Ang nasa ibaba ay lista ng napakaraming mga proyekto na naging bunga ng BOT/PPP. Tingnan nyo kung gaano ka laki at lawak ang kaunlarang natamo ng Pilipinas dahil sa BOT na isinabatas ni Cory Aquino noon. And take note, si Cory ay hindi nagnakaw at nag-iwan ng malaking utang para pasanin ng mga Pilipino. Sa panahon ni Noynoy Aquino pinahusay pa niya ang BOT/PPP, at doon na nagsulpotan ang bigatin at magagarang mga proyekto. At katulad din ng kanyang ina hindi rin siya nagnakaw at nag-iwan ng malaking utang para pasanin ng mga Pilipino. Sa halip nabasawan pa ang utang ng bansa ng 2.2 Trillion pesos sa kanyang pamuno. Ang kanyang administrasyon ay nagkautang ng 1.4 Trillion pesos pero nakapagbayad naman ng 3.6 Trillion pesos. Ito ang mga pangulong may totoong pagmamahal at malasakit sa bayang Pilipinas. Hindi tulad ng iba dyan na panay sabing mahal nila ang mga Pilipino pero pinagnakawan nila ang kabangbayan, pinagpapatay ang kapwa Pilipino without due process, tinaasan ang mga presyo ng bilihin, at tumatanggap pa ng pera galing China kapalit ang hindi pagiit ng goberno sa panalo natin sa West Philippine Sea.
Ang akdang ito ay sagot sa isa sa mga paratang ng kampo ni Marcos laban kay Cory, na wala raw nagawa si Cory Aquino noong siyay umupo bilang pangulo, at binangkaruta pa niya umano ang golden age na ipinundar ni Marcos Sr. noon.
Ang totoo niyan binaligtad nila ang sitwasyon, si Marcos ang may pinakawalang nagawa na naging pangulo sa Pilipinas by ratio of years sa panungkolan. Lingid sa kaalaman ng karamihan nabangkaruta na ang gobernong Marcos noong 1983, at lubog pa ito sa utang sa halagang 24 bilyones dolyares. Ito ay dahil sa labis na pagnanakaw at pagwawaldas ng pamilya Marcos ng kabang-bayan. Tumaas ang bilang ng mga rebelde likha ng pang-abuso ng military. At dahil sa kagulohan, nagsialisan ang mga mamumuhunan sa bansa. Kung ikaw ba ang sumunod na presidente sa ganyang kalagayan ng bansa, anong magagawa mo? Bukod sa mahirapan kang manghikayat ng mga mamumuhunan, kailangan mo pang bayaran ang napakalaking utang. Ang gobernong Cory ay nagbabayad ng mga inutang ni Marcos na mahigit 40% sa income ng bansa. At dahil salat sa budget, tayong mga Pilipino ay hindi makaasang si Cory ay makapagpundar ng mga bigating imprastraktura sa kanyang termino.
*BUILD-OPERATE-TRANSFER*
Pero sa kabila ng lahat, nakagawa pa rin si Cory ng kapuripuring mga bagay. Sanglit di kaya ng goberno niya ang magtustos ng malaking proyekto, siya ay nakahanap ng paraan para magkaroon ang bansa ng mga bigating imprastraktura kahit walang budget. Si Cory ay nag-akda ng batas na nagbigay karapatan sa mga pribadong sektor na makagawa ng mga proyekto para sa goberno. Ang batas na ito ay kilala sa tawag na BUILD-OPERATE-TRANSFER (BOT). Sa ilalim ng BOT, ang pribadong kompanya ang siyang mag-BUILD ng proyekto para sa goberno. Pagkatapos ng construction ay i-OPERATE nila ito commercially para makabawi sa kanilang ginastos sa loob ng 20 na taon o mahigit pa, depende sa napagkasunduan sa kontrata. At pagkatapos ng operation, i-TRANSFER nila ang pagmay-ari ng naturang proyekto doon sa Goberno. Sa terminong Gloria, ang BOT ay tinawag niyang PUBLIC-PRIVATE-PARTNERSHIP (PPP). Sa gobernong Noynoy, pinahusay pa niya ang BOT/PPP, dahilan na nagbunga ito ng napakarami at bigating mga proyekto.
Nang dahil sa BOT law, ang Pilipinas ay nagkaroon ng mga bigatin at world class na imprastraktura. Ang bagong hitsura ng Mactan Cebu International Airport ay nagbigay ng malaking karangalan sa bansa, ito ay inayos sa ilalim ng BOT law. Ang paliparang ito ay umani ng mga parangal dahil sa pagiging kabighabighani at kakaibang desinyo. Isa sa mga parangal na napanalunan ng nasabing paliparan ay iginawad ng World Architecture Festival noong 2019. Ang awarding body na ito ay ang pinakatanyag sa buong mundo sa larangan ng Architectural design. Ang parating na New Manila International Airport at Sangley International Airport ay mga proyekto ring napaloob sa BOT law. Ang mga paliparang ito ay malaki at pang-buong-mundo ang dating, na inaasahang magbigay na naman ng matinding pride at income sa Pilipinas. Ang mahaba at magandang tulay na nagkonekta sa Cordova at mainland Cebu na tinawag na Cordova Cebu Link Expressway (CCLEX) ay nagawa din sa pamamagitan ng BOT o PPP. Ang mga magagandang daan at skyway sa Manila ay naging posible dahil sa BOT o PPP system, at marami pang mga proyektong nakompleto, ginagawa sa kasalukuyan, at nakatakdang gawin sa ilalim ng BOT/PPP ng mga Aquino.
*BASES CONVERSION AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY*
Maliban sa BOT law, si Cory ay nakagawa rin ng isa pang kapuripuring bagay na nagbigay ng malaking income at matinding pride sa bansa. Noong umalis ang militar ng Amerika sa Pilipinas, si Cory ay nagbuo ng grupong maging tagapangasiwa ng mga nabakanteng lote. Ito’y tinatawag na Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). Ang layunin ng grupong ito ay gagawing mga business district ang dating mga base militar ng Amerika. At ang unang produkto ng BCDA ay ang “Bonifacio Global City”. Ang loteng tinayuan ng BGC ay dating kampo ng mga Amerkano na tinawag na Fort William Mackinley, tapos ibinalik ang pagmay-ari nito sa Pilipinas na tinatawag namang Fort Bonifacio. Ang business district na ito ay magarang at moderno. Karamihan sa mga dayuhang nakapasyal dito ay di nakatiis maliban sa paghanga. Hindi nila lubos akalain na ang Pilipinas na isang third-world country lamang ay mayroon pa lang napakaganda at napakamodernong lugar. At nagkaroon ang Pilipinas nito sa pamamagitan ng initiative ni Cory Aquino.
Bonifacio Global City was created by Cory Aquino’s BCDA
Pagkatapos ng tagumpay sa paggawa ng naunang business district (BGC), ang grupong BCDA, pinangunahan ni dating pangulong Noynoy, ay sinimulan ang pangalawang business district na pinangalanang ”New Clark City”. Ito’y sakop ng probinsya ng Pampanga, dati itong base militar ng Amerika na pinangalanang Clark Air Base. Ang business district na ito ay napakalawak, napakamagarang, at napakamoderno. Ito ay mas kaakit-akit at malaki kaysa BGC. Sa lawak nito, pwedeng tumira ang 2 milyon ka tao sa lugar na ito. Plano ng bansa na ilipat ang seat of government sa nasabing business district.
The groundbreaking of the New Clark City led by Noynoy Aquino
The New Clark City was envisioned by Cory Aquino and made possible by Noynoy Aquino
Sa mga ebidensyang nakalatag sa ibabaw, malinaw na napakalaki ang naitulong ni dating pangulong Cory Aquino sa ekonomiya ng bansa. Nagawa niya ito kahit pa man nabangkaruta at nalubog pa sa utang ang gobernong nasundan niya. Bukod pa sa utang, inaabala pa ang gobernong Cory ng sunodsunod na mga kudeta orchestrated by Juan Ponce Enrile na tauhan ni Marcos. Ang iniwanan ni Marcos na Pilipinas kay Cory noon ay banwa o agricultural. Ito’y salat sa mga imprastraktura (kagaya ng hotel, paliparan, pagawaan, at iba pa) na nakapag-generate sana ng income. Kaya walang golden age na nangyari sa panahong Marcos dahil saan kukuha ang kanyang goberno ng income? Dagdag pa, ang gobernong Cory ay nakatoon din sa pagsaayos ng saligang-batas. Ibinalik niya ang sistema ng goberno sa demokrasya na ginawang diktadorya ni Marcos.
Kung alisin natin ang mga proyekto na nagawa sa ilalim ng BOT/PPP at BCDA, ano kaya ang hitsura ng Pilipinas ngayon? Kawawang Pilipinas ang makikita natin, sobrang salat sa imprastraktura. Imagine kung wala ang new MCIA, CCLEX, mga skyway, BGC, New Ckark City, SLEX/NLEX, atbp. sa Pilipinas? Ano pang maipagmalaki natin sa international community? Dito natin matanto kung gaano ka laki ang naiambag ni Cory sa ekonomiya ng bansa. Bukod sa BOT law at BCDA, may magandang nagawa rin si Cory para sa Agrarian, employment, at iba pa.
And how about sa pamilyang Marcos, ano bang nagawa nila noon na nakatulong sa ekonomiya nang malaki? Ang sagot ay wala, sa halip kagutom at kahihiyan ang idinulot nila sa mga Pilipino. Imagine, 21 na taon si Marcos Sr. na nakaupo sa Malakanyang noon, pero halos stagnant ang development. Sa panahon ni Marcos naungosan ang Pilipinas ng mga karatig bansa natin partikular na ang Singapore at South Korea. Yung Nuclear Plant sana ang nagawa ni Marcos na matawag nating iconic at makatulong ng malaki sa ekonomiya. Ang kaso itinayo ito sa ibabaw ng faultline at malapit sa mga bolkan. Bakit ba nangyari ito? Kasi hindi kinonsulta ni Marcos ang mga engineer ng bansa. Kasi di naman ang kabutihan ng mga Pilipino ang pangunahing layunin niya sa paggawa ng mga proyekto, kundi para magkaroon ng oportunidad na makapagnakaw. Ang 500 million dollars na hiningi ng kontraktor ng Nuclear Plant ay ginawang 2.2 billion dollars ni Marcos. Ibig sabihin, pinatongan niya ng 700 million dollars ang presyo. 36 years na ang binuno ng mga Pilipino sa pagbabayad ng inutang ni Marcos, at sa taong 2025 pa ito matapos.
Hitsura ng EDSA after 21 na taong panungkulan ni Marcos Sr.. Kiniklim nina Imee at Bongbong na golden age of infrastructure umano yung termino ng kanilang ama.
Hitsura ng EDSA pagkatapos ng 6 na taong panungkulan ni Noynoy Aquino. Hindi niya kiniklim na may golden age of infrastructue na nangyari sa kanyang termino.
Ang artikulong ito ay sagot sa paninira ng kampo ni Marcos na binangkaruta umano ni Cory ang Pilipinas. Yung yaman umano na ipinundar ni Marcos Sr. ay binangkaruta ni Cory. Hindi pa sapat na pinatay si Benigno Aquino, ang kanilang kasalanan laban sa mga Pilipino ay ipinahid pa sa pamilya Aquino.
Naniwala ba kayo na malimas ni Cory sa anim na taon lang ang yamang naimbak ni Marcos sa loob ng 21 na taon? Imposibleng mangyari yan, ang totoong nangyari, walang nalimas si Cory pag-upo niya dahil linimas na ng pamilya Marcos ang kabangbayan. Si marcos ay nangungutang ng malaki para nakawin kasama ng kanyang mga alipores. Si Imelda ay nagnakaw din, in fact mas malaki pa ang ninakaw niya sa goberno kaysa kanyang asawa. Si Imelda ay gumasta pa ng napakalaki para sa kanyang hilig sa paggala sa ibat-ibang bansa at pagsha-shopping. Mayroon pang pagkakataon na nagsha-shopping si Imelda worth 3 million U.S. dollars sa parehong araw gamit ang pera ng Central Bank. Nang dahil sa pagkawaldasera ni Imelda naisilang ang salitang Englis na ”imeldific”.
Para sa kaalaaman ng lahat, nabangkaruta ang gobernong Marcos noong 1983 at lubog pa ito sa utang sa halagang 24 bilyon dolyares. Itong nasabing utang ay 72% ng GDP ng Pilipinas noong 1983 kaya hindi nakapagtatakang nadapa ang kanyang goberno. Noong 1985, ang utang ng Pilipinas ay umabot ng 26 Billion dolyares, ito ay 82% sa GDP ng Bansa. Halos puro nalang kasi utang at tanggap ng mga donasyon ang ginawa niya. Kaya nga sumikat ang ukay-ukay sa administrasyong Marcos dahil yan sa matinding kahirapan ng mga tao. Ang ukay-ukay ay nagsimula sa mga segunda manong mga damit na bigay ng mga bansa sa Hilagang Amerika at Yuropa para sa Pilipinas. Hindi naglaon ginawa itong negosyo ng mga Pilipino. Biruin mo ultimo damit ay hirap makabili ang karamihan sa mga Pilipino noong rehiming Marcos. Kailangan pa nilang mag-iipon sa alkansya nang taonan para makabili ng mga damit sa itinakdang panahon, kadalasan pagsapit ng pista. Karamihan sa mga tao sa panahong Marcos ay butasbutas ang kanilang mga damit. Pati panty ay butasbutas din tapos isinuot pa rin ito ng mga kababaehan noon dahil wala silang ibang maisuut. Karamihan din sa kabataan noon ay walang saplot lalo na sa pang-ibaba, kung mayron mang saluwal ay may butas ito sa puwetang bahagi. Sa panahon ni Marcos, halos lahat ng kalsada ay may lubaklubak. Minsan sumakit pa ang puwet mo kapag mahulog ang gulong ng sinakyan mo sa hukab ng kalsada. Sa pagdaan ni Noynoy halos lahat ng mga kalsada ay napasemento niya, at kalidad na daan pa, with 1-foot thick road and reinforced with 1-inch concrete bars. Yung ipinagmalaki ng buildbuild na marami na umano ang natapos nilang kalsada ay 90% bayad na yon sa terminong Noynoy.
Walang magaling na estratehiya si Marcos kung paano ang goberno niya makapag-generate ng malaking income nang saganon umasenso ito. Para makautang ng malaki at maraming magpautang sa kanya, si Marcos ay gumawa pa ng batas (Presidential Decree 1177) na nag-uutos na unahin ng goberno ang pagbabayad ng utang sa labas kaysa pangangailangan ng mga Pilipino. Ang batas na ito ay tinatawag ding Automatic Appropriations law dahil automatic na kaltasin sa income ng Pilipinas ang halagang ipambayad sa utang. Ang Pilipinas lang ang tanging bansa na may ganitong klaseng batas. Sa tindi ng pagkabangkaruta, si Marcos ay humingi pa ng 90-day moratorium sa mga creditor sa U.S. ng ilang beses. Ang moratorium ay isang palugit (delay of payment) na ibinigay ng mga creditor doon sa mga debtor nila katulad ng Pilipinas. Kaya nakakahiya yung nangyari sa Pilipinas sa pamunu ni Marcos na nagmakaawa pa sa mga creditor para ipagpaliban nila ang pagsingil ng utang.
Sa termino ni Marcos ang Pilipinas ay naging mahirap pa sa daga, na binansagan ito ng mundo bilang “sick man of Asia”. Maraming kabataan ang naging malnourished partikular na sa Negros. Ang mga taga ibang bansa ay nagbibigay ng mga donasyon sa Pilipinas dahil sa matinding kahirapan. Yung Nutribun (libreng tinapay para malabanan ang malnutrition) na ipinagmalaki rin ng mga Marcos bilang kanilang akda umano ay donasyon pala ng U.S. Aid. Dagdag pa, si Marcos ay naitala sa Guiness book of Record bilang pinakakawatan na opisyal ng goberno sa buong mundo. Kaya matinding dungis ang ipinahid ng pamilya Marcos sa mukha ng Pilipinas sa harap ng international community. At ang reyalidad na ito ay dumagdag pa sa takot ng mga investor para mamuhunan sa bansa. Sino ba ang mamumuhan sa isang bansang diniktahan ng pinakakawatan sa buong mundo? Ang masaklap, kiniklim pa nina Imee at Bongbong na golden age yong kapanahonan ng tatay nila. Kung golden age pa yon, bakit nagkautang ng 26 bilyon dolyares ang Pilipinas sa pamunu ng pamilya nila? Bakit maraming mga tao ang walang trabaho at malnourished? Bakit binibigyan ng mga donasyon ang goberno ng tatay nila? Sa katunayan, si Marcos ay regular na tumatanggap ng donasyon galing U.S. para maibsan sana ang kahirapan ng mga Pilipino. Pero ibinolsa ng pamilya ang perang ibinigay at ipinagbili pa ito ng mga magagarang ari-arian sa Amerika. Noong 1986, lumala pa ang sakit ng bansa hanggang sa napilitan si Marcos na mag-decree na ibenta ang ibang ari-arian ng goberno para pambayad ng mga inutang niya. Ang akma sanang sabihin nina Imee at Bongbong ay golden age yon para sa pamilya nila. Ang mag-asawang Ferdinand Sr. at Imelda ay hindi milyonaryo sa pag-upo nila sa Malakanyang _600,000 pesos lamang ang asset nila. At kahit pa pagsamahin ang mga sweldo nina Ferdinand Sr at Imelda sa loob ng 20 na taon, umabot lamang ng 16,408,442 pesos. Kaya nga natalo sila sa korte ng Switzerland at korte ng Pilipinas dahil hindi nila maipaliwanag kung saan nanggaling yong 356 million dolyares.
Si Marcos ay nangungutang ng malaki para sa layunin niyang golden age of infrastructure umano. Pero halos wala kang makitang infrastructure na naipatayo niya na matatawag nating big-ticket projects. Kung susumahin natin, mga sampo lang ang naipatayo ni Marcos sa loob ng kanyang 21 na taong panungkulan. So, kalahating infrastructure lamang ang naipatayo niya bawat taon in average. Bakit ba nangyari ito? Dahil hindi naman ang kapakanan ng mga Pilipino ang prayoridad ng gobernong Marcos. Lumikha lang sila ng mga proyekto para magkaroon ng pagkakataong makapagnakaw. Ang estilo ni Marcos Sr. ay ginaya rin ni Duterte, tinatakot ang mga tao sa pamamagitan ng extrajudicial killings, hinahayaan niyang magnakaw ang mga sakop ng kanyang kabinete, at nangungutang ng malaki para umano sa golden age of infrastructure pero kunti lang ang naipatayo. Kaya nga inangkin nalang ng kanyang buildbuild ang mga proyekto ni Noynoy na napaloob sa PPP para magmukha siyang mahusay sa mata ng publiko. Bakit ba mas pinili ni Duterte na mangutang para itustos sa kanyang buildbuild program sa halip na gumamit siya ng PPP na wala sanang gastosin ang goberno? Ito ay dahil kapag PPP system ang gagamitin, ang pribadong sektor ang may hawak ng budget dahil sila ang mag-build ng project. Therefore walang kontrol ang goberno sa financing, at dahil hindi sila ang may hawak ng budget, hindi sila makapagnakaw.
Ang mga kritiko ni Marcos noon ay pinadampot, pina-torture, pinakulong, at yung iba ay pinaslang pa, kaya dumarami ang nagrebelde. Sa termino ni Marcos nabuo ang dalawang malaking rebel group sa bansa. Noong 1969 nabuo ang CPP-NPA at noong ng 1972 nabuo ang MNLF. Sa umpisa ng panungkolan ni Marcos 60 lang ang bilang ng mga rebelde, pero sa pag-alis niya ay umabot ng mahigit kumulang 5,000 ang bilang ng mga rebelde. Sabi ng mga makaMarcos disiplina daw yung martial law, pero anong nangyari? Umabot ng libolibo ang bilang ng mga rebelde sa halip. Dahil di naman disiplina ang kanilang ginagawa kundi abuso ng karapatang pantao kaya marami ang nag-aklas. Subukan mong abusohin ang anak mo di ba lalaban yan sa iyo. Kagaya rin ni Marcos libolibo rin ang pinatay sa administrasyon ni Duterte. Ang kagulohan sa Pilipinas ay ang pangunahing dahilan kung bakit nagsialisan ang mga negosyante. Walang gustong magnegosyo sa gobernong magulo, walang respito sa batas, at walang paggalang sa karapatang pantao. Wala ring turista ang gustong mamasyal sa bansang barbaro dahil walang seguridad.
Sa ibaba ay mga link ng mga ebidensya na nagpatunay na nabangkaruta ang gobernong Marcos noong 1983, dahilan na humingi siya ng mga moratorium sa 450 creditors sa pamamagitan ng kanyang prime minister noon na si Cesar Virata.
2.) Noong Septembre 22, 1987, Inilathala ng University of Chicago Press ang pang-ekonomiyang krisis sa Pilipinas dulot ng labis na pangungutang at korapsyon na nangyari sa terminong Marcos https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c7525/c7525.pdf
8.) Inilathala ng Inquirer.net ang pagkabangkaruta ng Pilipinas sa terminong Marcos at paghingi niya ng 90-day moratorium sa mga creditor, at massive corruption na ginawa niya. https://opinion.inquirer.net/99481/the-marcos-debt
A drawing depicting Muhammad’s beheading of more or less 800 Jews
When nonMuslims condemn the beheadings, the bombings, and other forms of killing done by Islamic groups and pointed Allah as the causer of these heinous crimes, the Muslims will quote to them Quran 5:32 as evidence that Islam is a peaceful religion. Are the Muslims lying or just ignorant of the meaning of this verse?
Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.
Quran 5:32
ANSWER:
First, this Quran 5:32 is part of the narration (verses 27 to 32) quoted from the story of Abel and Cain in the Bible where Cain killed his brother Abel, so it must be understood by its context rather than by a single verse. The author of Quran took this story and edited it by adding a commentary from Jewish Talmud (“if you killed one man as if you killed mankind”), and a crow which was sent by Allah suposedly to scratch the earth in order to demonstrate to Cain how he should hide the corpse of his brother in the ground.
Second, Quran 5:32 was decreed only for the children of Israel in consequence of the killing of Abel, thus the Muslims or Arabs are not covered by this decree. To prove that Muslims are not covered by this decree, Muhammad beheaded 800 Jews [Sunan Abu Dawood, 38:4390 & Tabari, Volume 8, Victory of Islam, p. 35-36]. So this means that Muhammad had killed 800 mankinds? For Muhammad to kill hundreds of Jews indicates that he did not value a single life.
Third, the succeeding verse 33 tells us the command of Allah for his prophet against the nonMuslims. That they should be killed, crucified, their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides, or they be exiled from the land.
To understand the context, let us read verses 27-33 of Quran chapter 5;
[Quran 5] Sahih International
27 And recite to them the story of Adam’s two sons, in truth, when they both offered a sacrifice [to Allah ], and it was accepted from one of them but was not accepted from the other. Said [the latter], “I will surely kill you.” Said [the former], “Indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous [who fear Him].
28 If you should raise your hand against me to kill me – I shall not raise my hand against you to kill you. Indeed, I fear Allah , Lord of the worlds.
29 Indeed I want you to obtain [thereby] my sin and your sin so you will be among the companions of the Fire. And that is the recompense of wrongdoers.
30 And his soul permitted to him the murder of his brother, so he killed him and became among the losers.
31 Then Allah sent a crow searching in the ground to show him how to hide the disgrace of his brother. He said, “O woe to me! Have I failed to be like this crow and hide the body of my brother?” And he became of the regretful.
32 Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.
33 Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment
What is the proper position in prayer? Muslims keep insisting that the exact position in prayer is the way they do, which raising their buttocks in the air. This is how they define the word “prostration”. But the Merriam Websters dictionary defines the word “prostrate” as stretched out with face on the ground in adoration or submission as shown on the photo above. The Bible accounts that both kneeling and prostrate positions were done by the people who worshiped God in the former times, and God had no problem with those positions. But most of them prayed in kneeling position like what Christians are doing. Below are biblical passages about the early believers of God who prayed in kneeling or prostrate positions.
Quoted from the Old Testament:
1. [Genesis 24:26] And the man knelt down and worshiped Yahweh.
2. [Genesis 24:48] And I knelt down and worshiped Yahweh, and I praised Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right way, to take the daughter of the brother of my master for his son.
3. [Genesis 41:43]And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
4. [Exodus 4:31] And the people believed when they heard that Yahweh had attended to the {Israelites} and that he had seen their misery, and they knelt down and they worshiped.
5. [Exodus 12:27] you will say, ‘It [is] a Passover sacrifice for Yahweh, who passed over the houses of the {Israelites} in Egypt when he struck Egypt; and he delivered our houses.'” And the people knelt down and they worshiped.
6. [Exodus 34:8] And Moses hurried and knelt down to the earth and worshiped.
7. [Deuteronomy 9:25] “Thus I prostrated myself before the LORD; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
8. [Psalm 95:6] O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
9. [1 Chronicles 29:20] Then David said to the whole assembly, “Blessed be the LORD your God.” So the whole assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers. They bowed down and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.
10. [2 Chronicles 6:13] Now Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven
11. [Ezra 10:1] While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well.
12. [1 Kings 8:54] Now when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.
13. [Isaiah 45:23] By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will confess allegiance.
14. [Isaiah 49:23] Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
15. [Daniel 6:10] But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
16. [Ezra 9:5] At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the LORD my God,
Quoted from the New Testament:
1. [Matthew 8:2] Suddenly a leper came and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
2. [Matthew 9:18] While Jesus was saying these things, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live.”
3. [Matthew 17:14] When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him.
4. [Matthew 21:25] The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
5. [Matthew 26:39] Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.
6.[Mark 1:40] And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
7. [Mark 5:6] When the man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before Him.
8. [Mark 5:22] A synagogue leader named Jairus arrived, and seeing Jesus, he fell at His feet
9. [Mark 10:17] And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
10. [Mark 14:35] Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him.
11. [Luke 5:8] When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.
12. [Luke 8:41] Just then, a synagogue leader named Jairus came and fell at Jesus’ feet. He begged Him to come to his house,
13. [Luke 17:16] And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan
14. [Luke 22:41] And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,
15. [John 11:32] When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
16. [Acts 7:60] Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
17. [Acts 9:40] Then Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed, and turning toward her body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.
18. [Acts 20:36] When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.
19. [Acts 21:5] But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us.
20. [1 Corinthians 14:25] and the secrets of his heart will be made clear. So he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is truly among you!”
21. [Romans 14:11] It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.”
22. [Philippians 2:10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
23. [Ephesians 3:14-15]For this reason I kneel before the Father,from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
Non-Catholics keep accusing and even ridiculing the Catholics for carrying holy statues and marching in a festival procession to the house of God while singing and dancing. They also criticize the Catholic Church for celebrating fiestas for the Saints, allowing its members to eat and drink during this occasion. But are these practices going against the teaching of God? Let us check the Bible;
1. The Israelites went in procession, carrying holy statues (Ark of the Covenant) to the house of God
[Psalm 118:27] The LORD is God, and he has given us light. March in a festival procession with branches to the horns of the altar.
[Psalm 42:4] I will remember these things as I pour out my soul: how I used to walk with the crowd and lead it in a procession to God’s house. [I sang] songs of joy and thanksgiving while crowds of people celebrated a festival.
[Psalm 55:14] We shared sweet fellowship together; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.
2. David danced before the Ark of the Covenant (having two angel statues on it) with all his might
[2 Samuel 6:12-15] . . . So David went and had the ark of God brought up from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing. When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD, while he and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sounding of the ram’s horn.
COMMENT: What David and all the house of Israel were doing is comparable to Sinulog, where people are carrying holy statues with dancing, shouting, and blowing wind instruments.
3. God’s people in the old held feasts, and they ate and drank
[Genesis 21:8] “Isaac grew, and on the day of the child’s weaning, Abraham held a great feast.”
