faction of the Children of Israel believed and a faction disbelieved. So We supported those who believed against their enemy, and they became dominant.
If Allah supported those who believed and they became dominant, why was their Injeel lost? Where did they go?
How could Allah tell Mohammed Surah 10:94?
So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.
It sounds like you don't know your Qur'an very well either, at least as it pertains to the Injeel. You need to give up this failed religion, Khan, and repent before Jesus.
And you say Allah will not punish the repentant?
If I commit a murder and go before the judge, and he judges me guilty, if I tell him that I'm sorry and I really am sorry, is he just if he releases me without passing judgment on me? Without putting me in prison?
Rhology
Omar, the Injeel describes Jesus as both God Himself and the Son of God. God is a triune God. This is a mystery, but we submit to what God has revealed about Himself even if it is too high for us to fully understand.
Rafi
@ Rhology, what really caused confussion now it is just the liars who translated original text of bible into english.
But something really baffle me how can a book could be given a title (bible) in the original text but all the context in thesame was written in another different languages entirely?
So who gave bible it's title?
Rhology
Rafi, that is simply untrue. We know what the Greek and Hebrew say, and they say what the English says. You need to give some evidence to support this assertion.
And what does this mean?
"how can a book could be given a title (bible) in the original text"
I think you don't really know what you're talking about. Stop listening to Ahmed Deedat, try some reasonable Christians.
Rafi
What I meant by that is Why bible was named as the title and the contents is englush & why can't we have the original langusge of Jesus as Bible Text?
Then what is the meaning of BIBLE & from which language?
What did Jesus mean by RABI & from which language?
'ABBA FATHER' what jesus mean by these words & what is the origin of these words?
Rhology
We DO have the original language of Jesus - the Greek is widely and publicly available.
I don't read Greek, though, so I read the English translation. Give me a reason why I should distrust the English translation.
RABBI and ABBA FATHER are Aramaic. Jesus possibly spoke in at least partly Aramaic.
Omar
@accordng 2 d bible verse u qouted,jesus called himself son of man,nt son of God or God.did jesus named any religion christainity?
Rafi
Is Jesus a GREEK MAN OR JEW?
Omar
@Rhology.is it ur revised nd edited new testament u call injeel?jesus is nt God but a prophet from God.nt son
Rhology
Jesus called Himself the Son of Man AND the Son of God, and accepted worship as God, called Himself one with the Father. He claimed to be God. There's no denying it. What you do with that is the question.
Jesus was a Jew. Who spoke Greek, like most Jews of that time and place.
Omar, do you think Allah allowed his words to be corrupted by his enemies?
Rafi
Which means Jesus didn't know his specific statue.
Also Romans self are GREEK
Rhology
Rafi, that didn't make any sense. Could you please try again, and be careful to write in English?
Afo
@Rhology. Where did jesus accept to be worship as God?
Rafi
Yo can write also in english, since the you don't even knowtje original text/meaning of the word bible.
And your god jesus who was the Director, Chairman, Manager, Massanger & Gateman, which means he was MR FORMAN.
Omar
@Rafi.rmemba dat jesus is our prophet,b mindful of wat u say about him.
Rhology
John 20:26After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Rafi
They all denied him (jesus), because he lost his legitimacy.
Rhology Who denied Him? Have you read the book of Acts?
Note that I never get an answer to my principal question as well as the numerous bizarre and frankly irrelevant questions posed to me.
Also, I don't know why these guys write English the way they do, but it's apparently a pattern among Africans.
Khan:
TO THE DISBELIEVERS.
Each time we tell you that Islam is the solution to your problem, WHY DO YOU DISAGREE?
But we found that you are the largest patronizers of islamic banks (in Nigeria).
Without islam you would have no choice but to patronize those heartless banks you set up. They don't care about you, they can't wait to see you go bankrupt.
BUT ALLAH WANTS EASE FOR YOU.
Rhology
My biggest problem is sin. How does Islam solve that for me?
Khan
Rhology, islam absolves you of sin the same way jesus foretold in the parable of the prodigal son.
When you repent and turn away from sin you will find Allah oft forgiving, most merciful.
When you repent and turn to Allah, its like a baby spreading its arms to its mother to be lifted. And we know mothers are merciful, but Allah is more merciful.
Rhology
So Allah will ignore my sin if I stop sinning?
What if I can't stop sinning? What if I realise that I will never be as good as God?
Khan
If you stop sinning, Not only will Allah ignore your sins, "ALLAH WILL CHANGE THEIR SINS INTO GOOD DEEDS..." Q25:70.
WHAT IF I CAN'T STOP SINNING?
He (Allah) has created DEATH and LIFE that He may test which of you is best in deed. And he is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving. Q67:2.
Our life is a test, to see how much good we can do. Allah knew man would not stop sinning, that is why He opened the gates of Repentance till when the sun rises from the east and sets in the west (the last day).
As for being as good as Allah, know that Allah says: THERE IS NOTHING LIKE HIM (Allah), and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.
Allah is perfect, but man is susceptible to mistakes.
And Allah's aid is sought.
Khan
I meant Allah would leave the gates of repentance open till when the sun will rise from the WEST and set in EAST.
Rhology
But you're pretty confident you've done enough good to counterbalance your evil? How do you know?
Khan
Rhology.
When a student goes to school, he does some tests where he got good grades before the real exam. Tell me pls, if this student relents in his efforts and grows complacent with his efforts, what will happen to the final result after exam? FAILURE?
That is the case of the muslim, he is never satisfied with the little good deeds he has performed, he keeps trying and striving to do more, and he remains in that state till his death. Another benefit of this is that, the whole world would benefit if we could all be in this state and keep striving to do good.
My nxt comment explains another scenario.
Khan
If a student goes to school and he knows that no matter what he does, he will come out with beautiful result. Don't you think this will lead to d student being complacent and lazy? This will also lead to producing students undeserving of their results, mediocres and a nation will be adversely affected.
Likewise, if we all believed that jesus died for our sins, and no matter what we do (steal, kill, fornicate, lie e.t.c) we would still get God's pleasure, what do u think the world will be like.
That is why Allah the All-Wise says in the last verse of Q15,
AND WORSHIP YOUR LORD TILL THERE COMES TO YOU THE CERTAINTY (death).
Lastly, the muslim is never satisfied with the good he does, he continue to do good and repent from evil till he breathes his last.
All praise belongs to Allah.
Rhology
Khan, If the teacher at the school requires a PERFECT GRADE, then yes, the student will fail for missing on question. You seem to think that breaking God's law is no big deal.
Are you sure? You're NEVER satisfied? NEVER lazy? I don't believe that. I believe you're just like the rest of humanity - a sinner. You're not ALWAYS attuned to God. Not ALWAYS seeking him. You sometimes don't care enough to resist temptation.
Your second image is not how it is with Jesus, not at all. I'm sorry you're so ignorant of the Bible, but maybe you could read it some time.
Human nature begins corrupted, enemies of God. We break God's law. We love the world and don't love God.
When Jesus rescues us, He gives us a new heart that loves to serve Him and hates sin. Thus we serve Him because we have love for Him. We are now adopted children and no longer enemies. We serve Him out of gratitude.
However, we are warned over and over that the redeemed heart WILL love holiness and hate sin, so if we engage in unrepentant and consistent sin, it shows us that our hearts are not repentant after all, and that we are still lost, in sin, and enemies of God. Not saved after all. We are to test ourselves all the time to make sure that we are in the faith. God's declaration of salvation of a specific individual is not necessarily known infallibly by that individual.
So, if the Muslim repents of evil, Allah just ignores the lawbreaking? Does a just judge ignore lawbreaking when rendering judgment? Or if he ignores sin, is he not UNjust?
Khan
Rhology, the teacher does not require a perfect grade, he only require that you make an effort. He requires that each time you stumble, you pick yourself up and never give up.
Khan
Is a student who is preparing for an exam ever satisfied with his preparation? Rather he continue his preparation till the last minute.
So Allah says, in the Quran,
~ Help one another in virtue, righteousness and piety. Q5:2.
~ Hasten towards all that is good. Q2:148.
~ Race (compete) with one another towards forgiveness of your Lord and Paradise... Q57:21.
Competitiveness does not make one lazy, tired, satisfied or complacent.
Khan
You claim that human nature begins with corruption.
But islam teaches that it is from human nature to choose and love what is good. But along the line, an individual could choose to corrupt himself.
Ask anyone to choose between,
honey&fire, love&hate, happiness& sorrow. If you choose that which is good then it shows that your human nature is not yet corrupted. But some humans can decide to be a source of sorrow to others even though they know joy is better. These ones have corrupted their own good nature.
Khan
So if you still need to evaluate yourselves after jesus died, then it means you are still responsible for your sins and jesus did not die for your sin. And he did not want to die anyway.
But it is a common claim amongst christians that they now live in a period of grace, so they can do as they wish.
There are two types of sins that the muslim should repent of:
1. The one that involves the right of a fellow human: if i wrongly slap or abuse a person, then i have to ask the person to either take revenge or forgive me.
2. The one that involves the right of Allah alone: such as worshipping idols or disobedience to Him. if a muslim repents from this, Allah says, "I will accept their repentance. And I am the One who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful." Q2:160.
Rhology
So the teacher does not require perfection? That means that imperfection and sin can enter Paradise. How precisely does Allah guarantee that Paradise won't end up like Earth - full of sin and disobedience to Allah?
