Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog
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Tatbir with a Vengeance
02/10/2006 - James White
The British Daily Mail today featured an entire page of photos from around the Muslim world documenting the Shia holy day of Ashura. Devotees self-flagellate with whips, chains, and knives, seeking to cover themselves in their own blood, an act called tatbir. 
This year's observance has been greatly increased in fervor by the "Muhammad Cartoon" farce (note that there are now utterly fake cartoons circulating, and very, very few of those protesting have actually seen the original cartoons in their own context). Here we see 1) a baby crying after its father has sliced its scalp to cause blood to flow in the Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh; 2) a father slicing his son's head with a knife in Karbala, Iraq; 3) Shiites marching with blood soaked knives and swords after gashing themselves.
Flagellation is a part of all the world's religions. It appeared in the Middle Ages in Roman Catholicism as flagellants went about in various cities during the Black Plague whipping themselves in hopes of averting the wrath of God. Christianity has no place for such behavior for a simple reason: our blood cannot bring about the forgiveness of sins, since we ourselves are sinners! Only the sinless Son of God could give Himself, which He did, voluntarily, once. A sound doctrine of the atonement precludes any and all such concepts, as does a sound doctrine of grace. See, theology matters. Did not Paul likewise say, long ago,Col. 2:20-23: If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (which all [refer] [to] things destined to perish with use)-- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, [but are] of no value against fleshly indulgence. (NASB)May God be pleased to make His gospel to run freely and powerfully amongst the Muslim people, freeing them from such tyranny and falsehood!
08:50:33 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
A Quick Comparison
02/08/2006 - James White
As I head out this morning for my flight to Heathrow I caught a segment on the Today show on NBC regarding The Da Vinci Code. I couldn't help but compare and contrast the response Christians have had to this deeply blasphemous attack upon the very heart of their faith and a dozen small cartoons featuring Mohammed and the response of Islam worldwide. We all know that The Da Vinci Code blasphemes the character of Christ, denies His deity, His resurrection, the inspiration and accuracy of the Bible, etc. So how have we responded? With violence? No. As we have demonstrated on this blog, we have responded with interaction, refutation, scholarship, and reason. We have taken Dan Brown's assertions and demonstrated them to be lies without a shred of historical foundation. So, if we take just two of the cartoons drawn of Mohammed, the most famous with his turban in the shape of a lit bomb, and the second of him standing in front of a line of men, still smoking from some kind of suicide activity I assume, waiting to get into heaven, informing them that they have run out of virgins, what would Islam's response be if it was based upon the truth? Would we not find documentation that Islam is a religion of peace, and does not in fact produce bombings and the like? But we all know that would be impossible. And what of the Muslim idea of the afterlife, one man with multiple women in a sensual, physical environment? Once again the cartoon speaks to truth, does it not? How is it possible to defend such a carnal view of the afterlife as that seen in Islam? I know some do defend this, as I have heard them try, but my point is, if that defense is so compelling and valid, why isn't that what we are seeing in Islamic nations, rather than the violence, the rage, the guns, the fire, and the murders?The response of Christianity to a blasphemous and far more popular attack upon its heart (The Da Vinci Code) in contrast to the response of Islam to a small set of cartoons that often speak directly to the truth, is telling indeed!
08:03:23 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
Major Debate Announcement
02/07/2006 - James White
I have mentioned the on-going process over the past few months, but I can now confirm the following:Is the New Testament We Possess Today Inspired?
James White Affirms
Shabir Ally Denies
Saturday, May 6th, Biola University Gymnasium
Los Angeles, California
James White Affirms
Shabir Ally Denies
Saturday, May 6th, Biola University Gymnasium
Los Angeles, California
Of course, it is my hope that this will be the first of a number of debates with Mr. Ally on the key issues of the Scriptures, the nature of God, salvation, etc. Of course, I have engaged large portions of Mr. Ally's arguments on this topic on the Dividing Line and on this blog, and will continue doing so between now and then. I am thankful this topic will come first, for it lays the foundation for a debate on the person of Christ, the Trinity, the atonement, etc. I am very excited that the Lord has opened up this opportunity. I am always amazed when the Lord allows Alpha and Omega Ministries such wonderful opportunities of ministry in the defense of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Please pray for us as we continue our regular ministry duties, deal with the pressures (time wise and financially) of the move, as well as the upcoming schedule of speaking and debating, including Shabir Ally and John Shelby Spong.
