Bible vs Quran
Compiled by Islam101.com. This is a Muslim apologetics site, so be ready to deal with some very strange interpretations of Christian beliefs and concepts.
Belloc: The origins of that great movement which shook and split for generations the spiritual world, and which we call the “Reformation”.
The most important thing about the Reformation is to understand it. Not only to follow the story of it stage by stage – a process always necessary to the understanding of any historical matter – but to grasp its essential nature.
On this last it is easy for modern people to go wrong, and especially modern people of the English-speaking world. The nations we English-speaking people know are, with the exception of Ireland, predominantly Protestant; and yet (with the exception of Great Britain and South Africa) they harbour large Catholic minorities.
In that English-speaking world (to which this present writing is addressed) there is full consciousness of what the Protestant spirit has been and what it has become in its present modification.
Unlikely story: An avowed atheist’s conversion.
For the first time in my life, I prayed, and said. “Dear God. There is no logical way you could possibly exist, and even if you appeared before me in the flesh, I would call it an hallucination. So I can think of no possible way, no matter what the evidence and no matter how clear it was, that you could prove your existence to me.
But the Christians claim you are benevolent, and that my failure to believe in you inevitably will damn me. If, as they claim, you care whether or not I am damned, and if, as they claim, you are all wise and all powerful, you can prove to me that you exist even though I am confident such a thing is logically impossible.
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation in this matter, John C. Wright.” — and then my mind was at rest. I had done all I needed to do honestly to maintain my stature as someone, not who claimed to be logical, objective and openminded, but who was logical, objective, and openminded.
Three days later, with no warning, I had a heart attack, and was lying on the floor, screaming and dying.
-Then I was saved from certain death by faith-healing, after which–
-I felt the Holy Spirit enter my body, after which–
-became immediately aware of my soul, a part of myself which, until that time, I reasoned and thought did not exist-
-I was visited by the Virgin Mary, her son, and His Father-
-not to mention various other spirits and ghosts over a period of several days–
-including periods of divine ecstasy, and an awareness of the mystical oneness of the universe-
-And a week or so after that I had a religious experience where I entered the mind of God and saw the indescribable simplicity and complexity, love, humor and majesty of His thought, and I understood the joy beyond understanding and comprehended the underlying unity of all things, and the paradox of determinism and free will was made clear to me, as was the symphonic nature of prophecy. I was shown the structure of time and space.
-And then Christ in a vision told me that He would be my judge, and that God judges no man. I mentioned this event to my wife. Then about a month later, when I was reading the Bible for the first time beyond the unavoidable minimum assigned in school, I came across the passage in the book of John, a passage I had never seen before, and to which no Christian in my hearing had ever made reference, which said the same thing in the same words.
-And then I have had perhaps a dozen or two dozen prayers miraculously answered, so much so that I now regard it as a normal routine rather than some extraordinary act of faith.
So I would say my snide little prayer was answered with much more than I had asked, and I was given not just evidence, and not just overwhelming evidence, but joy unspeakable and life eternal.
Verses about divine judgment from the Gospel of St. John:
(John 3:17) For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world: but that the world may be saved by him.
(John 5:22) For neither does the Father judge any man: but hath given all judgment to the Son.
(John 5:30) I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge. And my judgment is just: because I seek not my own will. but the will of him that sent me.
(John 7:24) Judge not according to the appearance: but judge just judgment.
(John 7:51) Doth our law judge any man, unless it first hear him and know what he doth?
(John 8:15) You judge according to the flesh: I judge not any man.
(John 8:16) And if I do judge, my judgment is true: because I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
(John 8:26) Many things I have to speak and to judge of you. But he that sent me, is true: and the things I have heard of him, these same I speak in the world.
(John 12:47) And if any man hear my words and keep them not, I do not judge him for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
(John 12:48) He that despiseth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Today’s question: Why is Christianity the correct religion? Please do not quote the Bible.
