How to Lead Moslems to Christ

8/8/2019 How to Lead Moslems to Christ

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HOW TO LEAD MOSLEMS TO CHRIST

by

CEO. K. HARRIS

A C O N CI S E M AN U AL

i nd ispensab le to all who pray and labor for th e speedier evangcli7ationor th e Moslems or th e world

While prepare


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TO TH E

SOCIETY OF F RI EN DS O F TH E 1\'IOSLE"'IS

IN CI-/Ir\":\

used of God in the past an d alert in the pr esent

to focus attention on an oft-neglected people,

this small volume is dedicated

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD. BY S.Ht"'" ~ ' l .Z W ' M E R . D.D . . . .

IXTRODUCTIOX.

Genesis of this ~ I a n u a l ,an d provident ia! circumstances.Spirit an d m ( ~ t h o dof approach to th e ~ l o s 1 c t l l s .Reproach for nq;:kcl, an d ytoarnilll-::s among ~ l o s c l f l l s..

SECTIOX 1. 1'0lXTS TO STRESS

(13-50)

CHAPTER I. OU R CI 'L\DEI . OF TRUTH.

Theory of A b r o ~ a tion.T he or y t ha t t he ( lu ra n contains al l flCc.t'Ssary knowledge.Chargt: of Corrupt i on o f th e Christian Scriptures.Contrasts h c l w ~ e nth e (Juran a nd t he Bihle.

PAGE

5

7 -1 1

71011

15-23

17

181921

Text of tht : ; \; i cene Cr( 't :d in C h i f l C ~ Can d English.I ts i m p on a nc e for our ob jec t ives ..It s u S l ' f u l l l t s ~to rorr('e( COm11l01l misunderstandings.I ts a pp li ca ti on t o l h e life

CHAPTER 3. CO'\ 'TRASTS . .

Ahsolute C ( ) l l t r ; l ~ ! : - -H i ~ l l t ~ s t v c r ~ t l sL t n n ' r : cuntrasts in att i tudes.Full \'er:-'U5 Part ial . .Spirit ual versus i \atural ,

CHAPTER 4. APPARENTLY U\BRIDGEABLE C H A S ~ I S. . .Se\'en Challenges.Ou r att i tudes in vic"'> of thcse chal lenges.In what spirit should thest' "t.'met? 'Concret(, 5tlgg


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SECTION II. P IT FA LL S T O .-\ VOID

(51-84)

CHAPTER 5. ~ l l i D D L E DSTATEMDITS AX D I "CORRECTDEDCCTIO:'-iS 53-57

Lack of c 1 e a r n ( : ~ 5 . 53

Overstatements 54Understatements. 55I ncorrect deductions. 56

APPENDIX

I N FO R M AT I ON F O R T H E C H RI S TI A " CSERS

OF THIS MANUAL

CHAYTER 6. "TL' QLOQliE OR " BO O "I ER AN G " R EACTIO:'-iS.. . 58-62

Study of such reactions in th e hiHory of Islam. 58U n a v o i d a b l ~reactions . .... . . . . .. . 59Avoidable react ions. 60Admonitions of Paul to T im ot hy a s a n example 62

DIVISION : \.

DIVISIOS B.

DIVISION C.

Briel Summary of th e l ife of Mohammed. . . . 87 -94

T he S p re a d o f I sl am , w it h !;pecial reference to itsspread to an d in China . . . 95-100

Th e Quran an d teachinRs based thereon. . 101-108

INDICES

CHAPTER 7. CARELESS DIAGNOSIS OR DISPENSI:'-iG.

Th e part icular needs of individuals . .Classification of contacts .Correct arrangement of o u r m a ter i alCare an d method in dil'tl'illlliionObserving pr(lpcr t imes and seasulls

63-67

63646.1

6666

G e n ~ r a lI ndex i ncl uding R oman iz cd Arabic an d P('rsian Terms . .

Index of C hines e na m es and. terms, in Romanized .,

Biuli"Kraphy . . .

DIAGRAMS

109

118

121

F or t ho se w ho find discussion ahou t Mohammed neces sa ry. . 69Fo r those ~ ' h ofind discussion abOll[ Is lam necessary . . . . 70Fo r t h ~ cwho find d l ~ u s s i o l 1a bo ut t he Quran neces sary. 71

CHAPTER 8. SCBJECTS WECARE" ..

l \WST "HANDLE WITH68-75

I. Diagram f or u sc in connection with t he charge of corruption.

2. Th e Nicene Creed. in Chinese adapted . for use wi th Mos l ems ..

.L Dia\. :ram for use in conn('ction with o o i n l ~of difference . . .

20

24

H

CHA!'TER 9. ANALYSIS OF S T A T E ~ l E N T SOR QCESTlO"SCOl\" 'IO"LY R.-\ISELJ BY "IOSLEMS 76-84

Trivial and apparently p u r p o ~ e 1 e s sr e m a r b 76Leading to laudation of ~ 1 o h a m m e r l ,ISJilln or th e Quran. 77Fallacies cOlllll1only aC'C(:ptl'd by J\-Ioslem!' 78Academic an d absl ract statements or que:.t ions 80Statcments implying acquaintance with th c Christian Scrip-

tu res . . 81Claims and ilSSlllllptioflS If t 'u tnl as t houg h p roven 82Genu ine t r aps sonll.:titll('s cvolved lBClosing remarks on Sect i ons I an d II 84

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FOREWORD

SOMEOI\E h as wisely sa id that "a foreword shou ld he lppotential readers decide whether a book is worth thetime it will take to read it." Th e p o te n ti al r eader s ofthis volume by my friend George K. Harris include n ot o nl yth e missionaries of China bu t t ho se in every land consciousof t he g re at minorities called \"!oslem-a total of over threehundred m il lio n s ou ls in ,\sia, Africa and th e islands of th esea.

Here is a practical manual by a practicing missionary ofl on g e xp er ie nc e in fishing for me n. I t might well be comparedto that ancient c lass ic , Jzaak \\ 'alton's Compleat A"gler,s in ce n o s pe ci es o f brook-trout were ever hard er to cat ch byth e hook-aod- line of th e gospel than the aho"gs of C hi na o rth e mullahs of C'Iiro.

We first me t in 1917 wh en [ v isi ted C hi na a nd he was onhis way ro Kansu. Even then his col leagues recognized inhim one who understood Moslems and knew their "-avs.In 1933, when [ again visited Moslem China with my sonin-law, Claude L. Pickens, we w er e all in clo se f ell owsh ip atLanchow and beyond. Mr. Harris is one of th e few missionaries in all China who h av e g ai ne d a mastery of . '\ rabic aswell as of Chinese. He also h as r emarkab le ski ll in . '\ ra bi cpenmanship and is well at home in Islamic literatllre. \Vithnearly thirty year!;;' l ' x p e r i ( ~ l l c cof the task and after perusalof t he ear l ie r 'Ipologctics by PLlndcr, Gainlner, Tisdall. an dRice. he has put i nt o small c o mp as s w ha t is most ' necessaryto kllow or to avoid in our COTltact with !\1oslcms. Hi sapproach is no t polemic bu t irenic. As a fisherman of exper ience he knows the secret of long pat ience. of no t allowingone 's own shadow to fall on the st"ream and of su it ing the b;ti,"to part icular kinds of f ish. i\'lr. H; 1rri s wrote ill Tile Jlo.'ilcmWorld as far back as 1925 from th e horders of Tiher. alld c'ersince h as frequently p le ad ed for the great lIeedy fields of

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Northwest China and Cent r al Asia. His ambit ion, iike Paui's,is th e regioos l :e yo nd w he re Christ is 001. yet. named" \Vebli{'vc th e ma n an d his lllcssage arc vocal 111 thiS volll111e an dthat t ho se w ho read will heed th e call an d gain wisdom an dinspiration for persistent toil a n d p re v ai li ng pr.aycr. ,

Th e evangelization of the M os le m w or ld IS no hohday

excursion . In China an d e!sc\",.here it dcmandsn H ~ n

an d womenof heroic s ta tu re m en ta lh ' an d sp iritu ally. It will try thep a ti e nc e o f th e s;ints but ' the): wil l ~ a v eth e inspiration, of agreat c lo ud o f w it ne ss es , th e In trepId pIoneers of th e ChInaInland !'."Iission a nd o th er s who laId down their lives on th eborder-marches, an d no w ceckon us to complete th e conquestun t il the kingdoms of !\"Iohanuned become th e kingdom o f t heLord an d of H is C hr is t.

S A ~ t U E I .;'1''- Z W E \ I E " .

Ned) York City.

INTRODUCTION

I 13N KH,\LDUN,I the Mooris h philo so ph er of his tor y,r idi cule d t he \Ioslem* theological stuoents of thosetimes for spending years poring OVer treatise upC?n treat.isc,

c om m cn ta ry a nd supcr-cOTnrncntary an d theil, fi na ll y, forhaving amassed no mon: th;1n could have been obtained froma sing"le concise manual. Tha t was livc hundred ~ c a r sago.\\'het"her or no t in i sola ted places like methods pers is t among\loslem mullahs* today is uniTllpon:ult"; t h is anci ent incidcJltha s in it a lesson for a ll w ho today arccllgagcd in th e cvangeli

z at io n o f Moslems.Th e b usy Chri st i an witncss is o rrel l ovcrwhel ll lcd hy t ' i l t ~amount of specialized study an d research in theological,philosophical, hisrorical. l inguis t ic and other spheres necessary'il l order to understand s u f t i ( " i e l l l l ~ "a nd deal with th e ~ y S l t ' l 1 lof Islam 10 which each individual \foslem is integrally f t . ' (ated.

J n China, for many years there ha d been a widespreaddesire for a manual containing hr.fps along" this line an d prepared with th e non-specialist missionary in vicw. This desirereceived concrete considcf:1tion at a China Jnl:tnd !\-fissionconference which Iller in . -\pril , 1941. at I .anehu\\ ' . " ':an. .with Kansu. Ningsia, an d Tsinghai missionaries present" Th e

main ou tl ine s of t he t yp e of m: l l lua l l ' llv i saged wcre discusseda nd s te ps werc takcn for it s prep:u:nion.I t is needless to enlargl.' upon the v ic is si tu dc s o f t hi s

project" d ur in g t he y'cars of war, with th e i J l l p o s s i h i l i t " ~ ofnorlllal activities, th e d ep lc ti ol l o f missionary persOll11e1,th e disruption of cOIllITlunicculons, and rhL' shonage of printing facilities; yet. in spite of all these circumstances, ill thego,"!ness of God the projl'ct" w a s b e gu n.

, 1332-1406. Tl w f ir st occurrence of each Arabic word to th e close of Chapttr I is

marked with an asterisk an d will be found explained in [he index,

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A few remarks :ire in ordp.r h('r(' c-on('('rnlrlg t:h(' P'f) !'!m.edi tion of this manual as previously p ri nt ed . S ev er al providential circumstances ma y be mentioned. We had hoped thatabout a hundr ed individuals who have had con tact withMoslems might have received that edition, so that theirsuggestions migh t h av e been i nc or por ar ed in these pages,bu t du e t o rhe d ep le ri on of r he missionary forces as previouslymentioned an d r he p re ss ur c under which workers in FreeChina labored during th e war )Tars, only a sheaf of sometwenty pagc's of sugge::itions were forthcoTlling. \V(, desireto rhank especially he re rhese few who frOln t h ei r v a lua bl eexperience otTered helpful suggesrions an d all who hy giftsand prayer made possible r har r empora ry, Yen' inadequateedition.