18:02:28 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
And the Insanity Goes On
02/04/2006 - James White
Are these Muslims burning an embassy merely "radicals" or is there something about the very core and heart of Islam that gives rise to this kind of behavior? What kind of spirit leads people to wish to behead someone for drawing a caricature that, let's be honest, is significantly less insightful than say, the picture of the father carrying his tiny daughter with a fake bomb vest strapped to her chest that we saw in Palestine? Where is the outcry when Christ is regularly mocked in all the media of the world? One cannot help but think of Ahmed Deedat's statement that Muslims above all believe in Christ: but, they don't burn down buildings when Christ is depicted in cartoons, do they? But if Mohammed is shown saying "We have run out of virgins!" to a line of waiting Muslim men (a completely appropriate commentary on Islam's horrific view of the afterlife) Muslims go wild and start loading the clips of their AK-47s. Why not take the opportunity to demonstrate the error inherent in the pictures, if there is error? What a wasted opportunity if you represent the "one true faith." And Iran wants a nuclear bomb. Yes indeed.
22:03:28 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
Followers of the Religion of Peace
02/03/2006 - James White
The pictures do speak for themselves. Where is the counter demonstration from the "majority of peaceful Muslims"?And I see the State Department of the United States has also condemned the cartoons...could someone link me to where they condemn the blasting of Christianity, the Bible, Jesus Christ, etc., that takes place daily in almost all of our newspapers? I can't find that link. I must just be missing it. It has to be there, right?
16:22:18 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
The Bankruptcy of Islamic Apologetics Final
02/02/2006 - James White
We close out this brief series--one I have found particularly interesting personally, especially in light of the uncritical use of scholarship by the wide spectrum of Islamic apologists--with a discussion of the final element of the "argument" borrowed from Bart Ehrman by Abdullah, cited last week, that regarding Theodore of Mopsuestia. Citations of early Christian writers are notoriously popular on the Internet these days. Yet, only a very small handful of folks ever take the time to check out what was originally said, and fewer still have the resources to do so to any depth at all. My library of patristic materials, while not exhaustive, is quite adequate, and still there are plenty of odd citations I can't track down or check out. And given Rome's history of making up patristic citations, the discerning reader will be careful to put a lot of weight in almost any use of patristic sources without full documentation.But it is just that which is lacking in everything we have cited so far. Yes, there is a footnote on Theodore in Ehrman, #25 (p. 266, the note appears on p. 271). But it is not to Theodore's writings. It is to a secondary source. It reads, "See Brown, Gospel According to John, 1026." This refers to Raymond Brown's work, which itself reads,
Against the theory of Theodore of Mopsuestia, the Second Council of Constantinople (fifth ecumenical council, A.D. 553) insisted that these words were a reference to Jesus and not merely an exclamation in honor of the Father. There is no tendency among modern scholars to follow Theodore. The expression, as used in John, is a cross between a vocative and a proclamation of faith ("You are my Lord and my God"). Dodd, Interpretation, p. 403, suggests that "my Lord" refers to the Jesus of history and "my God" is a theological evaluation of his person; he cites with favor F.C. Burkitt's paraphrase: "Yes, it is Jesus---and he is divine." But Bultmann, p. 538, is correct in insisting that in combination with "God," "Lord must also be a cultic title....The article is used before "God"; it was not used, we recall,in the Greek of i 1....However, the difference of meaning should not be pressed too sharply, as if i 1 where a markedly less exalted statement (Moule, IBNTG, p. 116)....
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00:01:00 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
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