What Must Christians Do In Relationship To Islam?
1. Christians must not fear Muslims.
The command "do not fear" or "do not be afraid" is found frequently in the Scriptures (Matthew 10:28-31). Fear is the antithesis of faith. We see examples where fear crowded out the faith of individuals such as Abraham when he went down to Egypt with Sarah (Genesis 12:10-13). God had promised Abraham some great promises earlier in Genesis 12:1-3. Abraham must have believed that God would not keep His word because he thought he was going to be killed. So he chose the option of lying instead. Peter allowed the boisterous waves and wind to strike fear instead of focusing faith on the Creator of the sea (Matthew 14:29,30). Ten out of the twelve spies of Canaan felt like grasshoppers before the Caananites and did not believe that the land could be taken, even though God had promised them the land and they needed to exercise faith in taking it (Numbers 13:31-14:1,6-9). Remember that God is in control and He is on the throne (Revelation 4).
2. Christians must love Muslims.
We must do that which is best for our neighbor if we really love them. We ought to try to win our Muslim neighbors to Jesus, the one true Son of God, and to His true church (Matthew 5:43-48; 1 John 4:18; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
3. We must pray for Muslims.
We must continue to pray that Muslims will hear and obey the true gospel of Christ (Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 23:34; Acts 2:40,41; James 5:16,17). Jesus prayed for His enemies while He was on the cross and His prayer was later answered when some of them rendered obedience to the gospel on the Day of Pentecost.
4. We must be ready to give an answer of the reason of the hope that lies within us with fear and meekness to Muslims.
We must be ready to help Muslims understand the truth of the Christian system. We need to be ready to address their questions (1 Peter 3:15; Philippians 1:17; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Let me address an acronym, READY, to help us spread the gospel to our Muslim neighbors.
R - Read the Qur'an and Islamic history
You can receive a free Qur'an by going to www.freequraan.org.uk. On www.archive.org, there are several books written on the history of the Qur'an that were written during the 1600s - 1800s that will help you to know the true history of the spread of Islam, not the politically correct revised version.
A Christian can have a great impact on a Muslim if a Christian has told them that they have read all of the Qur'an. You will have greater credibility and may have a greater chance to lead them to Jesus (John 14:6).
E - Evidence For The Faithful Transmission of the Bible
When a Muslim makes the claim that the Bible has been corrupted in its transmission, ask them these questions: (1) When was it corrupted? (2) Where was it corrupted? It would take a great world-wide conspiracy to have controlled the whole transmission of the text. We know this because (1) the New Testament authors expected a wider audience in which these congregations would copy the inspired letters and would send them on to other congregations (Colossians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 1:2), (2) there was a widespread circulation of the inspired letters in which numerous copies would be made (Galatians 1:2; 1 Peter 1:1), and (3) the early Christians quoted from the New Testament documents frequently who lived in various locations showing that the New Testament had circulated around the Mediterranean region. Please consult The New Testament In The Apostolic Fathers. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905 (free on www.archive.org ).
We admit that there are many copyist's mistakes made, but when put together with all the manuscript evidence, we can be certain that it has affected no change of any doctrine.
A - Asking Questions About The Differences
There are several differences between the Qur'an and the Bible that need to be addressed, which certainly shows that both of them could not have originated from the same Author. This is one of the reasons why Muslims believe that the Bible has been corrupted in its transmission over the centuries. There are other differences between the Bible and the Qur'an, but this ought to help motivate both Christians and Muslims to open up honest discussion with the differences that lie between them.
- Surah 2:249; Judges 7:1-8 - There is a discrepancy between the historical accounts in that in the Qur'an it is Saul and his men who were tested while in the Bible it was Gideon and his men who were tested.
- Surah 11:42-44 - One of Noah's sons (unnamed) drowned in the great Flood while in the Bible all of Noah's three sons lived because they were on the ark.
- Surah 19:10; Luke 1:22,59-64- There is a great discrepancy in the historical accounts in that Zechariah, the father of John the Immerser, could not speak for three days while in Luke's account he could not speak until the child was born after eight days.
- Surah 19:28; Luke 3:28-38 - There is a great discrepancy in that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also mistakenly called Miriam, the sister of Aaron.
- Surah 20:95 - A Samaritan appears in the golden calf narrative - when it is a matter of historical fact that Samaritans did not appear until 700 years later.
- Surah 26:49 - The Pharaoh from the time of Moses is using crucifixion - when it is a matter of historical fact that crucifixion was not used as a form of punishment until much later in history.
- Surah 28:6; 40:24,36 - The Pharaoh of Moses and Haman both live together in the time of Moses to build the tower of Babel, but the Tower of Babel occurred several hundred years before
- Surah 29:32 - There is a theological problem in that the Qur'an portrays Lot's wife as foreordained to be destroyed, yet the Bible proclaims that all human beings have free moral agency and God grants them their choices to repent (2 Peter 3:9).
- Surah 38:22-24; 2 Samuel 12:1-7 - There are great differences in the parable that Nathan told David when he had previously committed adultery with Bathsheba.
D - Death of Jesus - Did It Really Happen?
In Surah 4:176, the Qur'an states that Jesus did not die on the cross. This is a great historical problem for Muslims because the prophecies of the Old Testament (Isaiah 53; Psalm 22), the New Testament documents, the first generation of Christians, the second generation of Christians, Jewish sources (such as Josephus, the Talmud), Gentile sources (such as Lucian, Tacitus, Mera bar Serapion) accurately record that Jesus died on the cross. This is the "death knell" of Islam. An honest individual would access the evidence and have to admit that there is a greater preponderance of evidence that Jesus did die on the cross than listen to a document that came 600 years later after the fact.
Y - Your God and My God - Are They The Same God?
It is often assumed by many that Allah is the God of the Old and New Testaments, but when a person reads the Qur'an and Bible carefully, the many major differences show that the god of the Qur'an is not the God of the Bible.
The Qur'an portrays a gross misrepresentation of what the Bible teaches about the Trinity (Surah 5:72,73,116). It portrays the Trinity as made up of God the Father, God the Son, and Mary, the Mother of God. The Bible teaches that the Trinity is made up of one God who is composed of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). They are not three separate Gods, but one God who is composed of three Persons.
If Allah could enter into space-time-matter, then Jesus could enter into space-time-matter. Please consult the Question in the Q & A: How Can God Die?
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