:\nother circumstance is thar !'.Ir. Leonard Street, alsoexperienced in th e wurk among :''''oslems in ou r China Inland!'.'Iission field, was compararively close at hanel, sO rhat collaloration was ofr en possihle. \Virh ou r combined shelf ofb)(}ks on the ! \' loslel ll qucst ion and loans from f el low missionaries we h:id Tllost of the essc il ti al volul ll cs I lceded , ata time whell these wou ld havl' been unprocurable frolll theChina coast or ;lbroad. :\lId another cirCtlIllsr:ulCC is that theCanadian :\lissioll Pnss at Cllellgl lJ . Sze., ;a1rhough swampedwith w or k. i na d cq U ;l ld y stalTed. alld pr;u:tit:;l"lIy withoutproof readers. ye t saw tha t edition, bit b y b it . {"o completion.To t ha t Press is duc our genuine praise.

Th e Society of Frie",ls of the Jloslel lls ill Chin" was establishcd in In , with t he p ur po s" of li nk in g togethl'r thosespl'ci;lIly iflt'('r('stcd in ;\-loslcIllS, and continuing and dcvelopingt he w or k begul l by larli ....r organizations. such as th e Cum-lIIillec all Work for H051elll.l. This SociN)' is no t dead no rha s i t been inact ive during rhe years of the reCenr war. WhenIlIltlSUal even!s render, 'd ' imposs ib le for several per iods th epubl ica ti on of it s l it t' ra lm e a nd Quarterly in China, ir smembers wcre h:('j)t in C() I l ! ; l . c t as fa r as \\;1S possihle fromabroad. By I'hc prayer:i of iI'S Illemhers and t hr ou gh g if t sreccin.:d t":-ipccially for this manual, this S o c i t ~ t " yhas had abig s!J;lrc in making this edition possiblt.:. This Society llcedsthe t il li ted C(JOpcfiltion of :ill those who arc filled with zea.lto set: \Iosl


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courtesy, patience, combined with the fullest knowledgepossiLie. '" Dr. Rice in his a dvic e to hi s readers sums upou r spirit of appro;lch thus: "carncsl'tlf'ss. clearness, tact.gentleness. an d al;ovc all, a holy walk.'" Tw o necessaryadmonitions ar c th e following: "D o no t start' controversy,\': i n ! \I os le m hearts for a divineh u ma n m ed ia to r, D r. Z w cn le r in th e hook just q uo te d h as th efollowing to say: "The life an d history of Islam afford th estrongesI psychological a rg um en t an d h is to ri ca l p ro of ofth e i r repress ible yearning of th e heart for a divine-human

mediator. Fo r th e reli>:ion that carne to s ta mp o ut th e deification of C h r is t ended in an a I X ) t h L ~ ) s i ,of it s ow n prophet,\ 10 h am m ed , a n d even in almost universal saint-worship."

Fo r this yearning', conscious or unconscious, of multitudesof i'vloslem hearts for a perfect m ed ia to r, t he C hr is ti an ha sth e only satisfactory answer. "For thcre is on e God, an don e mediator b et we en G od an d men, the m an Christ Jesus;w ho g a vc h im s el f a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2 :.1,6).

GEO. K. HAHHIs.

12 Thinking Miss ions ~ li th Christ, S. ;\. 1. Z w t ~ m ( ' r .IS The O r i ~ i nof Rt/iglOn, S. M. ZWt'Olt ' r.

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SECTION I.

P OI NT S TO S TR ES S

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C I I A P T E ~I

OCR CIT. \DEL OF TRL'TH

I'"

The Cruraders nf Ihe TU'Cll/ieth Century occur these~ \ ' o r d s :";\ 'owherc is th e Chr.istian POSiliol1 strOl1C'f th.an111 th e dcfcnn.: of thl: " e n ' c It ad el o f t ru lh . th e I l l t t . ' gn t ' "

an d tllll'hcnricity of lh e Scripl-lIn:s: an d OIl th e ollll'r side d l ~ 'w ea kn es s o f th e :\'Iuhalllllladan casc is in no respect l l lo rcapparent than in t h e r e je c ti on o f th e Ol d an d Ne\\" Testa1l1ents,as is s ho wn h y t he v a ri o us an d conflicting expediellts to whichthey ar c obliged to reSOrt" 1"0 mainrain tlll'ir posit ion."1

Ou r Lord Jesus referred to th e Hebre\\" S cr ip tu re s a scomprising' the Law of i\'loscs. an d t he P ro ph et s, an d the'"salms. I n He br e\ \" usage th e first an d s e co nd d i\ 'i si on suntil long after ~ ' [ o h a 1 l 1 1 l 1 c d ' sday, linked in thnught as th eL;'1.w an d th e P r op h e ts , c o m pr i se d cightl'Pil books. In thise i gh te e n, t h e P ~ ' I H a t c t l C hO f Torah held primary positioll. Tht.:third division, t h e \ Vri ti ng s o r P sa l ms , w as r e fe r re d to by th eJe\\'ish h is to ri an , J os ep hu s, a s "hytllllS to Co d alld prec


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f'h r h ..: : ~ 1 . : ~ CI"""..l . " . : , ~....... h ...... f-\"'" h ....." I ..... h .. S~ L . ; , . ' L ' " , \ . o U t , ) L L ' H A L L V \ . l n . . : ) L ..lauded in the Quean were th e most prominent representativesof t he en ti re canon of the Bible as it was in :'vlohammed'sd ay and s ti ll is today, Bu t this conclusion is challenged bythe prejudiced ,'vloslem, To him, the three Scriptures mentioned by name arc tru ly the Word of G od, bu t th e Bibleas ci rcula ted today docs no t appear to him to bear any resemblance to thehypo'thetical booksmentioned, so the genuinenessand author it y o f th e Christian scriptures of today is challengeda nd t he Bihle is r ej ec ted as unworthy of credence.

Contact with \Ioslems in China has shown th at t hey arcschooled in the orthodox manner. T he y a re taught t o a ss er tnow on c and again another of the st.ereotyped chargf>s againstou r scripture'S as these have bL'C'1l h a J l d c ~ 1down fro.m th e p ~ s t .Th e u ne du ca te d r ep ea t t he se charges II I parrot-lIke fashlol]'Th e employment of such mutually 'contradictory terms as,corrupt ion , a l te rat ion , a nd a br og at io n, a lm os t in the sameIIreath suggested to one missionary th e anecdote .of t he m anwho borrowed a ju g an d returned it cracked. Jn hiS, quandary

he def ended his action wirh three proofs of hiS ",nocence.First. he did no t borrow th e jug; secondly, it was cracke,dwhen he received i t; a nd thirdly it was whole w he n he gave Itback.

In this chapter it is assumed that t he q ue st io n of th eauthent ic ity and genuineness of our scriptures has been raisedby the Mohammedan. \Vhen this is th e case, before we unde;take defence of our position we should bear in mind a baSICrule. TilE BURDE:>: OF Pl'-OOF RESTS WITH TilE \'IOSLDI.

\\-'herevcr and whenever the orthodox prejudice and bigotrya rc n ot in evidence, we should proceed with the GospelmessaJ:(ein rhe same way in which we would lead to Christ an y soul Inneed of a Saviour. We should make usc of t he Word of God, t,hesword of the Spi ri t. o n every possible . o c c ~ s i o n .along Withpersonal trstilllony to dw v : l ~ t 1 eof the Blh lc \n o ~ ~ rO\\'!l h ~ a r ! sand iives. It is wel l to rcnund ourselves that the l O ~ n n s l cworth of the Bible will e ve r r es t in its cont l 'n t s and In th eappeal which th e Divine m e s s a g ~therein, especially in t ~ e:-iew Testament, makes to th e nllnd a ~ dheart of ":lan., \ \ ecan safelv leave the issue to th e Bible Itself an d to ItS diVineinterpreter, t he H ol y Spirit; for we know that G ~ ~ Ihas spokenand ye t speaks to ma n there as in no other book. .1

.1 Christianity Explujntd to Muslims, L. B e vi n J o ne s , p .. B.

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Faith should no t s ta nd o n t ra di ti on bu t on conviction.There is no r eas on wh v those established in their own iaithshould no t read th e Bible. This line may be taken with thosewho ave r thei r s t rong fa ith in Islam. Possession of th e Queanneed n ot d eb ar rhe \[oslem from maki!lg acquaintance withscriptures of such unique historical, moral and ins truc tiveimportance for a ll me n as the BI!Jle. Many \'[oslems h a v ~ n g

at first, through ignorance, rejected the Bible, later on learmngit s true contents have reckoned it their priceless treasure." I f a ma n would be qu it e sure that his water is brought in aclean vessel . . . his best plan would be to draw it himselffrom t he p ur e spring.'"

Th e bulk of this chapter is gi"en for usc with those \IoslCl1ls who in a spirit" of pre judice or b igot ry charge our scnp-turcs in the ways that follow 'propounding \'ariolls theoriesto h ac k t he ir charges.

l. THE THEORY OF AUROGATIO:>:.In the era of J'vlohammed and the ensuing centur ies , no

question a pp ea rs t o h av e a ri se n as to the ,:erses of th e Quran

in which that hook praises th e Inspired scnptures willch \I'eret hen p re sumab ly in t hc h an ds of Jews an d Christians. Th etitle, People of the Scripture, as applied to them was no t Justan empty title of respect. :\ s Islam ~ p r e a dan d true know,ledge of non.Islamic scriprures was gaIned, t h ~ hteratl foundthat th e Bible no t only ,h d no t correspond With t he ir Quranin c on ten t an d teachi ng a s th ey had b ee n l ed to believe bu tin many places c on tr ad ic te d t he teaching of their books,Therefore it was plain to their thinking that these scnptllrescould not be t he o ne s pra ised in th e Quran. Abrogation ofan earlier v er se in th eir Q ur an b y a later verse ha d been arecognized procedure bu t gradual ly th is process a pp ea rs t ohave been applied more widely. To extend it to COver th eprevious rel ig ions and scr ip tures requi red authonty outSIdeof their Quran. This was foulld, convenicnlly, in the Tra-ditions. Th e theory i s thi s: :\ s in former a ge s a l ate r revelation abrogated (declared null, void or unnecessary) an earlierrevelation, so t he Q ur an o r religion of I slam has abrogaled theprevious revelation and religion. The former scriptures. evenif the genuine c op ie s st il l e xi st ed , were thus declared l J ~ ' -necessary for Moslems to read. All that was necessary In

Crusaders of lhe Tuentidh Century, \V. A. Ricc .

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them acc:ordine to thi" d:1im U'::I"S f.\rOTT"!!dg3.!cd : l ! ! t ~ ' . 1 . 'if: d ~ eQuran a nd o rh er books of Islam.

Th e sim ple sr form o f r hi s theory is t hu s s ta t ed : As th,'Injil ab rogared t h e Taurah of :'-Ioses, likewise the Quran hasabrogated r he In jil . Of course, th e :'-!oslem wo nld n eed roolTeracceptahle proof for th e firsr pan of rh e rheon. .'\ morevague form of ir is rhe. following: Th e religion of IsI:ull hasabrogated all previous religions. \Vhate"er rh e form wh ic hthis theory assumes the following words apply: " I t is ahsurdto a llow th e Muhammadan to propound an unsupported anduntrue rheor" corllran' to received Christian teaching,a nd t hr ow th e burden o'f disproving ir upon th e Christian. ",This theory is unsupponed, of course, if it is no t backed b, 'proofs from Chrisrian sourres that such ahrogation was to beexperred. For genuine seekers after rhe truth, a brief outlineof th e r rue reiarion berween th e New an d Old Tesramenrsmight: be in rC:ldincss for immediate usc. \\ic should rememberthar hisrorical facrs given in'scriprure, general moral preceprsand fundamenral reachings binding for all r im e, even accord-ing ro Islam mOl" ne, ' er be abrogated. fr is upon such foundations rhar rhe Chrisrian fairh resrs.

