Judaism,
Christianity and Islam
Are Not Incoherent Amongst
Themselves
On The Contrary - There Is Great
Coherence Amongst Them!
Originally
published on September 23, 2003
ABSTRACT
There is an undeniable common
denominator that links the
original teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. To deny this
common denominator necessitates the rejection of the teachings of the
Torah, the New Testament and Qur'an. The acknowledgment and acceptance
of this common denominator would be the foundation of the harmonious
coexistence of the children of God.
PREFACE
The bold and unequivocal statement of
what I believe to be true
does not, in any way, constitute a judgment against those who believe
differently; I, at one time, did not believe some of these truths
myself. It was through the loving patience of God that I came to His
Light without ever forgetting where I came from, and without ever
forgetting those with whom I shared other beliefs.
INTRODUCTION
Before embarking on this potentially controversial document and to
counter, from the outset, any accusations that the author is
anti-Catholic, it is important to make very clear that miguel de
Portugal is not against the Catholic Faith. On the contrary, he lives
it. (1)
Every single quote from the Qur'an that
the reader will find in this document has
been checked in versions translated into the English, Spanish and
Portuguese languages to ensure that the core message of the particular
quote truly reflects the version in its original language.
BACKGROUND
Most everyone has "a faith of sorts" on which to anchor their lives.
Even the militant atheists have a "faith of sorts". By their
active denial of a God they are actually acknowledging Him - so they
actually believe in God - they just reject Him or, in most cases, they
actually reject those who claim to be representing God.
The agnostics also have "a faith of sorts". They are still gathering
information before making up their minds about God. If they did not
have "some sort of faith", they would not bother with evaluating
information relevant to something that is completely irrelevant to them.
However, the "faith of sorts" of the militant atheists and the
agnostics is not the
issue we are addressing now. The issue we wish to address now lies on
the faith that many profess to have but seldom live.
This is a crucial issue because the majority of those who claim to have
faith, most likely have faith in
everything related to God but not in God Himself! We have the
history of ongoing bloodshed in "the Name of God" and for "the Glory of
God" that humanity has lived through during the past 6,000 years
to back up this statement as well as the condition - social and moral -
of the world today.
For example and in general terms...
A. Many of the Jews continue
to claim their
"Chosen Status" in accord with their ancient Covenant with God,
in spite of the fact that they continue to NOT uphold their part of the
Covenant. They just act as if the lessons God taught them, and which
are recorded in great detail in the Old Testament, were meant for
someone else. A Covenant in Heaven, just as one on Earth, demands a
mutual commitment and
fulfillment. A covenant is not "a one way street".
As if that was not enough, many of the Jews place their faith and hope
on the future coming of their Messiah and that Jesus was just some
Middle Eastern carpenter with great charisma, but not the Messiah.
B. Many of the Roman
Catholics (Catholic Church of
the West) believe in the Roman Church and its teachings and trappings,
in spite of the fact that many of those teachings and trappings clearly
contravene the Holy
Scriptures which they read and preach about every Sunday.
Just like our brethren of Judaism - They "believe" and preach
the Sacred Scriptures selectively, to conform and please the very
worldly needs and desires of the "faithful". This is something that
Paul warned us about in 1Thess. 2:4-6.
C. Many of the Orthodox
Christians (Catholic Church of
the East) believe that the Catholic Church of the West (see item B.
above) is the reason for every
calamity that has stricken the world since they split in the year 1054
AD (2) and
that, by maintaining
every detail of ancient rituals, they will be protected from the errors
that plague the Roman Church.
D. Many of the Protestants
believe that the Catholics
(East and West) are wrong and that the Protestant Churches really have
the answer. However, most also live a life dissonant with the Holy
Scriptures, although they may be able to quote Biblical passages from
memory. Selectively, of course.
E. Last, but not least, are
many of our brethren from
Islam. They believe that the Qur'an came directly from God through the
Prophet Mohammed; a belief that we cannot, in good conscience, deny.
