Are These Contradictions in the Quran? (Open Forum)

I am not posting this as a polemic or accusation against Islam or the Ancient Quran however as a Christian Apologist I have only noted issues I have located within the Islam Holy Book that do not make much sense to me or some of my Christian Brothers and Sisters. So I add this to Beacon Apologetics as a discussion forum. I would like to hear from and get constructive information as to understand what I have read from the Islamic beliefs and writings. They are nagging topics that keep popping up and I would like to get clarity. God Bless!

The Earth according to the Quran:
Quran 27:61
Is not He (better than your gods) Who has made the earth as A FIXED ABODE, and has placed rivers in its midst, and has placed firm mountains therein, and has set a barrier between the two seas (of salt and sweet water). Is there any ilah (god) with Allah? Nay, but most of them know not.

So is this saying the Earth is not moving? “A Fixed Abode”?

What Holds Birds Up in the Air?
Do they not look at the birds, held poised in the midst of (the air and) the sky?
Nothing holds them up but (the power of) God.
Verily in this are signs for those who believe. Surah 16:79

What about aerodynamics?

Can Ants Talk?
Till, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant said: O ants! Enter your dwellings lest Solomon and his armies crush you, unperceiving. And (Solomon) smiled, laughing at her speech, and said: My Lord, (Surah 27:18-19a)

?

Adam was 90 feet tall?
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, “Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall. When He created him, He said to him, “Go and greet that group of angels, and listen to their reply, for it will be your greeting (salutation) and the greeting (salutations of your offspring.” So, Adam said (to the angels), As-Salamu Alaikum (i.e. Peace be upon you). The angels said, “As-salamu Alaika wa Rahmatu-l-lahi” (i.e. Peace and Allah’s Mercy be upon you). Thus the angels added to Adam’s salutation the expression, ‘Wa Rahmatu-l-lahi,’ Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure).People have been decreasing in stature since Adam’s creation. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 543)

These are a few of my questions and other Christian Apologists I know would like answers to. I ask these questions in peace and understanding.

God Bless
Brian Mason

Stigmata: What The Heck?

Is it possible that Stigmata is true? If you don’t know the term, stigmata is when Roman Catholic Church followers get what is defined to be “Spontaneous appearances of the crucifixion wounds that Jesus would have incurred on the cross”.

Usually the mysterious wounds appear on or around Roman Catholic holidays. Strangely the person will report that they have wounds appearing on the head, feet, back and sides. Most of the wounds are reported and documented to appear on the palms of the hands. Are these for real?

The Roman Catholic Church has the majority of the written reports on this phenomena and there have been several explanations for this event. One is that the Roman Catholic Church is such a superstitious church that the wounds could be happening by the subconscious power of the mind? It could also be a cerebral event as psychosomatic excitation?

I believe that it is not grounded well on anything Biblical and when in doubt we should consult the holy scriptures and see what our Holy Father has to say about it. I would suggest that since the Roman Catholic Church is apostate, we should not take this event very seriously. If  we look back to the process of Roman crucifixion it is well known that the method of this barbaric execution had the nails being driven into the wrists and not the palms! 

There have been many documented cases of stigmata being faked as well. Some of them have been self-inflicted. On a recent National Geographic episode entitled “Is it real? Stigmata”, experts could easily fake it by using sodium hydroxide, pressing the hands together and voila the reaction created red bloodlike smears.

All I say Christians is don’t be fooled by this fakery and when in doubt, turn to the Bible scripture for the answers you seek!

God Bless

Brian Mason

Is It By Faith or Baptism That Christians Are Saved?

It seems to be a debate that just keeps circling around in Christian Debate. Is it “Faith” or is it “Baptism” that Christians are saved? Let’s define the two words; “Faith” is a Biblical word that refers to intellectual belief, or to a commitment of relational trust.“Baptism” is a Christian ordinance or sacrament using total immersion of the body in water. It is basically a ceremony or covenantal sign.