T hi s t he or y of abrogation is a rr ep re d b y al mo sr all rheignor;1nt ancl by many of t h ~learned in \Ioslcil l lands.. This theory is ofren c ou pl ed wirh another astounding

claim. Th e Quran, so boasts rhe i\'!oslem, ro n rains a ll rhingsnecessary for rhe fai th an d p ra ct ir e o f m an ki nd u mi l rhe da yof judgmcnr. What "eer! /"Ll'e we for YOllr I" j i l a"r! 1iwralz?man ' M osl ems as k. 1'1,,'" c la im rhar all essentia l teachingshave been promulgated an; 'w in the Qnran. ":'vlany i\'!uslirnsare thrusting aside the one and only authent"ic account ofthe redeeming Lo,e o f G od , in a er io n, hy deluding tlwmselvesinro thinking that the essenc e of the :-ieIV Testament is in

the Quran. " .In the a bs tr ac t, t he above anitude will be next to illl-poss"ihlc to meet'. SOllie cotlcn.:tc rcfen:llcc to the essclln: ofthe Gospclneeds to he emphas ized . \Ve might: shuw huw mncho f rh e Gu sp el r ec or d is conrerned wi th r he events preceding,during ann immediately following t he d eat h an d resurrectionof Chrisr. The Qu ra!.' no t only ignorcs all this bu t con rains th eassertion thar Christ himself was neirher crucified nor slainon th e cross.

l ind., p. 160. . . Christiam"ty E: ... plaintd to Jfuslzms, L. BeVIn Jones.

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II . T H E THEORY O ~ CHARGE OF CO!(RtJPTIOS.

\Ve n ow come to t he m os t serious charge by the :'-'los1emworld, a ga in st o ur C hr is ti an scriptures. There arc threea sp ec ts o f t hi s charge.

I . That t he C hr is ti an s cr ip tu re s h av e been so changedand altered that they cear linle, if any, resemblanre to theglor ious fnj il praiscd in the Quran. This can ce answeredb y t he asking of one of th e following questIOns: Y"hereln havethese been so changed or a l t ered ' Can yo u obtam a c o p ~of atrue fnj il and show it that I may compare It wlth .. lIl!ne .. . \ twhat date in p as t h is to ry was t he una lt e red InJII In Clrcula t ion '

2. That ou r Gospels have suffered corruption. Thefollowing five quest ions a re definite and we have a p er fe ctright to ask them: (a ) Was such corruption or alteration Intentional? (b ) Can you poin t ou t in my Bible on e .suchp as sa ge? (c) Howdid th e passage read originally' (d) When,by whom, how or wh y was it corrupted or a l t e r l ~ I '(e) Wa ssuch, corruption of th e lexl or of th e meaning?

3. That our Gospels arc "faked" substitures for th e original JnjiJ. Or t ha t o ur Gospels a rc t he handiwork of men, nut:th e noble Injif which descended upon Jesus . . .\ linle question-i ng will usually reveal th e true situation, that usually th e:Vloslcm m ak in g t he c ha rg e is woefully i gn or an r o f t he B ~ b l cor Ncw Testamcnt as it actually e.,isted In the past or eXIststoday.

Before going on to t he l at te r half of this discuss iun areminder is important that as so on as t he ob jec to r is willingto sense th e flimsiness of such a charge we shou Id press homesome teaching frOIll our Scriptures, that ou r e ff on m ay bepositive and no t negative. . .

~ c v e r t h d t : s s .at till1l'S we Tllay need the fullowlJ1g diagramsO that we ma y avoid desultory discussion in connection withan y of th e above th ree points.

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Th e seven circles In th e d iagram above , stand for th efollowing:

1 Translations of th .. Bible or ponions thereof circulatedIn a ny p ar t of th e "'Ioslem world tnda\.

2 Copies of th e Old TestamelH in Hebrew and the i\ewTestament in G re ek , c om mo n t od a\ '. 3 Ancient Codices of th e O. '1'.' ill Hebrew and th e N. T.In Greek.

4. A ~ c i e n tCodices of th e Septuag int t r ans la t ed frolllHebrew Illto Greek over e igh t hundred "ears before Moham-med appeared. .

S. Ancient \ -e rs ions in Syriac. Latin , Ethiopic, etc.6.

Ancient C od ic es o f the Rible o r i ts t ra ns la ti on s no textant today or lost alld no t H t discovered.7. T H E IlIVlNE OIUGI:-.'AI.S l:-.' H E B R E W A:-.'D GREEK (Not

extant today).

.'\-11 t h' lt m os t ~ ' [ O S I e I l l Slikely will have see n will be th oseIn Crrcle 1. A fe w may have seell or studied c op ie s o f 2.In connection WIth 7. we n ee d t o r el ll em be r that th e originalcopy of the Quran IS no t k no wn to ex ist o n earth toda\'. (.-\sfor the b n t ~ s yof some Moslems that the original' of th eQuran eXIsts In heaven; that is irrelevant.)

20

COIH."Cliiiiig Circle 3. o ~ cCodex is of great i ! " ! t e r ~ ~ 5 t .! n1933 th e British Museum purchased from th e Russian Government th e noted Codex Sinaiticus. it is reported. for on ehundred thousand pounds, half that ;:ost being paid by publicsubscription an d half by t he Gove rnment . Th e c ar e w it hwh ic h th is. and it s rare companion t re as ur e. t he CodexAlexandrinus have been p re se rved during the yea rs of war ist es ti mo ny t o t he antiquity an d genuineness of these Codices.These were transcribed from much earlier copies more than300 and 200 years respectively before t he s pr ea d o f Islam .Th e Vatican Library in Rome protects the oldest Codexextant. copied more than a decade before t he above two.

T he re a re as in almost all books copied by hand a veryfew variant readings. These varia t ions of t ex t a re e nt ir e\ \'questions of detail. no t of essential subs tance , a s competen'tscholars bear witness. 7

Th e fact of pr imary importance is that t he r r ansl ar io n sand texts in u se t od ay are identical in everY doc tr ine a t i ssuebetween Chr is t iani t) : and Islam wit h those that were in

existence hundreds01

years Lefore th e death of ;\-Johammed,632 A. D.If ou r ~ I o s l e mquestioner is 1'0 find an y supposed evidence

of corruption or of alteration in our scriptures the proof mllsth ~ found from sources originating in the period represented byClCcle 6. Those who h av e m ad e e xp er t s cr ut in \' of the massof ql lota tinns from ear ly Church Father s, historians. writingsof unbelievers an d believers, records of earh' Church Councils,etc., have wirnessed that in a ll essential particulars the Biblethen was w ha t i t is toda\'. The\' also bear witness that thereis an absence of perceptible fraucl in the or iginat ion of th e fewvarious readings in carly texts. s

E vc n t he m os t bigoted and ignorant :'\'Ioslem would hard\\'dare t o cha rge that th e divine originals have heen corruptedor altered.

Both Jews and Chr is t ians . unde r thn'at of divine punishment w:re warned no t to tamper with the ir scr ip tures in an yway. (' r ea t care has been taken down the centuries to safe-guard , ~ n dprotect th e sacred texts . Experts, non-believersan d behevers h a ~ elabored to .acquire . scrut in ize an d preservethousands of anCIent manuscnpts of scripture.

1 The Slory of lh( Bib/e, Kenyon.I Chrul iani ly Explain(d to ,Muslims, L. Bcvin Jones, p. 27. Sec also

Our Bible and Anci(nt Afanuscripts, Kenyon.

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Th e same Hebrev. text has hp.pn lISprl ~ i n r , .r-hp rhric:ti:lnera b y both Jews and Chris tians . Th e s a ~ eNe;'" - T ~ ~ ~ ~ ; ; ' ; ~ ~ ttext In Greek h ~ sb ee n u se d by th e Roman, an d Greek orOrthodox Cathohc, and the Protestant or Reformed divisionsof Christendom. Such checks preclude tampering, and impl;accurate transmission of th e texts.

III. CO:-';CLUDI:-iG R D I A ~ K SON TIl lS C H A P T E R .

Th e relation between the Quran and the Bible IS no t oneof comparison bu t contrast.

Th e following table has been adapted from th e bookalready mentioned several times. '

In order to help genuine enquirers it is valuat leto have 011hand a clear, cOllcise outlille of our idea of InspIratiOn according to the Bible. How Go d used prepared and e m p o w e r ~ dinstruments, how the Bible reveals an orderly progressIOn Inth e manner of its revelation, alld it s reasonable and soulsatisfying qual i ties might well l e a part of such all. out.line.To th e

sincere !\'IoslemGod's

final,suprcme revelation IS

ma book, th e Quran; to t he C hr is ti an this culmillates in adiville-human Persoll, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Wordan d Son o f G od .

The QuranTruth revealed (abstract).

(Islam's claim) On e volume. Fragmentary.External uni t\ ' . Claimed

in n o s en se w' hat ev er thework of man.Revealed through one p er

son ' - :'I'lohammed.During 30 years of on e

man's lifetime..-\ jumble of themes. Un

intelligible wi thout Commentaries.

.-\s permanently arranged,no logical progression.

The BibleGod's specific ac t of self

revelation ( co nc re te ). 66Books . Cohes ive. Internal unity. Declared to

be a revelat ion throughchosen men.Revealed through more

than 44 persons.During more than 1500

"earsO ~ egen'eral theme. Under

stood by comparing scripture with scripture .

Logical pr ogr essio n fromGenesis to Revelation.

Th e inspiration, so ca lle d, b es to we d upon Mohammedaccording to the Quran, was t he s am e as that bes towed u p onthe preceding prophets. It is consequently incumbent Upollthe :'I10slem friend t o a sc er ta in t he kind of inspira t ion vouchs af ed t o the pre Islamic prophets. The earlier should be thejudge of the later. This rule is often reversed by th e Moslems.\Vas there ever revealed to mell a Taurah, Zabur or Injil ofthe kind lauded ill the Qurall ' This is t he impor ta l lt quest i onthe Moslem must answer, no t we.

See Ln. 6, pp . 47-53.

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Tut; /l;IGENE CREED IN G H I ~ E S E .ADAPTED FOR l:SEWITH MOSLEMS

(lrdinar}' C : h l n ~ s eTerms (;iven in F o o t n r , l l " ~ l

, *fl.'; ~ \ j J I " ' 1 ! f ~ " ;U s ; ~ 1 t l ~ 'fliJ:"o fl"Jp(, ~ A f J .'; ,, "

CHAPTER II

OC R CREED

I. T i l E T E X T.

Fo r use in stating conciselv ou r Christian belids 10 ~ I o s -lems we ca n hardh ' do b e lt e r t ha n to kee p available a Creedin usc today that' ha s u n d e r g o [ l ( ~TlO essential change sinn>381 :\ . D. This Creed. comJl1onh' called th e " i r ene Cr,'"d,wa s d raw n u p in Greek a t !\icaea'in 325 .. 'I.. D. an d revised atConstantinople in ,\.81 :\ . D. T h is I al te r date wa s more than240 years before t he H e ji ra h o f i \[ oh am me u, 622 .. 'I.. D.

Th e cJivisions and l I u J l l b l ' r ~ l 1 gof til(' phrases of the en'cdar e purely arbitr:lry in th e arrangeTlleTlt thJ.t f ol lo ws. t ofacilitate feft'fence an d to r evea l it s remarkable cOlllposition.

1. I believe in o ne G od2 'tlle Father Almighty, ' \ taker o f h ea ve n a nd eanh,

And of ;dl things, visiblr and invisible;" :\nd in one Lord j"s"s Christ, th e onl\ , -hegol t t'u Son

of Cnd,

Th e titles in (3) ~ l r l 'then pxplailll'd in th e n ' \ ' l ' l " s ( ' ordl'r.

