Is it alright for a Catholic (or any Christian really) to read the Koran?

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itullian said:
yeah, if you like fiction.
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Given that the Qur’an contains much of the same material as the Bible does (the stories of Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Solomon, David, Jesus and Elisha are all present in the Qur’an) with very much the same storylines, this is a silly argument.

It’s also proof you’ve never bothered to read the Qur’an.
 
itullian said:
“very much the same”?

:juggle:
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Some of the narratives feature SLIGHT variations in their content, such as Abraham sacrificing Ishmael and not Isaac, or 'Isa (Jesus) being born under a palm tree and not in a stable.
 
FidesSpesCarita said:
The saints and doctors of the Church have consistently stated that you should avoid reading heretical books or listening to heretical preachers. I think it was St. Alphonsus who said “one bad book can destroy a convent” and if one bad book can destroy a family of nuns, how much damage could it do to one person in solitude?

FSC
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This is ironic.

Not long ago I listened to part of a series by Fr Mitch Pacwa about the book of Proverbs. He pointed out, at great length, that many of the wise sayings of this book borrow a lot from the writings and sayings of pagan Egyptian and other non-Jewish wise men. obviously worshippers of false gods.

So scripture itself is at least in part composed out of gleanings from heretical books and heretical philosophers. So much from not reading or listening to anything heretical!
 
Comments from a non-catholic Christian: The Creator of the Universe is called Lord God, aka: Jehovah. Allah is not another name for Jehovah. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Eve tried to spar with the Devil about Truth–she was beguiled into believing a lie. We are tempted the same ways as Eve, not Steve. Lust of flesh, lust of eyes, pride of life still get us today.

We suffer from the guise that: there is a little good in everyone. The whole world and everything in it is depraved. Without Jesus everyone is lost. The Moslems do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God–God in the flesh. The vast majority of those called religious in the world seem to agree. See John 14:6. Most of the religious world is disqualified per this verse.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Peace,
James Least
 
Agreed. I had to read it 20 years ago as a student at Temple University for a humanites class. If anything, it solidified my own Christian faith and opened my eyes to see how violent Islam really is.
Conor7 said:
I’m not Catholic, just a mere Christian, but if you are secure in your faith, what’s the harm?

a. You could learn something
b. Opposing viewpoints have a wonderful habit of informing our own feelings and beliefs
c. You always have the option to put it down when you start to feel uncomfortable

I sometimes think we have this unconscious tendency to treat religious texts like magic wands.
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trickster said:
Hi sparrowhawk, I side with those who say it is allright to read the Koran…the Muslem faith is close to our hearts,…we are all sons of Abraham. The only caution I would suggest if for newer catholics who are not grounded in catholic teaching (catechism) and scripture studies…otherwise it is not only good it is imperative that we - as Catholics - read the Koran and learn from our Moslem brothers and sisters from their perspective how great is our God…

Bruce Ferguson
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Well said Bruce.
 
James_Least said:
Allah is not another name for Jehovah. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
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Arab Christians refer to God as Allah, also. Allah is simply the Arabic name the Almighty, whether you want to call Him Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim, Abba, or El Shaddai. Here in Malta, God is referred to as “Alla”, since the Maltese langauge is descended from Arabic, especially Sicilian Arabic.

For example, if we want to say, “God loves you,” we would say, “Alla tkunu tistghu.”
We even have something similar to the Arabic Takbir “Allāhu Akbar”, which is “Alla huwa kbir.” This means “God is great.”
 
James_Least said:
Comments from a non-catholic Christian: The Creator of the Universe is called Lord God, aka: Jehovah. Allah is not another name for Jehovah. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
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The Arabic-speaking Christians of the world would disagree. I also disagree as a linguist. One of the Hebrew names for God is ‘El’ or variants on this (El-ohim, El-Shaddai etc).

Now during the proto-Hebrew period, the people lived in an area called the ‘Fertile Crescent’ which stretched from modern-day Israel and Lebanon to what is now Saudi Arabia. Among this was a common language, an early proto-Semitic language. The word for God in this language was ‘El’. Now as this section of land began to divide into countries and among tribal lines, the East of the Fertile Crescent developed this proto-Semitic language into the earliest form of Arabic, and the resultant change to the major linguistics of the language saw ‘El’ become ‘Al’. Eventually this became ‘Al-ilah’ and then ‘Allah’ which was the contracted form.

In short: Calling God Allah is no different to calling Him Elohim. They’re two variants on the same word. Hebrew and Arabic are cousin languages.
 
And then there is Hubal, the moon god of the Kaba.( surf that one for about15 minutes) The amount of conjecture and coverup on this subject is amazing. It is kind of like a debate with a Mormon historian regarding U.S. history and Jesus having visited the U.S. of A after his resurrection–if one believes He resurrected.

Allah may be the god of the Antichrist–another interesting surf.

It is all going to melt with fervent heat. Then what?

