How do we know Islam is false?

[LBSDBS]

If Mohammad never attempted to foretell future events claiming that it is the word of God, then you can write him and Islam off.

Joseph smith foretold some things that later came to pass but there are some issues here. I am actually still studying this stuff, but what I have found so far indicates that he was making guesses and trying to present them as prophecy as they are things that could have easily been predicted through logic. Sort of like how false psychics work.

There are a few other claims by Joseph Smith that may be able to be impeached. I am working on it, but any help would be appreciated.

I do not yet have conclusive evidence regarding the authenticity of the Mormon origin and belief system, but Joseph Smith strikes me as a man with some social/mental issues and possibly founded the Mormon religion in search of attention and appreciation.

The first issue I have run in to with the Mormon people is that they believe consuming alcohol is evil (in which case, everyone in the middle ages went to hell since alcohol was the only readily available safe drink) and they seam to be convinced of almost every false rumor about Christian history there is.

This: “Ignore the facts and focus on whether or not it feels good” philosophy is the very biggest alarm to be raised when dealing with these guys. I don’t take kindly to being asked to play religious Russian Roulette.

 

[Peter_Dawson]

Dear friends;

I have recently stumbled across some Muslim arguments as to why Jesus cannot be God and as to why Islam is the correct religion. Although most of the arguments constituted a gross and obvious misunderstanding of the Bible and was not convincing in the least, I feel obliged to ask some questions.

So, here it is: Citing any evidence apart from the Bible (in the spirit of fairness, as Muslims somehow think the Bible is corrupt), how do we know that Islam is false?

P.S. I am not even considering becoming muslim, as I believe the Holy Bible to be the uncorrupted word of God, and therefore I am not having a “crisis of faith”.

Any answers appreciated.

God bless.

When you toss out the Bible as a proof in your argument structure, you really do unnecessarily eliminate an important piece of evidence.

The Bible has certain structures in it, called typological word pictures, which were placed there by the Holy Spirit.

The Koran does not have these structures, because it is uninspired in the same way. I checked, and I could not find any.

 

[bpbasilphx]

Islam is false because:

1. It doesn’t believe in the REAL Jesus.
2. Mahomet was a pedophile, and therefore spiritually disqualified from being a prophet.

 

[fireproofpoodle]

I accept that in those days marriages served political / financial purpose and women were often married very young. However, here we are talking about a girl of age nine having a sexual relationship with a man probably in his late fifties. Joseph may have been in his eighties (according to some sources) when he married the 14 year old Mary but there is no reason to suggest that they had the same sort of relationship as Muhammad and Aisha. Mary had taken a vow of virginity, according to early Christian sources, and was married to Joseph, a man percieved to be righteous by the priests in the temple where Mary lived (who were responsible for choosing a husband for her when it was time for her to depart the temple). Joseph would, therefore, not persue a sexual relationship with Mary. Joseph and Mary’s marriage was probably one primarily for the protection and provision of Mary, rather than one bourn out of an amorous love (although the two did doubtlessly love each other in a non-sexual way). Muhammad’s relationship with Aisha was totally different and hightly sexual.

No, his marrital life does not affect whether or not he was a prophet. However one would expect a prophet to live righteously, and peadophilia is unrighteous.

God bless

 

[Alindawyl]

I do not know if Mohammad was a prophet nor do I have an opinion on the matter, but if I wanted to find out, I would not be looking at his love life. I would look at what he claimed the holy spirit told him would come to pass and if any of it ever failed. If I were you, I would look in to that if you really care about it. If you can catch Mohammad on a failed prediction like that, you can impeach him and Islam as a whole on the spot.

You can do that if you want, but there’s really no need. The fact that Islam accepts Jesus as a true human prophet rather than a divine person automatically invalidates the entire religion.

Jesus was a Jew. If a Jew claimed to be God, then unless he really was God he was immediately guilty of severe blasphemy. Anyone who followed him was guilty of idolatry and risked eternal damnation, which is why reaction was so extreme among those who didn’t believe in the divinity of Jesus. Islam expects us to treat as a prophet a person they effectively claim is a blasphemer encouraging people to commit idolatry.