Yet, many of them practice their faith by making the Qur'an and the
Prophet Mohammed the objects of their Faith instead of God. Events have
shown over the centuries that anyone has a better chance of survival by
criticizing God instead of criticizing the Qur'an and/or the Prophet
Mohammed.
This thorny issue - dissonance and duplicity, that is, a complete lack
of coherence - is what we are going to address in this Document. This
is not with the intent of defacing any of the Faiths - which we truly
respect by word and deed. Our intent is to be like a mirror and to
assist our brothers and sisters to see that, in most cases, they are
deceiving themselves. At the same time, we are issuing a call to union
under the spiritual banner on One God, adored differently only in the
minor culturally inspired details.
DETAILS
To illustrate our point we will utilize the irrational logic that
lead to the wave of "killing in the Name of God" and "in the Name of
Christ" over the last fourteen centuries.
For this purpose, we shall study the interaction of two
man-made archenemies - as defined and quantified by the amount of
blood shed: Christians and Muslims.
From the brutality exhibited toward the so-called "infidels" by
the so-called "Christians", one would think that the Holy Qur'an is an
evil book wherein the children of Islam are taught to be anti Christian.
To dispel such error let us go directly to the most venerated Holy
Qur'an and see what they say about Jesus Christ.
The Annunciation
[Note: In the Holy Qur'an
"Sürah" is the
equivalent to "Chapter" in the Judeo-Christian Holy Scriptures. We will
simplify by using, for example, S. III. 45, to signify: Sürah III,
verse 45] (3)
The Archangel Gabriel announces to Mary:
in S. III. 45
"O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings
of a Word from Him:
his name will be Christ Jesus..."
and in S. III. 48
"And God will teach him the Book and
Wisdom, the Law and
the Gospel."
Now, let us take a close look at this: The Prophet Mohammed reports
that God said what we have quoted above. The Prophet does not say
that it is he who was taught "the Book and Wisdom, the Law and
the
Gospel". He says that it was
Jesus the one who was taught "the Book and Wisdom, the Law and
the Gospel".
We further read in S.II.45
"a Word from Him (God) ... Will be
Christ Jesus..."
This is a firm and clear declaration, through the Prophet Mohammed,
that Jesus Christ is the "Word of God made flesh".
Let us Christians give due credit to the Prophet Mohammed for he
is acknowledging here far
more than most Christians believe in, if we gauge their belief
by how much importance they give to the reality that "...in Jesus
resides the Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel."
Spelling out the Mission of Jesus
Mohammed further states in S.III.49 that God said:
"And (appoint him) an apostle
(messenger) to the Children
of Israel, (with this message): [In the following statement it is
Jesus speaking, according to Prophet Mohammed's account]
"I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make
for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into
it, and it becomes a bird by God's leave... (I have come to you) to
attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of
what was (before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from
your Lord. So fear God and obey me."
According to the Gospel, Jesus never claimed to do
anything on His own - He always invoked "God's leave" - His Father, His
God and our God (paraphrasing His own words). [John
17:1-4]
It seems to even a casual, but
objective, observer that
the Prophet Mohammed was a staunch supporter and promoter of Jesus
Christ and His mission. This is why the wayward Christians and
Jews of the time became the enemies of the exhortations of God through
the Prophet Mohammed. This enmity resulted in wars and mutual
persecutions.
Pondering on the above...
Let us Christians remember that Jesus ran into very serious trouble
with the Temple Masters [the equivalent of the established Religious
Institution in those days]. He was obedient to God, the Father, and not to tradition.
Mohammed was entreating the Christians of his time to be obedient to
Jesus Christ and not to regress to Pagan style worship.
