Answering Mr. Riaz

Submitted by John G. Spethman MD (United States), Sep 9, 2011 at 01:35

Dear Mr. Riaz,

Your replies, again, are erroneous based on the following logic and historical facts.

1. Rejecting the Bible because Jesus did not write is not a reason to reject it. If we use this reasoning, then we should reject the Qur'an since Mohammed did not write it. He had a scribe. Since he was not literate, it was a scribe who wrote what he said. Mohammed could not check what he wrote for accuracy. Thus, the Qur'an should be rejected because Mohammed was incapable of "fact checking" what the scribe wrote. Furthermore using your criteria, biographies should be rejected if not written by the person. This is simply absurd.

2. The first Gospel was written as early as 70 AD, 40 years after Jesus' resurrection. It was written by the Apostle Matthew; who was with Jesus for his entire ministry. Your accusation of 100 years is incorrect. The writings of the Church Fathers from the First Century quote the Gospels which confirms that Matthews Gospel existed at this time.

3. Explain how "a fact of history is unreliable." This is illogical. Historical facts are reliable and thus does not make knowledge unreliable.

4. The accusation of the Bible being changed is another unfounded Islamic accusation. Christianity began with preaching. Jesus preached his message and the Apostles preached what He taught them. As the Church grew and more came to believe in Jesus, His life and teachings were written down and shared and used for evangelizing and educating the faithful.

You ignore the criteria of how the Canon was compiled. This is your choice. You've already demonstrated that your logic is flawed.

5. Having scripture written by other Apostles that corroborates the same messages and beliefs actually strengthens the validity and reliability of the source.

6. Paul didn't change dietary requirements. Peter had a vision that allowed him to eat meat from animals that have cloved feet. Jesus first miracle was turning water into wine. Jews drank wine. You are imposing the Islamic prohibitions onto Jesus. This is another mistake you make. You do not understand Jesus' mission. He did start with his fellow Jews but Jesus also performed miracles that benefited non-Jews. Furthermore, Jesus' Apostles preached His message of salvation to Jews as well as non-Jews. I would have you read Acts of the Apostles.

7. Now you give me your opinion and not reliable facts when you say that you don't believe God crucified someone. This is contrary to Islam. Islam teaches that a man was crucified in Jesus' place. Islamic scholars have said the same thing, a person was crucified in Jesus' place.

8. You ask where God was when Jesus was being crucified. Since you reject the Trinity, you will reject my explanation. Let me give you a simple analogy of the Trinity.

Water is in essence H20. But water can exist in three states.... gas, liquid, and solid. In each of these three states, it appears different. But at the core of its essence, it is still H20. God is God at His essence. God manifests to HIS creation as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus instructed His Apostles to use this when baptizing a person.

9. I did not misqoute when I accused the Qur'an of error in the the aya that denies Jesus as the Son of God. You say it pertains to the Messiah. The Qur'an does refer to Jesus as the Messiah. I am referring to the denial of His divinity when using the name Jesus Christ. It is illogical for the Qur'an to refer to Jesus as the Messiah in one aya and deny it in another.

10. The aya denying Jesus as being Divine and yet using the word Christ is illogical and thus an error. The intended audience is Christians. Because it is intended for Christians, the erroneous use of Christ in His name and then denying His Divinity is valid. You can call the analogy anything you want but Christians would discern this as illogical.

11. I quoted Peter's answer to Jesus when asked "Who do people say that I am?" The Qur'an uses the word "Christ" when denying Jesus' divinity. The Wiki links talk about the Messiah and Anointed. Christians understand Christ to mean not only the Messiah but also the Son of God as Peter confessed. This is an accepted Christian belief.

God Bless

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