Martyrdom Then and Now

 Jesus gave His life, but He was not a martyr.  He was God in the flesh, and the only One who was capable to pay the price for our sin. He was our Sin-bearer.  Isaiah 53:4-6 gave this prophecy:

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,And by His stripes we are healed.⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way (NKJV);
And the Lord gave Him up for our sins (LXX).

Jesus has rescued us from hell, the place we deserved for our sin.  So now he has a rightful claim on us; our lives are His.  He asks that we follow His commands.  Some of those commands, when carried out, threaten Satan’s domination of the earth.  So, if we are to clearly give and live our faith, we might have to give our life.  But as Jesus said in Matthew 10:24-26, 27-28:

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.²⁵ It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! ²⁶ Therefore do not fear them….  “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. ²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Jesus knew that those who believe and abide in Him are set for an eternity with Him, thank God.  But if we are to abide in Him, we cannot weaken in those crucial moments, if such moments should arrive.  We must assert we are His and not deny Him when persecution heats up.  To do that would put our soul in eternal danger.  So let’s look at martyrdom carefully, face to face…..

Man’s inhumanity to man is often most destructive in religious zeal. Satan’s emissaries seem to be working hardest in this arena, knowing that if they can get “Christians” to kill Christians, it tears down the name of Christ the most.  In men’s  demonic state of irrational hatred, morality is lost, and unimaginable cruelties on innocent people are “justified” on religious grounds. We know of the recent outbreaks of horrors by ISIS.  Need I remind you, they are a group grounded in the religion of Islam, whose Quran teaches them to hate Christians (see my other blog for proof).  You should also read up on Boko Haram, an Islamic State Western Province group, who since 2009 have killed 20,000 in Nigeria and displaced 2.3 million people from their homes.  In Nigeria, many whole villages had previously turned to Christ.  Boko Haram targets these villages and raids them with guns and machetes, carrying on unspeakable slaughter against Christians.  Boko Haram began his career by listening to an Islamist preacher, Mohammed Marwa, renamed Maitatsine (meaning:  “the one who damns”) in the 1970s.

But these horrors are déjà vu, I’m sorry to say.  Past martyrdom was uglier--it was done, not by Islam vs. Christian, but by "Christian" vs Christian. In the 1400-1600s, it was Catholics killing Protestants, and even Protestants killing other Protestants.  But--when it came to a group so pure as the Anabaptists, their Christianity was so Christlike that they were “dangerous” to established religion--so both Protestants and Catholics went about killing them. Luther and Calvin were Protestants, but also found excuses to kill them.  Not surprising, since Luther and Calvin were incomplete reformers of  the Gospel (as I have proven in my other blogs).  The Anabaptists were closer to Kingdom living, the real gospel, than they were, generally.

With “Christians” killing Christians in those days, the problem is that in that time, entire nation-states declared themselves Catholic “Christian” or Protestant "Christian," and many people were coerced, or intimidated, into going through the motions, and people were trained, from birth, to hate the other--but hatred is not Christian. They ignored the Bible, which plainly speaks out against hate. But there were actually few who really read their Scripture AND followed Christ's commandments--those were the real Christians.  The haters, though, were just “nominal” Christians, "reformed" by the state religion, who were able to practice unspeakable horror for “religious reasons”—they were the worst kind of humanity.  After all, who attacked Jesus with the most abusive language?  The religious leaders.  And did Jesus say many people would be saved, or be a real Christian?  No.  Read Matthew 7:13-14:

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

I have other blogs exposing the truth about terrible things done by Calvin and Luther, both Protestants. For balance, I would like to lift some enlightening literature from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and Martyr’s Mirror, exposing horrific deeds done by Catholics.  There are three things I would like to say.  First:  Don’t read this to your kids. The things that were done are just too grisly to repeat.  Secondly, this is not a sad tale, really.  The endurance of these real Christian martyrs, and their uplifting words, are an inspiration to all.  In Christ, they really knew the meaning of Paul’s words—“O death, where is thy sting?”  Thirdly, these stories—even their quotes—are not exaggerated fables.  Foxe lived in the 1550s, in the midst of it all, and most of the Mirror, from the 1600s, both of my volumes--were taken from contemporary journals.  May God allow you to be horrified—and yet inspired to Him—as you read.

Our first reading is subtitled “the Valleys of Piedmont in the 1600s.”  (These were the Waldenses, one of the earliest groups protesting against Catholicism's departure from Scripture, being persecuted in northwest Italy and Switzerland).  Here is the quote:

Pope Clement VIII sent missionaries into the valleys of Piedmont, to induce the Protestants to renounce their religion.  These missionaries erected monasteries…(which became) sanctuaries for all cowards to fly to that had injured the Waldenses. This inspired them to further assaults.  The Protestant Waldenses, therefore, petitioned the duke of Savoy for protection.  But instead of getting any redress, the duke published a decree, in which he declared that one witness should be sufficient in a court of law against a Protestant, and that any witness who convicted any Protestant of any crime whatsoever should be entitled to a hundred crowns reward.  As may be imagined, many Protestants fell martyrs to perjury and avarice.

To encourage the apostasy of the Protestants, the duke published a proclamation that exempted from all taxes for five years if the heretics would recant and embrace the holy Roman faith.  There were also several successive edicts, prohibiting the Protestants from acting as schoolmasters, from holding any places of profit, trust, or honor, and commanding them to attend mass.  This last, if ignored, was a sure signal for a persecution, which soon followed. (The Waldenses said that the mass was not the body and blood of our Lord, and therefore the Catholics committed blasphemy.)

Before the persecution commenced, the missionaries employed kidnappers to steal away the children of the Protestants, that they might privately be brought up Roman Catholics.  Later they took away children by open force, and if the poor parents resisted, they were immediately murdered.  One of the first persons who attracted the notice of the papists was Mr. Sebastian Basan, a zealous Protestant, who was seized by the missionaries, confined, tormented 15 months, and then committed to the flames (i.e., burned at the stake).

That was followed by a most cruel order, dated January 25, 1655, that every family of the reformed religion, inhabiting estates in Lucerne, St Giovanni, etc, (in Switzerland) within three days of publication of said order, must depart out of said places, and translated into the places tolerated by his highness—namely Bobbio, Angrogno, etc. In between was a mountainous terrain.  And all this was to be done on the pain of death, and confiscation of house and goods, unless within the limited time they recanted and turned Roman Catholic.

The winter was remarkably severe.  (Ed: This trip was, on average, 140 miles through the Alps, so they spent many overnights outdoors.  But they were unfamiliar with living in wilderness, and hadn’t had time to pack for this weather.)  The duke’s troops drove them from their habitations and were assisted by French troops, Irish brigades, and several bands formed of outlaws, smugglers, and prisoners, who had been promised pardon in the world, and absolution in the next, for assisting in their extermination.  (Ed: Plus, they might win a confiscated house.)

Many of the Protestants perished in the mountains from the weather or lack of food. Refusing to move was a poor alternative.  An armed multitude, encouraged by the bishops and monks, fell upon the remaining Protestants in a most furious manner.  All now was horror and despair:  blood stained the floors, dead bodies bestrewed the streets, and groans and cries shocked the ears of humanity from every quarter. There were several men, women, and children flung from the rocks, and dashed to pieces (ed:  From castle heights or cliffs).  Mary Raymondet had her flesh sliced from her bones until she expired.  Anne Charboniere had one end of a stake thrust through her body, and the other end fixed in the ground; so she was left in the manner to perish.  Giovanni Michialin, with four of his children, was apprehended; three of them were hacked to pieces before him; the soldiers asked him at the death of every child if he would recant—but he constantly refused.  One of the soldiers then took up the last and youngest, by the legs, and putting the same question, he replied as before, when the inhuman brute dashed out the child’s brains.  The soldiers roasted alive another girl, about ten years of age, at Villa Nova.

Jacob Birone, a schoolmaster, was stripped naked, and had the nails of his toes and fingers torn off with red-hot pincers, and holes bored through his hands.  He was led through the streets, the soldiers saying, “Will you go to mass?”  He replied in the negative, and being at length taken to the bridge, they cut off his head on the balustrades.