[Genesis 26:30] So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
[Esther 9:19] So to this day, rural Jews living in remote villages celebrate an annual festival and holiday on the appointed day in late winter, when they rejoice and send gifts of food to each other.
[2 Kings 6:23] So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.
[2 Chronicles 30:13] A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month.
[2 Chronicles 30:21] So the people of Israel who were present in Jerusalem joyously celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. Each day the Levites and priests sang to the LORD, accompanied by loud instruments.
[John 5:1] “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.”
[Colossians 2:16-17] “Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink, or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.”
4. God commands his people to celebrate feasts, and to enjoy eating and drinking
[Exodus 12:14] “This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”
[Exodus 23:14] “You will have three special festivals each year. You must come to my special place to worship me during these festivals.
[Numbers 6:20] The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine
[Deuteronomy 16:14] “You must rejoice at your feast, you, your son and your daughter, your serving men and women, the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living in your community.”
[Nehemiah 8:10] And he said to them: Go, eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves: because it is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad: for the joy of the Lord is our strength.
[Esther 9:22] “he told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts to each other and to the poor. this would commemorate a time when the jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy.”
[Ecclesiastes 2:24] Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
[Ecclesiastes 8:15] So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
[Ecclesiastes 9:7] Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God now accepted thy works.
[Amos 9:14] and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
[Nahum 1:15] Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, Judah, and fulfill your vows. No more will the wicked invade you; they will be completely destroyed.
[John 2:7-10] Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. “Now draw some out,” He said, “and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not know where it was from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!”
[Isaiah 25:6] In Jerusalem, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat.
[Jeremiah 31:12] They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD–the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish
[Matthew 8:11] And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.
[Mark 14:25] Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.
[Luke 13:29] They will come from east and west, from north and south, to share the banquet in the kingdom of God.
[Luke 14:15] When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
[Luke 22:28-30] “You have stayed with me in my time of trial. And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
[Hebrews 12:22] Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering,
CONCLUSION
Celebrating fiesta for the saints, eating and drinking wine, and procession of holy things are biblical. What is forbidden is that when you eat and drink wine too much.
[Deuteronomy 21:20] The parents must say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’
[Proverbs 23:20] Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
[1 Corinthians 5:11] But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
[1 Corinthians 6:10] nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Questioned verse: [Matthew 10:34] “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword!
Many misinterpreted this statement of Jesus especially the devoted Muslims. They take this verse as literal in meaning like what Allah and Muhammad commanded them to do, which is to use their swords to kill the non-Muslims.
Explanation:
Jesus was referring to the division of a family caused by His teaching. And His statement proves true, many family members turned divided because of Him. One example of this division is Jesus’ disciples who left their families to live with Him. Members of a family differ in Faith that’s why they become divided. How many members of families that left their homes so as to follow Jesus? and how many of them were killed? This division is very painful among the family members that’s why Jesus called His teaching as a ‘sword’ _for it cuts the hearts of men. Others opted not to follow Jesus and refuse His salvation because they cannot afford to lose their families or to lose their lives as a consequence of leaving their Faiths. In Islamic society, to kill a family member who left Islam is a commandment. That’s why Jesus said, “anyone who loves his father and mother or (son and daughter) more than me is not worthy of me”. The one who sticks to his family because he is afraid to die will lose his eternal life instead. While the one who is not afraid to die in following Jesus will find eternal life instead. Jesus only emphasized to us the cost of choosing Him, that we should carry the cross (painful consequence) in following His teaching if we want eternal lives.
Let us continue reading Matthew 10, from verse 35 to 39;
35For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;
36and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’
37He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
39He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
Let us also read the parallel verses from [Luke 12:51-53], they say;
51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.
52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Jesus is the prince of peace [Isaiah 9:6]. He is referring not the literal sword to kill people, but He meant the sword of Spirit which is the “word of God”. Kindly read;
[Ephesians 6:17] Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
[Hebrews 4:12] For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Ang mga loyalista at panatiko ng pamilya Marcos ay laging nag-akusa sa pamilya Aquino bilang may-akda ng Hacienda Luisita massacre. Kahit walang ebidensya lage nilang iniugnay ang mga Aquino para mabahiran ang pamilya ng massacre issue. Marami kasing massacre na nangyari sa diktadoryang Marcos noon kagaya ng; Palimbang, Lapiang Malaya, Manili, Bingcul Village, Escalante, at Jabidah massacre. At dahil kalaban nila sa politika ang pamilya Aquino, pinipilit ng mga pulahan na magkaroon din ng massacre issue ang pamilya Aquino para mahila ang pangalan sa ibaba.
Watch: Palimbang Massacre, happened on September 24, 1974
Ang sagot sa tanong sa itaas ay una, walang ebidensyang nag-uugnay sa pamilya Aquino sa nasabing Hacienda Luisita massacre. Pangalawa, hindi lang ang pamilya Aquino ang may-ari ng Hacienda Luisita, ito ay pagmay-ari ng magkapatid na Cojuangco. Kung may foul play mang nangyari ay pwede ring ang ibang shareholder ng Hacienda ang may gawa. Pangatlo, mga polis at sundalo ang nakapatay at nakapinsala ng mga raliyista. Malamang nagkainitan masyado sa pagitan ng otoridad at mga raliyista sa panahong iyon kaya may mga namatay sa kasagsagan ng pagpapaalis ng mga raliyista.
Sa pag-upo ni Cory bilang pangulo, 70% ng kanyang pagmay-ari ay ipinamahagi niya sa kanyang mga anak at sa isang grupo ng kawanggawa na nagngangalang “Daughters of Charity”. Ang opisina ng institusyong ito ay nakatayo din sa lupa ni Cory. Ang natirang 30% ng kanyang share ay ipinamigay niya doon sa mga magsasaka sa ilalim ng kanyang Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). At dahil naipamigay na ni cory ang ibang bahagi ng kanyang lupa, maliit nalang ang natirang share ng kanyang mga anak sa nasabing Hacienda. Kaya walang mabigat na rason para pumatay ang pamilya Aquino ng mga magsasaka noong 2004 para protektahan ang kanilang propyedad. Isa pa, bukas-loob ni Cory na isama ang Hacienda Luisita sa CARP na siya rin ang may-akda. Yung agrarian reform ni Marcos ay limitado lamang sa palay at mais na pananim. Pero sa ilalim ng CARP ni Cory, napaloob nito ang lahat ng klaseng agrikultura kasama na ang tubo na siyang pangunahing pananim sa Hacienda Luisita. Makikita natin dito na sa umpisa pa lang, kalooban na ni Cory na ipamahagi ang lupain ng Hacienda Luisita na walang pag-atubili kahit magalit pa sa kanya ang kanyang mga kapatid na mga co-owner ng naturang asyenda. Isipin nyo, sinaktan ni Cory ang kanyang mga kapatid pabor sa mga magsasaka, at ang laki ng halagang mawala sa kanila. Malaking sakripisyo itong ginagawa ni Cory, wala pang nakagawa nito sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas na may pamilyang handang ipamigay ang kanilang malaking pagmay-ari pati na ang mga malaking pagmay-ari ng kanyang mga kapatid. At pangulo pa ang gumawa nito, na pwede naman niyang kontrolin ang batas maprotektahan lamang ang kanyang kayamanan. Ang ibang pangulo nga dyan ay nagnakaw pa ng bilyones sa goberno at nang-agaw pa ng mga ari-arian ng iba para makapagkamal ng gabundok na yaman.
Noong naging pangulo si Noynoy Aquino, ipinamigay din niya sa mga magsasaka ang natira nilang lupa sa nasabing asyenda. Ang ginawa niyang ito ay pruweba ng kanyang kabutihang loob na matatawag ring isang kabayanihan. Bukod kay Cory at Noynoy, sino pa bang pangulo sa bansang ito o maging sa buong mundo na bukas-loob niyang ipinamigay ang sariling lupain sa mga mahihirap? Nagawa ba ito ng pamilya Marcos na malaking Bilyonaryo? Eh kahit nga pagbayad ng kanilang buwis ay mabigat na sa kanilang kalooban. Kitangkita na walang dahilan para pumapatay ang pamilya Aquino ng mga magsasaka alang-alang sa kanilang lupa dahil sa umpisa pa lang ay itinakda na nilang ipamigay ito sa mga magsasaka. Sa ginawa ng mga Aquino ay mabanaag natin na hindi sila sakim sa kayamanan at maging sa kapangyarihan. Sa pamilya Aquino, si Ninoy at Noynoy lang ang klarong sumali sa politaka. Si Cory ay walang hilig yon sa politika, pinagbigyan lang niya ang sigaw ng sambayanan na tumakbo. Sa katunayan, hindi na siya tumakbo pagkatapos ng kanyang termino. Hindi katulad ng angkang Marcos na halos inubos na nila ang lahat ng klaseng elective positions sa goberno. Magmula kay Mariano Marcos na ama ni Ferdinand Sr. hanggang sa kaapohan niya sa tuhod ay pumasok sa politika. Ginagawang gatasan (cashcow) at hanapbuhay ang goberno nitong mga politikong nag-exercise ng political dynasty. Lagpas 60 years nang hinawakan ng pamilya Marcos ang Ilocos Norte pero hanggang ngayon ay mahirap pa rin ang sariling probinsya, with only 4.6 Billion pesos asset as of 2018. Ang Laoag ay mahirap din, only a third income class City. At halos lahat ng mga munisipalidad ng Ilocos Norte ay nasa fifth, fourth, o third class category. Patunay lang ito na pulpul sila sa pamamahala. At madamut din dahil sa laki ng kanilang yaman, di man lang ginastohan ang sariling probinsya para umangat ang ekonomiya nito. Si Imelda ay may 987 billion dollars, at si Irene Marcos naman ay may 13.2 billion dollars na nakadeposito sa mga bangko ng British Virgin Island. Si Irene ay mas mayaman pa kaysa angkang Sy na may 12.6 billion dollars na yaman as of 2022.
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses”
[1 Timothy 6:12]
Non-Catholics and Muslims condemn the Catholics for making confession to priests. They argue that confession should be made directly to God since only Him can forgive sins, so why a Catholic should confess to a priest? These people failed to realize that the Catholic Church is the owner of the Bible, thus Catholics know the Bible better than them. Why would we disclose our sins to God when He already knew our sins?
The confessions made to God as mentioned in the Old Testament was done by the leaders chosen by God. And it’s more on intercession or asking forgiveness from God for the confessors. The people came to the leaders and made confessions, after that, the leaders prayed to God for the forgiveness of the sins of the confessors. This is what the priests are doing in the Church, they receive confessions, and after that, they will plead to God for the forgiveness of the confessors. God won’t hear the pleading of a sinner, that’s why we need a Godly man to do the pleading for us sinners.
God commands us not to conceal our sins, thus telling of sins should not be made to God but to our Godly fellows. Confessing our sins to other people (Godly people) is part of our burden so as to earn forgiveness from above. If your wife has committed a marital unfaithfulness, and she just hide it from you because only God can forgive, is it okay for you? And if your playmate broke your nose accidentally, is it okay for you if he won’t ask forgiveness from you because you have no right to forgive? Evidently, each of one us is part of this forgiving and interceding circle. If I forgive your sin against me you will also be forgiven by God, likewise my sins against my other fellow will be forgiven by God as well. That’s why the apostle James commanded us to confess our sins to one another, and pray for one another (James 5:16). In this verse, the apostle James is talking in general. His commandment does not mean that we should tell our sins to anyone of us, but to the people who are Godly, like the priests who are leaders appointed by God Jesus.
Confession of sins was already commanded by God and practiced by Israelites even before the arrival of the New Testament [Numbers 5:7]. John the baptist also administered confession [Mark 1:4-5]. Jesus gave authority to His disciples to forgive sins, He told them, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:23). Take note that the apostles were appointed by Jesus to lead his church, so they were priests. Peter was the first head or pope of Christianity, and his priesthood along with other apostles were handed down to the Catholic priests of today. Therefore, if the priests won’t forgive you because you don’t want to confess your sins to them, your sins won’t be forgiven by God as well.
Biblical verses commanding us to confess our sins to one another;
OLD TESTAMENT
1. [Numbers 5:7] and must confess the sin he has committed. He must pay full compensation, add a fifth to its value, and give all this to the one he has wronged
2. [Leviticus 5:5-6] when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for them for their sin.
3. [Leviticus 16:21] “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.
4. [Leviticus 26:40] ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me—
5. [Psalm 32:5] I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.
6. [Psalm 38:18] For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.
7. [Proverbs 28:13] Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
8. [Nehemiah 9:2] And the seed of the children of Israel separated themselves from every stranger: and they stood, and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
9. [Jeremiah 3:13] But yet acknowledge thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God: and thou hast scattered thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and hast not heard my voice, saith the Lord.
10. [Jeremiah 14:20] We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.
11. [Joshua 7:19] And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
12. [Hosea 5:15] Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
13. [Ezra 10:11] Now make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers,and do his will
NEW TESTAMENT
1. [Matthew 3:5-6] People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
2. [Matthew 16:19] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
3. [Matthew 18:18] Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
4. [Mark 1:4-5] John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People went out to him from all of Jerusalem and the countryside of Judea. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
5. [John 20:23] If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
6. [Acts 19:18] Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done.
7. [Romans 10:9-11] . . . For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.
8. [2 Corinthians 2:10] When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit
9. [1 Timothy 6:12] Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
10. [Hebrews 5:1] Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins
11. [1 John 1:9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
12. [James 5:16] Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
†Jesus bore the sins of mankind, thus he took the pain and suffering resulted from the punishment accorded to us (mankind). He’s presenting himself to God as sinful mankind who was punished on a cross because of our sins. Prophet Isaiah foretold about the suffering Messiah, to quote;
[Isaiah 53:4-6] “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all”
[Isaiah 53:12] “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors”
COMMENT: The above verses foretell the fate of Jesus, who will become the bearer of our sins and taker of our punishment. He will become the intercessor between God and sinful mankind. Jesus though God in spirit, did not use his divine power to his advantage, instead he showed so much humility and used his humanity in going through worldly suffering. Consider the verses below;
[Philippians 2:5-8] Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider to be equal with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, having taken the form of a servant, having been made in the likeness of men. And having been found in appearance as a man He humbled Himself, having become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
†Jesus had authority on himself but he intentionally gave up his human life so as to redeem mankind, as he said;
[John 10:18] “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
†Right after the fall of the first man, God had set up a plan to destroy Satan’s work. He said to the Serpent Satan;
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” [Genesis 3:15].
COMMENT: This promised seed was fulfilled in Jesus who’s born to a woman (Mary). The reason why Jesus was sent by God is to destroy the devil’s work through his death. So that in Jesus death, he might deliver us from the power of death inflicted by Satan. Kindly read;
“He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” [1 John 3:8]
“Since then the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” [Hebrews 2:14-15]
†All people sinned [Micah 7:2], therefore all people should be sentenced to death physically and spiritually since the penalty of sin is death. But because God so loved the world (John 3:16), He saved it by sending forth a spirit from Him (the Son) and dwelt in a man (Jesus) to obey the commandment accorded to humanity. Jesus presented himself as an atonement for sin like a sacrificial lamb. Only righteous or sinless man can enter into Heaven, but how can we be righteous if we are sinners since birth [Psalm 58:3]? A sinner cannot reconnect to the glory of God by himself. God looked for a sinless or holy man to be the reason He would not destroy mankind, but He had found no one [Ezekiel 22:30 & Isaiah 59:16]. Because God so loved mankind, He sent forth a spirit from Him and came down to Earth to take a human body (Psalm 104:30, Psalm 107:20, & John 6:38). This man obeyed the commandments of God perfectly and went through worldy suffering so that mankind won’t perish [Psalm 73:27]. Jesus bore our iniquities and died on our behalf so that we can become righteous and justified in the eyes of God the Father through him [Romans 3:25-26]. By Jesus’ suffering and anguish on the cross, God’s wrath becomes pacified;
“As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities” [Isaiah 53:11]
†Jesus was following the will of the Father, his fate was already foretold in the Scriptures thousand years before his birth. In fact his last word was, “it is finished” [John 19:30], referring to the fulfillment of the prophecies about him. Kindly check this speech of Jesus to his apostles after his resurrection;
“These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” [Luke 24:44]
†Mankind became separated from God thus they lost their everlasting life. Sinlessness means everlasting life while sinfulness means death, thus we are dead already because of sin. But through the resurrection of Jesus we can also be resurrected, all we have to do is to believe in his saving work and follow his will.
†Why is it that the spirit of God needed to dwell in a human body in order to save us mankind? The answer is;
“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead” [1 Corinthians 15:21]
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. [Romans 5:19]
†Only the human body of Jesus which was killed, but his spirit wasn’t. Even us ordinary humans, Satan cannot kill our souls. Only God can kill spirits including the spirit of Satan.
[Matthew 10:28] Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
†Why Jesus did not use his divine power to stop or skip the test of life? If Jesus avoided the wordly suffering, that is a cheating. How could he become righteous or sinless if he is a cheater? How could his saving work be qualified? The mission of Jesus was to obey the law perfectly, in this manner he saved mankind.
†Is the Father unfair by allowing Jesus to be killed? Nope, for He exalted Jesus to the highest place in return.
[Psalm 89:27] “And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth”
[Isaiah 52:13] “Behold, My Servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted”
[Hebrews 2:9] “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone”
[Philippians 2:9-11] “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”
Supposed Contradiction: In [Matthew 5:17-18], Jesus did not come to abolish the law, But in [Ephesians 2:13-15], Jesus abolished the law of Moses
Questioned verses:
[Matthew 5:17-18 & Luke 16:17] Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished
Contradict with
[Ephesians 2:14-15] In his body he has made Jewish and non-Jewish people one by breaking down the wall of hostility that kept them apart. He brought an end to the commandments and demands found in Moses’ Teachings so that he could take Jewish and non-Jewish people and create one new humanity in himself. So he made peace
[Hebrews 7:18-19] The former requirements are rejected because they are weak and useless. Moses’ Teachings couldn’t accomplish everything that God required. But we have something else that gives us greater confidence and allows us to approach God.
ANSWER: In [Matthew 5:17-18], Jesus does not say, “I uphold the law,” but merely says He came to fulfill all the things that were written about Him in Tanakh (Old Testament) being the Messiah, prophet or messenger, savior, etc.. Kindly read the supporting verses below:
[Luke 24:44] “These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled”
[Matthew 26:53-54] Are you not aware that I can call on My Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”
On the other hand, [Ephesians 2:14-15] does not say all the laws of Moses are abolished, but some of the demands found in Moses’ Teachings. Because there are laws of Moses that are intended only for the Israelites especially when it comes to cleansing and atonement rituals such as circumcision, animal sacrifice, food prohibition, and others. These mentioned Mosaic demands make the Jews separated from non-Jews. Jesus Christ, being our ultimate sacrificial lamb to God, the purifier of the world, superseded all these cleansing and atonement rituals. Circumcision is no longer necessary to the Church, animal sacrifice is no longer performed by us, impure animals that were forbidden to eat before were already purified by Him [Acts 10:15]. And because of this sacrifice and purification through Jesus, the Jewish and non-Jewish became one Church or humanity. The arrival of Jesus is also the arrival of the New Covenant, the everlasting covenant, which is intended for all peoples. This is to fulfill what God had promised roughly 700 hundred years before Jesus;
[Jeremiah 31:31-32] “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
But when it comes to the Moral teachings, the Ten Commandments, and prophecies; Jesus confirmed them.
While in [Hebrews 7:18-19], it says that the Former Law is useless not in the sense that it’s wrong, but it is impossible for us to follow it. The one who can have eternal life is only the perfect or sinless man (Psalm 37:37 & Revelation 21:27), therefore it is impossible for us to enter into Heaven since mankind fell to sin. Because of our sinful nature, our body is weakened to combat the urges of sins. But in the New law or Covenant, Jesus is our perfecter and justifier of faith, thus very possible for us to follow it and enter the kingdom of God. Kindly read;
[Hebrews 12:2] Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[Romans 3:26] to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
[Romans 8:3]
New International Version For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,
New Living Translation The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
GOD’S WORD® Translation It is impossible to do what God’s standards demand because of the weakness our human nature has. But God sent his Son to have a human nature as sinners have and to pay for sin. That way God condemned sin in our corrupt nature.
Amplified Bible For what the Law could not do [that is, overcome sin and remove its penalty, its power] being weakened by the flesh [man’s nature without the Holy Spirit], God did: He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man as an offering for sin. And He condemned sin in the flesh [subdued it and overcame it in the person of His own Son]
The mentioned title of this post is one of the supposed contradictions raised by many Bible critics; (Psalms 102:25-26) says the earth will perish, but (Ecclesiastes 1:4 & Psalms 78:69) say the earth abides forever.
[Psalm 102:25-26 & Hebrews 1:10-11] In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment.
Versus
[Ecclesiastes 1:4] “One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.”
[Psalms 78:69] And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever.
ANSWER:
A.) First let us take up verse [Ecclesiastes 1:4];
“One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.”
ANALYSIS: The ‘earth’ used in this passage means “soil or land”, and not the planet Earth. This earth, soil, or land refers to the delightful or good people who abide the will of God.
Kindly read the verses below to identify who is this earth, soil, or land;
[Malachi 3:12] “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts.
COMMENT: In this verse, the righteous Israelites are called a ‘delightful land’ by God.
[Luke 8:15] And the seed that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest
COMMENT: In this verse, ‘seed’ represents the word of God [Luke 8:11]; and ‘good soil’ represents good people. God liken the good people as good soil which produces huge harvest. They are the ones who have influenced others to come to God. ‘Good soil or people’ are the ones who abide the will of God.
Kindly compare [Ecclesiastes 1:4] with [1 John 2:17] that says;
[1 John 2:17] And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
♦Therefore, it is man who does the will of God that will abide forever, and not the planet Earth.
B. NOW, let us take up the second questioned verse from [Psalm 78:69] which says;
“And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever.”
ANALYSIS: I believe this verse is not accurately translated, because in other translations we can find the following verses;
Aramaic Bible in Plain English He built his holy place upon the height and he prepared it in the Earth for eternity.
Douay-Rheims Bible And he built his sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which he founded for ever.
COMMENT: Based on the translations above, it is obvious that it is not the earth which is founded forever, but the sanctuary (Church) of God prepared on Earth. This is referred to the Church built by Jesus on Earth, and this Church is for eternity. Meaning the Catholic Church is the kingdom to be brought to the Heaven.
Kindly compare (Psalm 78:69) to its parallel verses in (2 Samuel 7:13 & 1 Chronicles 17:12) we can know;
[2 Samuel 7:13] He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
[1 Chronicles 17:12] He is the one who will build a house–a temple–for me. And I will secure his throne forever.
God wants a descendant of David to build His house or temple, and He will establish His throne forever. This descendant is Jesus whom God will establish His throne or kingdom, kindly read the following verses about the kingdom of Jesus;
[Jeremiah 23:5] The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
[Daniel 7:14] And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.
[Luke 1:33] and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!
♦Therefore, it is the kingdom of God Jesus which is founded forever, and not the planet Earth.
When Christians denounce Islam because it commands to kill and terrorize other people, Muslims used to counter it by citing [1 Samuel 15:3] as more severe than what Allah commanded.
Questioned Verse:
[1 Samuel 15:2-3] ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they hindered them on their way up from Egypt. Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
ANSWER:
Firstly, that extermination order from God was limited for a particular tribe only, and not for all other people as what Allah commanded their believers. Secondly, that event does not justify the massive killings of non-Muslims carried out by Islam. Did Yahweh kill other people because they were not adherent to Judaism? Nope, He killed Amalekites because aside from being idolatrous, Amalekites attacked the innocent Israelites while exhausted from their exodus. The Israelites were led by God but still the Amalekites attacked them because they had no fear of God. Kindly read;
[Exodus 17:8] After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
[Deuteronomy 25:17] Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt, how they met you on your journey when you were tired and weary, and they attacked all your stragglers; they had no fear of God.
And this is the main reason why God wanted to blot out the Amalekites, kindly read;
[Exodus 17:14] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
The destruction of Amalekites was already prophesied by Balaam 400 years before the time of king Saul, kindly read;
Balaam’s Final Three Oracles
[Numbers 24:20-22]:
Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying:
“Amalek was first among the nations, but his end shall be destruction.”
Next he saw the Kenites and lifted up an oracle, saying:
“Your dwelling place is secure, and your nest is set in a cliff.
Yet Kain will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive.”
Why not imitate the behavior of the Kenites whose lives were spared by God because they showed kindness to Israelites when they journeyed from Egypt? Kindly read;
[1 Samuel 15:5-6] Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
God waited 400 years for Amalekites to change from their evil ways, but nothing happened. If you attack Israel, you will suffer the wrath of God, so I advice you Muslims to stop attacking Israel if you want to maintain your eternal lives. It’s not true that God hates the Jews as propagated by your religion. In fact today, the Islamic countries have been attempting to destroy Israel but failed though Israel is just a tiny nation. This is to fulfill what God had promised in Tanakh that He will bring the Israelites back to their land, and from that point, no one can uproot them anymore. Kindly read the following verses;
[Amos 9:15] I will plant the people of Israel in their land, and they won’t be uprooted again from the land that I gave them, says the lord your God.
[Jeremiah 32:37] I will surely gather my people from all the lands to which I have banished them in my furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them dwell in safety.
Yahweh cares for other people unlike Allah, to prove;
[Exodus 23:9] Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
[Deuteronomy 23:7] Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
[Deuteronomy 24:17] Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
I cannot understand why people pointed the Catholicism as the cause of poverty in the Philippines. Catholicism does not teach people to steal, on the contrary, it teaches to love your fellow as you love yourself. Had the Filipinos followed this commandment, Philippines might be one of the rich nations on Earth. The U.S. became great because of their Christian belief. I came across a blogger who told that it’s because priests are corrupt and have secret affairs with women. If a priest has an affair with a girl, is this the deed of the Catholic Church? does the Church teach their priests to be immoral? If a priest has an immoral affair, does he steal the money of the nation? How many government positions that the Catholic leaders hold? The affairs of the Church has nothing to do with Government.
The main cause is corruption. The Philippines has been in poverty because of the massive corruption in her government. Most of her politicians if not all are corrupt. They love money more than their neighbors. They are Christians in names but not in their hearts, they just worship Jesus Christ on their lips. Marcos had stolen 5 to 10 Billion dollars from the country that bankrupted her in 1983.
The secondary cause is the calamities that strike the country annually. Many lives and Millions or even Billion of pesos are lost per year.
The third reason is the ignorant voters. Most Filipino voters are clueless enough to keep voting politicians disregarding their bad records. Some are loyalists who are ready to fight against their family and friends just to defend their political idol, even if this politician is proven corrupt and murderer. Some voters are for money alone, any candidate who can give them larger price during election, they will vote for him/her.
The fourth reason that holds the Philippines from growing is the ever-existing war in Mindanao, Muslim extremists keep insisting their sovereignty. To tell you, their god Allah doesn’t like non-Muslims esp. Christians and Jews. If a Muslim becomes devoted to his religion, he will end up killing non-Muslims and Hypocrites. Muslims who refuse to go Jihad or to fight in the cause of Allah are called Hypocrites. The Malaysian government (Muslim country) trained and financed the activity of these rebels as admitted by Nur Misuari, the founder of MNLF.