Should anyone then expect the Christians of that time to be kind
to those who were attentive to what the Prophet Mohammed had relayed,
calling to their attention, in the Name of God, their abuses and
excesses? (4)
But what should we expect? These same "Christians" burnt Joan of
Arc, and later placed her in the altar as St. Joan of Arc; they also
sacked Constantinople and massacred the Christians of the
Church of the East. (4)
Who can then take seriously the claim, with its implication of
infallibility, that the Holy Spirit is the Infallible Guide of the
Roman Catholic Church? Although
it is indeed true - the problem has been that such Infallible
Guidance is mostly ignored by those who have placed the Church ABOVE
God. (5)
The Greatness of Jesus according to
the Qur'an
In S. III 55, God the Father, according to the Prophet Mohammed,
said:
'Behold! God said: "O Jesus! I will
take thee and raise
thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who
blaspheme; I will make those who follow Thee superior."'
The Prophet Mohammed is not
saying that his own followers will
be "superior" - he is saying,
in the Name of God, that those
who follow Jesus will be made superior. Hardly a position to
justify the abuses by Christians against the Muslims over the centuries
- abuses which are now yielding the horrible fruit of terrorism.
In the same verse we read about Jesus' Resurrection and Glorification: "I will take thee and raise thee to Myself
and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme..."
Summarizing what has been stated about
Jesus in the Qur'an
In S. III 60 we read:
"The Truth (comes) from God alone; so
be not of those who
doubt."
The accuracy of the Holy Texts
Let us ponder the significance of a new book (6) published in the
Fall
of 2003, written by a German Middle Eastern linguistic expert under the
pseudonym Christoph Luxenberg. He challenges the accuracy of the
translation of the Qur'an from the alleged Aramaic-like original
language to the Arabic. (It is the Arabic text which Islamic orthodoxy
claims to be the original words spoken by God to the Prophet Mohammed.)
At this time we should remember that the Judeo-Christian Holy
Scriptures have been translated 3,000 times (7), and in far too many
cases altered just to suit very temporal agendas.
Statistically speaking - one or two translation versus the 3,000
translations of not very original texts (8) renders the "once
translated text" as "original" as it could ever be.
Apparent inconsistencies in
the Qur'an
Now it appears that confusion sets within the Qur'an - or is it
that God has chosen not to reveal to Mohammed the reality of the
Trinity (9)?
For those not familiar with Islam: Muslims do not believe in the
Trinity, yet, one may read about it in the Qur'an.
In S. IV. 171 we read:
O People of the Book! Commit no
excesses in your
religion; nor say of God ought but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of
Mary was (no more than) an apostle of God, and His Word, which He
bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in God
and His apostles. Say not "Trinity".
It is crystal clear: In the same paragraph where the Trinity is denied
they speak of God the Father ("He bestowed on Mary"), the Holy Spirit (
"a spirit proceeding from Him") and Christ Jesus ("His Word") Actually,
the Trinity is more clearly
illustrated in the Qur'an than in
the New Testament. Odd isn't it?
This dichotomy of word and understanding can only be possible if
God does not wish the children of Islam to understand the Trinitarian
concept as of yet, and that is God's prerogative. This obvious
inconsistency, as should be expected, does not diminish the
importance the Qur'an ascribes to Jesus and Mary and their mission as
the Qur'an continues to uphold and defend them.
Another apparent major
problem is a matter of terminology
and lack of information.
Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God... And He is
not, if one defines "son" or
"daughter" as the product of the union
of a male and a female of the human species.
In the Qur'an [S.IV. 171] we also read:
For God is One God; Glory be to Him:
(Far exalted is He)
above having a son."
Of course - God is The Uncreated Pure Spirit from Whom all issue.
Obviously He did not
"father" Jesus as a man would father a son.
The incarnation of Jesus took place as quoted above which is the
same that we find in any translation of the New Testament, i.e.
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid
to take Mary...
For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in
her." [Matthew 1: 20]
and
"And the angel said to her in reply:
'The Holy Spirit
will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the holy child to be born will be called the Son of
God'" [Luke 1: 35]
But why does this serious challenge appear in the Qur'an who speaks so
highly of Jesus, and place Mary on a pedestal which not even the
Christians have been able to match in the New Testament?
