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Saturday 29 September 2012

Is the Ark of the Covenant still there or lost in history?



First of all, there is was no specific tablet which was written by God’s finger. I encourage you all to read and understand the following verses:
Exodus 31:18 says, “And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”
Deuteronomy 9:10 says, “And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.”
Luke 11:20 says, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Looking at these verses, we sometimes may believe that God has a finger and it is Powerful and writes. Saying this actually is not fully incorrect since God has made us in His own image and he is full of Might and all Powerful. But, as per these verses we see another picture. I was going through one of the commentary by Geneva Study Bible for Luke, it makes it very clear, “That is, by the power of God: so it says in Geneva Exodus 8:19.” So does the Wesley’s notes says, “If I cast out devils by the finger of God - That is, by a power manifestly Divine. Perhaps the expression intimates farther, that it was done without any labour: then the kingdom of God is come upon you - Unawares, unexpected: so the Greek word implies.”
Getting back to the main question, understanding the Bible in context, a message was revealed to Moses and he wrote it down. I was listening to one of the recording by Allama Ibrahim Yusuf (Christian scholar) on the same topic, and he humorously says, “There are obviously no Printing Machines available with God that he writes stuff using various Dyes as well as plates.” According to Exodus 32:19, it says like this, “And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.” This verse clearly says that Moses breaks the tablets. Not only he breaks, while breaking the tablets, Moses was extremely angry. God had already revealed his commandments to mankind; still people broke the law and were worshiping the calf. So saying that tablets are by God to them does not show any importance during that event since people had already broken the law. Obviously when rules are already broken, what importance does that piece of stone hold? Now, if we read Exodus 34:1, it says like this, “The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.” Moses makes a new set of tablets which went for long but within time they were lost. If we see the history through the old testament, nations had been so much corrupted that even if those second sets of tablets would have been available, people may have started worshipping them itself in the name of God. Lord knew what was required and what not. The commandments were memorized, shared, copied as we still have it; there is no point of having the original tablets or raising a question that “Is the Ark of the Covenant, which God gave to Moses, still in the hands of the Jewish people or is it lost in history?”

Did Noah’s ark landed on Mount Ararat or Mount Judi?

 
According to the Bible, Genesis 8:4 says like this, “and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
As per qur’an, in Meccan Sura Hud 11:44, it says like this, “Then the word went forth: "O earth! swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!" and the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: "Away with those who do wrong!
Jewish Babylonian, Syriac, and Islamic traditions identify Mount Judi or Qardu as a peak near the town of Jazirat ibn Umar (modern Cizre), at the headwaters of the Tigris, near the modern Syrian–Turkish border. Arab historian Al-Masudi (d. 956), reported that the spot where the ark came to rest could be seen in his time. Al-Masudi locates Jabal Judi at 80 parasangs from the Tigris. The description of medieval geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi matches exactly a 2089 m peak north of Silopi that is now called Jabal Judi or Judi Dagh by Muslims and Gardu by Christians and Jews.
Mount Ararat presently is a volcanic massif on the border between Turkey and Armenia and known in Turkish as "Agri Dagh." And at the same time, Al-Judi is one of those that divide Armenia on the south, from Mesopotamia, and that part of Assyria which is inhabited by the Curds, from whom the mountains took the name Cardu, or Gardu, by the Greeks turned into Gordyae, and other names. Looking at the accounts of researchers like Sir Walter Raleigh, George Sale etc., Mount Al-Judi lies within the mountains of Ararat.

I personally think that Bible has made it very clear with its verse from Genesis 8:4, stating, “
And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.” It specifically uses the plural of a Mount, i.e. “Mountains”. Henceforth, there is no contradiction within the bible for what the later accounts states or researchers say.

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Did Jesus Escape Crucifixion?


Q: Was Jesus Crucified, since the Qur’an specifically mentions that HE was raised to God?
A: There are a few verses from Qur’an, which comes in mind:

Surah Imran 3:54-55 says, “And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers.
(And remember) when Allah said: O Jesus! Lo! I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me ye will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ.”

Surah Al-Nesa 4:157-158 says, “And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain. But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise.”

Surah Ma’edah 5:117 says, "Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship God, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.”

The qur’an presents one picture, but when we look at history we get a very different picture. The reliability depends a lot on how close the witness and the record are to the event. The dates are very important. For example, if someone robs a bank, and I stand as the witness after 20 years, obviously the authorities will ask me why wasn’t I available all these years? During the time of Jesus, there were historians who believed in Jesus and wrote about him. Even the verses I listed from the Qur’an point toward Jews who admit that they killed Jesus. This was a confirmed historical event for them.  In addition, the book of Romans talks about history as confirmed by the historians.




