SOME THOUGHTS ON THE KORAN

SCRIPTURES AND THE KORAN

Let us begin this study with a consideration of the Bible (called “Scriptures” in the Koran) and its relationship to the Koran. We read in Sura (chapter) 6.91-92 in the Koran, “Say: Who sent down the book which Moses brought, a light and guidance to man….it is God… . And this Book (the Koran) which we (God) have sent down is blessed, confirming that which was before it….”. We learn in this passage that Muhammad, who, of course wrote the Koran, considered at least, the first five books of the Bible to come from God and the Koran was sent to confirm the teachings of the Bible. Because this is so important a declaration let us consider the definition of the word “confirm”  from Webster’s Dictionary. “1.Establish the truth or correctness of , 2.State with assurance that a report or fact is true.” In other words, the Koran purports to establish the truth of, in this verse, the books of Moses.

Let us consider other passages which tell us that Muhammad believed that the entire Bible came from God and that the Koran was sent to confirm the Bible. Sura 5.52  reads, “And to thee we  (God) have sent down the Book of the Koran with truth, confirmatory of previous Scriptures...” Note the phrase,”previous Scriptures”. Surely God would not send the Koran to confirm something He Himself had not written because only that which comes from God is without doubt, truth. I believe therefore that this verse teaches that Muhammad believed that the entire Bible came from God and the Koran came from Him to confirm the truthfulness of the Bible.

Sura 4.50 reads, “Oh ye to whom the Scriptures have been given! believe in what we (God) have sent down confirmatory of the Scriptures.…”. Again, because the Koran is said to have been given by God to confirm the Scriptures, I believe logic dictates that the position of the Koran is that the Scriptures were given by God and the Koran was given by God to confirm the truthfulness of the Bible.

Sura 3.2 reads, “In truth He sent down to them the book (the Koran) which confirmeth those which precede it: For He had sent down the Law, and the Evangel aforetime, as man’s Guidance; and now hath He sent down the Illumination”. Again, given that the Koran is said to be from God, it is logical to conclude that the book which preceded it is the Bible which came from God.

Sura 5.18, “O people of the Scriptures! now is our Apostle come to you to clear up to you much that ye concealed of those Scriptures, and to pass over many things. Now hath a light and a clear Book come to you from God, by which God will guide him who shall follow after his good pleasure…..”.. The “people of the Scripture” are, of course Jews. The Koran is said in this verse to be a light to enlighten them about the Scriptures. Once again, I believe we may conclude that Muhammad believed that God sent the Koran to send light on God’s Word. Therefore, this verse too tells us that the Koran sees the Bible as having come from God and the Koran being sent from God to confirm the Bible.

Sura 35.28, “And that which we have revealed to thee of the Book is the very Truth, confirmatory of previous Scriptures…”.

My point in quoting these passages from the Koran is that the Koran claims to have come from God to confirm the Bible which, as is recognized in the Koran, came from God. That being the case, we must assume that the Koran will always confirm and never contradict the Bible. That is to say, the Koran correctly says that the Bible comes from God, which means of course, that the Bible is perfect in its truthfulness and accuracy. But if the Koran contradicts the Bible then the Koran cannot come from God because that would mean that God is contradicting Himself, which is, of course impossible.

But just for the sake of argument let us assume for the moment that if there are contradictions between the two books (as we shall see there are) the Koran is correct and the Bible is incorrect. If the Bible is incorrect then it obviously did not come from God. But the Koran says in several passages quoted above that the Bible did indeed come from God. That would make the Koran incorrect on that issue which would mean that neither the Bible or the Koran is from God. That leaves us with one of two possible conclusions: 1) Neither the Bible or the Koran are from God and He has left man with nothing in writing that brings us to Him or informs us how to live or how to be saved or Who God is. Or 2) the Bible is from God and the Koran, because it contradicts, rather than confirms the Bible as it says it does, is not from God.