Yes, I know Islam teaches that man is born good. That is part of Islam's great deception. The Taurat and Zabbour teach the opposite. So does the Injeel. Are you comfortable with the fact that the Qur'an appeals to those books for its confirmation, yet teaches contrary to what they teach?
How many murders must one commit to be a murderer?
You said:
--"So if you still need to evaluate yourselves after jesus died, then it means you are still responsible for your sins and jesus did not die for your sin"
What is your argument for this statement? You simply asserted it but did not prove it.
Specifically, the evaluation is, as the Bible says:
2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? 6But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
Faith is a SIGN OF one's sins being forgiven and one's heart being transformed, and good works are a sign of that faith. So you really still don't understand.
You said:
--"And he did not want to die anyway."
That is only half the truth. Just as humans are complex creatures and can have varied emotions, so Jesus, being God and human both, does.
The same Jesus who cried out to the Father "IF IT BE YOUR WILL, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, let this cup pass from Me" (even though He knew the cup could not pass), these things are ALSO true of Him:
Luke 9:51 - 51When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem
Matthew 17:22And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
Matthew 20:28 whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Luke 19:10“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
So, Khan, please answer my question. Does Allah simply ignore sin?
Khan
God has not created man to be perfect. But a repenting soul will enter paradise.
Allah will forgive and overlook the sins of whomsoever he wills. Just like teachers overlook their students errors when marking their scripts.
Khan
Quran does not require any book for its authenticity, but the earlier books depend on the Quran which confirms what is true in them as well as distinguishes what is false, " And when there came to them a book (Quran) CONFIRMING that which is with them..." Q2:89.
So it is the Quran that authenticates the previous books, not the other way round.
Khan
If you still need to evaluate yourself, then it clearly shows that jesus did not die to save even a rat.
You have done nothing do dispel my assertion.
Your bible says, the son shall not bear the iniquities of the father and vice versa, did God contradict the rule later on by making jesus die for a sin he was innocent of? THIS IS REAL INJUSTICE.
I said, jesus did not want to die and this has not been denied by the verses you quoted. If jesus wanted to die, why did he cry out:
1. O lord, why hast thou forsaken me?
2. Let this cup (of death) pass away from me, not as i will. But as you will.
Do these sound like he wanted to die?
Akim
@Rhology in order make dis argueement easier 4 u, pls try and get translation version of only QURA'N and authentic BIBLE version and read both. I know dat at end u will embrace ISLAM inshaallah.
Rhology
Akim, I have already read the Bible many times, and I have also read the Muhsin Khan version of the Qur'an and taken copious notes. The Qur'an is a mess of inconsistencies, stupid arguments, and random stream-of-consciousness rambling. I need a Savior from sin. Islam says "do better!" Jesus says "I did it perfectly and give righteousness as a gift for those who recognise they can never be perfect on their own."
I'm sticking with Jesus.
Khan
Have a nice day.
Rhology
Khan
So a judge who ignores lawbreaking is a good and just judge? Isn't it true that a just judge must PUNISH all lawbreaking?
It sounds like you don't think the law is a very big deal. Which means that sin is not a very big deal.
Is sin a big deal, or is it insignificant? If Allah overlooks sin, why doesn't he just overlook shirk too?
You didn't quote the right passage from the Qur'an.
Surah 5:45 If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers. And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah.*** Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein.***
But even what you said destroys your case. The Qur'an does not CONFIRM what came before it, since it teaches the exact opposite in many ways. "Confirm" does not mean "contradict fundamentally".
You said:
--" the son shall not bear the iniquities of the father and vice versa"
Where does anyone claim that Jesus bears the iniquity of His Father? I don't get it. Or that the Father bears the iniquity of Jesus? Since neither sinned, how is this passage relevant? Did you even study the passage you're quoting and view the context? Probably not, since you have a very poor understanding of the Bible.
Rhology
You said:
--"I said, jesus did not want to die and this has not been denied by the verses you quoted."
You must have a short memory, because I clearly said that Jesus experienced BOTH OF THOSE EMOTIONS. Look, I know it's hard when your arguments are wrecked, but if you want to be honest, you have to learn when to stop using terrible arguments.
Khan
I never said jesus bore the iniquity of d father.
Chk eze18:20.
Q5:45 only states that the revelation to jesus (not matt, mark, luke, john, paul) confirmed the previous revelation of moses.
Akim
@Rhology Remember dat there no other punishment more severe in front OF ALLAH dan his hellfire,u read QURA'N and u said d holy book his full of rubbish,arguement etc .Stop ur stubboness and listen 2 d only way 2 salvation b4 it's 2 late 4 u.Remember again dat d most painfull punishment in front ALLAH is his hellfire.
Khan
The judge sentences the criminal to jail but releases him when he serves his term.
When a muslim commits a sin he is like a prisoner but when he repents he is discharged and acquitted and Allah will never ask him about the sin he repented of again.
You are still yet to produce proof that jesus wanted to die.
If jesus wanted to die, why did he ask God to save him.
Rhology
Akim, have you read the Injeel?
Khan
Rhology, i wonder if u wld know that the injil existed without the Quran?
If u agree that the NT is the injil wc d Quran mentions, then you would agree with what the Quran says about the injil:
1. That it was revealed or inspired to jesus not matt, mark, luke e.t.c
2. That the followers of jesus differed and changed the word of God to suit their desires.
Rhology
Khan, so Allah allowed Jesus' revelation to be lost, and His followers/companions got it completely wrong? What's your evidence of that? Why did Allah allow that?
Ezek 18 is referring to God's refusal to punish heinous sins committed by a father to someone else in his family, like his son. If it meant that everyone who ever sins will die, nobody would ever go to Heaven to be with God.
God always knew that He would send the Messiah, the Savior.
So what is the sentence for sin that you will have served if you make it to Paradise? You've sinned, haven't you?
If you repent and Allah forgives, it sounds like NO justice has been served. NO sentence, NO punishment. Just repent and you're OK. Allah doesn't care about sin enough to punish it. Is that right?
Yes, actually I have produced numerous verses that say Jesus intended to die, that it was His mission. Did you not even read them?
Rhology
Yes, the Injeel existed a long time before the Qur'an. What does that even mean?
Khan
How did you know the injeel existed long before the Quran if not through the Quran.
Khan
Allah gave the responsibility of guarding and spreading the information in the injil, as a test to them, but they failed.
Q2:101. And when there came to them a messenger from Allah (Muhammad) confirming what was with them, a party of those given the scripture THREW AWAY THE BOOK OF ALLAH behind their backs as if they did not know.
Khan
You still have not mentioned a single verse where jesus wanted to die.
According to the bible, jesus was not the only messiah.
Allah will however punish the sinners except those who repent.
Omar
@Rhology,u said jesus is u savior.is he God or son of God?
Rhology
Khan, yes, A PARTY OF THEM did so. Nobody's arguing with that. How do you know who they were?
Doesn't it say in Surah 3:52
But when Jesus felt [persistence in] disbelief from them, he said, "Who are my supporters for [the cause of] Allah ?" The disciples said," We are supporters for Allah . We have believed in Allah and testify that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].
Our Lord, we have believed in what You revealed and have followed the messenger Jesus, so register us among the witnesses [to truth]."
That doesn't sound at all like what you said.
You're confused.
Or Surah 61:14
O you who have believed, be supporters of Allah , as when Jesus, the son of Mary, said to the disciples, "Who are my supporters for Allah ?" The disciples said, "We are supporters of Allah ." And a faction of the Children of Israel believed and a faction disbelieved. So We supported those who believed against their enemy, and they became dominant.
If Allah supported those who believed and they became dominant, why was their Injeel lost? Where did they go?
How could Allah tell Mohammed Surah 10:94?
So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.
It sounds like you don't know your Qur'an very well either, at least as it pertains to the Injeel. You need to give up this failed religion, Khan, and repent before Jesus.
And you say Allah will not punish the repentant?
If I commit a murder and go before the judge, and he judges me guilty, if I tell him that I'm sorry and I really am sorry, is he just if he releases me without passing judgment on me? Without putting me in prison?
Rhology
Omar, the Injeel describes Jesus as both God Himself and the Son of God. God is a triune God. This is a mystery, but we submit to what God has revealed about Himself even if it is too high for us to fully understand.
Rafi
@ Rhology, what really caused confussion now it is just the liars who translated original text of bible into english.
But something really baffle me how can a book could be given a title (bible) in the original text but all the context in thesame was written in another different languages entirely?
So who gave bible it's title?
Rhology
Rafi, that is simply untrue. We know what the Greek and Hebrew say, and they say what the English says. You need to give some evidence to support this assertion.
And what does this mean?
"how can a book could be given a title (bible) in the original text"
I think you don't really know what you're talking about. Stop listening to Ahmed Deedat, try some reasonable Christians.
Rafi
What I meant by that is Why bible was named as the title and the contents is englush & why can't we have the original langusge of Jesus as Bible Text?
Then what is the meaning of BIBLE & from which language?
What did Jesus mean by RABI & from which language?
'ABBA FATHER' what jesus mean by these words & what is the origin of these words?
Rhology
We DO have the original language of Jesus - the Greek is widely and publicly available.
I don't read Greek, though, so I read the English translation. Give me a reason why I should distrust the English translation.
RABBI and ABBA FATHER are Aramaic. Jesus possibly spoke in at least partly Aramaic.
