Where I Started

Peace!

So my roommate my freshman year of college (about 3 or so years ago) was a Muslimah from Pakistan. I didn't ask her a lot of questions about Islam a lot at that time, but we became really good friends. I actually fasted with her for part of Ramadan. This fall I became friends with a group of Muslims through school. They were probably the nicest, happiest, and most peaceful people I have ever met...

One day while we were in the Student Union at my school, one of my friends asked me some questions about Christianity and what Christians believed. I realized that I couldn't explain what I believed in any kind of intelligible way. I just didn't know the answers... and that really really bothered me.

I made it my mission to find a way to explain my religion to my new friends. I started reading the Bible like crazy, but instead of finding answers I just ended up with more questions. I think this might be a common situation. I started putting post-it notes in my bible where I had questions or issues. I started reading books and blogs and websites about the Bible, different versions, conflicts in the bible, Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and conversions of people to Islam who were just like me.




I bought a copy of the Qur'an in English and started ravenously reading it. It basically just laid out everything I had ever believed deep in my heart. It really spoke to me in a way that the Bible never did and I was amazed at how relevant it was to my life. I started going to our local Masjid with my freshman roommate for the Friday lecture and also for a study group on Sundays. I feel so comfortable and welcome there. Everyone is SO supportive and really helpful, Thank God. I'm learning so much!

I wanted to include some of the issues I found in the Bible in this post so that hopefully someone might find it useful in conversation with a Christian. I know some of my Muslim friends have already used some of this information to talk to some of the people who approach them about Christianity.

These notes come from http://jews-for-allah.org/Prophet-Jesus/pauls-anomalies.htm This just highlights the conflicts in Paul's books of the New Testament: Galatians, I Corinthians, II Corinthians, Romans, Philemon, Philippians

Is "Everyone" who hangs on a tree 'Accursed' ?

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Paul says;

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree" Ga 3:13

Now according to Paul, absolutely anyone who hangs on a tree is cursed.

What does Moses say in the Bible;

"And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; De 21:22,23

Here we clearly see that not everyone who hangs on a tree is accursed, but rather only people who meet certain criteria which certainly Jesus did not meet for the simple fact that Jesus did not commit a crime punishable by death.

The fact that not everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed as Paul misquotes, is demonstrated by the following people;

(Ge 40:19) The chef who went against Pharaoh was certainly not cursed and was most likely rewarded by God for resisting Pharaoh.

(Es 7:10) Haman was not cursed, instead another victim. God does not curse those who were murdered, instead, those deserving of Murder which Jesus was not.

Is Everyone a sinner ?

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Paul says;

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" Ro 5:12

According to Paul, everyone is a sinner because everyone dies, Paul was obviously unfamiliar with the Scripture, for if he was inspired by God, he would have known that there were people who did not die, and were perfect.

The Bible says;

"having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God;" Hebrews 7:3-4

Now we see that Paul's attempt to try to explain the natural process of dyeing by calling everyone a sinner, falls short when you have others who did not die.

Furthermore, there are those whom are without sin;

"These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Ge 6:9

According to Paul, everyone is imperfect, and has sin, here we see that Noah was perfect, fore if Noah was a sinner, surely he would not walk with God as the Bible documents.

"But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days." 1Ki 15:14

If everyone had sinned as Paul labels all, then Asa's heart would be blemished, instead, it was unblemished for the entire lifetime.

We know that having a perfect heart means that you keep all the commandments as shown here: "And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments" 1Ch 29:19

Another man who was sinless was; "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." Job 1:1

We know a perfect man is sinless because God says; "Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:" Job 8:20

Finally, to breath is not a sin, but according to Paul, babies are sinners too.

The "only" way to remove sin ?

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Paul says the only way to remove sin is Jesus's blood; Re 1:5,

The Bible says;

You can also remove sins by; giving charity Exodus 30:15-16 and Numbers 31:50, incense Numbers 16:46-47, etc...

Who did Jesus, upon arising , reveal himself to ?

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(a) in Galilee to the eleven remaining disciples (Judas, of course, being absent JUDAS WAS DEAD )--Matt. 26:16,Mk 16:7,14;

(b)in Jerusalem to the eleven--Lk.24:33,36;

(c) in Jerusalem to the ten, Thomas being absent--Jn.20;10,19,24; or

(d) to Peter and then to the twelve--1 Cor.15:5? (Paul's version, obviously presents a problem:

who were the twelve, since Judas was already dead (Matt. 27:5) and his successor had not yet been chosen (Acts 1:26)?

These are only a few of Paul's Anomalies which clarifies that Paul was not inspired by God and was in fact defied the teachings of God.

Here are more of Paul's anomalies;

GE 4:4-5 God prefers Abel's offering and has no regard for Cain's.
RO 2:11 God shows no partiality. He treats all alike.

GE 7:1 Noah was righteous.
JB 1:1,8, JB 2:3 Job was righteous.
LK 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous.
JA 5:16 Some men are righteous, (which makes their prayers effective).
RO 3:10, 3:23 No one was or is righteous.

