I have been reading the Qur'an lately because I have several close friends that are or were Muslim. I have found the book to be of the highest quality, and have decided that I believe Muhammad was a prophet...in the sense that I believe he really was visited by an angel and really did a great work for God in converting a godless people back to God. I do not believe however that his prophetic calling was complete because he could not accept the divinity of Jesus Christ. This I attribute to the culture of the day and human weakness.
Muhammad had access to the writings of the New Testament, he was familiar with the state of Christianity in 600 AD, he was protected at times by the Byzantine Christians and saw them as allies (particularly the Christian Ethiopian King). He knew well what had taken place in the debates of the 4th and 5th centuries that led to the many Christian Creeds and he soundly rejected some of their conclusions...particularly the trinity doctrine and the deification of Christ. The Quran states very clearly how the Jews received revelation at one time...but had forsaken them, and then the Christians, they received the revelations of God at one time...but also had forsaken them...something that I believe happened following the death of Christ. The great falling away that Paul speaks of.
This is all very interesting to me because I believe that Christianity and the world at large fell into a period of darkness for many many centuries after the death of Christ. In fact history shows us that it went through several periods of religious decline and then restoration before Christ. Muhammad saw his mission as that of a restorer.
Muhammad taught that Jesus was a great prophet, a perfect man, an apostle of the one true God, but still his servant. He believed in all his signs and miracles and openly taught of his great coming in the end of times, but denied any teaching that made Christ equal to Allah. This flies in the face of the Trinity doctrine as embraced by much of the Christian world which either makes Jesus also the Father, or his equal (depending on which Christian you talk to). I believe they are both wrong.
I believe that Jesus Christ, after accomplishing his mission, received of the Father's fullness and therefore has become a God himself, but in the heavenly hierarchy God the Father is the Greatest of all and all will be less than him in Glory forever since any glory we, His spirit children, attain adds to his. This includes Christ, our brother, as I believe Him to be.
All in all, I am enjoying the Qur'an and trying to understand from their source material the similarities and differences between our faiths. I find no excuse in their teachings for terrorist activities. Not in the Qur'an. Self defense yes, but nothing to justify murderous terrorism.
Some may wonder how I can believe that Muhammad could be a prophet when he rejected Christianity. Firstly I do not believe Christianity then, was what Christianity is now. But how could Muhammad be a prophet and still reject the divinity of Christ? I contribute such a failure to the weakness of men and compare this instance to that of other Bible Prophets. Jonah tried to run away from his calling, but went and preached to the Ninevites and was hailed as a prophet even though he wanted no mercy for them and was rebuked by the Lord. King David is still hailed a prophet king even after he caused the death of Uriah after committing adultery with his wife Bathsheba. Many of the psalms that prophesy of Christ's coming and mission were written in David's old age, after this moral fall. How could he have received such profound revelations quoted to this day by Christians throughout the world, prophesying of the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ in greater plainness than most other Old Testament prophets, after he had committed such wickedness and betrayed the Lord in such a manner. There are many examples of those who were chosen by God to do a work, despite their rejection of critical principles related to God's will.
It is in this light that I see Muhammad as one who was chosen to do a work, however partial it was. After all, he was the instrument through which an entire pagan nation was converted back to the God of Abraham when neither the Jews nor the Christians of the time could do so. Go Muhammad! I bet our Father is proud of what he accomplished and I am sure Muhammad accepts the divinity of Christ now. :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
You and I have talked about this of course and so you already know that I agree with you about Muhammad. My questions about him started when I too began to study his life due to curiosity brought about through our many friends of other faiths. I have come to discover that most faiths out there are just not as wacky as they seem and have a great deal of truth in them that should be celebrated. When you learn from the horses mouth you discover the why's of what people believe and most of them aren't just nutso's. They have reasons they believe what they believe just as we do. I have come to appreciate their sincerity more than I could have when I was ignorant of their beliefs. I bought the Quran because I wanted to learn from the horses mouth and James is kicking my tail in his reading it but I'll get around to finishing it some time. Ta ta!
Here I am commenting on my own blog. I had more thoughts that were an extension of this first thought. They will hopefully clarify my thoughts on Muhammad, so that there is no question.
I believe that God did visit Muhammad Mustafa by the mouth of his angels and did deliver unto him a message, but what we have today is only a perversion of those original experiences, for even during his life, Muhammad could not fully accept God's will and a testimony of His Annointed Son. God could only give according to that which Muhammad could accept. So what we find in his writings are the philosophies of men, mingled with scripture.
Muhammad was a light in the darkness in his time, but the darkness prevailed for a season and Muhammad did not receive a testimony of Jesus Christ. He will still receive a great reward, I am sure, for he was still a valiant servant of God.
When we pass to the next life I believe that all of our weaknesses will be swallowed up in Christ's ultimate sacrifice. This extends to Muhammad's as well.
We must remember the power for good or evil that even one person can have.
A good book that I highly recommend is "The World's Religions" by Huston Smith. It contains sections on each of the major world religions. Huston calls these religions mankind's "wisdom traditions," and attempts to communicate the innate wisdoms and insights found in each. (I particularly enjoyed his explanation of Judaism). It is a brilliant book.
Also, in the spirit of learning from the best books, I must HIGHLY recommend the writings of two ancient Chinese philosophers: Confucius and Mencius. Their words are incredibly insightful, relevant, and laden with gospel understanding. (I mean beyond superficial similarities like the golden rule.)
From Confucius I recommend "The Great Learning" and "The Analects of Confucius." Both can be found in Volume 1 of The Chinese Classics translated by James Legge. Legge, a priest, linguist, and scholar, also provides a rich introduction and footnotes.
From Mencius I recommend "The Works of Mencius," from Volume II of The Chinese Classics translated by James Legge.
All of them can be downloaded for free from http://www.gutenberg.org , or purchased from most booksellers. If anyone is interested I created my own collection of ancient Chinese wisdom, including the three I mentioned here, which is available for purchase at http://stores.lulu.com/drock
I am not advertising, it is just easier to have them all in a single volume the way I have them. Mine, however, does not include Legge's explanations and footnotes. it is just the straight text.
The ancient Chinese had an in depth understanding of the noble nature of man, sincerity, propriety, righteous living, virtue, the spiritual influence of a virtuous man, benevolence/compassion, and the importance of just and compassionate governance.
Its good to hear that people are actually reading the Quran and looking for understanding rather than simply relying on others to interpret it for them.
As a Christian believer I find no difference between the Bible and the Quran. The Quran is simply what it repeatedly says, a reminder of the truth of the Bible. The trouble starts because we have difficulty translating and understanding the original text.
Mohammad was called a heretic, because his preaching did not follow the teachings of the Byzantine Greek teachings.
There is nothing I have found in the Quran to indicate that he was preaching a new religion.
Mohammad was not believer, but God gave him the words to preach. He was not given any gifts of wisdom or great understanding. Mohammad, like us today, can only preach the words we have been given. Once we start to preach from our understanding and not from the Bible we begin to add to and change the meaning of God's word. Mohammad still reminds us today that Jesus never declared himself to be God.
While we might believe we have a great understanding of the Bible, once we start to preach doctrine, we begin to divide the church and teach a false Gospel.
We need a new translation of the Quran, without adding words such as "Christian" where they were never spoken or adding the word "Muhammad" when the Quran was speaking about Jesus, the true Messenger of God.
Post a Comment