Prophet

A human empowered by God. Not a God-man, a person of the Godhead or part of a Triune God (Trinity)
From the lineage of Abraham (Gen. 22:18)
From the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10)
A descendant of David (2 Sam. 7:12)
A Lord under Yahweh, the God of Israel (Ps. 110:1)
From amongst their own people (Jer. 30:21)

The word Bible comes from the Greek word 'Ta Biblia' meaning 'the books'. Its a collection of 66 books in one volume containing poetry, history, laws, prophecy, proverbs, sayings, stories and letters.

The word Catholic meaning 'universal' was used as early as 107 AD

In 380 AD, Catholicism became the state religion of Rome. A calendar of feast days was set: Christmas - to mark the birth of Jesus; Easter - to mark the death and resurrection.

The Jewish Rabbis preached a person was saved so long as their intention was to remain within the covenant, and one truly repented and seek forgiveness for their sins.

Paul preached that every person was 'damned' until they was offered salvation. Mans problem was that he was 'in the flesh' in bondage to the Law, sold under Sin, enslaved by the fundamental spirits of the universe (ie. dead).

Paul preached the only cure was liberation from slavery and death by union with Christ, who had conquered death and sin.

• Porphyry (3rd century philosopher) wrote a 15-volume refutation of Christianity, the gospels and resurrection
• Celsus (2nd century philosopher) rejected the impossible concept of the resurrection

The imperialistic power of the church, and its stranglehold on intellectual endeavours was such that the above books and many more perished in the pious book burnings in the 4th century. Today, our knowledge of these books is limited and known through the refutation books which had to quote the destroyed books.

Once Christianity was established as the state religion, it became dangerous, as a subject of Rome, to question the doctrinal version of events.

Today, the King James Version Bible (KJV) is considered the crown of English Bibles. In the 17th century, the Textus Receptus, the authoritative Greek New Testament text was used to translate the Greek Bible into the English KJV Bible.

No, Paul never met Jesus in the flesh. Influenced by Greek Hellenism and various religious mystical cults, Paul turned Jesus into a deity for worship.

Paul was known as Saul was a prosecutor and law enforcer for the Romans, the Caiaphas. He was hostile towards Judaism.

Jesus left his brother James in-charge of the Jerusalem Church after His execution for sedition by the Romans.

James accepted Paul and his missionary activities as the money he raised from wealthy gentiles helped to support the Jerusalem church (?)

Jesus was not the founder of Christianity as we know it today. Most of the New Testament does not even concern the historical Jesus. Paul defines what has became known as Christianity today.

According to Paul, Jesus' Jewish teachings are not relevant to salvation. While Jesus is regarded by Christians as the founder of the faith. Paul's role in defining Christianity is absolutely fundamental.

The Romans adopted the Roman Catholic version of Christianity; and chose the teachings of Paul over Jesus.

No. Neither Jesus or his twelve disciples had any intention of founding a new religion. They believed in maintaining their new faith within the confines of Judaism.

Paul's religious creed fundamentally is in his concept of the death of Jesus as saving mankind from sin. Instead of seeing Jesus as a messiah of the Jewish human savior, he saw him as a God-like diety whose atoning death by violence was necessary to release his devotees for immortal life and attain salvation. This view of Jesus' death seems to have come to Paul in his Damascus vision.

Paul's new religion had the advantage over other salvation-cults of being close to Hebrew Scriptures, which Paul now re-interpreted as forecasting the salvation-death of Jesus. This gave Pauline Christianity an authority that proved attractive to the Gentile masses.

Jehovah Witnesses (JW) are often referred to as 'modern-day Arians'. While there are similarities in theology and doctrine, the JW differ from Arians in the following ways:

JW believe Jesus can fully know the Father (something Arius himself denied)

JW consider the Holy Spirit to be God's 'active force' or 'energy', which had no beginning, and is not an actual person

Arius considered the Holy Spirit to be a person or a high-ranking angel, which had a beginning as a creature

JW pray to God, through Jesus as a mediator. Arians prayed directly to Jesus

Paul's new doctrine met with disapproval from the Jewish-Christians of the Jerusalem Church, who regarded the substitution of Jesus' atoning death for the observance of the Torah as a lapse into paganism.

Paul was duly summoned to Jerusalem by the leaders James, Peter and John to explain his doctrine in 50 AD.

The writer of John is believed to be a Greek convert and he often shows a lack of knowledge of Judaism and the Torah; and even shows a disrespect for the Jews, as he uses the term "Jews" as a slur over 60 times in the Gospel of John alone.

Apocrypha are works, usually written works, that are of unknown authorship, or of doubtful authenticity, or spurious, or not considered to be within a particular canon.

The Apocrypha (Greek for 'hidden away') are revered Biblical text which were excluded from the canon Bible. They were literally hidden away from the early Christians, and tell a very different story of Jesus.

Gospel of Nazoreans
Gospel of Ebionites
Gospel of Egyptians
Gospel of Peter
Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Hebrews

Thomas is the most important non-canonical Gospel recently discovered in the last century. It positively features in current studies of Christian origins and the historical Jesus.

Gospel of Thomas with sayings of Jesus is thought to be earliest written record of his life produced within ten years of his death.

Saint Ambrose (334-397), a keen advocate of church music is credited with introducing it into christian worship.

Saint Jerome (342-420) was commissioned to translate the gospels from Greek into Latin. This key Catholic Biblical scholar was highly regarded and often represented with the figure of a lion.

In the 2nd century, some Christians felt John gospel was so different in tone and approach in comparison to the other three synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke); it should have been excluded from the cannon.

Early Catholics were taught Christianity by the priests, nuns and at Catholic schools - and not through Bible study. The priests role was to pass on Christian beliefs and practise to his congregation. The priest acted as an intermediary between God and the people; as mankind was regarded as inherently sinful.

Catholics were discouraged from individual Bible study and pushed towards conforming with traditional Church teachings.

In 1909, Pope Pius X first encouraged Bible study. For the first time, Catholics could now study the Bible for themselves and Catholicism returned to being a 'religion of the book' for the people

In Jerusalem, the disciple James, leader of Jesus' followers believed their future lay as a religious group within the Judaism religion.

After Jesus' crucifixion, the disciples continued their preaching in Jerusalem amongst fellow Jews.

Jesus was a Jew and the origins of Christianity are as a reform movement within Judaism. In contrast to this, the Catholic Church believes Jesus' mission was not only for Jews but the whole world.

Led by two academics at Oxford University, the £1.9 million study found that human thought processes were 'rooted' to religious concepts.

The project involved 57 academics in 20 countries around the world, and spanned disciplines including anthropology, psychology, and philosophy.

The co-director of the project, Professor Roger Trigg, from the University of Oxford, said the research showed that religion was “not just something for a peculiar few to do on Sundays instead of playing golf”.

"We have gathered a body of evidence that suggests that religion is a common fact of human nature across different societies. This suggests that attempts to suppress religion are likely to be short-lived as human thought seems to be rooted to religious concepts, such as the existence of supernatural agents or gods, and the possibility of an afterlife or pre-life."

The superior authority of Christ meant that while the authors of the NT embraced the OT as 'God-breathed' and thus would never feel free to reject any portion of it, they were equally convinced that the ultimate God-intended meaning of any given passage, and of the OT as a whole, was only found when seen in relation to Christ.

For example, for one or more of the Gospel authors, Jesus's birth fulfills Israel's longing for a messiah, his exodus out of Egypt fulfills Israel's exodus out of Egypt, his temptations in the desert fulfills Israel's trials in the desert, his twelve disciples fulfill the mission of the twelve tribes of Israel, his five sets of teachings in Matthew fulfill Moses’s Pentateuch, his sufferings fulfill the call of Israel to be a suffering servant, and his resurrection is the fulfillment of Israel's calling and longing for restoration.

The books of Arius and his followers, after the first Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.), were burned for heresy by the Roman emperors Constantine, Honorius, and Theodosius I, who published a decree commanding that, "the doctrine of the Trinity should be embraced by those who would be called catholics; that all others should bear the infamous name of heretics".

In 1535, William Tyndale was the first man to produce an English version of the bible in print, was captured and imprisoned in Belgium. A year later he was strangled and burned at the stake.

In 1535, the translator of the first Dutch bible, Jacob van Liesveldt was arrested and beheaded.

The 16th century translators of the Geneva Bible harnassed it to promote their anti-monarchist views.

The medieval Church prohibited use of the Bible to ensure people believed that they were told, not what they read, or others read to them.

The idea that Jesus must die on behalf of the nation and the believers in the diaspora. was the brain child of the high Priest Caiaphas.

How did it become Christian creed? Paul, is the obvious answer.

King Ptolemy, with the Greek historian Plutarch, ordered all books to be collected. Around 288 BC, the LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA was born. It would serve as testament to the supremacy of Greek culture, the acquisition of knowledge and learning.

Papyrus scrolls from every corner of the world stacked on shelves. When finished, the library contained works by every conceivable author, poet and writer, rhetoricians, doctor, historian and everyone else.

It was imperative every book be rendered into Greek, as a testament to Greek language and culture. It was unthinkable it contain works in any foreign language.

Even in the earliest days, there were important differences between the Hebrew and Greek (Septuagint) Bible. The Septuagint increasing popularity meant many copies were in existence. They were written by hand and Scribes made mistakes which were multiplied. Notes and footnotes in the margin were added to the body of text.

Like all frequently copied manuscripts, the Septuagint went through a process of continual corruption. Therefore the Hebrew and Greek bibles diverged more widely.

For the Jews, the Septuagint would always be a translation of the Hebrew bible.

Judaism was views as an inward looking, demoralized by centuries of Roman occupation, declining economic fortunes and ongoing emigration.

"Yahweh" is found in Exodus 3:14 where it is alleged that God says "I am", but the text really reads, "ehyeh asher ehyeh" or "I will be who I will be". The Jews took this to be God's name.