Daniel Rambaut, of Villaro was seized and committed to the jail.  Here he was visited by several priests, who with continual importunities, strove to persuade him to turn papist. He refused.  Then the priests pretended to pity his large family, and told him that he might yet have his life if he would subscribe his belief to the following articles:  1. The real presence (of Christ) in the host. 2. Transubstantiation (Ed: The belief that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus).  3. Purgatory.  4. The pope’s infallibility.  5. That masses said for the dead will release souls from purgatory.  6. That praying for saints will procure the remission of sins.  To these Rambaut replied (in part):  1. To believe the real presence (of Jesus) in the host is blasphemy and idolatry….5. Saying masses for the dead is only meant to keep up a belief in the fable of purgatory, but the fate of all is decided by the time of departure of the soul from the body. (i.e., trying to change God's decision after their death is a waste of time).  6. Praying to saints for the remission of sins is misplacing adoration, as the living saints themselves have a need for an intercessor in Christ; therefore, as God only can pardon our errors, we ought to sue to Him alone for pardon.  (Ed:  Scripture does not have support for the six Catholic claims).  Filled with rage at these answers, the priests determined to shake his resolution by the most cruel method imaginable; they ordered one joint of his fingers to be cut off every day; then his toes; afterwards, they alternately cut off, daily, a hand and a foot, and finding that he bore his sufferings with the most unconquerable fortitude, and maintained his faith with steadfast resolution, they stabbed him to the heart, and gave his body to be devoured by dogs.

(Ed:  Even crueler acts—if it were possible—are detailed in Wikipedia’s “Waldensians,” along with a never-to-be forgotten horrifying illustration, as well.  It seems that the only ones to belatedly organize help to these people were some Protestants).

Now let’s go to another true story in Martyr’s Mirror.  Under the heading: “Weynken, a Widow, of Monickendam, November 20, 1527” (Ed:  This was in Holland). Weynken, an Anabaptist, was persecuted by both Zwinglians—Calvinist Protestants—and papists.

On November 15, Weynken was brought prisoner from the castle to the Hague.  On the 18^th, she was arraigned before the Governor and the full council of Holland.  There a woman asked her:  Have you well considered the things which my lords proposed to you?

Ans:  I abide by what I have said.

Ques:  If you do not speak differently, and turn from your error, you will be subjected to an intolerable death.

Ans:  If power is given to you from above, I am ready to suffer. (Ed: Here, please read Note 1 of 11--See Scriptures at end).

Ques:  Do you, then, not fear death, which you have never tasted?

Ans:  This is true; but I shall never taste death, for Christ says, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”(Note 2) The rich man (the only way to get rich in those days was, your family had oppressed the poor, so it was assumed he was non-Christian.  Jesus didn't have many nice words about richness either) tasted death, and shall taste it forever.(3)

Ques:  What do you hold concerning the sacrament?

Ans:  I hold your sacrament to be bread and flour, and if you hold it as God, I say that is your devil.

Ques:  What do you hold concerning the saints?

Ans:  I know no other Mediator than Christ.(4)

Ques:  You must die, if you abide by this.

Ans:  I am already dead.(5)

Ques:  If you are dead, how can you speak?

Ans:  The Spirit lives in me; the Lord is in me, and I am in Him (6)

Ques:  Will you have a confessor, or not?

Ans:  I have Christ, to Him I confess; nevertheless, if I have offended any, I would willingly ask them to forgive me.

Ques:  Who has taught you to this opinion, and how did you come to it?

Ans:  The Lord, who calls all men to Him; I am one of His sheep; therefore I hear His voice.(7)

During the two following days she was entreated and tempted by various persons, by monks, priests, women, and her nearest friends.  A woman, prompted by sincerity, commiserated with her after this fashion:

Ques:  Dear mother, can you not think what you please, and keep it to yourself?   Then you will not die.

Ans:  Dear sister, I am commanded to speak, and am constrained to do so.  Though they burn me tomorrow, or put me into a bag, I care not; I will adhere to the Lord.  It grieves me to see that these good men are all so blinded; I will pray the Lord for them.

(Ed Note:  This phrase “adhere” to the Lord was  like its synonym “abide,” to be found at John 15:5-7, 9-10, where our Lord says:

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit…⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you…  ⁹ “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love

(You can see why Meynken was critically interested in adhering to Christ; if we don’t do it, we are in danger of hell.)

Two Dominican friars came to her.  One showed her the crucifix, saying, “See, here is your Lord and your God.”  She answered, “This is not my God; the cross by which I am redeemed, is a different one.  This is a wooden god; throw him into the fire, and warm yourselves with him.”  (Ed:  Nothing is wrong with the crucifix—but in those days, and to a limited extent now, it was supposed to have special powers and was worshiped. Thus it became an idol.  That was her problem with it).  The other friar asked her in the morning she was to die, whether she would receive the sacrament (presumably Last Rites, which supposedly granted final absolution of sins).  She refused.  Upon his mention of Mass, she told him bluntly that he had crucified Christ anew.

Ques:  What do you hold concerning the holy oil?

Ans:  Oil is good for salad, or to oil your shoes with. (Ed:  Her great desire to eliminate popish practices went too far here, for as James 5:14 shows, oil might, with faith, bring on healing:

⁽ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

(She still might have had just cause to reject it in her day, because the Catholic church, in those days as now, has assumed several other powers of oil, thus calling it “holy oil.”  And even water, calling it “holy water.”  Those are unscriptural)

When she was again brought before the court, a monk held the crucifix before her face, saying, “Do recant before sentence is passed.”  But Weynken said, “I adhere to my Lord and my God; neither death nor life shall separate me from Him (8).  The Dean of Naeldwijck, the inquisitor, read the sentence in Latin and Dutch.  She was found in error with regard to the sacrament.  Thus she was a heretic, so he delivered her to the secular magistrate...but then he retired from the council, evidently impressed by her godliness.  The chancellor however immediately read that she should be burnt to ashes, and all her property to be confiscated.  Then Weynken said, “Has all been done now?  I beg you all that if I have harmed or offended any, that you will forgive me.”

As they were leaving the council chamber, the monk said to her that she should call upon our Lady to intercede for her.

Ans:  our lady is well content in God.

Ques:  Call upon her.

Ans: We have Christ, Who sitteth on the right hand of His Father; He prays for us (Ed: actually, it says “makes intercession for us”) (9).

Ques:  Will you condemn all these (Catholics)?

Ans: Not all.  Judgment belongs unto God. (10)

Ques:  Do you not fear the severe judgment of God?

Ans:  God comes not to condemn sinners, but to give them peace. (11)

On the scaffold (these people were burned publicly), the monk said, “Now you will have to go into the fire; do recant.” She said, “I am well content; the Lord’s will must be done.”

The executioner then made ready the ropes with which he was to strangle her.  She put the strap around her neck.  The monk finally said, “Do you renounce all heresy?”  She:  “I do.”  Monk:  “This is well; are you also sorry that you erred?” She:  “I formerly did err indeed (ed:  When she was a Catholic).  "This however is no error, but the true way, and I adhere to God.”

Then the executioner did his work.  November 20, 1527.

Our last entry is from 1572, in Foxe’s, called “A Horrible Massacre in France,” relating to St Bartholomew, in Paris.  A massacre was plotted by Catharine de Medicis, mother of the king Charles IX. It was carried out by Parisian nobles and citizenry.  The victims of this slaughter were yet another Protestant group, the Huguenots.  Unparalleled cruelties spread to other provinces, and within one month, an estimated 60,000 Protestants were slain of men and women alike.  When intelligence of the massacre was received at Rome, the greatest rejoicings took place, and a medal was struck to commemorate this “victory of the faith.”  The pope and his cardinals went in solemn procession to the church of St Mark, to give thanks to God.  A jubilee was also published.  Similar rejoicings were celebrated all over France. End of quote.

I think it is appropriate now to present the final words by a courageous man, vanquished in body, but not in soul, which is in heaven forevermore:  “I trust that my salvation is already sealed in heaven, and that the blood of Christ, in which I firmly trust, has washed away my sins.  I now cast off this mantle of clay, for robes of eternal glory.”

Now let us ponder the words of our Lord, in John 16:1-3:

“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. ^{2 ...}the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. ³ They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.”

Notes:  1. John 19:11   2. John 8:51   3. Luke 16:23  4. I John 2:19  5. Galatians 2:19   6. John 14:20   7. John 10:27  8. Romans 8:39  9. Romans 8:34   10. Hebrews 10:30   11. Luke 9:56.

Acknowledgements:  Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and Martyr’s Mirror.

Predestination and TULIP: True or False? (Part 2 of 2)

 We began our study of Calvin predestination last week by looking at T=Total Depravity and U=Unconditional Election.  We found both doctrines false and unscriptural.  This week we will finish the study by looking at L I and P, rounding out the famous "TULIP" doctrine.  Here we go with the letter "L."