Simply because by the time God entrusted Mohammed to communicate
His displeasure to the then known world, the Catholic Church was well
into the road of corruption and self service (3)(4), and not in the
service of God. In
essence, normally functioning in direct contradiction to what Jesus
taught through Matthew 6:24-34.
Some Specific Examples of
Deviation
In Pagan mythology it was customary to believe that a "God" who resided
in their Heaven equivalent would have physical intercourse with a human
maiden with the offspring becoming a "lesser God", yet, a "God".
The by now well developed self-serving mentality of the Catholic Church
Administration took advantage of such psychological predisposition of
the pagan masses for the easy introduction and promotion of the new
religion amongst them. They allowed the unspoken inference of such
union between Heaven and Earth to stand.
What God tried to set straight utilizing the Prophet Mohammed was
that Jesus Christ was not
the offspring of His physical
interaction with Mary as it was being subtlety inferred by default.
For the same ulterior motives, the Catholics (East and West)
heavily promoted the concept of Mary being the Mother of God and later
named Her Queen of Heaven. It fitted perfectly with the Pagan concept
of a Supreme Mother Goddess (10)
denounced by Jeremiah [Jeremiah 7:18], thus
Christianity would be
easier to promote in
this fashion.
No doubt - Mary is the Mother of the Word of God manifested in Jesus,
as we have theologically explained (11); but Mary IS NOT the
prime cause nor is She Divine (though some have claimed this and many
behave as if it were true). The only Prime Cause is the uncreated
Creator - the Father.
Nonetheless, the implied concept, the Administrators thought, was more
advantageous for the spread of their temporal power and control.
If you wish to have another example of the Paganization of
Christianity consider the following...
The Cherubs that one does not seem to be able to get away from in
traditional Catholicism (little children with wings) - Where do they
come from? There is nothing Biblical that indicates that Cherubs are
like that.
Those little and very traditional Catholic cherubs are no more and
no less than the way the Pagans represented their god of love "Eros".
We wish to digress at this point and....
Let us Glorify God further...
Men of the Catholic Church have tried, utilizing marketing
techniques as well as financial and brutal physical power, to
"Evangelize" the world. [Even Mary had to intervene in México as
Our Lady of Guadalupe to subtlety, but effectively, correct such
behavior in the alleged Christianization of the New World.]
This was the result of their lack of true faith. If they had Faith
in God, they would have acted as Jesus taught, and Don Bosco
demonstrated (12),
and, empowered by that Faith, the new religion, with the true and
awesome Good News, would have spread like wildfire.
Unfortunately, it seems that the only "Faith" that the Church
Administration was interested in promoting was:
"Have
the Faith
that if you give us your money and property your sins will be forgiven
and you will have Eternal life, and the members of your family
entrapped in Purgatory will be released soon."
Should we then be surprised that the Roman Church became the
temporal power that it did? After passing off amongst the innocent
faithful the Constantine Donation (4) as
something real, they combined the Pharaonic Egypt and Imperial Rome
into an Imperial Church with its own Pharaoh-Emperor: the Pope - a
concept which even a true Egyptian Pharaoh rejected (13)
and a condition Blessed Pope John XXIII started to dismantle through
the Grace of God.
What is to the Glory of God, and
certainly not of man, is that in spite of those
abominable abuses carried out by the Administrators of the Roman
Catholic Church, the pristine Catholic Faith reached the 20th Century.
Unfortunately, that Faith is now being also tainted as the centuries
old scandals and abuses and excesses of said Administrators come to
light. Since the average individual does not have the intellectual or
spiritual maturity to separate the Wheat (the Faith) - from the Chaff
(the Administrators) their Faith suffers (14).
Now, back to the Qur'an and the exaltation of Jesus and Mary
within it.