Q: Why is Christianity the correct religion? Please do not quote the Bible.
A: There is more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than virtually any other historical figure who ever lived. The very calendar we use today is based on the approximate year of his birth, and it will end on the very day Jesus chooses to return.
Jesus Christ claimed to be God, and he proved the truth of his claim in many and various ways.
Jesus Christ accomplished what the Hebrew scriptures (not necessarily what the Hebrews themselves) predicted he would accomplish. This includes various types of miracles, and many other events and particular works that were predicted (in writing) from 200 to 6000 years, in advance.
Jesus Christ stated that he would allow himself to be put to death and he would rise again, three days hence. He did just that, in the presence of many eye-witnesses, some of whom were his enemies.
In the 40 day period between his resurrection and his ascension, Jesus was seen by some 500 eye witnesses. Many of these same witnesses preferred to die, rather than deny what/who they had seen.
Many details of Jesus’ earthly life and times were initially faithfully preserved by those who actually knew him, as well as his own family. Later, these factual accounts were reduced to writing. In both instances, people who knew Jesus Christ and the particular details of his life, his death and his resurrection were still alive and available to confirm or deny the truth of the accounts.
This process is the way genuine world history has always been recorded and preserved. It’s how we know about Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, George Washington, and every other historical figure who ever lived.
The government of the United States of America has preserved the history pertaining to George Washington, over a period of the last 230 years. George Washington’s descendants along with various other world governments confirm those historical claims.
The Catholic Church, which was personally founded by Jesus Christ, while he still walked the earth, has been the living eye witness to Jesus Christ, for the last 2000 years. The Catholic Church also constitutes the oldest, longest reigning, continuous government on earth, ante-ceding every existing world system in existence today.
The history of the Catholic Church and the history of those governments confirm both the existence of Jesus Christ as a real historical person, and the unique establishment, growth, universality, hierarchical leadership and holiness of the only Christian Church that Jesus Christ ever founded, for the purpose of our salvation.
As a rational person, you must realize that the existence of the historical Jesus Christ cannot be truthfully denied.
As a human being, who is posited to have an immortal soul, subject to divine judgment, you must study all the historical evidence, all the theology, and all the related philosophy, in order to come to a valid personal conclusion as to whether or not Jesus Christ is the divine person he claimed to be.
At that point, a modicum of faith (faith enlightened by reason … not blind faith) will be required, simply because you will no longer be dealing with the purely natural, but also the supernatural and the infinite, since that is part and parcel of the realm of the eternal, almighty God.
Enlightened by the facts and illuminated by the huge body of authentic systematic Catholic theology and related philosophy, any required “leap” of faith is not nearly as far as many people might think.
To Tell You the Whole Truth (PDF)
A Complete, Concise and Understandable
Basic and Advanced Course In Catholicism.
What is the point of being a Christian?
Question: What’s the point of being a Christian? What makes Christianity the “true faith”?
Answer: The main point of being a Christian is to faithfully “align” ones self with Jesus Christ, in the hope of overcoming eternal death.
Christianity is the “true faith” because Jesus Christ is a real, historical person who actually proved he was God by his holy life, his miracles, his salvific death (precisely as prophesied, well in advance) and his glorious resurrection.
By his resurrection, Jesus Christ proved that he had overcome the power of death and only through faith in Christ are we able to maintain that blessed hope for ourselves, as well as our friends and loved ones.
Then, we have 2,000 years of continuous testimony to divine revelation and truth by the Catholic Church, which Jesus personally founded, authorized, empowered and perpetually guaranteed – a church which has miraculously withstood the scandals, abuses, shortcomings and general malfeasance of the heinous sinners who continue to lead, govern and belong to it.
No other faith tradition offers the slightest hope of overcoming eternal death, nor does any other faith tradition have the ability to provide the other very significant benefits of Christianity, because the best they can offer is some form of temporary happiness on earth, followed by an eternity separated from God.
