There is a law
to determine as how the truth can be established. I shall adopt the Mosaic law of the Torah as
a criteria for establishing the truth of the matter in question. “Come
now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: ... ” (Isaiah 1:18 KJV)
In conformity with the Mosaic law, the testimony of 2 or 3
witnesses are suffice to establish every word (scripture verses) that is
in doubt. Moses says, “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three
witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at
the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.” -- (Deuteronomy
17:6). Jesus says, “But if he will not hear thee, then take with
thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word may be established. “-- (Matthew 18:16). Nevertheless, if
the words of first witnesses have been rebutted by other witnesses with
stronger evidence, then we can determine who are the false witnesses.
I am about 40
years of age and have been a born-again
Christain for many years. One evening, I entered a Christian chat-room
seeking some friends to fellowship with. A Muslim posted some sarcastic
remarks in the chat-room which some new chat-room members wondered whether
or not it was a Christian chat-room and why there were posting of
faithless remarks about Jesus Christ as follows:-
"Jesus is not all-powerful god"
(Read my
response here)
"Did Jesus said his Father is God?"
(Read my
response here)
And many others.
After many months of research on Internet, I come across
many apologetic articles which other Christians have done the wonderful
works to defend the Christian faith and expose the lies of the opponents.
In response to the word of God "be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear", I shall develop this website to defend
and also expose that the opponents are liars. Beware of the tactics they
employed. Let me share with you this important article.
Methods
Muslims use to attack Christianity
By www.carm.org
When dealing with Muslims it is wise to understand some
of the approaches used by them to discredit Christianity. Much could
be written on each of the following subjects with numerous examples.
But, instead, I will simply expound on the areas common among Muslim
approaches and point out what to watch for.
No. 1 Attack the validity of the Bible
This is expected. If the Muslim can
undermine the strength and integrity of God's word, then it would be much
easier for him to win arguments, confound the Christian, and make converts
of those who don't know the truth and power of the Bible. This is
what the devil did in the Garden of Eden. Satan said, "You
truly will not die," (Gen.
3:4). I am not calling Muslims satanic. I am simply
pointing out that that is how deception begins, by bringing doubt upon
God's word, and that this is exactly what Muslims do. They try and
get people to doubt the Bible and then tell you how great Islam is.
Various methods are used here to accomplish this:
-
Stating that the
Bible has numerous contradictions
-
Of course, I cannot
go through all the alleged Bible contradictions here. But my
observation has been that the majority of "biblical
contradictions" raised by Muslims are nothing more than
examples of their lack of understanding of biblical theology and
context. Always read the context of verses. Don't let
a Muslim simply state that there are contradictions and leave it
at that. Ask him to give you one. If you cannot answer
it, do research and get back to him. Sure, there are some
tough areas of scripture, but there are no contradictions in God's
word.1
-
Criticizing the lack
of original manuscripts
-
The point here is
that because we do not have the original manuscripts of the Bible,
we cannot really know what the originals said and, therefore, the
Bible could have been corrupted. They then compare the Bible
to the Koran and state that the Koran is the guaranteed,
preserved, direct word of Allah given by the angel Gabriel to
Muhammad. Of course, what they fail to mention is
-
The Bible
documents are well attested as being reliable and accurate.
(See the book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh
McDowell.)
-
Regarding the
Koran, Muhammad couldn't read or write, so he recited the
Koran to people who then wrote it down. There is no
evidence at all that the Koran was written down in its
entirety in Muhammad's lifetime and compiled as a unit.
So how could he have verified its truth?
-
Shortly after
Muhammad's death, the Muslim Uthman ordered all sets of the
Koran manuscripts to be destroyed except the codex of Zaid.
Why? Is it because Zaid's copy was better? If so,
how do we know? Did differences in the copies arise so
quickly that discrepancies were evident and Uthman recognized
the need for a standardized copy lest Islam suffer division?
It raises doubt on the Koran's supposed incorruptibility.
-
Muslims claim
that Allah said the Koran would be preserved. But, the
mere claim is not enough. It is using the Koran to
substantiate the Koran which is circular reasoning.
-
Claiming that the
Bible is false because it contradicts the Koran.
-
This is simply
begging the question. That means that one assumes the
validity of the thing that he is trying to prove. The Muslim
assumes the validity of the Koran and because it contradicts the
Bible, therefore the Bible is wrong. Well, the Christian can
just as easily state that the Koran is wrong because it
contradicts the Bible. But the Muslims would not accept
that. Therefore, why should we accept their argument?
No. 2 Attempt to set Paul against Jesus
Muslims often make the claim that Paul never met Jesus and was not a
disciple or apostle of Jesus. Of course, this is not true.
Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts
9, after Jesus' resurrection. Jesus spoke to him and
commissioned him. So, Paul met Jesus. Also, Peter, who was a
disciple of Jesus, authenticated Paul's writings by calling them scripture
in 2 Pet. 3:15-16.