The Qur'an Exalts Mary
We have heard Catholics, priests included, who have referred to
the children of Islam as "camel drivers". To those we have said and
say:
While the Roman Catholic Church
dithered for centuries about the Immaculate Condition of the Virgin
Mary (and, finally, in the 19th Century the Dogma of the Immaculate
Conception was pronounced) these alleged "camel drivers" had that
reality as part of their Holy Book - the Qur'an.
In S.III. 42 we read:
"Behold!
The angels said: "O Mary! God
hath chosen thee and
purified thee - chosen thee
above the women of all nations."
Catholics should be so Blessed if the much hallowed Vatican and its
almost adored Popes had acknowledged Mary's highly exalted position and
Immaculate condition 1600 years ago!
But all is not a "bed of roses" in the Qur'an either. In S. IV.
163 Jesus is lumped together with Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac... Solomon
and David while, at the same
time, in S. V. 49 they exalt Him
above all:
"And in their footsteps We sent Jesus
the son of Mary ,
confirming the Law that had come before Him: We sent Him the Gospel:
therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had
come before Him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God."
CONCLUSION
We may logically ask: "Why did God
send Mohammed six hundred plus years after the establishment of the
Catholic Church?" Or as some skeptics may ask: "Was Mohammed really sent by God?"
Let us review what was happening to the Church founded upon
the Rock of Christ (15)
by that time:
Mohammed came into the scene about two hundred years after the Church
was "purchased" by Emperor Constantine and its decaying had set in. Not
only history backs such statement but the Qur'an very clearly addresses
it too. In S. IX. 31 we read:
"They take their priests and their
anchorites to be their
lords in derogation of God..."
And in S. IX. 34. We further read:
" O ye who believe! There are indeed
many among the
priests and anchorites, who in falsehood devour the substance of men
and hinder (them) from the Way of God. And there are those who bury
silver and spend it not in the Way of God: announce unto them a most
grievous penalty".
Such warning was given by Heaven ca. 1300 years before Mary started
appearing (16)
trying to get our
attention about similar
issues...
1300 years later the Roman Catholic Church was busily doling out three
billion dollars, in the United States alone, to sweep under the rug the
utilization of children of God as sex toys (17) by the so called
Pastors who, in turn, were protected by the "Great White Shepherds" (18) like the late Cardinal
Law (19),
Cardinal Egan (20),
Cardinal Levada (21)
and many others who continue to be rewarded by the Vatican Leadership (22) for their loyalty to
the Church and not to
God.
Never mind that Mohammed relates to us in S. XXI. 91 what God stated
about Mary:
"And (remember) Her who guarded Her
chastity: We breathed
into Her of Our Spirit, and We
made Her and Her Son a Sign to all
peoples."
Events seem to indicate that the Roman Catholic Church Administration
may have understood this "sign" to be a "Dollar Sign"!
EPILOGUE
There is a problem that we have not touched here because it
demands a whole document; however, we must mention it.
In the Qur'an (the English translation) (3)
we read that Jesus was not crucified (and did not die) but in some
verses one reads about His being raised up as well as the future
resurrection for all. According to A. Yusuf Ali (3),
the Islamic theologians cannot agree whether He was crucified or not -
but, of course we Christians
do know that...
"...He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died
and was buried, and on the third day He rose..."
Which, of course, brings us back to the original and central point of
this document - Faith!
We must have Faith in God above all. Religion, whether Judaism,
Christianity and Islam are only the means, the tools, for humans to
reach God.
Religion with its symbols and props - the Vatican, Mecca, Medina,
the Pope, the Wailing Wall, Rebekah's Tomb, etc. - IS NOT our
goal and objective. Our sole
goal and objective was, is and must
always be - God!
The condition of the world today accurately reflects what went
fundamentally wrong with the Faith - be it Judaism, Christianity or
Islam and God is not responsible for it. We are!