Biblically we see that regeneration is by faith;

Romans 5: 1-2 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

After regeneration we get baptized as an outward sign of the cleansing of a person’s sin. The blood of Christ washing the soul!

Acts 22: 16, 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

Baptism is NOT a requirement for salvation. It is the faith in Christ. It is a sign of a united church, and is a sign of the Covenant of Grace given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 6: 4, 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

We must be careful to not add baptism as a requirement for salvation as it is a “works”. Baptism is a circumcision of the flesh as a sign of the circumcision of the heart!

Col 2: 11-12 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

God Bless

Brian Mason

Terminology Tuesday: Adoptionism

This is the first installment of “Terminology Tuesday” Today we will be looking at:

Adoptionism:

The theory that asserts that God adopted Jesus of Nazareth as his Son. In other words, Jesus was born human but became God’s Son at a particular point in his life. This theory fails to reflect spiritual texts that point to Jesus’ eternal relationship with the Father (e.g., Jn 17:5)

Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki, Cherith Fee Nordling
Intervarsity Press
Copyright 1999 by Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki, Cherith Fee Nordling

Muslims: By Your Own Book You Say The Bible Is Not Corrupt!

Muhammed was not even born until 570 ad and the Bible was already in existance. The Muslims state consistantly that the Bible was corrupted. Answer me this then…”Why does the Qur’an say that the Psalms, Gospels and the Torah were sent to us by God”?

The Psalms: Surah 4: 163   Indeed, We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him. And we revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Descendants, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the book [of Psalms].  

The Gospel: Surah 5: 46   Subsequent to them, we sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the previous scripture, the Torah. We gave him the Gospel, containing guidance and light, and confirming the previous scriptures, the Torah, and augmenting its guidance and light, and to enlighten the righteous.

The Torah: Surah 2: 87 And We did certainly give Moses the Torah and followed up after him with messengers. And We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the Pure Spirit. But is it [not] that every time a messenger came to you, [O Children of Israel], with what your souls did not desire, you were arrogant? And a party [of messengers] you denied and another party you killed. ,

If all were given by God, how does that fit with Muslims saying the Bible is corrupted? The Qur’an says the word of God cannot be changed or altered!

Surah 6:115  And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can alter His words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

God Bless

Brian Mason

 

Great “Resurrection” Quotes

With Resurrection Day quickly approaching I would just like to publish some very good quotes from various Authors, Apologists, Theologians, Bible Scholars and other current and historical noteworthy people.

“If the defeated and depressed group of disciples overnight could change into a victorious movement of faith, based only on autosuggestion or self-deception—without a fundamental faith experience—then this would be a much greater miracle than the resurrection itself.”
– Pinchas Lapide, The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective, p. 126.

“Any position in which claims about Jesus or the resurrection are removed from the realm of historical reality and placed in a subjective realm of personal belief or some realm that is immune to human scrutiny does Jesus and the resurrection no service and no justice. It is a ploy of desperation to suggest that the Christian faith would be little affected if Jesus was not actually raised from the dead in space and time.
A person who gives up on the historical foundations of our faith has in fact given up on the possibility of any real continuity between his or her own faith and that of a Peter, Paul, James, John, Mary Magdalene, or Priscilla. The first Christian community had a strong interest in historical reality, especially the historical reality of Jesus and his resurrection, because they believed their faith, for better or for worse, was grounded in it.”
– Ben Witherington

“Thousands and tens of thousands have gone through the evidence which attests the resurrection of Christ, piece by piece, as carefully as ever a judge summed up on the most important case. I have myself done it many times over, not to persuade others, but to satisfy myself. I have been used for many years to study the history of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fitter evidence and every kind.”1

– Thomas Arnold
British Educator and Historian

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.
Martin Luther

The New Testament witnesses were fully aware of the background against which the resurrection took place.
Josh McDowell

And last but not least….

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also
vain … And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your
sins. (1 Cor. 15:14, 17)

All rejoice! The Lord has RISEN!

God Bless
Brian Mason

Atheism: Is It Feasible?