A “basic primer” on Christianity that explains what Christians believe and why they believe it
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PART TWO:
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PART THREE:
Why we venerate
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The mystery
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PART SIX:
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Today’s question: What is the main reason you believe in Christianity?
Question: What is the main reason you believe in Christianity?
Answer: Catholic Christianity is not only historically accurate, but also fully documented, time tested and proved to be morally, logically and rationally sound.
The supernatural aspects of Catholicism are truly extraordinary, while the retirement plan cannot be beat.
That just about sums things up.
Today’s Question: What is the main philosophy of Christianity?
Question: What is the main philosophy of Christianity?
Answer: Redemption from perpetual slavery to Satan, sin and death, through the grace and merits of Jesus Christ, true man and true God.
Question: If Christians want to convince us of their great beliefs, shouldn’t they make an effort to come across as more intelligent? They often come across as irrational, prejudiced and a bit wacky.
Question: If Christians want to convince us of their great beliefs, shouldn’t they make an effort to come across as more intelligent? They often come across as irrational, prejudiced and a bit wacky.
Answer: You are very observant.
Authentic Christianity, along with all its doctrines and dogmas, is laid out much like a computer algorithm: If it isn’t true and it isn’t logical/rational, then it doesn’t work and it should be rejected, since anything that doesn’t meet the standard of divine truth is essentially, good for nothing.
The Catholic Church used to excel in teaching and preaching only superb, rational and scholarly theology, but since it got “reformed” some fifty years ago, Catholic leadership seems to think that type of thing is no longer necessary, so they have opted instead to promote the kind of weak, superficial, irrational, politically correct drivel that had previously, been the hallmark of the followers of Martin Luther.
It’s still possible to discover and learn authentic Christianity and it’s still possible to learn to practice it and clearly explain it, but that evidently, requires more time and effort than many are willing to invest.
What is the point of being a Christian?
Question: What’s the point of being a Christian? What makes Christianity the “true faith”?
Answer: The main point of being a Christian is to faithfully “align” ones self with Jesus Christ, in the hope of overcoming eternal death.
Christianity is the “true faith” because Jesus Christ is a real, historical person who actually proved he was God by his holy life, his miracles, his salvific death (precisely as prophesied, well in advance) and his glorious resurrection.
By his resurrection, Jesus Christ proved that he had overcome the power of death and only through faith in Christ are we able to maintain that blessed hope for ourselves, as well as our friends and loved ones.
Then, we have 2,000 years of continuous testimony to divine revelation and truth by the Catholic Church, which Jesus personally founded, authorized, empowered and perpetually guaranteed – a church which has miraculously withstood the scandals, abuses, shortcomings and general malfeasance of the heinous sinners who continue to lead, govern and belong to it.
No other faith tradition offers the slightest hope of overcoming eternal death, nor does any other faith tradition have the ability to provide the other very significant benefits of Christianity, because the best they can offer is some form of temporary happiness on earth, followed by an eternity separated from God.
Pope Francis’ New Federation of Catholic (Reformed) Churches?
What’s gravely wrong with this picture?
…the motu proprio “Apostolos Suos” strongly limits that “authentic doctrinal authority” which Pope Francis says he wants to grant to the episcopal conferences. It prescribes that if doctrinal declarations really need to be issued, this must be done with unanimous approval and in communion with the pope and the whole Church, or at least “by a substantial majority” after review and authorization by the Holy See.
One danger warned against in the motu proprio “Apostolos Suos” is that the episcopal conferences might release doctrinal declarations in contrast with each other and with the universal magisterium of the Church.
Another risk that it intends to prevent is the creation of separation and antagonism between individual national Churches and Rome, as happened in the past in France with “Gallicanism” and as takes place among the Orthodox with some of the autocephalous national Churches.
