Steve said:
Christianity is not much different? are you serious? Christianity and Islam are very differently.
john313 said:
the main difference is christians believe Jesus is God and Muslims believe God is God and Jesus was a prophet
Id say thats a BIG difference! agreed?
Steve said:
The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is the way to God and the only way.
John 14:6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Is this not vastly opposed to Islam?
john313 said:
this is not opposed to Islam. Islam follows the teachings of Jesus.
How is this not opposed to Islam? So Islam belives that it is through Jesus and ONLY Jesus that you can get to the Father? If not then its different and once again on major aspects what the Jesus taught.
John 2:18-22 - Then the Jews demanded of him, What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this? Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. The Jews replied, It has taken fortysix years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days? But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Do you belive this? If not then how can our faiths be considered "not much different"?
Steve said:
Also there is the whole idea of if God is just then how can he let sinful people into heaven.
I made this point in
http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...ead.php?t=10859
Imagine this senario in a courtroom just on earth - Somone murderes somone close to you and are they are Arrested, they are taken to court to meet the judge to see that justice is served. They stand and state there defence "that was the only person i ever killed and im really sorry and just look at all the other people i havnt killed, ive obeyed the law more then ive disobeyed it" Then the judge says "well i guess your right you have obeyed the law more then you have disobeyed it" and then lets the person go free.
Would you consider that judge to be corrupt? Did that Judge really make sure justice was served? Is that judge a good just judge?
Keep in mind God knows everything we have done wrong and if he is just he should bring to justice all the things he knows we have done wrong. How can he tolarate sin? if he dosn't punish it just like the judge in the courtroom he is no longer Good and Just
john313 said:
this is a silly scenario and not worthy of a refutal.
Why is this silly? Dosnt it make sense that our sense of justice is just a tiny fraction of Gods? Afterall we are made in his image. If mankind would find the judge from that senario unjust then how much more would God? To say that he will let the guilty go free without any justice being served is foolish, if mankind realises the need for justice is it smart to say a Righteous Holy God wouldnt?
Steve said:
The idea that our good erases our bad is illogical, if ive stolen something then not stealing somthing tomorow dosnt hide my guilt. We should do good simply because its good to do so.
john313 said:
good does not erase the bad, but it can outweigh it.
This avoids my point and has nothing to do with real justice. Just because someone has done more right then wrong dosnt make there wrongs any less wrong!
Steve said:
Have you been good enough to please a Holy Righteous God?
Its simple we broke the law and justice must be served, either Jesus has paid your fine or Gods wrath remains on you.
john313 said:
Jesus does not pay our fines. Jesus even said each man will be judged according to his works. Jesus did not say you are free to sin because i will cover for you.
Isaiah 53:4-6 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Does Islam agree with the book of Isaiah? If this isnt refering to Jesus then who? Who else is able to pay our fine because they dont have a fine of there own?
Romans 3:22-24 - This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
How did God bring redemption? Through Christ Jesus. You are right in that it dosnt make it ok to sin, all we need to do is either picture Jesus on the cross or people in Hell to get an idea of how Seriously God sees our sin.
Steve said:
From alot of what i read it seems that many "religious" people seem to think that man created God, not God created man, when someone says my religion is good for me and yours is good for you its like saying my God suits me and your God suits you. The problem with this is that we dont create God, God Created us! If the 2 religions are opposed then both cant be right, so one group is serving a false god. Wont the true God be offended by those who worship the false god, wont he be offended at those who refuse to listen to the truth with open ears? The very threat of hell should be ennough for every person to at least examine weather or not "their" God is the real God. As for the people who say there is no God or hell, u better be right.
The God of the Bible is not only Just, Holy and Righteous but also full of compassion and Mercy and Love. It is because of his love that he gave mankind a way to avoid punishment. He didnt have to give us the option, we didnt deserve what Christ did for us, yet he did it anyway.
Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
If this is true dont you owe it to God to look into it with an open heart?
john313 said:
if you are right that Christ died for us, then heaven will be no different than earth. everyone will go to heaven, except Jesus of course. with all those sins he would be bound to be the only inhabitant of hell.(of course i do not believe Jesus would be in hell). if you will notice in the Quran, each sura starts out "in the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate."
Not everyone will go to heaven because of what Jesus did for them.
john 3:18 - Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
Imagine this, im in a plane and know that at some point i have to jump out, ive been told about a parachute but never really belived in it and put it on, my time comes and i jump without the parachute. Just because the parachute existed dosnt mean it has any effect on those who dont regard it as worth finding and putting on.
When Jesus was beaten and flogged then crucified this was the way he paid for our sins. Is it not ok for God to choose the punishment? What Christ went through was not pleasant. And after he had been through all this torture his final words were - "It is finished." He had paid the debt that we owed and bought our freedom with his blood. So with the debt now paid on both sides for us and him, both are able to enter heaven and escape Gods punishment for Sin.
Isaiah 52:14 - Just as there were many who were appalled at him his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness
Colossians 1:21-22 -Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation
I honestly hope that when you stand befor God you will be considered holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. He has made a way for that to be possible.
john313 said:
John 1:18 "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him]. " a lot of people sure seem to have seen Jesus.
Yes noone has seen God the Father, but many have seen the visible Son for "He is the image of the invisible God".
(Gen. 17:1) Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty ; Walk before Me, and be blameless;
So who was it that appeared to Abram? Jesus! The image of the invisible God. The word made flesh.
Colossians 1:15-20 - He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.