Title: Six questions muslims often ask about Jesus Source:
[None] URL Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuKw2x-Did8 Published:Mar 17, 2019 Author:The Christian Prince Post Date:2019-03-17 23:39:01 by A K A Stone Keywords:None Views:1400 Comments:15
There are six questions answered in this article: Has the Bible been changed from its original? Does God say that one religion will replace another: Judaism, then Christianity, then Islam? Is it not blasphemy to say God has a Son? Did Jesus die on a cross? If Jesus died on a cross, was God dead for 3 days? Why not view Jesus as a prophet?
Let me have a go at this Has the Bible been changed from its original? No, the Bible has not changed, the text has been varified, howevr a number of people have attempted translations but essentially these translations all say the same thing, namely, belief in Jesus is the only way to salvation Does God say that one religion will replace another: Judaism, then Christianity, then Islam? Judaism is a covenant between God and the Jewish people, it is called the Law. Christianity is a different covenant between God and all people, a covenant of grace through Jesus Christ. Islam is not a covenant and therefore does not replace either Judaism or Christianity Is it not blasphemy to say God has a Son? No God himself revealed this to us when he said this is my beloved son in whom I am well please so how can God utter a blasphemy and to attribute blasphemy to God is in itself blasphemy, thus Islam is a blasphemy Did Jesus die on a cross? Yes this is attested to by the Bible, the Romans and other writers If Jesus died on a cross, was God dead for 3 days? God, the Father, was not dead, he is eternal. Jesus lay in the grave for three days and was ressurected Why not view Jesus as a prophet? because you cannot gain salvation through a prophet, but Jesus was far more than prophet so do not diminish him. The death of Jesus was the pivotal point in history point to suggest otherwise is to fail to understand his importance
#7. To: All, paraclete, A K A Stone, Vicomte13, redleghunter, Gatlin, Liberator (#4)
Why not view Jesus as a prophet? because you cannot gain salvation through a prophet, but Jesus was far more than prophet so do not diminish him.
You are brushing up against a point not often discussed.
If Jesus was a prophet of Islam (as they insist), then he was a prophet in many ways nearly as revered as Muhammad. You see this when they say piously "Jesus, blessed be his name", often at every mention of his name. Among the recognized prophets of Islam, Jesus ranks as #2, right behind Muhammad. At least, that is my understanding.
The Koran relates that there is a prophet for every faith community. The hadith (unverified oral sayings of Muhammad) relate that there are over 124,000 prophets of Islam total but only 313 are considered of the highest rank, so-called "Messengers". We would probably call them "major prophets". When the Koran calls any person a "messenger", they are automatically considered a major prophet.
So who are these known "messenger prophets"? Many of them are drawn from the Old Testament writings and a few from the New Testament and all have different Arabic names in the Koran.
Adam
Enoch
Noah
Eber
Salah
Abraham
Lot
Ishmael
Isaac
Jacob
Joseph
Job
Jethro
Moses
Aaron
Ezekiel
David
Solomon
Elijah
Elisha
Jonah
Zechariah
John the Baptist
Jesus
Paraclete (Muhammad)
The passages in the New Testament relating to "Paraclete" are claimed by Muslims to refer to Muhammad, an Advocate to come after Jesus, prophesied by Jesus himself. Naturally, orthodox Christians insist these are references only to the Holy Spirit.
In this way, Islam lays claim to the major figures of both Jewish and Christian scripture and dovetail them into a line of succession of messenger-prophets to various faith communities or nations until the final prophet, Muhammad, is sent by Allah as a messenger-prophet to all mankind, to the jinn and to all of Creation. There are key distinctions in Islam between law-bearing prophets and purely spiritual prophets. The messages brought by law-bearing prophets are endowed with the force of real-world law in the form of sharia law. So that is where the prophets become sharia law in the modern world.
In addition to the ~124,000 prophets and the select group of 313 known as Messengers (messenger-prophets sent to various communities/nations), many Muslims recognize certain holy persons as saints, much as saints are recognized in Christianity. This recognition is not universal as Salafists and Wahhabists do not recognize the status of saint. There are some Islamic scholars who do believe that Mary, mother of Jesus, and Asiya, a wife of a pharaoh, were both prophets because they had attained a spiritual perfection but they are the only women ever mentioned as possible prophets and it is still debated whether they are minor prophets or not.
In addition, in some strains of Islam, the known descendants of Muhammad are considered saints and apparently, there is an equivalent school of saints among the Shi'ites for the descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Ali was, according to the Shi'a, the founder of Shi'a Islam and was Muhammad's first cousin and the first male convert to Islam. This is why Shi'ites have a theological we-wuz-robbed-of-our-monarchy problem with the Sunnis, who selected Mohammad's successor(s) in what became Sunni Islam. The Shi'a and the Sunni have been rival strains of Islam ever since. Persons who become imams or major religious scholars in Islam can most often trace their ancestral lineage back to Muhammad or Ali or the various ancient caliphs or prophets or recognized ancient holy persons. Muslims with this ancestry are generally selected as the leaders of mosques even if they do not become scholars or imams. In Islam, it really pays to come from a "good family".
Anyway, I thought a little overview of this matter of Islamic prophets, messengers, saints and various holy people of Islam was worth writing and that someone here might like reading it. I know redleghunter knows a lot more about Islam than I do so maybe he'd like to offer a little more commentary.