With that said, let us look at some of the passages in the Koran that do indeed contradict the Bible.*

CONTRADICTIONS

The Flat Earth

We read in Sura 20.55, “He hath spread the earth as a bed…”. And we read in Sura 52.48, “And the Earth-we (God) have stretched it out like a carpet; and how smoothly have we spread it forth”. These passages indicate a flat earth. That is to say, a bed is flat, not round and a carpet is also flat, not round. Not only is this scientifically incorrect, it also contradicts the Bible. We read in Is. 40:22, “It is He That sitteth upon the circle of the earth...”. The phrase “circle of the earth” implies, of course, a round, not a flat earth.

It is clear that the Koran contradicts the Bible and is scientifically incorrect in its claim that the earth is flat. Because we have seen that the Koran is incorrect and the Bible is correct on this point, we may conclude that when the Koran contradicts the Bible it is the Bible that is correct and the Koran is incorrect. Because God does not contradict Himself, we must conclude that the Koran did not come from God.

Who Took Moses From The Nile River?

Sura 20.10 reads, “And Pharoah’s wife said, ‘Joy of the eye to me and thee! put him (Moses) not to death, happily he will be useful to us or we may adopt him as a son”. But the Bible in Ex. 2:5-6 reads, “And the daughter of Pharoah came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. and when she had opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrew children.’………And the child grew, and she (Moses’ sister-vs. 9) brought him unto Pharoah’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name ‘Moses’; and she said, ‘Because I drew him out of the water’” The Koran says that the baby Moses was taken from the river by Pharoah’s wife, but the Bible said it was the Pharoah’sdaughter that rescued him. In other words, the Koran does not, in this case confirm the Bible it, contradicts the Bible. Because, as the Koran states, the Bible is from heaven it cannot be in error. But because the Koran is indeed in error it cannot have come from God.

“Zacharius Mute”

We read in Sura 3.36, “He (Zacharius, father of John the Baptist) said, ‘Lord give me a token! He (the Lord) said, ‘Thy token shall be that for three days thou shalt speak to no man but by signs’”. And in Sura 19:11 we read, “…..He (the Lord) said, ‘Thy sign shall be that for three nights, though sound in health, thou speakest not to man”. But the Bible tells us in Luke 1:20, “And behold thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak unto the day that these things (the birth of his son John the Baptist) shall be performed”. This was stated at the conception of his son (see vs. 13), so Zacharius was mute for 9 months, not three days. Again, because the Bible was sent down from God we know that it is true and perfectly correct. But because the Koran contradicts the Bible we know that the Koran was not sent  from God.

Wives In Paradise

Sura 44.50 reads, “But the pious shall be in a secure place, Amid gardens and fountains: Clothed in silk and richest groves, facing one another: Thus shall it be: and we will wed them to the virgins with large eyes….”. And Sura 52.20 reads, “On couches ranged in rows shall they (“they who feared God”) recline: And to the damsels with large dark eyes will we wed them“. But we read in Matt. 22:30, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage….”. So where the Koran states that there will be marriage in Paradise, the Bible says there will be no marriage. Here again the Koran, rather than confirm the Bible, contradicts it. So here is further proof that the Koran is not from God or it could not contradict what God had sent.

“The Angels Bowed Down And Worshiped” Man

Sura 15.29-30, “I create man of dried clay, of dark loam moulded: And when I shall have fashioned him and breathed of My spirit into him, Then fall ye down and worshiped him. And the Angels bowed down in worship, all of them, all together”. And Sura 17.63 reads, “And when we (God) said to the Angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam’; And they all prostrated them…”. (See also Sura 18.48.) But we read in Ps. 8:4-5, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels”. It is true this passage goes on to say that God “hast crowned him with glory and honour, Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet”. That is to say, God has made man unto glory and honour, but as high a position as that is, man was still created a little lower than the angels. That being the case, angels would not worship a creature that was made lower than themselves. But because the Koran says that the Angels did worship man, this proves once again, that the Koran is not entirely correct and therefore not from God.

