Scriptures from the Bible and Koran contradict one another!
Should members of these powerful religions have conflict? This
article examines the foundation of Christianity and Islam to
discover that the conflict and possible resolution begins there.
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The Christian-Muslim Conflict!
Is there really a conflict between Christians and Muslims? There
were said to be nine crusades from 1095-1272. This was where
Christians got together to fight against Muslims. What is
happening in the world today? Maybe we should take a look at the
Christian Bible and Muslim Koran before tensions escalate too
far? Millions of people revere the writers of these sacred
books. The question is, can and will this promote love and
respect between neighbors in differing religions?
Have you ever asked yourself who actually wrote the New
Testament and Koran? Should you examine the foundation of
Christianity, known from the writers of the New Testament? Many
of Paul's epistles are recognized by Biblical scholars as actual
letters, the first written some 18 years (about 51 AD) after
Jesus died. Paul clearly states that he never physically met
Jesus. Paul only mentions three of the apostles by name
(Galatians 1:18-20, 2:9)! When it comes to meeting Peter, as
Jesus' key apostle, Paul states: "When Peter came to Antioch, I
opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong..."
(Galatians 2:11)
Early letters and other writings do exist from those referred to
as “Apostolic Fathers,” yet the apostles are not mentioned by
name. (Papias was 'quoted' as having mentioned Matthew; see the
footnote below.) Beyond writing more of the New Testament than
any other, Paul, in fact, appears to be the primary spokesmen
for what became Christianity, even according to the Apostolic
Fathers.
"I exhort you all, therefore, to yield obedience to the word of
righteousness, and to exercise all patience, such as ye have
seen before your eyes, not only in the case of the blessed
Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among
yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles.
... If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall
be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the
heathen. But who of us are ignorant of the judgment of the Lord?
'Do we not know that the saints shall judge the world?' as Paul
teaches. But I have neither seen nor heard of any such thing
among you, in the midst of whom the blessed Paul laboured."
[From Chapters 9 and 11 of “The Letter of Polycarp to the
Philippians,” see footnote 1.]
The main objective of later Biblical writers -- including the
writers of the Gospels -- was to make traditions fit together
and convince others that Jesus was the Christ, the chosen
Messiah. Was this viewpoint of Jesus intolerant of other faiths?
The Christocentric view is stressed in the oft-quoted John 14:6
where Jesus was claimed to have said, “I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.”
For more than a thousand years the large majority of Christians
(strongly) believed that all non-Christians would eternally
suffer in hell. For some, this has given Christians the right to
coerce and even murder. Currently, many Christians may
understand that all good people with or without religion can
worship God in their hearts. The priority of love and compassion
can save people from damnation. It seems that anyone can go
“through Jesus” (referring to the scripture above) by accepting
what Jesus established as the priorities in life.
The New Testament stresses to “Love God with all of your heart
and mind, and your neighbor like yourself.” Christianity has
great spiritual power through the example of Jesus. Good
individuals in every religious tradition have loved God, at
least their understandings of God. Love and compassion are
experienced throughout the world; however, abuse in the name of
religion is also a very real experience.
Muhammad was the founding prophet of Islam. If a Muslim, you
believe that Muhammad is the seal of the prophets. [3] As the
authoritative seal, his prophecies or revelations provide the
complete and final truths. As people questioned the authority of
prophecies that were developed and expressed throughout the
months and years of Muhammad’s life, further revelations sought
to clarify given situations.
"When we change one verse for another — God knows best what He
reveals — they say: 'You [Muhammad] are an impostor.' Indeed
most of these people do not understand. Say: 'The Holy Spirit
brought the revelation down from God in truth, in order to
strengthen the faithful, and to give guidance and good news to
those that submit.' We know they say: 'A mortal taught him.' But
the man to whom they allude speaks a foreign tongue, [4] while
this is pure, clear Arabic. God will not guide those who
disbelieve that these are His revelations. Woeful punishment
awaits the disbeliever." (Koran 16.101-104)
Muhammad's viewpoint of Jesus' divine authority clearly
contradicts what mainstream Christians believe!