Limited Atonement     

This is the teaching that our Lord died only for the elect.  How could any Calvinist defend this idea, when there are too many Scriptures that indicate that Christ died for all.  The verses I will cover prove that God makes Christ’s atonement available to everyone.  All people have the potential of being right with God.  God wants all to be saved (see I Tim. 2:3,4 for instance).  All that is now left is their positive choice. His love does not stop with a few lucky people, arbitrarily (and capriciously) selected.  Here’s a good verse to start with, II Corinthians 5:15:

and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Of course, the Calvinists’ response to the above verse is, “all” doesn’t really mean “all.”  They seem to have plenty of verses that show that all doesn’t always mean all.  But what do they say to this verse—I Timothy 4:10:

 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

Now if you know anything about English grammar, you can see how this word “especially” thrown in, also proves that Jesus died for the unsaved as well.

Another pair of comparison verses will prove it again, Romans 5:12, 18:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

The verses are saying, since by one man, Adam, sin and death entered and infected all men, so by one Man, Jesus, the free gift came (or was made available) to all men.  There is no way to get around the logic here.  Theologians of every stripe believe that Adam affected everybody; no man has ever been sinless their entire life since (except Jesus).  So, likewise, Jesus’ atonement was available to every single person so infected.  If “all” means “all” in verse 12, it has to mean “all” in verse 18.  The same word does not change meaning in an obviously comparative pair of verses.  If you’re a Calvinist, the “all” in v. 12 means “all;” but the “all” in v. 18 does NOT mean all. But Paul was an extremist on logic—he didn’t write that verse like Calvinists want.

The third nail in the coffin of Limited Atonement is I John 2:1-2:

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Once again, the inescapable clause at the end, “not for ours only” proves, without any doubt, that Christ also died for the ultimately unsaved.

So, how could Calvinists believe what is so easily proven to be a falsehood?  Because they love the security in their “gospel.”  The early followers of Calvin were the self-righteous civil ones, the wealthy, the ones who felt they were the beneficiaries of God’s love.  They loved feeling that their way to heaven was sure.  No religion gives more security than Calvinism.  Since that possibility was laid out by Calvin, people have flocked to it, despite its evident falsehood.  A Scripture probably applies here, II Timothy 4:3-4:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

Personally, this paper is an indictment of the beliefs of many of my Calvinistic friends, many of whom I believe are saved, despite believing this false doctrine.  I say that because they have testified that they seek God, have prayed for Christ to come in, and are humble in spirit, and wouldn’t say a bad word about anybody, and wouldn’t hurt a flea.  True Christianity.  But the doctrine also makes many people arrogant, unable to self-inspect, and incapable of change.  If wrapped in the cloak of a political party (Republicans today), they often feel that if the economy is good, and if the wealth keeps flowing in, their beliefs must be approved by God.

Irresistible Grace    

This is the idea that if God has predestined you for heaven, He must woo you through His Holy Spirit to accept Christ.  Calvinists obtain this doctrine partly from logic—i.e., if we are totally depraved, and if God already has eternal life with your name unconditionally on it, then it makes sense that He has to do the work of convincing you that Jesus died for your sins, and a skeptic should accept that logic. If someone seemed to accept Him, but then their lifestyle shows they rejected Him, then the assumption that He elected them was wrong.  Since God cannot be wrong, we misperceived their “salvation.”  God’s wooing of His elect will always be successful—it will be irresistible. Their lifestyle will prove it.

But as you can see, all this is founded upon (1) total depravity; and (2) unconditional election.  But we have disproved both of these above, so the irresistible grace doctrine lacks its major support. One of the few Scriptural verses that seem to back their doctrine is Romans 9:19:

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?

Notice the word “then;” this is a continuation of a previous argument.  The previous argument, in Romans 9:10-18, was discussed under Calvin’s “unlimited election”—which we disproved. As verses following Romans 9:19 points out, when people ask this, they do not understand what God is saying.  They assume He controls everyone’s fate, so how can He judge them, or make them accountable, for their actions?  “He controls us,” they cry, and we cannot resist His choice to save or damn us.  So, they conclude, He is responsible if my actions make me hell-bound. That’s not fair, they say.

But the previous verses in Romans 9, as we showed, talk about foreknowledge. He simply knows ahead of time what choices people or nations make. And as we said earlier, foreknowledge does not mean control. Scripture is full of verses that still hold us accountable for sin, and how our own bad choices could make us hell-bound.  People still blame God for His ultimately judging them—they just don’t want to be held accountable before God for their actions. Paul’s response to the accusatory question in v. 19 continues in Romans 9:20-29, pretty much as I’m outlining it here. The concepts are admittedly difficult, but their importance in light of our eternal destiny means we should push through it to understanding.  In the end, we should never assume God has bad intentions at heart.  It is reasonable that a sovereign eternal God, with omniscience, may do things that might be beyond our understanding.  We have to take it on faith that His love for us means that “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28)—rather than lashing out, blaming Him when things go wrong.

In summary, since this tenet of Calvinism rests on assumptions and verses that have been proven to be misinterpreted, we do not need to go further into discussion on this point.

Perseverance of the saints

This doctrine is what “once saved, always saved” is based on.  They look at Romans 8:39:

^… nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To dispute this, I would like to refer to my previous three blogs on Calvinism. I would like to add some fresh words from Thomas Taylor Ministries:

“The Bible is very clear that it is possible to lose one’s salvation and every Christian should be aware of that possibility.  Heb 10:26 – 31 explains it:

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

One attack that Calvinists use on this statement is, How does the verse say we were once saved when the word “saved” is not even used?  Our answer is:  It uses the phrase “received the knowledge of the truth;” that’s salvation. So, the verses are clearly saying that once saved, it’s possible (but disastrous) to fall back to be like the world, despising again what God has done.  He has given us access to salvation by His Son, which we would be rejecting again, thus trampling it underfoot; we would be despising Communion, which means we were symbolically taking His blood that was shed for us--and now reject; and we would be turning away from the power of sanctification, this method of freedom from the slavery of sin--that is only offered to His children.  Of course, we critically need to understand the phrase to “sin willfully” that brings about these disasters from God, this horror of a broken relationship with God. Look at the words, “fearful expectation of judgment,” “fiery indignation,” “devour the adversaries,” too.  Do these not describe the pit of hell for these people?  Do these not prostrate us, cause us to ask, “God, what are you saying here? Have I sinned willfully?” (If you sincerely ask it with a repentant heart, you probably haven’t).  Maybe the answer is in Hebrews 6:4-6:

 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

Verses 4 and 5 clearly teach that this person was saved, and has seen the many benefits of salvation.  If they then “fall away,” they have lost their salvation. They trigger, again, horrible responses from God.

Now another phrase of importance: What is “falling away?”

My own thought on defining these two phrases is, let’s start with “sin willfully.”  As we proved before, this person was saved.  “Sin willfully” probably means, you’re consciously thinking, “I know this is wrong, but I’m going to ignore the Holy Spirit’s pleas and do it anyhow; it’s just too pleasant to ignore.” And perhaps you never repent of it, or perhaps you “repent,” but do it again. (We have to be careful that we really “repent.” Study what it is.)  The Bible speaks of “hardening of the heart.”  That implies that doing a sin, even if you repent, and doing it over again, you experience hardening of the heart.  Eventually you don’t even believe yourself when you “repent”—and eventually you stop “repenting,” because you know that you’ll do the sin again, and you realize you’re a hypocrite for pretending to repent.  If you sin over and over and do not really improve (by sinning less) after you were saved, (or if you are not gradually releasing yourself from addiction after you were saved), and you enjoy the sin too much to resist, and repeatedly squelch the Holy Spirit--you are unlikely to be saved anymore. Thus you can lose your salvation, and your “perseverance” does not happen.  And Calvinism is wrong because this downslide happens somewhere in America frequently.  I’ve seen it, and I’ve heard people testify of it.

Now, thinking about “falling away;” it so happens that this is the definition of apostasy.  In order to “fall away” from something, you had to be attached to that something, right?  So to “fall away” from the truth, you had to be attached to the truth in the first place.  Logically, that says this person was initially saved—but fell away and became unsaved.  Also, as we have pointed out, the verses above also say this person was saved. After they were saved, they “fell away.”  Perhaps they came to rejecting the intellectual truths of Scripture, but preferred to conjure up doctrines to live by instead, or preferred to live by heretical beliefs of religions that aren’t even close to the Apostle’s Creed—which is the unalterable creed of a real Christian. They could, on the other hand, fall away into the world as well (some Christians call this “backsliding”). But if you’re so ensnared with the world, God cannot keep you; you must realize the danger, and try like crazy to disassociate from it. He requires that you live holy.  Assuming you've made public your attachment to Christ, you carry a light, and you must separate from the world’s culture, lest you drag His name through the mud with your sinful activities.  You would be putting Christ to an open shame. And once again, you lose the salvation you once had.  (I’ve got better proofs in my blogs.)  And again, there is no “perseverance,” and Calvinism is wrong.