Scourge A Wife

We read in Sura 4.38, “Virtuous women are obedient, and careful during the husband’s absence, because God hath of them been careful. But chide those for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart and scourge them…”. Let us consider the word “refractoriness”. The defininition from Webster’s Dictionary reads, “State or condition or quality of being refractory”. The definition of “refactory is, “obstinate, intractable, unmanageable”. Let us consider what the Bible teaches about how a man should treat his wife. We read in Eph. 5:28-29, “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church”. The Koran says that a man should scourge (i.e. whip) his wife if she is unmanageable. But the Bible says that a man should treat his wife as he would his own flesh, i.e. nourishing and cherishing her. Once again the Koran contradicts the Bible thus proving that it is not from God.

Paradise

Sura 11.25 reads, “But they who have believed and have done the things that are right, and humbled them before their Lord, shall be the inmates of Paradise; therein they shall abide forever”. Where does the Koran say that Paradise is located? I believe Sura 61.12 will answer that question. “Your sins will He forgive you, and He will bring you into gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow – into charming abodes into the gardens of Eden“. I believe that we may conclude that the Koran teaches that Paradise will be on earth. Indeed that is what the Bible teaches also which we will see as we compare Rev. 2:7 with Rev. 22:14. Rev. 2:7 reads, “….to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” And Rev. 22:14 reads, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates of the city“. In other words the tree of life will be in Paradise and the tree of life will be in the “city”, which is the new Jerusalem (see 21:10). That makes the new Jerusalem Paradise. The new Jerusalem will be on the new earth. How do we know that? We read in Rev. 21:1-2, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven....”.

So both the Koran and the Bible teach that Paradise will be on the new earth. But that is not the whole truth and therefore not Truth. That is to say, that while it is true that believing Israel will be in Paradise, God has a different company of believers in the dispensation of the mystery which was issued in when Israel was temporarily set aside at the end of the Acts period. It is in the dispensaiton of the mystery that the Koran was written. (Please see the paper which defines the dispensation of the mystery). With a different company God has promised a different calling. That is to say, believers of the dispensation of the mystery are called, not to the Paradise on earth, but to heavenly places. Let us consider Eph. 2:6, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit togetherin heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. (Please see the paper that proves that believers of the dispensation of the mystery are called not to an earthly Paradise but to heavenly places wherein Christ is seated “far above all heavens”- Eph. 4:10).

My point is that we learn from the Koran that ” they who have believed and have done the things that are right, and humbled them before their Lord, shall be the inmates of Paradise”. But the believers of the dispensation of the mystery are certainly among those who “have believed and have done the things that are right”, but they will not, as the Koran says, be in Paradise, but in heavenly places. Once again, the Koran contradicts the Bible proving that the Koran is not from God.

Infidelity

Sura 3.84 reads, “As for those becoming infidels after having believed, and then increase their infidelity- their repentance shall never be accepted“. But we read in II Tim. 2:13, “If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself”. The Bible says in this verse that if a believer abandons his faith, Christ will not deny that person because that person had been promised by God eternal life, and God, Who cannot lie, will remain true to Who He is and not deny that person the promise that had been made upon his acceptance of truth. But yet again, the Koran contradicts the Bible by stating that that person will “never be accepted”.

Sons of God

Sura 5.21 reads, “Say the Jews and Christians, ‘Sons are we of God and His beloved’. Say: Why then does He chastise you for your sins?”. But we read in I John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called ‘the sons of God’”. So the Bible tells us that believers are indeed “the sons of God”. But let also consider the question “Why then does He chastise you for your sins?” The answer to that question is given in Prov. 3:11-12, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; Neither be weary of His correction; For whom the Lord loveth He correcteth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth”.

Once again, the Koran says that the Bible is from God and therefore cannot be in error. That means that the Koran is in error both in the contradictions discussed above and in saying that it, i.e. the Koran, is from God because God cannot be in error and contradict Himself.

Was Christ Crucified?