T H E O ; ' : I . V - B E G O T T E ~SO:\' OF GO D

4 Begotten of his Father bdore all worlds,". Go d o f G od .6. Light of Light.i . \ ery Go d o f v er y Cod.8. Begotten, no t made.9. Being of on e substance with t hc F at he r,

10 . By whom all things were made:

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th e crucifixion were omitted, apparent ly because controversyabout these historical e\"Cnts ha d no t arisen. The actual death01 jesus was stated o nl y b y i mp li ca ti on in (17). This islollowing scripture usage, e. g., "the sufferings 01 C hr is t a n dthe glory that should lollow" (1 Pet. 1:11).

7. It s e vi de nt ia l v al ue . It gives unbiasen evidence,because th e creed was drawn lip to counteract heresies of th etimes, centuries belore :'v\oharlllned an d Islam ap pe ar ed . I tsevidence is n ot s ol it ar y b ec au se two, at least, 01 the veryancient codices 01 th e Bible, written in the same period ar eextant in lihraries t od ay a nd c ert il y t he a cc ur ac y 01 thiscreed in every e1etail.

8. It s emphases. Central position wa s give n to th e redemptive act, all that precedes leading to it anel al l that lollowsresulting Irom it. T he un it y a nd o m ni po te nc e 01 Go d ar ejoined i rnmenia tely wi th th e reference to Gael th e F at he r, a st he loun ta inhead 01 deity. Th e clauses on the Holy Spiritarc followed without a b re ak b y t he p hr as es d es cr ib in g Hi sspecial spheres of service as co-eterllal \vith the Father and

the Son.9 It s preservation. Th e text in Greek a s u se d by t he threegreat divisions of the Church has been careful ly preserved ..\ n evidence of this cafe i:-: shown hy the divergent altitudesto the "hra;e in (28) "anel th e S on ." T his is supposeel to haveCOllle i nt o t he c re ed s 01 today through transla tion of t he t ex tfrolll Grcek into Latin. It is recognized as interpolated. Th eu sc of t hes e w or ds b y th e I ~ o m a nCatholic C hu rc h h as beenone cause of the div"isio!l fo r cen tu ri es uetwcen that Churchan d the Greek, or Orthodox, Cathol ic Church.

10 I t ~ scrillt'uf,l!IHSS. It: coinri


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Th e fol lowing is a br ief condensation of th e thOUKI.l; d thisc ha pt er. T hi s will form a proper corollary to th e Creed, whichmany, no t without reason, of ten think of as dead, dr y bones.Th e life here depic ted is th e normal o u t w o r k i n ~of that faith,of which th e Creed is an expression, in daily walk and pract icalh olin ess . R ef er en ce s to s cr ip tu re , i n which th e original

abounds, ar c here omitted.T he t ru e Christian realizes that Go d is On e Lord (I ) bu tfar more, that Go d is h is heavenly Father (2). Thus he lovesGod with hi s whole being, knowing that Go d f irst loved him.Such love w eans h im from transitory pleasures, begets thankfulness for blessings, an d increases his zea l in service for Go dand in doing ~ o o dto his fellowmcn. Because his heavenlyFather cares for him, he can trust, honor an d ~ I o r i f yHim bydoing that which pleases Him, committing all anxieties toth e One in whom he trusts. H e k no ws that God's spiritualtreasure-house is open to him in Christ, th e Father's So n(4,9,11,15,21. 2; , 28). In persecution he is patient, believingthat his heavenl\' Father permits him to suffer to dr aw him

n ea re r t o Himself.

In Relation to God, Hi s Prayer an d Worship.

(a) Personal pra\ ,er. Prayer in an y spec ia l p lace, spec ia lposture, in anyone sacred language, us ing an y special formula,is no t required; bu t worship from t h e h ea rt , in sinceritv, inspi ri t, and in truth is required (26, 27). Fo r heavenly thingsan d spiritual blessings he ma y freely ask without condition,bu t for orhe r things with th e proviso, I f it be Th y will. Enlightened by God '5 Holy Spirit (25-30), he lTIay be consciousof ev er being in God's presence, of e ver seek ing to glorify

Him (29). He knowS that G od w ai ts to be gracious, is moreread,' to hear than I ll an is to pray, an d that H is g if ts e xc eedman's deserts or desires. He strives to bring: e v er y t h ou g htin to obedience to Chri.t (24).

(b) Family prayer. In addition to pri \ 'a te pra\'er, Christ ians general ly have prayers in their own houses when thefather of th e family gathers hi s wife and ch il d ren around himin prayer for r ( ) r g i n ~ n c s san d blessing (3 2) a nd to rC:l,


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Grneral

T j l r ( } d ~ ' hcd: this he is r ~ : ! ! i n d ~ dth?!.! Chris': , " , b j d f ' ~with himalways, an d I-,ure greater surrow an d suffering (18) on hi shehalf. \Vhat Go d perlllits h e will patientlv endure, lookingforward to th e better hOllle beyond t he g ra ve (22, 24) an d toa joyful resurrection (33).

In th e world to cOllle (24, 34 ) h e will k no w G od as He is(2, 3, 25), beholcl H is g lo ry (29), ahide in Christ 's presence

( 22 -2 4) , a nd b ei n g p e rf e ct l y pure an d free from sin (31, 32),will inherit a j oy a nd h ap pi n, 's s b eyo nd human expressionan d will ever dwell in rhe light (6) of God's favor an d blessing(24, 27, 34) .

\Ve h av e d e sc r ib ed a Christian ,,-ho truly obeys th e precepts of th e G os pe l. E ff ec ts s uc h a s t he se will result an d haveresulted among all race's, lI;nions, and classes of people inevery c lime a nd age. If a man calling himself a Christianac t dishonesr ly or wickedly even non-Chr is tians say he Cannotbe a Christian. The\' , then'fore, bear wirness to th e nobilit\ 'an d holines.s incu Iea 't ed lJy th e Christian faith. Fo r therrfaith, many h a ve u nd e rg on e p er s ec u ti on s an d b ee n f ai t hf uleven unto death.

Th e true Christian i ~ th e man or WOlllan wh o followsChrist an d whu, I,,' hi s life a nd c on du ct , hears witness unloHim. " ~ { )wise I:nall will ll1israk( th(' \\tccl for the corn,nor is the forged coill an argut1lent against' the aC'ptan('(:of the genJline in til(' mind of a Tllerchant who is wise andjust ...

This is th e eu d of rill ' summan of t h e n :ma rkab le chapterpenlled hy Cod's s c r ~ t , a l l tgl'IIl'Lll'io1l5 ago. I,::;it'. or is i t ~ Tll}Lapplicable roday) I h e s ole Il ln part 'Jf t hIS chapter IS ItSrrminder of the impor tance of a holy walk and manner oflife ill the midst of the \'losIc111s of dw world. Our examplewill ollt'weigh ou r exposition. \\it> an ' no t oIlly e:q .>Ositorsbu t exponents of rhe (;osp


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CH:\PTER II I

CONTRASTS

SINC E the religious manuals used by the :'vloslem com

munities of China ar c adaptations a nd o ft en meticu!oustranscriptions of those used generally, t he t ea ch mg s

enumerated in this chapter an.' a common her it age among allclasses of Moslems t h roughout the world,

\Vhcn we d is co ve r the sp ri ng s we c an correc:tly a pp ra iseth e ideas and practices which flow from these, \Ve c an t hu sselect for usc, f rol ll the a rm or y o f C od 's \ Vo nl , scripturesmore applicable to their needs.

In th e first half of this chapter, for clean",ss' sake, th eChr is t ian aspect of a certain teaching- will be stated first,introduced h\" th e let tel' "e" Then on a separate l ine willfollow th e 1'I'loslem aspect common1)' found in Mos le m hooksan d among Moslems introduced b) ' "II '! ."

I. AI'SOLUTF. C:O:';TRASTS,

1. (C) Before the Fall, man's relalionship to God wasthat of sonship, (M ) It was the sallle as that subsequent:to the Fall: th e relationship of bond-slave to AUah.

2. (C) ;I'!an fell from a spiritual state 'Of r i g h t n e ~ swithGod and of innocence 10 on e of broken fellowshIp, gutlt, andc on de mn at io n. ( M) ; I' lan' s fall was physica l, f rom a paradisein the m ~ l l c r i a lheavens down to thi s ear th .

3. (C) Afrer the Fall, :\dam's sinfulnature, th e r ~ s u l tofth e Fall, was tr, ilnsll li tteo to all manklllo, there being bu rone exception, Jesus, S on o f ~ ' ! a r \ ,(M ) ~ \ d a m'5 nature heforean d after fhe Fall W;1!:i unchang('d. 1:.vL'ry descendent' ofAdam is sinless at hinh,

34

A t r \ l\lf l : .......... ' h ; 1 : _ . a-a' c n ~ c - " "'0 _ :- :- ~ - _ . - . , .... , . &." U . : > L U L .... ' .. ) 11 . . . u " I I \ . . ) .. .:::l1l1 I l l i l l a l l na..,a d i rec t r esul t of th e Fall. (M) :\'Ian was created weak. 'Thet en de nc y t o sin, in man, was an ac t of Allah. There is nOs uc h t hi ng as innate or inborn sin in mankind,, ? ( ~ )Sin, the root, an d sins, th e out-croppings, ar c kept

distInct In th e 13ible. (M ) Each sin is only on e ac t in a seri eso f a ct s, or sins,

6. (C) God is absolutely holy an d r ighteous, thereforeal l sin or ' !ns in Hi s sight merit c on de mn at io n. ( M) Th e AlmIghty gUIdes or leads astray whom he pleases, He is f reet o c on de mn or condone at will. Sins consi s t o f two kinds,greater an d lesser.

? (C) Good ,;,'orks. cannot do an y of th e following:ment f:"vor ":Ith G'x l , d ,spose HIm to forgIve wrong doing ,cover SIn or Sins, remove gu il t o r condemna tion, b l ot 'o u t t hepast, or g-uarantee t he f ut ur e, (M) I f Allah wills, man'sgood works ca n accomplish resul ts such as these,

8. (e ) God requires o f m an love and holiness of th e venhighest:. He e xp ec ts o ne h un dr ed pe r cent willing, lovingobe(bence In thought, word, an d deed, (:\1) :\lIah requiresof ma n the ob(>dicncc of a slave to his Tllaster.

9. (C) 1\ 0 ma n ha s merits to heap up for himself or forothers, for o nl y o ne person, J es us C hr is t, ha s e ve r renderedto G od c om pl et e, j us ti fy in g o be di en ce . :-io other on e hasever fulfilled his duty to God a nd m an , m uc h less exceeded it.(1\1), Allah h as m ad e man's burden l ig ht , :\'Ian c an h ea p upments and ga m rewards from H I I H .

J1. I I I G H EST \ '5. L O W E R .

