RESPONSE:

He did not believe Jesus was God; he rejected the divinity:

Iranaeus believed in One God and supported the doctrine of the manhood of Jesus. He bitterly criticised Paul for being responsible for injecting the doctrines of the pagan religions and Platonic philosophy into Christianity. (Muhammad Ataur-Raheem, Jesus Prophet of Islam, p. 77)

The Church bishop Tertullain rejected the “Deity of Christ”.

Tertullian belonged to the African Church. He was a native of Carthage. He believed in the Unity of God and identified Jesus with the Jewish Messiah. He opposed Pope Callistus for teaching that capital sin was forgiven after doing canonical penance. He stressed the unity of the heart with existence. He wrote “Common people think of Christ as a man”. (ibid, p. 77)

Tertullian condemned idolatry, so he rejected the “Deity of Christ” because that is a form of idolatry.

The principal crime of the human race, the highest guilt charged upon the world, the whole procuring cause of judgment, is idolatry. For, although each single fault retains its own proper feature, although it is destined to judgment under its own proper name also, yet it is marked off under the general account of idolatry. Set aside names, examine works, the idolater is likewise a murderer. Do you inquire whom he has slain? If it contributes ought to the aggravation of the indictment, no stranger nor personal enemy, but his own self. By what snares? Those of his error. By what weapon? The offence done to God. By how many blows? As many as are his idolatries. He who affirms that the idolater perishes not, will affirm that the idolater has not committed murder. Further, you may recognize in the same crime adultery and fornication; for he who serves false gods is doubtless an adulterer of truth, because all falsehood is adultery. (1)

FOLLOWING the track of my original treatise, the loss of which we are steadily proceeding to restore, we come now, in the order of our subject, to treat of Christ, although this be a work of supererogation, after the proof which we have gone through that there is but one only God. For no doubt it has been already ruled with sufficient clearness, that Christ must be regarded as pertaining to no other God than the Creator, when it has been determined that no other God but the Creator should be the object of our faith. Him did Christ so expressly preach, whilst the apostles one after the other also so clearly affirmed that Christ belonged to no other God than Him whom He Himself preached--that is, the Creator--that no mention of a second God (nor, accordingly, of a second Christ) was ever agitated previous to Marcion's scandal. (2)

Jesus never existed before his birth; there is no evidence from the gospels to prove this idea. The concept of “Logos” is borrowed from Greek philosophy. We have several scholars to back our claim that “Logos” is pagan mythology. 

Timothy Freke exposes John 1:1

Many readers of this text find it strangely moving, but would confess to not really understand what it means. This is not surprising, because without some knowledge of Pagan philosophy it really does make little sense.

In the original Greek, the term here translated as ‘Word’ is ‘Logos’. The concept of the Logos is completely foreign to Judaism and is entirely derived from the Pagan Mysteries. As long ago as the sixth century BCE Heraclitus set out on a journey of self-discovery and discovered the ‘Logos’ shared by all…But this Pagan concept is much older than the Greeks. It can be found in the ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts of the Third Dynasty which were written more than 2,500 years before the Christian era! (The Jesus Mysteries: Was the Original Jesus a Pagan God? p. 103)

Shamoun italicizes the words having suffered under Pontius Pilate, yet Jesus was never crucified under Pilate.

"In the nineteenth century an eminent scholar, Rabbi Wise, searched the records of Pilate’s court, still extant, for evidence of this trial. He found nothing."
(Lloyd Graham, Deceptions and Myths of the Bible, p. 343)

 

HE WROTE:

Moreover, Smith's statements only manage to expose his ignorance of the Trinity, or his distortion of it. His comments that these sources teach God's oneness as opposed to the Trinity shows that he really has no clue what the Trinity teaches, or at least shows that he is willing to distort its teaching. The heart of Trinitarianism is that God is one, emphasizing the unity of God, so why in the world does Smith think that God's Oneness refutes the Trinity is simply beyond us.

 

RESPONSE:

The Unity of God is the Oneness of God; the trinity is a pagan doctrine of three gods merged into one. There is no justification for Shamoun’s explanation of God’s Oneness being a trinity.

Here is the true explanation of trinity:

The doctrine of the Trinity was not taught by Jesus Christ, it is nowhere found in the Bible (both the Old and the new Testaments), it was completely foreign to the mentality and perspective of the early Christians; it became a part of the Christian faith towards the end of the fourth century.

Rationally considered also the dogma of the Trinity is untenable. It is not just beyond reason, it is repugnant to reason. As we said earlier, the belief in three Divine Persons is incompatible with the oneness of God. If there are three distinct and separate Persons, then there must be three distinct and separate Substances. Now if the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, then unless the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct Northings, they must be three distinct Substances, and consequently three distinct Gods. Furthermore, the three Divine Persons are either infinite or finite. If infinite, then there are three distinct Infinites, three Omnipotents, three Eternals, and so three Gods. If they are finite, then we are led to the absurdity of conceiving of an Infinite Being Having three finite modes of subsisting or of three persons who are separately finite making up an infinite conjunctly. The fact is that if the Three Persons are finite, then neither Father, nor the Son, nor yet the Holy Spirit is God. (Ulfat Aziz-us-Samad, Islam and Christianity, p. 32)

The following extracts are derived from Jesus Prophet of Islam by Muhammad Ataur-Raheem.

Many scholars of the Reformation rejected the trinity, they wrote books exposing the Church’s distortion of God’s Unity, and they rejected the “deity” of the Holy Ghost.

Milton (1608-1674)

Milton said that the Holy Ghost was inferior to both God and Jesus, since his duties were to carry messages from one to the other.  On his own he could do nothing.  He is sub-servient and obedient to God in all things.  He is sent by God and is given nothing to speak of himself.

 

John Biddle (1615-1662)

 

John Biddle was a brilliant student and was described as a man who "outran his instructors and became tutor to himself." He went to the University at Oxford in 1634, was made a B.A. in 1638 and an M.A. in 1641. He also published a pamphlet at this time entitled "Twelve Arguments Refuting the Deity of the Holy Spirit." It was addressed "To the Christian Reader."  In 1645, the manuscript of the "Twelve Arguments: was seized and Biddle was imprisoned.  He was called to appear before Parliament but still refused to accept the Deity of the Holy Spirit.  He reprinted the pamphlet in 1647. On the 6th of September of the same year, Parliament ordered that the pamphlet be burnt by the hangman, and this was done.  On the 2nd of May, 1648, a "Severe Ordinance" was passed.  It stated that anyone who denied the Trinity, or the divinity of Jesus or the Holy Spirit, would suffer death without the benefit of clergy.