So there you have it, all 5 points of Calvinism are separated from Scripture.  For those who are “3-point Calvinists,” or “4 point Calvinists,” or the hard-as-a-rock “5-point Calvinists,” it’s best to just be a “no-point” Calvinist.  Learn to read your Scripture with discernment, taking ALL of it into account.  All its tenets are un-Scriptural and wrong.  Its leader, John Calvin, might not have been a saved man.  (I have another blog just on him).  Don’t just “go with the flow.”  The question of heaven or hell is too important for that.  Read Scripture thoroughly, with meditation.  Spend time studying this—avoiding hell is worth it.

Acknowledging again the sermon of pastor Anderson, Five points of Calvinism Refuted, in 2013.  He was brief on these latter points, he was running out of time.  His ideas in Part 2 have also been softened, edited, and summarized, and much of mine added.

Predestination and TULIP: True or False?

 More churches are preaching Calvinism.  This system of beliefs is a long-time canon of the Presbyterian, the Reformed, and the United Church of Christ doctrines, and is an important tenet in about half the Baptist churches.  Most megachurches preach it, and most evangelical authors believe it.  It is a growing phenomenon among evangelical churches, according to a New York Times article (January 3, 2014).  But what is Calvinism?

The doctrine was created by John Calvin, who lived in the 16^th century.  Its primary theses are summarized in the word TULIP.

T=Man’s Total Depravity

U=God’s Unconditional Election

L=Christ’s Limited Atonement

I=The Holy Spirit’s Irresistible Grace

P=Preservation of the saints

I would like to summarize each in turn, as Calvinists see them.

Total Depravity, according to Calvinists, means mankind has no desire, or, more importantly, no ability, to approach God for salvation.  Man has no free will.  Man is spiritually dead, and is not interested—even cannot—be born again or accept Christ.  Consequently, the only way he can be saved is for God to take the initiative.

Unconditional Election means God made a choice to save certain people before they were even born, without regard for any future works of theirs, good or evil, being part of His decision about who would go to heaven, who would go to hell.  They were “predestined” for their final destination. The people He chose for heaven was a totally arbitrary move on His part.

Limited Atonement:  Jesus did not die for everyone; only for His ultimately saved elect people.

Irresistible Grace:  God’s action to save a person who is predestined for heaven cannot be resisted.  Since they were elected, and predestined to enter heaven, God will not have His choice denied.

Perseverance of the saints:  God keeps His people so they can never be lost.  Once you are saved, you are always saved.

I would like to comment on each of these points, proving that each of them is not taught in Scripture—the opposite, in fact, is what the Bible teaches. (I have another blog on John Calvin, if you’d like to know what manner of man he was.)

Total Depravity

Several of Calvin’s doctrines teach that man does not have a free choice.  Calvinism teaches that man cannot approach God; God has to approach man.  Abundant Scriptures dispute this. Consider Revelation 22:17:

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

 As the verse implies, "let him who thirsts...desires, take the water," we can have a desire for Christ before regeneration. The original King James says “Whosoever will…take the water of life…”  That means “whosoever wills their mind to it, or “whosoever has a desire to…” God would not call us like this, unless we can respond.  To think otherwise would be a cruel hoax on God's part.  It’s our choice.  We have the power to will ourselves to turn to God. In Deuteronomy 30:19 God says, “Choose life.”  Joshua 24:15 says, in Scripture, “Choose this day whom you will serve; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”   In John 5:40 Jesus says,

 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

 Would Jesus have said that if it were impossible to do, if we presumably are not able?  Of course not.

Calvinists love to cite John 6:44:

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

There, they say, the Father must draw us.  But they fail to mention John 12:32, which explains what Jesus meant by being “drawn.”

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

His crucifixion (and resurrection) does the drawing.  Not some choice God made before we were born. Also, note the importance of that little word “all.”  Truly a non-Calvin word.

Calvinists have another pair of favorite verses, John 12:39-40:

Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”

 Folks, the idea that God erects obstacles to people being saved is slander to His character. Let’s not forget II Peter 3:9 about God’s love for us and His wonderful desire for our fellowship:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

So what is the meaning of, “He has blinded their eyes?”  Quite possibly, this word is Jew-specific.  The Jews had proven, by earlier chapters in John (like chapters 7 and 8) that they blinded their own eyes. They hated Jesus from the start.  He disrupted the system. The phrase “He has blinded” probably means God often sets us in a circumstance that lets us see or make public which side we’re on.  If we choose against Christ in such a test, it is the choice we do on our own. What He is doing is, He will not just let us drift into hell without a public display of where we stand. Such a test is to our own benefit because it makes us think of our choice, and hopefully change our mind at some point, or makes us fear judgment if we see that we are in rebellion to Christ.

So, we conclude that God would not blind our eyes, without us blinding Him.  He would love it if ALL would be saved; that’s the patient desire of His heart.

Or, consider Romans 1, where people that are reprobate have blinded vision.  Plenty of Jews were (and, sadly, are) in that category.

Here's another verse:  When Calvinists read Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

 They think that faith is the gift of God. And, of course, they then assume God provides the faith—nothing we initiate.  Well, to dispute this, any Greek student who studies grammar will tell you that the sentence is set up so that grace is the gift of God. His grace is not of ourselves.  And God provides grace to everyone, not just “the elect.” We cannot boast that we did something to earn God’s grace. But we have to make a choice to put our faith in Jesus.

On a side note, Calvinists argue that the words “free will” are not used in the Bible in connection of salvation.  But the term is used 17 times in connection of offerings that we make to God, which we voluntarily give.  That is a model of God’s intention.  He does not like robots.  He desires that we give ourselves to Him voluntarily, of our free will.

Unconditional Election

 This is the idea that God chose some of us to be saved, and His determination did not require any prior action on our part; (they assume that we would claim to "deserve" salvation).  It was unconditional love for the elect on His part (and unconditional bad news for the rest of humanity who were not so chosen. In effect, God chose them for hell) To dispute this: Consider Romans 10:9:

…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

 Well, does that place conditions on us to be saved?  Of course.  On the other hand, if God is making you open your mouth, and making you believe what He wants you to believe, then we would truly be robots.  And we’ve already disputed that.

The favorite verses for this belief for Calvinists are Romans 9:10-18:

…when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac ¹¹ (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), ¹² it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated ¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

Calvinism tries to claim that Jacob was chosen to be saved by God’s election, unconditionally, beforehand--and Esau was not so chosen. But this is a New Testament quote from the Old Testament.  Let’s look back, as we should always do, to get context, at the original Scriptures. We will find that the subject here is NOT salvation—and it is not even about Jacob or Esau!  The first quote, “the older shall serve the younger” (see v. 12 above), was from Genesis 25:23.  Here is the original verse:

And the Lord said to her (Rebekah, Isaac’s wife): “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”

 With the words “nations,” and “peoples” (twice), we see God is not talking about Jacob or Esau, but about their tribes of descendants.  A very important find. You see, in later Scripture in Genesis, we don’t find Esau serving Jacob at any point (in fact, at one point, Jacob bows to him and gives him gifts).  But we do see that the nation Israel (Jacob’s spiritual name) dominates over the nation Edom (from Esau).  Thus, this entire quote is about nations. That’s what prophetically came true. Importantly, God can choose one nation to dominate over another without defying His rules on individual salvation.

The second quote, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,” (v. 13 above) is found in Malachi 1:2-3.  For context again, let’s take a look back, again, at the original:

"I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; ³ But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.”

Here again, the completion of the sentence put a whole different meaning on it:  it refers to “mountains and his heritage”—thus, again, the nation, the descendants of Esau, are in view, not Esau himself.  Consider also, the name Esau means "hairy;" and the word Edom (the nation) means "red." So he and the nation's DNA were red-haired folks.  The words are tied together.  So when you use the name, you could be referring to the ascendant of the nation.  Thus, there is no clear evidence that God hated the man Esau.  And thus, God does not doom a man before he is even born or “save” a man before he is born.  Thus, His election in the Calvinistic manner of defining it does not stand. The Romans 9 verses, so loved by Calvinists, does not really say what they want it to say.  The salvation of Jacob or Esau is not at issue as they think.  To me, the answer is pretty clear:  It simply makes no sense in God's character to say that He hated someone before they were born.

Let’s just talk a little about what brings about salvation in the Old Testament; Isaac was born of Abraham’s faith in God’s promise.  It took faith to believe that they could have a son, since they were too old.  Isaac was also born to a free woman, Abraham’s wife Sarah. Ishmael was born of a slave woman, born of Abraham’s weakness of the flesh. Isaac, to show his faith, took a wife from God’s chosen people; Ishmael took a pagan wife.  As you can see, they made choices. Faith in God produced salvation in the Old Testament.

