Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog

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How You Treat the Qur'an a "Hate Crime"

07/28/2007 - James White

   When you read that headline, do you automatically assume it is in reference to some Islamic state with Sharia law in place, clerics as judges, and prisons filled with those who do not think exactly as they should? Well, guess what? This isn't about Pakistan or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else other than...the good ol' USofA. Here's the AP story.
   This is why "hate crimes" legislation must be opposed at every step, and those already enacted must be repealed if this nation is to avoid committing simple cultural suicide. These "hate crimes" have no objective standards. You cannot read the minds of others, so to even attempt to do so demands that judges (normally) or juries establish non-objective standards that are the very heart and soul of oppression and the end of freedom of expression and belief.
   Regarding this specific story, I wonder how many Bibles are thrown into toilets on a regular basis across this nation? I wonder how many "hate crimes" prosecutions have resulted? What is next? Will I be silenced by the powers-that-be for stating the truth that Muhammad did not understand the Christian faith, accepted as real fictional stories about Jesus (from gnostic sources), and as such the Qur'an should not be seen as a revelation from God? It is sadly clear that we cannot rely upon the old maxim, "Truth is the best defense." These days, speaking the truth may be a tremendous liability in a culture that seems to be intent upon expressing its hatred for truth in every possible fashion.

13:22:06 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -

Sharia Law By AK-47

07/21/2007 - James White

If you really believe you have the truth, why do you have to kill those who speak contrary to you? Why not just demonstrate they are in error? Ask the Taliban.

10:11:13 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -

The Surahs of the Qur'an in Chronological Order (Update)

07/18/2007 - James White

I mentioned yesterday on the DL that I needed to post this table on the blog. If you are going to read the Qur'an, you need this table. Read from left to right, top to bottom, this is a good, scholarly "guess" at the chronological order of the writing of the Surahs of the Qur'an. Remember, the Qur'an is organized not in a chronological manner, but in a manner based upon the length of the Surahs. So, if you copy this table and carry it with your Qur'an, you will be able to read the Qur'an in chronological order, which should help you to follow the work a bit better.
Now, I recognize that there is scholarly dispute regarding the exact order of the Surahs chronologically speaking, and, what's more, some of the Surahs have mixed materials from different periods. So, this isn't perfect, but it is a whole lot better than reading it straight through as it is normally organized.

96	68	73	74	1	111	81	87	92	89	93	94	103	100
108	102	107	109	105	113	114	112	53	80	97	91	85	95
106	101	75	104	77	50	90	86	54	38	7	72	36	25
35	19	20	56	26	27	28	17	10	11	12	15	6	37
31	34	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	51	88	18	16
71	14	21	23	32	52	67	69	70	78	79	82	84	30
29	83	2	68	3	33	60	4	99	57	47	13	55	76
65	98	59	24	22	63	58	49	66	64	61	62	48	5
8-9	110

Quick Update: LS was kind enough to point out a "problem" of sorts with my table. It did not include Surah 8. I have now included it with Surah 9, mainly because it is felt that these two Surahs were originally one (note how Surah 9 does not start as a normal Surah does). If anyone sat around last night and read the entire Qur'an and feels cheated for having missed Surah 8, I apologize! Ironically, this reminds me a bit of my own experience last evening, for I decided to take my Septuagint to prayer meeting instead of my Hebrew text. On Wednesday nights we work through the Psalter traditionally, and the Psalm for the evening was Psalm 10. But when I opened my LXX, I realized that this is where the numeration in the LXX breaks with the Massoretic numeration. In other words, in the LXX, Psalm 9 includes Psalm 10 in the MT, so I had to turn to Psalm 9 to read along in the text.
In any case, I wanted to note the update to the table in case anyone had printed it out and started to wonder where Surah 8 went!

12:06:58 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -

Islamic Peace?