If they are inspired, then they cannot contradict Jesus' words.
In addition, many Muslims claim that Jesus never
claimed to be God and that Paul is the one who wrote that Jesus was God.
First of all, if they admit that Paul wrote that Jesus was God, then
remind them of 2 Pet. 3:15-16 where Peter calls Paul's writings Scripture.
Nevertheless, they sometimes assert that Paul hijacked Christianity and
took it over and made Jesus into something He was not. This claim is
false.
Perhaps the primary area where Muslims think Paul
and Jesus contradict is in the area of who Jesus is. Paul states
that Jesus is God in flesh: Col.
2:9 says, "For in Him the fullness of deity dwells in bodily
form." Muslims assert that no where in the Gospels did
Jesus claim to be God. Therefore, they claim, Paul's words are not
true and the Bible is not trustworthy.
This attack by Muslims is an attack based out of
opinion. Jesus did claim to be God In John
8:56-59, it says, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day,
and he saw it and was glad." 57The Jews therefore
said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen
Abraham?" 58Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly,
I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." 59Therefore
they picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out
of the temple."2 Why did the
Pharisees want to kill Jesus? They explain their reason in John
10:33 when they say, "For a good work we stone thee not; but
for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself
God," (KJV). Whether or not the Muslim will accept this,
let alone agree that this is correct, matters little because his
presupposition will not allow him to accept, no matter what.
Nevertheless, the text clearly states that the Pharisees understood that
Jesus was claiming to be God. Also, consider John
5:18 where the Apostle John says, "Therefore the Jews sought
the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said
also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God," (KJV).
In this verse Jesus healed on the Sabbath and the Pharisees thought He was
breaking the Sabbath law. John the Apostle also states that when
Jesus claimed that God was His Father, that it was "making himself
equal with God." The Muslim will always find a way to
argue out of these texts. But, two facts remain. First, Jesus
claimed to be God. Second, the Pharisees denied that Jesus was God
and the Muslims agree with them.
There are other areas that the Muslims will
say are where Jesus and Paul do not agree, but when they bring it up,
always ask for an example. Each time I've done this, I've discovered
that the Muslim did not have a sufficient understanding of what the text
is saying. Remember, always read the context.
No. 3
Misrepresentation of Christian doctrine
Sadly, this is a very common error of the
Muslims. The single greatest instance of this is in the doctrine of
the Trinity.
Muslims so often attack a false understanding of the Trinity by stating
that it is three gods. That is not the correct Christian definition
of the Trinity doctrine. Christianity does not teach there are three
gods. It never has and it never will. The doctrine of the
Trinity is that there is only one God who exists in three persons:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinitarianism is monotheistic.
If a Muslim continues to proclaim that the Trinity is three gods, then I
simply stop discussing the issue with him because he is not willing to
accept what the definition is and it isn't possible to have a meaningful
dialogue.
Another Christian doctrine they fail to
understand is the Hypostatic Union. This is the teaching that Jesus
is one person with two natures. He is both God and man as is
declared in Col. 2:9,
"For in Him [Jesus] dwells the fullness of the Godhead
bodily." Because Jesus was also a man, we have verses such
as John
14:28 where Jesus says "the Father is greater than I."
Muslims will say that if Jesus is God, how could He be greater than
Himself? Of course, they fail to understand the Trinity (three
persons) and they fail to understand that Jesus, as a man (Phil.
2:5-8), cooperated with the limitations of being a man and was in a
lower position than the Father (Heb.
2:9) for a while.
Sometimes Muslims refuse to accept Christian
explanations for things because it doesn't fit their agenda nor their
preconceived ideas of what they think Christianity is. Oddly enough,
Christians often contribute to this problem by offering inadequate and
sometimes erring explanations of Christian doctrine. Thus, many
Muslims are led into error regarding what Christianity really teaches.
Christians need to know their doctrine, and Muslims need to understand the
proper explanations for those doctrines.
No. 4
Misinterpreting various Scripture passages
A very good example of misrepresentation
of biblical passages can be found in a dialogue I had with a Muslim
regarding John 1:1, 14. These
verses say, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with
God and the word was God." Verse 14
says "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." The
Muslim I was speaking to reasoned thus:
If the word is God then we
can insert the word "god" into the verse each time it says
"word." Therefore, we would have it say 'In the
beginning was the God and the God was with God and God was God.'
As you can see, this makes no sense. Therefore, when you go to
verse 14 where it says the word became flesh, it cannot mean that God
became flesh, because John 1:1 makes no sense."
As
you can see, this kind of logic is very bad. First of all, John
1:1 does not say what he said it does. It does not speak in
contradictory terms the way he tried to make it sound. Instead, it
uses both the word "word" and the word "god" in the
sentence. I told him that he needed to go with what the text does
say and not with what it does not say. In other words, he
reconstructed it in such a way as to purposely not make sense and then he
attacked that.