Q: If Jesus was raised to God before being crucified (according to islam), who was his replacement or what was his name?
A: According to various scholars, historians, etc., there are various suggestions:
Titulus is the name according to Baisabi.
In Araisu't Tijan, Sheol is mentioned.
In QasasUlAmbia, it says “King of Jews.”
Again in Araisu't Tijan ,Faltianus is the name mentioned for that person.
According to Tabari Tafsir, it is Sergios.
Abdul Majid Daryabadi in his Tafseer of the Qur’an mentions his name as Shamoon Qurunei, so does Basileet.
It is Judas Iscariot according to the Gospel of Barnabas. (This Gnostic source came much later.)

Here we notice that there are different accounts and different thoughts. No one is sure about who the person on the Cross was if it was not Jesus. These great minds are giving theories about a topic even they are not sure of. I must say, it is not wise to assume that someone else died on the cross and not Jesus Himself.



Q: According to Ahmediya sect, Jesus was crucified but did not die on the cross; he simply went unconscious. He later traveled to Kashmir, India and died there. What is the Christian response to this?

A: Maulana Muhammed Ali speaks of this in his English translation of the qur’an. Before he wrote of this, David Friedrich Strauss had already written similar theories in his book Das Laben Jesu. There were more similar stories in existence along with that of David Strauss. Saying that Jesus was not crucified because the Ahmediya sect teaches this won’t be very satisfying answer, since these theories existed before the Ahmediyya sect began. We cannot give the credit of saying Jesus did not die on the cross to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Moreover, Mirza Ahmed taught that Jesus somehow managed to escape and traveled to Kashmir, where he died at the age of 120.  However, most historians have come to the conclusion that Jesus died at approximately 33 years of age. If we calculate this difference, we see a gap of almost more than 80 years, though in Kashmir the population of Christians are around 400 people only. So how it is possible that Jesus did not preached in the Valley of Kashmir all these years?  If Jesus traveled to Kashmir, there should have been many Christians or many other historical evidences of Jesus. No one other than Ahmediya Muslims believes that Jesus died in Kashmir. This simply proves, Jesus never traveled to India.


Q: Jesus stayed on Cross for only a few hours, though if we all know that death on cross was always a very slow process. What do Christians have to say about this?
A: The key word here is “Always”. The word “Always” is taken from the translation of Maulana Muhammad Ali (Ali was the editor of the Review of Religions, one of the first Islamic journals in English. When MirzaGhulam Ahmad established the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, the first governing body of the Ahmadiyya Movement, in 1905, he appointed Ali as the Secretary of its executive council. He translated the Qur’an in Urdu as well as English.) Translation of qur’an Tafsir. IF this word is translated correctly, it is good enough to establish that Jesus may not have died. Why this not true will be seen as we read further.


Q: When the two thieves who were crucified along with Jesus were brought down, they were still alive. Is it possible that Jesus may also be alive?
A: When we deal with history, we do not see what the possibilities were, but we see that what exactly happened. It is possible that a man can escape from the cross, but did he really manage to escape? Does History affirm this? It is very possible that Porus may have been able to defeat Alexander, but history confirms Alexander’s victory over Porus. Saying that because the two thieves might have been alive after they were pulled down means that Jesus may have been alive too does not help in the light of real history.



Q: After the thieves were brought down, their legs were broken, but Jesus was spared. Why is that so?
A: According to Mirza Ahmed, Jesus escaped since Jesus’ legs were not broken. The Actual answer for this is given in the Gospel itself. It is written in the gospel of John 19:33, “But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.” This verse confirms that by this time Jesus was dead; henceforth, there was no need to break the legs of Jesus.



