Clearing up Muslim arguments against Catholicism

[Karen10]

I just found this today, regarding Muslim’s misunderstanding of our religion, and the way they try to prove that we are wrong. It is a helpful read. In summary:

* They claim our bible is corrupt, and that we cannot prove that it isn't, because original translations are lost.  Actually, the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the 1900s match quite accurately to our translations of similar texts. 

* They claim that our Bible has gone through revisions, forgetting that the Koran also went through some revision and 25 years after Muhammad's death, a final canon version was created, and *all others before that were destroyed.*

* They quote Deuteronomy as predicting Mohammed, not Jesus.  They misunderstand the usage of the word "brethren".  They think it means the "brethren" of the children of Israel, or Arabs. But God talks to the Israelites through Moses--they are clearly the brethren from whom Jesus is predicted to come.  This is not an unusual usage of the word "brethren" in the Old Testament at all.  The Muslim interpretation lacks the proper context.** * "Brethren" is also explicitly used to describe a fellow Israelite in Deuteronomy 15:12.*** The warnings against those who practice paganism and so forth, are warnings from God to the Israelites to be wary of false prophets.

* Some bring up the Paraclete (Holy Spirit), saying that prophecies of the Paraclete in the Bible refer to its being able to *see and hear.*  They say that this implies that He has bodily organs, like eyes and ears, and therefore* the prophecy must mean a person, not a spirit.*  But the Bible regularly describes God with attributes like this, just to help us conceive what is inconceivable with our finite minds.  That is the reason for the wording.   So does the Koran, actually.  "Allah hears all things..."  "Allah said..." 

* They tell Christians that *Parakletos* (Holy Spirit) is a misspelling of *Periklytos*, which in Aramaic almost sounds like Muhammad--that Jesus was promising to send us Mohammed and not the Holy Spirit.  *Periklytos* however, is a Greek word used in Homer's time, and it is completely absent from texts in Koine Greek spoken during Jesus's time, and Attic Greek spoken before that time.

* The Gospel of Barnabas, which Muslims use for support, is a blatant forgery. It contains errors about the Jubilee, which was celebrated every 50 years, not every 100 years.  It also contradicts the Koran, which says "'O Mary! Behold, Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from him: his [Jesus'] name will be Christ [al-masih; lit., "Messiah"].'"

* You get a peek at the strange techniques of Deedat, who sees mystical things in the Koran, while at the same time, Muslims find Christianity too difficult to believe because of its mystical content.

The FULL ARTICLE IS HERE:
catholic.com/thisrock/1992/9204fea1.asp

 

[hawk]

Excellent points,

I shall inshallah post some more, sometime in the future.

 

[jcaz]

At first Karen10, I was surprised by your post, as I thought you were another member who uses the name Karen.

But I see you are new to these boards.

In general, these boards are meant for discussion. They are, and someone can correct me if I am wrong, not meant for cutting and pasting posts/articles from other websites.

We can all make thousands of posts cutting and pasting various arguments. But that isn’t very conducive for a discussion board.

 

[exoflare]

jcaz:

In general, these boards are meant for discussion. They are, and someone can correct me if I am wrong, not meant for cutting and pasting posts/articles from other websites.

Nope, cutting and pasting is definitely allowed. Personal preference is another thing.

 

[Karen10]

I know what you mean, but I summarized the article on my own, I didn’t just cut and paste this whole thing. They are just summarized ideas for discussion gleaned from a lengthier article that people may not have seen before, or may not have been inclined to read without a summary.