God simply foreknew that Esau’s descendants would hate God, and worship idols (which is the case); and He chose the nation Israel to carry His Commandments and Old Covenant to the world, so people could see their sin before His judgment.

Let’s address again the big elephant in the room, the major flaw in Calvin's theology: how could God “un-elect,” and send a man to hell before he is even born?  That’s what the election of a few, and the rejection of the majority, results in for the rest. Such a thing is not His character, folks!  All of His Word tells of His patience for all to turn to Him; He wants us to make a free choice.

For a Scriptural definition of predestination, look at Romans 8:29-30:

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

 Note how it doesn’t begin as “whom He predestined, He foreknew...”  It starts with His foreknowledge.  What is foreknowledge?  God is the master of time; He knows what every person in the world will do all their lives in all of history—before any of it happens. An incredible feat.  What’s even neater, for us, is that He will inject Himself personally into our lives at just the right moment, doing everything with a goal of having us see His love for us and hopefully having us see the failure of the cultures of the broken world to keep us happy.  Yes, He knew before we were born which of us would be saved.  But foreknowledge does not mean that God was in control of our decision. He watched and wooed through time. He could see ahead of time that some of us would accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Then we were predestined for heaven. But even though He knew this before we were born, He never made the choice for us.  He directs outside activity to help all of us lean His way, but some people still reject Him; and ultimately He has to watch us make a choice—for good or bad.  Our election is our own.

Acknowledgement:  The sermon of pastor Anderson, Five points of Calvinism Refuted, in 2013, has been softened, edited, and summarized.  See next week for the "LIP" of TULIP in Calvinism.

The Kingdom of God in the Mind of Christ and in the Beatitudes

Salvation is not the end of God’s design for our lives; it is a means to an end.  The end is to be a functioning member of the Kingdom of God.  We must move away from a “Save Me” religion, wanting something for me—rather, it should be something for God.

The best definition of the Kingdom is in the Lord’s Prayer:  “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven…”  We want God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  How is God’s will done in heaven?  We have a very beautiful picture in Isaiah 6, where he is telling us that King Uzziah died.  He was a good king, reigned for 52 years, one of the more powerful kings of Judah—the nation did many great things under him.  Isaiah placed great confidence in him.  But the king became very proud, and decided to reach out and become a priest as well (forbidden in Israeli religion).  When he made the offering in the temple, God struck him with leprosy. And from then to the end of his life, the prophet Isaiah had to hear this man whom he had admired, shouting repeatedly outside the congregation “Unclean! Unclean!”

God knew the sadness Isaiah had, but He wanted to teach Isaiah that we should place limited confidence in Man. Only in God.  So He gave Isaiah a vision—he saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of his garment filled the temple. He made Isaiah see reality--the greatness of God, much more than the greatness of Uzziah.  Then he saw the seraphim—and that’s where we get a picture of how God’s will is done in heaven. The word seraphim literally means “burners;” fiery, copper-colored creatures, burning in their zeal to do whatever God said. They had six wings.  Wings covered their faces, their feet, and there were wings ready to fly.  That’s how God’s will is done in heaven—promptly, with passion, without question—and with humility.  Isaiah then cried, “Woe is me.”  Here is probably the holiest man in Israel saying, “I am nothing.”  That’s the attitude that we need to perform God’s will on earth.  We’re going to have to have the same attitude the seraphim had.  And Isaiah saw that he was far from that, as we all are.

Romans 12:3 says we ought to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  Did you ever notice what is the first evidence of the renewed mind?  Read  the following verses carefully:

And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed  by the renewing of your mind...for I say through the grace given to me,… not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.”

That is the first evidence of a Spirit-filled and renewed mind—to have a proper view of ourselves. After all, humility ought to be a prominent theme of the Lord’s people.  Think of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples.  We want to have the mind of Christ.

Philippians 2 has more to say on this topic, telling us that we are to have His mind, then telling us what the mind of Jesus was like.  Five things happened in His Incarnation.  (1) He didn’t think it was robbery, or something He had to have, to be equal with God—although that had been His experience up to this point. He was willing to step down to reconcile humanity.  Mankind thinks the opposite—once you reach a certain level, you’ll do most anything to at least hold your position.  Jesus was at the very top—and He didn’t find it necessary to keep that.  He stripped Himself of all the privileges and dignity and deity; “he emptied Himself.”  This is before He ever left heaven. And then (2) He would become God’s servant.  God will give the orders; Jesus was going to fulfill them. Through seven chapters of John (4 through 10), we have that picture.  We have something in every one of those chapters that says, “I don’t do anything but what my Father tells me.”  This was humility.  Before, He and His Father had always done things together. And now He chooses to become a slave, as it were.  (3) And then He became a man.  I don’t think we can imagine the step down to do that; maybe it would be like from us to being a mouse.  But this was a much bigger step down.  I might even do that if I were sure there wasn’t a cat.  Jesus prayed, Hebrews tells us, that God would deliver His soul from death.  From the tomb.  Why?  He had come to the most dangerous part of His earthly existence—after all this mistreatment, could He avoid having a bitter thought, or saying an angry word?  If he did, He would have stayed in that grave.  He begged God to give Him victory, to come out of that experience and resurrect.  Since He was 100% man (as well as 100% God), since He endured the temptations that we all face, when He came down to be a man, He took a great risk. Unless you believe that there was no possibility that He could have sinned—but then He wasn’t like man. (That whole subject is a debatable issue). (4) As a man, He renounced His heavenly position.  He didn’t come as a king, or a priest; He was constantly faced with the accusatory question, “By what authority do you do this?”  He came as an ordinary person. (5) He allowed His creation to kill him.  That wouldn’t have been so bad if it were a heroic death, with at least "Taps" playing, or his name sketched on a wall, or buried somewhere special.  But it was the death on the cross—the most ignominious death that anybody could suffer.  So here we have Jesus—who went from the absolute top to the absolute bottom—by choice.  It wasn’t a “have to” putting down, it was a voluntary humbling.  He chose this.  This is the mind of Christ.  He modeled humility, obedience, and self-humbling.  People, we should always take the “low road” of humility—that’s always the right road.

As Philippians says, because He did this voluntarily, God highly exalted Him.  Scripture says to us, “he that humbles himself, God will exalt him.”  That’s a promise.  God will take care of your reputation, but that's in heaven.

Now let’s move from the mind of Christ to how Jesus acted in His kingdom.  Matthew 5, the Beatitudes, shows how He exemplified the kingdom in His experience.  Many phrases begin with “Blessed.” What does that word mean?—to be envied.  God is backing up each of these behaviors with tremendous promise; and to place yourself in His will, means He will pour out His promise on us—this is the best place to be.

The first character is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  This means we are a learner—able to get down off our high horse, lay aside all prejudices, all biases, and sit there like a child—and learn. By reading Scripture with fresh eyes, by meditating on it. Most people can’t do that.  Louis Pasteur discovered the germ theory of disease.  They didn’t even know about germs.  Many people died of infection, since doctors and nurses wouldn’t even wash their hands going to surgery, or from one patient to another.  But despite all his data proving the lowered mortality where simple washing of hands were done, he couldn’t convince any of them, and he was heartbroken.  Going to all the trouble of washing, washing, washing was stupid, they said.  They were educated! You are only a chemist.  “We are doctors!  We have been trained—you have not. You are not going to tell us.”  Folks, you won’t get into the kingdom until that attitude is done.  Did you know Jesus was a learner?  You didn’t think He had to learn anything, did you? He had to learn what it felt like in flesh to obey, when you're tired, when you are in pain.  And all who follow Him are learners, ready to obey—no matter what it costs.  Dismiss your preconceptions.  Learn.

“Blessed are they that mourn.” The Bible says that some won’t see the kingdom of God; but once you want Christ, you get a whole new set of eyes.  You begin to really see the world—and you’re not laughing anymore at its jokes.  You’re not laughing anymore at its sitcoms, which picture no real family, or stupid fathers (or no fathers, or gay parents), or its version of hypocritical preachers.  That’s how they think of God's laws.  That stuff’s not funny anymore.  I heard a sermon that somebody can tell what you are by seeing what you cry about.  Most people cry about their own problems; you will be crying about the needs of your heart, and the needs of the world.  Sam Hadley was the leader of the Bowery Mission.  He had been a drunk on the street and had been converted and now was the leader of the Mission.  One evening he had Charles Alexander, who was the singer for Billy Sunday, come to the Mission to sing. After the meeting, Charles Alexander said, “I would like to see the Bowery.”  So Sam Hadley took him in his car around to all its places.  Afterwards, Sam said goodbye.  Charles Alexander walked around the corner.  And just as he got around the corner, he thought he heard somebody cry. As he turned around and walked back, there was Sam Hadley, leaning against a lamp post, saying “Oh, God!  The sin of this city breaks my heart!” He couldn’t contain his crying.  That’s the attitude you will have toward the world, the broken world you live in, all its shortcomings.  Learn about how people are treated in countries besides your own.  It's an eye-opener.  Your reaction should Not be just thanking God you were born in a country that treats people this way.  Your own sorrow for your inability.  But the Word says you will be comforted; you will begin to see results—if you respond in that way to your own sin, and the sins of the world. You’ll see healing, and changes take place.