Q: When the side of Jesus was pierced, blood and water came out. How is that possible?
A: If we examine this scientifically (in context to Dr. Hobart Caunter’s research in regards to crucifixion), we will see there is a layer around the heart which is called the Pericardium. It is a tough, double layered membrane which covers the heart. The space between the two layers of it is filled with a pericardium fluid which protects the heart from any kind of external jerk or shock. There are two layers to the pericardial sac: the outermost fibrous pericardium and the inner serous pericardium. The serous pericardium, in turn, is divided into two layers, the parietal pericardium, which is fused to and inseparable from the fibrous pericardium, and the visceral pericardium, which is part of the epicardium. The epicardium is the layer immediately outside of the heart muscle proper (the myocardium). Since I am not a science student, I found this important information from “Got Questions Ministries.”according to them, the Roman flogging or scourging that Jesus endured prior to being crucified normally consisted of 39 lashes, but could have been more (Mark 15:15; John 19:1). The whip that was used, called a flagrum, consisted of braided leather thongs with metal balls and pieces of sharp bone woven into or intertwined with the braids. The balls added weight to the whip, causing deep bruising and contusions as the victim was struck. The pieces of bone served to cut into the flesh. As the beating continued, the resulting cuts were so severe that the skeletal muscles, underlying veins, sinews, and bowels of victims were exposed. This beating was so severe that at times victims would not survive it in order to go on to be crucified. Those who were flogged would often go into hypovolemic shock, a term that refers to low blood volume. In other words, the person would have lost so much blood he would go into shock. The results of this would be the followings:
1) The heart would race to pump blood that was not there.
2) The victim would collapse or faint due to low blood pressure.
3) The kidneys would shut down to preserve body fluids.
4) The person would experience extreme thirst as the body desired to replenish lost fluids.
There is evidence from Scripture that Jesus experienced hypovolemic shock as a result of being flogged. As Jesus carried His own cross to Golgotha (John 19:17), He collapsed, and a man named Simon was forced to either carry the cross or help Jesus carry the cross the rest of way to the hill (Matthew 27:32–33; Mark 15:21–22; Luke 23:26). This collapse indicates Jesus had low blood pressure. Another indicator that Jesus suffered from hypovolemic shock was that He declared He was thirsty as He hung on the cross (John 19:28), indicating His body’s desire to replenish fluids.
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Prior to death, the sustained rapid heartbeat caused by hypovolemic shock also causes fluid to gather in the sack around the heart and around the lungs. This gathering of fluid in the membrane around the heart is called pericardial effusion, and the fluid gathering around the lungs is called pleural effusion. This explains why, after Jesus died and a Roman soldier thrust a spear through Jesus’ side (probably His right side, piercing both the lungs and the heart), blood and water came from His side just as John recorded in his Gospel ( John 19:34).



Q: Why did Pilate doubt after hearing about the death of Jesus?
A: the answer lies within the Bible. If we read the Gospel of Mark 15:44-45, we read, “Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead.  And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.” This verse does not say Pilate questioned who Jesus was. He was surprised by how quickly Jesus died, so he asked the centurion to confirm the death of Jesus.



Q: The day prior to crucifixion, Jesus prayed the whole night seeking this event to pass away. It is believed that the prayers of righteous men are always accepted. Why was the prayer of Jesus not accepted though he was a righteous being?
A: According to the gospel of Matthew 26:39, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” According to Geneva study Bible, taking the cup is figurative speech for that which is contained in the cup.  The Hebrews understand by the word “cup,” to be:
1) The manner of punishment which is rendered to sin, (Psalms 11:6).
2) The joy that is given to the faithful, (Psalms 23:5), or;
3) a lot or condition (Psalms 16:5).

Getting back to the main question,, the word “Always” is again present. It is true, the prayers of the righteous are always heard,, but nowhere is it written they will be fulfilled. According to the Hebrews, the prayer of Jesus was heard and the greatest example is the second part of the verse mentioned above: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” The father’s will was a sacrifice of His only Son, so the will was done. I would like to add that Jesus DID humble Himself in obedience to the Father, and to glorify the Father I encourage you to read Philippians 2:3-11, which says this, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So, He chose to be humbled by looking like men in order to glorify the Father and to save us. What would we think of a king who thought it was more important to look good than to save his people? What would we think of a parent who would let a child drown rather than get his or her hair messed up in the water? A doctor who would not assist plague victims in a poor part of town or a third-world nation because he didn't want to dress in a way that made him appear less wealthy that he was? Frankly, God's majesty and pride is not so fragile that He has to put on a show for us. Appearing in a more humble form does not change who He IS. Even humans realize this when we're talking about other humans; we recognize that caring for appearances more than we care for other people is a vice.

Monday 3 September 2012

Is Jesus, the son of God?



 
Q: If Jesus is son of God, who is wife of God?

A: Generally this question (Can God have a son?) is raised and the verse which has inspired this question is Surah Al-Ikhlaas (Absoluteness, 112), aya  1- 4, which says like this:  
1- Qul huwa Allahu ahadun.  (Say: He is Allah, the One!*)
2- Allahu alssamadu.  (Allah, the eternally besought of all!*)
3- Lam yalid walam yooladu.  (He begetteth not nor was begotten.*)
4- Walam yakun lahu kufuwan ahadun. (And there is none comparable unto Him.*)   