Omar
@accordng 2 d bible verse u qouted,jesus called himself son of man,nt son of God or God.did jesus named any religion christainity?
Rafi
Is Jesus a GREEK MAN OR JEW?
Omar
@Rhology.is it ur revised nd edited new testament u call injeel?jesus is nt God but a prophet from God.nt son
Rhology
Jesus called Himself the Son of Man AND the Son of God, and accepted worship as God, called Himself one with the Father. He claimed to be God. There's no denying it. What you do with that is the question.
Jesus was a Jew. Who spoke Greek, like most Jews of that time and place.
Omar, do you think Allah allowed his words to be corrupted by his enemies?
Rafi
Which means Jesus didn't know his specific statue.
Also Romans self are GREEK
Rhology
Rafi, that didn't make any sense. Could you please try again, and be careful to write in English?
Afo
@Rhology. Where did jesus accept to be worship as God?
Rafi
Yo can write also in english, since the you don't even knowtje original text/meaning of the word bible.
And your god jesus who was the Director, Chairman, Manager, Massanger & Gateman, which means he was MR FORMAN.
Omar
@Rafi.rmemba dat jesus is our prophet,b mindful of wat u say about him.
Rhology
John 20:26After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Rafi
They all denied him (jesus), because he lost his legitimacy.
Rhology Who denied Him? Have you read the book of Acts?
Thursday, January 05, 2012
The Bible Is the Word of God Debate - Saaib's Opening Statement
(Originally found here)
Time for another debate. Many of you might be knowing that I have debated the same topic for more than five times, why a need for another debate. Actually each time I debated on this topic I used offensive approach, but this time I will be using a defensive one. I would love to see someone doing a good job. Vinod, James, Albel and Bappi left the debate in the middle and Antonio Santana never touched the topic. Its an amazing situation whosoever you debate you get one answer "SAME AGE OLD ARGUMENTS" but no one bothers to answer those arguments. I was expecting some change this time but "Rhoblogy" also used the same sentence in one of his comments on facebook. When a Christian tells me "bible" is the word of God, believe me I feel like laughing. Not that he cracked a joke but the reason is that they themselves know that it is not. To start with we have a unique way in which the book is revealed, the truth is that I am still to understand how the scripture was revealed. Muhammad (saw) was clear with what he was saying. These are God's words and these are mine and God's words come into my knowledge through Archangel Gabriel and I pass them onto you. This is how Muhammad (saw) would have explained the situation, but what about the Bible authors. They where tickled by holy spirit. They wrote out of their own but Holy Spirit was tickling them to write so and so. Now whose words are they, are they the author's or God's. Luke 3:23 presents an amazing situation. "And Jesus himself was about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli," The problem I have with this verse is the phrase in the brackets. Holy Spirit went out of his way to inspire "Luke" to give a father to Jesus who didn't have any father (as is believed). And the translators added AS WAS SUPPOSED to tell us Holy Spirit was going out of his way. There are cases in Quran where we need to add such phrases and the simple explanation is that the Quran is like a dictation very unlike Bible. May be this also is an AGE OLD ARGUMENT but who cares. When we finish with this we are presented with other problem. How does it help us to say that the Bible is the inerrant word of God if in fact we don't have the words that God inerrantly inspired but only the words copied by the scribes—sometimes correctly but sometimes (many times!) incorrectly? What good is it to say that the autographs (i.e., the originals) were inspired? We don't have the originals! We have only error ridden copies, and the vast majority of these are centuries removed from the originals and different from them, evidently, in thousands of ways. (Bart Ehrman -Misquoting Jesus)
"Rhoblogy" has made an "amazing opening statement". "God's word is self affirming", true but when we have them but when we don't have them we can't say "God's" word. God swearing by his creation and God swearing by himself, I don't know what it proves but one thing is for sure if God in bible swore by his creation we Muslims would have to tackle another argument where Christians would say "see how much does God love his creation". Anyways this love is only important when it is shown by biblical god. Does he really show love? No, the truth is that the Old Testament violence is more than what you can find in any book and those Palestinians are there to be killed. Smashing Babies is his favorite (Rhoblogy will tell you the references and the context). Killing entire towns is his second favorite. The Bible presents us with a Horrible God which full of hate who will never swear by his creation, believe me he doesn't love his creation as much Allah (swt) does that Allah (swt) swears by his creation. "....the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!"......" Amazing command which the "loving" biblical God gives. (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT) " Rhoblogy was actually trying to prove to us that the God of Bible and God of Quran are not the same. Anyways there isn't any need for this debate then, the reason is that the Biblical God commands "Rhoblogy" to do something else. Read Deuteronomy 13:13-19. "Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him."" So if we follow the "word of god" we are left with 2.2 billion people on earth. Anyways who needs people, let them die. But we do need donkeys in rural areas. Ahem, donkey is so special that it was "Lord God's" personal drive. But not so special when we read 1 Samuel 15:3 which reads, “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” Forget about the cattle, forget the sheep, forget the camels too but I want to know what the poor donkey has done. This is when you already have applied Deut 13:13-19. Where are the animal right activists. Believe me such a God will be sued if presented before a Qazi in a Shariah court. These donkeys are more than special creatures, not because Jesus chose a donkey to travel into Jerusalem when his mission was drawing towards its end but because Holy Ghost inspired all the Gospel writers to write it down in their Gospels.
“…and they sat him thereon.”(The Donkey) (Matt. 21:7)
“…and he sat upon him.”(The Donkey) (Mark 11:7)
“…and they set Jesus thereon.”(The Donkey) (Luke. 19:35)
“…Jesus…sat thereon:”(The Donkey) (John 12:14)
Could God Almighty have been the author of this incongruous situation – going out of His Way to see that all the Gospel writers did not miss their recording of His “son’s” donkey-ride into the Holy City – and yet “inspiring” them to black out the news about His “son’s” heavenly flight on the wings of angels?
An Argument from Fulfilled Prophecy:
What has prophecy to do with the topic. For each fulfilled prophecy in the Bible I can bring two unfulfilled prophecies and believe me there are tons of them. If prophecy is the test then Nostadamus' book should be the best book to be called the word of God.
As a punishment for killing Abel, God says Cain will be "a fugitive and a vagabond." Yet in just a few verses (Genesis 4:16-17) Cain will settle down, marry, have a son, and build a city. This is not the activity one would expect from a fugitive and a vagabond. (Genisis 4:12). (These verses also tell us that "Cain knew his wife". That is good. But where the hell did he get his wife from).
Jeremiah 36:30 says no one will be able to sit on David's throne after Jehoiakim but 2 Kings 21:6 it tells us Johiachin sat on the throne. Unfulfilled prophecy.
Ezekiel 26 tells us that Nebuchadrezzar will destroy Tyrus. But history tells us that Alexander destroyed Tyrus.
Isaiah 7:14 according to Christians refers to Jesus, but Jesus was never called Immaneul thus forcing an unfulfilled prophecy.
We often see the Old Testament prophecies getting fulfilled in the Gospels. John Dominic Crossan, a scholar, gives us a simple answer. He says that the Gospels are not history memorized but prophecy historicized, i.e. the NT writers took OT texts and wrote a historical setting whereby they made it seem that Jesus fulfilled prophecy. This can be illustrated by a simple fact. The LXX which the gospel writers tried to historicize reads in Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." At first glance, to the untrained eye, this seems like a miracle of a verse. It is allegedly clearly stating that God will have a son who will also be God. Thus it is for that very reason, that Christendom flocks to this verse to prove the validity of their beliefs. But what does the Hebrew Old Testament actually say? Book of Yeshayahu (Isaiah), Chapter 9, Verse 6: "That the government may be increased, and of peace there be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it through justice and through righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts doth perform this." So where is Isaiah 9:6 of the Greek Septuagint located in the Hebrew Old Testament? Isaiah 9:5, one verse down. It is said that in the Book of Isaiah (Yeshayahu), Chapter 9, Verse 5:
For a child has been born to us, a son given to us, and the authority is upon his shoulder, and the wondrous adviser, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, "the prince of peace."
Look at the vast difference.
The Christian Greek Septuagint says that God will have a son who will be called, "wonderful counselor", "mighty God", "everlasting Father" and "prince of peace".
The Hebrew Masoretic Text says that a child will be born whom God, the wonderful counselor, might God, everlasting Father will call the son, a prince of peace.
An Argument from Jesus:
Argument of Jesus doesn't hold any weight because we don't know what Jesus said. We don't have eye witness accounts. When he confirms the Old Testament it is simply a case of historicizing what never happened. My learned opponent needs to prove to us that the New Testament is inspired then only can we use it to prove the inspiration of the old testament. "Rhoblogy" is just working on a false assumption that the NT is inspired and therefore when it copies from Old Testament it proves that the OT is also inspired. Anyways I would also like to know what exactly was Jesus copying from, The LXX or The Masoretic Text.
Quran on Bible:
Whenever a Muslim tries to debate a Christian the Christian will always appeal to Quran to help his case. What we are discussing is Bible not Quran or Islam. Therefore what Quran says about the Bible doesn't matter to us. But what exactly does the Quran then say.
The Qur’an says:
“But woe to them who fake the Scriptures and say: "This is from God," so that they might earn some profit thereby; and woe to them for what they fake, and woe to them for what they earn from it!” - Ahmed Ali’s Translation Surah 2, Ayah 79.