“Blessed are the meek.”  Meek people are gentle.  They’re mild.  They’re harmless. The Word says, “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” They’re strong people, but it’s strength under discipline. They don’t ever lash out, they don’t hurt other people.  They use their strength in other ways.   A strong man who sets down beside that little boy, and teaches him or her with patience; that’s a picture of meekness. You can afford to be meek, I’ll tell you why.  If you’re part of the Kingdom, the universe is on your side.  In the Old Testament, you remember Sisera?  He came charging down over those hills, with his iron chariots, and there was the Israeli standing army.  He thought, “This is a lead-pipe cinch,” but there was a thunderstorm upstream, and the whole valley was flooded, and his chariots got stuck, and he ran into the tent of Jael, went to sleep, and she drove a stake through his head…and he was dead.  You know what the Bible says?  “The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.”  (Judges 4:12-23; 5:20).  Now, if you’re against the God who directs the universe, you’re not going to win.  But you can afford to be meek, because the whole universe is behind you.  You will win, because God’s Kingdom will not fail.  So you can afford not to "get even" with people, and manipulate to make your “program” work.  Just let it go. And do what’s right. You’re not a weakling. But you will not force, you will not hurt, you will not use those kind of tactics on anybody. Remember the promise for being meek:  “And they shall inherit the earth.”  Slavery disappeared in the Roman Empire; and all the Christians did was obey the Gospel.  It was done without any violence.

Next. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” We’re talking about being right. You will be blessed because that is what you were made for.  You are not constitutionally made, or physically made to hate, or have anger, or revenge.  You were made to love. What is it to be merciful?  To feel pain when others have pain.  The word for compassion literally means, the spleen.  If you have a deep deep concern for someone who is in trouble, your digestive system will tell you about it.

“Blessed are the pure in heart.”  Those who are sold out for God; their heart of desire has nothing else in it--just desire for God.  This person will see God.  They will really learn to know who God is.  There are lots of people who have real problems with God—but if they purify their hearts, they can really know Him and His love.  He is benevolent, gracious, extravagant.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.”  To be just like God.  He is a peacemaker.  Think of Ephesians 1:10:  “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” If there is any place that you experience a problem, you will have a passion to reconcile.

And finally, “Blessed are the persecuted.”  That is where the greatest power that is ever on this earth is released—when a person suffers for Christ.  Martyrs often rejoiced at death's door, for they understood something we don’t understand.  When the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world clashes, something supernatural is going to happen.

May God help us to develop these characters, truly following our Savior—and helping to build His Kingdom.

Acknowledgement:  This is a Summary of speech from John M. Martin, the Anabaptist Identity Conference, 2010, Florida 

Are the Christian God and Allah the Muslim God the Same? Their Scriptures Reveal Their Characters

 Islam is touted as being a peaceful religion. But those who most closely follow the Quran often become killers. 450 out of 452 suicide attacks in 2015 were carried out by the most dedicated Muslims.

The god of Muslims, Allah, is lately touted as being the same god as the Christian God.  Progressives say we must tolerate everyone's path to heaven.  But that is not the case, as I will show clearly. After I talk about their founder, Muhammad, I will quote their Quran, and then ask you, honestly:  Which god is worthy of worship?  Does following the Quran make  them fanatics?

Let’s start with the life of Muhammad, the one who brought us the  Muslim religion.  A typical bio goes like this:  He was born in 570 AD.  Orphaned as a small child, he lived mostly with his uncle.  As an adult, he had physical disorders, and spent much time alone.  At age 40, the angel “Gabreel” visited him and dictated the Quran, and he began proselytizing people.  Believing Middle Easterners considered him the last of God’s prophets.  Followers recorded statements from him; these are called the Hadiths.  The Hadiths were the basis for sharia law.  He became involved in bloody military campaigns to force conversion to his doctrine, by which he unified the Saudi peninsula and converted people to Islam, all at the point of the sword.  He died, presumably, in 632 AD.

That’s the bland treatment.  Now let’s get to the real facts.  Muhammad was born four years after his named father died, which means somebody is lying about who is his father.  They had to do something to make him legitimate, so they came up with the following:  the time of pregnancy can be six months to five years.  That explains it!  But it sort of reduces their credibility, I should say.

Muhammad’s named parents were idol-worshipers.  When Muhammad was in his mother’s womb, she says that “light came out of me.”  Muhammad said he asked Allah, his god, to forgive his mother (for idol-worship), when she died. But he says Allah told him No.  So Muhammad said that his mother is in hell.  The reality is, there was an issue between Muhammad and his mother:  she didn’t believe in him as prophet of a new religion. So he got back by slandering her.  (I suppose that's one way to get retribution).

Actually, Muhammad did not prophesy a single future event, so he was not really a prophet.  The Quran, which was supposedly  dictated from the angel Gabreel, is filled with errors and hatred. We will focus on it. The Hadiths, Muhammad's statements, had even more egregious errors, as we will show in the few that we use.  Muhammad had epileptic fits beginning at age five.  He was a shepherd and merchant.  He had at least 13 wives and numerous concubines--though the Quran gave a suggested “limit” on the proper wife count for a man to four total (it doesn’t limit concubines, by the way).  The purpose of one of his marriages was for her to watch over his third and favorite wife, Aisha, whom he married when she was six years old! He was 51 at the time of that marriage!

Thus, Muhammad was a pedophile.  Muslim scholars say, he did not penetrate her until she was nine, so he considered himself “self-controlled.”  Muslims also say that Saudi Arabia, with high climatic temperatures, mature girls at an earlier age, so she didn't really think like a nine-year-old.  Oh, another great medical solution.  Actually, though, the Quran backs up early marriage.  In sura 65:4, to determine if a girl or woman is pregnant, regarding stopped menstruation, it says, in handling the women (or, actually, girls):  “…if you doubt, the prescribed waiting time is three months,  as well as for those who have not yet begun menstruation.”  This is proof that the Quran allowed the men to act their perversions on the little girls.  So the Quran permitted marriage and pregnancy for child brides.  Muhammad also married his son’s wife after their divorce.  For yet another wife, Muhammad killed her father, brother, and Jewish husband.  Then he took her as wife and had sex with her the same night after he murdered her family!

Muhammad repeatedly committed the sin of adultery with Mary, a Coptic woman (a sect of Christianity).  I have to say, since he was considered a great prophet, the Quran gave him a total pass on his lust.  In sura 33:50:  “A believing woman (i.e., believing in Muslim--which she wasn't), if she gives herself to the prophet, if the prophet desires to have sex with her, this is a "privilege" (for her)…so there is no shame  on your (ed., the woman's) part.  And Allah was forgiving, merciful.”  Thus, she can be single or married, it didn’t matter, if a woman had sex (consensual or not) with a great prophet like the lustful Muhammad, you're supposed to appreciate it and not feel any guilt.

Keep in mind that Muslim scholars, who insisted in their later English “translations” (or “re-translations”) of the Quran, to hide his fornications with single women, they modified the wording to presume his marriage to them came first.  Don’t believe them.

Another interesting case was how Muhammad proved his prophethood, when he was “visited” by the angel Gabreel.  He was, as is often the case, spending time in solitary, a cave, but one day, scared of a spirit he saw, convinced it was a demon,  ran out to his wife.  She told him to sit on her thighs, and asked, three times, “Do you see the spirit now?”  He answered “Yes.”   Then she uncovered and exposed herself, and asked it again.  This time the answer was “No.”   She concluded it was an angel and not a demon, because angels would not be in the presence of uncovered women. That visit by an angel guaranteed that he was a great prophet. They did not consider the distinct possibility that it was indeed a demon, who knew enough about a superstitious custom to disappear at the right time.

His first 13 years of preaching the message in Mecca was a failure. That’s because he used a peaceful method to present it.  He had 72 followers at the end.   of 13 years. Most of his Arab neighbors, tired of his proselytizing, began to torment him. So he and his few followers had to move to Medina.   He then threatened to kill the Jewish inhabitants of Medina.  So a Jewish man offered to give Muhammad the entire city and all their money if he would allow the men to walk out with their wives and children.  And they would leave their weapons behind.  The “peaceful” prophet refused.  Then he had the boys and men all decapitated, about 700, their bodies buried in a trench, and the women became concubines.   But first they were forced to walk through the corpses. This was the beginning of his first "missionary journey."