Blasphemy isn’t accidental. Jesus as a prophet rather than a divine person would have either had to be a liar deliberately encouraging those who followed him to suffer damnation for idolatry, or someone who honestly thought he was God. A mere human convinced of his own divinity is insane. Psychiatrists have done studies of insane people who think they’re God. No one with such a disorder could possibly convince followers in the numbers Jesus did, especially not Jews with a strict religious code. The egotistical behavior and nonsensical ideas exhibited by such a person would have turned them away, but pious Jews followed Jesus without giving up their pious Jewish behavior. Think about Jim Jones, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite, and others who believed they were God. They didn’t attract stable, sane people and didn’t say stable, sane things. They’re simply narcissistic at best and sociopaths at worst.

The pharisees never treated Jesus as an insane man, and you would certainly have expected them to make that claim if they thought it had any merit. No, they treated him as a liar who was blaspheming.

If you accept the existence of the person of Jesus and accept that he said what is attributed to him in the Gospel, then you must either disagree with his teachings and completely dismiss him as a teacher or become a Christian. There is no other logical option. His claim of divinity means he can’t be treated as “just another prophet”.

 

[Pons]

In the sense you seam to be coming from, it still sounds to me like you are assuming it ridiculous that God would entrust a pedophile with a sacred task such as prophecy, as where by any modern standards (as well as those mentioned in scripture, noting a 12 year old girl as a “child”) Joseph the carpenter, the man entrusted with the very critical task of raising Jesus, fits in to the same standards.

As others have said, wedding a six-year old is different from wedding a teenager.

I don’t usually read contra-Islam apologetics, but this gave me chills:

islammonitor.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2215&Itemid=92

…The God of Jesus sent HIS Son to die for YOU. The God of Mohammed demands that YOU send YOUR Son to die for HIM.

…Jesus made those who were blind to see. Mohammed made those who could see to be blind.

…Jesus made those who were lame to walk. Mohammed made those who could walk to be lame.

…Jesus healed withered hands. Mohammed cut off hands.

…Jesus raised the dead back to life. Mohammed caused those who had life to be dead.

 

[LBSDBS]

Muhammad’s relationship with Aisha was totally different and hightly sexual.

Again, I know nothing about Mohammad’s relationship with the girl, so I’ll let that one be your call.

My point is that the identity of a prophet is not in his sex life (assuming he’s following the laws of Moses) but in prophecy and consistency with the words of the prophets before him. I do not know what the Jewish/Christian laws on marital/sexual age are, if there are any at all. I haven’t found anything on it in the bible, and I looked. The only thing I have found in CATHOLIC law is that you have to be baptized and received first holy communion and for that, you have to have reached the age of reason. Even on these matters, I am no expert and therefor, I do not have a conclusive view on it. Any help here?

You can do that if you want, but there’s really no need. The fact that Islam accepts Jesus as a true human prophet rather than a divine person automatically invalidates the entire religion.

Jesus was a Jew. If a Jew claimed to be God, then unless he really was God he was immediately guilty of severe blasphemy. Anyone who followed him was guilty of idolatry and risked eternal damnation, which is why reaction was so extreme among those who didn’t believe in the divinity of Jesus. Islam expects us to treat as a prophet a person they effectively claim is a blasphemer encouraging people to commit idolatry.

I haven’t been able to do any real research since this last came up, but I have not been able to find any BINDING evidence that Jesus claimed to be God, but plenty to the contrary. Now, nothing more then a prophet, we might have something there but again, I myself am going to have to research this matter. To be clear, I am not agreeing or disagreeing with you. I am just stating that I do not know enough to make a reliable assessment on this matter.

 

[Alindawyl]

I haven’t been able to do any real research since this last came up, but I have not been able to find any BINDING evidence that Jesus claimed to be God, but plenty to the contrary. Now, nothing more then a prophet, we might have something there but again, I myself am going to have to research this matter. To be clear, I am not agreeing or disagreeing with you. I am just stating that I do not know enough to make a reliable assessment on this matter.

There’s plenty of evidence that Jesus claimed to be God. The only evidence to the contrary is opinion voiced as fact by people who don’t understand the history and the culture of the time. Jesus spoke as a Jew using Jewish terminology that was clearly understood by his Jewish audience to be a claim to divinity in much more precise ways that simply stating “I am God”. He also had to show that he was the fulfillment of many prophecies.

Just because he never made the claim in general secular terms which would be clearly understandable to any random gentile in the world doesn’t mean there’s no binding evidence.