"They say, 'We killed the Christ, Jesus son of Mary, apostle of
God.' They did not kill him nor did they crucify him, though it
appeared to them so. Those that disagree in the matter are lost
in doubt. They have no knowledge about it other than conjecture,
for surely God did not kill him." (Koran 4:157-158)
"They are certainly unbelievers who say, 'God is the Messiah,
the son of Mary.' For the Messiah had only said, 'O Children of
Israel, serve God, who is my Lord and your Lord.' Whosoever
associates others with God will have Paradise denied by God and
shall be cast into hell. None shall help the evil-doers. They
are certainly unbelievers who say, 'God is one person of the
three.' There is but one God. If they do not desist from saying
what they say, those of them that disbelieve shall suffer stern
punishment." (Koran 5:72-73) [5]
The Koran mentions Jesus in numerous scriptures. Muslims place
Jesus with the other Jewish prophets. Jews reject Jesus as the
Messiah! Christians say the Jews killed Jesus! Muslims state
Jews and Christians require Islam! With the ever-popular Bible
and Koran, potential conflict is written and widely circulated
throughout the world. This is a fact!
According to recent statistics, Christianity and Islam are the
largest religions in the world, making up about 33% and 19.6% of
the population. [6] Many Christians and Muslims have experienced
God's power in their lives. Both can agree that God represents
the qualities of love and compassion. For religion to survive in
the world, priorities must be established by leaders and members
within the major religions. Will this ever happen? Only God
knows. As an author, I recognize, respect and affirm the
spirituality within all world religions, yet discover
contradictions within the accepted foundations of each. Written
scripture and traditions can pass along what obviously has and
will lead to conflict. As intelligent humans, it is time to
discover the real world religions.
[1] Papias was said to have lived from 60-130 AD. None of his
writings were found. Bishop Irenaeus, born around 140 AD, quoted
Papias as saying, "And the presbyter said this. Mark having
become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately
whatsoever he remembered. It was not, however, in exact order
that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither
heard the Lord nor accompanied Him ... Matthew put together the
oracles in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as
best he could." Polycarp was said to live from 69-155 CE. Along
with Papias, the other Apostolic Fathers are: Clement of Rome,
Ignatius, Hermas, and the authors of The Epistle of Barnabas,
The Epistle to Diognetus, and the Didache. Selections from
Irenaeus and “The Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians” are
translated by the Rev. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson
from Volume I of The Ante-Nicene Fathers; American
Edition, 1885; Electronic version, newadvent.org, 1997.
[2] My current book "Love Your Neighbors? Discover the Real
World Religions" mentions much more about the writer of this
Gospel, particularly the claim that Jesus brought Lazarus back
to life after being dead for four days (John 11).
[3] The "Twelvers" are the larger group of minority Shi'ite
Muslims. They believe the twelfth leader in Muhammad's true line
of successors disappeared and will return to restore order. Some
might recognize similarities with Jesus' second coming.
[4] This verse clearly hints at the fact that Muhammad had
corresponded with some individual, who was probably espoused
with some form of Judaism or Christianity. Some scholars point
out that the “foreigner” might refer to Salman the Persian, Adas
the Monk, or Suhaib bin Sinan. The issue of Muhammad and the
writing of the Koran are detailed in "Love Your Neighbors?
Discover the Real World Religions."
[5] Muhammad knew Jews and Christians. During his lifetime
individuals and groups espoused various views of Jesus. One
group, Monophysites, flourished in Egypt and Syria. They said
Jesus Christ had only one nature that was divine. Because these
people completely associated the divine power of Jesus Christ
with God, it followed that the actual humanity and suffering of
Jesus were only apparent. Jesus was not actually crucified. The
Crucifixion was an illusion. This was an early Christian view
called Docetism, stemming from the Greek "dokeo", “I seem.”
There are indications that Monophysites, which heavily
influenced the Christian traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy, held
essential elements of this view where Christ’s suffering was
“apparent,” or in other words an illusion. It might be noted
that in 1984 the Syrian Orthodox patriarch and the Catholic pope
signed a declaration proclaiming historical differences were due
to linguistic inadequacies and that everything was semantics.
[6] References for these and other statistics: Barrett, D.B.,
G.T. Kurian, & T.M. Johnson, "World Christian Encyclopedia: a
comparative survey of churches and religions in the modern
world." Oxford University Press: NY, 2001; 2001 "Encyclopedia
Britannica Book of the Year"; "Time Almanac 2001"; and
Adherents.com
________________________________ Scot Aaron has a University
degree in Religious Studies. He also created Independent
Travel-Study Programs and spent years "backpacking" through many
countries to learn about religion, history and culture. "Love
Your Neighbors? Discover the Real World Religions" (ISBN
1-58916-777-5) is his most current book. Please visit his web
pages at PsalmPublishing.bei.t-online.de
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