We confirm that this refers to Ahlul Kitab from Tafsir ibn Kathir:
“Az-Zuhri said that `Ubadydullah bin `Abdullah narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims! How could you ask the People of the Book about anything, while the Book of Allah (Qur'an) that He revealed to His Prophet is the most recent Book from Him and you still read it fresh and young Allah told you that the People of the Book altered the Book of Allah, changed it and wrote another book with their own hands. They then said, `This book is from Allah,' so that they acquired a small profit by it. Hasn't the knowledge that came to you prohibited you from asking them By Allah! We have not seen any of them asking you about what was revealed to you.'' This Hadith was also collected by Al-Bukhari.”
Though I need not clarify the Islamic position on the topic but I feel like seeing someone win an argument that is why I will like to comment on the biggest paragraph which "Rhoblogy" wrote. He keeps on begging the Quran in his "Option 2 – The External Critique from Islam ".
So, Is the Bible in our hands the same as what Muhammad's contemporaries where having. I don't know which one was it, The Protestant Bible or the Catholic. Bible just refers to a set of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of Bible, as the individual books (Biblical Canon), their contents and their order vary among denominations. Main stream Judaism divided the Tanakh into 24 Books while the Samaritans accept only five. 19 are thrown out. Ba boom. These 24 books are divided into 39 books by the Christian Old Testament, and complete Christian Bibles range from 66 Books of the Protestant canon to 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Bible. I request my fellow Christians to tell us what actually did Muhammad confirm. Perhaps, "Rhoblogy" thinks that it is his scripture, i.e., the Protestant Bible which Muhammad allegedly confirmed. The Protestant Bible has a rather colourful history. This Bible came into being during the Reformation, nearly 900 years after the advent of Islam. One wonders how the Qur'an or the hadith literature can endorse a Bible that came some 900 years after them. Sounds silly... well it is! The truth is that no one had defined the limits of the Bible until the (Catholic) Council of Trent, 1546. So, even 900 years after the advent of Islam, the Christians were bickering about which books should go into the canon. Eldon J. Epp (a scholar) raises an important point - which manuscript is canonical?
"Finally, to raise the question to its highest level and broadest range, what can "canonical" mean when each of our 5,300 Greek New Testament manuscripts and perhaps 9,000 versional manuscripts, as well as every one now lost, was considered authoritative - and therefore canonical - in worship and instruction in one or more of the thousands upon thousands of individual churches when no two manuscripts are exactly alike? A corollary heightens the force of the question: If no two manuscripts are alike, then no two collections of Gospels or Epistles are alike, and no two canons – no two "New Testaments" – are alike; therefore, are all canonical, or some, or only one? And if some or one, which?"
So, What Did The Bible Look Like In Arabia During The Advent Of Islam? No one can answer this question, and the fact remains that no one has ever. The non-Islamic sources suggest the presence of the Syriac Church (and its various sectarian off-shoots such as Jacobite, Nestorian, Monophysite Churches, etc.) in certain areas of Arabia and that the Church service used to be in Syriac. The Syriac Churches used the Diatessaron, the four-in-one Gospel, introduced by Tatian, and was read in the Syriac. As for the Islamic sources, some interesting snap-shots of the contents of the Christian Bible are also seen in Ibn Hisham's Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah. He mentions some of the beliefs of the Christians who talked to Prophet Muhammad (saw):
"[Those who talked to Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, were Abu Haritha Ibn `Alqama, Al-`Aqib `Abdul-Masih and Al-Ayham al-Sa`id.] They were Christians according to the faith of the king with differences between them; they say: He is Allah, and say: He is Son of Allah, and say: He is the third of three[i.e., part of Trinity] and these are the claims of Christianity. [They use as evidence for their claim that He is Allah the argument that] he used to raise the dead, cure the sick, create from clay bird-like structure then breathe into it to make it a [living] bird. All this was by the leave of Allah, the Praiseworthy the Exalted {to appoint him as a sign for men} (Maryam:21).
They also argue for saying that he is Son of Allah by saying he had no known father and spoke in infancy which is something never done by any human being.They use as evidence for their claim that He is the third of three [i.e., part of Trinity] the argument that Allah says: We did, We commanded, We created and We judged [i.e., by using the plural for Himself], and whereas if He was one, He would say: I did, I judged, I commanded and I created; but it is He, Jesus and Maryam. The Qur'an was revealed addressing all these arguments." (Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah, 1998, Volume II, Dar al-Hadith: Cairo (Egypt), pp. 181-182.)
The miracles of Jesus speaking in infancy and giving life to birds made out of clay are usually dismissed by the missionaries as "apocryphal" but these were perfectly acceptable to Christians in Arabia during the advent of Islam. This only provides us a snap-shot of the kind of "scripture" the Christians were using during the advent of Islam. Moreover, the disagreement of Jews and Christians among themselves about their own scriptures was well-known during the advent of Islam and that also gave an impetus for `Uthman to collect the Qur'an.
Hudhaifa bin al-Yaman came to `Uthman at the time when the people of Sham and the people of Iraq were Waging war to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan. Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur'an, so he said to `Uthman, "O Chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Qur'an) as Jews and the Christians did before."
So what about Surah 2:86 where Allah (swt) says that he gave Moses The Book. Yes he gave Moses the book and we Muslims accept it as an article of fact but we don't have those books. Was Deut. 34:5-10 also revealed to Moses, "So Moses . . . DIED . . . And he (God Almighty) BURIED HIM (Moses) ... he was 120 years old when he DIED ... And there arose not a prophet SINCE in Israel like unto Moses …" The internal evidence of the first five books of the Bible clearly proves that neither God nor Moses could have been the author. Actually it is a third person narrative. No wonder we find statements like ‘’God said unto Moses’’ and ‘’Moses said unto God’’ not less than 700 times in the bible. Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, but the books are in fact anonymous and look back on Moses as a figure from the distant past. The existence of the Torah, Pentateuch, is not historically known before King Josiah, the son of Amon. The script of the Pentateuch which was found by a priest called Hilkiah 18 years after Josiah`s ascension to throne is not believable solely on the grounds that it was found by a priest Apart from this obvious fact, this book had again disappeared before the invasion of Jerusalem by Nebuchdnezzar Not only the Pentateuch, but also all the books of the Old Testament were destroyed in this historical calamity. History does not evince any evidence of the existence of these books after this invasion. According to the Christians the Pentateuch might have been rewritten by the Prophet Ezra. This book along with its copies were again destroyed and burnt by Antiochus at the time of his invasion of Jerusalem.
What about Surah 2:89, which confirms the previous scriptures? Yes, only because it confirms the previous scriptures do we Muslims believe that there were scriptures revealed to other prophets. It is not that what you have presented to us is what Quran confirms. Same is the case with Surah 2:91, Surah 3:84, Surah 4:136, Surah 5:45.
"The Qur'an also incorrectly asserts in Surah 7:157 that the Bible mentions Mohammed."
No the Quran is correct. This was confirmed by Rabbi Ben Abrahamson, that Muhammad {saw} can indeed be found in their scriptures:
“An exploration of the Jewish prophecies and expectations concerning the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as "Ish Hammudot", the man greatly valued, beloved, referred to in the book of Daniel. According to some Islamic, as well as Jewish tradition, the original meeting of "Maseeh" and "Madhi" was the meeting of the Jewish Exilarch Salmaan Farsi with the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The close relationship between the descendant of King David and the Prophet (pbuh) or his replacement (Caliph) was a prototype of events that would only reach their consummation at the end of days.” - Rabbi Ben Abrahamson, “The Weeks of Daniel and the Jewish Mahdi”.
(Saaib's Word count: 3499.
My own word count comes out to 3564, but I'm not inclined to quibble.Saaib stopped by to clarify the disparity in word counts. I have no argument.)