 

Michael Servetus (1511-1553)

Michael Serventus was born in Spain in a village called Villaneva in 1511. He belonged to the period when Christianity was in Chaos and unrest in the established Churches. Later he became the leader of ‘Protestant’  Christians which was started by Martin Luther. He examined the Trinity was no where a part of his teaching’s and also discovered the fact that Bible is not supporter of what was taught by the church. He printed his views in a book called ‘The Errors of Trinity’ and Two dialogues on Trinity. He opposed Trinity and  proposed Unitarian doctrine. This made him unpopular, the church ministers became furious and on 26^th of October, 1553 he was fastened to link of tree with an Iron chain and set on fire. In this way Spain and Europe lost one of greaest believer truth that God is one

The philosophers have invented a third separate being truly and really distinct from the other two, which they call the third Person, or the Holy  Spirit, and thus they have contrived an imaginary  Trinity, three beings in one nature.  But in really  three Gods, or one threefold God, are foisted upon  us under the pretence, and in the name of Unit...For  with them it is very easy, taking the words in their  strict sense, for three beings to exist, which they  say and yet strictly, simply, and really, so  different or distinct yet one is born of another,  and one is breathed out of the others, and yet all  these three are shut up in one jar.  Since I am  unwilling to mis-use the word Persons, I shall call  them the first being the second being, and the third  being, for in the Scripture I find no other name for  them...Admitting therefore these three, which after  their fashion they call Persons, they freely admit  a plurality of beings, a plurality of entities, a  plurality of Essences, a plurality of substances,  and taking the word God strictly, they will have  plurality of Gods. 

 

If this is so, then why the Tritorites are blamed, who say that there are three  Gods, for they also contrive three Gods or one  threehold one.  These threefold Gods of theirs form  one composite substance. And although some will not  use the word implying that the three have been put  together, yet they do use a word that they are  constituted together, and that God is constituted  out of three beings.  It is clear therefore that  they are Tritorites abnd we have a threefold God.   We have become Atheists, men without any God.  For  as soon as we try to think about God, we are turned  aside to three phantoms, so that no kind of unity  remains in our conception.  What else is being  without God but being unable to think about God,  when there is always present to our understanding a  haunting kind of confusion of three beings, by which  we are forever deluded into supposing that we are  thinking about God...They seem to be living in  another world while they dream of such things for  the kingdom of heaven knows none of this nonsense  and it is in another way unknown to them, that  Scripture speaks of Holy Spirit.

 

How much this tradition of the Trinity has alas,  alas! been the laughing stock of Mohammedons only  God knows.  The Jews also shrink from giving  adherence to this fancy of ours, and laugh at our  foolishness about the Trinity, and on account of its  blasphemies, they do not believe that this is the  Messiah promised in their Law.  And not only the  Mohammedons and the Hebrews, but the very beasts of  the field, would make fun of us, did they grasp our  fantastic notion, for all the workers of the Lord  bless of One God...This most burning plague,  therefore, was added and superimposed, as it were,  on the new gods which have recently come, which our  fathers did not worship.  And this plague of  philosophy was brought upon us by the Greeks, for  they above all men are most given to philosophy; and  we, hanging upon their lips, have become  philosophers, and they never understood the passages  of the Scriptures which they adduced with regard to  this matter. (The Errors of Trinity)

The scholar Abul Ala Mawdudi comments on Quran 4:71

They are urged to abandon the Trinitarian doctrine, regardless of the form in which it was found. The fact is that the Christians subscribe simultaneously to the unity and the trinity of God. The statements of Jesus on this question in the Gospels, however, are so categorical that no Christian can easily  justify anything but the clear, straightforward doctrine that God is One and that there is no god but He. The Christians, therefore, find it impossible to deny that monotheism is the very core of true religion. But the original confusion that in Jesus the Word of God became flesh, that the Spirit of God was incarnate in him, led them to believe in the godhead of Jesus and of the Holy Ghost along with that of God. This gratuitous commitment gave rise to an insoluble riddle: how to combine monotheism with the notion of trinity. For over eighteen centuries Christian theologians have grappled with this self-created riddle. The concept of the trinity is capable of such a myriad of interpretations that literally dozens of sects have arisen as a result of its ambiguity. And it has been largely responsible for the various Christian churches indulging in mutual excommunication. Moreover, it is logically impossible to maintain belief in trinity without impairing belief in One God. This problem has arisen because the extravagance in which the Christians have indulged. The easiest course to get out of the morass is to give up the innovated belief in the godhead of Jesus and of the Holy Ghost, acknowledge God as the Only God, and accept Jesus as His Messenger rather than God’s partner in godhead. (Towards Understanding the Quran, vol. 2, p. 118)

 

HE WROTE:

Smith next makes one of the most incoherent statements ever produced by a Muslim:

The Holy Spirit isn’t the only One who indwells Christ, the Father does also:

"Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, "Show us the Father"? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.’" John 14:9-11

"I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:20-23

 

RESPONSE:

The words “one” and “in” are expressions used to define the spiritual unity between God and Jesus. The Father indwells the body of Christ in the spiritual sense; we find much evidence to support our claim that Jesus used figurative speech.

According to John 14:9-11, Jesus uses the expression “Father in me”, which emphasizes a deep spiritual Unity, The Father and Jesus are one in purpose, not essence. John 14:9-11 is similar to John 10:30 where Jesus says “I and my father are one”.

Let us examine the passage:

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him. (John 10:29-31)

Jesus declares the Father is greater than all before he says “I and my Father are one”.  He refers to a unity of purpose and will.

The Greek word for one is Heis, and the same word is applied to the disciples:

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: (John 17:20-23)

Jesus explains the oneness between the disciples, the Father, and himself. He is not speaking of essence, but a spiritual coherence.

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6:56)

The Catholics who believe Jesus is God claim to eat the flesh and drink the blood of God! Shamoun is not Catholic, but he needs to accept the outrageous implications of Jesus’ so-called deity, Jesus was never God-incarnate, the Eucharist is a pagan rite and Shamoun is a pagan.

The apologist Shabir Ally elaborates on John 10:30

John 10:30 is often quoted to show that Jesus is equal to God.  But when you read the verse in its context you will find that the passage taken as a whole proves the opposite. People are often content to quote the verse in isolation to show that Jesus said “I and the Father are one” and then the Jews picked up stones to stone him because they understood him to mean that he is claiming to be God.  It is only when you read the passage to see what comes before and after this verse that you will realise that the Jews misunderstood what Jesus was saying.  In fact, Jesus tried to explain what he meant, and the explanation he gave is still in the Bible for everyone to see.  It is surprising that so many people who say they love Jesus ignore his explanation and repeat the mistake which was made by the enemies of Jesus…

When Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (chapter 10, verse 30) the Jews picked up stones to stone him (verse 31).  Jesus could not understand their behaviour, because he had said nothing wrong.  So he asked them what he had done wrong to make them want to stone him (verse 32).  They replied that Jesus had committed blasphemy since he was only a man yet he claimed to be God (verse 33).  But it is clear from the Bible passage above that Jesus did not claim to be God.  He only claimed to be the Christ (verse 25).  When did he say he was God?  They were deliberately misquoting Jesus and putting words in his mouth which they will try to use later as false evidence against him so they could have an excuse to kill him. (Is Jesus God? The Bible Says No!)

John 14:9-11 does not prove Jesus is God; it’s connected to John 6:56, 10:30 and 17:20-23 to denote a spiritual coherence.

"Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. (John 16:25)

Paul used the same expression:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Paul confessed to using figurative speech:

Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. (1 Corinthians 5:3)

The Shamounian interpretation of John 14:9-11 must be rejected for the following reasons:

God does not dwell on earth:

"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! (1 Kings 8:27)

God is not seen; no one can see God and live.