Paul's Christianity had a universal ambition; it aspired to bring salvation to the world.

Christianity had to reject the Hebrew representation of scripture, written in the obscure, provincial tongue only the Jews spoke, and to announce the miraculous new revelation of Septuagint, the eternal bible reincarnated in a language that everyone understood.

Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic.

The earliest New Testament manuscripts are in Koine Greek. But there are Aramaic phrases in the Gospels. Therefore, Scholars believe an Aramaic layer lies beneath the written Greek of the New Testament, one which may never have been written down.

If true, the Greek text is itself a translation, and English text would be a translation of a translation, which raises textual inerrancy and corruption issue.

Since every translation is a personal judgement of which word to best use, made at the translators discretion.

In general, God has allowed suffering to remind us that we need to adhere to His laws. The other reason for suffering is as a punishment for those who have violated Gods laws. Ultimately, suffering is a test of our faith in God and we must endure it with patience and appreciation for those who are suffering even greater trials.

UNITARIANISM - Unitarianism is the belief or worship of a deity who exists only in one person or one God.

BINATARIANISM - The belief that two members, persons or beings comprise the Godhead or the God family.

TRINITITARIANISM - The doctrine of the Trinity: the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. Trinitarians make the distinction that they are not Tritheists. A Tritheist worships three Gods; a Trinitarian worships one God who is manifest in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity developed in response to the controversy over the nature of Christ.

Paul did not consider the practise of circumcision as important. According to him, keeping the commandments through faith was more important.

Only God could take on the sins of the world, die, and be resurrected, proving His victory over sin and death.

This verse mentions the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost) in the King James Version Bible (KJV). Bible critics agree the KJV verse is a forgery that was added into the Bible. More modern, accurate Bibles give different text:

And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth - (RSV Bible)

And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth - (ASV Bible)

For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. (NIV Bible)

Which creatures did God create to be received as food? Did God create swine, shellfish, rats, maggots, lizards, bats, and moles to be received as food?

Obviously this verse refers to every creature which God created to be received as food (kosher and clean) as established in Old Testament law and other Bible verses.

Only God could take on the sins of the world, die, and be resurrected, proving His victory over sin and death.

Yet in other Bible verses, Paul claims he is not inspired by God.

12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
1 Corinthians 7:12

25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
1 Corinthians 7:25

17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.
2 Corinthians 11:17

Christians claim that God told Peter, many years after Jesus' crucifixion, that established thousand year old dietary laws no longer applied.

At the time, Peter understood that the vision had nothing at all to do with a change in the dietary laws; but applied to the Gentile men.

When Paul was joined in his missionary by Peter, Antioch became the first outreach centre for the Gentiles; it was here the term 'Christian' was first used.

The author of Acts (Luke, the companion of Paul) is assigning the term Christian to the disciples, all of whom were observant and respectful of Jewish Law.

According to historical records, Paul converted to Christianity between 1 to 3 years after Jesus' crucifixion. Following this mystical encounter, Paul disappeared from the scene to emerge 13 years later (47-60 CE) as Paul, a missionary to the gentiles.

The above verse when read in context with previous verses re-affirms God's dietary laws and not abolish them. Even if this verse applies to dietary law it means "do not worry about man-made regulations concerning food and drink." The entire passage is dealing with man-made regulations of human origin.

Historically, the Bible has been used by some to enslave, subjugate and dominate over a people

According to the Bible (Old Testament), the punishment for apostasy (turning away from Gods religion) is death

God goes into great detail and lists which animals were clean (kosher; fit for human consumption) and which are unclean (non kosher; not fit for human consumption)

If two men are fighting and ones wife gets involved in the dispute, the Bible tells her husband to cut off her hand.

To keep Gods commandments and his statutes and his judgments ie. by observing the Old Testament Law

It is known the foundation of the Old Testament was, 'Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD' (Deuteronomy 6:4), and the Jews fiercely defended that faith against polytheism of all kinds.

To love God will all our heart.

God has placed many signs in Scripture which point to the coming of Muhammad.

Israel is described as the firstborn son of God

God tells us we are responsible for our own sins. Then why would God send Jesus to bear our sins?

After his vision, Paul in his own words went into the desert of Arabia for a period, seeking no instruction. These accounts reflect a change in Paul's status: in his own view, he had received a revelation from Jesus/God directly and that elevated his status far higher than Jesus' twelve disciples.

Paul rebuked other gospel writers.

God promises Abraham that he will bring forth from Ishmael a great nation (Arab). Muslims believe this prophecy is fulfilled by the coming of Muhammad.

According to Christians, Abraham sacrificed Isaac. Muslims contest this and believe Abraham was told to sacrifice his eldest son Ishmael.

Muslims claim the word 'only' in Genesis proves the Bible is talking about the eldest son. Also, the name Isaac was added into the Bible by later scribes.

According to Bible scholars the term 'sons of God' here refers to kings, rulers or princes. The term is plural and points to many sons.

In the account of Noah's Flood. God makes a distinction between clean and unclean animals, but it is obvious that Noah knew the difference.

In the account of Noah's Flood. God makes a distinction between clean and unclean animals, but it is obvious that Noah knew the difference.

The Bible speaks about a prophet who cannot read Gods word

James advocated strict adherence to the Old Testament Law including the Ten Commandments, and if a part of it was broken or ignored, the entire law has been violated

Ephraim is described as being the firstborn son of God

Jesus was saying that He and the Father are of one nature and essence.

Christians claim that this statement proves that Jesus is one or united with God and, consequently, Jesus is God. However, when Jesus died, he did not give up the Father, he only gave up the ghost, "And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost" (Mark 15:37).

This claimed unity was not available to Jesus when he died; what happened to this unity and why did not the Father die when Jesus died, if Jesus and the Father are one?

The idea that Jesus must die on behalf of the nation and the believers in the diaspora. was the brain child of the high Priest Caiaphas.

How did it become Christian creed? Paul, is the obvious answer.

Jesus spoke the words of God who sent him

Jesus makes it clear that the Father is greater then himself. Ofcourse he could have said the Father is equal to me; or I am part of the Father - which would have been more in line with the views held by Christians today

By following his way by keeping the law

This verse seems to claim that Jesus and the Father are one. But the previous verse sets the context.

Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. (John 14:8)

Jesus is being asked to show the Father. To which, Jesus replies I have been with you so long, and yet you have not known me? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you ask to see the Father?

So Jesus simply told him that his own actions and miracles should be a sufficient proof of the existence of God without God having to physically come down and let Himself be seen every time someone is doubtful.

The Bible confirms that God sent Jesus, and God gave Jesus a job to do, which he duly completed (i.e. called the 12 disciples and others to the worship of God)

One does not need to be a doctor of divinity to construe our point! The archaic pronoun "THEE", as use in the text, alludes directly and distinctly to the father; no Trinitarian would deny this.
That being the case, if we substitute subject "Father" for the pronoun "THEE" we get:
"And this is life eternal, that they might know FATHER the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent"

The words "Begotten" and "Son" are not accurate. View Jesus is the Son of God for more information.

In the Quran, God says:

"They say: (God) Most Gracious has begotten a son! Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous! At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin, That they should invoke a son for (God) Most Gracious. For it is not consonant with the majesty of (God) Most Gracious that He should beget a son." (Quran 19:88-92)

The Revised Standard Edition Bible (RSV) is the best-selling Bible in the world. The word "begotten" has been removed from their.

Jesus is telling the people that he cannot do anything without his Fathers willing it. i.e. he is inferior to the Father.

It is argued that Jesus is a diety as this verse shows he came down from heaven. The verse below shows Elijah too came from heaven:

Several times in Scripture Jesus receives worship. He never rebukes people for worshiping Him.

In the Torah, God forbids the cutting of the hair on the sides and the beard

Jesus said these words when he sent out seventy Torah-observant Jews.

Should we understand that Jesus allowed his disciples to eat non-kosher, unclean meat? Ofcourse not!

Jesus' disciples would be lodging in Torah-observant Jewish homes, where kosher laws were observed. The disciples understood Jesus when he said, "eat such things as are set before you." He simply meant to be content with the food your host provides.

Several times in Scripture Jesus receives worship. He never rebukes people for worshiping Him.

Several times in Scripture Jesus receives worship. He never rebukes people for worshiping Him.

To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Jesus does not claim to be God, equal to God or God in the flesh.

The above Bible verses show Jesus explain to his disciples that the first and most important commandment is to worship God, the Creator.

Jesus explains the simple concept of one god 'monotheism'. (Note. This seems like the perfect opportunity to explain the Christian Trinity 3-in-1 God concept)

Jesus claims he has limited knowledge and does not know of the Hour. This also seems like a good opportunity for Jesus to confirm the Trinity (i.e. nor does the Holy Spirit know the Hour)

The Greek word 'Biblos' is a standard term for a collection of any books, and not specific to scripture. In Acts 19:19, a collection of books (Biblos) are burned. Does that mean the Holy Bible was burned and destroyed? Obviously not!

Jesus also spoke about violence and using force to get your way

In vain they do worship me, etc. - By the traditions of the elders, not only the word of God was perverted, but his worship also was greatly corrupted. Men must not worship God according to their fancy - it is not what they think will do - is proper, innocent, etc., but what God himself has prescribed, that he will acknowledge as his worship. Christ himself says it is in vain.

Jesus is telling this person what he needs to do to gain eternal life. He simply needs to keep commandments i.e. observe the Old Testament Law

This verse sets forth the sin and ruin of the Jewish nation; paving the way for a new nation who were obedient to Gods teachings.

Jesus said I have come to fulfil the Law (i.e. observe and uphold it)

The Bible tells us that God is not a man or son of man.

Emperor Constantine at the opening of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) quoted Psalm 82:6 to remind the bishops that their high office should raise them above jealousy and party feeling.