Another cause that impedes the Philippine economy from growing is China. This country founded communism and supported the communist party in the Philippines before. The CPP-NPA rebels have been warring against the Philippine government for a long time. The massive human right abuse by the government of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. propelled the growth of rebellion in the country. The decades war between the Philippines and the separatist has been causing serious instability in the country that affects businesses and tourism. From China comes the shabu manufacturers that makes the Philippines a shabu market. Of course the activity of this drug syndicates cannot progress without the help of some officials in the country. Many of the politicians attracted to the fat bribes offered by China. Many of the law enforcers just seize shabu for money. If a Chinese druglord is willing to pay a large sum, the officials just let the drug dealer and his shabu escaped. Just like what happened recently, where Billions of pesos worth of shabu slipped past the Bureau of Custom twice in a row. President Duterte instead of penalizing the heads of the Bureau of Custom, he just transferred them to another government positions. Government Officials in the Philippines are not afraid to commit corruption because they are backed by the president or high official. And if they get imprisoned, they comfortably live under house arrest. And most of these convicted politicians will be pardoned and released by the next president that they supported during election. China bribed Duterte and Bbm so that they won’t use the legal victory of the Philippines against China at the Hague Convention which was achieved by the Aquino administration. China also keeps harassing the Filipinos, depriving them to cultivate the oil-rich area in the West Philippine Sea even if it is well within their Exclusive Economic Zone. Chinese coastguards keep chasing the Filipino fishermen and drive them out from their own fishing ground, allowing their fishermen to monopolize the area. Today, Filipinos are now importing fishes from China which are caught from their own fishing territory.
†The birth of Jesus was God’s entrance to the world in His human form as foretold by prophet Isaiah, he announced;
[Isaiah 9:6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[Isaiah 7:14]: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us).
†Roughly 700 years before Jesus, prophet Isaiah predicted the coming of a Son. He will be born to a virgin woman and will be called Mighty God or everlasting Father. The prophecies above was fulfilled in Mary, angel Gabriel said to her;
[Luke 1:30-32] So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you shall give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
†The first couple fell to sin, thus death entered the world. Mankind became separated from the glory of God. The Holy Spirit that clothed them and gave them eternal life left them. Only sinless or holy man can wear the clothes of eternal life. God searched for a perfect man among us to be the savior of mankind, but found no one (Isaiah 59:16 & Romans 3:10). Because of His great love, God put the saving work in His hand. It is man who sinned therefore it is also man will save himself. This is the reason why God raised a human being and took a power of His spirit to dwell in this man [Deuteronomy 18:18 & John 14:10]. Jesus’ human flesh has a beginning, but His Spirit has no beginning and end because his spirit is a portion of God’s spirit. Jesus declared that He has no beginning and end;
[John 8:58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM”
[John 8:23-24] “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I AM HE, you will indeed die in your sins.”
[John 13:19] “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I AM WHO I AM.
†Jesus took the name of God of Abraham in John (8:23-24 & John 13:19), Compare these verses to (Isaiah 43:10 & Exodus 3:13-14);
[Exodus 3:13-14] “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’.
[Isaiah 43:10] “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I AM HE. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
†“I AM, I AM HE, or I AM WHO I AM”, is the title of God mentioned in the Bible. It speaks His self-existence; that He has no beginning and end, that He is the First and the Last, ever the same.
†The savior must be a perfect man, that’s why Jesus though also God, did not use His divine power to His advantage (Philippians 2:6), instead He use His humanity in following the law accorded to humanity. If Jesus had used His power to bypass the law, how could He be a perfect man? how could he be righteous? how could His work be a saving sacrifice for humankind?
Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality. Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like other humans, by having a human appearance. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-8
.
†Actually this cry, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” is a fulfillment of the prophesy in [Psalm 22:1]. But to better understand this cry, let us read Psalm 22 from verse 1 to 2;
[Psalm 22:1-2]
1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning,
2 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest.
COMMENT: From analyzing the verses, definitely it is not a personal entreaty of Jesus to the Father because in verse 2, the Psalmist is restless by night, and his cry is not answered by God. While Jesus was never deserted by the Father, in fact the Father dwelt in him [John 14:10]. The passage above is a pleading prophesy of a sinner (sinful mankind) who is forsaken by God. Since Jesus was the bearer of our sins and the taker of our punishment, he’s presenting himself to God as a sinful mankind who was punished because of sin. The begging and crying of Jesus is the begging and crying of mankind which he represented.
†Prophet Isaiah foretold about the suffering Messiah or Jesus, to quote;
[Isaiah 53:4-6] Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[Isaiah 53:12] Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
COMMENT: The above verses foretold the fate of Jesus who will be the bearer of our sins and the taker of our punishment. He will become the intercessor between God and sinful mankind.
†Jesus although also God (since he is the spirit of God) did not use his power to his advantage, instead he emptied himself to become an ordinary human. He humbled himself, and followed the law assigned to humanity perfectly even death on a cross. Consider the verses below;
[Philippians 2:5-8] Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality. Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like other humans, by having a human appearance. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, death on a cross.
†Jesus had authority on Himself if He wanted to but He intentionally gave up His human life to redeem us. As He said;
[John 10:18] “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
†After the first parents sinned because of the Serpent’s deception, God already had set up a plan to destroy Satan’s work, He said to the Serpent Satan;
[Genesis 3:15]“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”.
COMMENT: This mentioned seed was fulfilled in Jesus who was born to a woman (Mary). The reason why Jesus was sent by God is to destroy the devil’s work through His death. So that in Jesus death, He might deliver us from the power of death inflicted by Satan. Kindly read;
[1 John 3:8] He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil
[Hebrews 2:14-15] Since then the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
†The wages of sin is death, therefore mankind should die. God looked for a sinless man to be the reason He would not destroy the world but had found no one [Ezekiel 22:30 & Isaiah 59:16]. From this reason, God sent forth a spirit from Him to assume a human nature and die to save the world. Jesus took the penalty of death in place of us so that we may not perish because of sin [Psalm 73:27].He bore our iniquities and died on our behalf so that we can become righteous and justified through Him [Romans 3:25-26]. By His suffering and anguish on the cross, God’s wrath became satisfied. As Isaiah prophesied;
[Isaiah 53:11] As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
†Jesus was following the will of the Father, His fate was already written in the Scriptures since thousand of years before His birth. In fact His last word was, “it is finished” [John 19:30], referring to the fulfillment of the prophesiesabout Him. Kindly check this speech of Jesus to His apostles after His resurrection;
[Luke 24:44] “These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled”
†Furthermore, Christians are the modernizers of the world. They are the inventors of electricity, spaceship, computers, internet, cellphones, satellites, and many more. Therefore, Christians are genius for they are guided by God. Do you think when it comes to identifying God, they are so dumb? Christians believe Jesus as God because they have convincing reason. You study the Bible and you will see that Jesus is God. Imagine the world without Christians, the world of today would have been still barbaric. As a matter of fact even until now, many of the Islamic countries are still barbaric. Marrying a cousin, marrying a child girl/sex with a child, raping/selling slaves, and beheading/mutilating people are still practiced.
“. . . Jesus in his human body, He belongs to humanity whom God withheld from knowing or announcing the exact hour.”
Questioned verse:[Mark 13:32] “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
ANSWER: Jesus claimed that He came down from Heaven only to do the will of the Father [John 6:38]. He did not come to Earth to do His own initiative. Meaning, Jesus can do anything only that he followed the will of the Father. He has many roles assigned by the Father to Him in coming to Earth; He is the savior or purifier of the world, bringer or confirmer of the new covenant, builder of the Kingdom or Church, and a prophet or speaker of the Father. Being a prophet or speaker of the Father, He talks only what the Father commanded Him to speak. Let us read what Jesus said;
[John 12:49] “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
Jesus spoke it under the will of the Father who commanded Him to glorify Him. If you glorify someone it means you praise, exalt, honor, revere, or even serve him. And that is what Jesus did to the Father, kindly read;
[Psalm 50:15] And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.
[John 17:4] “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
[John 11:41-42]They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank You for hearing Me. I know You always hear Me. But I have said this for the people standing here, so they may believe You have sent Me.”
COMMENT: In this verse Jesus reasons why He looked up the sky and gave thanks to the Father, it is for the people to believe that he is sent by the Father. In this act, Jesus glorifies the Father in the eyes of the people who have been observing him.
[John 13:31-32] Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately
[John 17:1] Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,
Jesus also claimed that He and the Father are one [John 10:30 & Isaiah 9:6], And He is in the Father and the Father dwells in Him;
[John 14:10-11]Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The things I have told you don’t come from me. The Father lives in me, and he is doing his own work.Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done.
What the Father knows, the Son also knows for They are one in nature. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does (John 5:19). Jesus knows the exact Hour, but He said so in following the will of the Father. In fact, not only He knows what will become after the Tribulation Day, but He will be the one to come with great power. He said in [Mark 13:24-27];
24But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
Jesus is God in spirit and human in body. In His human nature, He prayed to the Father because that should humans do. On the other side, in His divine nature, He accepted worship from the people (Luke 24:52). It is not for the people to know the exact time fixed by God (Acts 1:7), so Jesus in His human body, He belongs to humanity whom God withheld from knowing or announcing the exact time of Last Hour.
Moreover, imagine the situation if God told the people the exact hour of the Tribulation, what might happen? God purposely hide this matter from us so that to test our faith in Him. Likewise, certainly there would be a massive panicking beforehand. Jesus described the Judgment Day as the most terrifying moment of men. People will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs, away from terror (Isaiah 2:21). The stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken [Matthew 24:29], the sun will stop shining, and the Earth will be covered with darkness. Just as the exact hour of our death, God needs to hide it for us not to be panicked and terrified.
Protestant’s doctrine: “we are under grace, not law”
For the Protestant Churches who keep believing and teaching that we mankind are under grace and can be saved by faith alone, you are wrong! because faith and obedience of the law are both required in our journey to the kingdom of Heaven. What you believe in your religion today was already practiced by the Christians at the time of the apostles, and they rebuked this practice. To prove that, here is what the Bible says;
1. [Psalm 119:44] So shall I always keep thy law, for ever and ever.
2. [Isiah 42:24] Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? They were unwilling to walk in His ways, and they would not obey His law.
3. [Isaiah 48:18] If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
4. [1 Chronicle 22:12] Above all, may the LORD give you insight and understanding when He puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the Law of the LORD your God.
5. [Psalm 119:34] Give me understanding that I may observe Your law, and follow it with all my heart.
6. [Ezra 7:26] If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a strict judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
7. [2 John 1:8] Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded
8. [James 1:22-25] Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
9. [James 2:8] You are doing right if you obey this law from the highest authority: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
10. [James 2:14-26] What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his sonIsaac on the altar? You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sentthem off on another route? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
11. [Romans 2:13] For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.
12. [Romans 3:20] Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
13. [Romans 3:27-28] Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
14. [Galatians 2:16] know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
15. [Galatians 3:2] I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?
16. [Galatians 3:5-6] So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
17. [Galatians 3:10] For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
18. [1 Thessalonians 1:3] Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
19. [2 Thessalonians 2:17] encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.
Since the name and shadow of Muhammad are nowhere in the Bible, the Muslim apologists desperately quoted several verses from the Bible and made them as references to their prophet. One of them is the verse below;
[Deuteronomy 18:18] I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
COMMENT: In this verse, God said to Moses that He will raise a prophet from among his brethren (Israelites), Muhammad is not an Israelite so he could not qualify this. This promised prophet will be like Moses in the sense that God put His words into his mouth, and made him as His speaker to Pharaoh to liberate the Israelites. Muhammad was not a speaker of God and did not liberate people, on the contrary, he owned slaves. This promised prophet fits Jesus because he had arisen from Israel’s bloodline, a brethren of Moses. Jesus acted as a God’s speaker to His people. And also he liberated the people from the bondage of sin and body deterioration. Kindly read;
[Luke 7:16] Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”
[John 12:49] “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak”
[John 14:10] Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.
[John 8:35-36] A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
[Romans 8:2] And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
: Luke 7:16 tells the reaction of the people after witnessing Jesus resurrected a dead young man. They referred Jesus as a raised prophet and visiting God. And in John 12:49 & John 14:10, Jesus tells us that the words he uttered are not his own but from the Father who dwells in him, therefore He’s a God’s speaker. While verses John 8:35-36 & Romans 8:2 tell us that Jesus liberated people from the power of sin.
If we go further to verses 20 to 22 of Deuteronomy chapter 18, we can read these;
[Deuteronomy 18:20] “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.”
[Deuteronomy 18:21-22] You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’. “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken.
COMMENT: Deuteronomy 18:20-22 gives us the yardsticks on how to identify a false prophet. One of them is the true prophet should not speak in the name of other gods. Muhammad clearly spoke in the name of other gods; Al-lat, and Al-Uzza, and Manat [Quran 53:19-20]. Therefore, Muhammad cannot be a prophet and should die for speaking the names of other gods.
To better understand who is this predicted prophet, let us read and examine Deuteronomy chapter 18, from verse 15 to 20;
(New International Version)
15The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.
16For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17The Lord said to me: “What they say is good.
18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.
19I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.
20But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
COMMENT: Verse 15 tells us that the promised prophet will come from Israelites, and not from Arabs the brethren of Muhammad. In verse 16, God gives a reason why He will raise a prophet, it is because the Israelites were afraid of Him in the form of fire and afraid of His thunderous voice. This is one of the reasons why God took a human form in the person of Jesus so that He could live with His people and they would no longer be afraid of Him, as well as, He could convey his message well to His people. Verse 19 says that this prophet will utter the words of God to the people. Muhammad did not talk to the people with the words of God.
Moreover, the apostles claimed that it was Jesus whom God referred to in Deuteronomy 18;
[Acts 3:22-23] Heaven must receive Jesus until the time when everything will be restored as God promised through his holy prophets long ago. “Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me. Listen to everything he tells you.
[Acts 7:37] Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.
PROPHETHOOD should come from the descendants of Isaac, and not from Ishmael the ancestor of Arabs;
[Genesis 17:20-21] And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto you at this set time in the next year.
The Quran itself debunks the prophethood claim of Muhammad for it says the prophets and revelations should come from the descendants of Isaac and Jacob;
[Quran 29:27] And We gave to Him Isaac and Jacob and placed in his descendants prophethood and scripture. And We gave him his reward in this world, and indeed, he is in the Hereafter among the righteous.
SALVATION should come from the Jews, and not from Arabs the bloodline of Muhammad;
[John 4:21-22] Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews
[Luke 24:47] and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
[Romans 1:16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile..
♦Ahmed Deedat who advocated this claim (that Muhammad was the one referred to by Deuteronomy 18:18), cunningly replaced the word ”Brethren or countrymen” with the word ”Jews”, and presented this modified translation to his Muslim audience. His motive was to connect Muhammad to the Jewish race. But take note that those Jews brought by God to the holy land from Egypt were descendants of Jacob (also called Israel). The family of Jacob fled to Egypt, and when they became numerous, God brought them to Canaan (the promise land which later called ‘Israel’). God isolated the Israelites from other descendants of Abraham and chose them as His people. Why God isolated a goup of people, accompanied and made them holy? Because from them the holy one (the savior) will come out. Muhammad cannot be the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:18 because he did not descend from Jacob bloodline but from Ishmael (one of the sons of Abraham), the progenitor of Arab. Furthermore, the words uttered by Muhammad are not from God. He talked and taught stupid and superstitious things, He even uttered Satanic verses (Quran 53:19-20). Likewise, Muhammad raped, tortured, and slaughtered more or less 800 Jews, a sign that he was not sent to save the Jews, but rather to destroy them. Deedat had luxury in telling lies to his Muslim audience because he knows Muslims are not familiar about the Scriptures.
I came across an anti-catholic video on Youtube telling that the Roman Catholic Church is the Beast foretold in the Bible. And I also spotted a comment claiming that he is a catholic, but he throws all statues and stopped worshiping the Saints including Mother Mary. I know this man was only pretending he’s catholic to gain some sympthy from Catholics who already doubted the Church because of the anti-catholic propaganda. I argued his statement and our argument became a lengthy debate. I copy pasted the content of our debate and posted here.
Boy Bautista
I am a Catholic and throw all statue or Saints devotion or worship, I stop praying Hail Mary because , Mary is not God. I only call God the Father , Holy Spirit ant Jesus the Son od God and the Messiah.
Renz @Boy Bautista, If you are really Catholic, you should have known the role of statues in Catholicism. Images and Saints are not worshiped in Catholicism, reverence and worship are not the same. We can ask help from Saints so that God will have mercy on us and be admitted to Heaven. Mary is the mother of Jesus, most probably Jesus cannot refuse her if she will request Him to include you in Heaven. Images are just expressions of the Catholics’ love and faith in God and his Saints. If you hold a picture of your loved one and kiss it, will you commit the sin of idolatry? Jesus and His apostles teach us to worship God in spirit (mind and heart), whether you use images or not, as long as your mind and heart are directed to God above. Psalm 2:12 commands us, ”Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him”. If you want to kiss God, how can you express it if He’s originally a spirit or unapproachable light? Let’s not understand the Bible by picking two or three verses only, let’s understand the Bible by its context. We should also use our common sense. God said His words do not change, and His founded kingdom is for everlasting, and it cannot be overcome by the gates of hell. To accuse the Catholicism of corrupting the Church is the same as accusing God that He’s lying. Of all the religions, it is only the Catholicism that can defend their Faith.
Boy Bautista @Renz , Mary and all other saints cannot hear your prayers because they’re all dead. If truly you don’t worship those images, take them down from the altar, because altar is for God only. And you are kneeling down before those images, and the images will remain in your subconscious as you continue worshiping even with closed eyes.
Renz @Boy Bautista, not all people died, for example Enoch and Elijah did not experience death [2 kings 2:11 & Hebrews 11:5]. And not all dead are asleep because Abel though he was dead, he could still speak to God because of his faith, kindly read;
[Hebrews 11:4] “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”
As
I had said in the previous, we should understand the Bible not by only one or
few verses, we should understand its context. The image is not really the issue
of God’s hatred, but because people were worshiping gods other than Him. I
think you are not familiar about the Ark of the Covenant. In (Exodus 25: 18),
God instructed Moses to make two gold cherubim [Cherubim is pl. form of Cherub
means angel statue] and placed them over the Ark of the Covenant. Then He
commanded the Israelites to pray or request before that Ark. Joshua fell and
prayed before that ark, and the Lord answered him (Joshua 7:6-11). Even King
David held a feast for the Ark of the Covenant with the two cherubim over it (2
Samuel 6: 15, 19). He sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings
before it, he was dancing and leaping with all his might before it (2 Samuel 6:
13, 14). David was despised by his wife Michal for what he had done, so the
Lord closed her womb (2 Samuel 6: 16, 20, 23). What Michal did is comparable to
what the non-Catholics are doing today who despise the Catholics for
celebrating a feast and dance before a holy image. King Solomon made Cherubim
too under the instruction of God and placed them in the inner sanctuary of
God’s Temple (1 Kings 6: 23-27). God also instructed Moses to make a bronze
statue of snake, and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a
snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived (Numbers 21: 8-9). Therefore,
God does not prohibit the people to revere or use an image devoted to Him and
His kingdom, as in the case of Micah’s carved silver image (Judges 17: 3).
Judges chapter 18 tells about Micah’s carved silver image which was brought by
Danites when they attacked Laish, and God let them conquered Laish.
Boy Bautista @Renz , Then, why you don’t have Patron Saint Enoch and Patron Saint Elijah? Besides, your reasoning did not raise Mary from the dead. Have you not seen the Cherub in the Ark of Covenant? They are facing each other, not facing the people. None like them in the Catholic churches all over the world. Your images are clearly dead idols (I know it as I was with it for 30 years). No idolaters can enter the kingdom of God (Revelation 21:8). You must acknowledge that you are sinner and need a savior from heaven and ask Jesus Christ to come-in into your life as Lord & Savior. That’s it, no transferring of religion, just come to Jesus Christ in prayer.
Renz @Boy Bautista
: You are funny, the issue here is the worshiper facing the image, and not the image facing the worshiper. If you try to argue that it was permissible by God to pray before the carved cherubim because they were facing sideward, then a worshiper can easily avoid the sin of idolatry, all he has to do is to turn his face towards the side of the image. So your reasoning is inconsistent.
: In (John 21:25), Apostle John says that there are still many works of Jesus which are not written down. And beside the Bible, we should also use our common sense. If Jesus could bring a criminal to His paradise [Luke 23:43], how much more his own mother? Mary is certainly in Jesus’ paradise. Moreover, there are many people around the world claiming that holy Mary appeared to them.
:
Enoch and Elijah were born long time before Christianity, therefore, the
Catholic Church is not in the position to declare them as holy. Besides they
are already in paradise, there is no need for them to be canonized.
:
Saints or holy people although they are dead, are not asleep, they are with
Jesus. Kindly read;
[Revelation 6:10] And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”
: No Catholic that will say his God is the image that he faces while praying. All Catholics know that their God is spirit and in Heaven. Whether you face an image or not in praying, God will judge us by our mind and heart, and not by gesture or food. Instead of accusing the Catholics, you better examine your own religion because your religion is only good at accusing but cannot defend its own doctrine.
Boy Bautista @Renz , You obviously did not see the cherubs at the Arc of Covenant, they are facing each other closely with both wings touching each other, you cannot go in between and worship one of them. Besides, it is absolutely not permissible to worship any form of image in behalf of God. Religion is business, true Christianity is not religion but personal relationship with the Savior – knowing each other intimately.
Renz @Boy Bautista, I have seen it. In fact before I bring up comments, I checked them first. However the issue is not the positioning of the images, but the Catholicism is accused by Christian sects for committing idolatry because they use images in their worship method. Images are just regarded holy and not worshiped in Catholicism. Christian sects always used [Exodus 20:4-5] to justify their accusation. Let us read these passages starting from verse 3 for us to have a better understanding;
3You shall have no other gods before Me.
4You shall not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens above, on the earth beneath, or in the waters below.
5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me
COMMENT: in verse 3, God begins his commandment by saying, “you shall have no other gods before Me”. The issue here is not really the images themselves, but people who worshiped other gods (like Molech, Golden calf, Asherah, Baal, Bel, Amon, Dagon, Tammuz, Zeus, Hermes, Artemis, and many others). Why God hated the said images? Because these were the images of gods that the Israelites worshiped. The Catholicism is the owner of the Holy Scriptures, so they know better than all rebellious groups.
: One of the purposes of God to send Jesus to the world was to found His Church. Jesus said to Simon Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mt. 16: 19). So if we want eternal lives, we need to be bound by this Church or religion. God only found one Church for eternity. Those Churches which are founded by mere men are not authorized by God. How come these groups can enter the kingdom of Heaven?
Boy Bautista @Renz , you don’t worship them? Why kiss them and bow down before them? “5You shall not bow down to them”. You are bowing down before them, bowing down is an act of worship… that is clear. The Catholicism did not own the Holy Scriptures, in fact, all of them were written by Hebrews not even a single Roman writer. The “key” of the kingdom is Jesus Christ himself and the church is every person having the Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit living in them NOT the church/religion made by men. RC was founded by Emperor Constantine in Constantinople – now Istanbul. The church founded by Jesus Christ is his creation not the creation of people. How to enter God’s kingdom? Please read John 3:5 and Matthew 18:3. If you really own the Holy Scriptures, you should have written: “You must be a Catholic to enter God’s kingdom”, but instead, you wrote” “You must be born again” – John 3:7.
Renz @Boy Bautista
A. If we kiss something, it doesn’t mean we worship that something. If you kiss the hand of your grandpa it doesn’t mean you worship him, but you respect him. If you kiss your wife, it doesn’t mean you worship her, but you love her. If you bow to a being it doesn’t always mean you worship that being, it can also mean you revere or honor that being. If a Japanese bow to you, it doesn’t mean he worships you, but he respects you. And this what a Catholic is doing, he shows his love, respect, and reverence to God or Saints by kissing and bowing to their images.
B. It appears that you have no knowledge about the History of the Roman Catholic Church. The earliest Christian Church in Rome was not founded by Romans or an emperor, but by Peter and Paul (the Hebrews who owned the Scriptures).
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
In 32 A.D. after the ascension of Jesus Christ, the apostles spread the good news initially from Jerusalem throughout the Roman Empire. In Rome, the apostle Simon Peter together with Paul established the Church which Jesus Christ told to Simon Peter, “and I tell you that you are peter [“peter” derived from Greek “petros” means rock], and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Mt. 16: 18). In the year 107, St. Ignatius of Antioch named this Christian Faith as the Catholic Church [catholic derived from Greek katholikos means universal]. It became the state religion by Armenia in 301; Georgia in 319; and in the year 380, Theodocius 1 declared this Faith as the official religion in Rome. It is only the Catholic Church that can trace their root to Jesus.
C. Jesus is not the key himself, but He holds the keys of the kingdom. “Key” means authority, and Jesus assigned these authorities of the kingdom to Peter alone. So the notion that you can go to Heaven by yourself or by another church is false. Try to examine yourself if you have the capability to fly into Jesus’ abode. It is only by the power of Jesus that we can be transported to Heaven. Therefore, we must follow Jesus’ instructions and should not be isolated from His Church. The kingdom of God is not His creation because this creation will vanish like smoke (Isaiah 51:6 & 34:4). The Church (body of people) is the kingdom itself, Jesus preached about this kingdom (Matthew 9:35). Jesus is the head of the Church or king of the kingdom. Unknown to many, the said kingdom of Heaven is the Catholic Church which was established on Earth by Jesus (Matthew 16:18) and this will continue forever or in the afterlife, kindly read the verses below;
1. [Daniel 2:44] “At the time of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. No other people will be permitted to rule it. It will smash all the other kingdoms and put an end to them. And it will be established forever”
2. [1 Chronicles 22:10] ‘He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
3. [Matthew 16:18] “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
4. [Matthew 9:35] Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
5. [Revelation 5:10] You have made them into a kingdom, priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
D. The baptism is only your entrance to the Church, You cannot be saved by being baptized alone. But you must believe that Jesus is your savior besides obeying the law For there is no salvation if we are not justified by faith aside from obeying the law [Romans 3:28]. Without faith in the salvation provided by Christ, we will all perish [Isaiah 51:6 & Luke 13:3].
E.
You don’t need to look for a “Catholic” word in the Bible as proof of
Catholicism. All you have to do is to trace back the origin of Catholicism if
it can connect to Peter. The Catholic Church has so much evidence to show their
authenticity.
F.
To find the name of your church in the Bible is not a basis of authenticity,
The New Testament was written in the first century, and your church was
established in the 19th century (1,900 years gap). Anyone can found his own
church and copy its name from the Bible, and claim that this church is the
truth. This is also the ploy of “Iglesia ni Cristo” claiming that their church
is the truth because it is found in the Filipino Bible.
Boy Bautista @Renz You are kneeling down before those idols, you talk to them directly in prayers, I know it because I was a devoted Catholic for 30 years. Peter and Paul were killed by the Roman Catholics, please check your history. The rock is Jesus not Peter, please review your hermeneutics.
John
14:6 Jesus said, I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE, no one comes to the
Father except through me. He is the WORD. He is the DOOR, He is the KEY. There
is no “keys” that is in plural form, only one key that is JESUS
CHRIST alone. Your keys CANNOT open the DOOR in heaven. The true CHURCH is not
the religious organizations making money and grabbing political power and
invented many “keys” to heaven but the heart of individual person
that received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and Confirmed/Sealed by the Holy
Spirit. Iglesia ni Cristo is another cult of Filipino version. But, RC has more
chances to come to Jesus than INC and Eli Soriano’s Dating Daan, they’re deeply
inverted by twisted doctrine.
Renz @Boy Bautista
1. Again, kneeling down before something is not always an act of worship. If an adulterous husband kneels down before his wife to ask for forgiveness, it doesn’t mean he worships her. If a Christian mentions Saints in his prayer, does it mean he worship them? If a child pleads his parents to give him new shoes, does it mean he worship his parents? As I had said, God examines our faith in spirit, not in our gestures or food we eat. A Christian only pleads the Saints for intercession or to ask help, pleading is not worship. Catholic Church never teaches its believers to worship idols. If indeed you were a devout Catholic in the past, you should have known that images were just symbols, and not gods.
2. Peter and Paul were killed by Roman pagans not Catholics, you are lying if not ignorant of the history. In fact, the name Catholic was not yet used by the time of Peter and Paul, use your common sense.
3.
