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Pastimes : Ask God -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MSB who wrote (17971)	6/23/1998 2:44:00 AM
From: Raymond James Norris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 39621

Mike - First off let me thank you for all the nice compliments you made about me in your post. I am flattered by it and am sure I'm not deserving of them all. But it saddened me to read part of your post. Your comments are the very thoughts many people have about religion and therefore do not pursue it more to gain a better understanding. I'm no brainiac by any stretch of the imagination, so I couldn't even begin to address the points you brought up, but it is easy to see from the get-go why there seems to be such clear distinctions between those religions who believe that GOD is the one and only. So you're attributing your own lack of knowledge to your reason for not seeking to resolve the points I brought up? God has given us all knowledge and the ability to reason. Choosing and seeing the true path is not hard. Following the true path is hard. There's a fine line between the two. You can't say, "Well, I don't know enough about that" and be satisfied without digging up more info. It's your responsibility in this lifetime to take the initiative and learn about Islam and Judaism and other religions and convince yourself whether or not it could be any other way. Many Christians simply do not do that because they're quite happy and content with their religion. How do they differ anymore than the Buddhists or Hindus or Muslims that are also content with their religion and just don't seek out more info?? It's the responsibility of every human to seek the True Path of Guidance. From an Islamic perspective, we are not to believe anything until we've proven it. I haven't covered this subject (yes, another large subject :-) but the Qur'an contains Proof of its Divine Origin. If you ever read the Qur'an, the Speaker tells the reader this: "We shall show them Our signs on the furthest horizons and within themselves until it becomes manifest to them that this (book)is the Truth. Does it not suffice that your Lord is Witness over all things?" The Qur'an So the Qur'an makes the claim that it has its own proof and Miracles to prove that it is God sent. The reason I didn't start with them is because no one would be interested learning what the Qur'an says about this or that. They would probably skip the message without a thought about the subject. But by beginning with the Bible, I'm able to at least attract some people's attention to at least stop and consider. Consider this and consider that. Now what do you think? The Most Important belief for the Muslim is the Belief in One and Only One God. We can see throughout history, this was the most specific and strongly advised plea from God, from the Days of Moses to the Days of Jesus. Worship One and Only One God. So what does that have to do with anything?? The Muslim's position is that by elevating Jesus to God's status, humankind has broken the cardinal rule. Does it make sense for God to repeat time after time after time to worship none but He and then change His mind after sending Jesus (Pbuh)? Again, people have not welcomed my view that the Bible has been corrupted but the errors and contradictions make it clear. Have you looked over any of them? Have you not considered them? These errors however small speak much more for the "big picture." For if there are small errors on small matters, is it then not possible there are larger errors on larger matters? I for one could not live my life believing in a book I knew to be flawed. I just don't understand the reasoning behind it no matter how many years I had been taught a certain way. A human being is born into this life without religion. It is one's parents who give that child religion. That's the crux of this matter. If we only take Jesus's words from the NT, they'd barely fit 2 columns of a newspaper. And when we examine his verses, we notice that people have given interpretation to his words. For example, everyone quotes this verse as being explicit proof that Jesus is God: John 10:30 "I and my father are one." Okay......from this statement it appears that Jesus said he was God. Does it not?? But they fail to carry on the interpretation when Jesus made another statement: "That they (the disciples) all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." John 17:20-22 An interesting statement. Here we find Jesus (Pbuh) say that just as he and the Father are one, so are the disciples and himself one. So if Jesus is God because he and the Father are one, we must conclude that the disciples are also God. Does that make any sense? But you see what I'm getting at. One verse quoted out of context can give an impression that is not consistent when we look at the whole big picture. I just don't believe someone can say, "Well I'm not a scholar so I shouldn't concern myself with that" because we will all be judged for whether we investigated or not. Put it this way: Assume If I'm wrong, you lose nothing but gain some understanding. But if I'm right, Is risking eternal damnation worth not investigating one religion? I know so many things that I could tell you that would make you worry in fear. From contradictions to Miracles to empirical proof from the Qur'an. Yes that's right. Empirical Proof that it is divine. But all in due time. And only if you allow me to speak. I have no wish to speak if others would not like me here. I am nothing more than a warner. Peace and Blessings of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, be Upon You. Ray