And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. (John 5:37)

Jesus worked miracles by the power of God:

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (Acts 2:22)

All of these quotations prove Jesus was subordinate to God.

God is above the heavens (Matt. 5:16, Lam. 3:41) where no one can see Him (John 1:18), the earth cannot contain Him (1 Kings 8:27). The knowledge of God fills the earth (Jeremiah. 23:23-24), and no man can escape the eyes of God because He comprehends his every step, and every word (Al-Quran 10:61, 27:25)

Jesus is recorded to have said:

No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. (John 6:36)

The man who is from God can see the Father, but God Himself cannot be seen (John 5:37), so the man has seen the Father spiritually. The disciples had seen the Father by hearing the Gospel of Jesus and translating his words into practice, but they wanted to see God literally.

If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (John 14:8-9)

Shabir Ally explains the above passages:

In John 14:9 Jesus (peace be upon him) is quoted as saying: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”  This is often misunderstood to mean that Jesus is God.  But Jesus clearly said that no one has seen God at any time (John 5:37).  Those who say that Jesus is God, are disagreeing with what Jesus himself said.  If Jesus was God why would he say to the people looking at him that they never saw God?  And why would the author of the 1st Letter of John in the Bible, writing some seventy years after Jesus was taken up, say that no one had ever seen God (1John 4:12) although he knew that multitudes had already seen Jesus?  The meaning of John 14:9 is not that Jesus is God, but that by knowing Jesus, one gets to know God, since Jesus teaches about God.  This meaning is confirmed by John 1:18 where the writer says that no one had ever seen God, but Jesus had made God known to the people.  In the 17th Chapter of the same Gospel, Jesus declared that eternal life means knowing that the Father whom Jesus worshipped is the only true God and that Jesus is the Messiah who was sent by God. (Is Jesus God? The Bible Says No!)

 

HE WROTE:

In fact, the Holy Bible teaches that God permeates all creation, that he is filling all things with his Divine presence:

"Am I a God at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD." Jeremiah 23:23-24

"and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:19

"If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." John 10:37-38

Smith erroneously assumes that God’s indwelling means that the individuals somehow either become God or that God becomes them, or that all their actions must be attributed to God. On the contrary, these texts are simply saying that God is actively sustaining and superintending all creation, as well as empowering and fellowshipping with believers without this implying that every act of the creature is the act of God.

 

RESPONSE:

It is true the actions of Man cannot be attributed to God, yet Shamoun is urged to explain how the actions of God can be attributed to Jesus if assuming he’s God.

According to Shamoun:

Jesus ordered the killing of women and children:

Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. (Ezekiel 9:6)

Jesus ordered the eating of feces:

Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. (Ezekiel 4:11-13)

Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. (Malachi 2:3)

Jesus will shave your legs!

In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River —the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to take off your beards also. (Isaiah 7:20)

Jesus rides on naked angels:

He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. (Psalms 18:9-11)

Jesus commands adultery:

Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. (Jeremiah 8:10)

The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." (Hosea 3:1)

Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that Jesus is God, will Shamoun then explain these verses which imply Jesus Christ was a murderer, a barber, and rides naked angels? Did Jesus say “I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces?” (Mal. 2:3)

http://www.answering-islam.com/abdullah_smith/jesus_contradicts_god.htm

How can you reconcile the character of Jesus with the malevolent depiction of God?  This evil description of God is clearly false, but we are only testing Shamoun by comparing Jesus to God. The Gnostics rejected the Old Testament and accepted the New Testament God.

Here is a brief description of Gnosticism:

A one-sentence description of Gnosticism: a religion that differentiates the evil god of this world (who is identified with the god of the Old Testament) from a higher more abstract God revealed by Jesus Christ, a religion that regards this world as the creation of a series of evil archons/powers who wish to keep the human soul trapped in an evil physical body, a religion that preaches a hidden wisdom or knowledge only to a select group as necessary for salvation or escape from this world. (1)

This god is the author of evil - there must be another God, after the analogy of the good tree producing its good fruit. In Christ is found a different disposition, one of a simple and pure benevolence - which differs from the Creator.
In Christ a new God is revealed.  (2)

 

HE WROTE:

Moreover, if God knows the secrets of men’s hearts then the Spirit also knows them since he knows the very mind of God:

"God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." 1 Corinthians 2:10-11

 

RESPONSE:

Shamoun is trapped because the Old Testament never deifies the Spirit of God, so he resorts to quoting Paul because only Paul deifies the Holy Spirit whereas Jesus never deified the Holy Spirit as God.

Let us cite a few examples to disprove Shamoun’s argument.

When Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, he praised God, not the Holy Spirit:

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. (Luke 1:67-68)

The Israelites witnessed the miracles of Jesus, but they praised God, not Jesus:

Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. (Luke 7:13-17)

John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit at birth, but Jesus did not receive the Holy Spirit until age 30:

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. (Luke 1:11-16)

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove… Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry (Luke 3:21-23)

Is John the Baptist superior to Jesus because he was filled with the Spirit at birth? Jesus had to wait thirty years before the Holy Spirit descended on him.

The Prophet Jeremiah was appointed to be God’s prophet before he was born, yet he was not divine.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5)

The Bible provides evidence the Holy Spirit gave faulty Inspiration to Jesus.

Jesus is forced to tell false prophecies:

In Mt 26:34 and Lu 22:34, it is prophesied that before the cock crows, Peter will deny Jesus three times, but according to Mk 14:66-68, Peter denied Jesus only once before the cock crowed.

Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." (Luke 22:34)

Let us quote Mark: 

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. "You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said. But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway [a]. When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about." Immediately the rooster crowed the second time^[b].Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice^[c] you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept. (Mark 14:66-68)

 

Apparently, the prophecy failed, because the rooster crowed after Peter denied Jesus once.

 

Jesus told false prophecies in the Gospel of John.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. (John 6:39)

 Contradicted by:

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17:12)

 The prophecy of John 6:39 failed.

Please visit:

(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/bible.html)

Another prophecy is the Second Coming; the NT records the promise of Jesus that he would return very shortly:

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. (Revelations 3:11)

"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book. (Revelations 22:7, 12)

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelations 22:20)

Jesus did not come back! The prophecy failed

The Spirit only carries the Revelations of God; he is merely the dictator of God’s messages.

None of these passages deify the Spirit:

Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. (Numbers 11:25)

And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. (1 Samuel 10:10)

For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)

Apparently, the verse Num. 11:25 clearly separate the Spirit from God.

So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." (Genesis 6:7)

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. (Psalms 139:14)

I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me— the breath of man that I have created. (Isaiah 57:16)

None of these verses mention the Spirit, the Bible affirms that only God created the universe, and He has no partners.

The worship of the Holy Spirit led to the trinity, the confusion surrounding Jesus’ nature led to the Council of Nicea’s decision to transform him into God!

Reason refuses to accept a man who was born of a woman, suffered from human wants, ignorance and limitations, and gradually grew in stature, power and wisdom, like all other human beings, as God. To put human limitations upon God and to believe in His incarnation in a human body is to deny the perfection of God.

