I am weary from hearing people take the Bible grossly out of context. They say things like it condones slavery! or it instructs holy war! This is all wrong. The people who say this are referring to the Old Testament. Particularly the Laws of Moses or Mosaic Law. Let us delve into an example: “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you. Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes” Deuteronomy 20:10-17 Supporters of Islam will say Look! Your Bible has instructions for warfare just like our Quran! As the Quran reads: And when We would destroy a township We send commandment to its folk who live at ease, and afterward they commit abomination therein, and so the Word (of doom) hath effect for it, and we annihilate it with complete annihilation. Quran 17:16 The instance in the Quran version, however, is an open-ended command. The scoffers who say the Bible commands death on its enemies and is a violent book will conveniently leave out this passage the proceeds the above Bible verses. It reads: “Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you” Deuteronomy 20:17 Like many of the other verses brought up, this verse shows that it is bound to historical context. As in, it is bound to an actual event that occurred. It isnt an open-ended command for all Christians to behave the way that Joshua was commanded in everyday life to everyday unbelievers. It was a context of historical warfare. We cant say the same for Islam. Another example that scoffers of the Bible or Muslims like to compare and contrast with is as reads below: “Hymenaeus and Alexander I have delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” 1Timothy 1:20 Again, a verse bound by context. This would have been written in reference to two men who have turned their back on faith, in which Paul would have discontinued wasting his time with them. In the Bible handing or delivering someone over to Satan is like saying good, do what you want, live in your sin. Gods judgement will take care of the rest. Letting someone live in their sin, in the Bible, is a punishment in itself. In the Quran, however, we have this reading: Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him. Bukhari 84:57 And again, an open-ended command. The first Muslim caliph, Abu Bakr, confirmed that Muhammad (Muslim foundational leader) had actually put Muslim apostates to death. I am not spouting this stuff off to rag on our Muslim brothers and sisters. There are very good people out there who observe Islam. I am giving you insight into what people in general try to say about our Christian Bible. I am telling you that they are wrong. Read your Bibles, read them in CONTEXT, pray and above all LOVE your neighbor whether they are Muslim, atheist, agnostic, naturalist, scientologist, mormon, Catholic, protestant, selfish or blind. Above all, love! God bless everyone!
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:23:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015