Sura 4.156 reads, “And for their saying, ‘Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, and Apostle of God.’. Yet they slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness. ….they did not really slay him, but God took him up to Himself”. Four times we read in the Bible a clear statement that Christ was crucified. Matt. 27:35, “…and they crucified Him….’. Mark 15:25, “And it was the third hour and they crucified Him”. Luke 23:33, “And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him“. And John 19:16, “Then delivered Him therefore unto them to be crucified“. Once again we must bear in mind that it is recorded in the Koran several times, many of which are quoted in the beginning of this paper, that the Bible is from God. If the Bible is from God and the Bible says that Christ was crucified, then the Koran must be in error when it says that Christ was not crucified. The Koran suggests that it was not Christ, but a double that was crucified and that the apostles were confused. But God was not confused and the Bible is from God leading to the inescapable conclusion that Christ was indeed crucified and once again, the Koran is in error, proving that it is not from God.

“DO NOT JOIN GODS TO GOD”

This is a phrase that is found quite often in the Koran. For example we read in Sura 41.5, “…woe to those who join gods to God“. The point of the phrase is that there is one God and no other. On this point both Christians and Jews agree with Muslims. But believing Christians have never been idol worshipers so how did this accusation of joining gods to God come about? I believe that it is based on the unscriptural view of the trinity. That is to say, even in the 6th-7th century when the Koran was written it was believed by Christians that God was three Persons in One. But to the Muslims it says that Christians worshiped three Gods, i.e. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let us consider the doctrine of the trinity and I believe the reader will see that it is unscriptural  and therefore presents no reason to reject the Bible on the basis of it teaching of one God.

Before we consider the subject of the trinity, we must be clear that God is spirit (John 4:24). By definition, He can not be seen and we can not know Him unless He wishes to reveal Himself. Having determined that God is spirit, we may now contemplate the question of the trinity. We are told that the trinity is God in three Persons. I believe that a large part of the difficulty lies in the use of the word “person”.

Jesus Christ is a Person. He is described as, among other things, “King of Kings”, as “the Good Shepherd”, as “the Lamb of God”. These are titles describing the offices and the characteristics of our Lord. For example, as the Lamb of God He was God’s sacrifice for man. As King of Kings He is Lord over all. Each of these titles describes a different characteristic of the same Person. As He hung on the cross, He manifested the characteristic of One willing to die for the ungodly. As He leads His own down the path of righteousness He manifests the characteristic of One who cares for His flock. When He comes to reign over the nations He will manifest the characteristic of a righteous ruler. We see different characteristics of the same Person, but still only one Person.

Why then, do we find it necessary to assume that three of the manifestations of God’s many characteristics are different Persons? I propose that “God the Father”, “God the Son” and “God the Holy Spirit” are not three “Persons”, but three of the different manifestations of the One God,Who is spirit. In other words, just as “King of Kings” and “Lamb of God” are characteristics of one Person, i.e. Jesus Christ, so “Father”, “Son” and “Holy Spirit” are three different characteristics, not persons, of One God.

An example from everyday life may help us. Let us suppose that there is a Dr. Jones who sees patients in his office, teaches at a hospital, is married and has three children and five grandchildren. In his office, he has a secretary who calls him “boss”; his patients call him “Doctor”. At home, his wife calls him “dear”, his children call him “Dad” and his grandchildren call him “Grandpa”. He is one person but his “title” differs with the relationship he has with each person in his life. So also, is God One God with many titles.

This short study is of course, woefully inadequate, but for the sake of brevity I have greatly limited the discussion. For further study please see the papers on the trinity. But for our purposes in this study, I will say that I believe that there is but One God and He occupies many offices by which He shows to us Who He is. Therefore, I believe that “Father”, “Son” and “Holy Spirit” are not three Persons, but three of the many titles or offices of God so the Bible does not add gods to God. Manymisinterpret the Bible to say that there are three Persons of the Godhead, but the Bible does not teach that.*

DOES GOD HAVE A BEGOTTEN SON?

We read in Sura 17.111, “Praise be to God who hath not begotten a son….”. And again in Sura 18.3, “…that it may warn those who say, ‘God hath begotten a Son“. But we read in John 3:16 “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son...”. Obviously, if God gave His only begotten Son, He must have had an only begotten Son to give.