Having his first taste of blood, he later wrote a new sura in the Quran.  Gabreel now separately “told” him that Allah gave him permission to engage in war, per sura 22:39:  “Permission is given to those who engage in war because they were wronged, and surely Allah is capable of helping them.”  Well, he was wronged, because they didn't believe him.  He persuaded more people from Mecca to move to Medina, and thus increased his followers.  (Some Jews left alive in Medina believed in him because he bribed them, or they were in fear for their lives).  Shortly after that, Allah also legalized jihad—war with non-believers, and allowed forced conversion.

As he recognized his talent for killing, he began forming an army and raided local Arab villages, especially the rich people’s homes, and raided caravans.  Now the language of the Quran, still coming from Gabreel, became more violent and harsh.  Gabreel "told" him to claim 20% of all spoils from such raids, per the Quran’s sura 8:41: “And know that whatever you take of spoil…a fifth part to Allah and to the messenger (that would be him).”

Finally Muhammad died at the age of 62, after sweeping all over Arabia.  He was poisoned—Muslims believed it was from a Jewish lady.  But obviously he had his share of enemies, rather than just blaming Jews.  Most of his followers immediately left the religion.  But a few of his most dedicated followers “persuaded” them back so they could continue.

Enough of his high-character life.  Now let’s show what the Quran teaches.  I have to mention, first, its doctrine of abrogation.  In the early days, the Quran points out, in 6:34, that it is perfect and can’t be changed:  “no one can change the words of Allah.”  But later he found a need to change some things, so, eureka, we have sura 2:106:  “Whatever verse we abrogate, or cause it to be forgotten, we bring a better than it or like it.  Do you not know that Allah has might over all things?”  Now the big question is, How many portions of the perfect Quran contain abrogation (or, have been changed)?   The answer is, 71 suras are so affected—but there are only 114 in all.  These are serious changes;  for instance, sura 9:5, called The Verse of the Sword, abrogates 124 verses that spoke softly about other religions and other people—such as being decent to the People of the Book ("the Book" is the Bible, so this was tolerance of Christians.)  So evidently he weakened, wrote some tolerant verses—but these were negated, or abrogated, by the new suras.  A little history to explain that.  When he was way outnumbered by his enemies in Mecca, when he was a minority religion, when he was even afraid of Allah, who could appear as a demon, he originally softened his tune—he praised his enemies’ gods intentionally, flattering them that he was their friend—so they wouldn’t kill him.  At that time he wrote nice things about other religions in the Quran.  But when his numbers acquired strength, he decided that those decent verses in the Quran must have been dictated to him by Satan.  Thus they had to be abrogated—en masse.  As my favorite author/resource on this says, “When they (Muslims) are weak in a land, they lie and deceive the people…by stating that they also believe in Jesus…until they have the upper hand.  Then is when they will practice the hate of those Quran verses.”  As sura 47:35 admits the strategy, “So do not be weak and do not call for peace when you have the upper hand.  And Allah is with you.”

Now it's time for a comparison:  What does our Scripture say about our God vs what does the Quran say about Allah, their god?  Are they the same god?  Let’s start with the Christian God.

Jesus is the only Son of God.  Yet He was in God, and was God

Isaiah 9:6:

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John 1:1-3, 14:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 14:7,9,10:

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him”…He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?

See also Romans 9:5, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1;16, 2:9, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, and II Peter 1:1.  Again, a difficult concept—but the Word says it.

God loves us, is merciful and forgiving, hates to see anyone in hell—but must judge us and our rejection of Him

John 3:16:

God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Exodus 34:6-7:

And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

II Peter 3:9:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Jesus (God on earth) prophesied the future, healed, had compassion, warned of hell, died for us, and rose again from the dead

His compassion and healing:  The verses here are too many to count, and are well known. I can’t resist giving you one, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. John 11:32-43

Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” ³⁷ And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” ⁸ Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying…^. 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 

Jesus predicted he would be betrayed, who His betrayer was, and Peter’s denial.  Mark 10:33:

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles;

Matthew 26:23, 25, 26

He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. .. ²⁵ Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said to him, “You have said it.”

Mark 14:29-30, 71-72

 ²⁹ Peter said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.” ³⁰ Jesus said to him,  “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.”…. (Later)Then he (Peter, under pressure) began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”  ⁷² A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept.

Jesus predicts His crucifixion and the exact date of His resurrection from the dead

Matthew 20:18-19

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, ¹⁹ and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”

As He said, He rose from the dead, Matthew 28:1-6, John 20:19-21

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. ³ His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay….Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.²¹ So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 

Now let’s look at the god Allah.  After you compare them, you will be asked, “Which do you think is more worthy of worship?”

Allah had no “female partner” so he had no son.  He called those who believe in the Trinity of God “polytheists.”  Followers of Allah say, Christian trinity worships the Father, the Son, and Mary

4:48 …Whoso ascribeth partners to Allah, he hath indeed invented a tremendous sin.

5:75 The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger.

Allah has no mercy, is uncaring, unforgiving, capricious

2:10 In their hearts is a disease, and Allah increases their disease. A painful doom is theirs since they lie.

2:15 Allah (Himself) doth mock them, leaving them to wander blindly

2:17-18 Allah taketh away their light and leaveth them in darkness, where they cannot see, Deaf, dumb and blind; and they return not.

13:14 The prayer of disbelievers goeth (far) astray.

14:19 If He will, He can remove you and bring (in) some new creation;

3:128 It is no concern at all of thee (Muhammad) whether He relent toward them or punish them

4:119 And surely I will lead them astray, and surely I will arouse desires in them…

2:142 Unto Allah belong the East and the West. He guideth whom He will unto a straight path.

4:168-9 Those who disbelieve and deal in wrong, Allah will never forgive them, neither will He guide them unto a road, Except the road of hell, wherein they will abide for ever. And that is ever easy for Allah.

5:41 He whom Allah doometh unto sin, thou (by thine efforts) wilt avail him naught against Allah. Those are they for whom the Will of Allah is that He cleanse not their hearts. Theirs in the world will be ignominy, and in the Hereafter an awful doom

6:25 Of them are some who listen unto thee, but We have placed upon their hearts veils, lest they should understand, and in their ears a deafness.

6:149 …Had He willed He could indeed have guided all of you.

7:164 Why preach ye to a folk whom Allah is about to destroy or punish with an awful doom,

7:178 He whom Allah leadeth, he indeed is led aright, while he whom Allah sendeth astray - they indeed are losers

9:113 It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire.

10:100 It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of Allah

23:27 (Noah)…plead not with Me on behalf of those who have done wrong. Lo! they will be drowned ..

32:13 I will fill hell with the jinn and mankind together

66:2 Allah hath made lawful for you (Muslims) absolution from your oaths (So, do Muslims make good citizens in court?)

17:72 Whoso is blind here will be blind in the Hereafter, and yet further from the road

Allah is a misogynist (a woman-hater)

2:222 They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness, so let women alone at such times

2:223 Your women are a tilth for you (a plowed field) so go to your tilth as ye will (plow them as ye will)

2:228 And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness, (but) men are a degree above them

2:283 (In trials):  And call two witness from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not at hand, then a man and two women (e.g., female witness is worth half that of a man).

4:3 …marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four

4:11 Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females

4:15 As for those of your women who are guilty of lewdness, call to witness four of you against them…then confine them to the houses until death (it didn’t take much for the women to be accused of “lewdness;” showing her face, or part of a leg, etc)

4:24 And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess.

4:34 Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient…As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them.

4:43 And if ye have touched women, and ye find not water, then go to high clean soil and rub your faces and your hands (therewith). Lo! Allah is Benign, Forgiving. (I.e., dirt is cleaner than a woman.)

53:27 It is those who disbelieve in the Hereafter who name the angels with the names of females

66:10 the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot...betrayed them and it was said (unto them, when they die): Enter the Fire (hell) along with those who enter (this tale has no support; it's just lies against women).

Allah loves war and recommends hatred and killing of non-Muslims

4:74 Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.

3:110 Ye (Muslims) are the best community that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah. And if the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) had believed it had been better for them. Some of them are believers; but most of them are evil-livers.

3:118 O ye who believe! Take not for intimates others than your own folk, who would spare no pains to ruin you; they love to hamper you. Hatred is revealed by (the utterance of) their mouths

2:109 Many of the people of the Scripture long to make you disbelievers after your belief… Forgive and be indulgent (toward them) until Allah give command (uh, command to do what?)