GE 11:9 At Babel, the Lord confused the language of the whole world.
1CO 14:33 Paul says that God is not the author of confusion.

GE 17:7, 10-11 The covenant of circumcision is to be everlasting.
GA 6:15 It is of no consequence.

EX 20:1-17 God gave the law directly to Moses (without using an intermediary).
GA 3:19 The law was ordained through angels by a mediator (an intermediary).

EX 20:8-11, 31:15-17, 35:1-3 No work is to be done on the Sabbath, not even lighting a fire. The commandment is permanent, and death is required for infractions.
MK 2:27-28 Jesus says that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (after his disciples were criticized for breaking the Sabbath).
RO 14:5, CN 2:14-16 Paul says the Sabbath commandment was temporary, and to decide for yourself regarding its observance.

LE 3:17 God himself prohibits forever the eating of blood and fat.
CN 2:20-22 Paul say that such rules don't matter--they are only human injunctions.

NU 25:9 24,000 died in the plague.
1CO 10:8 23,000 died in the plague.

DT 24:16, 2KI 14:6, 2CH 25:4, EZ 18:20 Children are not to suffer for their parent's sins.
RO 5:12, 19, 1CO 15:22 Death is passed to all men by the sin of Adam.

DT 30:11-20 It is possible to keep the law.
RO 3:20-23 It is not possible to keep the law.

JN 3:13 Only the Son of Man (Jesus) has ever ascended to heaven.
2CO 12:2-4 An unnamed man, known to Paul, went up to heaven and came back.

PR 3:13, 4:7, 19:8, JA 1:5 Happy is the man who finds wisdom. Get wisdom.
LK 2:40, 52 Jesus was filled with wisdom and found favor with God.
1CO 1:19-25, 3:18-20 Wisdom is foolishness.

MT 7:21 Not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
RO 10:13 Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

MT 7:21, LK 10:36-37, JA 2:24 We are justified by works, not by faith.
RO 3:20-26, GA 2:16 We are justified by faith, not by works

MT 28:19 Jesus instructs his disciples to baptize.
1CO 1:17 Although he considers himself a disciple of Jesus, Paul says that he has not been sent to baptize.

LK 18:9-14 Do not boast of your virtue.
RO 11:20, 1PE 5:5 Do not be proud.
RO 15:17, 2CO 1:12, HE 3:6, 2CO 2:14, 5:12, 11:17 Paul boasts of his faith and says that one should be proud of it.

JN 3:17, 8:15, 12:47 Jesus does not judge.
2CO 5:10 Jesus does judge.

JN 12:31 The Devil is the ruler (or "prince") of this world.
1CO 10:26, RE 1:5 Jesus is the ruler of kings--the earth is his.

AC 9:23 The governor attempted to seize Paul.
2CO 11:32 It was the Jews who tried to seize Paul.

AC 10:34, RO 2:11 God shows no partiality. He treats all alike.
RO 9:11-13 God hated Esau and loved Jacob even before their birth.

AC 16:6 The Holy Spirit forbids preaching in Asia.
AC 19:8-10 Paul preaches in Asia anyway.

RO 2:12 All who have sinned without the law will perish without the law.
RO 4:15 Where there is no law there is no transgression (sin).

RO 2:13 Doers of the law will be justified.
RO 3:20, GA 3:11 They will not be justified.

RO 4:9 Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.
JA 2:21 Abraham was justified by works (which made his faith perfect).

RO 10:11 (An alleged OT quote; no such statement in the OT.) ["As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'"]

RO 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything that might cause your brother to stumble or be offended.
CN 2:16 Let no one pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink.

1CO 7:8-9 Widows should not marry (although it is better to marry than burn).
TI 5:14 Young widows should marry, bear children, rule the household, etc..

2CO 12:16 Paul says that he does use trickery.
1TH 2:3 Paul says that he does not use trickery.

GA 6:2 Bear one another's burdens.
GA 6:5 Bear your own burden.

TI 1:15 Paul says that he is the foremost of sinners.
JN 3:8-10 He who commits sin is of the Devil. Children of God do not sin.

1TH 2:2 God gave Paul the courage to continue his work.
1TH 2:17-18 Satan hindered Paul.

There are even inconsistencies regarding his conversion

AC 9:7 Those present at Paul's conversion heard the voice but saw no one.
AC 22:9 They saw a light but did not hear a voice.

AC 9:7 Those present at Paul's conversion stood.
AC 26:14 They fell to the ground.

AC 9:19-28 Shortly after his conversion, Paul went to Damascus, then
Jerusalem where he was introduced to the Apostles by Barnabas, and there
spent some time with them (going in and out among them).
GA 1:15-20 He made the trip three years later, then saw only Peter and James.

I have checked these and do find the differences in the Bible. The parts in [brackets] were added by me.

I will end here for now with these, but I plan on doing another post just starting at the beginning in Genesis, God willing, and going through as much of the issues I've found as possible.