1. Revealed hy Christian and I'l'loslem attitudes toChrist.

a. (C) Th e unique an d absolute sinlessness of C hrist inperson, word an d deed, He is n ot o nl y t he sinless Prophethu t th e sole Mediator between God an d man. (:'vI) Th eMeSSiah, Jesus, was only a prophet, albeit, one of th egreatest. IIe, as all other prophets, after his cal l to th eprophetic: office, wa s profect"cd from sin; in rhis senseonly was he sinless. Jesus' unique sinlcssncss, accordingto the s ta tc t l len ts of s0tnc cornmon traditions, was becauseSatan failed to r ea ch h im , or touch him at hi s hirth,

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b. (') F ! ~ ' F ! e ~ ~ ,r 0 ! " ! 1 p ! I ' ~ ! ( '0bf:'{lif?nrf> to ~ ( ) dt . h f ~Father. inHis earthlv life. (:VI) Jesus, being a creature of God, wasstrengthen'ed through life by the Holy Spirit, t.he AngelGabriel. His obedieoce affected no one bu t h'mself.

c. (C) The incomparable miracles performed b y C hr is t, asevidence to substantiate Hi s claims. (:VI) Jesus' miracleswere performed only by permission of. God. (This s t a t ~ m e n t ,

ever recurring in iVloslem books , IS no t t he eql l lval en tof Chri s t' s s t at emen t, "I d o n ot hi ng o f m ys el f, " bu t isuse d to deny to th e worker of such mirac les, any possiblec la im t o deity.)

d. (C) His glorious ascension , after His d ea th a nd resurrertion. (M) He was borne up to heaven by the angelGabriel, or other a ng el s, t hu s t hw ar ti ng his crucifixionby th e Jews.

e. ( C) His g lo ri ou s s ess ion a t th e Father's r ight hand , whenceHe shall come to judge th e living and the dead. (;VI)Living and now abiding in an inferior grade of h e a v e l ~ ,(some say, t he t hi rd ) w he nc e he shal l co,:,e for hiS uni

versal reign, death, buri: ll , : lnd resurrection before theDa y of Judgment.

2. R ev ea le d by attitude of Go d to ma n as interpreted byChri s ti an ity and Islam.

a. (C) God took rhe initial step in t hc redemption of man.Every Olan is in need of redemption. (:\-I) Ma n IS pardoneda nd a ccepte d in God ' s s ight , by his pl' rsonal obedience,b y G od 's permission and by the intercession of holy men,prophets, or apostles.

b. (C) God's love and kindness is to all mankind. \1\'1) God'smercy a nd f av or are extended only to th e descrvmg amongMoskllls.

c. (e ) God seeS the ""'icver in Christ, pardoncd, r ighteousan d a cce pt ed in Him . ('\-1) The l ikeness of Jesus, th eJ\'lessiah, in God's sight is as the l ikeness of :\dam, i. e.,a creature, created out of dust.

3. Revealed by attitudes of man to God.

a. Th e Christian has assurance of imTlH.:diatc, certain, com-plete and abiding pardon and accep tance with God.

36

The !V!cs!cm cun have 00 si..ich aSSUfance, fOf if p,ird"iia nd a cc ep ta nc e a re g ra nt ed t o hi m, i t will not be knownassured ly un ti l t he Da y of Judgment, if God so wills an ddecrees, an d according to th e measure of his meritoriousworks.

b. Th e C hr is ti an h as th e most adequate answer to thequestion, /low can a man be just with God?

Th e presence an d disastrous ef fects of sin are recognized by Islam bu t no adequate means for removing man'sRuilt and condemnation arc evident, nor p ro visio n forrestoring ma n to a right relationship w it h G od .

I l l . FULL \ '5. PARTIAL.

1. Th e Christian, as th e C re ed in Chapter I I has shown,has a ful l-orbed view of Go d in His essence and attributes.

Th e :,>'Ioslem, by great stress on t he d oc tr in es of theunity an d omnipotence of God, a pp ea rs t o o ve r- em ph asize the physical attributes of Deity. Th e main te:lchings of Is!:lm lea ve th e impression that God, being a freeagent, ca n do according to an y caprice without r egard forIIis own revealed laws, and prope r Being.

2. Th e Christian's vi ew o f God's decrees and predestination, according to tbe Bible, includes many factors. Hi sdecrees a rc al way s hased u po n Hi s love, wisdom, justice,and trurh. In H is decrees, God always has a p rac ti ca l pu rpose in view. His decrees can n eve r be classe d as fatalism,favoritism. vindictiveness, nor injus ri ce . Hi s decrees aren ev er d iv in e m is le :ld in gs o f m en . Predestination appearsto be, mainly, ro life a nd s al va ti on a nd s el do m, if e ve r, tocondemnation or t o hell.

C on ra ct a nd d ea li ng w it h i'vloslems will show that thecornmon fslarllic COI1CCI")tions are l lsu: ll ly contrary to tlH'se.

3. Thc Christian's view, according to the Bil ile, of suchs ub je ct s a s llIarl's freedom of c ho ic e o r frec wil l. rna\' uftcnbe called in question by rh e :'vloslem, so it is well to h av e t hefollowing basic facts in mind: (a) :\dam was c re at l' d w it hfreedom of will. ( b) F re e will e xi sted in ma n a f te r the Fall aswell :IS before, and man still has freedom of will. (c) Go dappears to call man to t hi s o r that, bu t does no t compel him.Thlls Olan is accollntable for his thought and deeds. (d)!\1an i"i free to sin or t urn from sin but he is no t frec t o SCl\'chimself f rom sin .

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\Vhcncvcr ~..lm;lem3 in the pa3t have QvCrstrC33r.d the willof G od an d minimized man's free will, an insoluble dilemmahas ari sen in explaining how m an c an be accountable for hi sdeeds, \Vhe never free will in man has h ee n e mp ha si ze dproperly, there has been continual eonRict between the viewsof orthodoxy and non-orthodoxy, as t he hi sto ry o f Islam inseveral periods has shown, (Sec in ;Vloslem books under

Mu'tazilla,)4. Faith is a word o f g re at i mp or ta nc e in Islam as wellas in Christianity. Th e Christian connotation of this wordwas formulated m an v c en tu ri es h ef or e I sl am , This termha s been bo rrowed by: I slam from J ud ai sm a nd Christianityan d should be used by Moslems with it s original connotation,F ai th m ay be summed up as a chi ld-l ike trust in God, asrevealed in the Bihle , leading to active obedience to Him an dacceptance of t he salvat ion offered hy lIim t h rough Chr is t,Th e ;'.'[oslem should offer very weighty reasons for th e limitati on of f aith to hel ie f in the tenets of I sl am an d acceptanceo f M oha mm ed as God's final prophet.

IV. SPtRITUAI. vs. NATURAl..

In t he Q ur an , t he title Holy Spirit becomes confused withthe Angel Gabriel. Further confusion is i nt ro du ce d b y t heapplication of the titlcs, Spirit of God, and, Spirit from Him,to Christ. J3ecause of this confusioll in .. his primary Ioundationof Islam, th e attribute or person meant remains one of God'screatures. So complet e a rc the effects of the confusion ofthe t ruth abou t t he Ho ly Spirit in a r el igi on w hi ch claims tosupersede b ot h J ud ai sm a nd C hr is ti an it y, that t he mys te ri esof ou r faith which need to be spiritually discerned, and thespiritual life commended by the Bible, arc incomprehensibleto the average, unenlightened \Ioslem. Evidence con1


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CHAPTER IV

APPARENTLY C"BKIDGEMlI .E CHAS:VIS

IN TH E preceding chapter we ha d under cnnsideration

some contrasts an d comparisons between th e beliefs an dpractices of Chris t iani ty an d t ho se o f Islam, in order that

we might suit ou r m es sa ge t o th e need of th e fnllowers ofIslam.

In this chapter we arc to consider sewn of the m ostser ious challenges for we must remember that with !\Ioslemswe do not go forth to challenge bu t tu meet their challenge.Fo r thirteen centuries these challenges have been active bu twh erever there has been lIO serious a l t c l l lp t to press th ee la ims of Chri s t and the message of the Guspel, on :\'Ioslems,these h av e r em ai oe d dormant. Suc h challeng es are nu trea lized wheo : \Ios lems who ar e larKely ignorant of t h ei r ownFaith, hear th e Go sp el messaRe, r es po nd t o it favorahly an dthen superimpose it UPOJI their o wn w it h no realization o f th econflict.

I. T i l E SEVES CHALLES(;ES OF ISLAM. \VIIAT Ti lEY A R E .

1. That Islam, as a religiou s system, has supersededChristianity.

Th e Moslem, made aw are of the differences between th eChristiao teachinKs an d Judaism, or between th e Gospel an dth e Quran, naturally ::iUPIXJ!:it.'!" that Cbr ista ini ty, as a rel igioussystem is now e ff et e and that Islam is now th e protl,ctor oft he t ru th . Th e reason wh y Islam has Leen permitted tosupersede Christianity is sometimes stated to he that Christianity was unfaithful in practice to revealed truth. Allsuch 'challenges invulve t he au thent i ci t y of ou r Scr ip turesan d it is un t h is b as is that they should he met. "Tha t World

40

an d Church (The !\ Josietn) are flecliJlg, evaneSCellt, a r[lt'll'shadow-show cast upon the screen of existence, while :\llahis t he o nl y reality. God h as n ot taLcrnacled in human flesh,for r'I'Ioslems, n or d oe s he, as th e H ol v G ho st , still ,1\",11 inme n and thus make them partakers 'of t he d iv in e naturr'.They' remain his creatures always, of a dependent exisll 'IlCC,t o b e s we pt in t he cod , from t he h oa rd of life. lIere perhaps,

we find th e a b so lu t e, t he e ss en ti al difference between Islamaod Chri s ti an ity. "I

2. That th e age or dispensation of !\Ioharnmed has succeeded th e previous dispensations.a. Th e previolls dispensations, including the Chris tian, were

of a t emporary na tu re Islam is th e final a nd a bi di ngdispensation. " Th e d de ns i" e p ositio n b elo ng s to the:VluhammadaTl, no t to us, and we may rightly takc the'strong line of inviting him to prove his a ss er ti ons a s t oth e relation o f I sl am allli t he Q ur an to th e Christian dispensation and th e Gospel. "2

b. T he C hr is ti an . dispensation wa s deficient in n'ligiolisordinances and prc(,f'pts a nd p ut fur th no civil and criminalcode of laws 3

3. That th e Quran, GO'l's (II,al f l wlation. has sUIx-rS\d,dall preceding script lIres.

Th e basic sOllre


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for us to bear in mino IS thal the C l l r i ~ H i a l li ~ u u J n nu logicaln ec es si t y t o find an y f(lationship between th e Bible a nd t heQuran, bu t t he ' .I os le m is bound by such necessity. Th eQuran, revcakd to i\lohalJ1nll'd, as the 1\losl','m claims, mustshow an "sspnti ,,1 unity with th e Injil, Z "b ur a nd Taurah,revealed rrspect;""ly to j " "15 , Dav id a n d \ Io se s.

4. That '.loh.1mllled, as S"al of .111 the Prophets, hassuperseded ( hist.

This is a d ir ec t c ha lk n} : e to th e supnnlacy of jesus asLord. , \cceptance of Christ as Saviour an d Lord mustultimately result in " changed attitude to i\lohammed. Invie w of th e nature of th is chal lengr, we s ho ul d h av e as ouraim. at all times, th e w i n n i n ~of th e wiJl of th e '.'Ioslem to theacCt:ptancc and reception of l 'hrist a s S av io ur f rom sin , Tothis "n d we should p reS" nt t he t r ut h a bo ut Chri s t. H i s Per sonan d work. pressin}: I-lis claims with loving symrathy. Sometin1l's before the will is rcady to yield, th e sincere \Ioslemsenses i n tu i ti velv the break that will h e involved and mayshrink hack from it for a long t ime. \Ye n ee d t o f t' mi nd o urselvrs of t he quotation in the Imroduction of this book ho w"the religion that c am e t o s t am p o ut the dei fica tion of ( hristended in al l apotheosis of it s OWIl prophet, :'\JoharnnH'o,"Islam hy it s over-emphasis on ;\'Iohammed "n d it s misinformation a ho ut J es us ha s caused th e former to suprrsedeth e latter in the sphen's of religion an d ethics.