07/04/2007 - Mike Porter

   "American and European arrogance!" That is what we are told. "Western foreign policy!" It is our fault, we have heard over and over. Muslims are the poor victims of western arrogance and imperialism, they tell us, and our culture, our victimized and ever so compassionate culture, so quick to be sensitive but so slow to be discerning, begin to parrot those claims. After all, it's just true, right?
   Well, some of us never bought it. Thinly veiled within all the shouting, the rhetoric, the threats--all of it--has just been good old fashioned religious hatred. At least, this is the statement of a man who was once a member of the British Jihadi Network.
   They were never fighting for equality. Never were they figting for fairness or justice. They have always been fighting for domination. It is not political, it is theological, says this author:

How do Islamic radicals justify such terror in the name of their religion?

There isn't enough room to outline everything here, but the foundation of extremist reasoning rests upon a model of the world in which you are either a believer or an infidel.

Formal Islamic theology, unlike Christian theology, does not allow for the separation of state and religion: they are considered to be one and the same.

For centuries, the reasoning of Islamic jurists has set down rules of interaction between Dar ul-Islam (the Land of Islam) and Dar ul-Kufr (the Land of Unbelief) to cover almost every matter of trade, peace and war.

But what radicals and extremists do is to take this two steps further. Their first step has been to argue that, since there is no pure Islamic state, the whole world must be Dar ul-Kufr (The Land of Unbelief).

Step two: since Islam must declare war on unbelief, they have declared war upon the whole world.

   So, if I understand the reasoning here, since Islam is not in power in the UK and in America or other nations, we will continue to see escalated violence until Islamic rule is established. And when Islamic rule is established, we will see peace. You know, like that peaceful country Iraq which had numerous torture chambers, executioners, and even some guys who described their profession as "defiler of women's honor." Peace, like that stellar example Iran which sealed an anti-US treaty with Venezuela.
   Let us not forget little things like Christians being persecuted intensely.
   Dr. White and others on this blog have taken the theology of Islam head on in the hopes that Christians will be able to articulate the faith rationally and with conviction. For, in the end, conversion of the heart from Islam to serve Christ and be born again will alone establish peace.
   After all, we certainly do not see any prospects for the role of Charles Martel these days. But, alas, maybe we can find his spiritual and theological equivalent.

16:22:58 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -

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	Blog Archives

96	68	73	74	1	111	81	87	92	89	93	94	103	100
108	102	107	109	105	113	114	112	53	80	97	91	85	95
106	101	75	104	77	50	90	86	54	38	7	72	36	25
35	19	20	56	26	27	28	17	10	11	12	15	6	37
31	34	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	51	88	18	16
71	14	21	23	32	52	67	69	70	78	79	82	84	30
29	83	2	68	3	33	60	4	99	57	47	13	55	76
65	98	59	24	22	63	58	49	66	64	61	62	48	5
8-9	110

96	68	73	74	1	111	81	87	92	89	93	94	103	100
108	102	107	109	105	113	114	112	53	80	97	91	85	95
106	101	75	104	77	50	90	86	54	38	7	72	36	25
35	19	20	56	26	27	28	17	10	11	12	15	6	37
31	34	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	51	88	18	16
71	14	21	23	32	52	67	69	70	78	79	82	84	30
29	83	2	68	3	33	60	4	99	57	47	13	55	76
65	98	59	24	22	63	58	49	66	64	61	62	48	5
8-9	110

96	68	73	74	1	111	81	87	92	89	93	94	103	100
108	102	107	109	105	113	114	112	53	80	97	91	85	95
106	101	75	104	77	50	90	86	54	38	7	72	36	25
35	19	20	56	26	27	28	17	10	11	12	15	6	37
31	34	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	51	88	18	16
71	14	21	23	32	52	67	69	70	78	79	82	84	30
29	83	2	68	3	33	60	4	99	57	47	13	55	76
65	98	59	24	22	63	58	49	66	64	61	62	48	5
8-9	110