The dogma of the Incarnation was taken into Christianity, like many other Christian nations, from paganism. In pre-Christian mythologies we often read of the hero being regarded as a God. The Hindus of India even today worship their ancient heroes, Rama and Krishna, as incarnations of Vishnu, the second person of the Hindu Trinity.

Islam has liberated its followers from the bondage of such superstitions by rejecting the dogma of the Incarnation (Ulfat Aziz-us-Samad, Islam and Christianity, p. 38)

All of this could have been avoided if Paul had not deified the Holy Spirit.

Mary did not worship her son because he was not God!

Who are the true followers of Jesus? But the worshippers of the synagogue worship a monotheistic God. Will you worship the God which Jesus worshipped? Mary, mother of Jesus, a Jewess, was a worshipper according to the Judaic tradition, Mary worshipped the Indivisible God. Mary certainly did not worship Jesus. Why did she not worship her son? Especially if he was god or part of god and she knew that to be the truth! Perhaps she knew the contrary! (Farouk Hosein, Fundamentalism Revisited, p. 45)

We repeat the question, why didn’t Mary worship her son?

Paul started a schism by attacking the Nazarenes after establishing his own Church.

“…Thus, quite soon after Jesus’s disappearance from earth, there was a definite and widening divergence between the followers of Jesus and the Pauline Church, which was later to become known as the Roman Catholic Church. Differences between the two were not only evident in life-style and belief, but were also clearly delineated geographically. As the Pauline Church grew more established, it became increasingly hostile to the followers of Jesus. It aligned itself more and more with the rulers of the Roman Empire, and the persecution which to begin with had been directed at all those called themselves Christians, now began to fall mainly on those who affirmed the Divine Unity. (Muhammad Ataur-Raheem, Jesus Prophet of Islam, 1992 edition, p. 74)

Historically, the Nazarenes were persecuted because they refused to accept the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

 

HE WROTE:

In fact, because the Holy Spirit knows whatever God knows he needs no one to instruct him:

"Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has instructed him? Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?" Isaiah 40:13-14

Let us see how this works out logically:

1. God knows the secrets of the hearts of men.
2. The Spirit knows God’s minds and thoughts.
3. Therefore, the Spirit knows the secrets of the hearts of men.

 

RESPONSE:

Isaiah 40:13-14 teaches that the Spirit is independent of man’s knowledge, the Spirit does not accomplish anything save by the permission and authority of God. The Spirit is only dependant on God’s knowledge.

Jesus works miracles by the finger of God:

But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:20)

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (Acts 2:22)

Jesus drives out demons by the power of God, he is strengthened with the Holy Spirit to prophesy, and his miracles are the work of God:

We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of apostles; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you an apostle with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride?- Some ye called impostors, and others ye slay! (Al-Quran 2:87)

"And (appoint him) an apostle to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe; (Al-Quran 3:49)

Then will Allah say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: 'This is nothing but evident magic.' (Al-Quran 5:110)

The Bible denies the divinity of the Spirit:

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have PUT MY SPIRIT upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (Isaiah 42:1)

The Spirit does not have the authority to descend on this prophet, God will send the Spirit and the prophet will “bring forth judgment to the Gentiles”. The Spirit emanates from God, so therefore the Spirit is not God. 

Milton then draws the following conclusions from his knowledge of the Bible:  The Holy Spirit is not omniscient.  It cannot be said that because the Holy Spirit carries out the work of God, therefore it is part of God.  If this was so then why is the Holy Spirit called the Comforter, who will come after Jesus, who speaks not of himself nor in his own name, and whose power therefore is acquired.  (John 16.7-14)  It therefore becomes clear that instead of accepting the term "Comforter" in its obvious sense as a prophet who will come after Jesus, to call him Holy Spirit and yet call him God creates a confusion which cannot be ended.

 

Milton agrees with Arius that Jesus was not eternal. He says it was in God's power to create or not to create Jesus.  He concludes that Jesus was born "within the limits of time." He is at a loss to find any passage of scripture which would support the "eternal generation of Jesus."  The hypothesis that Jesus, though personally and numerically another, is yet essentially one with God is strange and repugnant to reason.  This dogma does violence not only to reason but also to scriptural evidence.  Milton agrees with the "Israelitish people" that God is One and only God.  It is so evident that it requires no explanation, that God alone is the self-existing God; and that a being that is not self-existing cannot be God.  He concludes,It is wonderful with what futile subtleties or rather with what juggling artifices certain individuals have endeavored to elude or obscure the plain meaning of the passages of the Scriptures. Milton says that the Holy Ghost was inferior to both God and Jesus, since his duties were to carry messages from one to the other.  On his own he could do nothing.  He is sub-servient and obedient to God in all things.  He is sent by God and is given nothing to speak of himself.

 

Milton felt he could not express these views openly, for to have done so would have been to endanger his own personal safety, and to expose himself to the same treatment that Biddle and many others had suffered.  In 1611, that is within Milton's lifetime, two men called Mr. Legatt and Mr. Wightman, were burnt alive with the king's permission because they believed that there was no Trinity of persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the Unity of Goodhead; that Jesus Christ was neither the natural true son of God, nor of the same substance, eternity and majesty with the Father in respect to his godhead; and that Jesus Christ was a man only and a mere creature, and not God and man together in one person.  Milton's silence while he was alive was therefore an understandable one.

 

 (Milton 1608-1674, quoted in Jesus Prophet of Islam, p. 65)

 

The Holy Spirit is not divine

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (John 16:13)

The Holy Spirit is not All-knowing, whatever he hears from God is the message he will preach. He will not speak of himself, so he is subordinate to God, the Creator of all.

Had there been any distinction of persons in the divine nature, such as the doctrine of the Trinity supposes, it is at least so like an infringment of the fundamental doctrine of the Jewish religion, that it certainly required to be explained, and the obvious inference from it to be guarded against.  Had the eternal Father had a Son, and also a Spirit, each of them equal in power and glory to Himself, though there should have been a sense in which each of them was truly God, and yet there was, properly speaking, only One God; at least the more obvious inference would have been, that if each of the three persons was properly God, they would all together make three Gods. Since, therefore, nothing of this kind is said in the Old Testament, as the objection is never made, nor answered, it is evident that the idea had not then occurred.  No expression, or appearance, had at that time even suggested the difficulty. (Joseph Priestly 1733-1804, Jesus Prophet of Islam p. 72)

 

HE WROTE:

We now turn to Islam to see what happens when we apply this logic to Smith’s pagan deity:

Hadith Qudsi 25:

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said:

Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.

It was related by al-Bukhari. (Forty Hadith Qudsi; online source)

This narration says that Allah will actually be the believers’ ears, hands, feet etc. which means that all the sins, immorality, stupidity, lies, deception, murders, you name it, committed by those faithful Muslims whom Allah loves is due to Allah himself. After all, this hadith plainly states that Allah is the sole cause of his believing servants’ every action and movement. Thus, the stupidity of Muslims — and sadly we cannot exempt Smith from this category — must be the direct result of Allah’s stupidity who is empowering them to be stupid!

 

RESPONSE:

Nice joke, fool.

We urge the reader to see the contradictions between Jesus and God, and the false prophecies given to Jesus by the Holy Spirit (according to the Bible).