The term 'God' was applied to people of power, authority and rule who were considered to have greater nearness to God than others - an appellation which implies that you are God's representatives on earth, and that your decision is, in an important sense, to be regarded as his.

Prophet David is described the the begotten Son of God.

We are told that no man can answer for another man. How is it possible that Jesus died for our sins?

No. Islam forbids violence. It allows for defensive war where if Muslims are attacked first, then they are allowed to fight back.

This Quran verse is often misquoted. The previous verses clearly state the command is to fight those who fight you, and not to overstep the limits. This verse does not promote the killing of innocents, Muslim or non-Muslim, and only allows for fighting in self-defence (when attacked).

In this verse, God tells us that their is no compulsion on any person to accept Islam. It is their free choice for which they will answer to God.

When the Quran refers to the previous Scriptures (Torah, Gospel etc.), this is understood to mean the original revelations sent to Moses and Jesus, and not the 'corrupted' versions we have today

The historical context is that this Quran verse was revealed at the Battle of Badr, a battle in which the pagans of Makkah traveled over 200 miles to destroy the Muslims of Madinah. The Pagans of Makkah had an army of about 1000 while the Muslims were only 300 followers. Muhammad and his followers had suffered severe persecutions and torture for 13 years in the city of Makkah. Having fled from Makkah to the safety of Madinah, they found that they were once again threatened.

It is obvious from historical and textual context therefore that this Quran verse does not promote the killing of innocents.

This verse is applicable to the Muslims during the time of Muhammad – historical Muslims – who were terrified of fighting in the battles to defend themselves because they were out numbered.

God bolstered their bravery by assuring them that they would be rewarded.

This Quran verse refers to the Jizya, a tax levied on non-Muslims living in an Islamic State. Also, Muslims would have to pay the Zakah (charity tax) to the Islamic State. It is universally agreed that any civilized government or system requires residents to financially contribute towards its running. In return, the state offers basic services such as education, security, welfare, protection, amenities etc.

This Quran verse is often quoted out of context. The preceeding Quran verses inform us there was a war treaty between the Muslims and pagan Arabs, which the pagans of Arabia broke.

Therefore this verse applies to a very specific historical event and applied only to those who broke the agreement.

Naturally, in war violence is expected. If country A declares war with country B because a peace treaty was violated, then both countries will expect their soldiers to kill or be killed.

Angels are spiritual, non-material beings who put God's commands and laws into action in this world. They have no will of their own, unlike man, and are intermediaries between God and the world.

As angels are not physical beings, they cannot be seen by man's eye. So this question does not arise. However, Prophets of God and other righteous persons can see angels on occasions, but only in their mind, in dreams and visions.

These are of two kinds: their functions in the physical world, and the spiritual development of man.

In the physical world, the working of nature is governed by laws, as science has shown by discovering many of these laws. Islam teaches that these laws have been devised by God, and the angels - the obeying functionaries of God - put them into action.

On the spiritual side, the angels communicate God's revelation to the Prophets and other righteous ones, bring comfort and strength to the hearts of true believers, and inspire noble thoughts in the minds of all persons. They do this, of course, by acting through the spiritual senses of human beings, not their physical senses like the eyes or ears.

Angels are a creation of God. Unlike mankind, Angels do not have free-will and perform specific tasks.

Therefore Muslims believe their was a Gospel and it was revealed by God.

The Quran may have come 600 years after Jesus, but does that make it false? Jesus came 1600 years after Moses, does that make Jesus false? The underlying or main argument here is the time between one person and another, but as we can see, if time is a problem then Christians should reject the other Prophets and Messengers since they have a greater number of years between them.

The complete manuscript collections of the New Testament and Old Testament date to the 4th and 5th century, within 100 years of the Qur'an, if Christians want to reject the Qur'an because it is 600 years after Jesus then they must be consistent and also reject the New Testament.

It should be noted that the Church itself did not ordain or make it canon (law) that the New Testament should be scripture until 393 and 397 CE in the Carthaginian councils. With all of these evidences, and centuries between Jesus and the New Testament, then they must reject the New Testament first. If not, then they are admitting that their argument is weak, unintelligent and absurd.

The Bible is the holy book of the Christians

The Quran is the scripture revealed to Muhammad via the Angel Gabrial

The Angel Gabrial (Jibreel) was tasked with conveying God's message to His prophets

To the various Prophets that God sent for people's guidance, He revealed His teachings. The Prophets made this revelation public, and their followers wrote it down, and passed it to subsequent generations. This is how we come to have the 'scriptures' or 'holy books' of various religions today.

Scripture revealed before the coming of Muhammad cannot be found today in their full and original form. However, these scriptures do contain some fragments of the original teachings, although they are mixed up with later additions and interpretations. Some of these scriptures are: the Torah of the Jews, the Gospels of the Christians, the Vedas of the Hindus, and the Zend Avesta of the Zoroastrians.

On the other hand, the latest word of God that came to Muhammad is still intact and completely preserved in the Muslim scripture, which is the Quran.

Muslims believe the scripture given to other prophets including Moses, David and Jesus have some elements of truth in them. But the Quran is the final revelation from God and takes precedence over other scripture.

The Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabrial. Muhammad would repeat the exact words Gabrial gave him and they were written down and memorised.

The words "Begotten" and "Son" are not accurate. View Jesus is the Son of God for more information.

In the Quran, God says:

"They say: (God) Most Gracious has begotten a son! Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous! At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin, That they should invoke a son for (God) Most Gracious. For it is not consonant with the majesty of (God) Most Gracious that He should beget a son." (Quran 19:88-92)

It is of enormous importance in establishing the biblical text. There are three earliest manuscripts of the Bible New Testament:

1. Codex Alexandrinus is one of the earliest and most important manuscripts of the entire Bible in Greek

2. Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world and is kept in the British Library. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.

<"a href="http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/" target="_blank">codexsinaiticus.org

3. Codex Vaticanus in Rome

The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament

It is a fact of Christian history that the earliest Gospels did not record a resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this fact is supported in the Codex Sinaiticus.

Called the Codex Sinaiticus, or Sinai Bible, the oldest known complete Bible available to mankind today, was named after Mt. Sinai, the location of St. Catherine’s Monastery where it was discovered in 1859 by Dr Constantine Von Tischendorf (1815-1874).

The discovery of the Sinai Bible provided biblical scholars with irrefutable evidence of wilful falsifications in all modern-day Gospels, and a comparison identified a staggering 14,800 later editorial alterations in modern Bibles.

The King James Version (KJV) of the New Testament was completed in 1611 by 8 members of the Church of England.

There were (and still are) no original texts to translate. The oldest manuscripts we have were written down hundreds of years after the last Apostle died. There are over 8000 of these old manuscripts, with no two alike.

The King James translators chose to use none of the texts. Instead, they edited previous translations to create the New Testament their king and parliament would approve.

So today, 21st century Christians believe the "Word of God" is a book edited in the 17th century from 16th century translations of 8000 contradictory copies of 4th century scrolls that claim to copies of lost letters written in the 1st century by unknown authors!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In actual fact, the 'Word' is God's wisdom and action and not as a separate deity, as is presented in the Old Testament:

And the word of the Lord was Joseph’s helper (Gen.39:2)

And Moses brought the people to meet the word of the Lord (Ex. 19:17)

And the word of the Lord accepted the face of Job (Job 42:9)

And the word of the Lord shall laugh them to scorn (Ps. 2:4)

They believed in the name of His word (Ps. 106:12)

The Jews say "The Christians have nothing [true] to stand on," and the Christians say, "The Jews have nothing to stand on," although they [both] recite the Scripture. Thus the polytheists speak the same as their words. But Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.
[Quran 2:113]

He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
John 14:24

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
John 7:16

Jesus clearly states that his message and words are not of his own (i.e. they are from God)

Obviously the Church must know them very well since they are popularly believed to have received divine inspiration from God Himself. Right? Actually, they don't.

For example, we will note that every Gospel begins with the introduction "According to..." such as:
"The Gospel according to Mark"
"The Gospel according to Matthew"
"The Gospel according to Luke"
"The Gospel according to John"

The obvious conclusion for the average man on the street is that these people are known to be the authors of the books attributed to them.

This, however is not the case. Why? Because not one of the vaunted 4,000 copies existent carries its author's signature.

It has just been assumed that certain people were the authors of the books.

Not a single one of the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses.
Not one of the Gospels was written in the lifetime of Jesus, the earliest known Gospel recounting the life of Jesus came 30-35 years after his ministry - this being the Gospel of Mark.

The Torah of today is either:
1500 years after Moses as in the case of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Samaritan Scrolls or
2500 years after him as in the case of the Masoretic Text

Thanks to its undisputed authenticity, the text of the Quran holds a unique place among the books of Revelation, shared neither by the Old nor the New Testament.

The sheer number of Old Testament authors who tell the same story, plus all the revisions carried out on the text of certain books from the pre-Christian era, constitute as many reasons for inaccuracy and contradiction

On the New Testament, nobody can claim that they invariably contain faithful accounts of Jesus's words or a description of his actions strictly in keeping with reality. We have seen how successive versions of the texts showed a lack of definite authenticity and moreover that their authors were not eyewitnesses

As the Quran was revealed, the Prophet and the believers following him recited the text by heart and it was also written down by the scribes in his following.

It therefore starts off with two elements of authenticity that the Gospels do not possess. This continued up to the Prophet's death.

At a time when not everybody could write, but everyone was able to recite, recitation afforded a considerable advantage because of the double-checking possible when the definitive text was compiled.

The Quranic revelation was made by Archangel Gabriel to Muhammad. It took place over a period of more than 23-years of the Prophet's life up to his death in 632 AD

Whenever a fragment of the Quran was revealed, the Prophet called one of his literate companions and dictated it to him, and setting the exact position of the new fragment in the fabric of what had already been received.

Muhammad then asked the scribe to repeat back what he dictated so that he could correct any deficiencies.