(Link to comment repository post)
Time for another debate. Many of you might be knowing that I have debated the same topic for more than five times, why a need for another debate. Actually each time I debated on this topic I used offensive approach, but this time I will be using a defensive one. I would love to see someone doing a good job. Vinod, James, Albel and Bappi left the debate in the middle and Antonio Santana never touched the topic. Its an amazing situation whosoever you debate you get one answer "SAME AGE OLD ARGUMENTS" but no one bothers to answer those arguments. I was expecting some change this time but "Rhoblogy" also used the same sentence in one of his comments on facebook. When a Christian tells me "bible" is the word of God, believe me I feel like laughing. Not that he cracked a joke but the reason is that they themselves know that it is not. To start with we have a unique way in which the book is revealed, the truth is that I am still to understand how the scripture was revealed. Muhammad (saw) was clear with what he was saying. These are God's words and these are mine and God's words come into my knowledge through Archangel Gabriel and I pass them onto you. This is how Muhammad (saw) would have explained the situation, but what about the Bible authors. They where tickled by holy spirit. They wrote out of their own but Holy Spirit was tickling them to write so and so. Now whose words are they, are they the author's or God's. Luke 3:23 presents an amazing situation. "And Jesus himself was about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli," The problem I have with this verse is the phrase in the brackets. Holy Spirit went out of his way to inspire "Luke" to give a father to Jesus who didn't have any father (as is believed). And the translators added AS WAS SUPPOSED to tell us Holy Spirit was going out of his way. There are cases in Quran where we need to add such phrases and the simple explanation is that the Quran is like a dictation very unlike Bible. May be this also is an AGE OLD ARGUMENT but who cares. When we finish with this we are presented with other problem. How does it help us to say that the Bible is the inerrant word of God if in fact we don't have the words that God inerrantly inspired but only the words copied by the scribes—sometimes correctly but sometimes (many times!) incorrectly? What good is it to say that the autographs (i.e., the originals) were inspired? We don't have the originals! We have only error ridden copies, and the vast majority of these are centuries removed from the originals and different from them, evidently, in thousands of ways. (Bart Ehrman -Misquoting Jesus)
"Rhoblogy" has made an "amazing opening statement". "God's word is self affirming", true but when we have them but when we don't have them we can't say "God's" word. God swearing by his creation and God swearing by himself, I don't know what it proves but one thing is for sure if God in bible swore by his creation we Muslims would have to tackle another argument where Christians would say "see how much does God love his creation". Anyways this love is only important when it is shown by biblical god. Does he really show love? No, the truth is that the Old Testament violence is more than what you can find in any book and those Palestinians are there to be killed. Smashing Babies is his favorite (Rhoblogy will tell you the references and the context). Killing entire towns is his second favorite. The Bible presents us with a Horrible God which full of hate who will never swear by his creation, believe me he doesn't love his creation as much Allah (swt) does that Allah (swt) swears by his creation. "....the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!"......" Amazing command which the "loving" biblical God gives. (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT) " Rhoblogy was actually trying to prove to us that the God of Bible and God of Quran are not the same. Anyways there isn't any need for this debate then, the reason is that the Biblical God commands "Rhoblogy" to do something else. Read Deuteronomy 13:13-19. "Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him."" So if we follow the "word of god" we are left with 2.2 billion people on earth. Anyways who needs people, let them die. But we do need donkeys in rural areas. Ahem, donkey is so special that it was "Lord God's" personal drive. But not so special when we read 1 Samuel 15:3 which reads, “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” Forget about the cattle, forget the sheep, forget the camels too but I want to know what the poor donkey has done. This is when you already have applied Deut 13:13-19. Where are the animal right activists. Believe me such a God will be sued if presented before a Qazi in a Shariah court. These donkeys are more than special creatures, not because Jesus chose a donkey to travel into Jerusalem when his mission was drawing towards its end but because Holy Ghost inspired all the Gospel writers to write it down in their Gospels.
“…and they sat him thereon.”(The Donkey) (Matt. 21:7)
“…and he sat upon him.”(The Donkey) (Mark 11:7)
“…and they set Jesus thereon.”(The Donkey) (Luke. 19:35)
“…Jesus…sat thereon:”(The Donkey) (John 12:14)
Could God Almighty have been the author of this incongruous situation – going out of His Way to see that all the Gospel writers did not miss their recording of His “son’s” donkey-ride into the Holy City – and yet “inspiring” them to black out the news about His “son’s” heavenly flight on the wings of angels?
An Argument from Fulfilled Prophecy:
What has prophecy to do with the topic. For each fulfilled prophecy in the Bible I can bring two unfulfilled prophecies and believe me there are tons of them. If prophecy is the test then Nostadamus' book should be the best book to be called the word of God.
As a punishment for killing Abel, God says Cain will be "a fugitive and a vagabond." Yet in just a few verses (Genesis 4:16-17) Cain will settle down, marry, have a son, and build a city. This is not the activity one would expect from a fugitive and a vagabond. (Genisis 4:12). (These verses also tell us that "Cain knew his wife". That is good. But where the hell did he get his wife from).
Jeremiah 36:30 says no one will be able to sit on David's throne after Jehoiakim but 2 Kings 21:6 it tells us Johiachin sat on the throne. Unfulfilled prophecy.
Ezekiel 26 tells us that Nebuchadrezzar will destroy Tyrus. But history tells us that Alexander destroyed Tyrus.
Isaiah 7:14 according to Christians refers to Jesus, but Jesus was never called Immaneul thus forcing an unfulfilled prophecy.
We often see the Old Testament prophecies getting fulfilled in the Gospels. John Dominic Crossan, a scholar, gives us a simple answer. He says that the Gospels are not history memorized but prophecy historicized, i.e. the NT writers took OT texts and wrote a historical setting whereby they made it seem that Jesus fulfilled prophecy. This can be illustrated by a simple fact. The LXX which the gospel writers tried to historicize reads in Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." At first glance, to the untrained eye, this seems like a miracle of a verse. It is allegedly clearly stating that God will have a son who will also be God. Thus it is for that very reason, that Christendom flocks to this verse to prove the validity of their beliefs. But what does the Hebrew Old Testament actually say? Book of Yeshayahu (Isaiah), Chapter 9, Verse 6: "That the government may be increased, and of peace there be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it through justice and through righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts doth perform this." So where is Isaiah 9:6 of the Greek Septuagint located in the Hebrew Old Testament? Isaiah 9:5, one verse down. It is said that in the Book of Isaiah (Yeshayahu), Chapter 9, Verse 5:
For a child has been born to us, a son given to us, and the authority is upon his shoulder, and the wondrous adviser, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, "the prince of peace."
Look at the vast difference.
The Christian Greek Septuagint says that God will have a son who will be called, "wonderful counselor", "mighty God", "everlasting Father" and "prince of peace".
The Hebrew Masoretic Text says that a child will be born whom God, the wonderful counselor, might God, everlasting Father will call the son, a prince of peace.
An Argument from Jesus:
Argument of Jesus doesn't hold any weight because we don't know what Jesus said. We don't have eye witness accounts. When he confirms the Old Testament it is simply a case of historicizing what never happened. My learned opponent needs to prove to us that the New Testament is inspired then only can we use it to prove the inspiration of the old testament. "Rhoblogy" is just working on a false assumption that the NT is inspired and therefore when it copies from Old Testament it proves that the OT is also inspired. Anyways I would also like to know what exactly was Jesus copying from, The LXX or The Masoretic Text.
Quran on Bible:
Whenever a Muslim tries to debate a Christian the Christian will always appeal to Quran to help his case. What we are discussing is Bible not Quran or Islam. Therefore what Quran says about the Bible doesn't matter to us. But what exactly does the Quran then say.
The Qur’an says:
“But woe to them who fake the Scriptures and say: "This is from God," so that they might earn some profit thereby; and woe to them for what they fake, and woe to them for what they earn from it!” - Ahmed Ali’s Translation Surah 2, Ayah 79.
We confirm that this refers to Ahlul Kitab from Tafsir ibn Kathir:
“Az-Zuhri said that `Ubadydullah bin `Abdullah narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims! How could you ask the People of the Book about anything, while the Book of Allah (Qur'an) that He revealed to His Prophet is the most recent Book from Him and you still read it fresh and young Allah told you that the People of the Book altered the Book of Allah, changed it and wrote another book with their own hands. They then said, `This book is from Allah,' so that they acquired a small profit by it. Hasn't the knowledge that came to you prohibited you from asking them By Allah! We have not seen any of them asking you about what was revealed to you.'' This Hadith was also collected by Al-Bukhari.”
Though I need not clarify the Islamic position on the topic but I feel like seeing someone win an argument that is why I will like to comment on the biggest paragraph which "Rhoblogy" wrote. He keeps on begging the Quran in his "Option 2 – The External Critique from Islam ".
So, Is the Bible in our hands the same as what Muhammad's contemporaries where having. I don't know which one was it, The Protestant Bible or the Catholic. Bible just refers to a set of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of Bible, as the individual books (Biblical Canon), their contents and their order vary among denominations. Main stream Judaism divided the Tanakh into 24 Books while the Samaritans accept only five. 19 are thrown out. Ba boom. These 24 books are divided into 39 books by the Christian Old Testament, and complete Christian Bibles range from 66 Books of the Protestant canon to 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Bible. I request my fellow Christians to tell us what actually did Muhammad confirm. Perhaps, "Rhoblogy" thinks that it is his scripture, i.e., the Protestant Bible which Muhammad allegedly confirmed. The Protestant Bible has a rather colourful history. This Bible came into being during the Reformation, nearly 900 years after the advent of Islam. One wonders how the Qur'an or the hadith literature can endorse a Bible that came some 900 years after them. Sounds silly... well it is! The truth is that no one had defined the limits of the Bible until the (Catholic) Council of Trent, 1546. So, even 900 years after the advent of Islam, the Christians were bickering about which books should go into the canon. Eldon J. Epp (a scholar) raises an important point - which manuscript is canonical?
"Finally, to raise the question to its highest level and broadest range, what can "canonical" mean when each of our 5,300 Greek New Testament manuscripts and perhaps 9,000 versional manuscripts, as well as every one now lost, was considered authoritative - and therefore canonical - in worship and instruction in one or more of the thousands upon thousands of individual churches when no two manuscripts are exactly alike? A corollary heightens the force of the question: If no two manuscripts are alike, then no two collections of Gospels or Epistles are alike, and no two canons – no two "New Testaments" – are alike; therefore, are all canonical, or some, or only one? And if some or one, which?"
