Dave Lankshear - 19 November 2008 02:58 PM

Eric Henry Wynter Best - 19 November 2008 12:12 PM

I am not particularly persuaded by reports of eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. More people have seen Elvis alive, have been abducted and probed by aliens and have rediscovered repressed memories of satanic abuse.  ...

Kindly,
Eric.

I guess the distinction I made somewhere previously is that these eyewitnesses were prepared to die for what they saw with their own eyes.

Yes, Dave; that thought does present a good prima-facie case. While it would be wandering too far off topic to discuss it at length here, these days I do not find that case as unassailable as I once did.

Sebastian

I was very pleased to meet with for lunch on Tuesday. Thank you for meeting me

The issue Dave raises is a good one. Perhaps if I could add something to his question about the validity of the bible vs the Koran.

Can you give a few examples where the Koran makes clear prophecies about the future? The Christian can take great confidence in the bible’s ability to ‘write history in advance.’

A second question is this - The Koran draws heavily on history as outlined in the old testament scriptures....eg the life of Noah, Moses, Abraham etc. Scholars recognises that both the Jewish and Greek languages are some of the most accurate languages in the world. So, in a sense, one could argue that God selected these disciplined languages in order for Him to record His word in order to uphold preservation. (The Dead Sea scrolls are a powerful argument on preservation and accuracy of the texts as they have rolled through the centuries...) If this is so, how can one take any secutity in the Koran if it draws from these biblical sources - but also claims that many aspects of the bible are wrong? It seems like a great contrivance to me, unfortunately.

Thanks and regards.

Praise be to God. Andrew, for the sake of answering your question, I’ve begun a new topic called authenticating the Qur’an, and also I mention to you a website regarding the prophesies in the Qur’an. There are many such sites and some of them exaggerate more than others.

http://wiki.islamedia.ws/The_Prophecies_of_the_Quran

Yet, you should know that the Qur’an is sufficient (a complete self-unwrapping package) for the authentification of the Qur’an and is also sufficient as a guide to salvation, however use of other references is not ruled out by its injunctions either.

Eyewitnessing the world is more sound than reading about history. The Qur’an mentions that you can go to overthrown villages and see for yourself what happens to disobedient nations, and in this way there are signs to be seen by enquiring people. The Qur’an also swears by certain things, and these oaths can be utilised for authentification. You can look up on the internet “oaths in the Qur’an”.

Sebastian

Thanks Sebastian.

On your point about eye witnesses being more valid than history....isn’t this the very point that Dave L is making re the eye witness accounts of Jesus’ death?

What would be your top 3 prophecies that the Koran teaches?

Regards.

Why did God send Jesus to save the world, and how did He do it?

God formed the universe by His powerful Word.

God said, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Man believed the serpent: “Did God really say...?”, and not God’s Word.

The same powerful Word that formed the universe cursed Man.

God will not trivialize His Word by arbitrarily forgiving sin!

God’s curse will not be stopped.

Fortunately, God loves us and wants to extend mercy to us.

Therefore, God sent His one and only son,

born of a virgin, and free from the sinful nature,

subject to temptation like us, but without sin, to suffer the curse on our behalf, although innocent, that we who believe on him should not perish but have eternal life

Well Ken, that is one Christian narrative. There are alternatives. Not that you have done so, but I think it would misrepresent Christianity to say that that is the (only) way to understand why God sent Jesus.
Eric.