Another famous story tells how every year in the month of Ramadan, the Prophet would recite the whole of the Quran (so far revealed) to Gabriel.

Since that day, Muslims recite the whole Quran during the month of Ramadan. The head scribe of the Quran was Zaid Ibn Thabit who was present at the final compilation of the Quran text.

Extremely diverse materials were used when recording: parchment, leather, wooden tablets, camels' scapula, soft stone for inscriptions, etc.

At the same time however, Muhammad encouraged the faithful to learn the Quran by heart. Many memorized the entire Quran by heart and helped to spread it abroad.

By preserving the Quran text both in writings (on materials) and by human memorization proved invaluable in the preservation of the entire text.

This is false. The first three Caliphs, especially Uthman completed a critical analysis of the entire Quran text.

This was due to the rapid expansion of Islam in the first decade amongst people whose native language was not Arabic. So it was deemed essential the text retained its original purity.

Uthman sent copies of the standardized Quran text to the centre of the Islamic Empire. Today, copies attributed to Uthman exist can be found in Tashkent and Istanbul.

Apart from a few dialect variations in copying, the oldest documents known to the present day found throughout the Islamic world are identical; the same is true for documents preserved in Europe (fragments in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris which, according to the experts date from the 8th Century AD).

The minor dialect variations do not change the general meaning of the text. For example, the absence of diacritical marks could make a verb either active or passive and in some instances, masculine or feminine. This is a minor issue since the context indicated the meaning in many instances.

Therefore the Quran has been fully preserved since its revelation.

According to verse 38, a blind man is healed by Jesus, and after seeing Jesus he worships him.

In the Codex Sinaticus, the oldest manuscript of John, dated to 330-years after Jesus, verse 38 is not recorded. The entire verse 38 appears as an additional footnote on the side of the Codex Sinaticus.

Verse 38 was inserted into the bible to prove that Jesus was worshipped and that he acknowledged and allowed the people to worship him.

This proves that the early Jewish-Christians did not interpret Johns gospel in the way we do today. At some point a scribe felt so strongly about the divinity of Jesus that he was compelled to include a footnote into the main text as an actual verse.

Bible versions translate verses with different explanations. For example, in JUDE 1:5, who saves and then destroys the people of Egypt?

17 Bible versions state the "Lord" did
7 Bibles state "Jesus"
1 Bible claims "God" did

These differences give rise to different Christian theological views.

The Bible verse is at http://biblehub.com/jude/1-5.htm

This verse was revealed by God to Muhammad at a time when Muslims were being attacked by the enemy from Makkah on a regular basis. The verse only allows for self-defence fighting against those who 'withdraw not from you nor give you (guarantees) of peace besides restraining their hands'. So the guarantee of a peace treaty or agreement is required for the war and fighting to completely stop.

This is in reference to those who asked useless questions about revelation. If all their questions were answered, it would have made the duties of faith more specific and, therefore, more difficult to perform. There is mercy in leaving questions alone and specifics unspecified. 7

In Chapter 2 of the Quran, when the Children of Israel were told to slaughter a cow, they began to ask useless questions about what type of cow. All the questions were answered to the point that it became very difficult for them to find such a cow. If they had not asked, any cow would have been acceptable.

Useless, petty questions are just a stalling tactic; ask any mother or teacher. But asking honest, sincere questions to clarify matters of faith is, in fact, encouraged.

This verse was revealed about the Battle of Badr. The pagans of Mecca travelled more than 200 miles to Madinah with an army of about 1000 to kill the Muslims who numbered around 300. The Prophet Muhammad and fellow Muslims had suffered severe persecution, torture and even murder of their brethren for 13 years in the city of Mecca at the hands of these very same pagans.

And once the Muslims had fled Mecca and found a sanctuary in the city of Madinah, they were followed by the pagans of Mecca. By this verse God gave the order to Muslims to fight to defend their lives and faith, as they had previously been forbidden from defending themselves.

Priests and bishops would often come together and vote on Christian theological matters due to the disunity, differences and conflict within the Christian denominations.

Christianity is a religion which was originally preached by Jesus, but today is based entirely on Paul's teachings.

The Synoptic Gospels portray Jesus as a prophet, hero and martyr - not as a God who became a Man, was sacrificed and rose again for the salvation of humanity.

The various Christian factions were ordered to accept the Athanusian Creed, affirming that 'Our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God is both Man and God

The Old Testament does not teach the Trinity, or even set forth the Messiah would be God. There is no evidence of anyone knowing about, or believing in, the Trinity in all the Jewish literature before Christ, including the Old Testament, the Jewish targums and commentaries, the Apocrypha or other apocryphal literature, or the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Orthodox Christian theologians define the doctrine of the Trinity is that the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and together these 'three Persons' make one God; and these three are co-equal and co-eternal, the Son having been 'eternally begotten' of the Father, and Jesus being simultaneously 100% God and 100% man.

Today, many Christians think they are Trinitarians simply because they believe in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit - but that is not the Trinity!

The Jewish-Christians practised three daily prayers, male circumcision, ritual washing for purity, fasting, attention to clean/unclean foods, giving charity and pilgrimage to a central temple.

The distinguished Trinitarian scholar Bertrand de Margerie in his book The Christian Trinity in History (p.3) writes:

"…contemporary exegetes [Bible teachers] affirm unanimously that the Old Testament did not bring to the Jewish people a clear and distinct Revelation of the existence of a plurality of persons in God. In this they agree with the clear and frequent affirmation of Fathers such as Irenaeus, Hilary, and Gregory of Nazianzus: that the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed only in the New Testament."

So any person who lived before Jesus' ministry did not have to believe in the Trinity to be saved because the Trinity is not mentioned in the Old Testament.

No. Jesus observed Jewish custom and would never have consumed swine meat.

When Rome adopted Christianity with the conversion of the Roman Emperor (4th Century) and his official campaign to repress anyone who refused to conform; to kill those Christians who refused to follow Romes 'Trinitarian Christianity'.
Paul knew that the victors wrote history and in order to win 'he had to be all things to all men' (I Corinthians 9:24-27).
Those who dig their heels in 'beat the air' and refused to compromise any detail of the true faith ended their days as martyrs.

The original followers of Jesus, his friends and relatives who knew Jesus most intimately remained faithful to the worship of the one, true God.

They insisted that all Christians observe Jewish Law which God had revealed through many prophets.

They did not regard Jesus as a divine being, but as a chosen Messenger of God.

By the time the New Testament (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John) was written their was a strong trend towards showing how Jewish beliefs were inadequate and no longer valid; reinforced by the wish to break free of strict Jewish laws especially circumcision, ritual purity and dietary code.

Judaism had to be shown as 'the inferior enemy' if the new Christianity was to succeed.

A placard where Jesus was accused of claiming to be 'King of the Jews' was nailed to his cross. Today this placard can be found at the Church of Santa Croce in Rome.

Scholars freely admit that the Trinity is never presented as a complete doctrine in the New Testament, but rather is built from scattered Bible verses.

In the NT there is no explicit statement of the doctrine….
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (p. 1112)

…it is not a Biblical doctrine in the sense that any formulation of it can be found in the Bible….
New Bible Dictionary (p.1221)

The New Testament does not present a systematic presentation of the Trinity. The scattered segments from various writers that appear throughout the New Testament reflect a seemingly accepted understanding that exists without a full-length discussion.
Holman Bible Dictionary (p.1372)

Theologians admit the New Testament does not define the Trinity. Furthermore, there is no clear teaching that salvation depends on the belief in the Trinity.

In many ways, Jesus was Jewish:

He did not preach a new religion He taught people to do the Will of God; not a new God
He never went to Church
He fully observed the Jewish Law
His followers continued attending and meeting at the Temple
His followers observed the dietary regulations of the Torah and continued the practise of circumcision

Therefore, the early Jewish-Christians did not give up Judaism, nor did Jesus every ask them to do so.

Paul's popularity was in decline between 55-66 CE because missionaries from the Church of Jerusalem publicly rejected his innovation and claim to be an Apostle.

After 70CE, Christianity became a new movement. Western Christian writings after 70CE are a product of that transformation. Christianity became a Mithras-type saviour cult whose hero was not a myth but a real man.

Anyone who questioned Jesus' divinity were viewed as ignorant and inferior, including early Jewish-Christians, Jews, Jesus' closest friends and even family.

Jesus' brothers James, Joses, Judas and Simon. Also he had at least two sisters

3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
(Mark 6:3)

An alternative view is that Mary remained a perpetual virgin and did not have more children. So, James, Joses, Judas, Simon and his sisters were actually step-brothers and step-sisters born to Cleophas/Alphaeus, brother of Joseph.

James, the eldest of Jesus' brothers held a key position in the Church until 62 CE, when he was succeeded by his relative Simeon, son of Cleophas.

Yes. Jesus himself and his immediate followers observed all Jewish law, customs and practise.

A young man named Saul was bent on murdering all the Christians he could. He was a Jew, a Pharisee (well-versed in the Law of Moses), a man of knowledge, letters and spirit.

Following a dramatic experience, where according to Saul, Jesus Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus.

Saul converted to Christianity and now became the beloved apostle, saint, evangelist, theologian, and pastor we call Paul.

Prior to becoming a Christian, Saul of Tarsus hated Christians. He made it his goal to capture, then bring Christians to public trial and execution.



Saul believed that he was serving God by finding Christians, throwing them into prison, and even executing them when possible.

Paul played an important role in the development of Christianity. In opposition to Jesus, Paul maintained Judaism was inadequate; and Paul taught a different theology to Jesus:

* Jesus was more than the long-awaited Messiah; he was divine incarnation.
* Jesus' crucifixion was not a political martyrdom, but a cosmic sacrifice intended as salvation from evil.
* The actual life of Jesus, his political persuasions and religious teachings were irrelevant and not important.

