Christian Shocked by Answer

From: George (not actual name)
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 9:58 PM
Subject: WHY SHOULD ONE FOLLOW ISLAM?

Dear Sheikh Estes,

I have seen you many times on Peace TV but each time I hear your lectures,,, more and more questions are raised by my logical mind.

I BELIEVE THAT EVERY TRUTH MUST BE LOGICAL TO OUR SENSES and not just follow or believe it as a truth just because its written in a Holy Script. I am a Christian and I believe in Jesus, His Father the JEWISH GOD and his Holy Spirit.. but i dont believe in Trinity..

The Son is Son and not FATHER.. and moreover he has born from the sperm of a Male GOD and a female Human Being.. so I dont agree with the Trinity Concept of Christians.

Most Certainly JESUS had some characteristics of his father and hence made BIG MIRACLES like giving life to the DEAD but also had the characteristics of his human mother and hence he said "eli eli lama sabachthani". I also dont believe entirely on Bible as its is mostly written by humans and its a compilation of many books and it has got many contradictions.

Moreover I believe that the only reason of JESUS birth was to sacrifice his life for the sins of the repenting mankind, who believes in Him. And hence I believe the crucifixion did take place and he died on the cross and resurrected and ascended to heaven.

SO I BELIEVE THAT AS LONG AS I BELIEVE IN SON OF GOD AND WORSHIP HIS FATHER .. AND NOT MAKE ANY INTENTIONAL SINS .. I WILL BE TRANSCENDED TO HEAVEN.

Now I have a few questions for you?

How can you say.. that JESUS IS NOT SON OF GOD? and just another prophet.

Then How come no other prophets were born in the way like ISA was born?

Then How come no other prophets were given life to any dead people?

There is no bigger miracle than Life.. I hope you will agree.

I heard in one of your speeches where you said.. Jesus was not dead at all? so am not asking any questions about it.

BUT.. why mohammed did not went alive to heaven like ISA?

WHY SHOULD ONE FOLLOW MOHAMMED? WHATS SPECIAL IN HIM?

HOW CAN YOU PROOVE THAT QURAN IS WRITTEN BY GOD?

How can you proove that Mohammed was not the first muslim in the world?

How can you proove that Circumcision and the Cap was not copied from Judaism?

How can you proove that Jesus was not copied into Quran from Bible?

Can Mohammed give a bigger message to the World than ISA

viz BELIEVE IN ME .. I WILL GIVE YOU LIFE

Well there are more questions.. but for a start please give me answers to these questions of mine. I AM EAGERLY LOOKING FORWARD TO HEAR FROM YOU..

I have send this set of questions to Dr. Zakir Naik and he has not replied me yet. So I thought of sending it to other Islamic Scholars as well. And I am also thankful to the authors of Quran whoever they are... for accepting ISA (though not fully).. because NO ONE CANY DENY JESUS.. since he is occuppied in Two Holy Scripts.

Thank you Sheikh Estes for your time & Please reply me

Regards (George)

Bismillah Rahman Raheem

Salam alaykum,

To begin with, thank you for taking the time to write. I would have to correct your statement about "Jesus" (Esa, peace be upon him) being mentioned in two (2) holy scriptures. According to what I have observed in the Old Testament, New Testament and Last Testament (Quran), Jesus (Esa, peace be upon him) is mentioned and referred to in all three (3). He is the son of the virgin. He is the "Chosen one", because he did come to fulfill previous scriptures as the "Messiah" (Mas-hih) (Christos in Greek).

I am sure you are convinced of what you say and it must seem somewhat logical to your mind. However, this is not the same approach I use for my “logical thinking”.

For me it is easier to say to you, "How could you say - 'God is Jewish'?" After all, if He is the "Jewish God" as you say, then why did this Jewish God invent other people who are not "Jewish"?

Or when you say "sperm of a Male God"? So does that mean there is some possibility for a "Female God" out there somewhere?

If not, then why not? How could your "Male God" be so chauvinistic? Why only men are gods? So women are less than men?

Then you go off on the idea of "Miracles" as though Jesus was the only one doing any miracles.

What about Moses? Did he do miracles?

And what about other prophets?

Did Old Testament prophets do miracles? Did the bones of one of the prophets bring people back to life?