And logically, it does make sense to suppose the nature of two persons merged into one are the same. When Jesus misquoted the Old Testament, it was the Holy Spirit, when Jesus told false prophecies, it was the Holy Spirit, and Jesus prayed to God, it was the Holy Spirit praying to God as well. When Jesus raised the dead, it was the Holy Spirit, when Jesus healed the blind; it was the Holy Spirit working through the power of God! But the trinity must be rejected because GOD does not carry out tasks through “intercessors”. Why do Christians worship Mary to “reach God?”

You have misunderstood my logic.

 

HE WROTE;

Had Smith actually read the NT he would have seen why Jesus said that blasphemies against him would be forgiven but not against the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures teach that the only thing that the natural man, the unregenerate sinner can do is to blaspheme Jesus. The only way for such a person to be able to even believe in Jesus as Lord is if the Holy Spirit enables such a one. As the Apostle Paul wrote:

"For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Romans 8:7-8

"Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:3

 

RESPONSE:

Paul is using the Gnostic dogma by rejecting the flesh and abiding in the Spirit. Now is not the time to prove Paul is a Gnostic (which he is), but we shall discuss 1 Corinthians 12:3. Here, Paul teaches that no one speaking by the Spirit can curse Jesus, yet Paul contradicts himself by cursing Jesus!

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being MADE a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13, KJV)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." (NIV)

Paul cursed Jesus because he wasn’t speaking by the Spirit, only a false apostle would curse his master.

We Muslims have instructions from Allah to pray always, “peace be upon them” (pbut) for all the prophets, because they are the honored and the blessed people, chosen by Allah Almighty Himself, for the noble purpose of the guidance of mankind. Only an enemy can wish them to be cursed, for the obvious reasons. (Roshan Enam, Follow Jesus or Follow Paul? p. 58)

We quote Jesus regarding evil:

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

The author Roshen Enam comments:

What Paul stored in his heart was the hatred for Jesus (pbuh) and his preaching. It is history that Paul was a staunch and rebellious enemy of Jesus and his followers. Even after the departure of Jesus (pbuh), Paul continued to kill and persecute his followers. (ibid, p.60)

 

HE WROTE:

It is the function of the Holy Spirit to convict a person of sin and of his/her need of Jesus as Savior and Lord. As the Lord Jesus himself said:

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." John 16:7-11

What Jesus was basically saying is that to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to cut off the only hope one has of ever believing in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. To be cut off from the Spirit is to be cut off from ever possibly being saved and forgiven since without the Spirit no one can ever come to faith in Jesus.

 

RESPONSE:

There are many reasons why John 16:7-11 cannot refer to the Holy Spirit.

Any serious textual criticism begins with a search for variations. Here it would seem that in all the known manuscripts of John's Gospel, the only variation likely to change the meaning of the sentence Is in passage 14, 26 of the famous Palimpsest version written in Syriac [ This manuscript was written in the Fourth or Fifth century A.D. It was discovered in 1812 on Mount Sinai by Agnes S.-Lewis and is so named because the first text had been covered by a later one which, when obliterated, revealed the original.]. Here it is not the Holy Spirit that is mentioned, but quite simply the Spirit. Did the scribe merely miss out a word or, knowing full well that the text he was to copy claimed to make the Holy Spirit hear and speak, did he perhaps lack the audacity to write something that seemed absurd to him? Apart from this observation there is little need to labour the other variations, they are grammatical and do not change the general meaning. The important thing is that what has been demonstrated here with regard to the exact meaning of the verbs 'to hear' and 'to speak' should apply to all the other manuscripts of John's Gospel, as is indeed the case.

The verb 'to hear, in the translation is the Greek verb 'akou?' meaning to perceive sounds. It has, for example, given us the word 'acoustics', the science of sounds.

The verb 'to speak' in the translation is the Greek verb 'lale?' which has the general meaning of 'to emit sounds' and the specific meaning of 'to speak'. This verb occurs very frequently in the Greek text of the Gospels. It designates a solemn declaration made by Jesus during His preachings. It therefore becomes clear that the communication to man which He here proclaims does not in any way consist of a statement inspired by the agency of the Holy Spirit. It has a very obvious material character moreover, which comes from the idea of the emission of sounds conveyed by the Greek word that defines it.

The two Greek verbs 'akou' and 'lale' therefore define concrete actions which can only be applied to a being with hearing and speech organs. It is consequently impossible to apply them to the Holy Spirit.

For this reason, the text of this passage from John's Gospel, as handed down to us in Greek manuscripts, is quite incomprehensible if one takes it as a whole, including the words 'Holy Spirit' in passage 14, 26. "But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name" etc. It is the only passage in John's Gospel that identifies the Paraclete with the Holy Spirit.

If the words 'Holy Spirit' (to pneuma to agion) are ommitted from the passage, the complete text of John then conveys a meaning which is perfectly clear. It is confirmed moreover, by another text by the same evangelist, the First Letter, where John uses the same word 'Paraclete' simply to mean Jesus, the intercessor at God's side [ Many translations and commentaries of the Gospel, especially older ones, use the word 'Consoler' to translate this, but it is totally inaccurate.]. According to John, when Jesus says (14, 16): "And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete", what He is saying is that 'another' intercessor will be sent to man, as He Himself was at God's side on man's behalf during His earthly life.

According to the rules of logic therefore, one is brought to see in John's Paraclete a human being like Jesus, possessing the faculties of hearing and speech formally implied in John's Greek text. Jesus therefore predicts that God will later send a human being to Earth to take up the role defined by John, i.e. to be a prophet who hears God's word and repeats his message to man. This is the logical interpretation of John's texts arrived at if one attributes to the words their proper meaning. (Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, The Quran, and Science, p. 56)

Jesus did not explain why sinning against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven.

He never gave the chance for the Jews to ask why

And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:31-33)

Amazingly, neither Matthew Mark, nor Luke records an explanation which was demanded.

The “explanation” was not given until John, a mysterious gospel written 30 years after the Synoptic gospels, it’s not based on the Common source (Q) and deserves to be doubted.

 

 

HE WROTE:

What Jesus was basically saying is that to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to cut off the only hope one has of ever believing in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. To be cut off from the Spirit is to be cut off from ever possibly being saved and forgiven since without the Spirit no one can ever come to faith in Jesus.

 

RESPONSE:

Shamoun emphasizes the Holy Spirit’s sinless nature.

But according to the Old Testament, the Spirit was not sinless, he was a murderer!

And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. (Judges 14:19)

The “Spirit of the Lord” is the Holy Spirit who is responsible for this massacre. The title for the Holy Spirit is simply “the Spirit”, or the “angel of the Lord”.

And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. (2 Kings 19:35)

When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family." (2 Samuels 24:17)

The Message version softens the verse:

When David saw the angel about to destroy the people, he prayed, "Please! I'm the one who sinned; I, the shepherd, did the wrong. But these sheep, what did they do wrong? Punish me and my family, not them." (1)

According to the New Testament, angels have the potential to sin:

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; (2 Peter 2:4)

How can sinning against the Holy Spirit be unforgivable when the Holy Spirit is a sinner himself?

