Christianity
A debate:
2007/11/26
| Victor: |
Hi Ali,
When I came across your website I was glad to see someone dare to
break the silence of political correctness that plagues the West
and tell the public the truth about Islam. I have a growing
concern about the apathy in the West concerning so great of a
threat to freedom and justice. I hope you continue what you're
doing as long as God gives you breath.
|
Dear Victor.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. However, I hope I don’t have to
take my last breath fighting Islam but rather celebrating the victory over
Islam.
| Victor: |
I also came across your opinion about other religions and the
quote by Krishnamurti. Please do not throw out the baby with the
bath water. Just because Islam is a false religion and Muhammad is
a false prophet it does not mean that Christ was a false prophet.
I am a Christian. The reason I was able to recognize the
absurdities of Islam and its prophet was because I had something
to compare it with, the Bible and Christ. The person of Christ is
as different from Muhammad as day is from night or light is from
darkness. Also, the message of the Bible is very different from
that of the Koran. Jesus taught people to love. He said,
"love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that
you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to
rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and
the unrighteous (Matt. 5:44)." Jesus taught that the reason
for sin is found in human nature and that is why we must become
born-again and given a new nature by God. Every other religion
gives us a code of ethics and good works so we can earn our way
into heaven. But how can an unholy human dwell with a perfectly
holy God forever? Christianity is the only one that says its not
by human effort and works but by God's grace because Jesus paid
the penalty for sin for those who repent and humble themselves
before God and accept this gift of salvation that free to us but
cost God everything.
|
I am not against Christianity and actually hold Jesus in very high esteem.
I love him for what he taught and I have never bundled Christianity, or
for that matter any religion, with Islam. However, I differ in my
philosophy with people of faith in that I believe salvation depends only on our deeds and not
on our beliefs. In fact I think beliefs are entirely irrelevant, all that
count are good deeds.
| Victor: |
The God of the Bible loved to the point of dying for the very
people who hated and rebelled against him. While He was on the
cross, He prayed "Father, forgive them for they know not what
they do." The Muslim's Allah only breathes out threats and
violence toward those who don't believe. Jesus laid down the
example of true love. John, a close friend of his writes,
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his
life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (
I John 5:16)."
|
The God of Jesus resembles Jesus and the God of Muhammad resembles
Muhammad. One is the embodiment of love and the other of hate. One
preaches forgiveness and the other violence. They are different because
the two men who envisioned them were different. I have never equated the
God of Jesus with that of Muhammad.
| Victor: |
My friend, Islam can never be eradicated by human words of reason
and facts alone (although that is good), but only by the truth of
the gospel (the good news that God saves sinners through grace and
not by works because of the sacrifice of His only Son.) |
Not all people think alike or have similar likes and dislikes. Because we
are different, we think differently. Many people are reason oriented and
others are faith oriented. I only can help Muslims through reason.
However, there are many Muslims who need to believe. It is your job to
reach them. My language is not the language of faith because I am not a
man of faith. I cannot give to others what I do not possess.
But I am not averse to those who try to wean Muslims from Islam by giving
them a different faith. I believe all religions have something good to
offer. Islam has nothing good to offer. All I want is the eradication of
this doctrine of hate. Whether Muslims choose to become Christians,
Hindus, Buddhists or rationalists is up to them. I am not here to
indoctrinate anyone with my own beliefs. Firstly, I do not have any
beliefs and secondly, I could be wrong.
| Victor: |
Please, as you are a person of reason, look into the facts of the
Bible for yourself. As you have been turned away from Islam by the
careful study of the moral character of Islam's prophet, also in
the same way, study the moral character of Christianity's Lord,
Jesus Christ, and see if He passes the test. His closest friends
testified of his perfect character. One of them wrote, "To
this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you
an example, that you should follow in his steps. 'He committed no
sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.' When they hurled their
insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no
threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to Him who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might
die to sins and live for righteousness..." I'm not saying you
should convert to Christianity, but at least put its claims to
test, especially those made by Jesus. Have you looked into the
evidence concerning His resurrection? "
|
I have put to test the Jesus of the Bible and he came out with flying
colors. There is no doubt that if Jesus was as he is described in the
Bible he was a superior man and an example to follow. However, I cannot
accept the evidence of resurrection. That evidence is not convincing for
me. I believe it is a myth invented by the zealot believers. I do not
need to believe that Jesus was supernatural to accept that he was a
superior human being. I love him as a man and not as God.
| Victor: |
Unlike Islam, Christianity invites skeptics to challenge its
claims concerning facts that can be verified through careful
research, like the resurrection of Christ (Simon Greenleaf, one of
the principle founders of Harvard Law School, and a skeptic did
this: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/greenleaf.html).