That motu proprio bears the signature of John Paul II, but it owes its framework to the one who was his highly trusted prefect of doctrine, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
And Ratzinger – as was known – had long been very critical of the superpowers that some episcopal conferences had attributed to themselves, especially in certain countries, including his native Germany.
In his bombshell interview of 1985, published with the title “The Ratzinger Report,” he had resolutely opposed the idea that the Catholic Church should become “a kind of federation of national Churches.”
Instead of a “decisive new emphasis on the role of the bishops” as desired by Vatican Council II, the national episcopal conferences – he accused – have “smothered” the bishops with their weighty bureaucratic structures.
Pride, “Change” and the Revolution
The Revolution is a movement of spirit having its taproot and energy in the devil, the spirit of hate, murder, atheism, apostasy, and ‘this world only’ naturalism, materialism, pantheism, and spiritualism. The Revolution is war against the supernatural Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which in the words of Marx’s anarchist comrade Bakunin, are the “cursed and fatal principle of authority.”
The sentiment of the Revolution is satanic pride: movement of spirit having its taproot and energy in the devil, the spirit of hate, murder, atheism, apostasy, and ‘this world only’ naturalism, materialism, pantheism, and spiritualism. The Revolution is war against the supernatural Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which in the words of Marx’s anarchist comrade Bakunin, are the “cursed and fatal principle of authority.”
“….which spurns subjection to any master whatever, whether of divine or human origin.” (Bakunin, Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age, Fr. Seraphim Rose, p. 63)
The nature of the Revolution is the antithesis of authentic Christian faith. Whereas Christian faith is joy, patience, love, truth, humbleness, perseverance, submission in all things to the Will of God and blessed eternal life in Paradise (earth perfected), the Satanic counterfeit is full of hatred, rebelliousness, burning envy and covetousness against man and God, ingratitude, mockery, doubts, lies, revulsion, blasphemy, thoughts of murder and eternal life in Hell.
Fueled by monstrously inflated pride and dissatisfaction with self, the world, society, and God the Father Almighty, it devotes its’ infernal energy toward“change,” or as Marx put it, toward the wholesale destruction of the Christian-based Old Order and the establishment of a religiously pantheist, totalitarian world order because:
“The idea of God is the keynote of a perverted civilization. It must be destroyed.” (Karl Marx, Marx and Satan, p. 59)
Mayor of San Antonio Julian (Joseph McCarthy) Castro
The mayor of San Antonio glares down at the electrician, who is bidding for a contract to wire some new public offices.
“Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Roman Catholic Church?”
The electrician looks puzzled, but his assistant Carlos, a man with more experience in political affairs, speaks up. “Mayor Castro,” he says, “my friend Mario was baptized a Roman Catholic, and went to Catholic schools, but that was a long time ago, and he wasn’t the only one, not by a long shot. But I can promise you that he hasn’t gone to church in all the fifteen years I’ve worked with him, except for at Easter and Christmas, and he only does that to please his mother.”
“That’s all well and good,” says Mayor Castro, “but it still is troubling that he should maintain any connection at all with an organization that won’t allow women into the priesthood, and that still insists that a man cannot marry another man.” He turns to Mario. “Sir,” he says, “can you give us any further assurance that you have never spoken or acted in such a way as to confirm these obnoxious teachings?”
Comparing the Fundamental Beliefs of Christians and Muslims
Bible vs Quran
Compiled by Islam101.com. This is a Muslim apologetics site, so be ready to deal with some very strange interpretations of Christian beliefs and concepts.
Belloc: The origins of that great movement which shook and split for generations the spiritual world, and which we call the “Reformation”.
The most important thing about the Reformation is to understand it. Not only to follow the story of it stage by stage – a process always necessary to the understanding of any historical matter – but to grasp its essential nature.
On this last it is easy for modern people to go wrong, and especially modern people of the English-speaking world. The nations we English-speaking people know are, with the exception of Ireland, predominantly Protestant; and yet (with the exception of Great Britain and South Africa) they harbour large Catholic minorities.
