What are the Similarities?

The whole point that Islam branches off makes of Judaism makes plenty of sense. The quote that Dr. Brekke gave us today from the Quran said "he who worships Muhammad, Muhammad is dead now. But he who worships Allah, He is ever living and He never dies." This is similar to the Christian religion in that we do not focus on the prophets from the Old Testament such as Elijah and Samuel. We still focus entirely on God's whole being: the Trinity (with the exception of Jesus in Islam).

However, I do not understand at what point Muhammad considered the Bible no longer correct. Did he only consider the fact that we worship God, and that is the only thing we have in common? This just seems to back up the evidence that Muhammad never read the whole bible.

Also to go along with that, in the Quran, Muhammad writes about the advocation of violence if a person does not convert to Islam or pay taxes. Is this like a transition back into the old testament days?

P.S. I commented on Susan Berner's "Learning New Things!"

The Two Monotheisms

Islam is a distinctly monotheistic religion. Its central creed, the shahada, says, "There is no god but God, and Mohammed is his prophet." Similarly, the Christian church declares, "The Lord our God, the Lord is one." What distiguishes the two monotheisms from each another is the Christians' doctrine of the Trinity.

The Athaniasian Creed (attributed to Athanasius, the 20th bishop of Alexandria) states,  "[We] worship one God in trinity, and Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is another still. But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty. What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit."

Orthodox Christianity rejects modalism (God is one person who appears in three different forms) and tritheism (the Trinity is three seperate Gods) as gross heresies. Instead, God is one divine essence simultaneously existing as three distinct yet coequal persons--one what and three whos. Though not formally irrational, the Trinity is utterly mysterious, beyond man's range of complete understanding.

Perhaps it is the doctrine's incomprehensibility that makes Islam percieve it as polytheism. Qur'an 112 speaks of Allah's oneness and unity. The angel says to Mohammed, "He is Allah, the One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He begets not, nor was he begotten; and there is none coequal or comparable unto him." To Mohammed, if there is monotheism, there can't be a Trinity, and if there's a Trinity, there can't be monotheism. Christianity stands in contrast to Mohammed's "pure" monotheism.

These notions stem from a wrong understanding of what the Trinity actually is: one God in three persons, determinedly monothesitic yet unsearchably mysterious. The Christian God is utterly unique. "Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?" (Exodus 15:11)

For further reading:

• A Brief Definition of the Trinity by Dr. James White
• Is Christianity Rational? by Dan Philips
• The Athanasian Creed
• The Nicene Creed

EDIT: Commented on Gary Hamner's "Messiah."

Messiah

While reading the "Night Journey" I found something that I thought was very interesting. In this handout Jesus is referenced and they call him Messiah. I found this to be puzzling because Messiah means Savior or deliverer. I fail to see where the Muslims would be ok with calling Jesus the Savior. And if they are ok with calling Him Messiah then I cannot see how the Muslims would not regard him as the Savior of the world. It seems to me that by calling Jesus the Messiah they are being blasphemous, if anybody can help me understand this I'de appreciate
 it.

PS: I commented on Rebekah's post "favorite difference"

God's children

The discussion of how to treat Christians and Jews in the Qur’an is so fascinating to me, especially when you think of the comparison Dr. Brekke made in class to how we say the Jews are unfulfilled.  When the revelation to Muhammad says, speaking to Christians and Jews, “People of the Book!  Do not transgress the bounds of truth in your religion,” Muhammad is stating that the bounds of truth  are the overlapping of truth within the Qur’an and the Bible.  His confusion at the trinity is understandable, but I think what truly bothers him is the relationship that Christians and Jews claim with God.  Muhammad thinks of it as god choosing people, therefore He would have to be unjust.  After all, how can a loving and fair God only choose specific people to save?  What Muhammad doesn’t realize, however, is that Christians, who are beloved by God, become that way because we follow and accept Him.  All people have the opportunity to be God’s children, but only some accept.

P.S.: Commented on Rebekah's "My Favorite difference."

The Religious People in Muhammad's eyes

I think it is interesting to think about the way Muhammad viewed people like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. When I think of the Muslim faith I just think they care nothing about these people, who are very important to Christians. He still believes them to be just as holy and great, but the fact that Jesus is the son of God does not sit well. He simply believes Jesus was a great prophet of The Lord. I do find it odd that he believes that these people were Muslims and that Jewish people misunderstood them so their beliefs were the same as Muslims and they just corrupted them. He only had against the Jews what he saw as misunderstandings of the prophets. This is a very interesting topic however because no one really thinks to look into this religion historically or through the eyes of Muhammad. Ps I commented on Susan Berner's learning new things.

My favorite difference

Today in class, Dr. Brekke mentioned that Muhammad thought originally that his 'new religion' started out the same as Christianity and the Jewish religion. It was his opinion that they started out the same, then the other two changed.

There are a lot of differences in Muhammad's 'religion' and Christianity but one of the differences that I love the most, is the concept of it changing.
Christians have changed the way they live, yes.
But praise the Lord, our God has never changed!!
He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Although this may not have been Muhammad's exact point, this is what I took out of todays lecture and I loved thinking about it and dwelling on the fact that my God is unchangeable!


P.s. I commented on Susan Berner's "Learning New Things"

Learning New Things!

                I am very happy that we are learning some about the Islamic faith in this class.  In high school I had the opportunity to go to a Masque and observe the men doing their afternoon prayers and then speak to some spiritual leaders of the community.  One of the men there had memorized the entire Qur'an and was very knowledgeable about his religion.  It was really interesting to learn about another religion and to hear how the people believed their faith was similar to the Christian faith.  They tried to tell us that Jesus was only an important man like Moses or Abraham, and that their god is the same as our God.  It is obvious in our first reading that some of the messages of the two religions are the same.  For example, "Revelations of the Past" sounds a little bit like some of Moses' story when the Israelites were in the desert.  I love getting to learn about what other people believe; it reveals so much about people groups and what influences their actions. 

-Susan

I commented on Dylan Copeland