 

HE WROTE:

Smith brings up specific passages to show that even God doesn’t know everything and that he is the Creator of evil:

It seems that Smith assumes that God is asking questions because he is ignorant of the facts. A careful reading of the Bible shows that God isn’t necessarily asking out of ignorance, but has reasons for doing so. One reason that God asks is to stump people in order to expose just how ignorant they truly are:

"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements -- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed"? Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shake out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment. From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken. Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain, and away for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man; to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass? Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Can you bind the chains of the Plei'ades, or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Maz'zaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, "Here we are"? Who has put wisdom in the clouds, or given understanding to the mists? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into amass and the clods cleave fast together? Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert? Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?’" Job 38:1-41

 

RESPONSE:

Shamoun explains that God asks questions to procure a confession of faith, or a discussion.

Yet, according to Genesis, God didn’t know Adam would eat from the tree, Adam is warned in Gen. 2:17 before the woman is created.

He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:11)

Does the Bible say it was God’s plan? Was the serpent created to deceive?

Adam and Eve did not know of good and evil. They were innocent. They did not now deceit, anger, lust or evil. The serpent lied to them. They would have known that the serpent's intents were not good. They couldn't have known, so they believed what the serpent said. This isn't Adam and Eve’s fault, but ask yourself if God knew that they would have believed the serpent, why did God not stop the serpent? God could have picked it up himself and thrown it out of the Garden of Eden. If impurity or non-innocence are ground for God throwing you out of the Garden of Eden, then God should have thrown the serpent out. (1)

Christians will give excuses by saying God did not stop the serpent because He predestined Adam to fail, he allowed the serpent to deceive Adam and Eve because it was His plan.

Yet this assumption fails to work because the Bible never says that, the Bible clearly implies God did not know Adam would disobey Him.

According to Islam, God pre-destined Adam to disobey Him, so he can send Adam into the world as a test, that is why He forgave Adam instantly (Al-Quran 20:122) whereas the Bible says He cursed him (Genesis 3:17).

Eventually, Adam knew the plan of God:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Adam and Musa argued and Adam got the better of Musa. Musa rebuked Adam, 'You are Adam who led people astray and brought them out of the Garden.' Adam said to him, 'You are Musa to whom Allah gave knowledge of everything and whom he chose above people with His message.' He said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Do you then censure me for a matter which was decreed for me before I was created?' " 

The Prophet said, "Adam and Moses argued with each other. Moses said to Adam. 'O Adam! You are our father who disappointed us and turned us out of Paradise.' Then Adam said to him, 'O Moses! Allah favored you with His talk (talked to you directly) and He wrote (the Torah) for you with His Own Hand. Do you blame me for action which Allah had written in my fate forty years before my creation?' So Adam confuted Moses, Adam confuted Moses," the Prophet added, repeating the Statement three times.

The scholar Umar S. al-Ashqar comments:

Adam cited predestination as the cause of the calamity, not the sin, because predestination is an acceptable explanation for calamities, but it is not a reasonable justification for sins. (Sharh at-Tahaawiyah, p. 154.)

 

God contradict Himselfs.

(1)

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. (Exodus 33:20)

Contradicted by:

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: "Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. (Acts 9:1)

Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD : I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. (1 Kings 22:19)

(2)

"You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 22:14)

And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)

Contradicted by:

Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. (Jeremiah 8:10)]

The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." (Hosea 3:1)

(3)

"You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13)

Contradicted by:

And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. (Exodus 32:27)

And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.  (Ezekiel 9:5-6)

(4)

"You shall not steal. (Exodus 20:15)

Contradicted by:

But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians. (Exodus 3:22)

 

External Contradictions:

 

(1)

 

And he said to man, 'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.' " (Job 28:28)

 

Contradicted by:

For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. (Ecclesiastes 1:18)

(2)

 

'I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt. (Job 33:9)

 

Contradicted by:

 

Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"? (Proverbs 20:9)

 

The evidence is clear; the book of Job cannot be trusted.

 

 

HE WROTE:

God also asks questions in order to procure a confession:

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’ Again Jesus said, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me?' He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’" John 21:15-19

Peter correctly stated that Jesus knows all things and therefore already knew that Peter loved him. Hence, this example serves to reinforce the point that God asks questions in order to either confound individuals or to procure a confession of faith. His questions were not asked because he did not know the answers.

 

RESPONSE:

The Gospel of John represents the Gentile’s version of Christ, by assigning “divinity” to his Human nature. Jesus is not portrayed as “all-knowing” in the Synoptic gospels, so why John? It is because John is writing to a Hellenistic audience; he uses Greek philosophy to describe Jesus.

 

According to the synoptics, Jesus was sent to preach the Torah:

 

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)

Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." (Mark 1:38) 

But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." (Luke 4:43)

The purpose of Jesus was not crucifixion.

 

When Jesus prayed to God to save him from death, he apparently did not know his fate:

 

And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Matthew 26:39)

 

Therefore, Jesus is not All-knowing.

 

The excuse Shamoun can give is that Jesus was God and man simultaneously, yet this explanation does not make sense, it cannot be explained without contradiction!

 

 

HE WROTE:

God’s questioning may also be for the purpose of exposing just how wicked a person is for thinking that he or she can actually lie to God and get away with:

"Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ The LORD said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.’" Genesis 4:8-10

God knew that Cain had killed Abel but wanted to expose just how evil he was since he actually thought he could lie about his crime. Much like Smith, Cain thought God was ignorant and did not know all things.

 

RESPONSE:

We can use the previous example. God did not know Adam ate the fruit, he says “Who told you that you were naked?” implies that God did not know, and/or God was not present when Adam ate the fruit, so he inquires about Adam’s nakedness and curses Adam because of his disobedience! The predestination of Adam is not recorded in the Bible, the Quran/Hadith clarify the destiny of Adam to dwell on earth, God created the earth specifically for Adam’s progeny (mankind).

Furthermore, why didn’t God know where Adam was hiding? Let us assume if Adam never ate from the tree, he hid from God’s presence because he was naked, when God confronted him and asked “Who told you that were naked?” clearly indicates the ignorance of God (according to the Bible). But since Adam ate from the tree, God approached Adam and asked him anyways! 

Adam had to expose himself because God didn’t know where he was hiding. If God knew the location of Adam, why didn’t he expose him? God would not make Adam confess if Adam was predestined to eat the fruit, yet according to the Bible, Adam was not predestined to eat the fruit. God discovered new things and didn’t know the serpent’s character.

The Bible says that when the couple heard the sound of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, they hid from him among the trees. So God called out to Adam asking where he was, and asking if he ate from the forbidden tree. On the other hand the Qur'an does not depict God in limited human form. The Qur'an and the Bible both teach that God knows everything always. (Shabir Ally, Common Question, p. 38)

Another saying of the prophet indicates that God actually intended that humans will be a species that commit sins so they can turn to Him and He would forgive them (see Sahih Muslim, Eng. Trans., vol.4, nos. 6620-2). This is a much better explanation than the popular conception according to which God at first sees that humans are good, then God discovers that they are wicked and so, being sorry that He made them in the first place, God eventually decides to wipe them off the face of the earth; but then he changes His mind again and lets them eventually procreate and fill the earth although they are still sinful as ever. The better explanation is that God knew in advance that we would sin, and we turned out just the way God planned. God does not discover new things - He knows everything always. (ibid, p. 43)

Shamoun evaded the passage where God searches for Adam, poor God didn’t know where Adam was!