According to Paul:

* Jesus was the 'image of the invisible God'
* The first-born of all creation
* In him were all things created in Heaven and Earth
* He is before all things and in him all things hold together
* He is the begining, the first-born from the dead
* In him, the fullness of God was pleased to dwell
* Through him reconcile all things in Heave and Earth
(Colossians 1:15-20)

Paul's salvation theory was considered blasphemy by faithful Jews. The Jews knew Pauls teachings ridiculed all previous revelations from God as expressed through the Torah.

The Jews after all, were the one race of people in the world who were taught God was One, without form or substance, and did not bear the likeness of anything in the universe.

Initially, Paul violently opposed the growing Jewish-Christian movement right up to his dramatic conversion. After his dramatic conversion, Paul believed he had the authority to speak on behalf of God.

He preached that God's grace depended on believing that Jesus was part of the Godhead, and not a mere prophet or messenger.

Paul claimed God gave Jews the Torah so that they could be saved later on by believing in Jesus Christ. This was God's divine plan.

These verses explain the reason for the continuing opposition to Jewish theology. According to Paul, Jesus Christ had to die in order to be resurrected.

No. Jesus himself raised people after their death:

1. Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:35-43)
2. Son of a widow at Nain (Luke 11:11-17)
3. Lazarus, who was dead for four days (John 11-1-44)

Furthermore, the Old Testament shows women received their dead by resurrection (Hebrews 11:35)
Elijah raised a widows son from death (I Kings 17:17-24)

Therefore, the resurrection itself would not make Jesus unique or divine even.

The early Christians assumed Jesus had been raised by God, and not that he was God.

It was Paul's dramatic conversion to Christianity that resulted in the seperation of Christianity from Judaism. Within months of his disappearing, Jesus' teachings were changed.

After his conversion, Paul who was the enemy to Christians suprisingly did not go back to Jerusalem to meet learn from, or even apologise to the Apostles.

Instead he went to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus, Syria. After three years, Paul returned to Jerusalem when he spent fifteen (15) days with Peter and met James. He did not meet any of the other Apostles.

Out of 27 books in the New Testament Bible, Paul wrote 13 book; this was the majority of writings, in spite of the fact his writings were in clear contradiction to the original teachings of Jesus Christ.

Romans
Paul explains how the gospel works and how to respond. Paul wrote this letter before he had visited the Roman church.

1 Corinthians
In 55 A.D., Paul admonished the local church that he had founded in Corinth.

2 Corinthians
Come 56 A.D., the Corinthian church had escalated and then resolved their conflict with Paul. Second Corinthians is Paul's a letter of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Galatians
Someone had misled the churches of Galatia—resubjecting them to the Law of Moses and devaluing God’s grace. Paul writes the Galatians an aggressive letter to set them straight on their freedom in Christ.

Ephesians
Paul outlines doctrines of grace, peace, and salvation, and then instructs the church to walk in a manner worthy of Jesus Christ.

Philippians
Even though he’s suffering in prison, Paul finds joy in Christ. He writes to the church at Philippi urging them to take on a Christlike attitude.

Colossians
This letter explains to the church at Colossae who they are in Christ.

1 Thessalonians
The church of Thessalonica is setting a great example for other churches, even though they’re being persecuted for their faith. Paul encourages them to “excel still more.”

2 Thessalonians
The affliction just won't let up on the Thessalonian church, so Paul coaches them on standing firm until Jesus’ return.

1 Timothy
This is Paul’s guide to godliness and sound teaching for the young pastor Timothy at Ephesus.

2 Timothy
Paul's death is drawing near, and he charges Timothy to carry on his gospel work.

Titus
Paul had left Titus at Crete to set up order in the churches there. Now he writes Titus instructions for leading a counter-cultural church.

Philemon
It’s a message to Philemon, a leader in the Colossian church.

1. If Paul was right, then Jesus must have chosen the wrong individuals as his disciples.

2. If Paul's writings were true, a complete nonsense is made of the earthly life of Jesus and of his preachings to his disciples.

3. Paul never saw or met Jesus in person. Yet, Paul rejects the teachings of those who did meet, sit, learn from him and knew Jesus best.

4. The final range of New Testament gospels has been restricted. The gospels of Peter the Apostle, Barnabas and James (Jesus' brother) are strangely missing.

Paul would curse other gospel writers (James, Peter etc.) as if to say their was only one Christianity, one truth and that was his version.

Two of the most demanding requests made by God of all faithful Jews was:

1. Circumcision of males as a sign of covenant
2. Ritual Purity - Both physical purity and dietary, careful regulation of what foods passed the lips

By rejecting the Torah, Paul broke away from God's requests.

Circumcision was one of the fundamental commandments of God to his people, the sign of a believer. Jesus and all his disciples were circumcised. Jewish and Muslim males are still circumcised to this day.

Although Abraham was an old man when he received Gods command, he immediately circumcised himself, his sons and his household.

For a Christian today to set aside the circumcision commandment is a very serious matter. It means that Jesus taught it was permissable to not circumcise, and so Jesus had over-ruled Gods Law.

Paul's doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus alone had three effects:

1. It made Paul the implacableenemy of the Jewish people who refused to accept his arguement
2. Christians viewed Paul as an outsider, and even a threat at times
3. Paul caused the severance of Christianity from Judaism, and gave its first real independant theological basis

An Apostle is one of the original 12 disciples called by Jesus to preach the gospel: Simon Peter, the brothers James and John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot.

As Paul never met Jesus, many Galatians and Corinthian Christians actively challanged Pauls right to even teach, and his right to call himself an Apostle.

Their are a number of varying versions of Paul’s vision as he describes it to various different people of different races. In the above accounts, their are a number of obvious contradictions: 1. ACTS 9:4, it is stated that only Paul fell to the ground on seeing the light. Verse 7 says that others with him stood speechless.

2. ACTS 26:14 says they ALL fell to the ground.

3. ACTS 9:7 states that the people who journeyed with Paul didn't see anyone but heard a voice.

4. ACTS 22:9 says that those who were with Paul saw the light but DID NOT hear the voice of the speaker.

It did not! Matthew (85 CE) was written for Jewish-Christians who observed the Law and did not wish to break away from Judaism. Matthew is in complete opposition to Pauline doctrine.

Paul insists that even if an Angel from Heaven preached to you, reject them! Paul preached his Gospel was truly unique as it was delivered to him by Jesus himself; not Jesus the earthly man, but the risen Lord Jesus. According to Paul, he had the advantage of divine origin for his message, unlike the other Apostles, and this entitled him to act independently of their Jewish-Christian beliefs (and re-invent a new Christian doctrine?)

The 12 Apostles were appointed by, learned from and were trained by Jesus Christ himself in-person. They had a direct relationship with Jesus.

After Jesus was crucified, Paul claimed all 12 Apostles were misguided and followed a false Christian doctrine. Therefore according to Paul; Yes, all of the Apostles appointed by Jesus himself were misguided.

John the Evangelist wrote: John the Evangelist wrote: John of Patmos wrote: John of Patmos wrote: The above gospel writers warn against a dangerous heretic, a false Jew, a false Apostle and a false Gospel.

Pauline Christianity forms the majority of Christians today. It is the dominant and acknowledged mainstream Christian doctrine upheld.

In recent developments, many Christian scholars are considering the disturbing possibility the early Jewish-Christian church was actually correct and the Pauline 'Trinitarian' Christian theology is error and heresy.

In order to increase the number of Christian converts, Christian missionaries deliberately adopted pre-existing pagan holy places, shrines, special days and even pagan statues of God.

Pope Gregory I (540-604 CE), a famous Christian leader encouraged accomodating pagan customs and beliefs. So if pagans worshipped a Tree or Spirit abiding in it, rather than shun the pagan worship, he urged priests to somehow link the worship to Jesus Christ, and allow them to continue their Tree or pagan idol worship.

Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on 25th December is a good example of pagan practise which has been adopted or 'Christenized'. Any believing Christian would avoid the Christmas celebration given its Sun-Baal connections, as 'Jehovah Witness' Christians do.

December 25th was the most important of Sun Festivals, the new birth of the God, rising three days after 'dying' at the winter solstice. Today, the celebration continues and its many features can be witnessed. A few of these include:

* Excessive eating, drinking and merry was commin in Saturnalia festival
* Father Christmas (Red Man) - who was originally Apollo, the Sun-God or Thor God depicted as an elderly man, jovial or friendly, of heavy build with a long white beard who drove a chariot through the sky
* Fireplace - the fireplace in pagan homes was sacred to Thor God which he would descend though the chimney
* Giving of gifts - a feature of Saturnalia festival
* Christmas card bearing the cheeky robin bird (with its chest bearing the flame symbol)
* Snowman - who melts when the Sun comes out (is defeated by the Sun)
* Fir-tree trinkets and decorations, symbolising life in the 'dead' parts of the world
* Holly - to deflect evil goblins in winter solstice
* Ivy - the female version of the 'male' holly
* Mistletoe - used by pagan druids in their worship
* Yule Log - sacred to the Thor God which is symbolised today as a chocolate cake

The pagan Triadic dieties were shown as a single-head with 3 faces, 3 mouths but only 4 mouths. Such images were preserved across the Roman Empire.

Does the Christian Trinity come from pagan Triadic dieties? Yes. The core teachings of the Trinitarian Christian churches today do not come from Jesus.

The three-in-one Gods are pagan concepts that existed long before Jesus arrived. Later on, Christians adopted this concept and instantly made Christian doctrine an appealing alternative to the pagan God worshipping masses.

The name Easter is derived from the Spring festival held in honour of the Goddess of Light known as Oeastra (Astarte or Ishtar). The Easter celebration feature:

* Easter Bunny - a rabbit that was Oeasta's animal symbol
* Easter Eggs - eggs were dyed and eaten at Spring festivals in ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome
Easter Bonnet - originally a wreath of flowers, the circlet expressing the Sun's path in the Heavens

It is highly likely the reason why the Church priests burned and destroyed the earlier records of pagan Gods was to hide the evidence for the real origins of their own Christian mythology.

