A special “gift” for the Christian missionaries on occasion of Good Friday. I wish to show by an analysis of Wisdom Christology in Matthew’s gospel chapter 23, that the evangelist took the dramatic step of changing Jesus’ metaphysical status from creature to Creator by altering the Q tradition, and to reflect on the theological implications of this metamorphosis for Christianity, and where we go from here.
One of the big questions nobody has asked about Mel Gibson’s The Passion Of The Christ is this : If the crucifixion was a historic event and so central to the Christian Gospel, why is it that there is no evidence whatever of a man on a cross in Christian art and monuments for almost seven centuries ? Not until 692CE, in the reign of Emperor Justinian II, was it decreed that henceforth instead of a lamb (the zodiacal sign of Aries) fixed on the cross, the figure of Jesus be placed there instead. Another question : How is it that the earliest known figure of any man on a cross comes from about 300BCE and that “person” is not Jesus but Orpheus, a mythical Greek sun-god ?
According to most Christians, Jesus was God-incarnate, fully man and fully God. Can the finite and the infinite be one ? “To be fully God” means freedom from finite forms and from helplessness, and to be “full man” means the absence of divinity. Christians assert that Jesus claimed to be God when they quote him in John 14:9 : “He that has seen me has seen the Father”. Didn’t Jesus clearly say that people have never seen God, as it says in John 5:37 : “And the father himself which Has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape”?
Few people realize that the origins of a form of Christmas was pagan and celebrated in Europe long before anyone there had heard of Jesus (P). No one knows what day Jesus (P) was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the Bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December 25th ?
Philosophical theism, in contemporary times, has been dominated by philosophers who are Christians. These theistic philosophers have published a great amount of literature defending the rationality of belief in God, and any participant in the great debate will surely be familiar with the names of intellectual giants like Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, William Lane Craig, among many others. Swinburne, for example, gives theistic belief, and in particular Christian belief, philosophical treatment in toto. I have noticed the following progression in his case for Christianity. First, he argues that the notion of ‘God-talk’ is perfectly coherent, and there are no a priori reasons to reject theistic belief. Next, he argues on cumulative grounds that natural theology renders the existence of God more probable than not. Finally, Swinburne articulates various arguments for Christian particularism, e.g. reasons to believe in the Christian Revelation, the Resurrection of Christ, etc. He therefore epitomizes the classic Lockean evidentialist, who is prepared to give rational reasons for all his beliefs.
In this paper I attempt to present an argument disputing and refuting the Christian Belief in the Trinity of God. We believe this ill concept was inserted into Christian belief by the devil at a time of absence of mind and a state of powerlessness on the part of true unitarians and sincere believers in the One God. To this day, followers of this belief are faithful to the evil that founded it and we are aware that there is little or no benefit in attempting to argue them out of this line of thought. However, we are like that who is describing the sorry state of a lost and misguided person to people so that others may take example and lesson from it. And Allah shall guide whom He chooses to the right path.
TRINITY Basic claim is that the Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Ghost are equally one — and are all GOD Therefore, Jesus IS God. CRUCIFIXION Christians believe that…
Immanuel Kant (1724−1804) as a philosopher not only sought his own answers to philosophical questions but was also an expert on the history of philosophy. Having a thorough grounding in the philosophical tradition of the past, he was keenly aware of the standpoints of rationalists and empiricists. He believed that both were partly right and partly wrong in that the rationalists laid too much emphasis on contribution of reason and empiricists on sensory experience. It has been theorized that Kant wanted to preserve the basis for Christian faith. He was a Protestant and since the days of Reformation, Protestantism has been characterized by its emphasis on faith.
1) ARGUMENTFROMDISAGREEMENT I believe that the Bible is the word of God. The Qur’an disagrees with the Bible. Therefore, Islam is false. 2) ARGUMENTFROM…
Introduction T. S. Elliot was quoted to have once said that “Christianity is always adapting itself into something which can be believed.“John Hick, ed., The…
It is agreed upon among intelligent people that results follow the reasons that caused them in correctness and error ; if the reasons are valid, the results are therefore correct — if the reasons are not, then the results are therefore erroneous. This rule has nothing to do with Islam, Christianity or anything else because it is purely an intellectual rule that is generally agreed upon by all.
The Hungarian Islamic Studies scholar of Jewish descent Ignaz Goldziher (1850−−1921) is widely recognized as the founder (along with only two or three other scholars) of the scientific study of Islam in Europe. Goldziher undoubtedly has an enormous influence in the field of Islamic studies and practically everything he wrote between roughly 1870 and 1920 is still studied assiduously in universities throughout the world. Along with a tremendously busy schedule comprising of lecturing and composing scholarly works, Goldziher also kept a relatively personal record of his reflections, travel records and daily records. This journal was later published in German as “Tagebuch” ed. Alexander Scheiber (Leiden : Brill, 1978).
Conclusion Regarding Christian DoctrinesTom Harpur, For Christ’s Sake, pp. 124 – 125 I am well aware that in questioning orthodox teaching — the dogmas of the Trinity…
Michael Servetus was born in Villaneueva in Spain in 1511. He was the son of the local judge. He lived at a time when there was unrest in the established Church, and in a period when everyone was questioning the nature of Christianity. As he grew older and more informed, the young Servetus was appalled by the shedding of blood by the Christians towards the Muslims and Jews.
John Biddle, the Father of Unitarianism in England, was born in 1615. He was a brilliant student and was described as a man who “outran his instructors and became tutor to himself”. He went to the University at Oxford n 1634, was made a B.A. in 1638 and an M.A. in 1641. After leaving Oxford, he was appointed as a teacher in Gloucester. It was here that he began to re-examine his religious views and began to doubt the validity of the doctrine of Trinity.
Nabeel Qureshi died at the age of 34 years old in 2017 from a “rare and deadly form of stomach cancer” on 16th of September 2017 with mixed reactions.
But the first of the four gospels, i.e., the Gospel according to Mark, apparently did not receive Paul’s memo. And this is a very important point as we keep in mind that each of the gospels were initially divorced from each other and were written in different localities for different audiences.
So which is the correct Gospel account concerning the choice of Jesus’ first apostles ? The following Bible contradiction was extracted from an unpublished thesis entitled Ibn Hazm On The Doctrine of Tahrif which cites Kitab al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa’ wa al-Nihal and insha’allah this will be part of an ongoing series to reproduce extracts of Ibn Hazm’s criticisms of the Bible and Christianity.