How to evangelize a Muslim ??

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Adamski

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I have a muslim friend who is very well educated (Stanford and Berkley degrees) and speaks 10 languages. He is practicing but is open to read or talk about Christianity

I was going to talk about how even the Jews and pagans 2000 years ago documented that jesus was crucified and the belief that he wasn’t crucified didn’t start until islam 600 years later

I was also going to give him a copy of the catechism

Any other ideas I will be having coffee with him this weekend to discuss religion
 
Giving him a copy of the RC Catechism? Why, that’s the best conversion strategy I’ve ever heard!
 
Ask your friend to study the Koran and focus on what it says about Jesus.
Jesus is called the Messiah in the Koran. Discuss salvation history and what the concept of Messiah entails. The Koran states that Jesus is just another prophet. If so, how can be a Saviour? And how can He be without sin, if He is just a prophet?
The Koran believes in virgin birth and Mary’s exceptional role.

Koran states that Jesus was taken up to heaven by God, and will come to judge the living and the dead. Ask your friend to ponder this and the other issues I have mentioned.

Discuss Jesus in the Koran as a starting point.
 
Mention to him that the Quran says that the Torat and Injil were sent down by Allah (S. 3:3), and that we must examine the claims made about Jesus in the Injil. Be able to respond to common Muslim objections, and source it to the Gospels and what Christ himself said. Be ready to respond to popular Muslim misunderstandings of verses (such as John 5:30a). Show him passages such as John 8:58 or John 17:5, which clearly teach the eternal existence and divine nature of Christ. If he can’t give a direct response, tell him you’ll give him time, and schedule a moment to talk about it later. Remember, you’re not trying to win an argument, you’re trying to be used of God to win a soul.

Most of all, remember that if he rejects what you say or displays some form of willful ignorance, it’s not because of you - it’s because of Christ. Men hated Christ long before they hated those who followed him (Jn 15:18), and the servant cannot be greater than his master (Jn 15:20). Preach the truth, do it honestly, and do it out of love. If he rejects what you say, he’s not rejecting you but the Christ who sent you (Mt 10:40-41). Keep this in mind, and never be discouraged. Send out the voice of the Shepherd, and those who are of his fold will hear and follow (Jn 10:4-5).

EDIT: Some additional points - try to avoid loaded questions. Don’t ask him a question to find a “GOTCHA!” moment. Ask questions to make him seriously ponder these things. He sounds like a smart individual, so appeal to his ability to think and reason and use that as an open door for evangelism. He probably won’t accept a tract from you (I wouldn’t give him the Catechism), but he can’t throw away the thoughts you plant in his head, and by God’s grace they will take a hold in his heart and turn him to Christ.
 
Ontheway said:
Ask your friend to study the Koran and focus on what it says about Jesus.
Jesus is called the Messiah in the Koran. Discuss salvation history and what the concept of Messiah entails. The Koran states that Jesus is just another prophet. If so, how can be a Saviour? And how can He be without sin, if He is just a prophet?
The Koran believes in virgin birth and Mary’s exceptional role.

Koran states that Jesus was taken up to heaven by God, and will come to judge the living and the dead. Ask your friend to ponder this and the other issues I have mentioned.

Discuss Jesus in the Koran as a starting point.
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The problem with this is muslims believe all prophets only made ‘mistakes’ and never sinned. Therefore, they will use this reasoning to justify why Jesus never sinned 🤷
 
dolphinlove said:
The problem with this is muslims believe all prophets only made ‘mistakes’ and never sinned. Therefore, they will use this reasoning to justify why Jesus never sinned 🤷
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Don’t forget they also believe (of course without any proof) that the Jews had corrupted the scriptures. :rolleyes:

MJ
 
As a short but effective point, you can mention the inconsistency of Mohammed’s status as a prophet:
  1. Muslims accept Old Testament prophets.
  2. It is clear and repeatedly stated that these Old Testament prophets (and NT prophet/s) are not revered in their home towns but instead hated and persecuted.
  3. Mohammed’s immediate success in his home town is incongruent with the Old Testament prophets and the NT prophets, St. John the Baptist and, as according to their religion, Jesus of Nazareth.
  4. How is Mohammed recognized as a prophet, when he breaks with this essential and primary characteristic?
Hope that helps. Good advice from the other posters (:
 
Well that was the strangest religous conversation I have ever had …

Acording to my Muslim friend Jesus was born to the virgin Mary but he was born holding a comb and a bowl and distributed them to the needy at birth. Also Jesus could talk at birth and told everyone he was a prophet and Mary was a virgin impregnated by God

Then the crucifixion
Jesus was brought up on charges as a false prophet but God helped him escape devinly so he didn’t suffer on the cross but put another man with Jesus’s face on the cross to take his place to fool the Jews and Romans and Jesus went on to preach the true gospel in Pakistan
 
The bit about Jesus talking from the cradle is a distortion of the Arabic Infancy Gospel which were popular in Arabia in Muhammad’s time and just before (the original Syriac version has been dated to the 5th century, with Arabic versions appearing a little bit later). The relevant portion reads as follows:

“He has said that Jesus spoke, and, indeed, when He was lying in His cradle said to Mary His mother: I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world.”

Predictably, the Qur’anic recension of this story still has Christ speaking from the cradle, but His message is very different/changed to be Islamically palatable:

“But she pointed to the babe. They said: “How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?” He said: “I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)”! Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute”

As the Infancy Gospel predates the Qur’an, it is not hard to see what is going on here…but I doubt your friend or any Muslim would accept the plain reality of the Qur’an being built upon fabrications of apocryphal Christian texts… 😉
 
Adamski said:
Then the crucifixion
Jesus was brought up on charges as a false prophet but God helped him escape devinly so he didn’t suffer on the cross but put another man with Jesus’s face on the cross to take his place to fool the Jews and Romans and Jesus went on to preach the true gospel in Pakistan [emphasis mine]
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Is your friend an Ahmadi Muslim?
AssisiFollower said:
  1. Mohammed’s immediate success in his home town is incongruent with the Old Testament prophets and the NT prophets, St. John the Baptist and, as according to their religion, Jesus of Nazareth.
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Technically, he wasn’t that successful in his hometown at first. Yes, he gained a following, but they were small in number, and they were immediately persecuted by the Meccan pagans and had to flee to Medina. That’s where Mohammad started to see success.
 
Know your religion better than he thinks he know yours. That way misconceptions can be clarified and mistakes in the quran can be revealed.
 
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