When you ask an atheist what their worldview is, they will answer boldly state the negative position and that is that “God does not exist”. But can that position actually show a stitch of evidence to prove itself? To begin with they cannot prove a negative, demonstrating that there is NO God.
Some atheists will say that they “lack belief in a God”. Well my German Shepard also “lacks belief in God”. The atheist is in a very tough position to prove a negative.

On a larger scale, the atheist must invalidate evidences for the existence of God! Simply put; if the unbeliever says “there is no God”, then that unbeliever must know everything? Pushed on the subject they will state that the origin of the universe and life itself was a cosmic accident called “ The Big Bang”. This theory implies that through odds too great to count, all the correct particles in the “beginning” collided and created the universe! I would like to now call the theory “The Big Implosion”. The theory falls all over itself. Come on now, life came from non-life? Where did those supposed “particles” come from?

No the Atheist position is NOT feasible!

Psalm 14: 1-3
1 The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.

2 The LORD looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

God Bless

Brian Mason

Militant Atheism and the Communist/Modern Day Connection?

Is there really a connection between Militant Atheism and Communism? “Yes” says Harold J Berman, a specialist in Soviet Law from Harvard University. “Militant Atheism was the official Religion, one might say, of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party was the established church”. “The standard Marxist feeling that religion was the opiate of the masses” (1). Also it was that the Russian Orthodox Church “Had always been a pillar of czarism”(2). The churches had strict orders under separation of church and state to destroy all churches, mosques, synagogues, mandirs, madarasahs, religious monuments and also to remove by deportation to Siberia those who had faiths in other religions or beliefs! (3)

Churches in the Soviet Union were under strict rules and forbade giving to the poor, education activities, publish any literature, or have any special meetings. Church property was expropriated. Religious teachings were banned from any educational institute as all was Government ran. Pre Russian Revolution there were 50,000 Orthodox clergymen, by 1939 there was roughly 300. In 1922 by itself the atheist system had murdered 2691 secular priests, 1962 Monks and 3447 Nuns because of their faith! (4)

The late Christopher Hitchens and now believer in God said “One of Lenin’s great achievements, in my opinion, is to create a secular Russia. The power of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was an absolute warren of backwardness and evil and superstition, is probably never going to recover from what he did to it” (5) The bottom line though is that militant atheism has failed to extinguish Christianity! Thanks to many martyrs that gave up their lives in underground churches.

When I hear or read statements that the only difference between “New atheism” and ”atheism” in general is that the New atheists are getting in Christians faces and making a lot more noise. This does worry me. We must stand up to the atheist or are we going to allow this to happen again?

1 Cor. 5: 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?

This is outright spiritual warfare, and believe me it is going to get a lot worse unless we collectively stand together in the Church. The body of Christ must get its act together and stop the division that is creeping into the Church! Hold the atheist’s feet to the fire! If they make a bold statement like “God doesn’t exist” then ask them how they know that? They sure spend a lot of time and energy trying to prove to the believer that God does not exist. Why?

God Bless

Brian Mason

Notes and references:

(1) Crane Brinton (1995). A History of Civilization: 1648 to the present. Prentice Hall.

(2) Crane Brinton (1995). A History of Civilization: 1648 to the present. Prentice Hall

(3) Simon Richmond (2006). Russia & Belarus. BBC Worldwide. Retrieved on 2011-07-09. “Soviet ‘militant atheism’ led to the closure and destruction of nearly all the mosques and madrasahs (Muslim religious schools) in Russia, although some remained in the Central Asian states. Under Stalin there were mass deportations and liquidation of the Muslim elite.”

(4) R.J. Rummel (1993). Death By Government. Transaction Publishers. “With this understood, the Soviet Union appears the greatest megamurderer of all, apparently killing near 61,000,000 people.”

(5) Christopher Hitchens (2005). Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism. Public Broadcasting Service. “One of Lenin’s great achievements, in my opinion, is to create a secular Russia. The power of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was an absolute warren of backwardness and evil and superstition, is probably never going to recover from what he did to it.”