“Rock” has several meanings in the Bible, it can mean strength, fortress,
refuge, shield, or foundation. God is called rock because He is the fortress or
refuge of the people, kindly read;
[Psalm 18:2] “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my Savior, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the strength of my salvation, my stronghold”
Simon
is called peter or rock because he is the foundation of the Church. When we
build a house, we need to lay a rock or foundation on the ground first.
4. You don’t understand, I was pointing about the keys of the kingdom which were given by Jesus to Peter (Matthew 16:18). And these keys are not literal, they mean authorities. There is no such thing as “Jesus is the key” in the Bible, you are inventing a verse. You know what, Churches founded by mere men are given to lying because they cannot defend their doctrines. “Door” and “key” definitely are not synonymous. “Door” is the opening thru which we enter a house or kingdom, while “key” is a piece used to open or close a locker. If we say Jesus is the key, it implies that we use Jesus as our key to Heaven which is illogical! Jesus holds the key(s) and not the key Himself, verses about Jesus who holds the keys;
[Isaiah 22:22] “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.
[Revelation 1:18] “the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades”
5. The Catholic Church never ask a 10% from the income of the people. During Mass, it is okay for the Church if a believer give just a peso or none. How can non-Catholics accuse the Catholic Church for making them poor? Italy is predominantly Catholic but they are not poor. And what power of the Government that the Catholic Church grab? Have you heard a position of the government that is held by a Bishop? These accusations by non-Catholics are baseless. I sense that rebellious churches keep inventing stories to topple the Catholic Church. But as Jesus said, to attack this Church is like kicking against the prick (Acts 26:14). Catholics are now 1.3 Billions, the biggest of all the religions of the world. This is what Jesus had promised to Peter, that the gates of hell (other religions) cannot prevail His Church. God laid down steps in the Bible for people to know how to enter the kingdom of Heaven. But people like your group are disposed to rebel and make their own teachings. Saint Paul already predicted this rebellion or apostasy in his epistles, he says;
[2 Timothy 4:3-4] “for the time is coming when men will not endure sound teaching. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths”
6.
God says His Covenant brought by Jesus is everlasting, so there will be no more
Church to be founded. He says that the kingdom founded by Jesus on Earth is for
eternity, so the Catholic Church or kingdom of Jesus will be the kingdom in
Heaven. Let us remember that God’s mind and words do not change, kindly read;
[Numbers 23:19] “God is not like people. He tells no lies. He is not like humans. He doesn’t change his mind. When he says something, he does it. When he makes a promise, he keeps it.”
Boy Bautista @Renz , Even having an image on altar is already idolatry how much more when you kneel down before them. Not worshiping? You are lying to yourself. Roman Catholicism is paganism from the very start up to now. Roman Catholicism killed millions of Christians and Jews, there is no way that religious group is of God. Look at the lives of the majority of RC members, they are living in sinful lives, true Christians must be living in holy lives – you are not.
Jesus
is the everything. He is the creator of heaven and earth (John 1:1-3). Jesus is
not something literal or physical, He is the Almighty God, the perfect face of
the Father. Jesus is the kingdom, the door, the way, the key, the secret code,
the truth, the eternal life, he is sovereign God. Narrow is the way to heaven
and only few coming to, but wide is the way to hell and many are going to: 1.3
billion from RC and more billions from other groups. You can think it further
and deeper, you can come to Jesus personally, talk to Him seriously and ask Him
what is really the truth. I will never ask to join my group, but, I will ask
you to come to Jesus Christ personally, He is the Savior not my group.
Renz @Boy Bautista
You are so ignorant of the history, the Romans who killed Jews and Christians were not Catholics.
If Jesus says He is the “door”, it means He is our way/path to the Father. If the Bible says “God is everything”, it means He can do everything, it does not mean that His being is everything. For God is definitely not an object, planet, building, airplane, space, animal, etc.. My goodness! God is not a kingdom Himself, where did you get this learning? Your church teach you falsehood. God is called a king because He has a kingdom. A kingdom is composed of a king, area, and subjects. In the Old Testament, God keeps telling that He will establish a kingdom on Earth for eternity. He will install His Son as king. This kingdom is composed of King Jesus, the 12 apostles as judges, priests, and people. Whoever enters this kingdom thru other gate is a thief (John 10:1-2). When I said that the Catholics are 1.3 Billions, I did not mean all of them can make it to Heaven. As I had said, baptism alone cannot save us. We need to believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior plus obeying the law. Brother, you are the one who needs enlightenment by Jesus. Ask him personally what’s the real truth about Him. Certainly He will answer you, “I am not a kingdom, a key, or code, and leave your church for they are teaching you falsehood”.
Boy Bautista @Renz , Jesus is the key in the house of David, he is also the only door, he is also the way upon entering the door into the kingdom, he is also the kingdom that has no bounds. You should know who Jesus is, he is the Almighty God. The church is the person having the Holy Spirit NOT the church per your understanding that are making money and grabbing political power like the Rome, etc. Italy is now predominantly atheist and their economy is collapsing following Greece.
Renz @Boy Bautista
1.
Man, don’t make any perception that is not mentioned in the Bible, it would
only make your mind more confused. And also God cannot be an instrument
Himself, it’s inconsistent. Furthermore, when you make a claim from the Bible,
put forward a verse to back up your claims. For nowhere in the Bible that says
Jesus is the key in the house of David. “Holding the key” and “the Key Himself”
are not synonymous. The Bible teaches that Jesus holds the key of the house of
David, here read;
[Isaiah 22:22] “I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut; what he shuts, no one can open”
[Revelation 3:7] “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens, no one will shut; and what He shuts, no one will open”
Boy Bautista @Renz , you already said that is not material but spiritual, you are confused. You need to come to Jesus, don’t stay with Mary or else you shall never arrive with Jesus.
you
already said that it is spiritual not physical, why are you confused? You
cannot limit what God can do. Italians still claiming Catholics but don’t go to
church anymore.
the Isaiah 22:22 is prophetically referring to Jesus, but, RC is claiming to have the authority in lieu of Jesus thus RC is basically an Anti-Christ. Anti-Christ is not against Christ but claiming to be the salvation, has the keys of salvation. Christ is the key, and the salvation. The key is the way to open the door of salvation. Only Jesus can do that. Only Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, from the beginning to end He is God
there is no other
means to salvation. His name is Salvation, Savior, Yeshua, Jesus, Christ,
Messiah, etc. There is no Mary in the path to heaven.
Renz @Boy Bautista
1. Don’t go around your mistake, admit it _that Jesus is not the kingdom or the key Himself so that you will learn. Either God meant literal or spiritual, it is illogical to say that Jesus is the kingdom or key Himself. You cannot learn if you don’t know how to accept mistakes. And also you mentioned that the church is the person having the holy Spirit. We can have many churches by your definition because there are many persons who have the holy Spirit. Jesus established only one church. The word “church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The root meaning of church is not that of a building, but body of people.
2. Yes, [Isaiah 22:22] is referring to Jesus, but Jesus pass this key or authority to Peter (the head of Catholicism);
[Matthew 16:19] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
See? The Catholic Church has the authority. It is sad to say that your church has no authority from Jesus. No permit, and yet you claim that your church is the truth. You better ponder about this fact. Or else Jesus will call you a thief for you try to enter the Kingdom of Heaven other than its gate.
Boy Bautista @Renz , the many churches that are people living holy lives is called the body of Christ (you can read it in Corinthians) . I never seen a single Catholic person living holy life simply because of wrong teachings. You need to accept Jesus Christ first as Lord & Savior by faith in order to see Him. That is called born again experience (John 3:3), because no matter how I tell you, you can never see nor understand who Jesus is until Jesus himself will reveal it to you personally.
Renz @Boy Bautista Where in the Corinthians? There are 1 & 2 Corinthians, and what verse? After telling Jesus is a key or kingdom, you now have another claim. How did you know that no Catholic lives a holy life? Are you God who knows the inner part of a person? Don’t you know that “holy” means sinless or perfect? Is there any perfect man except Jesus? Are you perfect? You are a joke. After you showed to me your ignorance of the Bible and history, you have the cheekiness to declare that Jesus personally revealed to the Born Again believers the understanding, and this is called Born Again experience, Wow!
But why you are ignorant Biblically and historically? Are you sure it was Jesus who revealed to you that understanding? Because Jesus knows everything but His Born Again people are ignorant. You know what, the Bible says those people who cannot understand are evil;
[Proverbs 28:5] “Evil people do not understand judgment, but those who seek the LORD comprehend fully”
[John 8:47] “Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
Furthermore, we cannot be saved by just believing the saving work of Jesus alone. It should be faith plus obedience of the law;
[Romans 3:28] “For there is no salvation if we are not justified by faith aside from obeying the law”
IF I WERE YOU, LEAVE THAT CULT SO
THAT YOU WILL BE ENLIGHTENED BY THE TRUE GOD.
Boy Bautista @Renz , Romans 3:28 King James Version (KJV) 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. hhhmm… it is without the law, you are twisting the word of God.
Renz @Boy
Bautista. Numerous translators translated that way;
New International Version For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
English Standard Version For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Berean Study Bible For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
New American Standard Bible For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Christian Standard Bible For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
International Standard Version For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the actions prescribed by the Law.
NET Bible For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.
New Heart English Bible For we maintain that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
New American Standard 1977 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
American Standard Version We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
English Revised Version We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
Weymouth New Testament For we maintain that it is as the result of faith that a man is held to be righteous, apart from actions done in obedience to Law.
World English Bible We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
Young’s Literal Translation therefore do we reckon a man to be declared righteous by faith, apart from works of law.
LET US BE HONEST, IN YOUR OPINION, CAN YOU BELIEVE IN GOD WITHOUT DOING HIS LAW? WHY DON’T YOU KILL OR RAPE, ISN’T IT BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING HIS COMMANDMENT?
The book of
Romans (KJV) concluded that the law should not be made void;
[Romans 3:31] Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
THE BOOK OF
JAMES CONFIRMS THAT FAITH WITHOUT DEEDS IS WORTHLESS;
James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
James 2:20 O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?
James 2:24 As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone.
SEE? THE ABOVE VERSES WERE MAIN REASONS WHY MARTIN LUTHER WANTED TO EXCLUDE THE BOOK OF JAMES FROM HIS OWN BIBLE VERSION.
Boy Bautista @Renz , 1 Corinthians 12:12 King James Version (KJV) 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
Renz @Boy Bautista So what about this verse? It confirms my previous statements that the Church is a body of people.
Boy Bautista @Renz , I was a Catholic and still surrounded by Catholics, I never seen even one not living in sins. By their fowl words, vices, and image worship. While the real born-again Christians are full of praise and thanksgiving to God and good words and good works. Yet, our holiness and righteousness were not earned but imputed to us by Jesus Christ.
Renz @Boy Bautista So you are living
in a sinless life now, how sure are you? You know what, whatever your Church
does, it does not matter to God, it is useless because you rebelled from His
Church, You are not belong to God anymore. You made your own gate to Heaven
rather than the gate made by Christ on Peter. Saint Paul predicted already the
people like you;
[2 Timothy 4:3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
Here in my place, the priests keep holding masses every day from dawn to evening, the Catholics around me are worshiping God warmly. They don’t keep attacking other religions. They are brave, they spread the Gospel even the most dangerous Muslim area. But you (born again), do not, you take your converts from Catholics, investing their children, poisoning their minds that Catholic are worshiping images. You don’t go to dangerous area because you are afraid (weak faith). You just wait when an area become Catholic, And then you enter there, poisoning the products of Catholics.
Boy Bautista @Renz , “the gate made by Christ on Peter”, you created your own gate with your out of context interpretation. Jesus said, “thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church”. He’s referring to himself the rock of all ages, existed from everlasting to everlasting. Jesus did not said, “I will build my church upon Peter”.
Renz @Boy Bautista It shows that you are not aware of the origin of the name, “Peter”. It originated from the Greek word, “petros” which means rock. Peter’s previous name was Simon, Jesus called him as rock or Petros because He made him the foundation of His Church. In other word, Jesus said to Simon, “you are rock and on this rock I will build my Church”
Boy Bautista @Renz, a body of people without the Holy Spirit living in them cannot become a church that is holy dwelling place of God. They are basically categorized as cult, RC is a cult.
Renz @ Boy Bautista, Wrong, the Church was already built by Jesus on Simon Peter, how can you say the Church of God cannot become a church? The Church (body of people) is not the dwelling place of God, but His kingdom founded on Earth for eternity. What is more cult, the group that can connect its origin to Peter, or the group that can connect only its origin to Martin Luther?
Boy Bautista @Renz, Romans 10:17 King James Version (KJV) 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Renz @Boy Bautista your KJV teaches you already that the law should not be made void through faith (Romans 3:31), and faith is worthless without deeds (James 2:20). So you better don’t propose a verse anymore to prove your doctrine. I sense that you have no interest in seeking the truth.
Boy Bautista @Renz , Origin to Peter church is so shameful because he denied Jesus 3 times. The Living Church is everyone born with new life on JESUS. The RC cannot understand this even the pope.
Renz @Boy Bautista If Peter’s church is so shameful, then why your church copied the Bible? Why your church use the book of Peter in your Bible? Since your church followed the Scriptures of a so shameful church, therefore, your church is also so shameful, right? You don’t know what you are talking about. If RC (which is the originator of the Bible) does not understand God’s teachings, how much more your own church, which was founded very recently? Your “faith alone” doctrine even contradicts the teachings of the Bible. And yet you have the audacity to claim that you know the Bible better than the Catholic Church.
Boy Bautista @Renz , The Truth is Jesus. The law is there for you to know that you are a SINNER. No sinner can save himself by doing good works. If ever can, Jesus should have not come and paid all sins by His blood.
Renz @Boy Bautista The law was made only to let us know
that we are sinners, so after Jesus saved us, don’t we need to follow the law
and continue sinning? This is ridiculous. Why is it that Jesus told the
prostitute woman to sin no more if the law is no longer necessary? No matter
how hard you do good works, but you have no faith the saving work of Jesus, you
cannot be saved also _this is what Saint
Paul meant in his teaching. The Bible teaches us that faith and doing the law
should go together in order to save our lives.
Boy Bautista @Renz , Jesus did not say, “On you Peter”. Perhaps the reason is you don’t who Jesus is, The Rock, The Foundation, The Kingdom, The Word, The Almighty God, The Way, The Truth, The Life. etc, etc..
Renz @Boy Bautista If truly you know Jesus and His firm
believer, don’t play game, let us be honest. Jesus founded His Church on rock
(peter). Jesus changed Simon’s name into Peter because He chose him as the
foundation of His Church. This is one of the sicknesses of rebellious
Christians who could not topple the Catholic Church’s doctrine, they will
resort to word-for-word basis. We are no longer a child that cannot understand
a simple sentence. Love the truth because Jesus is the truth.
Boy Bautista @Renz , The Truth is Jesus. The law is there for you to know that you are a SINNER. No sinner can save himself by doing good works. If ever can, Jesus should have not come and paid all sins by His blood.
Renz @Boy Bautista It is not knowing
that you are a sinner, but the law is there for us to stop sinning. No sinner
can save himself by doing good works if you don’t have faith the saving work of
Jesus. You must believe the saving work of Jesus first. Because there are
people who do good works but don’t believe the salvation provided by Jesus, for
instance the Muslims, they believe that by doing good works alone, they can go
to paradise.
Boy Bautista @Renz , All of the books in the Bible were written by Hebrews, no single Catholic contributed. Salvation can be received from Jesus Christ alone. Good works that shall follow are fruits of salvation, but, if you continue the sinful lifestyle, that means you have not Jesus Christ nor believe nor have faith in Him. Works to earn salvation are direct rejection of Jesus Christ’s offer of free salvation. You obviously don’t understand “salvation by grace”, because you want to earn it.
Renz @Boy Bautista where did the protestants get the Bible in 1517? don’t tell me the Bible suddenly went into their hands? the Catholics were the ones who kept the Scriptures. and they were the ones who selected the inspired books then compiled them as bible. You should read the history so that you wouldn’t end up lying.
If salvation comes first (through faith) therefore good works comes as a result, then why there are protestants who still sinning? I don’t think they don’t believe the saving work of Jesus. There is a Born Again Church closed to our house built 8 years ago, And I had noticed that their number grew from one to more than a hundred. But I had also noticed two years after their number declined, their number today is less than 20 mostly children. I asked why their number declined, one of the ex-member said, (who is my cousin) that their number started declining when the members found out that their pastor had affairs with 3 lady members. I don’t think that this pastor doesn’t believe the saving work of Jesus. So your doctrine is inconsistent. The teaching of Saint Paul is very clear, that we can be saved through faith aside from obeying the law.
I DID STUDY. AND THIS IS WHAT I HAVE LEARNT; GOD FOUNDED A KINGDOM ON EARTH FOR ETERNITY,
[Psalm 78:69] (Aramaic Bible in Plain English) “He built His holy place upon the height and He prepared it in the earth for eternity.
[Daniel 2:44] “At the time of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. No other people will be permitted to rule it. It will smash all the other kingdoms and put an end to them. And it will be established forever”
GOD SAYS HE WILL SET JESUS OVER HIS HOUSE (THE CHURCH AND KINGDOM FOREVER);
[1 Chronicles 17:14] I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.
GOD SAYS THIS KINGDOM WILL NOT BE DESTROYED AND WILL ENDURE FOREVER, THEREFORE NO MORE KINGDOM AFTER THIS;
[2 Samuel 7:16] “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”
[Daniel 7:14] “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed”.
[Jeremiah 50:5] “They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
JESUS ASSURED THAT THE CHURCH HE FOUNDED ON PETER WOULD NOT BE OVERCOME BY THE GATES OF HELL (OTHER RELIGIONS). SO IT IS NOT TRUE THAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS CORRUPTED:
[Matthew 16:18] You are Peter, and I can guarantee that on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not overpower it.
JESUS PREACHED THIS CHURCH OR KINGDOM TO THE PEOPLE;
[Matthew 9:35] Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
If you are a member of a Church which does not believe or teach about Holy Ones (Saints) and holy things, it’s best for you to leave your present religion right away because the Bible is teaching about Saints and holy things. God is commanding us to be holy or become Saints if we want to enter into His kingdom.
[Numbers 10:21] Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things. The tabernacle was to be set up before they arrived.
[Deuteronomy 33:2] He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.
[1 Chronicles 29:3] Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God:
[2 Chronicles 6:41] Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
[Isaiah 35:8] And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.
[Psalm 37:37] Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
[Psalm 48:1] Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain.
[Psalm 50:3-5] He will break the long silence which Heaven has observed. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence…He shall call to the heavens above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
[Isaiah 63:15] Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
[Psalm 149:5] Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds
[Zechariah 14:5] You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.
[Zechariah 14:21] Indeed, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD of Hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take some pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite.
[Daniel 7:18] ‘But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.’
[Daniel 7:21] As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom.
[Daniel 7:22] until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom.
[Daniel 7:25] And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
[Daniel 7:27] And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.
[Matthew 27:53] and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
[Romans 1:7] To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ
[Romans 15:25] Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem to serve the saints there.
[1 Corinthians 6:2] Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
[1 Thessalonians 3:13] so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.
[Philemon 1:5] hearing of your love and the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,
[Philemon 1:7] I take great joy and encouragement in your love, because you,brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
[Jude 1:14] Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones
[Ephesians 1:4] For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
[Ephesians 4:24] And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness
[Revelation 5:11] Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.
[Revelation 14:12] Here is a call for the endurance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
[Revelation 17:6] I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and of the witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
The books in Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) was written from thousands to hundreds of years before the Birth of Jesus. But amazingly, the thing about the son was already told in Tanakh who is also the mighty God and the everlasting Father. The Muslims cannot accept that God has a Son and accuse the Bible to be corrupted. Some Christian sects reduce Jesus into a mere man and reject some books of the Bible. Jesus said He exists even before the foundation of the world (John 17:5 & 24) and He come down from Heaven (John 16:28), so how come He is only a man? The existence of the Son in Tanakh proves that Christians (Catholics) have root in worshiping Jesus as God. Below are Biblical verses mentioning about the Son of God or the Son of Man.
Quoted from Tanakh/Old Testament
1. [Proverbs 30:4] Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of His Son? Surely you know!
2. [Psalm 2:11-12] Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
COMMENT: This verse says that the Son can be angry and has the power to perish us, but those who will take refuge of Him will be blessed. Jesus Christ is our blessed hope, our great God and Savior [Titus 2:13].
3. [Psalm 2:7] The king proclaims the LORD’s decree: “The LORD said to me, ‘You are My Son. Today I have become your Father.
4. [Psalm 80:15] Even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, And on the Son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.
5.[Psalm 89:27] And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth
6. [2 Samuel 7:12-14] And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son.
COMMENT: In this verse God tells king David that after he died He will establish a forever kingdom on his descendant. He will be the father to this offspring, and he will be the son to Him. Jesus is a descendant of David and claimed that God is His Father (John 6:40) to confirm the prophesy. God alos acknowledged and declared Jesus as His Son (Mark 9:7 & Matthew 17:5).
7. [1 Kings 15:4] Nevertheless, for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a Son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong.
8. [1 Chronicles 17:13-14] I will be his father, and he will be My son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.”
9. [Isaiah 7:14] Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and she will callHim ‘Immanuel’ (God with us).
10. [Isaiah 9:6] For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
COMMENT:This verse tells us that the son to be born is GOD almighty, the everlasting FATHER, and wonderful COUNSELOR (Spirit of Truth, John 15:26)
11. [Daniel 3:25] He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
12. [Daniel 7:13] “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
13. [Hosea 11:1] When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called My Son out of Egypt.
Quoted from New Testament
1. [Matthew 3:17] And a voice from heaven said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased
2. [Matthew 8:20] Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
3. [Matthew 14:32-33] And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!”
4. [Matthew 16-17] Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
5. [Matthew 17:5] While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!
6. [Luke 9:26] If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.
7. [Luke 22:70] So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” Jesus answered them, “You say that I am.”
8. [Luke 17:22-24] And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. “They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day
9. [Luke 21:27-28] At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
10. [Luke 22:70] So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” Jesus answered them, “You say that I am.”
11. [Mark 1:10-11] Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.
12. [Mark 2:27-28] Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath”.
13. [Mark 9:7] Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
14. [Mark 14:21 & Matthew 26:24] For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
15. [John 1:33-34] John (the Baptist) testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit’. “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.“
16. [John 3:13] No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.
17. [John 3:14] Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
18. [John 3:17-18] For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
19. [John 3:36] Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
20. [John 5:25] Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
21. [John 5:27] And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
22. [John 6:40] For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
23. [John 8:28] So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.
24. [John 10:36] what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent to the world? why then you curse me of blasphemy because I said, “I am God’s Son? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the father.
25. [John 12: 34] The crowd replied, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever. So how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
26. [1 John 5:20] We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
27. [Hebrews 1:5] For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are My Son; today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?
This writing is to counter the allegation of the non-Catholics that say people who died are asleep, thus it is wrong for Catholics to ask intercession from the Saints. The truth is, when you die blameless, your soul will go directly to paradise. The function of a court is to try the person who committed a crime. Why you will face judgment if there’s no case against you? As Saint Paul teaches;
[1 Timothy 1:9] We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers
If you have followed the will of Jesus perfectly, you will die with your soul awake and you will not face judgment. On the other hand, if you die with a sin, God will cause your soul to sleep, then He will wake you up on the Last Day to face judgment.
1. Abel pleaded God though he was dead
[Genesis 4:8-10] “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
2. King Saul had talked to the soul of prophet Samuel
[1 Samuel 28:3-19] Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for himand buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land. The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa.When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” “There is one in Endor,” they said. So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one Iname.” But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?” Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.” Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” “Bring up Samuel,” he said. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.” “What does he look like?” he asked. “An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. Samuel said to Saul, “Why have youdisturbed me by bringing me up?” “I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.” Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy?The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David.Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today.The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”
3. Elisha prophesied although he was dead
[Sirach 48:13-14] Nothing was too hard for him, and when he was dead his body prophesied. As in his life he did wonders, so in death his deeds were marvelous.
4. The souls of the slain people (martyrs) cried out to Jesus when will He avenge their blood
[Revelation 6:9-10] And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld. And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
Believers of Islam, Iglesia Ni Kristo, and other gates of Hell teach that Jesus is not God, that He’s a mere man and prophet. But I must say that these groups are liars if not ignorant of the contents of the Bible, because there are a lot of verses telling about the Godhood of Jesus. You cannot just pick a single or two verses from the Bible to justify your opinion. You need to read its entirety for you to understand its idea before drawing a conclusion. Below are some of the Biblical verses proving the divinity of Jesus;
Quoted from the Old Testament
1. [Psalm 2:12] Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
COMMENT: This verse says that the son can perish us if we rebel against him, so he is almighty
2. [Psalm 45:6-7] Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.
COMMENT: In the verses above, God the Father called the Son as God, kindly read (Hebrews 1:8-9) below.
3. [Isaiah 7:14]: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us).
COMMENT: To live with the son is to livewith God at the same time.
4. [Isaiah 9:6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
COMMENT: The above verse that comes from Tanakh strongly testifies that the Son (Jesus) is the almighty God Himself. He is also the everlasting Father and Counselor (Spirit of truth, John 15:26). This verse testifies the Holy Trinity of God which is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
5. [Isaiah 48:17] Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things, that govern thee in the way that thou walkest.
COMMENT: The Holy One in Israel who is called the God of the whole Earth is Jesus (Luke 1:35)
6. [Isaiah 54:5] “For your husband is your Maker, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of the whole earth.
Quoted form the New Testament
1. [Matthew 1:23] “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name “Immanuel” which means, “God with us”.
2. [Matthew 2:1-2] After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
COMMENT: The three wise men (the Magi) came to Jerusalem from faraway region only to worship Jesus _thus Jesus is God. The three wise men must be divinely informed about the arrival of God in the form of a man.
3. [Matthew 2:11] They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
4. [Matthew 4:6-7] “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
COMMENT: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” In other word, Jesus is telling Satan that, “I am your God, do not put me to the test.”
5. [Matthew 13:40-43] As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
COMMENT: In these verses, Jesus claims He has angels and will judge the world. If you have angels and you will judge the world, that means you are the king of the heavens or God.
6. [Matthew 14:32-33] And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!”
7. [Matthew 22:42-45] “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?” “David’s,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?
COMMENT: In this conversation, Jesus tells the people that Christ (who is Himself) is the Lord of David which is prophesied in Psalm 110:1.
8. [Matthew 28:9] Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.
COMMENT: This verse attests that Jesus was worshiped by His believers proving that they looked at Him as their God. And Jesus did not rebuke them for doing so.
9. [Mark 2:27-28] Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
COMMENT: In the verses above, Jesus disclares that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath day is the rest day of the Jews appointed by God for them to honor Him.
10. [Luke 1:68] Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.
COMMENT: Here, the people prophesied that the presence of Jesus in their lives is the visitation of God.
11. [Luke 2:11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
COMMENT: Here, the angel announces that the born child is the Lord and the savior of mankind. There is no other savior mentioned in Tanakh except God, so the born son is God.
12. [Luke 23:43] Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ”Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you shall be with me in paradise.”
COMMENT: Jesus told to one of the criminals that He has authority to admit a person in Paradise anytime. So this means that Jesus is the owner of Paradise, thus He is God. Jesus claimed that He and the Father are one (John 10:30). The Father is in Him and He is in the Father (John 10:38). What the Father does, Jesus does (John 5:19).
13. [John 1:1] “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
14. [John 1:18] No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
15. [John 5:18] This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
16. [John 8:23-24] “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I AM HE, you will indeed die in your sins.”
COMMENT: From the verses above, Jesus declared himself as “I Am He”, the title used by the Father to refer Himself in Isaiah 43:10.
17. [John 10:28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand
COMMENT: In this verse, Jesus declares that He can give eternal life. There is no one who can give eternal life except God.
18. [John 10:30] “I and the Father are one.”
19. [John 10:33] “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
COMMENT: The verses above testify that Jesus claimed Godhood contrary to the allegations of Islam and Iglesia in Cristo that Jesus did not claim divinity.