I believe the “warning” against belief in a begotten Son of God comes from the unscriptural doctrine of the trinity. That is to say, the doctrine of the trinity states that God is three Persons in One, i.e. Father, Son and Holy Spirit: so the “warning” against belief in a begotten Son of God is connected to the warning of not adding gods to God (please see the section above on that topic). It behooves us therefore, to understand the title so often used in reference to Christ, “the Son of God”.

Muhammad wrote the Koran in the latter part of the 6th century and because he warned against the belief in a begotten Son as well as belief in sons of God, I believe we may conclude that his belief in regard to the title “Son of God” was more or less the same as the belief of those who lived in the first century.  Let us consider that title in terms of how those who lived in the first century would have understood it.

In Matthew 14:26-33 we read of Jesus walking on water and calming the winds. In verse 33 we read, “Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Of a truth Thou art the Son of God‘”. When Christ walked on water He conveyed the truth that He, as God, has authority over all the elements of the earth. When His disciples saw Him do that, they worshiped Him as God, Who has all authority over the elements. And what they said in that worship was He was the Son of God. His disciples understood that the title, “Son of God”, referred to His deity.

In Luke 22:70-71 we have in part, the scene of Christ being questioned before His crucifixion. “……..Then said they all, ‘Art Thou then the Son of God?’ and He said unto them, ‘Ye say that I am’. And they said, ‘what need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of His own mouth”. The Lord’s accusers believed that His saying that He was the Son of God was enough to hand Him over to be crucified. Surely, if the phrase “Son of God” meant nothing more than a mere man, this would not have been sufficient reason to put Him to death. Some might object that Christ never actually said that He was the Son of God, but that is not the point here. The point is that the Jewish leaders questioning Christ understood that the title “Son of God” meant that the Son of God is God.

John 5:18 reads, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him because He not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God”. The Jews tried to kill Him “because He was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God”. The Greek word translated “equal” is “isos” Let us consider a few occurrences of that Greek word and I believe the reader will agree that it means “the same”.

Matt. 20:12, “…These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us…”. This comes in the context of one of the parables of Jesus Christ. The parable tells of each man having received the same amount of payment though they worked a different number of hours. Each man received a penny (vs. 10). Because each man received the same amount, we must understand “isos” in this context, at least, to mean “the same”.

Rev. 21:16, “…and the length is as large as the breadth……The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal“. Given that we are told that the length and height are “as large”, I believe we must conclude that here too, “isos” means that they are the same.

Now let us consider once again Jn. 5:18. The Jews tried to kill Christ “because He was calling God His own Father, making Himself “equal with God”. Actually, if we are to be consistent in our understanding of “isos” the Jews understood Christ to say that He was the same as God, and that is why they tried to kill Him.

John 19:7, “The Jews answered him, (Pilate) ‘We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God”. The Jews understood full well that His title “Son of God” meant that He was God, and that’s why they tried to kill Him in John 5 and the reason they gave in John 19 for wanting to crucify Him. We may conclude therefore, that first century Jews understood the title “Son of God” to mean that He is God.

I am suggesting that Muhammad understood that a begotten Son of God would make that Person God, and because he believed that God was one, he denied that God had a begotten Son. But God did have a “begotten Son” and He was and is, God. And that brings us to the next section of this study, i.e. a consideration of just Who Jesus Christ is. I believe that study will show that the Son of God is not a different God, He is God manifest in the flesh.

WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?

The Koran refers to God as “Allah”, But that is not God’s name, “Allah” is the Arabic for the English word “God”. God does have a Name and that Name is “Jehovah”. Isaiah 42:8, “I am Jehovah, that is My Name…”. (It is true that many do not agree that “Jehovah” is correct, and offer other alternatives. In point of fact, however, no one can be certain what God’s name is because Old Testament Hebrew did not have vowels, so the vowels of the name were added centuries after the writing of the Old Testament). To continue, please note this verse begins, “I am Jehovah”. This verse tells us much more than what God is called, which is the usual reason for a name. It is important to understand that “name” is sometimes used as a figure of speech metonymy of adjunct, which is defined in the Companion Bible as, “When something pertaining to the subject is put for the subject itself”. In this verse the phrase “Name” is used as that which pertains to Jehovah, Who is the subject. It is used as a figure of speech for Who God is.