Another verse, or verses, that they misinterpret
is when Jesus says that He is the Son
of God. To the Muslim, this means that God literally had
a wife and produced a literal son. Of course, this is not what is
meant by the biblical account. Sonship is in relation to the
Fatherhood of God in a spiritual and metaphoric sense. After all,
Jesus says that God is spirit (John
4;24). Of course, God would not have a body of flesh and bones
with which to procreate children. What the Muslims are guilty of
doing is imposing Islamic understandings upon biblical texts and then
complaining about the biblical texts in light of how they interpret them.
This is not how one should go about "refuting the opposition."
Rather, the Muslim should seek to understand the biblical/cultural context
and deal with the issue from that perspective not a fabricated one as this
example shows.
No. 5 Failing to differentiate between
Protestant and Catholic doctrines
Sadly, Christianity is not in complete unity in all things which is why we
have denominations. I am dismayed at the fragmentation within
Christianity and think it is a poor witness to the world. But, the
fact is that differences of opinions among Christians do occur. In
fact, we are allowed to have differences of opinion according to God's
word found in Rom.
14: 1-13. True Christians are all united in the essentials
of the faith and are often divided on the non-essentials. This does
not mean we are not all Christians, but that we have differences of
opinions on some things.
However, in the 1500s, there was a major split in
the Catholic church.
It was called the Reformation. As a Protestant, I believe the
Reformation was necessary because the Catholic church had adopted some
dangerous and erroneous doctrines that extend far beyond mere differences
of opinion; namely, prayer to Mary, purgatory, indulgences, etc.
Muslims often fail to differentiate between
Catholicism and Protestantism in their arguments. I've heard and
read where Muslims attack, for example, the Catholic teaching of the
Eucharist where the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper are claimed by the
Catholics to actually become the body and blood of Christ during the
communion service. Of course, we Protestants strongly disagree with
this. But this disagreement is rarely, if ever, brought up when
attacking Christian doctrine. So, when Muslims say "Christians
believe ...", be careful that they do not make too broad a
generalization as they continue their attack.
No. 6
Claim their logic is correct and Christian logic is incorrect
Many Muslims have told me that what I am
saying about God, Salvation, the Bible, etc., isn't logical. Now,
perhaps some things I say are not logical. But, I've not heard any
convincing arguments yet demonstrating what is and is not logical
regarding Christian doctrine. Usually, the Muslim will simply say
that Jesus having two natures is not logical or that the Trinity being
three persons doesn't make sense. But saying so doesn't make
it so. There is nothing illogical about a part of God being able to
become a person and add human nature to Himself. It may not be the
easiest thing in the world to understand, but it is not illogical.
Neither does saying that the Trinity is three persons is illogical make it
so. Surely anyone would agree that when we encounter God and His
self revelation there will be things that are difficult to understand.
The Trinity certainly falls under that category. But, the Trinity
doctrine is not against logic. It would be illogical to say that one
God is three gods, or that one person is three persons. But that is
not what Christianity teaches.
I've found that when dialoguing with Muslims and
when reading their material against Christianity, that their claim to know
real logic is really an extension of their Muslim thought and not a
mastery of logic at all.
No. 7 Switching topics when challenged
Sometimes when discussing subjects that Muslims find difficult to answer,
they will quickly change the subject. Very often this change involves
attacking the Bible. Other times they will testify that they know Islam is
true or they will simply say that you do not known what you are talking
about. But when they change the subject you must be patient. Lovingly
bring them back to the subject at hand. I have had to do this many times
when discussing Islam with Muslims.
This is a small but very important point. Too
many Christians fall into the trap of allowing themselves to be diverted
from the subject at hand. Do not let a Muslim simply ignore a question and
start a new subject when it gets tough. Likewise, Christians should not
simply change the subject when it gets difficult for them either. Instead,
if you do not know the answer to a question, simply admit it. Go to some
research and then get back with them.
Always remember to be gracious. You will not win
the Muslim to the Lord with cruelty and rudeness. And remember that we are
in the spiritual battle. Love and truth in the name of Jesus is more
powerful than any perfect answer.
When dialoguing with Muslims, please remember to be respectful and
patient. But, check everything they say and listen to them.
They do not have the market cornered on truth, even though they think they
do.
1.
There is an exception due to a textual copyist error. In 2 Chr. 36:9, it states that "Jehoiachin was eight years old when he
became king," and 2
Kings 24:8, states that "Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when
he became king..." This is not an error in the original
manuscripts. Most likely, one of the small horizontal strokes
used in recording numbers during the time of Chronicles writing was either
smudged out or faded. (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, by
Gleason Archer, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI., 1982, page 215.)
2. Note: in Exodus
3:14 God says, "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and
he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent
me unto you," (KJV).
Reference: http://www.carm.org/islam/muslim_attacks.htm
Other
Articles of Interest:
a) Christian Views -
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
b) Muslims Views - FAQ
c) Christianity &
Islam Views