20. [John 13:13] “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.”
21. [John 14:2-3] My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
COMMENT: Jesus tells His believers that He is going to prepare their rooms in Heaven. And He will receive them personally in the kingdom of His Father. In other words, Jesus claimed that He and the Father are the owners of Heaven, therefore they are one in Godhood.
22. [John 14:9] Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?
COMMENT: In here, Jesus claims that the one who has seen Him has seen the Father also. Meaning, He and the Father are one being.
23. [John 14:11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
24. [John 16:28] I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
COMMENT: From the verse above, Jesus claims He is not basically human but went out from God to enter the world.
25. [John 20:28] Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”
26. [Acts 7:59-60] And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
COMMENT: From the passage above, the first Christian martyr (Stephen) appealed to Jesus to receive his spirit, in other word, Stephen looked at Jesus as his God.
27. [Romans 9:5] Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.
28. [2 Peter 1:1] Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
29. [1 John 5:20] We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
30. [Titus 2:13] while we wait for the blessed hope–the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
31. [1 Timothy 3:16] And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
32. [1 Timothy 6:14-16] “our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”
33. [Philippians 2:5-8] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not a thing to be grasped to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
34. [Colossians 1:15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
35. [1 Corinthians 4:4] The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
36.[2 Corinthians 4:5] For it is not ourselves that we preach; we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
37. [Hebrews 1:3] The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
38. [Hebrews 1:8-9] But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
39. [Revelation 1:17-18] When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
COMMENT: In these verses, Jesus declares Himself as “the First and the Last”, the same title used by the Father to refer Himself in Tanakh.
40. [Revelation 4:11] “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
41. [Revelation 11:8] And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city that is figuratively called “Sodom” and “Egypt,” the city where their Lord was crucified.
42. [Revelation 21:6-7] And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. The one who is victorious will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.
COMMENT: In this passage, Jesus declares that He is the God of those who are victorious, and He regards the victorious as His children.
43. [Revelation 22:16] “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
Renz Pejana: I challenge every Muslim to defend this contradictions. Failure to explain these, means Qur’an is fake and invented by Muhammad;
CONTRADICTIONS IN QUR’AN
According to [Qur’an 11:42-43], a son of Noah is drowned in the flood, But according to [21:76] all sons of Noah are saved from the flood. Which of statements is true?
In [Qur’an 5:90], wine is prohibited on Earth because it is the handwork of Satan, But ironically in [47:15 & 83:22-25], rivers of wine is the prize for the righteous. So it means there will be numerous drunkards in Heaven?
[Qur’an 3:59] says, Jesus is created by Allah from dust, so He is an ordinary human; But in [66:12, 19:17, & 3:45] Jesus is formed by Allah through breathing his Spirit or Word into the body of virgin Mary. Analyzing these verses, Jesus is not an ordinary human because he has no human father, in fact he is the Spirit or Word of Allah; But behold in [43:61 & 4:159] Jesus becomes a Deity for He is the knowledge of Resurrection or Judgment Day. Who is Jesus really in Qur’an, an ordinary human, Son or Spirit from Allah, or God?
[Qur’an 66:12, 19:17, & 3:45] tells us that Jesus is originated from the spirit or Word of Allah; But in [5:17] says that following Christ is a blasphemy, and Allah will destroy Christ. So it means Allah will destroy his own Spirit or Word?
[Qur’an 2:62] says, those who believe in Qur’an, and follow Jewish Scriptures, and Christians will have rewards from their Lord; But in [5:17] says that following Christ is a blasphemy, and Allah will destroy Christ.
[Qur’an 5:5] it is lawful to marry a chaste woman among the people of the Book (take note that Muslims view Christians as non-believers), But in [2:221] says, do not marry unbelieving woman. Which of these regulations is true?
[Qur’an 2:256] says, “let there be no compulsion in religion”, But [2:191 & 9:5] commands Muslims to slay the disbelievers”. Which of these commandments is true?
[Qur’an 55:14] says man is created from a ringing clay; But [15:26 &28] tells, man is created from a sounding clay and black mud; But worse [20:55] says, man is made from earth or soil; But even worse [25:54] says, man is created from water; But worst [16:4 & 80:19] says, man is created from a sperm-drop; But even worst [96:2] states that man is created from a clot of blood; But even so worst [19:9, 19:67, & 52:35] state that, man is created from nothing. Which of these seven contradicting verses is true?
In [Qur’an 3:39], John is a confirmer of the word of Allah, but in [5:46 & 61:6] Jesus is the confirmer of the Word of Allah. Which of the two is the truth?
[Qur’an 4:153] Allah forgave Moses and his people for worshiping golden calf, But in [4:48 & 4:116] Allah does not forgive those who worship gods other than him. Which of the two is true?
Kit Snow :
Renz Pejana, Your understanding of context throughout these verses is lacking. You must consider verses pertaining to wartime for example, when you are permitted to slay an enemy etc. The verse of Noah, his family was saved from the flood, it does not say all of his sons were saved, the translation states family. I have reread everything you stated and I dont see a solid argument, all of the verses can be argued in favor of being not a contradiction. I have not seen one single proven error or contradiction in the Quran
Renz Pejana : Kit Snow, why don’t you go on answering each of my questions? Even if there is no war, your Koran commands you to kill the disbelievers. Here is the verse;
[9:5] “But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful”.
And also there is force applied on disbelievers, if they don’t accept Islam, they will be killed..
Kit Snow :
When we read from verse 1 of chapter 9, it states that there was a treaty which the Pagan Arabs broke. Thus, Allah in the Quran says, that HE gave them four months. Verse 9:4 states that Allah will punish those who broke the treaty, this verse is only aimed at those who broke the treaty, it did not affect those who abided by the treaty. When we read the passage (9:5), it is evident, it’s talking about a war with the pagan Arabs. This was a historical event that happened in the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (p). Furthermore, verse 9:13 provides proof that it was the pagans who started this war. The verse states, “Would you not fight a people who broke their oaths and determined to expel the Messenger, and they had begun to attack you first?” This is proof that Prophet Muhammad (p) did not start this war, but it was those treacherous pagan Arabs that started to expel and fight the Messenger. Again, context means everything.
The Quran states you cannot take an innocent life unless its for murder or corruption of the land. Even in the USA up until 1990, if you are charged with murder or treason, which could be “corruption of your land” it is punishable by death. Chapter 5 verse 32: “Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.”
Renz Pejana :Kit Snow, there is no treaty broken by the pagans, [9:1] clearly states that Allah/Muhammad himself was the one who declared cancellation from his treaty with pagans. He revoked the covenant of every party. Allah/Muhammad gave the pagans four months to accept Islam, or else they will be killed. After these four months Allah or Muhammad has no more obligation of the treaty _ this is the whole story. Islam apologists tried so hard to cover this barbaric commandments of Muhammad/Allah. He was the one who initiated the attack or war. This is the story how or where chapter 9 of Koran originated. Kindly read;
The Book of the Major Classes, (Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir) volume 2, pages 208-9, written by Ibn Sa’d Then (occurred) the Pilgrimage of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq with the people in Dhu al-Hijjah of the ninth year from the hijrah of the Apostle of Allah.
They (narrators) said: The Apostle of Allah appointed Abu Bakr al-Siddiq to be in charge of the hajj. He set out with three hundred persons from al-Madinah. The Apostle of Allah sent with him, twenty sacrificial animals, whom he had adorned with necklaces, and whose humps he had pierced with his own hands. Najiyah Ibn Jundab al-Aslami was in charge (of the sacrificial animals). Abu Bakr carried five sacrificial animals with him. When he reached al-‘Arj, Ali Ibn Abi Talib joined him and he was riding al-Qaswa the she-camel of the Apostle of Allah. Thereupon Abu Bakr said to him: Has the Apostle of Allah given you charge of the pilgrimage? He said: No, But he has sent me to read to the people “Freedom from obligation” and the dissolution agreements of all parties. Then Abu Bakr proceeded and performed Hajj with the people. Ali Ibn Abi Talib read to the people: “Freedom from obligations,” on the day of sacrifice, near al-Jamrah, and revoked the covenant of every party; and he said: After this year no polytheists will make a pilgrimage nor a naked person will circumambulate (the Ka’bah).
To support my argument that Muhammad really meant killing the disbelievers of Islam whether in war or not, I provide another sword verses. Kindly read;
[4:104] And do not weaken in pursuit of the enemy. If you should be suffering – so are they suffering as you are suffering, but you expect from Allah that which they expect not. And Allah is ever Knowing and Wise.
[4:89] “They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks.”
[8:12] “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”
[9:41-42] Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew. Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee, but the distance seemed too far for them. Yet will they swear by Allah (saying): If we had been able we would surely have set out with you. They destroy their souls, and Allah knoweth that they verily are liars.
Furthermore, the Islamic ‘suicide bombing, beheading, and mutilation of bodies’ in different places are evidences prompted by these Koranic laws. These facts prove that even if Islam is not under attack, they will kill innocent people.
Muhammad even raided caravans and killed people during Kaaba pilgrimage. Kindly read;
The Truth:
After his eviction by the Meccans, Muhammad and his Muslims found refuge many miles away in Medina where they were not being bothered by their former adversaries. Despite this, Muhammad sent his men on seven unsuccessful raids against Meccan caravans before finally finding one – whereupon they murdered the driver and plundered the contents. This particular caravan was especially vulnerable because the attack came during the holy months, when the merchants were least expecting it due to the generally agreed upon rule that the tribes of the area would not attack each other during that time;
[A Muslim raider] who had shaved his head, looked down on them [the Meccan caravan], and when they saw him they felt safe and said, “They are pilgrims, you have nothing to fear from them.” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 424, Ibn Kathir V.2 p.242) The shaved head caused the Muslims to look like pilgrims rather than raiders, which instilled a false sense of security in the drivers. However, Islam was a different sort of religion from what the Meccans were used to: [The Muslim raiders] encouraged each other, and decided to kill as many as they could of them and take what they had. Waqid shot Amr bin al-Hadrami with an arrow and killed him… (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 425; see also Ibn Kathir V.2 p.243) According to Ibn Kathir, the Muslims living in Mecca did not dispute that their brethren in Medina had killed, captured and stolen from the Quraish, but they were reluctant to accept that this had occurred during the sacred months: The Quraysh said that Muhammad and his Companions violated the sanctity of the Sacred Month and shed blood, confiscated property and took prisoners during it. Those who refuted them among the Muslims who remained in Makkah replied that the Muslims had done that during the month of Sha`ban (which is not a sacred month). (Ibn Kathir) Faced with losing face by admitting his error, Muhammad went into his hut and emerged with a convenient and timely revelation “from Allah” that provided retroactive permission for the raid (and, of course sanctioned the stolen possessions for his own use);
“They ask you concerning the sacred month about fighting in it. Say: Fighting in it is a grave matter, and hindering (men) from Allah’s way and denying Him, and (hindering men from) the Sacred Mosque and turning its people out of it, are still graver with Allah, and persecution is graver than slaughter” (Quran 2:217)
Notice that the Quran does not say that the Meccans were guilty of killing Muslims, only that they were “persecuting” them by preventing them from the ‘sacred mosque’ (the Kaaba). The killing of the Meccan driver by the Muslims was the first deadly encounter between the two adversaries. This is of acute embarrassment to contemporary Muslim apologists, who like to say that Islam is against killing for any reason other than self-defense.
For this reason, there has arisen the modern myth that the Muslims of that time were simply “taking back” what was theirs – rather than exacting revenge and stealing. Contemporary apologists like to say that Muhammad and his followers were basically robbed by the Meccans on their way out of town. (The 1976 movie, “The Message,” perpetuates this misconception as well).
Apologists are somewhat vague as to how property theft justifies killing (particularly on the part of someone they otherwise like to portray as the paragon of virtue); nor do they attempt to explain how the particular victims of subsequent Muslim raids (usually the caravan drivers and laborers) were directly responsible for this supposed theft. A larger problem is that there is no evidence to support the misconception that the Muslims were “taking back what was theirs”; in fact, it is specifically contradicted by the early historical record.
The event of the first attack on Meccan caravans is detailed quite well by Muhammad’s biographer, Ibn Ishaq/Hisham, but nowhere does he mention the contents of the caravan as being Muslim property. In fact Ishaq explicitly describes the goods as belonging to the Meccans: “A caravan of Quraish carrying dry raisins and leather and other merchandise of Quraish passed by…” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 424)
Note also that the cargo plundered from the caravan included raisins, which would have long since perished had they been from grapes grown and dried by the Muslim before they left Mecca nearly a full year earlier. Moreover, a fifth of the loot was given to Muhammad as war booty, which would not have been the case if it rightfully belonged to another Muslim (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 425).
Most of the Muslims living in Mecca had few assets to begin with, having been drawn largely from the lower rungs of the social ladder, but those who did would have had several years to liquidate their assets or transport them to a new location. As the instigator of the discord, Muhammad was the only Muslim literally forced to flee Mecca in the dead of night, but even his business affairs were sewn up on his behalf by Ali, his son-in-law: Ali stayed in Mecca for three days and nights until he had restored the deposits which the apostle held. (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 335)
So, if the Muslims at Medina weren’t trying to recover stolen goods, why were they plundering Meccan caravans? Muhammad explains the real reason for the looting and the killing;
“If you have killed in the sacred month, they have kept you back from the way of Allah with their unbelief in Him, and from the sacred mosque, and have driven you from it when you were its people. This is a more serious matter with Allah then the killing of those of them whom you have slain. ‘And seduction is worse than killing.’ They used to seduce the Muslim in his religion until they made him return to unbelief after believing, and that is worse with Allah than killing.” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 426)
Thus, the justification for killing the Meccans and stealing their goods is purely religious. The only thing stolen from the Muslims was their ability to enter the sacred mosque (ie. complete the Haj ritual at the Kaaba). The innocent caravan drivers were fair game for Muhammad’s deadly raids simply because Muslims felt “kept back from the way of Allah” by the “unbelief” of the Meccan leadership. This is all the more apparent by the next major episode in which Muhammad sent his men to plunder caravans, which precipitated the Battle of Badr:
When the Apostle heard about Abu Sufyan coming from Syria, he summoned the Muslims and said, “This is the Quraish caravan containing their property. Go out to attack it, perhaps Allah will give it as a prey.” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 428) In this case the Meccans were returning to Mecca from a business trip to Syria. Any goods they were carrying would have been purchased from the Syrians.
Over the next nine years, the principal source of income for Muslims was wealth forcibly extracted from others. The targets of misfortune expanded well beyond the Meccans. By the time Muhammad died, his men were finding excuse to raid and steal from many other Arab tribes, Jews and Christians. Like the mafia, a protection racket gradually evolved where other tribes were allowed to live peacefully provided they paid tribute to Muslim rulers.
Kit Snow :
We could go back and forth forever on “history books and hadiths” that may or may not be accurate, the prophet Mohammed had the most books written against him than any other individual in history, so quoting me criteria that advises the prophet murdered and was a thief (which goes against the teachings of the Quran) is hard to take seriously. Let’s stay on topic of the Quran, God’s word and not on history books written and edited by man. I’m open to debate misconceptions in the Quran.
Renz Pejana : That is the last defense of Islam, deny the evidence as much as possible. These facts are supported by not just one author. Just reflect on Muhammad’s personal life whether he’s moralist or not. He fucked a nine year old girl and grabbed his adopted son’s wife. If you were in the shoes of his adopted son, how would you feel? Muhammad had no sense of delicacy and respect. By this, we can analyze that he’s not a righteous man.
Kit Snow :
“Evidence”?, “Facts”? Where are the facts about his wife being 9, actually if you do the math she is much older, supposedly. Look up Zakir Naiks talk on her age. And continuing on about facts…if what you stated was a fact, there would he no rational argument, but the actual fact is this topic of the caravans has been argued on both sides forever. It comes down to logic. If Mohammed did have a revelation and followed the revelation he recited. Than what is more likely, the accusation he raped, murdered and was a thief or that he didn’t?
Renz Pejana : These are the facts bout Aisha’s age;
Narrated Aisha: The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became all right, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, “Best wishes and Allah’s Blessing and a good luck.” Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah’s Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of NINE YEARS of age. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234)
Narrated Hisham’s father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married ‘Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was NINE YEARS OLD. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 236)
About the revelations, of course Muhammad invented those in order to justify his acts, or else his followers would leave him. And about Zakir Naik, don’t believe him for he is a proven liar. He even thought that vitamin C was invented.
Here are another facts that Muhammad fucked Aisha at nine years in case you are not contented with my earlier facts given to you;
Narrated ‘Aisha that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was NINE YEARS old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death). (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64; see also Numbers 65 and 88)
SAHIH MUSLIM
‘A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was NINE, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old. (Sahih Muslim, Book 008, Number 3311)
SUNAN ABU DAWUD
Aisha said: The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) married me when I was seven years old. The narrator Sulaiman said: Or six years. He had intercourse with me when I was NINE YEARS old. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Number 2116)
Narrated Aisha: Ummul Mu’minin: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) married me when I was seven or six. When we came to Medina, some women came. According to Bishr’s version: Umm Ruman came to me when I was swinging. They took me, made me prepared and decorated me. I was then brought to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), and he took up cohabitation with me when I was NINE. She halted me at the door, and I burst into laughter. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41, Number 49)
AND if you are really open for a debate about your Koran without outside source, I just give you only four questions to answer. Prove to the Christians that Koran is the inspired word of God. If you can’t, I hope you can realize how fake is Islam. Here they are;
Islam believes Allah and the God of Abraham in the Bible are one. Qur’an says, none can change the word of God [6:115], How come Islam accused the Bible to be corrupted? It shows that Muslims don’t believe what Allah is declaring that his word cannot be corrupted or changed
Allah claimed that he is God, (the all-wise, all-knower, and knower of the unseen). In verses [4:171 & 5:116] Allah thought that the persons in Trinity are Jesus, Mary, and Spirit of God/Allah (in truth it is God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). How come he failed to know the persons of Trinity? It turned out that he is the ignorant God. If Allah does not know a simple topic here on Earth, how much more on matters about spirit and heavens?
[Qur’an 12:39, 3:6, & 58:21] say Allah is almighty, strong, and wise, but Satan was able to sneak his words during Allah’s revelation to Muhammad [53:19-20]. It turns out that he has no control over Satan and Muhammad in uttering Satanic verses. [Deuteronomy 18:20] says, “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.” So if Muhammad had uttered other gods and Allah was not able to stop him, the verdict is, these two are fake.
In [Qur’an 15:19, 20:53, 43:10] Allah says that the Earth is spread out like carpet or shaped flat, but in actual, the Earth is globular or circle. The all-knower Allah turns out to be unknowing Allah.
Kit Snow :
How old was Mary, mother of Jesus when she married Joseph? 12. How old was the age of marriage in the USA just 100 years ago? Utah was 7, California was 10, all through out the USA it was 7-10 years of age. How old were the brides of Europen kings throughout History? 5-10 years old was common, yet I don’t see you pointing fingers at USA or Europe or antywhere else in the world . Marrying young was obviously common place even just 100 years ago all around the world.
There was no school or education or career a women is saving herself for back in those days, when she is scientifically and biologically fit to become a mother then she married, there was nothing else for a woman to do in those days besides make a family.
I always find anyone against Islam to always be angry in their debates, use disturbing language and name call.
What was the ‘Age of Consent’ in European and American history, prior to the 20th century? In this article, I shall bring forth evidences which demonstrate that the ‘Age of consent’ was indeed, very young, even by today’s standards. I will provide academic sources which show that girls were allowed to be married at the age of 10 years old and sometimes times, as young as 7 years old, legally. It was norm just over 100 years ago to see girls being married off at very young ages. In most cultures, the marriage would have been consummated at the onset of puberty. 1. Professor of history Margaret Wade Labarge “It needs to be remembered that many Medieval widows were not old, Important heiresses were often married between the ages of 5 and 10 and might find themselves widowed while still in their teens.” [1] 2. Professor Richard Wortley and Professor Stephen Smallbone, both of whom state that prior to the 1900s girls married very young, “In Medieval and early modern European societies, the age of marriage remained low, with documented cases of brides as young as seven years, although marriages were typically not consummated until the girl reached puberty (Bullough 2004). Shakespeare’s Juliet was just 13, and there is no hint in the play that this was considered to be exceptional. The situation was similar on the other side of the Atlantic; Bullough reports the case in 1689 of a nine-year-old bride in Virginia. At the start of the nineteenth century in England, it was legal to have sex with a 10 year-old girl.” [2] 3. In the book, ‘Sex and Society’, “Until the late 20th century U.S. age of consent laws specifically names males as perpetrators and females as victims. Following English law, in which the age was set at 12 in 1275 and lowered to 10 in 1576, ages of consent in the American colonies were generally set at 10 or 12. The laws protected female virginity, which at the time was considered a valuable commodity until marriage. The theft of a girl’s chastity was seen as a property crime against her father and future husband. If two people were married and had sex, no matter what their age, no crime was committed because a woman was her husband’s property. In practice, too, the consent laws only protected white females, as many non-white females were enslaved or otherwise discriminated against by the legal system.” [3] 4. Richard A. Posner is chief judge of the U.S court of appeals, Seventh Circuit Chicago. Katherine B. Silbaugh is associate Professor at Boston University School of Law, they say that before the 1900s age of consent was ten years old, “The law governing the age of consent has changed dramatically in the United States during this century. Most states codified a statutory age of consent during the nineteenth century, and the usual age was ten years.” [4] 5. The Scottish Law prior to 1900s by Sir John Comyns and Stewart Kyd, “By the law of Scotland, a woman cannot contrabere sponsalia before her age of seven years. 1 Rol. 343. I. 20. But by common law, persons may marry at any age. Co. Lit. 33. A. And upon such marriage the wife shall be endowed, if the attain the age of nine years, of what whatsoever age her husband be; but not before the age of nine years. Co. L. 33. A.” [5] 6. Professor of Sociology Anthony Joseph Paul Cortese says that a 50 year old man being with a girl under 10 (being intimate) Under United States law was legal until the mid 1960s, “In 1962, the American Law Institute recommended that the legal age of consent to sex- that is, the age below which sex is defined as statutory rape- be dropped in every state to age 10 (Katchadourian and Lund 1972: 439). In fact, until the mid 1960s, the legal age of consent in Delaware was 7 (Kling, 1965: 216). So a 50 year old man could legally have sexual intercourse with a 7 year old boy or girl.” [6] 7. Maureen Dabbagh is a writer and author. Born in Michigan, she serves as a Virginia Supreme Court Family Mediator, she echoes the same statements as previous authors, “…the nineteenth century, the minimum age of consent for sexual intercourse in most American states was 10 years. In Delaware it was only 7 years.” [7]
Renz Pejana : Kit Snow, being a prophet, a messenger of the word of God, Muhammad should have known the marriageable time for woman prescribed by God. He should set himself as a model of a Godly or refined behavior. Yes this activity was practiced before, but it doesn’t mean God instructed or allowed it. I’ll give you verses in the Bible about the marriageable age for woman;
[Ezekiel 16:7-8] ” I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked. ‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.
: The woman’s height has fully grown, her breast and pubic hair have grown and developed, and she is old enough for love (meaning she is morally conscious). Aisha was not fully grown and developed physically and mentally when Muhammad touched her. Why Muhammad failed to know the sexual prescription by God? Because it was not God who sent him. No prophets recorded in the Bible touching a child and raping women.
Contrary to the Bible, Quran permits touching a child girl. Verses [65:1-4] provide the specifications on when to divorce a wife. Verse [65:4] mentions a wife who has not menstruated as yet, or an immature girl. Kindly read;
[65:4]
SAHIH INTERNATIONAL
“And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women – if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah – He will make for him of his matter ease.
MUHSIN KHAN
And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the ‘Iddah (prescribed period), if you have doubts (about their periods), is three months, and for those who have no courses [(i.e. they are still immature) their ‘Iddah (prescribed period) is three months likewise, except in case of death]. And for those who are pregnant (whether they are divorced or their husbands are dead), their ‘Iddah (prescribed period) is until they deliver (their burdens), and whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him.
AND also Quran permits raping (slave) woman [23:6]. Verses [23: 1-6] narrate the successful believers: those who are humble in their prayers; those who avoid vain talk; those who are active in deeds of charity; and those who abstain from sex except from their wives and SLAVES. Kindly read;
[23:6]
MUHSIN KHAN
“Except from their wives or (the captives and slaves) that their right hands possess, for then, they are free from blame”
: this verse tells that it is not sinful for a Muslim man to fuck his slave. I doubt if these facts for you are righteous. I doubt if you can afford to give your child daughter in marriage or you have a sexual urge for a child. These are proofs that, it is Islam which corrupted or twisted the moral teaching of the Bible. Their allegation that the Bible is corrupted has no basis. Supposing that God really looked at the Bible as being corrupted, He must have given to Muhammad the original, the pure one. In contrast, God would be a liar if His word becomes corrupted, since He said that none can change His word.. The Bible teaches to have one wife only, but Koran teaches polygamy; the Bible teaches to love your enemy, but Koran teaches killing of disbelievers and even its believers if necessary.
About an angry audience or debater, Christians and Muslim alike have tendency to get angry.. From my own point of view, the main cause why Christians get angry at Islam debaters because they are liars, they are inventing lies just to appear they are correct in the eyes of Muslims. So far I have not yet watched a Muslim debater who is not lying. Muslims just didn’t know their leaders’ falsehood since they are ignorant of the Bible and even their own Koran. On my part, I am not angry, I am just telling the truth so that Muslims will know that they are misled by a fake religion.
And about Mary’s age when married, the Bible does not specify her age. And if you say the Quran has said that, I don’t believe it, because Quran does not even know Mary personally, It thought that Mary was Merriam the sister of Aaron and Moses, daughter of Imran.
Kit Snow :
To answer your questions:
1.) Islam believes Allah and the God of Abraham in the Bible are one. Qur’an says, none can change the word of God [6:115], How come Islam accused the Bible to be corrupted? It shows that Muslims don’t believe what Allah is declaring that his word cannot be corrupted or changed
ANSWER : Sura 6:115 states “And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can alter His words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.” Muslims believe that the message sent to all the prophets, including Moses(Tora) and Yeshua(Injeel / Gospel) was meant for those specific people at that specific time. And it was never preserved. Now, the message of the Quran was meant for all mankind and is the last revelation. It has not been touched and remains preserved in it’s original language for over 1400 years to this day.
Renz Pejana : Brother, where is your evidence that the previous revelation was never preserved? God himself said none can change His revelation. You make God a liar by what you are saying. And where is your proof that Quran is meant for mankind? And how can you say Quran is pure? For after Muhammad’s death, there were many conflicting versions of Koran occurred. Uthman in his effort to solve the trouble, commanded to burn all copies except the version of Hudaifa.
2.) Allah claimed that he is God, (the all-wise, all-knower, and knower of the unseen). In verses [4:171 & 5:116] Allah thought that the persons in Trinity are Jesus, Mary, and Spirit of God/Allah (in truth it is God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). How come he failed to know the persons of Trinity? It turned out that he is the ignorant God. If Allah does not know a simple topic here on Earth, how much more on matters about spirit and heavens?
ANSWER :
Sura 4:171 states “O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, “Three”; desist – it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.”
Sura 5:116 states“And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah ?'” He will say, “Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen”
Nowhere in there does it claim that Allah thinks Mary is part of the trinity. in Sura 5:116 it mentions Mary because the Roman Catholics pray to statues of Mary as a saint. Brother, your understanding of these verses is off, maybe because you already have your mind made up instead of opening your heart and mind.
Renz Pejana : Brother, you are the one who should wake up, you are covering falsehood in Quran, don’t deny it, it is clear as the sky. Before my explanation, I should first put my own sources from revered translators of Quran because I have noticed you are eluding something. Here they are:
[4:171]
MUHSIN KHAN
O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of Allah aught but the truth. The Messiah ‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah and His Word, (“Be!” – and he was) which He bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Ruh) created by Him; so believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not: “Three (trinity)!” Cease! (it is) better for you. For Allah is (the only) One Ilah (God), Glory be to Him (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is All-Sufficient as a Disposer of affairs.