 

HE WROTE:

Now regarding Judges 1:19, here is what the text says:

"The LORD was with the men of Judah. THEY took possession of the hill country, but THEY were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots." Judges 1:19

Nowhere does it say that the LORD was unable to drive out the iron chariots. Rather, it was the men of Judah who could not drive them out since it was not God’s will for them to do so.

 

RESPONSE:

Shamoun is using the wrong version; the KJV renders the quoted verse:

And the LORD was with Judah; and HE drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron

Grammatically, the word “he” refers to God. 

 

HE WROTE:

Had Smith bothered to read the rest of the book he would have discovered why God didn’t grant Judah complete victory:

"The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, ‘I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, "I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars." Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’" Judges 2:1-3

"But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, ‘Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.’ The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua." Judges 2:19-23

"These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses. The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods." Judges 3:1-6

 

RESPONSE:

Let us expose the first passage and its problems. We shall re-quote the verses to display my personal emphasis.

"The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, ‘I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, "I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars." Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’" Judges 2:1-3

God promises to never break the covenant, yet according to Psalms 89:38-41 God did break the Covenant!

But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed. Thou   hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin. (Psalms 89:38-41, KJV)

Now, we shall expose the second passage:

"But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, ‘Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.’ The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua." Judges 2:19-23

Yet the Bible records that God adores the Israelites for worshipping idols:

The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." (Hosea 3:1, NIV)

Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. (KJV)

Hosea 3:1 says God also loves Israelites for drinking wine, which is forbidden (Prov. 4:17, 20:1, Isa. 28:7)

A true contradiction, Judges 2:19-23 contradicts Hosea 3:1

Let us expose the third passage:

"These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses. The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods." Judges 3:1-6

God is angry for Israel’s breaking of the covenant, and the punishment is given, yet God himself does not follow what he preaches.

http://www.answering-christianity.com/abdullah_smith/rebuttal_to_shamoun_2.htm

http://www.answering-christianity.com/abdullah_smith/jesus_contradicts_god.htm

 

HE WROTE:

As far as God repenting is concerned this only exposes more of Smith’s ignorance. The Hebrew word used in those specific texts that speak of God repenting is nacham. This word has a broad range of meanings just as the following lexicon demonstrates:

1) to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted

a) (Niphal)

1) to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion

2) to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent

3) to comfort oneself, be comforted

4) to comfort oneself, ease oneself

b) (Piel) to comfort, console

c) (Pual) to be comforted, be consoled

d) (Hithpael)

1) to be sorry, have compassion

2) to rue, repent of

3) to comfort oneself, be comforted

4) to ease oneself (Source)

 

RESPONSE:

The passage Genesis 6:6 contradicts Numbers 23:19, which reads:

"God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"

The Hebrew word nacham also means “regret”, [1] so God regretted for creating man, and Num 23:19 openly contradicts Gen. 6:6 because it uses the same Hebrew word.

Let us quote the passages together, using the word “regretted”:

And it regretted (nacham) the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Contradicted by:

"God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should regret (nacham): hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Num 23:19)

Regardless of whether “repent” or “regret” is the actual reading, the contradiction still exists.

 

HE WROTE:

When this word is used in reference to God regretting having made man this doesn’t necessarily imply that God had second thoughts. In those specific contexts it simply means that God hates sin and is grieved when his creatures rebel against him. Smith assumes that God must be impassionate in order for him to be all-knowing, that God cannot have any feelings towards the actions of his creatures but must remain indifferent. The fact of the matter is that God is not indifferent towards sinners but is hurt and angered by our sins and rebellion:

 

RESPONSE:

Let us apply the words of Shamoun to his own book. Does God really hate sin according to the Bible?

GOD COMMANDS STEALING:

But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians. (Exodus 3:22)

GOD WANTS WOMAN

Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: Therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. (Isaiah 3:16-17)

GOD HAS NO PROBLEM WITH ADULTERY:

Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. (Hosea 3:1)

GOD COMMANDS MURDER

And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. (Exodus 32:27)

GOD MURDERS HIMSELF:

And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. (1 Samuels 6:19)

God himself is a sinner according to the Bible!

 

HE WROTE:

The fact of the matter is that God is not indifferent towards sinners but is hurt and angered by our sins and rebellion:

"How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!" Psalm 78:40

"You have bought Me not sweet cane with money, Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; Rather you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities." Isaiah 43:24

"But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them." Isaiah 63:10

"Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations." Ezekiel 6:9

This is why specific translations render nacham in these specific contexts as God being grieved and pained:

"The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." Genesis 6:6 NIV

In other words, being all-knowing doesn’t mean that God must remain indifferent or dispassionate about actions which he fully knows will occur.

 

RESPONSE:

The crimes of mankind do not affect God, he is totally invincible of feeling sad or grieved, offence does not hurt Him, and He is never intimidated.

Here is what the Quran regarding this topic:

Do the (ungodly) wait until the angels come to them, or there comes the Command of thy Lord (for their doom)? So did those who went before them. But Allah wronged them not: nay, they wronged their own souls. (Al-Quran 16:33)

What they spend in the life of this (material) world May be likened to a wind which brings a nipping frost: It strikes and destroys the harvest of men who have wronged their own souls: it is not Allah that hath wronged them, but they wrong themselves. (Al-Quran 3:117)

And those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring Allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins,- and who can forgive sins except Allah.- and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done. (Al-Quran 3:135)

It was not We that wronged them: They wronged their own souls: the deities, other than Allah, whom they invoked, profited them no whit when there issued the decree of thy Lord: Nor did they add aught (to their lot) but perdition! (Al-Quran 11:101)

Do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those before them? They were superior to them in strength: they tilled the soil and populated it in greater numbers than these have done: there came to them their apostles with Clear (Signs). (Which they rejected, to their own destruction): It was not Allah Who wronged them, but they wronged their own souls. (Al-Quran 30:9)

God did not wrong them; they wronged their own souls, so how can God be grieved for the harmless sins of mankind? The Bible describes God as a human, by attributing false emotions which He does not have.

God is not a mere judge or king (who feels grieved). He is, as the Quran describes Him, “Master of the Day of Judgment”. He is not only Just but also Merciful and Forgiving. If He finds some real good in a man or sees that he is sincerely repentant, having a real urge to conquer evil within him, then He may forgive his failings and sins altogether. (Ulfat Aziz-us-Samad, Islam and Christianity, p. 47)

 

HE WROTE:

Furthermore, when this word is used in reference to God refraining from bringing judgment upon a nation this again doesn’t necessarily imply that God changed his mind. If anything, it proves that God is immutable and remains consistent to his nature. After all, if God continues to bless a nation that has turned away from righteousness then God would be unholy and unjust. Likewise, if God destroys a nation that repents of its wickedness then God would be unmerciful and unkind. Since God cannot deny himself, but must always remain faithful, he must either refrain from punishing a nation that has repented or destroy one that has turned away from righteousness. In other words, since God acts consistently he must take into account the actions of his creatures and deal with them accordingly; he cannot continue to bless evildoers or punish repentant sinners. In the words of Jeremiah and Ezekiel:

 

RESPONSE:

According to the Bible, God defends children of incest, and children of adultery.