So, What Did The Bible Look Like In Arabia During The Advent Of Islam? No one can answer this question, and the fact remains that no one has ever. The non-Islamic sources suggest the presence of the Syriac Church (and its various sectarian off-shoots such as Jacobite, Nestorian, Monophysite Churches, etc.) in certain areas of Arabia and that the Church service used to be in Syriac. The Syriac Churches used the Diatessaron, the four-in-one Gospel, introduced by Tatian, and was read in the Syriac. As for the Islamic sources, some interesting snap-shots of the contents of the Christian Bible are also seen in Ibn Hisham's Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah. He mentions some of the beliefs of the Christians who talked to Prophet Muhammad (saw):
"[Those who talked to Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, were Abu Haritha Ibn `Alqama, Al-`Aqib `Abdul-Masih and Al-Ayham al-Sa`id.] They were Christians according to the faith of the king with differences between them; they say: He is Allah, and say: He is Son of Allah, and say: He is the third of three[i.e., part of Trinity] and these are the claims of Christianity. [They use as evidence for their claim that He is Allah the argument that] he used to raise the dead, cure the sick, create from clay bird-like structure then breathe into it to make it a [living] bird. All this was by the leave of Allah, the Praiseworthy the Exalted {to appoint him as a sign for men} (Maryam:21).
They also argue for saying that he is Son of Allah by saying he had no known father and spoke in infancy which is something never done by any human being.They use as evidence for their claim that He is the third of three [i.e., part of Trinity] the argument that Allah says: We did, We commanded, We created and We judged [i.e., by using the plural for Himself], and whereas if He was one, He would say: I did, I judged, I commanded and I created; but it is He, Jesus and Maryam. The Qur'an was revealed addressing all these arguments." (Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah, 1998, Volume II, Dar al-Hadith: Cairo (Egypt), pp. 181-182.)
The miracles of Jesus speaking in infancy and giving life to birds made out of clay are usually dismissed by the missionaries as "apocryphal" but these were perfectly acceptable to Christians in Arabia during the advent of Islam. This only provides us a snap-shot of the kind of "scripture" the Christians were using during the advent of Islam. Moreover, the disagreement of Jews and Christians among themselves about their own scriptures was well-known during the advent of Islam and that also gave an impetus for `Uthman to collect the Qur'an.
Hudhaifa bin al-Yaman came to `Uthman at the time when the people of Sham and the people of Iraq were Waging war to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan. Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur'an, so he said to `Uthman, "O Chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Qur'an) as Jews and the Christians did before."
So what about Surah 2:86 where Allah (swt) says that he gave Moses The Book. Yes he gave Moses the book and we Muslims accept it as an article of fact but we don't have those books. Was Deut. 34:5-10 also revealed to Moses, "So Moses . . . DIED . . . And he (God Almighty) BURIED HIM (Moses) ... he was 120 years old when he DIED ... And there arose not a prophet SINCE in Israel like unto Moses …" The internal evidence of the first five books of the Bible clearly proves that neither God nor Moses could have been the author. Actually it is a third person narrative. No wonder we find statements like ‘’God said unto Moses’’ and ‘’Moses said unto God’’ not less than 700 times in the bible. Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, but the books are in fact anonymous and look back on Moses as a figure from the distant past. The existence of the Torah, Pentateuch, is not historically known before King Josiah, the son of Amon. The script of the Pentateuch which was found by a priest called Hilkiah 18 years after Josiah`s ascension to throne is not believable solely on the grounds that it was found by a priest Apart from this obvious fact, this book had again disappeared before the invasion of Jerusalem by Nebuchdnezzar Not only the Pentateuch, but also all the books of the Old Testament were destroyed in this historical calamity. History does not evince any evidence of the existence of these books after this invasion. According to the Christians the Pentateuch might have been rewritten by the Prophet Ezra. This book along with its copies were again destroyed and burnt by Antiochus at the time of his invasion of Jerusalem.
What about Surah 2:89, which confirms the previous scriptures? Yes, only because it confirms the previous scriptures do we Muslims believe that there were scriptures revealed to other prophets. It is not that what you have presented to us is what Quran confirms. Same is the case with Surah 2:91, Surah 3:84, Surah 4:136, Surah 5:45.
"The Qur'an also incorrectly asserts in Surah 7:157 that the Bible mentions Mohammed."
No the Quran is correct. This was confirmed by Rabbi Ben Abrahamson, that Muhammad {saw} can indeed be found in their scriptures:
“An exploration of the Jewish prophecies and expectations concerning the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as "Ish Hammudot", the man greatly valued, beloved, referred to in the book of Daniel. According to some Islamic, as well as Jewish tradition, the original meeting of "Maseeh" and "Madhi" was the meeting of the Jewish Exilarch Salmaan Farsi with the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The close relationship between the descendant of King David and the Prophet (pbuh) or his replacement (Caliph) was a prototype of events that would only reach their consummation at the end of days.” - Rabbi Ben Abrahamson, “The Weeks of Daniel and the Jewish Mahdi”.
(Saaib's Word count: 3499.
(Link to comment repository post)
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
The Consistent Abolitionist: The Extreme Case of Dr Gisella Perl (Part 1)
Having been asked about a very difficult topic by a commenter, we at the Abolitionist Society would like to offer our thoughts. Specifically, that which follows is a collaborative effort of Matthew Martellus, Ian John Philoponus, and Rhology.
We invite you to steel yourself and read the heart-rending and amazingly horrible story of Dr Gisella Perl, the "Angel of Auschwitz".
We invite you to consider the worst experience you have ever undergone. How long did it last? One of the authors of this article has had food poisoning and been in agony a few days, has lost a child, has been betrayed by a loved one. In the days following, would he have been entirely within his rational faculties' powers, such that he would be assured of making close to fully reasonable decisions? That is doubtful.
Dr Perl lived in a far worse situation than you have ever even glimpsed, for far longer than you have lived it. Our inquirer may be wondering to what extent we abolitionists will be willing to judge Dr Perl or criticise her, and the answer is: To a very small extent.
The question here surrounds the justifiable actions that someone in Dr Perl's situation could have taken. Let's consider the environment for the pregnant women Dr Perl encountered.
Extremely unhealthy, dirty, dangerous conditions
Perl and her fellow doctors were given virtually no medical instruments, no bandages, no clean water or any disinfectants, no medicine apart from a few aspirin, no clean linens or sheets.
One public latrine for 30,000+ women meant that one either had to wade through knee-deep sewage to add to the pile or to soil oneself and remain that way.
Death was an everyday occurrence, disease a constant reality. Beyond that, there were injuries to deal with and to try to keep from getting infected - from fights over food, from guards' whips, boots, and fists, from falls or other accidents sustained during manual labor, from debris on the ground, etc.
Here in the modern West, we're a bit put out if we cut our finger cooking and don't have a Band-Aid handy.
Insufficient caloric intake
Born babies' destiny
Perl believed that the unborn baby, even a very young one, was a human life: "No one will ever know what it meant to me to destroy those babies, but if I had not done it, both mother and child would have been cruelly murdered."
Are these the words of someone who gleefully engaged in "upholding a woman's right to choose"?
Dr Perl's example during the Holocaust and her stated motivations are far closer to that of a modern abolitionist than that of a modern pro-choicer, for she respected the life of the baby as worthy of protection.
See Part 2 for the rundown of blame, the abolitionist's response, and the solution to this seeming no-win situation.
(Please leave any comments at the Abolitionist Society blog.)
We invite you to steel yourself and read the heart-rending and amazingly horrible story of Dr Gisella Perl, the "Angel of Auschwitz".
When Dr. Perl first arrived in Auschwitz, the fate of all pregnant women entering the camp was the same - an immediate trip to the gas chambers. Later, the fate of some became even more horrific: the women were subjected to gruesome medical experiments before being killed, or worse, burned alive without being murdered first.The most important factor in this story is the surrounding context - Dr Perl was living and working in a Nazi death camp. This is perhaps the single most terrible environment in which anyone has ever found him/herself, perhaps the single darkest page of human history. This is as bad as it gets, and Dr Perl lived and worked there from March 1944 until she was transferred to Bergen-Belsen (an even worse death camp than Auschwitz, if that were possible) and was kept there until its liberation in late 1945.
In an interview with Nadine Brozan for the New York Times in 1982, Dr. Perl recalled her initial experiences with Dr. Mengele's "cure" for pregnancy in Auschwitz. "Dr. Mengele told me that it was my duty to report every pregnant woman to him," Dr. Perl said. "He said that they would go to another camp for better nutrition, even for milk. So women began to run directly to him, telling him, 'I am pregnant.' I learned that they were all taken to the research block to be used as guinea pigs, and then two lives would be thrown into the crematorium. I decided that never again would there be a pregnant woman in Auschwitz."
After Dr. Perl's startling realization of the fates of the pregnant women discovered by Dr. Mengele, she began to perform surgeries that before the war she would have believed herself incapable of - abortions.
We invite you to consider the worst experience you have ever undergone. How long did it last? One of the authors of this article has had food poisoning and been in agony a few days, has lost a child, has been betrayed by a loved one. In the days following, would he have been entirely within his rational faculties' powers, such that he would be assured of making close to fully reasonable decisions? That is doubtful.
Dr Perl lived in a far worse situation than you have ever even glimpsed, for far longer than you have lived it. Our inquirer may be wondering to what extent we abolitionists will be willing to judge Dr Perl or criticise her, and the answer is: To a very small extent.
The question here surrounds the justifiable actions that someone in Dr Perl's situation could have taken. Let's consider the environment for the pregnant women Dr Perl encountered.
Extremely unhealthy, dirty, dangerous conditions
Perl and her fellow doctors were given virtually no medical instruments, no bandages, no clean water or any disinfectants, no medicine apart from a few aspirin, no clean linens or sheets.
One public latrine for 30,000+ women meant that one either had to wade through knee-deep sewage to add to the pile or to soil oneself and remain that way.