The road from Jesus to the Christian religion that finally emerged in the fourth century, with its myth of Jesus as the son of God solidly in place, is a very long and twisty path.

Christianity was not born of an immaculate conception. It was the product of myriad moments of intellectual labor and negotiated social agreements by the people investing in the experiment.

This discovery has been difficult for many Christians to accept. That is because the traditional picture of Christian beginnings starts with a Jesus who knows in advance what is required of him and his disciples in order to establish the Christian religion.

- Who Wrote the New Testament, Burton Mack, p45

Many scholars object to using the term 'Christian' for the early followers of Jesus. They were still fully Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah.

Christianity was a later development, when the believers in Jesus developed their own religion with distinctive Christian beliefs and practices (such as baptism, eucharist, weekly meetings, and so on).

"It is not a biblical doctrine in the sense that any formulation of it can be found in the Bible."
(Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

Trinitarians have been looking for Bible texts and even twisting verses to find support for the Trinity teaching.

60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”
61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
62. "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Mark 14:60-62

39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
John 8:39

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know
Acts 2.22

31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice[o] through a man whom he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.
Act 17.31

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:5

To be members of God’s covenantal people, it is not necessary for gentiles to become Jews. They do not need to be circumcised, observe the Sabbath, keep kosher or any of the rest.

They need to believe in the death and resurrection of the messiah Jesus.

Prior to this, the followers of Jesus – the first Christians – were of course Jews who understood that he was the messiah who had died and been raised from the dead. But they knew this as the act of the Jewish God given to the Jewish people.

Certainly gentiles could find this salvation as well. But first they had to be Jewish. Not for Paul. Jew or gentile, it didn’t matter. What mattered was faith in Christ.

In Paul’s time there were two primary groups of to whom he could have preached; the Jews and the Gentiles.

Paul chose the gentiles and quickly won favour among their peoples and entitled himself as the ‘Apostle of the Gentiles‘.



Why did Paul choose to preach to the gentiles over the Jews?

After all, Paul was a Pharisee and would have been familiar with the knowledge, teachings, methodologies and mistakes of his Pharasaic brothers. Thus, he would have been the best person to preach to them his interpretation of soteriology. Yet he chose not to; leaving this task to James, Peter and the rest, dubbing them as the ‘super apostles’.

The real reason why Paul preached to the gentiles is because they were ignorant. They did not know the Torah. They did not possess intimate knowledge of Judaism, its scripture or its doctrine.

Therefore Paul was not presenting his new religion to his own brethren because they would be able to debunk him. Due to this, logically speaking, he preached to those who would find his new faith appealing.

The gentiles would not argue about Christ’s deity, or about the new doctrine of salvation, but the Jews would and vehemently so. Thus the path of least resistance is among the gentiles who would eventually see him as an authoritative figure, as opposed to the Jews who would see him as a heretic and shame him.

Yet with the gentiles, he is able to avoid these problems and ascend to power and authority very quickly.

Although, Paul was of the Jewish background, the Jewish-Christian followers of Jesus rejected Paul and wanted to kill him.

1. Paul managed to defeat Jesus' Jewish-Christian followers whom he was persecuting by establishing a new version of Christianity which preached exactly what the high priest suggested; that murdering Jesus was not a bad idea after all

2. He defeated Jesus and Peter, the rock on whom Jesus promised to build his church and so became himself the rock of a new church (and Christianity later)

Despite the contradictions in the gospels it is quite clear that Jesus was not sent to die and strongly condemned those who wanted to kill him as the seed of Satan.

Jesus spent all night before Crucifixion praying to God to save him. On the cross, Jesus cried "Eloi Eloi Lam Sabachtani", or "My God My God Why hast thou forsaken me?"

The concept of a dual human and divine nature in the person of Jesus is known as the Hypostatic Union, an essential component of modern Trinitarianism.

Yet it wasn’t until the Council of Chalcedon that we see the emergence of an official doctrine of the Trinity in a form that is recognisable with what Christian Trinitarians believe in today. This took place in the fifth century, over 400 years after Jesus!

The evangelical theologian and Professor Wayne A. Grudem sums this up as follows: "A precise understanding of how full deity and full humanity" argues Grudem, "could be combined together in one person was formulated only gradually in the church and did not reach the final form until the Chalcedonian Definition in 451 AD

Source: [Grudem, Systematic Theology: Chapter 26 – The Person of Christ, 1994, p. 554.]

The Jews and early Jewish-Christians who observed Mosaic Law constantly harassed Paul. They even followed him around and stirred the people against him. To the extent he was often beaten and threatened with death.

First century Jews believed the Holy Spirit was another name for God, similar to Yahweh, Elohim or El Shaddai - not a separate Person in the Trinity!

There is no record of Jesus ever trying to correct the Jews and prove the Holy Spirit was a third Person in the Trinity.

Only God knows the exact timing of the Final Hour

Tell us and we can fix it

To add more prophets

To get the message out their, that Muslims believe in ALL the prophets; and anything other improvements

Research into the 'figure heads' of religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Taoism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism etc. What was their original message?

To promote understanding, respect and tolerance amongst Muslims and non-Muslims. After all, the prophets all came with one message

This website started with the Prophet Tree which presented data in a simple, attractive chart format. From the tree, the project expanded to include profiles, detailed descriptions, source text, dates, photos etc.

All Prophets preached Monotheism. The worship of one God and forbade the worship of false diety. Therefore, all Prophets 'in-essence' are considered to be Muslim.

We are a group of Muslims passionate about internet technologies and emerging social trends. We thank God for allowing us the opportunity to reach out to blessed people like yourself

Help us spread the word by sharing it on your Social Network (Facebook, Twitter etc.) If you have any ideas or feedback, positive or negative, get in touch with us

Islam teaches that there is one, and only one, God Who is the Creator and Controller of the entire universe. He is unique in every respect, and there is nothing which bears any likeness to Him. He is the Knower of all things, and has full power over the whole of creation. He does not stand in need of anything at all, while everything is totally dependent on Him. He possesses all the perfect qualities, and man should worship Him, and Him alone.

The first major difference is that Islam teaches the absolute one-ness of God, with Whom no one can share in Divinity. No idol or heavenly object, nor any religious or spiritual teacher, can possess some Divine power or attribute.

Secondly, Islam teaches the highest conception of God, and does not accept any limitation to His power and knowledge, while other religions set limits to Him. For instance, Islam rejects the Hindu belief that God is not the Creator of matter and souls but exists alongside them. It also rejects the Christian doctrine that God is unable to forgive sins unless He punishes someone, and so He sent His 'son' to suffer the punishment for the sins of all humanity. Moreover, a son is needed to take the place of the father when the father dies, and clearly this cannot apply if God is perfect.

Thirdly, Islam refutes the idea that any human being, however great, was a 'manifestation' of God on earth, or a Divine incarnate.

Robert Morey, a Christian pastor first claimed Allah was a pagan Moon God. This is a false claim

The Sun-God had many manifestations including:

* Apollo or Dionysus among the Greeks
* Hercules among the Romans
* Mithras in Persia
* Adonis and Attis in Syria
* Phrygia, the Osiris, Isis and Horns triad (Trinity) in Egypt
* Baal, Astarte and Tammuz triad (Trinity) among Babylonians
* Jesus Christ the 'Son-of-God' (Sun-God?)

Long before Jesus arrived, the Sun-God Mithras was worshipped.

* Mithras was said to have been a great mediator between God and humanity
* Mithras was born of a virgin in a cave on December 25th
* Mithras travelled far and wide with 12 disciples
* Mithras died in the service of humanity.
* Mithras rose again from the tomb, and his resurrection was celebrated with great rejoicing.
* His great festivals were the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox.
* Mithras was called Saviour and sometimes figures as a lamb. People were initiated into the cult through the baptism of blood

* Dinoysus, the Greek God also known as Bacchus was born on December 25th
* Dinoysus' mother was a virgin called Demeter
* The world was full of evil, so the GOD of Gods was called on to save humanity
* The prayer was accepted by Jupiter who declared his Son would redeem the world from its misery
* Dionysus known as his only begotten-Son, was sent as the Saviour
* The shedding of Dinoysus' blood was symbolized in his gift of wine to humanity

* Attis was born of a virgin named Nana
* Attis bled to death on a pine tree and his blood renewed the fertility of the earth; bringing life to humanity
* He rose from the dead and this event is celebrated on 24th March when Attis' image is attached to a pine-tree
* Attis' image was placed in a tomb, but the tomb was later found to be empty and so the festival of resurrection was celebrated

* Horus - In Egypt, in the Heb-Sed festival, the powers of Pharaoh (Horus incarnate) were tested. If found weak, Horus was expected to sacrifice himself by donating his blood to the soil

* Kronos - A man was sacrified annually at the Phoenician feast of Kronos. Kronos had a son, Ieoud who he sacrificed. Ieoud was known as 'the only begotten son of his Father'

* Tammuz - A popular Syrian saviour-God born of a virgin was killed and rose again every spring. Wherever Tammuz was worshipped a human victim in royal robes was killed and eaten, so his body and blood might bring salvation to the community.

Tammuz was a popular Syrian saviour-God who pre-existed Jesus Christ yet shared a number of similarities:

* Tammuz was born of a virgin
* Tammuz was killed and rose again every spring.
* Wherever Tammuz was worshipped, he was celebrated with a human victim in royal robes who was killed and eaten. This was so the sacrifice, his body and blood might bring salvation to the community
* One of the chief centres of Tammuz worship was Bethlehem, said to have been the birthplace of Jesus
* Tammuz was called 'the Carpenter', a title related to the 'Architect' of the universe. Jesus too was called the 'son of the carpenter'
* Tammuz was said to have entered Jerusalem riding two asses, because this represented the passage of the sun at the summer solstice through the sign of Cancer (two asses star-sign)
* In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus enters Jerusalem on two animals.