5. That the Islamic interpretation of Go d IS t he c or re ctonc,

This interpretation relrrs to th e attrihut"s of Go d as wellas to 1-1is essellce. Somc olle ha s sain : "The Go d of til(' Biblean d th " God of th e Qurall are lIominally th e same, ye t they

ar e as diffen'1I1 from each other as light is from darkness.'"t\ mol'l' ITe l ' 1 l 1 wrin'r h ; lS cmphasized rh e fact' thar "theapprehension of t he revelation of God in Christ can Bo t beacquired i r ~ an ill \pcrsollal way, as t ~ e r , ( ' v e ~ a t i ? n c < : n t c ~ . sr ou nd t he J ud gm en t a nd tI", grace IIf (,od III ( h n s t jesus. 'This is where th e chief diffICulty lies for Moskms.

': \ statcnll'llt hy C. R. I.tt1polt, Recol/cc/imJs of an l nd wn .lfissionary,p. 21.

Sec S t u m b l t n ~Blo:.ks, by lens Christensen. Comment by Ed"",.Geismar, p. to.

42

"The fundamental difference between Christianit" an dI s lam," sa ys one M os le m w r it er, "is, that th e former t ~ a c h e sthat everY human child is born sinful whilc the latter teachesthat everi, human child is horn sinless. '" According to thisview Islam d en ie s the original sinful nature transmitted from: \dam to all mankind.

7. That t he I sl am ic r ec or d o f th e Cruci fixion is th" trueone.

This challenge is t he m os t serious of all b ec au se i t is th ecommon attitude of e du ca te d a nd uneducated in all parts ofthe Moslem world. In Islam, th e actual crucifixion ha s beeninterpreted to m ean , no t th e death of C hr is t o n th e Cross,hu t a denial of that death. Th e Q ur an ( Su ra 4 :156) clearlvs t a te s tha t "they di d no t s lav him no r crucify him." Orthodoxinterpretation of this verSe ha s a lwa \' s heen that Go d Lv astratagem caused jesus t o e sc ap e f r o ~th e jews who plot 't"dto kill him. That t h is decep t ion was acc ompl is hed b y a kindof sleight-of-hand or an e xc ha ng e o f t wo likenesses. Thus th ema n crucified wa s another person an d jesus was taken up toheaven without dying. Su rely it is no t an o\-'erstatement tosay: "the fundamental issue between Islam an d Christianitvturns on th e doctrine of the crucifixion. '" .

I I. OU R ATTITUDES I ~ VIEW OF TilE AnovE-'. '!J.:r-;TIOSEOCHAl.LESGES.

I . Ca n we avoir! offence, without compromising th eChristian position>

To answer this question we n ee d first to know what 1 \los Icms consider to be t he main poi 11 ts of difff>n'nre bet WeeJl I slallliLtcachings and practices and O Uf 0\\ '11. It will IH.: l'vidt'llt th;ltsuch points will vary according to tl", class of '. 'Ioslems. Th ecomlTlon people an d less informed classes will consider certainfactllrs, whereas tl", educated \Iullahs an d Ahongs will COII-s id e r o the r s. Th e following diagram will he a help towardclarifying th e matter.

Muhammad an d Christ, b,' ~ l u h a m m a dAli, p. 48.1 Fit'tGuat Non-Chrutian Rdigions, C. H, Titll 'rton, St.-ctiun I, " ' s lam,"

43


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These circles represenr, b roadly, t h e following'

a. Ri tes, (of ms. or customs, social and religious.b. Subjects invoh'itlg mystc.rics. . .c. Su bj ec IS rd3ted to practical religIon. .d. Subjrets relating to redempt ion f rom sm.

To cOlllplete rhL' diagram, a lTOSS is rrally n c e r l c ~at t.he\ '( 'r\ ' ( T l l k r . hut thi:; i:j nh\'illll:::ily blank frolll 1 ~ l a T l l~ pOHltof ~ i { ' w .).Ioslellls lend t o l 'mp ha si ze t he , main p O l n ~ sofditTcr('IHT in lhp ordl'r and proportionate. s ~ z cof the ClrC,lesin the dial! .ral ll . Th e p o s ~ i h i l i t yof a \ ' o H I ) I ~ goffence With\losh-ms ;Iiso dcrrl';lses in the order of lhese Circles.

(a l ,\11 classes of :'Ilosiems tend 10 make such subjects asarc included h( 'n ' in of great Importance . . In !hesc.t.hmgs someconcessions 1lI;\\ ' b: made to \losleIll prCjudl


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: \ ~ yissues ; : r i ~ : r . gshould be f a c ~ dsquart:ly. If t h ~suhjectbe too large for discussion at one time or occasion, toreserve some part for a future appointment wilI avoidany appearance of evasion.

II . Fatalistic. When engulfed in petty qu ibb li ngs ther e is atcndency on ou r part to exclaim HI hat is the Itse of al l this?It leads nowhere. 1 'iL'ill do nothinK more for stuh people.an d d","ote my time to somethinK more profitable or fruitfulor Their "iew i ; wrong an d ours is right. therefore nothingfurther can be done; or possibly. Sitch being the case, ho wcan any Moslem "'"er be saved? :\ prayerful review of th eGreat l ommission an d ou r own personal calI to evangelize:'-Ioslcms, of God's dealings with :'--Ioslems in divers partsof the world. an d the agg rega te number wh o h av e beenb ro ug ht t o Ch rist, op enly and secretly, wilI reveal th efalIacy a nd d an ge r of this fatalistic attitude.

ii. :\gnostie. To guard a ga in st t hi s t cn dc nc y or attitude.this manual has been prepared. Knowillg the majorch al Icn ge s o f I slam will g radual Iy m ak e us aware of thedifficulties that many honest, sincere :Vloslcm inquirersh a, c i n understanding Christ. Knowing th e diff:cultiesin a w ay t ha t kads to p la nn in g and action is a big steptoward meeting this chalknge.

(b) Three correct attitudes should be fostered an d folIowed.

I. Strictly honest. We will acknowledge th e extreme difficulties for an y orthodox :'-'Ioslem in accept ing the Chris t ianposition. \\ e will no t be th e f ir st in r ai si ng the divisiveissues of this chapter. When such an is sue is raised bythe Moslem in conversation. or in the course of t h e r ead ingsome tract or scripture and this issue springs naturallyou t of th e imlllediate suhject, we must meet it. Agood answer from the M os le m s ho ul d be commended,An y point about wh ic h we have no t full information a thand. should be acknowledged.

1I. Undaunted. hopeful. We will give ou r message with greatperseverance an d hope, realizing that even after givingforth the truth fa ithful ly. prejudice h ol ds a li t a ga in st itwith ex tr eme t enac it y. We will rightly appraise wordyhluster that is o ft en an e vi de nc e o f Rimsy foundation.

46

"."", .. ~ . . _ - ~ r.. _ .. " . . . . . " .. _. 1 __ .. L " L\ \ \ : I I I l J ~ Ll J l l t : 1 l l U l l . 'I lU J lU l lJe "\i,"c."ti"Y ,lJi...il: i i ior(; oft(:i"i

we must learn to "walk ane! nOt faint." This will bepossible only as we wait upon th e Lord. We must alsoremIlld ~ ~ I r s e l v e sthat, as the poct has expressed i t, weneed to learn t o la bo r an d to wait."

iii. :'-hin-line. It was a matler of lit tle consequence t o I sl amw h e t l ~ e rJesu s o r another persun wa s c ruc if ied on thatcross In the days of Pontius Pilate many centur ies befort,,\Ioh'llmned. Islam no t merely relegates t he doct ri ne ofth e cru,Clhxion of Christ i ~ l l othe background bu t attemptstO,cut ~ t,oulof Islam entlr"ly by dl 'nying the filetS. \VhenthiS rehglOn 1I1undated a nd s ub ju ga te d t he Christian COI11-munlllc,s of \,onh.:\frica an d the . '\ "a r E as t in its rapidsprcad IIl,the It h C.cnulry. the chutch had already st rayedf a ~f ro m I ts ~ o u r c e .of hfe an d power an d main purposv for~ x l s t c n c e .Searchmg through this condir-ion to arrivc atIts cause, one wri te 'r ha s summcd it up as fulloll's: ": \church that loses the centrality of the cross, loses it s lifeas wei.' as I ts liowcr. "II The Pauline motto, "not to knowanythlllR among you, save J e su s C hr i st , and him crucilied,"(1 (o r. 2 :2) wdlneed to he ours as we p ray, p lan, alld workfor the evangehzatlon of the :'-'!oslcms. Withol l t the f:rn,sf(.'d


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n ' ; l d i n t ~ ~ ~;l (t.'\\' v p r ~ ~ahout. Christ as sole j\. ']ediator betweenGod and man.

(b) Our Scriptures, as i\'1oslems t hems elve s must agree,apart from questions raised by themselves as to authen ticityand imegri ty, were revealed many centuries before the Quran;therefore, when differenC('s arise between th e two books , th e\loslem must prove from recognized, acceptable Chris t iansourCes that the pn:eeding Scriptures were to he supersededby any Scr ip tu r e to he revealed after the inspired authors ofthe Bible w ro te thei r last.

(c) TI,,: following n' marks n' lat e t o all th e challengesenumerated. "I f t he re h as been, as the Muhammadan suppOSt:S, a supersession of the onl' by th e other in God's all-wisl'providence, there must In'" adequate reasons for it". which itrests with him to show," an d again, "The burden o f p ro ofmust be placed and kept on the r ight shoulders, and the weakness of ,\Iuhammadanism, when placed on the defensive,once more demonstrated. "9

2, Th e final and most serious challenge.:\ s this is the 1I10St' serious an d conuilon


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CHAPTER V

ML'DDLED STATE'\'IE:-.lTS AN D I "CORRECTDEDUCTIONS

C HA1'TERS I-IV emphasized points that ought to be. stressed in th e presentation of the g ospe l m ess age t oMoslems: th e five briefer chapters that follow will pointou t some pit fa ll s that must be avoided as far as may bepossible.

I. LACK OF CI.EAH:


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(ci) \ \ h ~ nWI : m ~ " ' f . l150P of ~ l 1 r ht('rms we should makeclear that in applying them with their Chris t ian connotat ionwe are borrowing them hecause of popular usage. Th e termjust refer red to is an example of this. By t u rn ing to Luke t :35,we can apply this term in th e absolute s en se o f th e words,where jesus combines hoth, Sheng Chae, and Ren, In h, sown person.

2. In th e choice of subject matter.

(a) Abstruse an d involved subjects should be avoidedunless adequately handled.

(b) The subjec t, whether raised b y M os le m or Christian,s ho ul d be the touchstone for discussion.

(c) Illustrations, analogies, or anecdotes should be simpleand not introduced at all linless t he re a pp ea rs t o be sufficientt im e t o make a pp li cat io n of t he m ean in g to m in d a nd heart.

3. In the arrangement of the mater ia l . \V!":neve.r p o s ~ i b l earrange something in a dv an ce . B ut \\:c SOlllctllllCS, .ltke N e h ~ -miah, are faced suddenly with a God-given opportumty. AVOIdintroducing anything that may precipitate immediate contra-diction. '1 he theme should lead directly an d logically to ou rsupreme t heme , salva tion from sin and the way thereto,personally applied to hear t and will.

II. OVERST A T E ~ I E N T011. EXAGGERATION.

I. ~ t e n t i o nhas alreadv been made that "erbosity may bean evidence of paucity oi facts. T he C hr is ti an , w it h suchclear and sure Scriptures , mu st gu ard agalllst an y suchtendellcy. This is especially so in dealillg with people wh o.at one time a n .. vcr).' I;lconic, and at another {'xtrcIlH.:.ly verhose.

