format_quote Originally Posted by
AntiKarateKid
People were converted by just hearing the Quran. It is our timeless miracle for all generations. It is a literary masterpiece that no human being has ever been able to match and has remained unchanged throughout time. And when you understand it in Arabic and hear it, even Arab Christians are deeply moved by it. You don't need to know how to sing or be in a Choir, the words of the Quran hold power without these external things. Many people have tried to match it but have failed.
This is a miracle which convinces me. It is just one of many things in Islam which convince me.
this is very subjective. How can we test if what the Quran says , is true ? Muhammad claims to be a prophet of God. We are commanded to test prophets to determine whether they are from God. Muhammad may be a true prophet or he may be a false prophet. We must test him to see which he is. Are you prepared to test Muhammad as God has commanded?
How do we test a prophet? We test a prophet by examining his prophecy to see whether it is true. The prophecy of Muhammad is recorded in the Quran so we need to test what the Quran says to see whether Muhammad is a true prophet.
The Qur'an makes three claims as to why Muhammad is a true prophet. These claims are "testable". These claims are:
The Qur'an confirms the teaching of the Jewish and Christian scriptures.
The Qur'an makes clearer the teaching of the Jewish and Christian scriptures.
Muhammad is foretold in the Jewish and Christian scriptures.
Son of God
In the Bible there is a lot of teaching about the "Son of God". This teaching is quite clear. The Qur'an also has much to say about the "Son of God", however it does not confirm or make clearer the Bible's teaching, instead it misunderstands and actually confuses what the Bible clearly taught.
What does the Bible say about the "Son of God"?
The phrase, "Son of God" is a title that is used in the Bible to denote someone's relationship to God. This relationship involves the person, or people, receiving promises from God that they will receive something from him. In this way they are an heir to God as they have been promised and inheritance from him. Now since a son is the heir to his father so too those who have received promises from God are called "sons" of God. In the book of Exodus we see that the whole nation of Israel is called God's "son".
The LORD said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. ... Then say to Pharaoh, `This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'" (Exodus 4:21-23, NIV)
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (Hosea 11:1, NIV)
Later in Israel's history God appointed David as Israel's king. The title of "Son" that had been applied to Israel was now also applied to her king as he was the head of the nation and had received a special promise from God. Thus every king of Israel had the title of "Son" of God:
The LORD declares to you (David) that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 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. (2 Samuel 7:11-14, NIV)
The king of Israel also had another title, the title of Messiah. (The Greek translation of the word Messiah is Christ.) The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word "to anoint". Every king of Israel was anointed to the position of king, and so every king was The Anointed or the Messiah. We see this happen when Saul was anointed king over Israel:
Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? (1 Samuel 10:1, NIV)
What have we seen so far? We have seen that every king of Israel had the titles of Son of God and Messiah/Christ. Thus the Son of God was the Messiah/Christ and the Messiah/Christ was the Son of God. This connection between the two titles was clearly understood at the time of Jesus for we see the two titles used together:
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" ... Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:13-16, NIV)
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.(Matthew 26:62-64, NIV)
Hopefully now you can understand what the Bible means when it talks about the Son of God. It is not talking about God having sex and producing a baby. The title Son of God does not even imply divinity in the person for, as we have seen, the nation of Israel and her king were call God's son. Jesus is the true fulfillment of the Son of God. He is the true son of David, the true Israel. He is the true son who received the inheritance from his Father God. This inheritance was the kingdom of God itself.
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18, NIV)
Now does the Qur'an make clearer the Bible's teaching about the "Son of God"? The answer is no! In fact the Qur'an misunderstands and confuses this teaching from the Bible. Throughout the Qur'an it denies that Jesus is the Son of God yet mistakenly still calls him the Messiah.
The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was no more than God's apostle and his Word which He cast to Mary (Sura 4:171, Dawood).
The Jews say, Ezra is the "Son of God"; the Christians say, "The Messiah is the Son of God." That is the utterance of there mouths, conforming with the unbelievers before them. God assail them! How they are perverted. (Sura 9:30, Arberry)
They say: "God has begotten a son" God forbid! (Sura 10:68, Dawood)
The Qur'an shows no understanding of the meaning of the title "Son of God". In the Qur'an it means nothing more than to imply that God had sex, and as we have seen from the Bible this is not what the title means. In the Qur'an Jesus is given the title of Messiah and yet denied the title of the Son of God; the Bible clearly teaches that both of these titles go together.
Again we see that what was clearly taught in the Bible is confused by the Qur'an and has led to confusion and disagreements between Muslims and Christians. The Qur'an claims to make clearer the teaching of the Bible but this claim is false. It does not make clearer the Bible's teaching, in fact it only confuses it.