What about Noah? How did he know to build the Ark? Bring the animals? Prepare for the world's largest flood? Miracles?

So were any of these people also "gods"?

Then you mention your opinion of Jesus "Miracle birth". In your thinking, no one else had such a miracle of birth.

Really?

What about Eve? She had no mother? Isn't that even greater than no father?

Oh wait! What about Adam?

No mother? No father?

And interestingly enough, the Bible says Adam was the son of God, not Jesus...

Really - check it out: Luke chapter 3, verse 38. And by the way, in verse 26 you see an translator added the words "(as was supposed)". Because if you read it the way the manuscript has it: "

Here is it, just in case you don't have a copy of the KJV: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%203&;;;;version=KJV

23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

24Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,

25Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge,

26Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda,

27Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,

28Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er,

29Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,

30Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim,

31Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,

32Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,

33Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,

34Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor,

35Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala,

36Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,

37Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,

38Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. *(emphasis added)

Could you excuse me for taking a little side trip in our discussion? I hope you would not mind. I just thought you might know how to explain the reference here in Luke chapter 3, verse 23 - compared to the very important beginning of the New Testament reference to his genealogy, in Matthew 1, 1:

23...Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli 1 son of Matthat2 son of Levi3 son of Melchi4 son of Janna5 son of Joseph6 son of Mattathias7 son of Amos8 son of Naum9 son of Esli10 son of Nagge11 son of Maath12 son of Mattathias13 son of Semei14 son of Joseph15 son of Juda16 son of Joanna17 son of Rhesa18 son of Zorobabel19 son of Salathiel20,

Matthew 1, 1:

.. and 10Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 9who begat Abiud; who begat 8Eliakim; who begat 7Azor; who begat 6Sadoc; who begat 5Achim; who begat 4Eliud; who begat 3Eleazar; who begat 2Matthan; who begat 1Jacob; who begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Did you even wonder how the people who copied these manuscripts managed to mess it up to this degree?

Notice in Luke, the fathers of Joseph are not the same as the fathers of Joseph in Matthew. Also, take a look at number 10 father in Matthew (Salathiel) and his son (Zorobabel) are the same grandfathers in Luke, except they are not number 9 and 10 - they are number 19 and 20.

So here are my questions:

1. Who added the words "(as was supposed)" in Luke?

2. How come Luke ends the genealogy of Jesus, with Adam as the "son of God"?

3. Why Joseph had a different father (Jacob) in Matthew than the father he had in Luke (Heli)?

4. Why 10 grandfathers to get back to Salathiel and Zorobabel in Matthew, but 20 grandfathers to get back to them in Luke?

5. Why in Matthew, 1, 1 it says:

David the king begat Solomon begat Roboam, who begat Abia, who begat Asa, who begat Josaphat, who begat Joram;, who begat Ozias, who begat Joatham, who begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias, who begat Ezekias, who begat Manasses, who begat Amon, who begat Josias, who begat Josias, who begat Jechonias, who begat Jechonias, who begat Salathiel (number 10 in Matthew)

But in Luke, chapter 3 - it says:

“..which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,  32Which was the son of Jesse,

So, how do you reconcile in one genealogy (Luke) you have David's son, Nathan the prophet, giving birth to Mattatha (and then on to Joseph by so many different people), while at the same time, the genealogy (Matthew) saying King David was the father of Roboam, who was the father of Abia, and then all the grandfathers to Joseph, but with some exactly the same, and others totally different?

OK, now back to your subject. You asked me how I could look to and follow Muhammad, peace be upon him, and this is a very good question. I will ask you, how could you try to follow a "god" or a "son of a god" as your role model? Will you try to create something? Like a god? Muhammad was a human. A perfect man, a person born to a woman, and he lived and died as a regular human, a man. Someone I can relate to, even though I know I am not perfect. Yet, at the same time I realize he was a great example to follow and to copy in as much as I can, his manners, discipline and kindness. I do follow a man. A great and wonderful man. He got married and showed us how to get married. He had children and showed us how to treat our children. He ate food and drank water. He worked. He slept. He lived and he died. Peace be upon him. He believed in Jesus, peace be upon him. He taught us to believe in the miracle birth, the Messianic commission given to Jesus, peace be upon him, from God. The miracles Jesus, peace be upon him, did - from God and that he would be back in the Last Days to lead the true believers against the anti-Christ and would destroy the anti-Christ and would reign for a period of time on earth in true peace. And then Jesus, peace be upon him, would die along with his followers and they would all go to heaven.