Also, the verse which inspires the question, “who is wife of God?” can be found in Surah Al-Jinn (The Jinn, 72) aya 3, which goes like, “Waannahu taAAala jaddu rabbina ma ittakhatha sahibatan wala waladan”. (And (we believe) that He - exalted be the glory of our Lord! - hath taken neither wife nor son.)
Again in Surah Al-An’am (Livestock, 6) aya 100-101 says like this, “100-WajaAAaloo lillahi shurakaa aljinna wakhalaqahum wakharaqoo lahu baneena wabanatin bighayri AAilmin subhanahu wataAAala AAamma yasifoona. (Yet they ascribe as partners unto Him the jinn, although He did create them, and impute falsely, without knowledge, sons and daughters unto Him. Glorified be He and High Exalted above (all) that they ascribe (unto Him).)”, “101- BadeeAAu alssamawati waal-ardi anna yakoonu lahu waladun walam takun lahu sahibatun wakhalaqa kulla shay-in wahuwa bikulli shay-in AAaleemun.( The Originator of the heavens and the earth! How can He have a child, when there is for Him no consort, when He created all things and is Aware of all things?)”
If we read these verses, they make a strong point that God cannot have a son, BUT, if we read the verses, there is no reference of Jesus or Christianity, moreover verses from Surah All-Ikhlaas as mentioned above are Meccan (from Mecca) verses. In Surah al-Jinn, if you go through first and second verse of the chapter (72:1-2), which says like this: “Qul oohiya ilayya annahu istamaAAa nafarun mina aljinni faqaloo inna samiAAna qur-anan AAajaban. (Say (O Muhammad): It is revealed unto me that a company of the Jinn gave ear, and they said: Lo! we have heard a marvellous Qur'an)” and “Yahdee ila alrrushdi faamanna bihi walan nushrika birabbina ahadan. (Which guideth unto righteousness, so we believe in it and we ascribe no partner unto our Lord.)”, which makes it very simple for us to understand that these verses are talking about “Djinns or Jinns” (supernatural creatures made with smokeless flame), so definitely it isn’t talking about us human beings.  Again, as mentioned above in Surah Al-An’am, sons and daughters have been made by God. We are not talking about many sons and daughters, but just one son, henceforth, if we are asking, “Who is wife of God”, this question will be irrelevant.  We are representing Jesus as the son of God, not his physical relation, but the spiritual.

Q: Even if we talk about spiritual realm and say son of God has been born, aren’t we making God a beast?
A: We may relate God to a beast if we say that Jesus was born in a way that you and I were born, we do not believe that. Jesus was born of a woman without father in a supernatural way. And there is no verse in the entire bible which may go against this belief.

Q: Then why do you call Jesus the son of God?
A:  Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 9:6 says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Gabriel in Luke 1:35 says, “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” While baptism of Jesus in John 3:16 the voice told, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
These are few of the many verses which make it very simple to understand that it is not us who named Jesus, the son of God, this has been prophesized as well as told even before Jesus was born as well as after Jesus’ birth. We only speak for what is written in the word of God.

Q: Even Greek gods had sons, is this same?
A: If we look at the genealogy of Jesus, they were all Jews, none was Greek. Jews were strong worshippers and much devoted monotheists in their beliefs as compared to many of us nowadays. Historical evidences definitely show that the concept of God and son has nothing to do with Greek mythology in relation to Christianity and the concept of Jesus being son of God inspired by them. There is no relation in this regards. Christians do believe that Jesus is the son of God not because he was born by God, but as per his role. In this same context, Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life, I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This clearly shows that the word “Son of God” is not used because God is the father, but to express the special relation for which how Jesus lowered himself to fulfill the prophecy accepted the death on the cross. As a obedient son, the way Jesus lowered himself as a being to accept the death on cross represents the relation of Jesus being the son of God.

Q: Saying that Jesus lowered himself isn’t a humiliation to God?
A: Lowering oneself and humiliating oneself are both different statements. Let us say that there is a child of 1.5 years, will we speak of things like Intelligent Design, Cosmological Arguments or The Big Bang Theory? Obviously not! He will not understand a single thing I say out of these. To give an example of lowering myself, sometimes I turn myself into a horse to give a ride to my 1.5 year old nephew on my back. I also may need to neigh really loud sometimes, to make it a good and realistic experience for him. This way I am lowering myself, and not being humiliated in the eyes of my nephew or myself, at the same time. Here lowering myself is not humiliating, since I am expressing my love to my nephew. Love doesn’t care for its respect or times when a sacrifice is required but it cares for the beloved.

Q: Is Jesus a man? If yes, how can Jesus be God? Does God have a face?
A: Jesus was definitely a fully humanbeing, but he was also fully divine. This was a greatness of God and an example of his divinity that he brought himself so close to his own creation. In regards to the question, “face of God”, Genesis in 1:26  says like this, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Moreover, even if we see in the holy scriptures of islam in Sahih Muslim book 32, Hadith number 6324 says like this, “When any one of you fights with his brother, he should avoid his face for Allah created Adam in His own image.”
I hope this helps. I shall end this article with a specific verse which has played a very important role in keeping my faith strong. I encourage all of you to read and understand the Gospel of John 20:31, which says like this, “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

God Bless!

Resources used: Picktall Translation of Holy Qur’an and Sahih Hadith from www.searchtruth.com as well as ESV Bible.