Details of the Babylonion Baal or Bel God were found by German excavators in 1904 at the site of the ancient city of Ashur.

* Details of Baal's capture and his trial in the House on the Mount
* Baal's torture and being led away to his death
* The city broke out in fighting
* Baal's clothes were carried away
* A woman wiped away blood from the weapon thrust into his heart
* A weeping woman came to lament him at the 'Gate of Burial'
* Baal was brought back to life at the spring equinox

On the premise the God of the Quran is the same as the God of all the Biblical characters, why does He never call himself YHWH? Or 'Yahweh' as the popular transliteration has it.God uses this several times, in Isaiah 42:8 he says "I am Yahweh, that is my name, I shall not give my glory to another." There are numerous other places where this name is used or revealed in the OT. The writers of the NT used Jewish tradition and used Theos (God) or Kurios (Lord) instead, so it is not found there.Why doesn't Muhammad's God reveal himself thus?

Read More

The God of the Old Testament is a jealous, bloodthirsty, vicious God that mercilessly commanded horrific attrocities like, for example:

Killing every human on the planet except the handful that went with Noah.

Moses commanding his people to shed each others blood as atonement for creating and worshiping the golden calf

The genocide of the people in the promised land when the Hebrews finally ended their 40-year stay in the dessert. Under the command of God, they wiped out whole cities, killing every man, woman and child.

God is perfect and He is all powerful. Both Muslims and Christians accept that this is true. The ontological term for this is that God is "immutable" or absolute in His perfect nature. In the Christian faith, God's incarnation is seen as a manifestation of His power, whereas in Islam it is seen as the changing of God's nature. If God is perfect, and God's nature changes, how can He be perfect?

It would have to mean that He was not perfect before and is now perfect, which would not make Him God or that He was perfect before and is now not perfect, which would also not make Him God.

If God is perfect, then there is no need for Him to become anything, so that He can grant us salvation. Since He's already perfect, loving and merciful, why would He need to change His nature to a weaker, human nature to grant us salvation? That's a contradiction. Therefore, when the Christian argues that God changing His nature makes Him perfect, this is not the case. They need to think before they speak. If God is perfect and you add something to His nature, does that mean He was not perfect before? Which means He was not a God before this addition?

If God is perfect and you add something to His nature, that would mean He lacked something before and thus could not be a God.

Yes. Some Christians do worship Mary. Even today, the abstract of that is found in churches where she is called upon as THEOTOKOS in Greek which means "Mother of God", God bearer, one who give birth to God.

There was an idea that Mary was not the mother of God and counsels tried to change her name from THEOTOKOS to CHRISTOTOKOS, or from "Mother of God" to "Mother of Christ" - but this change was rejected.

God promises to make a nation from Ishmael. This is the Arab nation from whom Muhammad came.

Islam means Submission and full surrender to God. In this sense, all prophets, from the start of mankind, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus, and Mohammad (peace upon all of them) are Islam prophets

A Muslim is a follower of the religion of Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion revealed to prophet Muhammad

Allah is the Arabic word for God.

The name Allah is unique. It has no feminine or masculine form (unlike god or goddess). It also has no plural form (unlike gods and goddesses). Allah simply means "The One and Only True God."

The name Allah was not a name invented by the Arabs. In the Torah, we find God gave Himself the name "Elah", or in some cases, "Eloh". It was also used in the Aramaic language spoken by Jesus.

Editor Note: For the sake of simplicity, we have used the word God on this website, in place of Allah.

A Muslim must believe, honour and respect each and every prophet of God

Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. This was the message of all the prophets and it is from God's way

Their are many online sources of information, such as http://www.onereason.org

It is to make peace with God, which means to submit to and obey God completely

The religion of Islam in its present form came to us through the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived and preached in Arabia some 1400 years ago (born 571 CE, died 632 CE). However, the Holy Prophet taught that he was not bringing a completely new religion into the world, because the basic principles of Islam had also been preached by all the great founders of the various religions before him. Islam, therefore, did not begin with Muhammad, but was also the religion of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and every other prophet of God.

A person becomes a Muslim by declaring in public an oath of: I bear witness that there is no god except Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

The Muslim belief consists of 5 fundamentals:
1. God, Who possess the most perfect and excellent qualities.
2. Angels, who act upon the heart of each person, inspiring him to do good.
3. Prophets and Messengers of God, sent to all the nations of the world, who taught virtue by their own high moral example.
4. Books of God, which were revealed to all the nations through their respective prophets, containing guidance on how man should live and conduct himself.
5. Life after death, when each person shall become conscious of all the deeds, good or bad, he/she did in this life, and shall face the consequences.

It is this, that belief does not just mean believing something in ones heart, but also acting on the belief. Mere faith counts for nothing if not carried into practice. The purpose of belief is to show us what to do in practice. No 'belief' by itself can bring salvation.

The Holy Quran gives three kinds of arguments on this point.

Firstly, it refers us to the physical world which shows great order and arrangement, works according to laws, and where everything has a set purpose in the whole scheme of things. There is also immense beauty in nature which attracts man's heart. Science is discovering more and more of these characteristics of the world all the time. So behind this highly purposeful and beautiful working of nature must be One, single Intelligence of great beauty and attraction.

Secondly, the Quran tells us about the close and deep connection between God and the inner nature of every person. There is an in-built desire in each and every person to search for something higher than oneself, and when in difficulties a person instinctively wants to call upon a Hidden Power to help him.

Thirdly, and most convincingly, Prophets and men of God appeared in every nation in the world and showed their people the reality of God through their teachings and works. Just as most of us learn about science not by making all the discoveries ourselves, but by accepting the work and evidence of those who devote themselves to the study of science, similarly the proof of the existence of God is provided by the lives of the great luminaries whom God sent all over the world for this very purpose.

The crescent is not a symbol of Islam, but of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans are those tribes that moved to Turkey from east and middle Asia. They converted to Islam and built a huge Muslim Empire that ruled the whole Muslim world for centuries. When they took Islam as a religion they started using the lunar calendar, the calendar that was used by Muslims, Jews and early Christians. Even today, the flag of Turkey has a crescent on it. There was no crescent on any mosque built before the Ottomans era.

Prophet Abraham built the Kaaba for people to worship God. While pagan Arabs admitted this fact and even kept the stone where he used to stand to build the Kaaba (Abraham's station), they brought idols to the Kaaba and worshiped them to get closer to Abraham's Lord, Allah, God of gods. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) came with the monotheistic message of Islam. Arabs defended these idols and refused to give up the religion of their fathers and grandfathers.

The word Allah is used in all Arabic translations of the Bible. It was used in some English translations of the Bible like the original "Scofield Reference Bible"

In the New Testament, Jesus is believed to cry before his death "ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” Eloi is the exact Arabic word "Elahi" which comes from the same root as Allah.

The Muslim’s diet, like all other aspects of his or her life, is governed by divine law. Muslims (male and female) implement the commandments of Islam because the fundamental concept of Islam is submission to Allah, Almighty God, recognising that in His infinite knowledge, He knows what is best for His creation.

This passage also clearly prohibits the consumption of meat and other products derived from both wild and domestic pigs, including pork, bacon, and ham.

Furthermore, it is not only Muslims who refrain from eating pork, with both Jews and some Christian denominations refraining from doing so, and the Old Testament describing pork as unclean.

Yes, Muslims believe in Allah(God)

Muslims believe that Allah is the all-powerful Creator of a perfect, ordered universe.

He is transcendent and not a part of his creation. He is all-powerful, absolutely Just and He is First, Last, and Everlasting; He was when nothing was, and will be when nothing else remains. Also, There is no other entity in the entire universe worthy of worship besides Him.

This belief in God is how one becomes a Muslim and is similar to the first commandment of Christianity and Judaism: You shall have no other gods before Me.

The Quran presents this belief in Allah as:
Say He is Allah,the One,
Allah the Eternal,Absolute;
He does not beget,not nor is He begotten,
And there is none like Him.

Al-Ikhlas(1:1-4)

1400-years ago, the minimum marriage age was decided by puberty or sexual maturity. Our Child Marriage article explores this issue further.

The animal sacrifice is to honor the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael, his eldest son, as an act of submission to God's command. At the point of sacrifice, God intervened and replaced his son with a ram (male sheep) which had been slaughtered instead.

Abraham had passed the test by his willingness to carry out God's command

The 'disbelievers' in this verse refers to those who persecuted and attacked the Muslims. This is not a verse directing Muslim to just go out and be awful to non-Muslims.

In fact there is a lot in the Quran and hadith collections that command Muslims to be compassionate and kind to all of God's creation. One such hadith states: Whoever is deprived of gentleness is deprived of all good. (Muslim, Abu Dawood)

It is also reported by Abu Dawood (a hadith collection) that Muhammad said, 'Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will; I (Muhammad) will complain against the person on the Day of Judgement.'

In this verse, the words “Awliya”- plural- or “wali” – singular- has been (badly) translated as “friends” or “friend”; however, the more appropriate translation would be a “guardian, protector, or advocate”. Muslims are to be advocates and protectors for each other. And friends with everyone.

Muhammad was kind to the pagans of Mecca and fought them only when they fought him. He made treaties with the Jews of Madinah and honored the treaties until they broke them. He received the Christians of Najran with kindness in Madinah. They argued with him about Islam, but he treated them with honor and respect.

Some translate this verse to mean that Muslim should not take the Jews and the Christians for friends who are exclusively friends of each other at the exclusion and detriment of the Muslims, as is seen in Zionism and the Islamophobic lobby.

