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Hi, Chris —
You're right, these are very deep and broad questions. I don't have time
to get into how to evangelize Muslims in this reply. This posting may help.
What I would like to deal with, is your premise that you cannot find any
errors in Islam.
- Biblical Judaism
- Catholic Christianity
- Eastern Orthodox Christianity,
as well as
- Protestant Christianity
all share the common belief in salvation
by grace.
Islam teaches a salvation by human works.
- Hinduism
- Buddhism, and other
faiths
all center on man striving to reach God.
The Judeo-Christian faiths teach that God reached down to man. Even the
Jews, who deny the deity of Christ, recognize that God is a loving, personal
Father who redeems His people.
The Old Testament is full of stories which praise the exploits of God's
redemption. This is the message of Messianic hope that Orthodox Jews still
hold today.
This is a blasphemy to the Islamic mind. To them, God is strictly a God
of judgment, who may love his creatures but does not view them as sons.
God would never draw close to his people, rather man must strive to reach
him.
Having said that, Islam does have a moral standard and practice which
is admiral, but it is lacking grace. True, we share many of the same standards
for holy living and good works of charity.
Therein is the hidden deception.
On the surface it may look the same, but it's just the opposite.
Now as for, who revealed, what to Mohammed.
One possibility is that Mohammed thought he had a revelation, when he
actually may have eaten some funny desert cactus also found in New Mexico
and was having hallucinations.
On the other hand, if he had a visitation, the Scriptures give us some
insight as to how to judge it.
22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist
who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges
the Son has the Father also.
1 John 2:22-23 |
14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:14 |
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to
you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:8 |
Mohammed allegedly saw the angel, Gabriel, who denied the Incarnation
and taught him a gospel of works.
- How does this revelation stand against
the Holy Scriptures?
I do not mean to condemn all Muslims, for some of them, in their seeking
to obey Islam, are groping for truth.
Further, it is God who judges, not I. The Church does say that Muslims
do, in fact, worship the same God but their view of Him is extremely distorted.
They see Him as an Owner, rather than Father. The love of this God for
his creature is comparable to the affection one might have for a pet, rather
than the love a father has for a son, let alone an heir.
Remember, man is made in the image of God. There is something in man that
strives to worship Him, even though that image is badly distorted by original
sin. satan is interested in one thing only: bringing people into Hell with
him. His methods are many so it makes sense that he would present an alternative
gospel.
This gospel of works can trap a man in pride. That man may some day stand
before God and say,
I have earned entrance into your presence.
If any man is measured against the righteousness of God on his own merits,
he will surely be found wanting and will be condemned.
But Catholicism teaches something entirely different:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10 |
Yes, we must do good works, but we do them by grace. When we sin, we
are forgiven, not because we earn forgiveness, but because grace calls us
to repentance and in His Mercy,
He forgives.
Yes, we believe that we must do penance to be purified, but that is not
to gain forgiveness or to
bring us back into fellowship with God, but to remove the ill effects of the sin. Even penance is done in faith
with the aid of grace for "In Him we live and
move and have our being",
(Acts 17:28), "it is no longer us that live, but Christ living
in us." (Galatians 2:20)
- Catholics
- our separated Christian brothers, and
- to some extent, our older Jewish
brothers
have a personal relationship with a personal God. This God is
also transcendent as the Muslims insist, but He has condescended to man.
The Psalms record the following:
1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thought
afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all
my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know
it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain
it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold,
You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold
me.
Psalm 139:1-10 |
This is not the character of an impersonal task master.
St. Paul wrote:
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal
with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,
and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which
is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven,
and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:6-11 |
This kind of a God is foreign to Islam.
When looking at any religion, one must look not only at the moral theology but at their understanding of God. If you carefully analyze Islam you will
see a great error in their understanding.
Hope this helps,
In Him,
John DiMascio
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