Has this site strengthened your faith in Islam?

Recently I am getting more and more emails with messages like this one:

   I really have to thank you for all that you've written on the myth that
   the bible is corrupted! You've done a really great job!!  I've never
   been as strong a Muslim as I am now, ever since I went through your
   entire web-site! The more I read about peoples' attempt to deny and
   refute Islam, the stronger a Muslim I become!! You've been a huge
   stepping stone for me towards an ever stronger faith in Islam!!  I
   really have to thank you!! Continue with the excellent work and may
   Allah bless you!!

Has your faith in Islam been strengthened by Christian apologetics or by reading the Bible? If so, you have reason to be concerned.

I wish it could be otherwise, but the Bible teaches that its message will have one of two effects on people: Either it will stir their hearts to faith, or it will harden them and drive them away. As the apostle Paul said in II Corinthians 2:15-16:

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

What St. Paul is saying is that the Gospel is not merely information that one can accept or dismiss. It is a living thing that draws some people near and pushes others away.

God recognizes that many people who hear His words will reject them, to their own destruction. As He told the prophet Ezekiel:

"But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says.' Whoever will listen let him listen, and whoever will refuse let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house."
Ezekiel 3:27

Jesus Himself warned us that most people will not reach Paradise, and exhorted us in Matthew 7:13-14:

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Does that mean that God's Word is weak, or that it has failed? Not at all. For the Bible is not only a call to belief; it is a discerner, a witness, and a judge. As Hebrews 4:12 tells us:

[T]he word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

How do you respond to the Bible? Do you rejoice at its message, or do you consider it foolish and corrupt? Is it the aroma of life to you, or the smell of dead things? Either way, your heart has been laid bare - and your future has been revealed to you, unless you change.

Moreover, Jesus warns us in John 12:47-48 that this very Word will judge us on the Last Day:

"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day."

Therefore, do not think that you have defeated or nullified this Word when you or your fellow Muslims reject it. I tell you, you have not defeated this Word, it has defeated you:

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
I Corinthians 1:20-25

I pray that God's blessing will be upon you as you consider this warning. May He give you eyes to see, ears to hear, that you may understand and turn and He would heal you.

Amen.

Faruq al-Dhimmi