2. T he n at iv e custUIl l of barter alld tra


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(o j :\iosleIllS, Quite gcnerally, know that Christians shouids tr es s the deity of Christ, his actual crucifixion on th e Cross,an d many o th er teaehi n" s c on tr ar y to t he teachings theyhold. (;nderstatement in an y of these ma y causc them topity and despise us. They will doubtless assume that we a recowardly an d afraid to stand for th e whol,' of our t ( 'aching.

3. Two COJlltnOn causes for understatement arc the

following: (a) Subj"cts int roduced suddenly when there is notime t o look up refen'nces or discover rh(' fac ts . Acknowledgesuch to be the situation an d postpone discussion UJltil thefacts can he ascerrained. (h) Subjects that are t oo large tobe t reated on an y Olle occasioll. Jn t h is c as e, t 'xplain whatsuch a subject invohTs. ( ) U l of the \\-'hule select a p ur ti onwith whi ch t o deal iIllmediately, reserving t he rema inder fora f l l t U r t ~occasion. This will g i v . . : ~continuity to subsequentintefvil'ws.

IV . INCORRECT DEDUCTIO:-;S.

1. B,'caus


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CH: \PTER VI

"T U QUOQUE" OR "ROO: 'v IERAi\G " RE:\CTIONS

H O\\ . l \'IAY \\ E anticipate in advance and thus avoids ta te m l' nt s o r a ct io ns that in t he ir r eb ou nd help todefee'lt ollr purposl'?

I. By STUIJYI:O


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2. .'\ voidable reactions.

(b ) In ollr criticisms an d judgm ents. Som e of thesema y he correct factllally, but to make them ma)' he oftenunwise arld unnecessa ry. Such c ri ti ci sl lI s o r j ud gm en ts areinconclllsin:, lIsually work more hanI! than good, and in noway ad\,;1I1Ce the Christian cause.

books .:lr:d f o : . . . : r : d ~ t : o : ~ : : ; ,to resort ~ o : ~ H : d m ( ' : ' ;t ~ ; : ~ 8 " " ~ : !~ ' ; , : c g t ' ~ : : ;to make c e rt a in t e ac h in g s more in line w it h m od er n ideas,an d to explain some so that they m a y a p pe a r to approximatec < : r t ~ i nChristian teachings. : 'vlany quest ioI ls forrncrly askedar e never heard from enlightened :'Ilosierns today becausep as t c on tr ov er sy h as s ho wn t ll l' m to 1)(' g ro un dl es s. S uc hreactions enhance rather t han d et rac t f ro m o ur tllessage.

(a ) From ollr al t i tudes and conouc t. Th"re ar e many personal a n it u de s t h at enlightened l\-Ioslems recognize a s f a ul ts ,deploring such in their ow n leaders or in them"'lv,,s. On e oft h e c o mm o ne s t is anger. Th"y wtll watch eardul ly to Sl'" Ifwe give evidence of this t rai t c\"('11 t1llocr dclit>l'I".1tc provocation frol11 th

pointing Ollt e t hi c al s h or tc o mi n gs . This ",auld likel),rebound with criticisms of the et.hics of sOllle Christians.

I.

60 61


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I. Usc of careless o r nmhiguous language.11. Wast ing t ime on desultory remarks.I l l . Usc of shallow an d inconclusive replies.IV . Failing to have avai lable, autnorities for important s ta te

ments or to n'r i fy th e authonues lIsed,

v. Rep.

, . . u . onlv b recds strife. And t he L ur d 5 servant mllstbe Sllre that n of s,rif


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Spirit iays upon o ur hearts rnay be giv(;/-" \Vl:, ',viti rwcd towatch that the new teachin l( is not just added like a n ew layero ve r t he old, an d be r ea dy t o sympathize when that o n ~discovers th e an tith esis between the two faiths, A remInderneeds also to be >:i\'en that ( 'ach soul stands by personal fa ithbefore God and 1I0t before men, Some will. in due cou rse,meet those f rom among fellow ;\\oslems w ho will violently

oppose this new-found faith, so should be warned of thISpossibi li ty, (b) If t h e inqu i re r be f rom among those who haveonly a parrial knowi


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4. Wh enever the need is felt for a certain kind oj tract,let this need be known to th e t ract society that prepar('ssuch l it er atur e. (Practical sug;:"stions wil l be appreciatec!by thes \ IE TI IOI l 1:< DISTHtRCTIO:' as occasion requires . . \ lakeclear the reason for doing this. .\ br id memorandum of allcasual an d planned contacts with \ los1l' lI ls should be kept,and not filed a wa y p er ma ne nt ly, b u t reviewed occasionallya nd ke pt up to date,

01


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(HAI 'TER VI I I.

SUBJECTS \ \ F \ IUST "H.-\NDLF \VITH CARE"

T HE t it le of this hrid chapter reminds us that there aresome subjects which will no t be taken lip r as hl y wi thMoslems. In his The Crl/saders of llze TWeIIlielh Century, Dr. Rice devotes a large section (pp. 364-4i5) to thesubjects of : \' Iohammed, Islam an d th e Qucan. In enteringupon this section he gives the following warning: "The allegeddiv ine mission of Muhammed is a del icate subject to handlewith Moslems an d will no t be r ashly t aken u p." Farth er onhe contin1H:s, "That tact and discrimination will lw t H ' ( ~ d ( ' dinsuch a subject will be manifes t to anyone acquaint, 'd withthe exaggerated opinions held abollt ;'-'!lIhanllned an d hissupposed prophetic mission, dCTived from the Tradit ions,where the freest scope ha s heen giwn t o t he p la y o f exuberantfancy." A warning such a s t he a ho ve will serve to keep mallYof us from entering IIpon such discussions, but, in spite ofthis, such may som'etimes be necessary. He ha s also antici.pated this when he says: "On sllch occasions, however, th eChristian view must be u ph el d w it h s ui ta bl e a rg um en ts , a nd

the e rror of the1\'1

uhammedan position d em on st ra te d. " T hesame might be said as well concerning th e other tw o explosivesuhjects, Islam a nd the Quran .

RDIARKS:

\\'e should refuse to discuss subjects of this nature withentire strangers, or with those who h av e n ot sllfficient knowledg(' of Islamic h is to ry t o a pp ra is e t he facts correctly.

\\-e mal' discuss these subjects safcly with p roven sincereinquirers.

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A.

FO R THOSE WH O FIND DISCUSSION ABOUTI\IOHA:\1MED NECESSARY

I. CO:';CER:-IIl"G HIs DIVINE :\,IISSIO:-I.

I. We, as Christians, should avoid referring to l\'lohammed

as a prophet, in th e strict Bible sense. We mal' safely referto him as "your honored Prophet," or, ' T h e Prophet ofIslam," or, 'The great Arab Prophet." There is n o o bj ec tgained in using s om e of th e derogatory expressions one findsin print, such as, "the great falsc Prophet," or, "a very antiChrist," or, "n o room for ; '- 'Iohammed in Ihe world," etC.

2. According to Islamic teaching, each dispensation foreshadows th e succeeding one. In order t o subs tan ti a te thistheory NIoslems arc duty-hound to find in th e Gospd definiteprophecies of t he c om in g of t he d is pe ns at io n i nt ro du ce d h yi\lohammed. We know there ar e none. Thus, if they claimthat such o nc e w er e in th e text nf the original Injil, an d thatin th e Gospels in circulation today thesc have been expunged,then we haw a perfect right to r eq ui re pr oof for suc h as s um pt io ns . \ Vha t were these prophecies! In which book,c h ap te r a nd sec tion of th e original lnjil d id t he se exist)

3. No miracles of th e kind claimed by :\'Ioslems today inproof of !'clohammed's divine mission can be proved from theQllran. Th e Qllr


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Th e ;'\'losieOl's probictll wiJj diu:, L-:: \vith Olir Scripti.iiT3. riotwith any pe rson al cr it ic ism by us o f t he s ho rt co mi ng s ofl'vlohammed. It is no t necessary for us to tr y to prove, asRaymond Lull' attempted, that Mohammed was a greatsinner. The followini( quotation is t o th e po in t : "The domesticlife of M oh am ll le d, if th e general standard of oriental rukrsof his time he taken illto account, is Illoderate in indulgence,though of course the standard of a prophet claiming to supers ,: " r lo t" ' rI:n ..... c . , , ~ ,....... t- ~ ' \ J ' ~ 'OJ '''1::\ - . J \ J ' ' b ' < \ J " ' ' ' ,Christianity.

2. "The verities of my Faith give me immeasurahle peacean d happiness, and provide me with a salvation that givesconsolation and assurance. What ha s Islam to offer in e,,change which would be hil(her and satisfy more'" Thisr ep l y should lead to a real h ear t a ppea l. It a lso leads into

a realm whe re Islam sho ws up at its most vulllerablt' poillt.

C.

FO R THOSE WH O FIND NECESSARY A DISCUSSIONABOUT THE VAC NT ED S UP E RI OR IT Y O F TH E

QURA:-\ AS GOD'S FINAL REVELATION

I.' A FE W \\AR:-1I:t,:lil:vl'

th e Quran. (e. ~ . , Sura 5:72.) .II . A FE W ( 'O"ME!


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3 A c o u ! " ! t l ~ rC h ~ ! ! f : ! ! g ~miCTht 1)("> f l 1 : l f ~ h 'rl'nllirinp' t h ~

Mosl.em to show proof w h e t h e ~ " ~ ~ ~ hv ~ ~ s e sfrom o ~ rScripturerelative to this subject, have been mutilated or are un -authentic. '

4 . . There is no hint in th e Bible that between Jesus'ascension to heaven an d his coming back again, a supplantedrevela tion such as th e Quran o r an y other Scripture was to beexpected.

III. A:o; E X A ~ I I : - 1 A T I O ;


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no t s la y hi m and t he y did no t crucify him bu t there u as(l. . ~ j ; ; ~ i l i i / t c l etv ih em. " T he woros siwbbiiza-iahum arcexplained bv the old orthodox COllllllentaries to mean thatanother 1-".:r:"ol1 bearing Jesus' likcIll'sB was there crucifiedan d that Jesus himself wa s l if ted lip alive to heaven withoutdying. :\ s to just who the s ub st it ut e w as t he !'vloslemworlo has been lef t in dOl lb t. Var io ll s guesses a rc m ad ehut a re inconclusive. .

111. In Surah 4:171 of the Qllran occur s t he following sentencewhich t ranslated reads: "Ver il y the :\Iessiah. Jesus, son of\ Iary is only an Apostle of :\Ilah an d His uw d whichll e conlllllmiwted to .1Ian'." Th e italicized words in th eorigillal arc: kalimatu-hu" aha-Ita. The construction here.v,-jlh till ' f l ~ l T 1 i l 1 i l l CpronOUJl ha referring to its antecedentkoJima! ( fe mi ni ne f or m) necessitates' rhe interpretationthat Jeslls hr're rcferrl. who was ransomed. John 19:18 an d 33 with Acts2 :23 would ntak,,' ckar thar J


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CHAPTER IX

AN ANALYSIS OF STATE1\'1 ENTS OR Ql:ESTIO:\,SCO:VI:\IO:-\LY R:\ISED BY :\WSLE:\'IS

I:\'A CHAPTER of t hi s k ind anticipation beforehand of all

th e possible statements or qucst ions that might be raisedby :Vloslems is ohviously impossihle. F rom t he examplcs

choseo, however, i t will hecome evident that subjects fall intospecific categories. :\ few uoder each have hcen chosen to('nahle the reader to recogni7e the motives that lie behind thesubjects raised. .