The Ammonites and Moabites descended from Lot, who had sex with his two daughters:

So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today. (Genesis 19:36-38) 

Then the LORD said to me, "Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession." (Deuteronomy 2:9) 

When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot." (Deuteronomy 2:19)

How can God defend children of incest?!

 

HE WROTE:

In reality it is Smith’s god that is ignorant and not all knowing:

If a wound has afflicted you (at Ohud), a wound like it has also afflicted the (unbelieving) people; and We bring these days to men by turns, and that Allah MAY KNOW those who believe and take witnesses from among you; and Allah does not love the unjust. And that He may purge those who believe and deprive the unbelievers of blessings. Do you think that you will enter the garden while Allah has NOT YET KNOWN those who strive hard from among you, and (He has not) known the patient. S. 3:140-142 Shakir

That which befell you, on the day when the two armies met, was by permission of Allah; that He MIGHT KNOW the true believers; And that He MIGHT KNOW the hypocrites, unto whom it was said: Come, fight in the way of Allah, or defend yourselves. They answered: If we knew aught of fighting we would follow you. On that day they were nearer disbelief than faith. They utter with their mouths a thing which is not in their hearts. Allah is Best Aware of what they hide. S. 3:166-167 Pickthall

Then, it may be that you will give up part of what is revealed to you and your breast will become straitened by it because they say: Why has not a treasure been sent down upon him or an angel come with him? You are only a warner; and Allah is custodian over all things. S. 11:12 Shakir

Yet it may be, if they believe not in this statement, that thou (Muhammad) wilt torment thy soul with grief over their footsteps. S. 18:6 Pickthall

Allāh said: "You are granted your request, O Mūsa (Moses)! And indeed We conferred a favour on you another time (before). When We inspired your mother with that which We inspired. Saying: ‘Put him (the child) into the Tabūt (a box or a case or a chest) and put it into the river (Nile), then the river shall cast it up on the bank, and there, an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his shall take him.’ And I endued you with love from Me, in order that you may be brought up under My Eye, When your sister went and said: ‘Shall I show you one who will nurse him?’ So We restored you to your mother, that she might cool her eyes and she should not grieve. Then you did kill a man, but We saved you from great distress and tried you with a heavy trial. Then you stayed a number of years with the people of Madyan (Midian). Then you came here according to the fixed term which I ordained (for you), O Mūsa (Moses)! And I have Istana'tuka, for Myself. Go you and your brother wih My Ayāt (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), and do not, you both, slacken and become weak in My Remembrance. Go, both of you, to Fir’aun (Pharaoh), verily, he has transgressed (all bounds in disbelief and disobedience and behaved as an arrogant and as a tyrant). And speak to him mildly, PERHAPS he may accept admonition or fear Allāh." They said: "Our Lord! Verily! We fear lest he should hasten to punish us or lest he should transgress (all bounds against us)." He (Allāh) said: "Fear not, verily! I am with you both, hearing and seeing." S. 20:36-46 Hilali-Khan

It may be thou will kill thy self with grief, that they do not become Believers. S. 26:3

Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah WILL CERTAINLY KNOW those who are true from those who are false. S. 29:2-3

He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;- S. 67:2

Say: "I know not whether the (Punishment) which ye are promised is near, or whether my Lord will appoint for it a distant term. He (alone) knows the Unseen, nor does He make any one acquainted with His Secrets.- Except an messenger whom He has chosen: and then He makes a band of watchers march before him and behind him, That He MAY KNOW that they have (truly) brought and delivered the Messages of their Lord: and He encompasses all that is with them, and takes account of every single thing." S. 72:25-28

He frowned and turned away. Because the blind man came unto him. What could inform thee but that he MIGHT grow (in grace) Or take heed and so the reminder might avail him? S. 80:1-4 Pickthall

 

RESPONSE:

The foolish Shamoun has seriously misinterpreted these passages!

Here is a response by brother Sami Zaatari

The Quran and hadiths make it clear that Allah knows everything. He knows you when he creates you and whether you are going to be a believer or a disbeliever. Hence when Allah says that he may know those who believe, he is trying to communicate with humans on a level in which they understand. Had the verse said that Allah already knows which among you will believe and so on it would be some what harder for the Muslims at the time to take in. Rather the way the verse is said indicates that Allah wants to test the men, and makes it clear to the men so they know they are being tested and must prove themselves to whether they indeed believe or not. Allah already knows which ones will believe and so on, but he wants to send the message out in a way as to test the Muslims. He already has the answers. He just wants to test you.

As I stated, the verse is a test for Muslims. Through out this life God is always testing us and so on. This does not mean he does these tests because he does not know the answers. He already does know the answers, but all humans must be tested. You don’t get a free ride to heaven. The Quran and over all message of the Quran make it clear that Allah is all-knowing. So when you put the verses together, you get the big picture that Allah is testing the Muslims, and already knows the answers. The reason to why Allah said that he 'may know' is because he wanted to make it simple for humans so they could understand it better. The Muslims would have taken the verse as meaning to test them, which is exactly what Allah wanted to do, that is he said it that way so they understood it better.

Read the entire rebuttal here:

http://www.answering-christianity.com/sami_zaatri/rebuttal_to_sam_shamoun_17.htm

The Holy Quran says:

He said: "O Adam! Tell them their natures." When he had told them, Allah said: "Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and I know what ye reveal and what ye conceal?" (Al-Quran 2:33)

Ah! ye are those who love them, but they love you not,- though ye believe in the whole of the Book. When they meet you, they say, "We believe": But when they are alone, they bite off the very tips of their fingers at you in their rage. Say: "Perish in your rage; Allah knoweth well all the secrets of the heart." (Al-Quran 3:119)

And call in remembrance the favour of Allah unto you, and His covenant, which He ratified with you, when ye said: "We hear and we obey": And fear Allah, for Allah knoweth well the secrets of your hearts. (Al-Quran 5:7)

And say: "Work (righteousness): Soon will Allah observe your work, and His Messenger, and the Believers: Soon will ye be brought back to the knower of what is hidden and what is open: then will He show you the truth of all that ye did."  (Al-Quran 9:105)

Do they not know that God knows [all] their hidden thoughts and their secret confabulations, and that God knows fully all the things that are beyond the reach of human perception'? (Al-Quran 9:78, M Masad)

Know they not that Allah doth know their secret (thoughts) and their secret counsels, and that Allah knoweth well all things unseen? (9:78, Yusuf Ali)

Behold! they fold up their hearts, that they may lie hid from Him! Ah even when they cover themselves with their garments, He knoweth what they conceal, and what they reveal: for He knoweth well the (inmost secrets) of the hearts. (Al-Quran 11:5)

To Allah do belong the unseen (secrets) of the heavens and the earth, and to Him goeth back every affair (for decision): then worship Him, and put thy trust in Him: and thy Lord is not unmindful of aught that ye do. (Al-Quran 11:123)

All of these passages refute Shamoun’s distorted interpretation of the Holy Quran.

Moving on to Part V.