The apostle Paul writes, "If Christ has not been raised, our
preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are
then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified
about God that he raised Christ from the dead...And if Christ has
not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your
sins." Why will Paul put everything in Christianity on the
line based on that one test of whether Jesus really resurrected or
not? Why will he risk all he based his life on, and even was
eventually martyred by Emperor Nero for believing? Paul knew that
the people could verify whether Christ was risen or not because
such an event did not happen in some secret corner. He also knew
that Christ did resurrect without the shadow of a doubt and there
was physical evidence that was irrefutable by even the staunchest
skeptic and opposer of their faith. |
Paul was a zealot believer. He did not know for a fact that Jesus
resurrected. He actually was a persecutor of Christians. He had an
epiphany, and as the result changed his position. Paul was not a rationalist. He was against reason and preached
foolishness. In 1 Cor. 1:20-25 he argues “the foolishness of God is
wiser than (the wisdom of) men”.
Unlike Paul I am a man of reason. I cannot accept a god that is divorced
from reason. Therefore, what Paul says, to me sounds
absurdity. In my humble opinion Paul has hijacked Christianity. The
message of Jesus is much simpler and rational than what Paul regurgitated.
| Victor: |
Like Paul, I lay all of Christianity on the line based on this
question I ask you: Did Jesus really resurrect from the dead? If
He did, then He is Lord. If He didn't, then he is a liar or a
lunatic. All I ask is that you honestly look into the evidence for
yourself. |
If you mean bodily resurrection, my answer is no. This is contrary to
science and logic. Where did the body of Jesus go? Also I do not
see any reason to call Jesus a liar or a lunatic just because his
followers exaggerated his rank. Christ's teachings are beautiful.
There is no need to believe in resurrection to see what he taught is
good. The story of resurrection is a fable concocted by his zealot
followers who may have lied to attribute miracles to their messiah. There
are also several miracles attributed to Muhammad. Do I have to believe in
them? Believers love to lie to promote their faith and lionize their guru.
| Victor: |
Why do I bother you with these questions? Because I think they are
important. You see, death is not a period, it is a comma. You will
stand before your Creator one day. Are your sins forgiven? |
I don’t know whether I will stand in front of a creator or not. If
I do I will condemn him of criminal negligence and point out to his
cruelties and injustices, before he can condemn me. I am far less sinner
than God. All my sins are caused by ignorance. I never committed sin out
of malice. God cannot have the same excuse. Unlike me, he can’t plead
ignorance. My sins are minor, while his are major. He is guilty of
genocide and mass murder. He must answer for all the injustices that humanity
and even animals suffer. Convince God to debate with me and I will defeat
him like I have defeated all my opponents. Since he is not willing or able
to confront me in a debate I will be glad to debate with his advocates on
earth. In the Day of Judgment, I am not afraid to stand in front of God. I
have done nothing evil to fear. It is God that must fear standing in front
of me. I may not be able to send him to hell where he actually belongs, but I can sure put him to
shame.
Who is responsible for this little girl? Where
is her God? I don't want to hear rationalizations and excuses. I want
answers. If God exits why this? Don't fool me with nonsense talk laying
the blame on others. Whoever is at fault, this little girl is not. Why should she
pay for the faults of others? Tell this damn God to answer for
all the cruelties that he can stop and doesn't. Let him answer
for all the evil things for which only he is responsible such as killing children,
maiming them or making them orphans in natural disasters or "acts of
God".
If God does not know about all these sufferings, he is ignorant.
If he knows and does not want to help, he is ruthless. If he wants to help
but he can't, he is not almighty. In either case he is not worthy of
praise.
I don't know how can anyone worship a god that
actually designs the world is such a way that the sustenance of some of
the creatures should depend on destroying the lives of other creatures. Is
this a good design?
| Victor: |
I hope your administrator does not block this email out. I really
want you to see it and would like to see if you are up to this
challenge of looking into the evidence of the resurrection of
Christ.
Sincerely,
Victor |
Who told you we block people’s emails? I apologize for
not responding to all the emails but I certainly welcome
different views and fresh ideas, (even though I often end up refuting
them.)
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