Help me stop a friend from converting to Islam!

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Contarini said:
To be fair, I don’t think Spencer is in the same category as Brown at all. Brown shows no signs of having any understanding of early Christianity at all. If the opinions expressed by certain characters in DaVinci Code are his (and that’s the indication), he thinks that people thought Jesus was just human before the Arian controversy, that the divinity of Jesus was decided by one vote, etc. He doesn’t understand the difference between Coptic and Syriac. One could go on and on.

Spencer doesn’t commit these kinds of howlers. At the same time, it’s important to note that as you say he’s not an academic expert on Islam–he studies it solely in order to attack it, and that doesn’t give one a good basis for a fair understanding.

I would put him more in the category of someone like James White.

Edwin
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I think you probably make a better comparison between Spencer and White, but the idea I’m trying to drive is that we have to examine an author’s scholarship.
 
:eek: :confused: 😦 🤷

She said Islam’s shahada today (“There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet”).

Please pray for her to become a Christian again!
 
fnr said:
A friend of mine who’s had a very hard life has been recently the target of Muslim evangelization efforts. Now that friend is seriously studying Islam and is considering converstion.

This friend is a “non-denominational” Protestant. Can anyone provide me with some good references or tips?

Thanks!
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well if you get the Catholic answers magazine they have a good section on how Catholicism and Christianity differ

Mohhamed who was a murder, pedophile and other sinful things was a prophet and he even declares he was lesser a man than Jesus cause Jesus preformed miracles

Jesus was sinless

Muslims don’t beleive in the bible, or the Trinity - God is one God and we are here to obey him , nothing more

the Quran justifies lying to infidels to conver them

they support abortion

a man can divorce his wife by just saying i divorce you

Sharia law - is barbaric and the muslim goal is to have Sharia law in the whole word

LOOK at countries with the highest population of Muslims - they are ANYTHING but peaceful and loving

not to mention muslim radicalist Kill infidels as it says to in the Quran
 
Bezant said:
Robert Spencer is not an Islamic scholar–at all. He is also the director of Jihad Watch, which is hardly a fair or academic “source” on Islam.

FNR, if you’re going to suggest that your friend read books or articles that are critical of Islam, make sure that they come from serious authors.
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What does the term “Islamic Scholar” mean? Although he has no formal training in Islamic studies, Mr. Spencer has a MA, Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been studying Islamic theology, law, and history in depth since 1980 (what year were YOU born?).

He has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community.

He is the author of twelve books, including two New York Times bestsellers.

He has been a frequent guest on Catholic Answers Live - the very forum you are posting to.

He became interested in Islam after learning, from his grandparents, about his family that were personal victims of the Muslim atrocities at hands of the Ottoman Empire and exiled from Turkey, like most Orthodox Greeks, at the end of World War I.

Please tell us why Mr. Spencer is not qualified to speak on Islam.

Please give your critical review of Islam 101 from the Jihad Watch website.
 
fnr said:
:eek: :confused: 😦 🤷

She said Islam’s shahada today (“There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet”).

Please pray for her to become a Christian again!
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I pray daily for the conversion of Muslims. Meanwhile, at least your friend hasn’t become an Atheist. She still believes in One God. But it is a serious offense against God to reject HIS Son. 😦
 
FLGreg said:
What does the term “Islamic Scholar” mean?

Although he has no formal training in Islamic studies, Mr. Spencer has a MA, Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been studying Islamic theology, law, and history in depth since 1980 (what year were YOU born?)
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FLGreg,

While I’m happy to discuss your questions, I’m not sure whether the comment in bold was intended to be lighthearted or sarcastic. If it’s sarcastic, please keep in mind the forum rules about charitable posting.
 
Sounds like someone who used to go to my church. She’s very young, probably 16 or 17 and was going through the RCIA classes at our parish. A few months before confirmation, she dropped out and converted to Islam because of someone who came to her door to talk to her about it. It was really sad… I went to a Steubenville youth conference with her last summer and she was crying after her first adoration, saying “It was just so beautiful, to finally be a part of something like that.” I’m still wondering why she changed her mind so quickly… I’ll pray for your friend; I understand how you’re feeling.
 
fnr said:
A friend of mine who’s had a very hard life has been recently the target of Muslim evangelization efforts. Now that friend is seriously studying Islam and is considering converstion.

This friend is a “non-denominational” Protestant. Can anyone provide me with some good references or tips?

Thanks!
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Ask your friend if Islam offers him salvation, that is, liberation from what oppresses him, especially the slavery of sin. That is why Jesus became man, to free, to liberate us from the slavery of sin so that we can love God and our neighbor and, as a consequence, live in the joy and knowledge of God. This is done by obeying the commandments, This is difficult though, so Jesus left us a church, the Catholic Church, and the sacraments, starting with baptism which provides the initial liberation from sin, then also reconciliation which gives us grace for the forgiveness of sins, but especially, the Eucharist whereby God himself gives us himself and the grace to be freed of the slavery of sin and obey the commandments. Failure to repent leads to misery, unhappiness, illness and often premature death (drugs, anger, alcohol, theft, sexual license - aids, etc). Islam does not offer this salvation which is freedom from the slavery to sin. For that matter no other religion does to the extent the Catholic Church does, which is only logical since it is was founded by God himself. Ask him who founded Islam, a man or God. It was only a man who claims that God (Allah) gave him sacred writings. Of course this man, Muhammad, did not perform any miracles to show that he was God or that God was with him. He was a warlord and murderer. Show your friend some the history of Islam and its founder, it is one of blood and continues to be one of blood. Ask him if those 13 men and women that were just shot and beheaded yesterday in Afghanistan by the Taliban, an Islamic branch or sect, for dancing, yes that’s right, for dancing, is a religion he wants to be part of. Does he want to be a member of one of many man-made religions or rather a member of a church actually established by God himself?
 
Bezant said:
FLGreg,

While I’m happy to discuss your questions, I’m not sure whether the comment in bold was intended to be lighthearted or sarcastic. If it’s sarcastic, please keep in mind the forum rules about charitable posting.
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I have been out of the country the past several days.

I do not think that I was being uncharitable. I seem to be one of the older folks on this website. In 1980 I was a Junior in High School. I guess I was serious in asking how old were you in 1980 since you seem to be dismissing one of your elders (uncharitably without cause) with your comments:
Bezant said:
Robert Spencer is not an Islamic scholar–at all. He is also the director of Jihad Watch, which is hardly a fair or academic ‘source’ on Islam.”

FNR, if you’re going to suggest that your friend read books or articles that are critical of Islam, make sure that they come from serious authors.
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I do not see how a question about your age was being unkind in what you wrote above or what you think. My response was in reference to a perceived uncharitable comment where you wrote without any proof. Just because I made a reference to your age somehow absolves you from answering what “I” perceive as an uncharitable comment against a scholar that has been identified as an expert on this website?
 
FLGreg said:
I have been out of the country the past several days.

I do not think that I was being uncharitable. I seem to be one of the older folks on this website. In 1980 I was a Junior in High School. I guess I was serious in asking how old were you in 1980 since you seem to be dismissing one of your elders (uncharitably without cause) with your comments:

I do not see how a question about your age was being unkind in what you wrote above or what you think. My response was in reference to a perceived uncharitable comment where you wrote without any proof. Just because I made a reference to your age somehow absolves you from answering what “I” perceive as an uncharitable comment against a scholar that has been identified as an expert on this website?
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I’m afraid I don’t follow you. My my age (and anyone else’s, for that matter) is irrelevant here.
 
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