Figures of speech are used to enhance a truth. What truth is being enhanced by the use of the figure of speech in Is. 42:8? In my opinion, it is used to enhance the truth of Who God is. A definition of “Jehovah” might be helpful in making this point. Dr. Bullinger gives the following definition of the word “Jehovah” in the Companion Bible: “Jehovah means the Eternal, the Immutable One, He Who Was and IS and IS TO COME”. So when we read “I am Jehovah, that is My Name” we are reading, I am “the Eternal, the Immutable One, He Who Was and IS and IS TO COME”, that is Who I am.

Exodus 6:3 is also helpful in establishing how “Name” is used as a figure of speech to enhance the truth of Who God is. That verse reads, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My Name, Jehovah, I did not make Myself known to them”. In other words, God had appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but not as “the Eternal, Immutable One”. but as “God Almighty”. But when God appeared to Moses, He made Himself known as Who He is, His very essence, i.e. Eternal.

Thus far we have considered “name” in a figurative sense, i.e. the name tells us who a person is. But it is also used in God’s Word in a literal sense, i.e. in the sense of what one is called. In Is. 54:5 He is called ”Jehovah-Sabaioth“. And in II Sam. 6:2 we read, “Whose name is called by the name of Jehovah of hosts“. In Is. 54:5 we read, “For thy Maker is thine Husband, Jehovah of hosts is His name.…….the Holy One of Israel, the Elohim of the whole world shall He be called“. And we have in Amos 5:27, “Whose name is Elohim of hosts”. These verses do not use “Name” as a figure of speech, they use it quite literally. Note none say that God is……, they say He is “called” or “is His name”. When we read in Is. 42:8, “I am Jehovah”, we are reading of Who God is in His very being. In that sense then, God has only one name, i.e. “Jehovah”.

Jehovah, Who is spirit, has, in His infinite grace, revealed Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ Who as the paper “Jesus Christ Is Both Jehovah and The Manifestation of Jehovah” will prove,  fulfills all the offices of Jehovah.  I believe that because there is not one God Who is spirit and another God Who manifests that spirit, logic dictates that there is but one God whose name is Jehovah/Christ.

Let us consider just a few of the scriptures that prove that Christ fulfills the offices of Jehovah.

Savior

I John 4:14, “We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world”. Luke 2:11 “This day in the city of David, a Savior is born”. And we read in Hosea 13:4, “Yet I am Jehovah thy Elohim…. there is no Savior beside Me”. Note that in Hosea 13:4 Jehovah says, “There is no Savior beside Me”. So Jehovah did not relinquish the office of savior by sending His Son. Jehovah became flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Redeemer

That Jesus Christ is the Redeemer is clear from Rev. 5:9, “…for Thou wast slain, and hastredeemed us to God by thy blood …”. Consider also Eph. 1:6-7, “..He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, …”. That Jehovah is the Redeemer is clear from Ps. 103-104, “Bless Jehovah, oh my soul…….Who redeemeth my life from destruction”.

Good Shepherd

In His discourse recorded in John chapter 10, our Lord said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (verse 10). And again, in verse 14, “I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me”. Hebrews 13:20, “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant, Who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep…”. We read in Psalm 23:1, “Jehovah is my shepherd, I shall not want…”.

Some would object that during His earthly ministry Christ was man but not God. Let us consider Christ’s death on the cross. I believe that as we consider Ecc. 8:8 we will learn that even as Christ died on the cross He was God. We read in Ecc. 8:8, “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit: neither hath he power in the day of death… .” In other words, noman can determine when he will die by giving up the spirit that gives life. But we read in Matt. 27:50, “Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost”. In other words, Jesus did exactly what Solomon wrote that no man could do, i.e. He determined his own time of death by yielding up the “ghost” i.e. the spirit that gives life. What we learn from this is that Jesus Christ was God even at the very time of His death.