This verse is speaking about the hypocrites who were among the Muslims in the time of Muhammad. The 'unbelievers who are near you' were, in actuality, non-Muslims posing as Muslims who sought to corrupt the believing Muslims from within. The instruction was to fight them (here, 'fight' means to resist the hypocrites’ skepticism, as we will see in the next verse) without preferential treatment for the social or economic standing.

These verses are also historical in context. They are about the Battles of Mu'tah and Tabuk.

These verse were in reference to The Byzantine Empire instigating war against the Muslims. They murdered an ambassador of Muhammad who was carrying a message to the ruler of Busra. The Chosroe of Persia even ordered his commander in Yemen to kill Muhammad, and they mobilized their forces to fight the Prophet. The Muslims confronted them.

There are many people who misunderstand over the Jizyah (a tax on non-Muslims living under the protection of a Muslim authority) claiming it is discriminatory. But the truth is that Muslims are not exempt from taxes, they just go by a different term.

The tax collected from non-Muslims is only imposed on adult males. It exempts them from military service; affords them protection under the law; and freedom to practice their religion. And Muslim taxes go to welfare programs.

One of the basic teachings of Islam is that God does not have a favorable opinion of those who knowingly deny His right to be worshiped alone (as He alone is responsible for our creation, our sustenance, and our judgement) and reject any of His messengers.

This is not to say that there will be conveyor belts for each religion, and we just jump on and go to either Heaven or Hell according to what we call ourselves. Each person will be judged based on their understanding of God's message, as well as his or her capability and intentions to follow the path to God as best he or she could.

Muslims are not allowed to say that someone will go to hell just because they call themselves a Christian, Jew, or Polytheist. Muslims are not allowed to speak without knowledge. And each person's destination in the Hereafter is known only to God.

It is interesting to note that some people of different faiths insist on telling everyone who does not go to their specific place of worship that they will certainly be going to Hell (knowledge they do not have). But when they see this Quran verse, they are upset by it.

Pre-destination is the belief that everything that will happen has already been decided by God or fate and cannot be changed

A prophet is a person who is assigned a special mission by God to guide mankind and include Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad

In essence, all the prophets were Muslim because they preached Monotheism (i.e. the worship of one God, and not the worship false dieties).

Historical sources mention 124,000, 224,000 or 1,200,000 prophets. Regardless of the exact number, God sent prophets to every land, people and period

All prophets gave guidance and instruction to their people about how to properly worship God and live their lives. Since God is One, His message has been one and consistent throughout time. In essence, all prophets taught the message of Islam - to find peace in your life through submission to the One Almighty Creator; to believe in God and to follow His guidance.

God sent thousands of prophets with the sole message to worship the one, true God (the Creator) and not worship Creation, such as other men, prophets, spiritual leaders, trees, water, fire, animals, weather, money etc.

Islam teaches all prophets were of high moral character and did not succumb to the sins their people committed. Although prophets were humans and capable of human errors of judgment, but such errors does not diminish their superiority or the respect Muslims are obliged to have for them

The teachings delivered by previous prophets had gradually become lost, altered and obscured. God then sent Muhammad to:

* re-establish those original principles,
* preach other truths which had not been preached before, but were necessary now because mankind had advanced,
* to collect together the best of every religion into one faith.

So Muhammad appeared as the Last Prophet to give to the whole world one, perfect and ever-lasting, religion - Islam.

A prophet or messenger of God is a human being to whom God gives His guidance and whom He charges with the task of conveying that guidance to the people, so that they may do good and avoid evil.

God sent prophets to all nations on earth, at various stages of their history.

Muslims have to believe in all the prophets and messengers of God, equally, without distinction, wherever they may have appeared.

Many prophets are mentioned by name in the Quran; for example, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus from the Biblical prophets, and also non­-Biblical prophets some of whose names are Luqman, Eber and Ezekiel.

According to Islam, all these righteous persons were mortal, human prophets of God, like Muhammad, having the same needs that every human being has. They all eventually died, as everyone must.

There are several reasons why they have come to be revered by their followers as 'gods'. One is that their words were misunderstood by the later generations, who mistook their figurative expressions in a literal sense. Another is that the details of their lives were not preserved accurately, and therefore a great many myths have grown up around them, and their works and deeds have been much exaggerated.

They all gave the same basic teaching: that man should worship God, and God alone, and do good to his fellow­ beings. Ofcourse, the details of the teachings differed according to the nation and the time in which a Prophet appeared. In the Quran, the teachings of all Prophets are called Islam, and the Prophets and their true followers are labelled Muslims. This refers to the fact that the fundamental teachings given by all of them were the same - submission to God.

All Prophets were equally from God, and equally true, but the scope of their missions varied. The messengers before Muhammad were each given teachings limited to their respective nations, because in those times a nation did not have much to do with other nations.

Furthermore, the teachings of each Prophet applied for a limited period of time only, after which God would raise another Prophet to revise some of the teachings for the new circumstances.

The time came to unite all the nations upon a single religion so that mankind may live in peace as one nation. Muhammad, to whom God gave teachings for the whole world for all time to come fulfilled this purpose.

Muhammad is the final prophet from God. The teachings God gave to him are intended for all nations, for all times, so that the entire world be united in one, perfect brotherhood.

Judeo-Christian scholars argue that since Ishmael was born to a concubine (Hajar), he is not a legitimate son.

However, according to Judaism, the gifting of concubines from barren wives to their husbands in order to produce offspring was a common, valid and acceptable occurrence, and the child produced by the concubine would be claimed by the wife of the father, enjoying all rights as if an own child, including inheritance.

A Muslim is essentially a person who believes in one God.

All of the prophets of God preached the message of 'Monotheism' (they all called people to the worship of one God). Based on this fact, they are considered 'in-essence', in terms of their basic beliefs to be Muslim.

According to sources, God sent 124,000 prophets to guide mankind

God sent 1000's of prophets and we do not know about the majority of them. However, we do know of four Arab prophets: Hud, Saleh, Shuaib and Muhammad

The Bible claims the Messiah will accomplish certain signs:

A. Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).

B. Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6).

C. Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)

D. Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "God will be King over all the world—on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9).

The historical fact is that Jesus fulfilled none of these messianic prophecies.

Christians counter that Jesus will fulfill these in the Second Coming, but Jewish sources show that the Messiah will fulfill the prophecies outright, and no concept of a second coming exists.

Read More

And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
Luke 24:19

And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."
Matthew 21:11

If Jesus is the son of God, Adam is the greater son of God as he had no father and no mother

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Matthew 10:5-6

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 15:25

The above verses show that Jesus' message was intended for a select group of people. It was never meant to become a mass inclusive religious movement.

No, Jesus is not English for Yeshua. Joshua is the English translation.

Jesus means 'Son of Zeus'

Most likely the Aramaic or (later) Hebrew form of Allah, which would be Elah or El. These are the generic names, but we do not know if it became generic due to normative use.

Daniel fell on his knees and prayed

Knowing that Abraham had been promised that his seed would fill the land between the Nile and the Euphrates, Sarah offered Hagar to Abraham in order that Hagar would bear him a son to fulfill this prophecy and be the rightful heir.

God promised Abraham he would establish an everlasting covenant with Isaac. If this is true, then why would God tell Abraham to sacrifice his 'only son' Isaac? A sacrifice would nullify the covenant?

Ezra fell on his face and prayed

The details of the Banu Qurayza event where 600, 800 or 900 men were put to death are questionnable.

Ibn Ishaq (151 AH) is the earliest historian to have recorded this event, 145 years after it happened. Ibn Ishaq is the longest, most detailed and quoted text.

Historians and biographers were like 'data collectors'. Their role was to collate as much information as possible, and not to verify information authenticity or reliability. Ibn Ishaq was no different!

To kill such a large number of people is diametrically opposed to the Islamic sense of justice and to basic principles in the Quran

It is unlikely Banu Qurayza tribe was slaughtered when the other Jewish groups who surrendered before, and after them were treated leniently and allowed to go free

Later, Muslim scholars and historians view Ibn Ishaqs version with complacency, uncertainty, condemnatlon and even outright rejection.

In conclusion, the Banu Qurayza event was a hostile war situation where men would have died. However, it is factually incorrect to claim that 800 men were slaughtered as the evidence for that is not their.

For a more detailed answer, see haqq.com.au/~salam/misc/qurayza.html

The Angels fall on their face and pray

28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Mark 12:28-30

Yet in other Bible verses, Paul claims he is not inspired by God.

12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
1 Corinthians 7:12

25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
1 Corinthians 7:25

17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.
2 Corinthians 11:17

Christians claim that this statement proves that Jesus is one or united with God and, consequently, Jesus is God. However, when Jesus died, he did not give up the Father, he only gave up the ghost, "And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost" (Mark 15:37).

This claimed unity was not available to Jesus when he died; what happened to this unity and why did not the Father die when Jesus died, if Jesus and the Father are one?

One does not need to be a doctor of divinity to construe our point! The archaic pronoun "THEE", as use in the text, alludes directly and distinctly to the father; no Trinitarian would deny this.
That being the case, if we substitute subject "Father" for the pronoun "THEE" we get:
"And this is life eternal, that they might know FATHER the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent"

This verse seems to claim that Jesus and the Father are one.

But the previous verse sets the context.

8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
John 14:8

Jesus is being asked to show the Father. To which, Jesus replies I have been with you so long, and yet you have not known me? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you ask to see the Father?

So Jesus simply told him that his own actions and miracles should be a sufficient proof of the existence of God without God having to physically come down and let Himself be seen every time someone is doubtful.

It is known from Pauls mission that he sought to make the Christian faith more appealing to the Gentiles. The above statements show that Paul was flexible and aimed to please the masses.

Inevitably, Paul's new flexible approach meant the original Christian doctrine would have been modified and updated to please the population.

The above Bible verses show Jesus explain to his disciples that the first and most important commandment is to worship God, the Creator.

Jesus is telling the people that he cannot do anything without his Fathers willing it. i.e. he is inferior to the Father.