In that English-speaking world (to which this present writing is addressed) there is full consciousness of what the Protestant spirit has been and what it has become in its present modification.
Unlikely story: An avowed atheist’s conversion.
For the first time in my life, I prayed, and said. “Dear God. There is no logical way you could possibly exist, and even if you appeared before me in the flesh, I would call it an hallucination. So I can think of no possible way, no matter what the evidence and no matter how clear it was, that you could prove your existence to me.
But the Christians claim you are benevolent, and that my failure to believe in you inevitably will damn me. If, as they claim, you care whether or not I am damned, and if, as they claim, you are all wise and all powerful, you can prove to me that you exist even though I am confident such a thing is logically impossible.
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation in this matter, John C. Wright.” — and then my mind was at rest. I had done all I needed to do honestly to maintain my stature as someone, not who claimed to be logical, objective and openminded, but who was logical, objective, and openminded.
Three days later, with no warning, I had a heart attack, and was lying on the floor, screaming and dying.
-Then I was saved from certain death by faith-healing, after which–
-I felt the Holy Spirit enter my body, after which–
-became immediately aware of my soul, a part of myself which, until that time, I reasoned and thought did not exist-
-I was visited by the Virgin Mary, her son, and His Father-
-not to mention various other spirits and ghosts over a period of several days–
-including periods of divine ecstasy, and an awareness of the mystical oneness of the universe-
-And a week or so after that I had a religious experience where I entered the mind of God and saw the indescribable simplicity and complexity, love, humor and majesty of His thought, and I understood the joy beyond understanding and comprehended the underlying unity of all things, and the paradox of determinism and free will was made clear to me, as was the symphonic nature of prophecy. I was shown the structure of time and space.
-And then Christ in a vision told me that He would be my judge, and that God judges no man. I mentioned this event to my wife. Then about a month later, when I was reading the Bible for the first time beyond the unavoidable minimum assigned in school, I came across the passage in the book of John, a passage I had never seen before, and to which no Christian in my hearing had ever made reference, which said the same thing in the same words.
-And then I have had perhaps a dozen or two dozen prayers miraculously answered, so much so that I now regard it as a normal routine rather than some extraordinary act of faith.
So I would say my snide little prayer was answered with much more than I had asked, and I was given not just evidence, and not just overwhelming evidence, but joy unspeakable and life eternal.
Verses about divine judgment from the Gospel of St. John:
(John 3:17) For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world: but that the world may be saved by him.
(John 5:22) For neither does the Father judge any man: but hath given all judgment to the Son.
(John 5:30) I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge. And my judgment is just: because I seek not my own will. but the will of him that sent me.
(John 7:24) Judge not according to the appearance: but judge just judgment.
(John 7:51) Doth our law judge any man, unless it first hear him and know what he doth?
(John 8:15) You judge according to the flesh: I judge not any man.
(John 8:16) And if I do judge, my judgment is true: because I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
(John 8:26) Many things I have to speak and to judge of you. But he that sent me, is true: and the things I have heard of him, these same I speak in the world.
(John 12:47) And if any man hear my words and keep them not, I do not judge him for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
(John 12:48) He that despiseth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Topical and Timely New Book – Not Peace but a Sword: The Great Chasm Between Christianity and Islam By Robert Spencer
Robert Spencer has written a dozen books on Islam, as well as thousands of pages of commentary on Islamic law, scripture, and tradition, but this may be his most significant book yet because of its potential to alert Christians to a dangerous gap in their knowledge of Islam. Christian leaders are badly in need of a wake-up call about Islam and this is a wake-up call that is hard to ignore. Not Peace but a Sword asks questions about the relationship between Christianity and Islam that few others are asking, even though they are questions that beg for answers.
The Great and Enduring Heresy of Mohammed (Free Selection)
Doug Lawrence's Catholic Site 