So we know that Christ was God during His earthly ministry. Did God die when He gave up the ghost at the cross? Yes and no. That is to say, God manifest in the flesh did indeed die, but at the same time God, Who is eternal, did not die because He is spirit. Again, there was not one God on earth manifesting a different God as spirit: there was, and always has been one God. Christ is that one God: He is both God manifest and at the same time God as spirit. We might say then, that even when Christ was in bodily form in the Old Testament and in heaven after His ascension, and in the flesh during His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ was always spirit. The very nature of God is spirit. Jesus Christ is God, Jesus Christ is now spirit and body

But some might object that because Christ was, and is, in a body, He cannot be spirit. Let us consider the Holy Spirit, Who is, of course, spirit. Matt. 3:16 records the “Spirit of God descending like a dove”. In other words, the Holy Spirit took on the form of a dove so that He could be seen. ButHis basic nature was one of spirit. So too, because Jesus Christ is Jehovah, Who is spirit, His basic nature is spirit, even though He has taken on a bodily form.

My point is that not only is Jesus Christ the “only begotten Son” of God, He is God, there is no other.*

HOW DOES ONE INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?

We read in Sura 3.110, “They believe in God and in the latter day, and enjoin justice and forbid evil, and speed on in good works. These are of the righteous”. And in Sura 11.25 we read, “But they who shall have believed and have done the things that are right, and humbled themselves before their Lord, shall be the inmates of Paradise: Therein they shall abide forever”. In one sense the Christian belief as to who will inherit eternal life is not very different than the Muslim belief. The Christian belief is that one must believe in God and complete his faith by his works, and the Koran teaches, more or less the same gospel of salvation. On the other hand, there is indeed a great differnce. The difference is that the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is God, Whose name in the Old Testament is Jehovah, and the Koran denies the deity of Christ. One cannot inherit eternal life if he denies that Christ is God because with that denial, he is denying God. In short, those who deny the deity of Christ deny God and therefore cannot be saved unto eternal life.

Let us consider what the Bible teaches in regard to what, or rather Who, must be accepted in order to be saved unto eternal life.

Jn 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.

3:18, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already”.

6:40, “And this is the will of Him That sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day”.

6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life”.

11:25, “Jesus said unto her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”.

20:30-31, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name”.

Acts 16:30-31, “What must I do to be saved? And they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,and thou shalt be saved, and thy house”. This passage alone is Scriptural proof that salvation comes from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and no other message is needed.

Rom. 3:26, “….that He might be just and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus”.

I John 4:15, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God”.

As stated above, one must complete one’s faith by works which plan is explained most succinctly in James 2. James tells us of the connection between faith and works that is so profound as to suggest that faith does not exist without works, and works without faith have no place in God’s plan of salvation.

We read in James 2:21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works.…..”. And in verse 24 we read, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only“. But in verse 23 we read, “and the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness….”. Abraham’s belief was, of course, his faith in God’s message to him concerning his seed (see Gen. 15:5-6). If we see faith and works in regard to God’s plan of salvation as one existing without the other, there is a contradiction in these verses. That is to say, if Abraham was justified by works, as we read in James 2:21 then his faith has no place in God’s plan of salvation. Conversely, if Abraham had been justified by faith, as we read in verse 23, then his works would have had no place in God’s plan of salvation. But if we see the inexorable connection of faith and works, i.e. they cannot be separated, it is all very clear. In point of fact verse 22 explains that very thing, “seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith madeperfect“. The Greek word translated “perfect” means, according to the Appendix 125, in the Companion Bible “to make a full end, consummate“. In other words, James 2:22 tells us that Abraham’s faith was consummated by his works.

So too, when one believes that Jesus Christ is God, and completes that belief (faith) by his works,  he will inherit eternal life.*

CONCLUSION

Because there is a difference between what the Koran teaches, especially in respect to Who Christ is and what must be believed in order to be saved unto eternal life, one is left with the fact that he must choose between what the Bible says about these things, and what the Koran says. Because, as this paper has shown, there are errors in the Koran, the conclusion cannot be denied that it is the Bible that comes from God and is therefore true, but  the Koran does not come from God and is therefore not truth from God.

*The bold type in the quotations were added.

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