2:191 And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out…Such is the reward of disbelievers.

2:216 Warfare is ordained for you.

4:89 …So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them

4:91 If they keep not aloof from you nor offer you peace (i.e., if they are not surrendering)… then take them and kill them wherever ye find them. Against such We have given you clear warrant.

8:39 And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah

8:65 O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight…they shall overcome those who disbelieve, because they are a folk without intelligence.

9:33 He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse.

9:73 O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them.

28:86 never be a helper to the disbelievers.

9:111 Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden (heaven) will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain.

Allah hates Jews and Christians

2:63a, 65 And remember, O Children of Israel…ye know of those of you who broke the Sabbath, how We said unto them: Be ye apes, despised and hated!

2:96 And thou wilt find them (the Jews) greediest of mankind for life and (greedier) than the idolaters. (Each) one of them would like to be allowed to live a thousand years. And to live (a thousand years) would by no means remove him from the doom.

5:12-13 Allah made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel.  And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts.. Thou wilt not cease to discover treachery from all save a few of them

5:51 O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends

5:59 Say: O People of the Scripture! (Jews and Christians)...most of you are evil-livers

5:60,63  Allah hath turned some to apes and swine…Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil-speaking and their devouring of illicit gain ?

62:5 The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books.

9:30 And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah.  How perverse are they! (No proof of the “Ezra” charge).

Allah is a sadist

4:56 Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment.

5:33 The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off

5:38 As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands.

6:70…For them is drink of boiling water and a painful doom, because they disbelieved.

6:137 Thus …killing of their children seems fair unto many of the idolaters, that they may ruin them and make their faith obscure for them. Had Allah willed (it otherwise), they had not done so. So leave them alone with their devices.

7:44 And the dwellers of the Garden (heaven) cry unto the dwellers of the Fire: We have found that which our Lord promised us (to be) the Truth. Have ye (too) found that which your Lord promised the Truth? (Thus, those in heaven will mock in glee the misfortune of those in hell).

8:12 I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks (i.e., decapitate) and smite of them each finger.

8:37 The wicked will He place piece upon piece, and heap them all together, and consign them unto hell.

8:50 If thou couldst see how the angels receive those who disbelieve, smiting faces and their backs and (saying): Taste the punishment of burning!

17:58 There is not a township but We shall destroy it ere the Day of Resurrection

18:29 We have prepared for disbelievers Fire. Its tent encloseth them. If they ask for showers, they will be showered with water like to molten lead which burneth the faces

19:74 How many a generation have We destroyed before them, who were more imposing in respect of gear and outward seeming! (Allah doing his bragging).

21:15 And this their crying ceased not till We made them as reaped corn, extinct.

21:39 If those who disbelieved but knew the time when they will not be able to drive off the fire from their faces and from their backs, and they will not be helped!

22:19-22 But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads Whereby that which is in their bellies, and their skins too, will be melted And for them are hooked rods of iron Whenever, in their anguish, they would go forth from thence they are driven back therein and (it is said unto them): Taste the doom of burning

24:2 The adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one of them (with) a hundred stripes. And let not pity for the twain withhold you from obedience to Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of believers witness their punishment.

47:23 Such are they whom Allah curseth so that He deafeneth them and maketh blind their eyes.

50:30 On the day when We say unto hell: Art thou filled ? and it saith: Can there be more to come ?

113:1-4 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak From the evil of that which He created From the evil of the darkness when it is intense And from the evil of malignant witchcraft (Muhammad must have dealt with spirits at night).

70:15-16 lo! It is the fire of hell Eager to roast

74:56 And they will not heed unless Allah willeth (it). He is the fount of fear

102:6,8 For ye will behold hell-fire. Then, on that day, ye will be asked concerning pleasure

Allah makes errors, many absurdities

Hadith (statement of Muhammad):  Muhammad said, "All children of Adam are poked on their sides before they were born, except Isa, son of Mary; when Satan went to poke him, he poked Mary’s hymen.”

66:12 (original--since abrogated):  Mary, the daughter of Amr (this is a mix-up: the daughter of AmraM was Miriam, who lived 1500 years earlier. In other Qumran scriptures, she has been tied in to Jesus' birth--an impossibility).  See note below; Mary actually was the daughter of Heli)...to continue the story..."who guarded her sexual parts, so we breathed into it (the vagina) from our spirit (to create Jesus, or “Isa”).

23:14 (original):  Then we created the nutfah into a clot…the clot into a piece of flesh…piece of flesh into bones…clothed the bones with flesh.”  Hadiths claimed these 4 stages of “embryonic development” took 40 days each, thus a pregnancy would last a little over 5 months!  (But wait--didn't they say, 4-5 years?)

86:5-7 (original):  So let the human look to what he was created from….(nutfah comes) from gushing water, it comes out from the backbones and the breasts (but females don’t produce any fluid from breasts for the purpose of conception…and male sperm does not come from the backbone--despite what Allah is saying)

Hadith:  When Isa knocked at the door and heard the noises inside the house, the parents lied and told him that the children were not home and that the noise was the voices of pigs and monkeys. Then Isa said, “O, Allah, may they be.”  And He caused the children to be transformed into pigs and monkeys.

Hadith:  The angel Gabreel (or Gabreel and Mika’il) helped Isa have victory over Satan by slapping him with their wings.

Hadith (on Isa’s return):  …he will descend from heaven, break the cross, kill the pig, and establish the tribute tax.  He will end religions except for Allah.

2:34 And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever. (But...only God is to be worshipped; He would never command angels to worship man.  Also, who is Iblis?)

25:54 And He it is Who hath created man from water (No, wait..) 6:2 He it is Who hath created you from clay (No, wait…) 3:59 says, He created him of dust (No, wait…) 16:4 He hath created man from a drop of fluid (No, darn it, wait…) 96:2 Createth man from a clot.(Yes, Allah is sure this time…man was created from a…clot!)

2:247-8 Their Prophet said unto them: Lo! Allah hath raised up Saul to be a king for you… And their Prophet said unto them: Lo! the token of his kingdom is that there shall come unto you the ark …which the house of Moses and the house of Aaron left behind, the angels bearing it (how strange is this fable!)

3:85 And whoso seeketh as religion other than the Surrender (to Allah) it will not be accepted from him (or was it…) 2:256 There is no compulsion in religion (this is the most ignored sura of all).

2:106 Nothing of our revelation (even a single verse) do we abrogate or cause be forgotten,  BUT we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. (Well, which is it?  Is it…10:64 There is no changing the Words of Allah (or is it…) 16:101 And when We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation, - and Allah knoweth best what He revealeth - they say: Lo! thou art but inventing. Most of them know not.  (How can you be so stupid to doubt this—latest invention?)

3:7 He it is Who hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture wherein are clear revelations..and others (which are) allegorical. But those in whose hearts is doubt…by seeking to explain it. None knoweth its explanation save Allah (in other words, Don’t try to understand the Quran).

4:157 And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them (they not only degrade Jesus to a prophet less than Muhammad, but now they’re implying, He was never crucified—hadiths say, by the way, another who looked like Him was substituted…Jesus never died.  Right.)

6:38 There is not an animal in the earth, nor a flying creature flying on two wings, but they are peoples like unto you

21:33  the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit (they’re saying, sun orbits around the earth along with moon).

19:28 (They're speaking of Mary, mother of Jesus, and said): O sister of Aaron!  (But Mary lived 1500 years later than her “brother,” Aaron.  Muhammad, or Allah, confused her with Miriam again.)

19:29-30 They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? He (supposedly Jesus) spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet.

20:71 (Pharaoh) said: I shall crucify you on the trunks of palm trees (but crucifixion was invented by the Romans; Pharaoh knew nothing about it in this time period).

38:41-42 Our bondman Job, when he cried unto his Lord (And it was said unto him): Strike the ground with thy foot. This (spring) is a cool bath and a refreshing drink (mixing two Bible stories into one).

39:53 Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. (In actuality, this is not the case, as we have proven.  Verses like this are thrown in as sneaky ways for missionaries to proselytize).

42:30 Whatever of misfortune striketh you, it is what your right hands have earned (So misfortune is your fault.  Thank God, you can avoid a lot of grief by reading the Bible on this subject).

54:1 The hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain. (This would cause tsunamis, changes in tides, etc—none is recorded like that).

So which of these—Our God, or Allah, their god--has the kind of character that uplifts, that is full of loving and forgiving, and is worthy of worship?

Acknowledgements:  Exposing the Truth about the Quran, Dakdok and Skeptics Annotated Quran, Anonymous