But your idea of Jesus giving life to all who believe in him, seems strange. I refer you to another passage in your Bible in English, located in John, chapter 3, verse 16. I have no doubt you have memorized this one, as have all the Christians I have ever met. After all, we all are concerned about death and would love to believe such a concept as: "Just believe me and you won't die" (simple as that)... except there is a serious problem here. Take a close look and think it through:

16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We, as Muslims, know God does not love the world, as this verse seems to indicate, because if He really loved it, why would he allow the destruction we see? And why would he allow it to be destroyed in the end, as we know it will be?

But never mind that, consider what the text itself is saying, just believe in God (or believe in his only begotten Son) or believe whatever you like - and you will not perish, but you will have everlasting life... If that is really literal, as you imply - that would mean anyone who died was a disbeliever in this verse.

OK, so every preacher, minister, pastor and priest since the time of Jesus, peace be upon him, whoever was teaching and preaching this concept - whoever of them died - all of them were disbelievers?

Wait, according to your Bible - and you - Jesus, peace be upon him, died. So, according to logic, it means Jesus, peace be upon him, did not believe according to this teaching?

Then it boldly goes on to give reference to "his only Son" (do you notice something very clear here - a serious mistake in grammar?). Why is the word "Son" starting with a capital letter? But the words (pronouns) representing God Almighty ('he' and 'his') written without capital letters? If you take a moment to think it through, you will see the pronoun "him" for the One you have to believe in is also in lower case letters "him" - not "Him".

A quick look at this from the grammatical point of view indicates this means whoever believes in "God" would not perish, because this word "him" is also lower case. Therefore, it did not mean Jesus (peace be upon him).

Now let us come to the subject of the "only" begotten son. What does it say in Psalms chapter 2, verse 7? King David is supposed to be the author of Psalms and herein he declares, that the LORD has said to him, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you":

7I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

So, do I need to believe in David as the "only" begotten Son? Or is there more than only "ONE"? Or does "one" really mean "two"? Or how does this work out?

Here's a clue Divya George, today's "experts" on the translations have told us there is a mistake in the translation of John 3, 16. They claim it should be something like, "..that he gave his son (no 'begotten' and no 'only) - just son".

Oh, and by the way, read the Old Testament - it is even more clear - God is NOT a father and God is NOT a son.

19God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent

Here's the link for you –

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers%2023&;;;;version=KJV

And there is more.

The word translated as "son" here is supposed to be from Greek "heos", which according to one source I read, could mean a broader meaning than just a blood descendent. It could be; “..grandson, nephew, servant, slave or son”.

Take your choice. I choose to believe, Jesus was a son of Adam (like the Bible says in Luke, 3, 38 and he was a servant as he also claimed in John.

So, dear friend, let us - you and I - just wait and see for ourselves which one is right. You say God has a son. I say God denies this and hates for you to say it. Read the Quran, chapter 112.

And most of all, Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent to show us all how to live in this life, in a manner to insure we attain the best place in the Next Life.ou

You asked me - "Why Follow Islam?"

My answer: "Because all of the prophets, peace be upon them all, did exactly that. They all prayed and asked for God's Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. They all submitted their will to the Will of Almigty God. All of them, including Jesus Christ, did the Will of the One who sent them (check these references in your own Bible). These great men, all submitted to God, surrendered to the Lord Above, obeyed the Commandments and they did so in Peace and they did so Sincerely.

Now take a look at these words: Surrender, Submission, Obey, Sincere and Peace. These are the very words, in English, that represent the verb in Arabic - aslama. This is the verb for the word you asked me about. The noun is "Islam".

Anytime someone does "Islam" they become a Muslim even if they don't know it. Because being a Muslim and following Islam is not about Arabic words. It is about what is really in your heart of hearts.

George, seriously, if you sincerely want to be guided, just ask the God who created you, created Jesus, peace be upon him, and created the whole universe, to guide you (I did).

Peace brother,

Yusuf Estes

We welcome your questions and your ‘logic’. Most welcome.. You can enjoy more on www.911Bible.com and www.BibleIslam.com and www.IslamTomorrow.com/bible and www.IslamCode.com

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