YUSUF ALI
O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not “Trinity” : desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.
[5:116]
PICKTHALL
And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?
SAHIH INTERNATIONAL
And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah ?'” He will say, “Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen.
: VERSE [4:171] warns the Christians not to worship Trinity or three gods. And verse [5:116] clearly emphasizes the gods of Trinity. Which are, “TAKE ME (JESUS) and MY MOTHER (MARY) as deities besides ALLAH.
Brother, Koran points out JESUS and MARY as deities besides ALLAH.. “Deity and Saint” are not synonymous. Verse [5:73] confirms [5:116] that it really meant Trinity and Allah is taken as the third of the three gods. It says;
[5:73]
PICKTHALL
They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve.
YUSUF ALI
They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.
Kit Snow :
3.) [Qur’an 12:39, 3:6, & 58:21] say Allah is almighty, strong, and wise, but Satan was able to sneak his words during Allah’s revelation to Muhammad [53:19-20]. It turns out that he has no control over Satan and Muhammad in uttering Satanic verses. [Deuteronomy 18:20] says, “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.” So if Muhammad had uttered other gods and Allah was not able to stop him, the verdict is, these two are fake.
ANSWER : Sura 53:19 “So have you considered al-Lat and al-‘Uzza?” Sura 53:20 “And Manat, the third – the other one?” Sura 53:21 ” Is the male for you and for Him the female?” Sura 53:22 “That, then, is an unjust division.” Sura 53:23 “They are not but [mere] names you have named them – you and your forefathers – for which Allah has sent down no authority. They follow not except assumption and what [their] souls desire, and there has already come to them from their Lord guidance.”
Let’s look at verse 23 again shall we, where Allah is saying the three fake gods people worshipped before have no authority. Again, you have quoted out of context my friend. There was no satanic verses.
Renz Pejana : Brother, I don’t know if you intend to mislead me, thinking that I had not done research before I made my questions, or you are just not aware about Satanic verses in Quran. In case you don’t know, I quoted statements from wikiislam for you. Here it is;
“The Satanic Verses (also the Gharaniq incident) was an incident where Prophet Muhammad acknowledged Allat, Manat, and al-Uzza, the goddesses of the Pagan Meccans in a Qur’anic revelation, only to later recant and claim they were the words of the Devil. Satanic Verses
Kit Snow :
4.) In [Qur’an 15:19, 20:53, 43:10] Allah says that the Earth is spread out like carpet or shaped flat, but in actual, the Earth is globular or circle. The all-knower Allah turns out to be unknowing Allah.
ANSWER :
Sura 15:19 “And the earth – We have spread it and cast therein firmly set mountains and caused to grow therein [something] of every well-balanced thing.”
Sura 20:53 “[It is He] who has made for you the earth as a bed [spread out] and inserted therein for you roadways and sent down from the sky, rain and produced thereby categories of various plants.”
Sura 43:10 “[The one] who has made for you the earth a bed and made for you upon it roads that you might be guided”
None of these verses suggest the earth is flat. It does indeed say he made the earth for us like a carpet, which it is for a human like a carpet.
Renz Pejana : First, I add another sources to clarify the said verses more. Here they are;
[15:19]
YUSUF ALI
And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance.
PICKTHALL
And the earth have We spread out, and placed therein firm hills, and caused each seemly thing to grow therein.
[20:53]
YUSUF ALI
“He Who has, made for you the earth like a carpet spread out; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels); and has sent down water from the sky.” With it have We produced diverse pairs of plants each separate from the others.
SAHIH INTERNATIONAL
[It is He] who has made for you the earth as a bed [spread out] and inserted therein for you roadways and sent down from the sky, rain and produced thereby categories of various plants.
[43:10]
MUHSIN KHAN
Who has made for you the earth like a bed, and has made for you roads therein, in order that you may find your way
YUSUF ALI
(Yea, the same that) has made for you the earth (like a carpet) spread out, and has made for you roads (and channels) therein, in order that ye may find guidance (on the way)
: Brother, we don’t need to look for a specific “flat” word, just analyze the verses. We cannot spread out a ball (globe) like a carpet or bed. Quran describes the Earth having a flat surface, plane, or bed.
If I may add, I will give you prophetic verses from the true word of God (the Bible) about the Earth;
[Isaiah 40:22] It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
: . . . above the circle of the Earth . . . If we look at the Earth from the moon or outer space, we can see that the Earth is a circle.
[Job 26:7] He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing
: . . . He hangs the Earth on nothing . . . If we look at the Earth from the outer space, we can see that the Earth has nothing to sit on or to cling to. The Bible accurately describes the position of the Earth. It is placed in an empty space, and it is as if hanged on nothing.
[Deuteronomy 14:7-8] But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: the camel, the rabbit, or the rock badger. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.
ANSWER: This law was made by Moses for the Jews only and not for all people. Christians are living under the law of Christ which is the New Covenant. Unknown to Islam and Christian sects who accuse the Catholic Church of violating this dietary law, the Old Covenant (Judaism) was already canceled by God since the Israelites broke it. And He made a New Covenant (which was brought by Jesus to Earth) for all people. This New Covenant or Testament is everlasting, thus no more covenant will be made, or no more churches will be founded after the Catholic Church;
PROPHECIES ABOUT THE COMING OF THE NEW COVENANT;
[Jeremiah 31:31-32] “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a New Covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD
[Jeremiah 50:5] “They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.”
[Malachi 3:1] “And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.
THE PROMISED EVERLASTING OR NEW COVENANT WAS FULFILLED BY JESUS;
[Luke 22:20] In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
[Hebrews 9:15] For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
WHAT ENTERS THE MOUTH CANNOT MAKE A MAN SINFUL, BUT THE WORDS THAT COME OUT OF HIS MOUTH;
[Matthew 15:11] “A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”
[Mark 7:18-19] “Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him, because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)
GOD JESUS MADE THE PROHIBITED ANIMALS CLEAN FOR MAN TO EAT;
[Acts 10:13-15 ] Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” “No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
CHRISTIANS ARE ALLOWED TO EAT ANY FOOD SOLD IN THE MARKET;
[1 Corinthians 10:25] Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience
UNKNOWN TO MANY MUSLIMS, Eating pork is allowed in their religion when they are in dire needs;
[Quran 16:115 & 2:173] He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit] – then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
FURTHERMORE, you Muslims should question your religion as well, because Allah commanded you to eat Camels while eating them is prohibited in Deuteronomy 14:7;
[Koran 22:36] “The sacrificial camels we have made for you as among the signs from Allah: in them is (much) good for you: then pronounce the name of Allah over them as they line up (for sacrifice): when they are down on their sides (after slaughter), eat ye thereof, and feed such as (beg not but) live in contentment, and such as beg with due humility: thus have We made animals subject to you, that ye may be grateful.”
2. Why Christian women don’t cover their heads when it is commanded in Corinthians 11:5-6?
[1 Corinthians 11:5-6] And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, let her hair be cut off. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.
ANSWER. The verse merely says that a woman should cover her head when she prays because it dishonor her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved. It doesn’t say that a woman should cover her head when she goes around the public as the Muslim woman does, because men might be attracted to her sexually. Besides, a Muslim woman is commanded to cover not only her head, but her whole body except the eyes. This means that to cover their heads alone is not Islamic, kindly read;
Narrated ‘Aisha: The wives of the Prophet used to go to Al-Manasi, a vast open place (near Baqia at Medina) to answer the call of nature at night. ‘Umar used to say to the Prophet “Let your wives be veiled,” but Allah’s Apostle did not do so. One night Sauda bint Zam’a the wife of the Prophet went out at ‘Isha’ time and she was a tall lady. ‘Umar addressed her and said, “I have recognized you, O Sauda.” He said so, as he desired eagerly that the verses of Al-Hijab (the observing of veils by the Muslim women) may be revealed. So Allah revealed the verses of “Al-Hijab” (A complete body cover excluding the eyes).
COMMENT: This hadith tells us that it was Umar who urged Muhammad to cover his wives. And amazingly, the god of Muhammad granted his wish. In Christianity, there’s no compulsion for women to cover their heads while praying. God also commands us to worship Him in spirit (mind and heart) and not by the food, dress, appearance, or gesture.
3. Why Christians don’t fall facedown while praying when Jesus did it? (Matthew 26:39)
[Matthew 26:39] “Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
ANSWER: Firstly, the meaning of the idiom ”fall face down” is ”to lay one’s body flat on the ground or floor with the face downward”. It’s not to kiss one’s forehead on the ground while raising your buttocks to the air as Muslims do. In the Bible, God’s people prayed either in prostrate or kneeling position. Secondly, whether you fall facedown or kneel while praying, it doesn’t matter to God. What more important is the contents of your heart and mind. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit [Deuteronomy 6:5 & John 4:24]. An action cannot transform your personality, feeling, thought, or Faith. If Jesus was really a Muslim, Muhammad should have followed his commandments. Jesus teaches to love all people including your enemy, don’t kill a man, don’t steal, forgive your fellow 77 times, marry only one wife and don’t divorce her. Muhammad taught and practiced the opposite of what Jesus teaches in the Bible.
4. Why Christians don’t remove their shoes during prayer though God required it?(Exodus 3:5)
[Exodus 3:5] “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
ANSWER: An action or gesture doesn’t make you a true believer. God wants us to worship Him in spirit (mind and heart). If a Muslim kneels while praying, it cannot make him a Christian. Moses took off his sandals in response to the commandment of God and to show respect to His presence, and not because he was going to pray. You can pray to God anytime and anywhere whether you wear footgear or not. On the part of Islam, there is no holiness in its center of worhip. The Kaabah was the worship house of the pagans in the past, it contained 360 idols in pre-Islamic time. Even Muhammad did not look at Kaabah as holy for he killed an ex-Muslim inside it.
5. Jesus said “do not worship me” (Revelation 22:9)
[Revelation 22: 9] But he said to me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”
ANSWER: The verse in Revelation 22:9 is not the words of Jesus but it came from an angel. Kindly read its preceding statement (verse 8), it says;
[Revelation 22:8] And I am John, who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things.
Next time, check the verses first before raising it, ok? You Muslims don’t seek the truth, you’re just out there trying all you can to discredit the Bible. I will show you a verse from the Book of Revelation that Jesus claimed Godhood;
[Revelation 21:6-7] He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
6. Jesus cannot be compared to God because he’s born of a woman (Job 25:4)
[Job 25:4] “How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?
ANSWER: Yes it’s true but the question is, was Jesus an ordinary man? Both Christianity and Islam teach that Jesus was born without a human father. He claimed that he went out from the father and came down from heaven. When Jesus stayed in Mary’s womb, it’s not him who became unclean by a woman (Mary), but rather it was Mary who became purified because Jesus is our purifier. Why is it that in Islam Jesus is the Judge of mankind if He’s a mere man? Isn’t only the king can judge in a kingdom? No doubt, Jesus is God in Islam.
7. Jesus cannot be God because God is not a human being (Numbers 23.19)
King James Bible God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
New International Version God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
ANSWER: Put in mind that God is spirit, He is an unapproachable light, energy/power, and wisdom. Can energy be distributed? Yes it can, the electricity for example can spread or distribute itself. Every nation uses electricity, these electricities are separated yet they are one nature. God can pour His spirit upon all flesh [Joel 2:28]. He can send His spirit though he is present everywhere pls. read;
[Psalm 104:30] You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.
: Notice also that the sent spirit is a creator, Jesus was the creator of the universe. Kindly read;
[Colossians 1:16] For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
: Jesus claimed that he came down from Heaven and was sent by the Father (source spirit). He says;
[John 6:38] For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
: Jesus was a portion of God’s spirit that came down on Earth and took a human form. I will show verses telling Jesus is one with the Father;
[Isaiah 9:6] ”For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
[John 10:30]. Jesus said; I and the Father are one
[John 14:9-10] Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
The human body was just the vessel of the sent forth spirit of God. Jesus claimed that the spirit of God dwelt in him, and that made him God also.
Additionally, you quoted [Numbers 23;19] telling God won’t tell a lie, is your Allah truthful? Isn’t he the best of the deceivers? [Koran 3:54]. The Bible says that Satan is the father of deceptions [John 8:44] the same attribute as your Allah.
I had a debate with a Muslim, in the course of our debate I told him that the Quran is mainly written by Muhammad, and he gave me his answers below accompanied with links. I checked his source and I had found lies after lies perpetrated by its author, so I had to rebut these lies.
That is one of the Masters of Arts of Islam, Master of Arts in Lying and Master of Arts in Denying. These facts are supported by several Hadiths depending on the statement. However to cover this shame, Muslim apologists deny these Hadiths and instead acknowledge only few Hadiths, including Bukhari which contains less shameful facts compared to the ones rejected. Nonetheless, assuming that these rejected Hadiths are indeed fabricated, let us use our common sense in analyzing the Koranic verses given by your source, and also I will provide Koranic verses to support my argument so that Muslim apologists will have no room for denial, here are the verses given by your source;
a.) “A.L.R. this is a book whose verses have been perfected” 11:1
My Rebuttal :“. . . have been perfected”, why there is a need for perfection? It means before the perfection there were flaws existed while this book was revealed by the all-wise Allah in detail to Muhammad. The fact that Allah changed or perfected Their revelations, it means They are not God. Allah have the reputation of being all-wise, all-knower, and knower of the unseen; but unfortunately errors had room in Their declarations. They failed to know the visible things and failed to see the unseen.
b.) “……the words of God are unchangeable” 10:64
My Rebuttal : This verse Koranic 10:64 further complicates the issue of contradiction in Quran for it tells us that none can change the words of Allah, But in verses [2:106 & 16:101] Allah substituted Their previous revelations. To prove;
[Quran 16:101]“And when We substitute a verse in place of a verse – and Allah is most knowing of what He sends down – they say, “You, [O Muhammad], are but an inventor [of lies].” But most of them do not know.”
Comment: Verse 16:101 tells us that Allah, the all-knowing and knower of the unseen changed Their previous revelations. What is funny after Allah changed Their former revelations, They still have the audacity to claim that They are the most knowing. Allah also failed to stop Muhammad from receiving and uttering Satanic revelations [Q53:19-20], that’s why Allah needed to correct those revelations (Q22:52). This reality proves that Allah is not almighty and all-knowing. Additionally, Muhammad is a fake prophet, consider this verse;
[Deuteronomy 18:20] “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.”
Comment: If Muhammad had uttered other gods and his Allah was not able to stop satanic revelations, the verdict is, both of them are fake.
About your second source, I want to point out the author’s lying or ignorance about the Bible.
To quote;
THE BIBLE
Old Testament
“Naturally, there have been many different translations to a great number of languages over the centuries and one could not expect them (books of Bible) to be identical in text or meaning”
My Rebuttal: One could not expect them to be identical in text or meaning? In text yes, but in meaning, there are 2.3 Billions Christians believe that the books in the Bible are agreeing to each other.
New Testament
“To mention two very clear differences for example; the Catholic Bible [c. 325 A.D] contains 73 books in total, while the Protestant Bible contains only 66 books”
My Rebuttal: I wonder why the author labeled this topic as New Testament but he tackled the whole Bible instead. But anyway, I proceed to answering his allegation; The Protestantism is a rebellion of Catholicism in 1517. That is their own religious principle to use only 66 books in their Bible version. The Protestants just took out 7 books from the original Bible (compiled by Catholicism). They did not alter the message or idea of any book making it different from the original.
QURAN
The Quran Means “Recitation”
My Rebuttal : What makes it special? I don’t see the importance of being recited and written. Reciting is no longer new to the Hebrews for they recited the contents of their Scripture long before Islam. And what is wrong of being written? God himself wrote His Ten commandments on the stone tablets twice.
The author says; “the documentation in writing about the Quran has been preserved in museums throughout the world, including the Topekopi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, the museum in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and also in England”
My Rebuttal : Provided that this claim is true, but how about in the earlier time of Islam? Was the Quran or Recitation safe after Muhammad died? Bukhari reported that there were four versions of Quran copies or Recitations emerged. And to avoid this problem, Uthman ordered to burn all copies except the version of Hudhaifa (Sahih al-Bukhari 6:61:510). Also Read:http://www.harvardhouse.com/quran_purity.htm
Koran has Only One Version – Arabic
My Rebuttal: What makes special in the one version? Even if the Koran was written originally in Arabic alone, it could not escape from lies, errors, and contradictions stated within. Moreover, it is not true that the Quran has only one Arabic version, nowadays, the Quran has thirty one Arabic versionshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lqQBVtUWvo&t=20s. In contrast, having many authors adds the uniqueness of the Bible, since how come the messages of the books agree considering that they were written by different authors, as well as written in different regions, languages, and generations?
The Koran is Memorized by Millions – Entirely
“The important thing to keep in mind about the Quran is the memorization and transmission of the actual “Recitation” just as it came to Muhammad”
My Rebuttal : . . .actual recitation” just as it came to Muhammad” This statement is a big fat lie. We know that there were various versions of recitations happened after Muhammad died. Uthman selected one version out many versions of Qurans _the version of Hudaifa. The rest of the copies of Quran were burned by Uthman. However, despite of Uthman’s effort, there are still many Arabic Qurans today. And I doubt if there are ten Millions had memorized the Quran. Even Muhammad himself was not able to memorize all of the so-called revelationshttps://www.answering-islam.org/Green/forgot.htm.
Each Muslim Has “Quran” Memorized
My Rebuttal: This is utterly a lie. I have a Muslim Girlfriend and she could not memorize a single verse in Quran, how much more the entire book? Most Muslims today are ignorant of their Scriptures. Moreover, Islamic history tells us that only few Muslims could recite the Quran, even Muhammad could not recite the whole Quran.
God Speaks in First Person to Mankind in Quran
My Rebuttal: Another lie. Allah transmitted Their message to Muhammad through the so-called Angel Gabriel. Nowhere in Quran that says Allah appeared and talked to Muhammad. In the Bible, God himself talked to Adam in person [Genesis 3:10-11]; appeared to Abraham in three persons [Genesis 18:1-2]; wrestled with Jacob as a person or man [Genesis 32:24]; showed to Moses and Israelites in the form of cloud and fire [Exodus 13:21]. Likewise, God dwelt with the Israelites in the form of Jesus [read the Gospel]. Moreover, the said angel Gabriel did not introduce his name to Muhammad, In fact, Muhammad thought it was Satan who squeezed him since it tortured him. It was Kahdija his wife who concluded that it was angel Gabriel because it disappeared when she and Muhammad performed sexual acts [Sira No. 154, Ishaq].
Quran Mentions Itself
My Rebuttal: What makes special of mentioning itself? What is more important, the mentioning or essence of the Scripture? The Quran has a lot of contradictions, ignorance, killing commandments, and immoral teachings.
Quran Describes God’s Nature Exactly
My Rebuttal: How did you know that the Koranic description of God is His exact nature? How can you believe Quran if it’s filled with ignorance, contradictions, falsehood, and myths? The Quran teaches that the sun sets in the muddy spring of the Earth (18:85-86); it teaches that there are seven flat Earths and seven solid skies; it also teaches that the stars were made by Allah as missiles to shoot evil spirits (37:6-7 & 67:5); and many more. Additionally, Muhammad saw his Allah as a man with uncircumcised penishttps://sunnah.com/bukhari/81/113.
“There is no room left for doubt after reading the Quran in the Arabic language”.
My Rebuttal: So if you read Quran in English, you will have room left for doubt after? If that so, it is better for Mecca to abolish all the translations of Quran,and kept their Islam themselves alone. You know what, this is one of the defenses of your religion, if it has no room left to explain the Koranic problem, your leaders simply reject the translation. I tell you, Arabic language is not alien, hence it is translatable. It is natural to have a slight divergence in the translation, but the contradictions in Quran are so grievous that it can never be justified. There are three, four, and even seven contradicting statements in one topic. Moreover, the Quran not only contains ignorant, false, and contradicting statements, but also Satanic verses _these problems in Quran definitely are not caused by wrong translation.
“He is for instance, the All-Knowing; the All-Hearing; the All-Seeing; the All-Forgiving; the All- Loving; the All-Merciful; the Only One God. There is never a contradiction to this found anywhere in the Quran”.
My Rebuttal : The all-wise Allah, all-knower, and knower of the unseen? I doubt it, for Allah replaced his revelations [2:106 & 16:101]. Likewise, Satan was able to sneak his verses during Allah’s revelation to Muhammad, and Allah was not able to prevent Muhammad from uttering other gods. Muhammad in that event became the prophet of Satan. So it means Allah is powerless to know all and to see the unseen.
. . . There is never a contradiction . . .Islam gives you confusions: they say, “our Quran contains no contradictions”, but you can find much contradictions in it; Muslims say, “we are a religion of peace”, but their Quran commands killing of all non-Muslims; Muslims say, “there is no compulsion in our religion”, but they execute their members who wanted to leave Islam; Muslims say, “Jesus did no die and resurrect”, but you can find a Koranic verse telling Jesus will die and resurrect (19:33); Muslims say, “Jesus is just human made of dust”, but you can find a Koranic verse telling Jesus is God; and many more inconsistent claims.
On the other hand, our God Jesus never erred, He’s flawless and powerful. He stopped the storm, expelled legion of demons from the possessed men, cured inborn physical disability, cured the grievous sicknesses like leprosy, He raised dead people and rose from the dead Himself. And He will come back to judge the people including Muslims [Ibn Kathir’s tafsir on Quran 43:61].
Scientific Miracles in Quran
My Rebuttal: When it comes to miracles and prophesies, the Bible has so much in it. But the so-called miracles in Quran are hoax and propaganda. Muslims just don’t know the false claims of their leaders because they are ignorant of their own scriptures. I tell you, there is no single miraculous verse in Quran. I will expose the falsehood of these so-called prophetic claims soon.
“Bible” is NOT in the Bible
My Rebuttal : I don’t know if the author of your source is ignorant of the Bible or he purposely twisted the truth. He is telling that the New Testament was not yet in the Bible at the time of Timothy, therefore, Paul was wrong to say to Timothy that he studied the Bible or Holy Scripture. Your source quoted this, “Since you were a young man you have studied the holy scriptures, all scriptures inspired by God”, as evidence that the Bible is not in the Bible.
First let me put down the complete verse, so that I can explain to you well. Here it is;
[2 Timothy 3:15] “And that from a child you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”.
Of the numerous Bible translations [https://biblehub.com/2_timothy/3-15.htm], I havenot encountered a word “studied” but instead “taught or known” are generally used. If we talk about Holy Scriptures or Writings, it does not mean the Bible itself. This refers to the different Books inspired by God. Any book in the Bible can be called Holy Scripture. The Old Testament can be called Holy Scriptures as well. The word “Bible” is derived from the Koine Greek word “Ta Biblia” means “the books”. The Bible is composed of different writings which early Christians believed as inspired by God, but not all Holy Scriptures or books are in the Bible. In either way, whether Paul referred to the Old Testament or New Testament, or to both Scriptures, hewas correct in saying to Timothy “you have known theHoly Scriptures”. Because the knowledge about God Jesus at the time of Timothy was already there. Paul and other Apostles were already writing and announcing to the people about the “good news or Gospel”. In fact, what the author of your source failed to realize is that, he is using the verse quoted from the Book of 2 Timothy written by Paul to Timothy, and this Book is a Holy Scripture for it is one of the Books in the New Testament. So, how come the author of your source said that the New Testament was not yet existing at the time of Timothy? All books in the New Testament are about Jesus. The author of your source shows his ignorance of the Bible.
Bible Curses Church Fathers Who REMOVED Book of Revelations
My Rebuttal: For your information, the Catholic Church never removed any book from the Bible, it was the Protestant Church which removed the seven books from the original Bible. For the first 1,400 years there was no other Christian Church emerged except the Catholicism. After Martin Luther was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church, he founded his own Church in 1517 called ‘Protestantism’. He questioned which books should be part of his own Biblical canon. At various times he advocated removing the Book of Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation. However, when he translated the Bible into German language, he kept the mentioned books. Therefore it was the Protestant Church which removed and put back the Book of revelation in their own Bible version. As you know, not only Islam that severely attack the Catholic Church, but also the Protestantism and its offshoots (like Seventh Day Adventist, Born Again, etc.). Martin Luther removed some books from the original Bible for a couple reasons. First, he disagreed with a few doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church derived from these books, like purgatory and prayers for the dead. Second, these books contradicted with his faith-in-Jesus-alone doctrine.
Whose Word Is It?
[The author says; “So if you go to the Bible and point out some mistakes that are in it, you are going to be told (by Christians): Those mistakes were not there in the original manuscript, they have crept in so that we see them there today”.]
My Rebuttal : Excuse me, it is Islam which uses this alibi. Which religion keeps telling that the original Arabic writing is correct, without contradictions, you can feel no doubt after you read, etc.? If there is a question raised against the Bible, Christians dig into it for an answer. And if there is any error of the translation from the origin, they show the evidence. Unlike Islam, which used to tell people that the Arabic version of Koran is correct, and only the translation made it wrong. For your information, the Bible is not only prophetic, but also historical. When it comes to prophesy (the word or act of God), the Bible is infallible. The supposed contradictions fell to the historicalside. The Bible is 99-98 percent accurate, so its percentage of credibility is still high. How can a man preserve documents from 3400 years ago without a single flaw?
Are There Mistakes?
[The author of your source presented verses ‘2 Samuel 10:18’ and ‘1 Chronicles’ being in contradiction suppossedly.]
[2 Samuel 10:18] And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there.
[1 Chronicles 19:18] But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.
My Rebuttal : Actually there are two contradictions raised by bible critics about this allegation; One, is the supposed numerical contradiction between the seven hundred mentioned in 2 Samuel and the seven thousands mentioned in 1 chronicles, Another is the forty thousand men who were slain by David which described as horsemen in 2 Samuel and footmen in 1 chronicles. But the author of your source just concerned of the latter. Nevertheless, I will solve the two of them.
First, keep in mind that 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles were written by different authors. Each writer has his own way of presenting his report, so you cannot expect a similar wordings or figures of their narratives. Likewise, if you have spotted dissimilar wordings or numerical figures in their reports, it does not mean these data are contradicting, rather they can be two pieces of information as well.
If you can notice, the seven hundred mentioned in 2 Samuel is referred to the number of chariots, while the seven thousands mentioned in 1 chronicles is referred to the number of men in the chariots.
If you are a soldier whose means of transportation is only a horse, you can be called as a horseman or cavalier. And if you get down from a horse in order to fight on foot, then you can be called as footsoldier or footman. In the battle, horsemen and footmen can be applied interchangeably.
How Did Judas Die?
[The author quoted ‘Matthew 27:5’ and ‘Acts 1:18 as contradicting allegedly. The preceding verse Judas hanged himself, while in the proceeding verse Judas fell headlong.]
My Rebuttal: First, let us read the alleged verses;
[Matthew 27:5] Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.
[Acts 1:18] With the reward of his wickedness Judas bought a field, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines spilled out.
Mathew 27:5 tells us the cause of Judas death, which is ‘he hanged himself’. While Acts 1:18 tells us what happened to the hanged dead body of Judas. When his corpse started to decompose, it fell headlong and his stomach burst open, spilling out his intestines. Acts 1:18 is not a contradiction with Matthew 27:5, but rather a continuation of Judas’ death account.
MY MESSAGE TO MUSLIM APOLOGISTS
Before you exalt your religion and assail accusations against the Bible, resolve first the blunder in your Quran, Don’t you know that your Allah does not know the persons of Trinity doctrine of Christianity? Here are the proofs;
[Koran 4:171] “O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of God aught but the truth. CHRIST JESUS the son of MARY was (no more than) an apostle of God, and His Word, which He bestowed on MARY, and a SPIRIT proceeding from Him: so believe in God and His apostles. Say not “TRINITY” : desist: it will be better for you: for God is one God: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is God as a Disposer of affairs.”