FIRST CATEGOJ


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"...., .. ,,

11 J He J\10SICIIl rnaKll1g SUUI, do l :) t at e m c ii t i s i . i5U;'UlY u:-: . t : 'C:p:lt-

ing the question, Wh y do you follow !\' Iohammed an d no tthe :'vlessiah' Th e door will thus be open for praise of Mohammed. Draw ou t wh at th e :\'Ioslem m ea ns b y th e wordunique an d then show how ou r Scriptures reveal th e absol ut e u ni qu en es s of Jesus. as God's tinal revclation to men.Such verses as: John 1:3,18; 7:46; 21 :25 might !.>c used.

4. Arabic is the most perfcct language for the communicat io n of t he will of Allah to men.

Usc of such a verse as Romans 3: 2 will sh ow that up toth e t im e of Chr is t God revealed Hi s will to man through theJewish Hebn'w Scripturl's. Th e Quran itself is a testimonythat previously God h ad not revealed Hi s will to man throughArahic. ObcdienCl: tu the will o f God is more important,a ny wa y, t ha n t he p ar ti cu la r language in w hi ch G od has revealed His will. (Sce John 7:17.)

5. Christians in t he p as t havc becomc !\ 'loskms in gn:atnumbers.

We need to guard against t he i mp li ca ti on of s uc h a statement: that very few ' ' 'Ioskms have !.>ccome Christians. We

need t o a dm it that on t he b ar e face of it such a statl 'ment isper fect ly true'. Ask for what motive such so-called Christianshave I)('come :'.loslcllls, alld wby 1vloslcrns have become Christians. Thc n'ply will usual ly Ix: in the former case, fromworthy motives, an d in t he l at te r, from unworthy. Thus itwill appear that Chr is ti ans ac t from t he w or th ie r motives.From I Corinthians 15:1-4 show that no t rue Chr is ti an whobelieves in Christ according to the Gospel should ever desireto become a :\loslem.

G E ~ E R A LRilLE 2. Answer or comment as brieRy asnecessary. Follow with a pos it ive stntement b ase d on somerelevant Scripture.

T l l I H D CATEGORY.

Fallacies Conlnlonly Ar.ap/r.d by ;1fos/r.ms.

1. Du(' to disbdief in th e au thori ty and \ '( ' racity of ou rScriptures.

(a) \\ 'ho was t he man cru cifi"d instead of th e :\Ies.,iahon the Cross'

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Th e purpose of this question is to lea d us into discussionof a question on which there is great disagreement amongMoslems themselves. It assumcs that ou r Scriptures showcorruption by th e inclusion of t he s to ri es of the Crucifixionan d burial and n'surr('ction of Chr is t . We should aff irm ou rbelief in the scripture records of th ese h ist or ic al e ven t s. \Vemight ask for proof from n o n- I sl amic books that anotherperson was crucified i ns tead o f Chr is t. Press home some suchScrip tu res a s Isaiah 5.1 an d Psalm 22 with a reference to aconcrete fulfilment in the Gospel.

(h) Wh y d id Abraham off"r Ishmael h is eldest son on th enltnr ,J, \Ve mif'ht ignore th e Illative back of su ch a question (whichIS no t for mformatlon merely) by j u st s ta ting t ha t i t was tote;;t .'\braham's faith. But the :\'Ioslem usually kllOws that.\\ 'e should no t deny that on natural grounds I shmael wast r uly Abraham ' s eldest son bu t show from Scriptur" that hewns lIot the son of prumisl: according to G en es is 1 i : l ()-21,an d the one who is I l lent ione

Sarah.(c) God has no f"male companion' He could no t have a

child. ,


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tc) \\ 'hat is your a tt it ud e t o t he e at in g oi porle 1m squestion i m p l i ~ sthat the Scr ipt l lres once had the same lawsas 1'0 c!"an and lInck'an things t ha t : uc n ow COIltained in thehooks of Islam bu t that in these I'l'spects th e original SeriptUrt'S have been changed. Usl' "'lark 7 :20,23.

GE:

1 An excellent treatment or this subject is found in Stumbling Blocks byJens Christensen, pp . 16-26.

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'rhis io;;h:le.trl on ;) wrnTlP' r " n ( l 1 1 ~ i n nt h i l t t h i e : i r n ~ H l ' ' ' ' '"':"Ie: A'1 i d hi \ii h j C h i 5 t


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rhis io;;h:le.t rl on ;) wrnTlP r n ( l 1 1 i n nt h i l t t h i e : i r n H l : Ie:. . , .. . - co _ ._ ' - ' - ' ~ _ H_ - l " ' l ..to be in physical attributes. Bu t I Corinthians 15:45 withGenesis 2:7 shows that such l ikeness or i ma g e w a s in spiritual,no t physical attributes.

7. Jesus forgave sins whi le he wa s ye t alive.Th e conclusion from this is that th e forgi\Tness o f sin s

cannot depend upon th e death of Christ. Jesus sain that hed id n ot hi ng except what He saw the Father do . See John

5 :19. This shows that such forgiveness wa s on th e samebasis a s a ll c on fe ss ed sins were "cowred" before t he d ea thof Christ in lieu of th e sacrifice that he wa s to accomplish.Romans 3 :24--26 might be used in th is connection.

GE:"ERAL RULE S. Commend this spirit as a real desireto know m or e of ou r S cr ip tu rp s. P oi nt ou t an y mistaken con-clusion from the teaching mentioned. Usc an d apply scr ipturecompared with scr ip ture re lat ive to th .. particular point.

SIXTH CATEGORY.

Claims and assumpt'ions neated as thollgh t he se a r c p r ov en.1. The origina l Inj il once nWlltioll('d t he flame of our

Prophet by his name " ,\ l lI l Iad ."Th e b es t w ay is to hand ow r a copy of t he G os pe l an d

as k where such n am e o ri gi na ll y a pp ea re d. : \I so was it in th eorigina l Greek or in th e t'ranslation into Ar ah ic! S ho w fromActs 1 :11 that lImil Jesus so COIII('S "in like manner" there: isn o h in t in Scripture of another prophet to supersede him.

2. What religion will Je'slls preach on his return 'To avoid t he imp li ca ti on h idden in t he m in d of t he q ues -

tiorH:r that He is to preach Islam as Moslems claim hepreached at His first advent first require accept ab l e p roo f

that li e preached Islam when li e wa s among men an dthen call anemion to such a verse as Hebrews 13:8 alongwith Luke 24:44. 46. 47 to show what will b e Hi s religionwh en He r e tl lr ns : t he Chr i st ian faith.

3. ;'I'IosJems h on or C hr is t man' t ha n Chri st i an s do .This is based on an unprown comparison. Th e idea is

that \ Io sl em s d o n ot sa y such blasphemous things about himas cal ling him th e son of Allah or a"erring that a perfect,sinless p ro ph et h ad t o suffer a t th e h an d o f G od on th e cross.Many Scriptures can be used to counter this.

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4. A'1osicms today worship . \iiah a ~ j c w ~d l l d C h r i 5 t ~ a ~ s

did. . , d J . h sThis r eq ui re s p ro of f ro m Ch ri stI an an eWls source

no t from Moslem sources. Until such proof is produced .n oconsideration should be given to it . Som,: verses s t ressmgth e spiritual aspects of Christian worship mIght be u..ed.

GEl'ERAI. RULE 6. B y q ue st io n in g m ak e c le ar w ~ a tth eclaim ma y he. By some means impress th e n e c e s s ~ t yf ~ rproof from Christian sources. Have ready a fe w S Cr ip tu re sworked ou t for possible Slnll iar statempnts.

SEYF.:"TII CATEGOR \'.

Genuine traps sometimes e volw d by \-Ioslems. : \ fewexamples.

I. Go d cannot die.It would no t be correct to deny this bare s t at em e nt b u t

to admit it s truth is a trap. The \Ioslem will then challengeus to prove that G od c ou ld d ie . \Ve should refuse absolutelydiscussion of tb e bare statement. \Ve ma y easi ly prove fromScripture that Go d manifest in th e flesh, in .rhe \\ 'ord t h ~ :became flpsh. could dIe . S Cr ip tu re tells us t i l l S pla u1 ly. Se eHebrews 2 :9, 14 , IS.

2. Jesus wa s f n ~f.rom sin. _This we must adnllt . Bu t before we do so we shoule! a sk

th e i'"loslem to define what he means by freedon.1 from Si l l .If wc do no t do this we ma y be led b y th is trap Into gIvingsupport to j\'loslem ideas that Jesus w ~ s.only protected f r o n ~sin as all o the r p rophet s ha,":e been: SCriptures as to Jesusabsolute holiness should be In readmess.

.3. Christ performed wonderful miracles. .\Vp must agree to this on th e f ac e of th e statement bu t If

we do without asking for d ef in it io ns o f t he w or ds or Ideasinvolved we will find ourselves countenancing Moslem teach-ing that because Jesus performed. these wonderful miraclesby' God's permission, He t hu s a dm i tt ed that He wa s merelya proph,t l ike a ll other prophets.

GEl'F.RAL RULE 7. Be careful of statements s imila : . tot he o ne s m en ti on ed . R em em be r t he i mp or ta nc e of reqUlrtngexact d ef in it io n o f th e te rm s. Select Scr iptures consonant

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wi th the spi rit o f t he statement if possible without offending


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wi th the spi rit o f t he statement, if possible, without offending01 igTloring speaker or state men t.

I t will be ev ident to t he user of this manual that there ar ethree imp ort an t t hr ead s r un n ing t hr ou gh eve ry chapter.

I. A thorough working knowledge of the Bible is f ar morenecessary than a knowledge of the Moslems, their Book,

Prophel, Rel ig ion or Custom.2. God has anticipated beforehand an d given an answerin His Holy Word to almost every l\'loslem difficulty, objectionand genuine doubt.

3. The burden of proof res ts with the Moslem in almostevery case as his revelation by his own testimony is t he l at er.

TH E ENTRANCE OF TH Y WORDS GIVETH LIGHT(Ps. 119:130).

Fo a REFERENCES, CHAPTERS V - IX

Particular

RICE-Crusaders, 1-143: 484-504.ZWEMER-The Moslem Christ, ch. VIII.

General

CURISTENSEN-Stumhling Blocks.GAIRDNER-Rebuke of Islam.HUGHES-Dictionary of Islam.JOSES, V. R.-Approach to ~ 1 u s l i m\Vomen.JONES, L. BEVIN-Christianity Explained: People of the Mosque.

MCIR-Thc Coran.TJSOALL-Gbjections to Christianity.

S e ~Bibliography (or fuller reference.

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APPENDIX

85


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DIVlSI01\ A

BRIEF SUMMARY OF T HE L IF E OF M O H A ~ l M E D

(Baud on early tradilion)

Those of th e reader s who have available morc complete biographiesof t he Prophet of Islam ma y find this sketch inadequate. There is nothingin this chapter which bears (>xclusivcly on Islam in China or an y otherpart of th e Moslem .....orld. The mate r ia l is cul led f rom several accountsof th e l ife of Mohammed which were in turn based on carly Islamic Traditions as to w ha t a pp ea r to h av e b ee n the main outlines of that colorfullife. Th e arrangement of this material parallels the developments clearly

defined in th e Quran when secn in th e approximate order of th e receivingof th e so-railed revelations. The Quran h as b ee n c al le d by some "theonly absolutely authentic document from th e life t im e of ;"lohammcd."

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Just before Mohammed appea red and during his youth the Arab tr iheswere s pl it u p i nt o m an y warring f ac li on s. B lo od f eu ds a bu un de d. T helands where t he Tri be s dwelt were hemmed in b y Chri s ti a n Byzantiuman d Zoroastrian, p a ~ a l lPersia. Scvt: ra l wealthy, powerful J ( ~ w i s htrihtsdwelt a m o l l ~th e Arabs, and there w e n ~a few

How to Lead Moslems to Christ

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