Death was an everyday occurrence, disease a constant reality. Beyond that, there were injuries to deal with and to try to keep from getting infected - from fights over food, from guards' whips, boots, and fists, from falls or other accidents sustained during manual labor, from debris on the ground, etc.
Here in the modern West, we're a bit put out if we cut our finger cooking and don't have a Band-Aid handy.
Insufficient caloric intake
The exact daily caloric intake of prisoners ranges between sources, with some estimating as low as 700 calories per day, while others estimate closer to 1,300-1,700 calories (1,300 for prisoners doing light labor and 1,700 calories for prisoners doing heavy labor).Given this factor alone, these pregnant women's hopes of carrying their babies to term were dim. Their babies' hopes of surviving on so little nourishment were perhaps dimmer still.
Born babies' destiny
In Auschwitz, infants were immediately killed through a variety of methods, both by Nazi and Jewish medical staff by 'pinch(ing) and clos(ing)' the newborn's nostrils and when it opened its mouth to breathe... gave it a dose of lethal product, or drowning it in a pail of whatever liquid was available. The staff preferred this death to watching the child starve to death, according to Mengele's orders.This is, in fact, the modern abortician.
(Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams) alleged (abortician Kermit) Gosnell would induce labour in his patients and the babies would be born ‘squirming and crying’ before having their spines cut. Some of the filthy operation rooms had litter boxes and animals present at the times of the operations, according to court documents. (Source)Compare this carnage to Perl's statement:
Gosnell "induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord," Williams said. (Source)
Prosecutors estimated Gosnell ended hundreds of pregnancies by cutting the spinal cords, but they said they couldn't prosecute more cases because he destroyed files...Gosnell sometimes joked about the babies, saying one was so large he could 'walk me to the bus stop,' according to the report." (Source)
I learned that they were all taken to the research block to be used as guinea pigs, and then two lives would be thrown into the crematorium. I decided that never again would there be a pregnant woman in Auschwitz.
(Emphasis ours)
Perl believed that the unborn baby, even a very young one, was a human life: "No one will ever know what it meant to me to destroy those babies, but if I had not done it, both mother and child would have been cruelly murdered."
Are these the words of someone who gleefully engaged in "upholding a woman's right to choose"?
Dr Perl's example during the Holocaust and her stated motivations are far closer to that of a modern abolitionist than that of a modern pro-choicer, for she respected the life of the baby as worthy of protection.
See Part 2 for the rundown of blame, the abolitionist's response, and the solution to this seeming no-win situation.
(Please leave any comments at the Abolitionist Society blog.)
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
The Bible Is the Word of God Debate - My Opening Statement
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:20-21), “who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:6).
As the affirmer of the resolution, I will present a positive case, and then I will attempt to head off some of Saaib's arguments at the pass. Then, in my first rebuttal, we will take stock of whether he has avoided the pitfalls about which I warned him.
An Argument from God's Self-Affirming Authority
God's Word is self-affirming and true by definition because God is God and there is no higher standard of authority. There is only one God and He answers to no one. There is no one beside or above Him.
Hebrews 6:13 - "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself..." Contrast that and other biblical occurrences (such as Genesis 22:16, Isaiah 62:8, and Jeremiah 22:5 and 44:26) with Allah's swearing by the Qur'an (Surah 36:2, 38:1, 43:2, 44:2, 50:1), by the wind (Surah 51:1), by the heaven (S 51:7), and by the mountain (S 52:1), to name a few.
Who knows more or sees farther than God or can stop Him? Nobody; God is the final arbiter, judge, and lawgiver. What He says, goes. We are obligated to live and abide by God's revelation. Inasmuch as reliable eyewitness testimony is solid evidence in court, so an infallible, all-seeing, all-knowing, always-truthful eyewitness to an event is to be considered foremost in credibility. Further, God is the very basis for and necessary precondition of knowledge, reason, and intelligibility. Thus, without God, as I have argued elsewhere, we cannot know anything.
To demand evidence for one's precondition for reason and intelligibility is to ask for evidence of the very ground underneath one's feet. If it were not there, we could not even ask the question.
An Argument from Fulfilled Prophecy
Predictive prophecies abound in the Bible, and are part of God's testing of false gods, such as in Isaiah 41:21-24. A few examples of already-fulfilled prophecies are found in Daniel 9:25-26, Micah 5:2, Psalm 22 and 34:20, and Zechariah 12:10.
By no means have all the prophecies in the Bible yet been fulfilled, but many have been, and quite specifically. God knows the future and reveals it so that we may know He is the Lord of all.
An Argument from Jesus
The Lord Jesus quoted incessantly from the Old Testament Scriptures throughout His ministry, even when facing diabolical temptation (Matthew 4:4), and usually precedes His quotations with a reverential formula indicating the divine nature of the words He's quoting. Such statements as Matt 5:17-18, Matt 23:23, or "…have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM…?'" (Matt 22:31, emph. mine) indicate Jesus' regard for and opinion of the Scripture. As Saaib holds to the prophethood of Jesus and the Qur'an teaches that, at minimum, He was righteous (Surah 3:46, 6:86, 19:19), Saaib must give us a really good reason to overcome Jesus' opinion of the Bible.
But, the Evidence?
How To Prove Me Wrong
Option 1 – The Internal Critique
Option 2 – The External Critique from Islam
Saaib may simply let us know that Islam judges the Bible as not-the-Word-of-God, and thus leave it at that. To do so, he will need to inoculate his position against foundational and crippling internal critiques that others might offer, show that Islam is indeed internally consistent, and thus give us a reason to examine Islam very fully, as a standalone consistent worldview.
In this particular case, Saaib will need to give us a reason to think that Islam itself does not teach that the Bible is indeed the Word of God, If it could be shown that the Qur'an, for example, teaches that the Bible came from God, Saaib's case will collapse. Here is why.
The Qur'an says the Bible is God's revelation and indeed appeals to it to confirm its own message, thus proposing that it agrees with the Bible. The Bible's teaching differs, however, from the Qur'an's teaching in many fundamental ways. Muslims often propose that the Qur'an was saying that it agreed with the Bible as it existed at the time of Mohammed's ministry and that the Bible was corrupted since then. The problem with this attempted solution is that we know exactly what the Bible said at the time of Mohammed, and indeed well before that, so this solution is untenable. (The presence of textual variants, while not to be ignored, does not impact the doctrinal presentation of the Bible. The vast majority of all variants in the New Testament, for example, are the presence of absence of “movable nu”s, which are so insignificant as to be untranslatable into any other language.)
Since we know what the Bible said at the time of Mohammed, Saaib must show us why the following Qur'anic passages do not lead his position into fatal inconsistency:
If Saaib challenges the equation of “Injil/Injeel” with the New Testament and/or the “Taurat” as the Old Testament or at least the Torah/Pentateuch, he must give us a reason why, from Islamic sources, and not merely his own or someone else's ad hoc imagination, we should think that these refer to something else, and he must tell us what those things are.
As the affirmer of the resolution, I will present a positive case, and then I will attempt to head off some of Saaib's arguments at the pass. Then, in my first rebuttal, we will take stock of whether he has avoided the pitfalls about which I warned him.
If God has spoken, this affects literally everything. It all matters. If God has not spoken clearly, sufficiently, and in a way understandable to people, then let us eat, drink, and be merry, for neither today nor tomorrow do we know anything about so much; I'd argue we have no basis for ANY objective epistemology or metaphysics.
God and His Word need no defense. This debate is a privilege, blessing for the believer, an opportunity to sharpen our own love for and acquaintance with God Himself and to share the blessings of the truth with others.
An Argument from God's Self-Affirming Authority
God's Word is self-affirming and true by definition because God is God and there is no higher standard of authority. There is only one God and He answers to no one. There is no one beside or above Him.
Hebrews 6:13 - "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself..." Contrast that and other biblical occurrences (such as Genesis 22:16, Isaiah 62:8, and Jeremiah 22:5 and 44:26) with Allah's swearing by the Qur'an (Surah 36:2, 38:1, 43:2, 44:2, 50:1), by the wind (Surah 51:1), by the heaven (S 51:7), and by the mountain (S 52:1), to name a few.
Who knows more or sees farther than God or can stop Him? Nobody; God is the final arbiter, judge, and lawgiver. What He says, goes. We are obligated to live and abide by God's revelation. Inasmuch as reliable eyewitness testimony is solid evidence in court, so an infallible, all-seeing, all-knowing, always-truthful eyewitness to an event is to be considered foremost in credibility. Further, God is the very basis for and necessary precondition of knowledge, reason, and intelligibility. Thus, without God, as I have argued elsewhere, we cannot know anything.
To demand evidence for one's precondition for reason and intelligibility is to ask for evidence of the very ground underneath one's feet. If it were not there, we could not even ask the question.
An Argument from Fulfilled Prophecy
Predictive prophecies abound in the Bible, and are part of God's testing of false gods, such as in Isaiah 41:21-24. A few examples of already-fulfilled prophecies are found in Daniel 9:25-26, Micah 5:2, Psalm 22 and 34:20, and Zechariah 12:10.
By no means have all the prophecies in the Bible yet been fulfilled, but many have been, and quite specifically. God knows the future and reveals it so that we may know He is the Lord of all.