[Koran 5:116] And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘TAKE ME AND MY MOTHER AS DEITIES BESIDES ALLAH ?'” He will say, “Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is knower of the unseen.
In the verses above, the all-wise, all-knower, and knower-of-the-unseen Allah thought that the Trinity persons are JESUS, MARY, and ALLAH.
Quran has many errors, but this error is great. This could never have happened since the Trinity is the main issue of the Islamic accusation against Catholicism. If Allah do not know about a simple subject here on Earth, how much more about Heavenly and spiritual matters? These verses will demolish Islam if its Billion followers can know and understand this fact. Take note that the Quran also failed to identify Mary mother of Jesus, it thought that Mary was Merriam, sister of Aaron and daughter of Imran; Also it failed to describe the shape of the Earth, it thinks that the Earth is spread like carpet [15:19, 20:53, 43:10]; Also, Allah thought that the Earth and the sky were once a solid piece and later separated [21:30]. These errors confirm the notion that the Quran was mainly written by Muhammad and his cohorts.
Muhammad had scribes that wrote his revelations down for him. One scribe was `Abdullah Ibn Sa’d Ibn Abi Sarh. As Sarh wrote these revelations down, he frequently made suggestions on improving their wording. Muhammad often agreed and allowed the changes to be made. Eventually, Sarh left Islam, knowing it could not be from God if a mere scribe were allowed to change God’s word. Later, after the conquest of Mecca, Muhammad ordered Sarh’s death.
To those who do not know about Trinity, the Holy Trinity is a doctrine of the Catholic Church that God is one nature but emphasized Himself to mankind in three persons, namely, (God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).
1.) Prophet Jesus (Pbuh) never claimed to be God at any time, on the contrary he said, my father is greater than I, My father is greater than all, I can of my own self do nothing.
ANSWER: First, I will tackle the Godhood of Jesus (marked as “A.”), and then I’ll touch next the issue on why Jesus said, “my father is greater than me” (marked as “B.”).
A.) Jesus literally did not say “I am God, worship me”, but there is so much evidence in the Old and New Testaments that Jesus is God. I will give you proofs;
JESUS TOOK THE NAME/TITLE USED BY GOD (OF ABRAHAM), “I AM HE/I AM WHO AM”:
[John 8:23-24] “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I AM HE, you will indeed die in your sins.”
[John 13:19] “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I AM WHO I AM.
Compare these verses to [Isaiah 43:10 & Exodus 3:13-14];
[Exodus 3:13-14] “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.
[Isaiah 43:10] “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I AM HE. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
JESUS IMPLIED THAT HE’S GOD:
[John 10:30] “I and the Father are one.” At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
[John 13:13] “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.
[John 14:2-3] My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
[John 14:9-10] Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
[Matthew 7:22-23] Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness’”.
[Matthew 28:18] Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me”
[Mark 13:24-26] However, after the tribulation of those days, ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
[Mark 14:62] “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
[Luke 23:43] And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
JESUS WAS TREATED AS GOD BY HIS APOSTLES AND OTHER PEOPLE:
[John 1:18] No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
[John 11:32] When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
[John 20:27-28] Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
[Matthew 2:11] On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
[Matthew 8:2] Suddenly a leper came and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
[Luke 5:8] When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.
[Philippians 2:10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
[Revelation 21:6-7] And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
JESUS WAS ANNOUNCED IN TANAKH AS THE COMING GOD:
[Malachi 3:1] And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.
: This verse says that God will send a messenger prior to His coming, this person is fulfilled by John (the Baptist) who prepared the Lord’s way by baptizing the people with water [John 1:33-34]. After that, the Lord will come to His Temple, and at the same time, He will be the messenger of the covenant that the people will delight. Jesus introduced this covenant to his disciples [Luke 22:20 & Matthew 26:28].
[Micah 5:2] “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
: Notice the last words of this statement, the coming ruler or king exists from ancient times, so He is God. Jesus claims that He exists even before the Creation (Isaiah 48:16, John 17:5, & John 17:24).
[Isaiah 9:6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
: This verse clearly informs that the son to be born is God and the Everlasting Father.
THE SENDING OF A SPIRIT BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD:
[Isaiah 48:16] “Come near unto me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, has sent me”
: The speaker of this verse is clearly God for He was there before the time took place, but in the second sentence, He said He is sent by the Lord God and His Spirit. This is the Spirit that descended to the Earth and took a human flesh. Jesus said, He came down from Heaven and sent by Father [John 6:38 & John 8:18]
THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR JESUS:
The Coming of the Messiah/Christ/King
Christ is derived from the Greek word Christos which means the Anointed, it is equivalent to Messiah a Hebrew word. Anointing is a ritual act of pouring or smearing with oil over a person’s head or body. This was used as a form of medicine by Jews thought to avert sickness and dangerous spirits. This was also used by Jews for ceremonial blessings such as the coronation of a King. The Old Testament states a lot about the coming of the Messiah. Jesus claims He is the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament [John 4:25-26], so, He is the Christ or King. The following are verses in Tanakh about the promised Messiah, King, or Christ;
[Micah 5:2] As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah – from you a King will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past
[Zechariah 9:9] Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
[Isaiah 52:7] How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
: Notice the last words of this verse, “Your God reigns!” .So it is God Himself who will come and reign as King
God is a King in the Old Testament
[Isaiah 43:15] “I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King
[Isaiah 44:6] “This is what the LORD says– Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God
Jesus is a King in the New Testament
[John 18:37] “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
[Mark 15:2] Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “it is as you say.”
In the Old Testament, God says He has Kingdom
[Isaiah 66:1] Thus says the LORD, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?
[Jeremiah 10:10] But the LORD is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King! The whole earth trembles at his anger. The nations cannot stand up to his wrath.
In the New Testament, Jesus says He has Kingdom
[John 18:36] Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
[Luke 22:30] that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
[Luke 23:42] Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom, ”Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you shall be with me in paradise.”
Analysis of the Kingship
Jesus says He has kingdom not of this world and He came from heaven [John 6:38], therefore, He is the king in Heaven. If He is the king in Heaven, it means He holds the highest position in Heaven, so He is God.. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one”, so there is no conflict of their Godhood. God is one nature, but He has the capability to spread His spirit [Joel 2:28]. Just like an electricity, one nature, but it has the capability to light Billions of households. For Jesus to claim He is the king in Heaven is no different from claiming He is God.
The Kingdom is the Church
[Matthew 9:35] Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
[Matthew 5:10] “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The Kingdom established by Christ on Earth is the Catholic Church
[Matthew 16:18] And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
: Simon Peter was the first head or pope of the Catholic Church.
B.) NOW, to your question that, “Jesus said, my father is greater than I, My father is greater than all, I can of my own self do nothing”.
Jesus came out from the source Spirit, the Father God [Isaiah 6:8 & John 15:26], for this reason the Father is greater than Him, no sender is greater than the one who is sent [John 13:16]. Moreover, Jesus went to the world only to serve and do the will of the father, consider the following verses;
[John 6:38] For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
: This verse says, Jesus is obeying the will of the Father. God laid a system to be followed, and this system none can change. Moreover from this statement, Jesus is originally from Heaven, so He’s not an ordinary human.
[Luke 22:27] For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
: In this verse, Jesus pointed out that the Father Spirit is greater than him in the sense that the Father is sitting at the table, than Himself who is serving the Father at the table. For instance, you serve food to your visitor at the table, he is greater than you in that sense, because you are serving him, but it doesn’t mean he is greater than you in the whole sense. In the other hand, Jesus also says He is equal with the Father, kindly read the next verses;
[John 14:10] “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?”
: In this verse, Jesus claims the oneness of the Father and Him, that they are one in Spirit.
[John 10:30] Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.” At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
: Notice the reaction of the crowd when Jesus said this statement, they stone him because He claimed equality of God.
2.) And remember that Jesus(pbuh) said, and on that day(Day of Judgement, they will say unto me(Christians), Lord, Lord, did we not do profess in thy name? and do mighty works in thy name? and cast out devils in thy name? I will say unto them, depart from me I never knew you. He isn’t gonna say it for the Muslim or the Hindu or the Jew. He will say it to the people who speak in his name.
ANSWER: First, I lay down the complete statements that you mentioned. They are from [Matthew 7:21-23];
21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness’”.
: In verse 21, Jesus is referring to the Christians by words, who do not follow the will of God. In verse 22, Jesus is referring to the Godly Christians who were endowed with divine power, but became corrupted. And in verse 23, Jesus revealed who are these people He mentioned, they are lawbreakers, that’s why He won’t allow them to enter into His kingdom. If some Christians cannot enter into Heaven, how much more to the people who don’t believe the Father and the Son? Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the Antichrist _denying the Father and the Son [1 John 2:22].
3.) And more, he says, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Isreal. Are you an israeli ? Or even nearer to that, like sons of ishmael, an arab ? The answer is know.
ANSWER: Because of the faithfulness of Abraham, God blessed him and made a covenant with him. Through Abraham, all people shall be blessed [Genesis 12:3]. He promised descendants to Abraham as numerous as the stars or sand [Genesis 22:17], God kept this covenant through Jacob (a descendant of Abraham) whom later called Israel by Him. And this is the reason why Israel became God’s choice. At the time of Abraham, there were no nations yet aside from Middle East, so we could not say why our nation was not chosen. In fact we are products of this blessing, since we are part of the numerous descendants of Abraham today, the Earth has now 7.5 Billions of people.
The ultimate plan of God is to redeem the lost sheep, and who are these lost sheep? they are all of us, since all of us sinned. Consider this;
[Isaiah 53:6] All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him .
The Salvation through Christ is from the Jews and then for all generations. Consider these verses;
[Isiah 51:8] “For the moth will eat them like a garment, And the grub will eat them like wool But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation to all generations.”
[John 4:22] You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Jesus was sent for all the people, kindly read below what was His last message to His disciples before ascending to Heaven;
[Matthew 28:19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
4.) At the end, I tell you, isaiah 29:12 says, Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.” That is Muhammed. Thank you so much my brother, I respect your religion, and I think I also deserve it from you that you should respect mine even if you disagree.
ANSWER: First, I wanna say sorry for offending you Brother, I didn’t mean it, I am only revealing the truth. I respect a group that is not spreading lies and misleading people. I hope, we will not cover their lies (esp. when they are endangering our spiritual lives) for the sake of respect. I did this because I care for you, this is for your own good, that you may know that Jesus is the true God. He said the greatest love that you can give to your loved one is to give up your life to them. And that’s what He did for us, He died on the cross in loving us. He promote love and peace. Love your enemy as he said. The one who doesn’t believe the Father and the Son is the Anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ is Satan. Satan is the father of lies and he deceived manyaccording to the Bible. On the other side, Allah is the best of deceivers according to Koran [3:54]. He plotted against Jews and Christians. He does not recognize the Father and Son. He tortured and corrupted Muhammad. He promote killing and fornication. Guess who he really is.
NOW, let us proceed to the verse you quoted from [Isaiah 29:12]. Brother, Islamic leaders are lying. To better understand this claim, I posted Isaiah chapter 29, from verse 9 to 12. Here they are;
[Isaiah 29:9-12]
9 If you confuse yourselves, you will be confused. If you blind yourselves, you will be blinded. You are drunk, but not from wine. You stagger, but not from liquor.
10 The LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He will shut your eyes. (Your eyes are the prophets.) He will cover your heads. (Your heads are the seers.)
11 To you all these visions will be like words in a book that is closed and sealed. You give this book to someone who can read, saying, “Please read this.” He answers, “I can’t read it. It’s sealed.”
12 Then you give the book to someone who can’t read, saying, “Please read this.” He answers, “I can’t read.”
: These statements of God are addressed to the unbelieving Jews who disregarded His Scriptures (this is comparable to Muslims of today that even of the evidences in front of them, still they refuse to believe on God’s original Scripture, but instead believe on man-made book [Isaiah 29:13].
In verse 9, God tells the Jews that, since they blind themselves towards His Scripture despite of the evidences, He will make them mentally blinded in actual. God will daze or confuse their minds as if they are drunk.
In verses 10-12, God says He will shut the understanding of the prophets so that people can’t understand His Scriptures, like a sealed book that no one can read its contents, they even pass the book among them (literate and illiterate alike) for reading, but no one can read and understand it.
Now Let us compare [Isaiah 29:11-12] with [Sahi Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3]
[Sahi Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3]
The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, “I do not know how to read. The Prophet added, “The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, ‘I do not know how to read.’ Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, ‘I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?’ Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, ‘Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot. Read!
VERSUS
[Isaiah 29:11-12] is only a description on what will happen if God close His Revelation or Scripture. The people will not understand it, since God will make their wisdom vanished
In [Isaiah 29:14], God does not say He will look for an illiterate non-Jew and have His Revelation understood by him. Likewise in these verses, the presenter of the Scripture to the readers are the people themselves who pass the Scripture to one another. These verses are not talking about Muhammad.
While [Sahi Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3] is a scene of the so-called angel Gabriel revealing the word of Allah to Muhammad. In this passage, the presenter of the Revelation is the angel. Moreover, this angel applied force on Muhammad to have his revelation read. So this passage is far different from [Isaiah 29:11-12] where there is no force applied specifically.
Islam keeps accusing the Bible that it is corrupted, but on the other hand, keeps inserting Muhammad into the Bible. That’s the wonder of Islam.
I had come across a Muslim on Youtube who showcased the alleged 50,000 errors in the Bible. It triggered me and could not help but to answer his accusation although the verses in question are seemed massive as I had thought at first _thus require a lot of time and effort. But in actual, he could not cite even 35 out of those alleged 50,000 errors that he exposed. I copypasted here my answers to these supposed errors hoping that it can help you in case you will be confronted with the same allegations as mentioned below. I just did not include the name of the Muslim and our conversation. I had also raised to him only five of my allegations against the Quran but as usual, Muslims cannot answer.
… BIBLE IS FULL OF SCIENTIFIC ERRORS & CONTRADICTIONS. Over 50,000 Errors and Contradictions in the bible and here are a few of them:
1.) The Bible speaks about the creation of the universe. In the beginning, 1st Book of Genesis, 1st Ch., it is mentioned – It says… ‘Almighty God created the Heavens and the Earth, in six days and talks about an evening and a morning, referring to a 24 – hour day. Today scientists tell us, that the universe cannot be created in a 24-hour period of six days. Qur’an too speaks about six ‘ayyams’. The Arabic word singular is ‘yaum’ plural is ‘ayyam’. It can either mean a 24 hours day, or it is a very long period, a “Yaum”, or an epoch. Scientists say we have no objection in agreeing that the universe could have been created in 6 very long periods.
ANSWER: Christians are divided on this matter, but I agree to those who say that the creation days should be a long period. Our time is determined through rotation of the Earth with respect to the sun. In the first and second day, the Earth was not yet formed, hence we couldn’t say that the creation day mentioned in the Bible is referred to Earthly day. This creation day should be referred to Heavenly or Godly day. God must be based in Heaven while He created the universe. Though God is everything, it is unlikely that He’s within the bounds of His object of creation (the universe) while creating it. In fact, the size of God’s spirit is larger than the size of the universe [Jeremiah 23:24]. Therefore, God did not follow the rotation of the earth as His day determinant. Likewise, the Bible says that a day of our Lord is like thousand years. Kindly check the following verses;
[Psalm 90:4] A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night
[2 Peter 3:8] But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day
2.) Bible says in Genesis 1: 3 – 5, ‘Light was created on the first day.’ Genesis, 1:14 – 19… ‘The cause of light – stars and the sun, etc. were created on the fourth day. How can the cause of light be created on the 4th day – later than the light which came into existence on the first day? – It is unscientific.
ANSWER: In the first day, God created light amidst the darkness. Then He separated the light from the darkness, and called the light ‘day’ and called darkness ‘night’. This refers not to the heavenly body that gives light like a shining star, but rather this refers to the light itself. While in the fourth day, the created lights are referred to the two shining heavenly bodies (the sun and moon) which God specially made to give light to Earth. And these two great lamps govern the day and night, as well as, serve as indicators of seasons. God also made the stars in this period. If He is able to make the source of light, how much more the light itself? In fact, God is the creator of light and darkness, consider this verse;
[Isaiah 45:7] I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things
♦Science is not applicable to God because He’s the one who causes it.
3.) Bible says Genesis, 1: 9 – 13… ‘Earth was created on the 3rd day. How can you have a night and day without the earth? The day depends upon the rotation of the Earth Without the earth created, how can you have a night and day?
ANSWER: I have already answered this in your first question. You claimed that you got 50,000 scientific errors and contradictions in the Bible, but out of that massive number, you choose to repeat a question in line with the other. Again, the creation day mentioned in the Bible should be referred to Heavenly day, and not Earthly day. God must be located outside of His creation (the universe) while He created it. This night (darkness) and day (light) should be Heavenly.
4.) Genesis 1: 9-13 ‘Earth created on 3rd day.’ Genesis 1:14 -19 ‘The Sun and the Moon were created on 4th day.’… ‘Earth is part of the parent body… the sun.’ It cannot come into existence before the sun – It is unscientific.
ANSWER: To the question on which heavenly body would be created first, this not matters to God because nothing is impossible to Him [Luke 1:37]. You said this because you think that it is the sun which upholds the planets (including the Earth) in our solar system. But you failed to ask yourself who upholds the sun? It is God who upholds the sun, in fact, not just a single body in the universe but the whole universe [Hebrew 1:3]. So if God can uphold the whole Universe how much more the Earth alone? Therefore, it is possible that God made the Earth first before the sun. In a recent study, Science has found out that the Earth’s water is older than the sun. So it means that the Earth is older than the sun. The Bible is amazingly correct. This proves that Science is not applicable to God.
5.) The Bible says in Genesis, 1:11 – 13…‘the vegetation, the herbs the shrubs, the trees – they were created on the 3rd day And the Sun, Genesis, 1: 14 -19, was created on the 4th day. How can the vegetation come into existence without sunlight, and how can they survive without sunlight?
ANSWER: As I have answered in your fourth question, “nothing is impossible to God”, He can create all things [Job 42:2], If He can produce a sun, then how much more the vegetation on Earth without the sun? In fact, God is light Himself [1 John 1:5] therefore His energy could take care of the vegetation while the sun is being prepared. The problem of our Muslim brothers is that they limit the capability of God, they look at the capability of God as human. They believe that God is everything, but ironically they don’t believe that God could distribute or multiply His Spirit, or appear to people in human form.
6.) The Bible says in Genesis, Ch. 1:16, that…‘God created two lights the greater light, the Sun to rule the day, and the lesser light the Moon, to rule the night. The actual translation, if you go to the Hebrew text, it is ‘lamps’…‘Lamps having lights of its own.’ And that you will come to know better, if you read both the Verses – Genesis, 1:16, as well as 17. Verse No.17 says…‘And Almighty God placed them in the firmament, to give light to the earth… To give light to the earth.’ Indicating, that Sun and the Moon has its own light – which is in contradiction with established scientific knowledge
ANSWER: I think you want to emphasize that the Moon has no light of its own, thus the Bible committed an error in referring it as a lamp. Well, the fact that the moon could shine through a whole night or half night upon Earth, this is as good as it has its own light or power. In our modern time, we employ a source of light that is powered by solar energy that could shine for long as if it has its own source of power, yet we people called this invention as a lamp. The Bible aready knew that the moonlight is dependent on the light of the sun. Kindly read this verse;
[Mark 13:24] But in those days, following that distress, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light”
[Ezekiel 32:7] And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon will not give its light
♦The above verses tell the relationship between the sun and the moon. If God covers the sun, the Moon will not give its light. The verses point out that the light of the moon depends on the light of the sun. These verses are strikingly prophetic and scientific.
7.) Regarding the concept of Earth, there are various Scientists who have described… ‘How will the world end?’ Hypothesis – Some may be right, some may be wrong. But either the world will perish or the world will live forever. Both cannot take place simultaneously – It is unscientific. But this is exactly what the Bible says. It is mentioned in the Bible, in the book of Hebrews, 1 :10 – 11, and the book of Psalms,102 :25- 26, that…‘Almighty God created the Heavens and the Earth, and they will perish.’ Exactly opposite is mentioned in the book of Ecclesiastics, 1:4, and the book of Psalms, 78:69, that… ‘The earth will abide forever.’ The world cannot abide forever as well as perish – It is unscientific.
8.) Regarding ‘the Heavens’, the Bible says in Job, 26: 11, that…‘The pillars of the Heaven will tremble.’ Qur’an says in Surah Luqman, 31:10, that…‘The Heavens are without any pillars – Don’t you see? Don’t you see the Heavens are without any pillars? – Bible says heaven have got pillars.
ANSWER: Let us put up first the verse in question so that to analyze it;
[Job 26:11] The pillars of the heavens tremble and are astonished at his rebuke
The word ‘pillar’ used in this verse means ‘foundation or mainstay’. They are not posts of a structure, this should not be taken literally. If we say, ”the husband is the pillar of the family”, it means he is the foundation of the family or he is the chief part of the family. Consider its parallel verse below;
[2 Samuel 22:8] Then the earth shook and quaked, the foundations of heavens were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry”
: So, it is the foundations of the heavens that tremble, and not the literal pillars or posts. If a structure has no foundation or chief support, it will collapse easily. If your Quran says, “the heavens are without any pillars”, then don’t believe that, because a structure cannot stand or endure without a foundation. If your Quran does not know about Trinity on Earth, how much more in matters about universe? By the way, your prophetic Quran thinks that the persons of Trinity are Jesus, Mary, Spirit/Allah [Q 4:171 & 5:116]. In truth, they are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
♦Indeed, it is your Quran that contains much errors. The so-called errors in the Bible are lies and fabrications, if not, they are prompted by ignorance or incapability of the accuser to comprehend the Bible. If you can notice on the passages I provided earlier, the Bible can defend itself against accusations for it provided verses to support the other, unlike Quran which cannot, Quran is far nothing compared to the Bible. And speaking of pillars, it is your Quran that says there are invisible pillars erected between the dome-shaped sky and flat Earth (13:2). The only good in Islam is LYING that the Bible is corrupted, and DENYING any evidence that can ruin itself. I hope you can sense this fact and leave this pagan cult.
9.) Not only do the Heavens have got pillars – Bible says in the first book of Samuel,2 :8, as well as the book of Job 9:6, and the book of Psalms Ch. No.75, Verse No.3, that… ‘Even the earth has got pillars.’
ANSWER: Again you put up question similar to the other. The ‘pillar’ used in the verses you mentioned means ‘foundation or mainstay’. I’ll Lay down the verses you questioned;
a. [1 Samuel 2:8]
English Standard Version He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them he has set the world.
New International Version He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. “For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; on them he has set the world.
b. [Job 9:6]
New American Standard Bible Who shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble;
New Living Translation He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble.
c. [Psalm 75:3]
New International Version When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.
New Living Translation When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil, I am the one who keeps its foundations firm
: From the translations above, the words ‘pillars’ and ‘foundations’ are used interchangeably, so they are synonymous.
Also check these another verses that mention about the foundations of the Earth;
[Job 38:4] Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding
[Isaiah 48:12-13] Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together.
In physical aspect, if the Earth has no foundations it would have broken apart.
10.) The Bible says in the book of Genesis, 1:29, that… ‘God has given you all the herbs bearing seeds, the trees bearing fruits – those that bear seed, as meat for you.’ New International Version says… ‘The seed bearing plants and the trees bearing fruits bearing seeds are food for you, all of them.’ Today, even a layman knows that there are several poisonous plants like wild berries, stretchy, datary, plants containing, alkaloid, polyandry, brachiopod – that which if you ingest, if you eat there are high possibilities you may die. How come the Creator of the universe and the human beings, does not know, that if you have these plants, you will die.
ANSWER: First, let me put down [Genesis 1:29] which says;
“I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food”
Take note that when God provided those food, the soil was not yet under curse. And the first couple were in the Garden of Eden (the paradise). They could eat from any tree there except from the tree of knowledge [Genesis 2:16-17]. But not anymore after they sinned since the ground was cursed by God, and it started to produce harsh plants. Kindly read the proceeding verses;
[Genesis 3:17-19] Then he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree, although I commanded you, ‘You must never eat its fruit.’ The ground is cursed because of you. Through hard work you will eat [food that comes] from it every day of your life. The ground will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust.”
11.) The Bible says in the book of Leviticus, 14:49 -53 – it gives a novel way for disinfecting a house from plague of leprosy… disinfecting a house from plague of leprosy. It says that… ‘Take two birds, kill one bird, take wood, scale it – and the other living bird, dip it in water… and under running water – later on sprinkle the house 7 times with it. Sprinkle the house with blood to disinfect against plague of leprosy? You know blood is a good media of germs, bacteria, as well as toxin – It is unscientific
Verses in question: [Leviticus 14:49-52] 49 To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. 50 He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. 51 Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn.
ANSWER: The sprinkling of blood is not really meant to clean the house physically so as to disinfect the skin disease and mildew, but it is more on atonement to God. Consider the proceeding verse [Leviticus 14:53] which says;
“Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”
This cleansing ritual is more on spiritual purpose rather than physical. Take note that this plague was put by God [Leviticus 14:34], therefore this skin disease and mildew could only be removed by God, and not by the cleansing ritual itself.
12.) The book of Leviticus, 12:1 – 5, says that… ‘After a woman gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean for 7 days, and the period of un-cleanliness will continue for 33 days more. If she gives birth to a female child, she will be unclean for two weeks, and the period of un-cleanliness will continue for 66 days. In short, if a woman gives birth to a male child… ‘A son’, she is unclean for 40 days. If she gives birth to a female child… ‘a daughter’, she is unclean for 80 days – It is unscientific
ANSWER: Because in that time and place God was walking with the Israelites, He monitored them. Since God is holy, uncleanliness is detestable to Him. He is not just particular about spiritual hygiene but also physical hygiene, consider the following verses;
[Exodus 23:14] “Since the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.
[Leviticus 11:44] I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground.
[Exodus 19:10] The LORD also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments.
Whenever God walked in the midst of Israelites, He required them to perform spiritual and body cleansing or else He would turn away. Now, to the question why female has a long period of cleansing than male? maybe because female has more physical uncleanness than male, particularly their periodic blood discharges.
13.) The Bible says in Genesis, 9:13-17, that… ‘After God, at the time of Noah submerged the world by flood and after the flood’ subsided, He said… ‘I put up a rainbow in the sky as a promise to the humankind never to submerge the world again, by water. But today we know very well, that rainbow is due to the refraction of sunlight, with rain or mist. Surely there must have been thousands of rainbows before the time of Noah PBUH. To say it was not there before Noah’s time you have to assume that the law of refraction did not exist – which is unscientific.’
ANSWER: Science tells us that a rainbow occurs when raindrops and sunshine cross paths. Sunlight consists of all the colors of light which add together to make white illumination. Thus no raindrops, no rainbow. One of the two causes of the flood in Noah’s time was the window of heaven or the rain [Genesis 7:11]. And after the flooding, God said to Noah in [Genesis 7:12];“I set my rainbow in the cloud as a sign of covenant between Me and earth“. God could just simply said, “I set my rainbow in the sky”, but He mentioned specifically the cloud because it is the cloud that supplements the rainbow.
Now, to your presumption that there were thousands of rainbows ahead of Noah’s time, we can refer to [Genesis 2:5-6], it says;
“for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground”.
Before the flood, there was no rain. So if it had no rain or cloud, no appearance of rainbow also. If God declares that He creates this thing, He also provides the materials necessary for the realization of this thing.
14.) Ezra 2: 65, it says…There were 200 singing men and women – Nehemiah 7: 67…‘There were 245 singing men and women.’ Were they 200 – or were they 245 singing men and women? Context is the same – A mathematical contradiction.