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Peace,

James Least
 
Perhaps it is time to interject some of the teachings of the Church. Vat II commended dialogue with non-Christian faith traditions. Mention of Islam in particular is very limited. I cite the only specific reference to Islam in Nostra Atat:

"3. The Church has also a high regard for the Muslims. They worship
God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the
Creator of heaven and earth,[1] who has also spoken to men. They
strive to submit themselves without reserve to the bidden decrees of
God, just as Abraham submitted himself to God’s plan, to whose faith
Muslims eagerly link their own. Although not acknowledging him as God,
they worship Jesus as a prophet, his virgin Mother they also honor,
and even at times devoutly invoke. Further, they await the day of
judgment and the reward of God following the resurrection of the dead.
For this reason they highly esteem an upright life and worship God,
especially by way of prayer, alms-deeds and fasting.

Over the centuries many quarrels and dissensions have arisen between
Christians and Muslims. The sacred Council now pleads with all to
forget the past, and urges that a sincere effort be made to achieve
mutual understanding; for the benefit of all men, let them together
preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral values.

…
“The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these [non-Christian] religions…The Church, therefore, exhorts her children, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these people.” (Declaration of the Second Vatican Council on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetat)

The other reference to Islam in Vat II is also quite brief:

“But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in
the first place amongst whom are the Moslems: these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.” (Lumen Gentium [Dogmatic Constitution on the Church], #16)
(The above statement is repeated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #841)

Granted, many good Catholics think the above statements go too far in honoring Islam and accepting a common bond with that faith tradition. However, the plain language of these documents seems to counsel against the fear expressed in this thread about studying the Qur’an, simply as a means of promoting understanding. Catholics will learn no truth about their own religious convictions in studying the Qur’an, but they will learn more about the mind and heart of their brothers in this faith tradition. Speaking personally, this understanding is important because it helps me live out the Gospel message of peace and love toward all men and women. I have also found that showing respect for the Qur’an defuses fear and animosity among the Muslims with whom I engage in faith discussions.
 
Sounds like we may need to organize a burning of books–in cyberspace. Thank the Lord, more than one viewpoint can be explored without fear of retribution. I must be overdue for a demerit.

Sorry you found “prophecy and truth” offensive. It was not my intention to offend. Every writing has a bias. Having an open mind helps sort through the various paradigms.

Did you see the material regarding the Moslems and Allah? I had not surfed the evolution and Catholic bashing material–thank you for pointing to them. Some folk have a problem with real contrasting and comparing of other religions–the paradigms are in direct opposition.

The Truth is the Truth whether we believe it or not.

Peace,

James Least
 
Christianity and islam…isn’t this like trying to mix water and oil together?

As in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said… 'I am the Way, The Truth And the Life. None comes to the Father expect by Him. I thought Islam rejects these words? Also Jesus said; we should not add to his word or remove from it. (the Bible) so reading of the Quoran, I would imagine would certainly cause confusion??

(2Timothy 4v3)
3 …For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears:
4 And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables…

Is there value in studying non-Christian scriptures, or is doing so a potential distraction from the faith?..food for thought.
 
This is true of the arrangement of the Qur’an, but it is Muslim teaching that the arrangement of the surahs is both dictated by Allah and for a reason. The way I have had it explained is that groups of surahs together make up a spritual ‘module’ as such, with the most basic of surahs at the beginning and the most advanced to the end. Surahs 1-4 are typically taken as the ‘Islam 101’ surahs, containing the most basic information on Islam. Surahs 5-7 are surahs aimed at Jews, Christians and the pagan Arabs with the aim of 'disproving their respective religions, often with arguments and narratives from their own scriptures. Surat 8-9 details issues in the early Islamic community which caused problems. And so on and so on.
There are also ‘abbreviated letters’ in the Qur’an which prefix many surat (a common one being ‘alif, lam, meem’) and which are believed by many to contain essential spiritual linkings between surahs of similar subjects. However it is a matter of Muslim doctrine that no dogmatic meanings should be placed on these letters, as only Allah knows their significance.
As to it been ‘alright’ to read it, I suspect many will try and give up as it’s not an easy book to read. Although I have been told this is due to the fact that it is hard to translate many of the terms due to the complexity of Arabic and the relative simplicity of languages such as English. It helps to be grounded in Christianity before reading it, but also it helps as well to nto approach it with a mean spirit. It is more profitable to see where there are points of similarity in the text (and there are) and think about why the work and Islam generally have departed from the fullness of revealed truth.
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I’d also add here that even a native Arabic speaker would find such a text difficult. In addition to the major differences between the language and English, there is also the issue that words change meaning over time, disappear completely from usage or undergo some other change. This is a problem which scholars of the Qur’an are very much aware of and so there have been attempts made to compile dictionaries and grammars which focus ONLY on the definitions and forms of words which the Holy Prophet himself (pbuh) would have understood.
 
No games from this side of the pond. Heaven and Hell are eternally serious matters. Where will we be in 2112?

The basic question is: Is the Koran inspired in the same way as the Bible i.e., God-breathed? We seem a little confused as to what the paradigm for inspiration might be.

Curiously, the good guys in the Koran are the bad guys in the Bible and vice versa.

“Beam me up, Scottie.”

The enemy is in the camp and the sentries are asleep.

Peace,
James Least
 
mixing lies with truth is the most evil kind of lie there is.

read it—if you like fiction.

i’d rather read Bradbury.
 
Are you a sentry? Wake up! The enemy is in the camp. He is wearing our uniform.
It is no wonder–Satan himself is become an angel of light.

Now what?
Eternity is only a heartbeat away. Are we ready?

Nonsense? Are you sure?

Peace,

James Least
 
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