An Argument from Jesus
The Lord Jesus quoted incessantly from the Old Testament Scriptures throughout His ministry, even when facing diabolical temptation (Matthew 4:4), and usually precedes His quotations with a reverential formula indicating the divine nature of the words He's quoting. Such statements as Matt 5:17-18, Matt 23:23, or "…have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM…?'" (Matt 22:31, emph. mine) indicate Jesus' regard for and opinion of the Scripture. As Saaib holds to the prophethood of Jesus and the Qur'an teaches that, at minimum, He was righteous (Surah 3:46, 6:86, 19:19), Saaib must give us a really good reason to overcome Jesus' opinion of the Bible.
But, the Evidence?
The say-so of the highest authority and truth in the universe, the affirmation of the unchanging and always-truthful God of the universe – there is no higher standard of knowledge or evidence. Compared with that, what good will mentioning archaeological findings of a man dated from the 1st century who was also crucified, or noting that the Evangelist Luke showed remarkably accurate understanding and familiarity of the socio-political geography of his time, etc. do? If the omniscient God has spoken and it seems incorrect to us, mere creatures of terribly limited knowledge, vision, foresight, wisdom, understanding, powers of observation, and instrumentation, are we not in the wrong, every time? Who will be so arrogant as to question God, to put the judge of the universe in the dock as though to judge Him? Will He not rebuke us with explosive power, as in Job 38:1-7 and Job 40:7-14? And can we have any other response than Job's in Job 42:2-6?
How To Prove Me Wrong
The matter before us is about ultimate authorities. God is my ultimate authority, and He has communicated in the Bible. Saaib, as a Muslim, believes that his ultimate authority is God's revelation in the Qur'an and authentic ahadith. Either of us can evaluate the other's worldview based on our own worldview, but what would that tell anyone, but that the one thinks his worldview is incompatible with the other's and he thinks his is correct?
Further, Saaib is not an atheist, or a Hindu, or a Mormon. He is a Muslim, and Islam is, as our Muslim friends so delight in telling us, a detailed and full worldview system. Therefore, Saaib needs to deny the resolution as a Muslim and remain consistent with his worldview. Would not arguing against my position as if he were atheist/agnostic/Pastafarian/Rastafarian serve as tacit concession that his own Islamic worldview is not sufficient for the task before him? Thus, he has two options:
Option 1 – The Internal Critique
Saaib may take on, for the sake of argument, the Christian worldview with all its included presuppositions and beliefs, and from there attempt to demonstrate one or more fatal inconsistencies. This may include attempted demonstrations of contradictions between biblical teachings/passages. Saaib must be careful not to import any external beliefs when taking this route, engage my position (Reformed Baptist-ism, if you will) and not another, and demonstrate adequate and competent exegesis.
Option 2 – The External Critique from Islam
Saaib may simply let us know that Islam judges the Bible as not-the-Word-of-God, and thus leave it at that. To do so, he will need to inoculate his position against foundational and crippling internal critiques that others might offer, show that Islam is indeed internally consistent, and thus give us a reason to examine Islam very fully, as a standalone consistent worldview.
In this particular case, Saaib will need to give us a reason to think that Islam itself does not teach that the Bible is indeed the Word of God, If it could be shown that the Qur'an, for example, teaches that the Bible came from God, Saaib's case will collapse. Here is why.
The Qur'an says the Bible is God's revelation and indeed appeals to it to confirm its own message, thus proposing that it agrees with the Bible. The Bible's teaching differs, however, from the Qur'an's teaching in many fundamental ways. Muslims often propose that the Qur'an was saying that it agreed with the Bible as it existed at the time of Mohammed's ministry and that the Bible was corrupted since then. The problem with this attempted solution is that we know exactly what the Bible said at the time of Mohammed, and indeed well before that, so this solution is untenable. (The presence of textual variants, while not to be ignored, does not impact the doctrinal presentation of the Bible. The vast majority of all variants in the New Testament, for example, are the presence of absence of “movable nu”s, which are so insignificant as to be untranslatable into any other language.)
Since we know what the Bible said at the time of Mohammed, Saaib must show us why the following Qur'anic passages do not lead his position into fatal inconsistency:
Surah 2:86 ...We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of apostles; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit...
Surah 2:89 And when there comes to them a Book from Allah, confirming what is with them...
Surah 2:91 ...humiliating is the punishment of those who reject Faith. When it is said to them, “Believe in what Allah Hath sent down,” they say, “We believe in what was sent down to us:” yet they reject all besides, even if it be Truth confirming what is with them. Say: “Why then have ye slain the prophets of Allah in times gone by, if ye did indeed believe?”
Surah 3:84 Say: ‘We believe in...what has been revealed to us...in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord:'”
Surah 4:136 O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Apostle, and the scripture which He hath sent to His Apostle and the scripture which He sent to those before (him).
Surah 5:45 If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers. And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah. Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein.
Surah 2:89 And when there comes to them a Book from Allah, confirming what is with them...
Surah 2:91 ...humiliating is the punishment of those who reject Faith. When it is said to them, “Believe in what Allah Hath sent down,” they say, “We believe in what was sent down to us:” yet they reject all besides, even if it be Truth confirming what is with them. Say: “Why then have ye slain the prophets of Allah in times gone by, if ye did indeed believe?”
Surah 3:84 Say: ‘We believe in...what has been revealed to us...in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord:'”
Surah 4:136 O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Apostle, and the scripture which He hath sent to His Apostle and the scripture which He sent to those before (him).
Surah 5:45 If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers. And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah. Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein.
If Saaib challenges the equation of “Injil/Injeel” with the New Testament and/or the “Taurat” as the Old Testament or at least the Torah/Pentateuch, he must give us a reason why, from Islamic sources, and not merely his own or someone else's ad hoc imagination, we should think that these refer to something else, and he must tell us what those things are.
Saaib must also solve the problem of Allah's swearing by things inferior to himself, as mentioned above. How is this “Allah” supposed to be taken seriously?
The Qur'an also incorrectly asserts in Surah 7:157 that the Bible mentions Mohammed. It does not. If Allah is all-knowing, why couldn't he read the Bible to know what it actually says?
Pitfalls to Avoid
Pitfalls to Avoid
--Complaints that I have produced no evidence. God's Word is itself of the highest evidentiary value and authority.
--Imputation of positions to me that I don’t hold, such as tritheism, or that “a man became God”, or that “God had sex with Mary”, or that I worship the Bible.
--Irrelevancies such as whether celebrating Christmas on 25 December is of pagan origin, or that we should believe the Qur’an is from God because Mohammed was illiterate.
--Citing prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled as evidence of the failure of biblical prophecy. Nobody is claiming that ALL prophecies ever given have already been fulfilled; some remain still in the future. Saaib would need to perform proper exegesis to show why we should expect that prophecy should have already been fulfilled.
--Trying to convince us that the Qur'an is the Word of God without resolving the aforementioned reliance on the Bible for confirmation of its message, by appeal to such things as the scientific accuracy of the Qur'an.
--Citing instances of Qur'anic scientific accuracy without dealing with the well-known instances of Qur'anic scientific bungling, such as the sun's setting “in a pool of murky water” far to the west, the origin of human embryos as clots of blood, the origin of human semen between the backbone and the ribs, and the classification of meteors as missiles Allah uses to shoot evil jinn.
--Trying to prove lack of clarity in the Bible by appeal to the various sects/denominations in Christianity, as if Sufi, Sunni, Shia, and Druze don't also read the same Qur'an.
(Word count: 1985)
(Link to comment repository post)
--Imputation of positions to me that I don’t hold, such as tritheism, or that “a man became God”, or that “God had sex with Mary”, or that I worship the Bible.
--Irrelevancies such as whether celebrating Christmas on 25 December is of pagan origin, or that we should believe the Qur’an is from God because Mohammed was illiterate.
--Citing prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled as evidence of the failure of biblical prophecy. Nobody is claiming that ALL prophecies ever given have already been fulfilled; some remain still in the future. Saaib would need to perform proper exegesis to show why we should expect that prophecy should have already been fulfilled.
--Trying to convince us that the Qur'an is the Word of God without resolving the aforementioned reliance on the Bible for confirmation of its message, by appeal to such things as the scientific accuracy of the Qur'an.
--Citing instances of Qur'anic scientific accuracy without dealing with the well-known instances of Qur'anic scientific bungling, such as the sun's setting “in a pool of murky water” far to the west, the origin of human embryos as clots of blood, the origin of human semen between the backbone and the ribs, and the classification of meteors as missiles Allah uses to shoot evil jinn.
--Trying to prove lack of clarity in the Bible by appeal to the various sects/denominations in Christianity, as if Sufi, Sunni, Shia, and Druze don't also read the same Qur'an.
(Word count: 1985)
(Link to comment repository post)
Sunday, January 01, 2012
BEAR 3.5 - Daniel Dennett on dysteleological arguments
(To BEAR 3)
Joe Holman:
There is simply no denying the breathtaking brilliance of the designs to be found in nature. Time and again, biologists baffled by some apparently futile of maladroit bit of bad design in nature have eventually come to see that they have underestimated the ingenuity, the sheer brilliance, the depth of insight to be discovered in one of Mother Nature's creations.Dennett, Daniel. Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Simon and Schuster, 1995. Print.
Joe Holman:
our token Christian debater... made the remark that God wasn’t responsible for making bad human bodies because he only “made” Adam and Eve in a perfect state. I love it when Christians make this statement. It’s the ultimate pass-off for the poor design of our bodies. Adam and Eve were perfect. The rest of us just weren’t fortunate enough to be Adam or Eve.
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