ANSWER: First, Both Ezra and Nehemiah agree that the total was 42,360. And if we sum up their two lists respectively will give us 29,818 for Ezra, and 31,089 for Nehemiah. Further calculations show that Nehemiah lists 1765 persons who are not in Ezra, and Ezra has 494 not mentioned in Nehemiah. By adding Ezra’s 494 to Nehemiah’s total, and adding Nehemiah’s 1765 to Ezra’s total, we find that they will both add up to 31,583, with every name being on both lists. Subtracting 31,583 from 42,360 gives a difference of 10,777. This difference was not broken down by name or town because they were not associated with the former Southern Kingdom. Both [Ezra 2:1] and [Nehemiah 1:3] hint that the list’s purpose was to name those of the Southern Kingdom who returned from Babylon. The 42,360 is the whole or total assembly of Israelites. Since there were long years gap from Ezra to Nehemiah in their returns to Jerusalem, I believe there was adjustment made in Ezra’s time, that 45 were added to the previous 200 singers. This 45 must be coming from the undesignated or unnamed 10,777 people in the list.
Second, assuming that this slight numerical disagreement occurred, this cannot discount the veracity of the history since there are many categories or figures that are agreeing. Just like when there are two witnesses testifying against you that you robbed a house. One witness stated that, he saw you went out from the house at 3 a.m. last night carrying a large bag, you wore a black jacket and a cap. The other witness also stated that he also saw you went out from the house carrying a large bag at around 2:30 a.m. last night, you wore a black jacket and a cap. The verdict is you actually robbed that house since there are many agreeing testimonies despite the minutes differential of time.
Third, we should identify from whom the information comes, is it from God or not, and which type of information is this, is it prophetic or historical? As you know, the Bible contains not just prophetic but also historical information. In the historical side, the Bible could contain any event. For instance, King David lusted Uriah’s wife Bathsheba in the Bible, this is not good information, but it should be put in the record since it actually happened. Early Christians were not hiding something even hideous matter (this proves that Christians did not correct the Bible contrary to the accusation of Islam, if so, you could not find any numerical discrepancy inside it). This numerical contradiction is historical. The Bible is God-inspired when it comes to the words of prophesy. Kindly read the verses below;
[2 Peter 1:20] “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”
[Revelation 22:18-19] I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
God is only concerned on matters of prophesy. A Scripture containing a prophetic blunder like Quran is certainly not of God.
15.) It is mentioned in the 2nd Kings 24: 8, that…‘Jehoiachin was 18 years old, when he reign Jerusalem, and he reigned for 3 months and 10 days. 2nd Chronicles 36: 9 says that…‘Jehoiachin was 8 years old when he reign and he reigned for 3 months, 10 days. Was Jehoiachin 18 years when he began to reign, or was he 8 years old? Did he reign for 3 months, or did he reign for 3 months 10 days?
[2Kings 24:8] Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
[2Chronocles 36:9] Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
ANSWER: According to Ellicott’s Bible Commentary, [2Chroniicles 36:9] has correctly “eighteen;” and so some MSS., LXX. (Alex.), Syriac, Arabic. The difference turns on the omission of the smallest Hebrew letter, namely, yod, which is a numeral represents ‘ten’.
Three months and ten days: Syriac and Arabic here have “one hundred days,” i.e., three months and ten days. Thenius thinks the ten days were added, in order that the catastrophe of Jehoiachin’s reign might fall on a tenth day of the month, like the investment of Jerusalem and the fall of the city under Zedekiah (2Chronicles 25:1; 2Chronicles 25:8).
So, Jehoiachin was 18 years and reigned three months
16.) 1st Kings 7:26, that…‘In Solomon’s temple, in his molten sea, he had 2000 baths. In 2nd Chronicles 4:5, he had 3000 baths. Did he have 2000 baths or did he have 3000 baths?
ANSWER: It depends on how the verses are translated because in other translation these two verses differ in message, kindly read;
Darby Bible Translation
[1 Kings 7:26] “And its thickness was a handbreadth, and its brim was like the work of the brim of a cup, with lily-blossoms; it held two thousand baths”.
[2 Chronicles 4:5] “And its thickness was a handbreadth, and its brim like the work of the brim of a cup, with lily-blossoms; in capacity it held three thousand baths”.
According to Jewish Bible Targum, the writer of [1 Kings 7:26] emphasized the usual content of the pool which was sufficient for use. While the writer of [2 Chronicles 4:5] emphasized the capacity of the pool if it were filled to the brim.
17.) In trinity they have : jesus is god , holy spirit is god , father is god … and … jesus is not father is not holy spirit .. so 1+1+1=3 !!! illogic
ANSWER: God is one nature [Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 4:11, & Malachi 2:10] but God presented Himself to mankind in these three persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christianity is not inventing story, they have proofs from the OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS. Consider these verses about Trinity:
Trinity from Hebrew Bible/Old Testament:
[Isaiah 9:6] “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor (or Spirit of truth), Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.
:This verse mentions that the son to be born will be called Counselor (Spirit of Truth), mighty God, and everlasting Father. This points out the oneness of the Son, Spirit, and Father.
[Isaiah 48:16] “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord God (or Father) has sent Me (Jesus or Son), and His Spirit.”
COMMENT: The speaker of this verse claimed that He already existed from the beginning; so it means, He is God. And then He proceeded, “and now the Lord has sent Me with His Spirit”; so, the speaker God is sent by Sovereign Lord with His Spirit. Notice that there are three persons mentioned in this verse: the speaker God who is sent, the Sovereign Lord who is the sender, and the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord. The sender Lord is the source or Father of the Spirit; and the messenger God is the emanated Spirit who came to Earth and became Jesus, the Son of God [Luke 1:35]. The speaker God could easily just say, “the Sovereign Lord has sent me”, but He mentioned about “Spirit“; so, God emphasizes the interrelation among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. This verse portrays Trinity.
Trinity from the New Testament:
[Matthew 28:19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[John 5:7] For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
: Koran also testifies that Jesus is the word and spirit of Allah [Koran 3:45 & 4:171]
Moreover, there are proofs in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament about the existence of the Son, kindly read;
[Proverbs 30:4] Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his Son? Surely you know!
[Psalm 2:11-12] Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
19.) we know that God is the greatest thing ever, but jesus (as you say ) said ” you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I” [John 14:28] so he is not the greater thing.
ANSWER: Jesus came out from the source Spirit, the Father God [Isaiah 6:8 & John 15:26], for that reason the Father is greater than Him. No messenger is greater than the sender as Jesus said in [John 13:16]. Moreover, Jesus went to the world only to serve, consider the statement of Jesus below;
[Luke 22:27] For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
: In this verse, Jesus pointed out that the Father Spirit is greater than him in the sense that the Father is sitting at the table, than Himself who is serving the Father at the table. For instance, you serve food to your visitor at the table, he is greater than you in that sense, because you are serving him, but it doesn’t mean he is greater than you in the whole sense. The persons of God are co-equal since they are one in nature. If your Allah can not show to you in flesh, then he is not God, for all things are possible to God [Matthew 19:26]. Our God Yahweh visited us in human form and performed miracles before the many [Isaiah 52:10].
20.) we all know that god can do anything , but in the bible jesus said “By myself I can do nothing” [John 5:30] -> if he really can’t do nothing, then he is not a god , or he is lying ?? also if lying not a god
ANSWER: My friend, there is a continuation of the verse you quoted. Here is the complete one;
[John 5:30] By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
: As you can notice in this verse, there is a reason why Jesus can do nothing, it is because He seeks to please the Father who sent Him. Obviously, this doesn’t mean He cannot do anything for He can perform miracles and even rise from death, what He meant is that all of His works and speeches are in accordance with the will of the Father. This is part of His role as a messenger and servant.
Consider the following verses telling that Jesus does the will of the Father;
[John 6:38] For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
[John 14:10] Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
[John 5:19] So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
COMMENT: . . . I am in the Father and the Father is in me . . . the Father who dwells in me does his works . . . Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. These statements emphasize that there is oneness of the Father and Jesus. In fact Jesus said that He and the Father are one [John 10:30].
21.) by definition : God knows everything, here is what jesus said in the bible “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” [Mark 13:32] -> jesus doesn’t know everything
22.) “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [Mark 15:34] jesus said “my god” so he is not a son of god what do you think !!! lot of contradictions in your bible hein !? i proved to you that jesus is human from your book nothing else , if you didn’t understand this you probably don’t use your brain.
23.) (Matthew 24:29-33 & Mark 13:24-29) accompanied by signs, but in (Luke 17:20-21) not accompanied by signs
[Matthew 24: 29-33] immediately after the tribulation of those days: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
[Luke 17:20-21] Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
ANSWER : [Matthew 24:29-33 & Mark 13:24-29] state about the condition of the universe after the Tribulation or Judgment Day, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, etc.. While [Luke 17:20] states about the Kingdom of God. I believe the Pharisees did not understand what Jesus was talking about, for they thought the kingdom of God would come with signs like the Judgment Day, where in fact, the Kingdom of God was already in their midst brought by Jesus. The kingdom of God is the Church (Catholicism). Jesus was right in answering them that the Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed. Kindly read;
[Matthew 9:35] Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
[Luke 8:1] Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him
24.) [Matthew 21:7] Jesus rides two animals during his triumphal entry, but in [Mark 11:7, Luke 19:35, & John 12:14], Jesus rides only one animal
[Matthew 21:7] They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.
[Mark 11:7] And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.
[Luke 19:35] So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.
[John 12:14-15] Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. See, your King is coming, seated on the colt of a donkey.”
ANSWER: I think [Matthew 21:7] is just not correctly translated by others, because the Aramaic Bible Plain English translated it as;
“And they brought the donkey and the colt and they placed their garments on the colt and Yeshua rode upon it”
COMMENT: This verse tells us that Yeshua (Jesus) only rode the colt. Just a common sense, it is unrealistic for a person to ride two animals together especially when the other is short.
25.) [Matthew 10:28 & Luke 12:4] Jesus said not to fear men, but in [Matthew 12:15-16] [John 7:1-10, 8:59, 10:39, 11:53-54] Jesus hid, escaped, or went secretly
[Matthew 10:28] Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
[John 10:39] Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
ANSWER: Jesus hid himself from His attacker not because He was afraid of them, but because it was not yet time for Him to die. Consider the following verses below;
[John 7:30] So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
[John 7:8] “You go up to this feast; I am not going up now to this feast, because my time is not yet finished.”
But just before Passover festival it was time for him to die, kindly read the verses below;
[Matthew 26:1-2] When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.”
[John 13:1] It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
COMMENT: The verses above tell that Jesus’ time to die has come and He is ready to submit Himself to His attacker
26.) [Acts 7:55 & Hebrews 12:2] tells Jesus sit at the right hand of the Father. See, you have two Gods. So which of them is the real God in Heaven?
[Acts 7:55] But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God
[Hebrews 12:2] We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne
ANSWER: As I have said, Jesus was a Spirit of God who came down from Heaven to save the world. They are one nature, where is the conflict there? Kindly observe the following verse;
[Isaiah 48:16] “I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there I Am; and now the Sovereign Lord has sent Me with his Spirit”.
: The speaker of the verse above says that He exists even before the Creation period, so He is God. And then, this God is sent by the Sovereign Lord with His Spirit.
Jesus told us that a Spirit could come out from the Father (source Spirit). And also, He has the capacity to send a spirit from the Father. Take notice of the verse below;
[John 15:26] “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me.
Jesus also told us that He was sent by the Father (sender Spirit), consider the following verses;
[John 8:18] I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me bear witness of me.
[John 12:49] “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
As well as, Jesus told us that they are one with the Father, kindly read the verses below;
[John 10:30] I and the Father are one
[John 14:10] He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
Even Koran confirms that Jesus is a spirit of Allah, please read;
[66:12] And Mary, daughter of ‘Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit. And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient.
[21:91] And she who was chaste, therefor We breathed into her somethingof Our Spirit and made her and her son a token for (all) peoples.
: The above verses tell us that Jesus is a spirit of Allah. Verse [4:158] supports the above verses, it tells that Allah took Jesus up unto himself, meaning, Allah returned Jesus unto his Spirit. If Muslims cannot accept this truth, it means that their Koran is not telling the truth. If Koran is telling lies, then Islam is a lie.
God is one being, but He has the capability to divide His Spirit into many; just like water, one nature, but has the capability to scatter upon different places of the earth, and reversely, it has the capability to converge from different places into one body. God can pour His Spirit on all flesh [Joel 2:28]; meaning, He can distribute His Spirit to all the people. God could separate His Spirit and appear to us with His two or numerous persons.
27.) [Matthew 5:22] anger by itself is a sin, but in [Ephesians 4:26] anger is not necessarily a sin
[Matthew 5:22] But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
[Ephesians 4:26] And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry
ANSWER: I don’t see any conflict between these two;
In [Matthew 5:22], the first and second sentence, Jesus does not say you sin if you’re angry, but you are in danger of judgment or council, meaning you are close to committing a sin. And in the third sentence, by calling your fellow a fool from anger, makes you sinned, this time you are in danger of the hellfire.
While [Ephesians 4:26] means you don’t do something bad from anger, see to it that it will disappear before you sleep at night. In a nutshell, to get angry is normal, but to do wrong from anger is punishable in hellfire.
28.) [Matthew 5:22] anger by itself is a sin, but in [Matthew 11:22-24 & Luke 10:13-15] Jesus curses certain cities
[Matthew 11:21-23] Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.
ANSWER: Again, [Matthew 5:22] does not say anger alone is sinful, but to do wrong because of anger is punishable in hellfire.
Jesus is not cursing in [Matthew 11:21-23], but prophesying on what will happen to those unrepentant places (Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum) on the Day of judgment. Cursing is when you wish a doom to befall upon someone or something. Being God, Jesus knew that the places which have witnessed His miracles are worse than the punished cities in the old (Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom) which were not able to witness His miracles. For if His miracles had been performed in those cities, they would have repented. Therefore, the punishment to be received by (Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum) is more severe than the punishment received by (Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom).
29.) Contradictions: [Matthew 28:1] the first visitor of the tomb were Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (with two visitors) ; [Mark 16:1] the visitors were two Mary plus Salome (with three visitors) ; [Luke 23:55, 24:1, 24:10] Mary Magdalene and joana, Mary mother of james, and other women. (At least 5 visitors)
ANSWER: Let us put down the said verses first;
[Matthew 28:1] “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb”.
Mark 16:1-2] “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.” Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
[Luke 24:1] On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
[Luke 24:10] It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, who told these things unto the apostles.
[Mark 16:1] states that the three women bought spices, this is not yet the actual day of visiting the tomb of Jesus. And then in [Mark 16:2], the day of visiting came.[Luke 24:1] confirms [Mark 16:1], the women had prepared spices before going to the tomb. Probably Salome was not able to accompany the two Maries at the actual visiting that’s why she wasn’t mentioned, or maybe the authors just did not mention her. Note that this incident was reported by three authors, every reporter has the right whether or not to include the lesser character in his report. These three authors had commonly stated the two Maries in their reports. Matthew just opted to report the important characters, while Luke opted to be more specific. [Mark 16:1-2 & Luke 24:10] are not in contradiction with [Matthew 28:1], but rather in support. It shows that not only the two Maries were visiting the tomb of Jesus, but they had companions.
30.) [Matthew 5:17-19 & Luke 16:17] Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but in [Ephesians 2:13-15 & Hebrews 7:18-19] Jesus abolished the law of Moses
“. . . The adjective “Catholic” began to be used in reference to the Christian church by Ignatius of Antioch (second century). “Roman” was added to “Catholic” by many Christians as a result of two serious breaches of collegiality among the Christian Churches. The first breach was in the eleventh century between Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity centered in Constantinople and Western Christianity centered in Rome. The second in the sixteenth century among Western Christians – Protestant, mainly Northern Europe . . . “
1.) THE ISRAELITES BROKE THE OLD COVENANT, THUS GOD MADE A NEW COVENANT WHICH IS THE EVERLASTING COVENANT
•[Jeremiah 31:31-32] “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
•[Ezekiel 16:60] Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish unto you an everlasting covenant
2.) GOD PROMISED THAT HE WILL SEND A MESSENGER TO BRING THE NEW COVENANT
•[Psalm 89:28] “My loving kindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.
•[Malachi 3:1] And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts
3.) GOD SAID THAT IT IS HIS SON THAT WILL BUILD HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH, AND NO ONE ELSE
•[1 Chronicles 17:12-14] He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.
•[2 Samuel 7:13-14] He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.
4.) THE KINGDOM OR CHURCH TO BE BUILT ON EARTH IS FOR ETERNITY. MEANING THE CHURCH FOUNDED BY JESUS IS THE ETERNAL OR HEAVENLY KINGDOM
•[Psalm 78:69]
(Aramaic Bible in Plain English) “He built His holy place upon the height and He prepared it in the earth for eternity.
(Brenton Septuagint Translation) And he built his sanctuary as the place of unicorns; he founded it forever on the earth.
•[2 Peter 1:11] and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
5.) THE SON (JESUS) BROUGHT THE NEW COVENANT TO EARTH
•[Luke 22:20] In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
•[Matthew 26:28] This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
6.) JESUS FOUNDED HIS CHURCH ON PETER (SIMON) AND APPOINTED HIM AS THE HEAD OF HIS CHURCH ON EARTH. JESUS GAVE PETER THE KEYS (AUTHORITY) WHO TO ADMIT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
•[Matthew 16:18-19] “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
COMMENT:
“. . . and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it . . .” what are these gates of hades that cannot overcome the Church founded by Jesus? These are the bogus religions that if you enter them, you will end up in hell. This word of Jesus assures that his Church cannot be corrupted or defeated by Satanic forces contrary to the accusation of the man-made churches against the Catholic Church. God also said He won’t change His word and mind, thus to accuse the Catholic Church as corrupted is to accuse God of being a liar. And also, this word of Jesus proves true since the Catholic Church has been the dominant religion until now.
“. . . Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus entrusted the keys (authority) of his Heavenly kingdom to his Earthly kingdom which is the Catholic Church. It means that the salvation of all people is in the hands of the Catholic church. The Catholic Church is the gate of Heavenly kingdom.
•[John 21:15-17] When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs. Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.” Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep”.
•[Luke 22:32] But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers
COMMENT: The above verses John 21:15-17 & Luke 22:32 are proofs that Peter (the head of the Catholic Church) was the one apointed by Jesus to head His Church on Earth.
7.) PETER APPOINTED IGNATIUS AS OVERSEER OR BISHOP OF ANTIOCH. IGNATIUS WAS ALSO ONE OF THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN THE BELOVED ALONG WITH HIS FRIEND (POLYCARP)
•[Ignatius of Antioch, WIKIPEDIA] “. . . Ignatius converted to Christianity at a young age. Tradition identifies Ignatius, along with his friend Polycarp, as disciples of John the Apostle. Later in his life, Ignatius was chosen to serve as Bishop of Antioch; the fourth-century Church historian Eusebius writes that Ignatius succeeded Evodius. Theodoret of Cyrrhus claimed that St. Peter himself left directions that Ignatius be appointed to the episcopal see of Antioch. . . ”
•[Saint Ignatius, NEW ADVENT] “. . . It is also believed, and with great probability, that, with his friend Polycarp, he was among the auditors of the Apostle St. John. If we include St. Peter, Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch and the immediate successor of Evodius (Eusebius, Church History II.3.22). Theodoret (“Dial. Immutab.”, I, iv, 33a, Paris, 1642) is the authority for the statement that St. Peter appointed Ignatius to the See of Antioch. . . ”
8.) SAINT IGNATIUS CALLED THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH AS “CATHOLIC CHURCH”
•[Roman Catholic Church, NEW WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA] “. . . The adjective “Catholic” began to be used in reference to the Christian church by Ignatius of Antioch (second century). “Roman” was added to “Catholic” by many Christians as a result of two serious breaches of collegiality among the Christian Churches. The first breach was in the eleventh century between Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity centered in Constantinople and Western Christianity centered in Rome. The second in the sixteenth century among Western Christians – Protestant, mainly Northern Europe, and Catholic, Southern Europe. . . .”
•[Catholic Church, WIKIPEDIA] “. . . Catholic (from Greek: καθολικός, romanized: katholikos, lit. ‘universal’) was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century. The first known use of the phrase “the catholic church” (καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία he katholike ekklesia) occurred in the letter written about 110 AD from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans. In the Catechetical Lectures (c. 350) of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name “Catholic Church” was used to distinguish it from other groups that also called themselves “the church. . .”
9.) THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE ORIGINAL OR OLDEST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
•[Roman Catholicism, BRITANNICA] “. . .The Roman Catholic Church traces its history to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Over the course of centuries it developed a highly sophisticated theology and an elaborate organizational structure headed by the papacy, the oldest continuing absolute monarchy in the world. . .”
•[Roman Catholic Church, NEW WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA] “The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. . .”
“As the oldest branch of Christianity, the history of the Catholic Church plays an integral part of the History of Christianity as a whole. Over time, schisms have disrupted the unity of Christianity. The major divisions occurred in 318 C.E. with Arianism, in 1054 with the East-West Schism with the Eastern Orthodox Church and in 1517 with the Protestant Reformation. . . “
→WARNING←
To those who left the Roman Catholic Church, you are no longer part of God’s Church or Kingdom, thus you will go to Hell;
[1 John 2:19] This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
[1 Timothy 4:1] Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons
To those who will enter the Kingdom in some other way (Church not founded by Jesus) are thieves and robbers
[John 10:1] “Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
Contrary to the belief of nonCatholic Christians and even Muslims, the Bible teaches ‘intercession’. Abraham, Job, Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah, and other prophets prayed to God for their fellowmen to be forgiven or be healed. Jesus (being a man) made intercession too and commanded His believers to pray for one another. The prayer of a holy or righteous man is powerful and effective because they are close to God. Cannot Saints hear the prayer of the living because their souls are asleep? Contrary to the belief of nonCatholics, the souls of the Saints (holy Ones) are not asleep (Revelation 6:10). In fact, Enoch and Elijah went to paradise without tasting death. If you have completely followed the will of Jesus perfectly you become righteous in the eyes of God, thus you won’t undergo God’s judgment. The court is intended only for the accused or crime committers, therefore if you have no case and your record is clean, your soul will go directly to God’s paradise.
QUOTED FROM OLD TESTAMENT
1. [Genesis 20:7] Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die–you and all who belong to you.”
2. [Genesis 20:17] Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children–
3. [Job 42:7-8] After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has. So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.”
4. [2 Chronicles 30:18-20] Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
5. [1 Kings 13:6] Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before.
6. [2 Kings 13:21] Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
7. [1 Samuel 2:25] If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.
8. [1 Samuel 7:5] Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.”
9. [1 Samuel 7:8] and said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
10. [1 Samuel 12:19] They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
11. [1 Samuel 12:23] As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
12. [Isaiah 59:16] And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.
13. [Jeremiah 15:1] Then the LORD said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go!
14. [Jeremiah 27: 18] If they are indeed prophets and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them intercede with the LORD of Armies not to let the articles that remain in the LORD’s temple, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem go to Babylon.’
15. [Jeremiah 42:2] Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.
16. [Ezekiel 22:30] “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
QUOTED FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT
1. [Matthew 5:44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
2. [Matthew 18:19] Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
3. [Luke 6:28] bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
4. [Luke 16:27] And he said, ‘Then I implore you, father, that you would send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he might warn them, that they also might not come to this place of torment.’
5. [Luke 23:34] Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do notknow what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
6. [John 9:31] We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.
7. [Acts 7:60] Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
8. [Acts 8:24] Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.“
10. [2 Corinthians 1:11] And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.
11. [1 Timothy 2:1] First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone
12. [Romans 8:34] Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
13. [Ephesians ] And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
14. [Hebrews 7:25] Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
15. [Hebrews 9:15] For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
27. [Hebrews 13:18] Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.
28.[James 5:16] Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
29. [Revelation 8:3-4] Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.
[1 Chronicles 17:12-14]
The Muslims keep telling that God has no Son, that Jesus is only human. The teaching about the Father and the Son is derived from the books in Tanakh which is ahead of Jesus thousands to hundreds of years. Tanakh foretells the arrival of the Son on Earth who is God himself. This shows that the worship of the Son was not fabricated later after Jesus’ ascension as alleged by the Muslims and some christian sects. Below are numerous biblical verses proving the existence of the Father and His Son (Jesus).
Quoted from Tanakh/Old Testament
1. [Proverbs 30:4] Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his Son? Surely you know!
2. [Psalm 2:7] The king proclaims the LORD’s decree: “The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.
3. [Psalm 2:11-12] Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
4. [Psalm 45:6-7] Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy
COMMENT: In this prophecy the Father called the Son as God and told the son that He is his God also. Kindly Check Hebrews 1:8-9.
5. [Psalm 80:15] Even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, And on the Son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.
6. [Psalm 89:27] And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth
7. [1 Chronicles 17:12-14] He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.
8. [2 Samuel 7:13-14] He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.
9. [1 Kings 15:4] Nevertheless, for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a Son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong.
10. [Isaiah 7:14] Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us).
11. [Isaiah 9:6] ”For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
12. [Daniel 3:24-25] Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spoke, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
13. [Daniel 7:13] “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
Quoted from the New Testament
1. [Matthew 3:17] And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased
2. [Matthew 7:21] “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
3. [Matthew 13:41-42] “The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth”
4. [Matthew 16:15-17] Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
5. [Matthew 16:27] For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
6. [Matthew 17:5] While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!
7. [Matthew 18:19] Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
8. [Luke 1:30-32] The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
9. [Luke 9:26 & Mark 8:38] If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.
10. [Luke 10:22] All things are delivered to me by my Father: and no man knows who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
11. [Luke 22:29] So as my Father has given me a kingdom, I’m giving it to you.
12. [Luke 22:70] So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” Jesus answered them, “You say that I am.”
13. [Luke 23:34] Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
14. [Mark 1:10-11] Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.
15. [Mark 9:7] Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
16. [John 1:18] No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
17. [John 3:17-18] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
18. [John 3:35-36] The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
19. [John 4:23-24] “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
20. [John 5:19] So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
21. [John 5:25-27] Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
22. [John 5:37] “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
23. [John 6:40] For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
24. [John 8:28] So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I Am He and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.
25. [John 8:48-49] The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right to say that You are a Samaritan and You have a demon?” “I do not have a demon,” Jesus replied, “but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
26. [John 9:10] Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works.
27. [John 10:30-31] “I and the Father are one.” At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him
28. [John 10:36] then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?
29. [John 10:37-38] If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me. But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”
30. [John 11:41-42] So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. “I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.
31. [John 12:49] “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
32. [John 13:3] Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.
33. [John 14:7] If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
34. [John 14:9-10] Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
35. [John 14:2-3] My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
36. [John 14:6] Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
37. [John 14:10] Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
38. [John 14:11] Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
39. [John 14:21] He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.
40. [John 14:26] But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
41. [John 15:7-8] “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples
42. [John 15:9-10] “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love
43. [John 15:26] But when the Counselor comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me
44. [John 16:15] “Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you.
45. [John 16:28] I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.
46. [John 17:4-5] “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
47. [John 20:17] “Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'”
48. [Acts 2:33] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
49. [1 John 2:22-23]. Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
50. [1 John 4:14] And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.
51. [1 John 5:5] Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
52. [1 John 5:9-10] Even if we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony that God has given about His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son.
53. [1 John 5:11-12] And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
54. [2 John 1:3] Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
55. [2 John 1:9] Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son
56. [1 Peter 1:3] Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! God has given us a new birth because of his great mercy. We have been born into a new life that has a confidence which is alive because Jesus Christ has come back to life.
57. [1 Peter 1:3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
58. [2 Peter 1:17-19] “He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
59. [Romans 8:2-3] For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,
60. [1 Corinthians 4:6] We are not to think of Jesus beside another person who is also God, but to think of the Father as being within Jesus, for He says, “the Father dwells in Me”
61. [1 Corinthians 8:6] yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.
62. [1 Corinthians 15:24] After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.
63. [2 Corinthians 6:18] And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
64. [1 Thessalonians 3:13] so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.
65. [Philippians 2:11] and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
66. [Colossians 1:15-17] The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
67. [Hebrews 1:2-3] In these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. God made his Son responsible for everything. His Son is the one through whom God made the universe.
67. [Hebrews 1:3] The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
68. [Hebrews 1:8-9] But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
69. [Revelation 3:21] The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