AN
ADMONISHMENT TO ALL RELIGIOUS LEADERS
We wish to admonish and warn all
religious leaders that, unless every effort is made to reconcile all
religions (without having to lose their inherent identities and
becoming one), freedom of religion as we know it - which you have
translated to be the "Freedom to kill each other in the Name of God" -
will be taken away from you, one way or another - which translates into
"with your cooperation or by force."
You have played into satan's hands
for too long - do not let him
perform a "Check mate".
Do not count on that god of
yours, whom you claim has propelled
you to decimate those who do not believe like you, to protect you.
Unless you heed our warning you will fall prey to satan's snare because
the True and Living God, Who Is above all man-made gods, will allow
satan to entrap you. (God has done this many, many times, as recorded
by the Holy Scriptures, to bring to an end the abuses perpetrated in
His Name.)
Make no mistake, do not look over
your shoulder to see whom are we
addressing! We addressing you - the Religious Leaders of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam!
If you directly or indirectly incite
hatred which may lead to injustice and the destruction of human life,
you are not serving the True and Living God; you are serving satan,
clothed in a false light, and whom you dare call god!
NOTES
(1) Regarding the
Catholic Faith, we believe that:
The Catholic Faith [practiced by
the Church of East and West] is the
one Faith which has the greatest concentration of Divinely Revealed
Truths. By no means does it have them all since God is the only
Plenitude of Truth. However, no other faith has as many Truths in its
Spiritual Treasury as the Catholic Faith has.
The truths best upheld by the Catholic Faith include the reality of the
Seven Sacraments; the practice of Indulgences; be it the reality of
Purgatory; the truth about the Immaculate Conception and Assumption of
Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, True God and True Man; the Apostolic
Succession; the only male Priesthood; the no-abortion stand under any
circumstances; the indissolubility of a
proper Sacramental Matrimony, etc.
(2) About the split of the
East and West Church in the year 1054 AD
(3) Quotations from the Holy
Qur'an are from: "The Holy Qur'an";
Translation and Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali; American Trust
Publications, 2nd Edition, ISBN No. 0-89259-006-8; Copyright June 1977
(4) Examples of some abuses and some excesses
(5) About Infallibility
(6) Casting doubt about
the accuracy of the Holy Qur'an
(7) About Biblical
Literalism
(8) About the Greek
Originals of the New Testament
(9) The
Secret Concept of the Most
Holy Trinity
(10) "Queen of Heaven": The
Assyro-Babylonian Ishtar, goddess of
fertility, whose worship was introduced under King Manasseh and was
revived after Josiah's death. Cakes shaped like stars (Ishtar was
identified with the planet Venus) were offered in her honor. In Ephesus
the same goddess was known and very much honored as Artemis.
(11) The
Theology of Mary, the
Mother of God
(12) The Trajectory of St.
John Bosco
(13) A Divine Message From
1400 B.C. sent by Pharaoh Akhenaten and delivered by Pharaoh
Tutankhamon in 20th Century
(14) The Demise of the Faith
(15) The
True Fundamental Rock of the
Christian Church
(16) The many, and critical of
the Church Administration, Apparitions
of Mary
(17) The
utilization of the
children of God as sex toys
(18) The
"Great White Shepherds" and
no more than wolves in sheep's clothing
(19) About
Cardinal Law
(20) About
Cardinal Egan
(21) Cardinal
Levada's Trajectory
(22) The Rewards by the
Vatican leadership
En Español: El Judaísmo, el Cristianismo y
el Islam no son incoherentes entre sí
Em Português: O
único fundamento válido da Fé é Deus
Document originally published
on September 23, 2003 - In the Eastern Catholic Church, today, the
Conception of John the Baptist, is celebrated.
Edited for clarity and for a
universal audience on November 7, 2003, on April 30, 2006 and on
October 4, 2008
© Copyright 2003
- 2021 by The M+G+R Foundation.
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