Bible?
What Does It Say?
What Does It Mean?
Time for A Closer Look!
There are many opinions, even amongst many Christian scholars as to what the Bible really is and what it really says on many issues.
Yusuf Estes is one of those who took the time to read, explore, research and do some very serious comparison to actual Biblical texts.
Here now, are some of his conclusions from his book "Bible: A Closer Look"
READ . . .
Note: This work was done for the sake of presenting truthful information about the Holy Bible in English.
It may be copied, printed and distributed without copyright notification to the author. No copyrights are withheld and no payment is expected.
First of all, let me begin by saying that I am a former Christian businessman, who preached the "Word" of the Bible any chance I got. I was also the minister of music and organist for a long number of years in the Church of God in a small town in north Texas. I visited with Baptists, Methodists and many other denominations of priests and preachers.
I totally and completely accepted the teachings and concepts of salvation within the Christian church many years ago. My parents were very religious and their parents were also very instrumental in building and supporting the work of the church throughout their entire lives. So, it is not my aim to discredit the efforts of those who came before me whatsoever. This is totally the opposite of my purpose in this presentation.
Second, I am still most active in the spreading of the True Word of God as much as HE will allow me to be.
I have found that some of the teachings of the translations of the Bible contain errors and mistakes which must be examined and thought through so as to bring about a better understanding for both the Christians and the non-Christians, especially those of the Muslim (Islam) faith.
Third, I am presently an institutional chaplain and I hold the position of Delegate to the United Nations Peace Conference for the World's Religious Leaders. As such I hold all the leaders of other religions in proper regard and with due respect. Many of my associates and co-workers are from the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Hindu faiths.
Therefore, it is not my intention to cause people to loose their belief in God, His divinely-inspired prophets and messengers, or the holy scriptures that they brought. I humbly request all who read and study these pages to be considerate of those who are committed to believe in the scriptures of the Bible and not use this material as a tool for attacking and harming the faiths of others.
The opposite is what I request the reader to do. Please take time to learn the materials and then share in a positive light with those whom you honestly feel can handle a discussion on this topic without being confrontational.
May Almighty God guide all of us the all truth, amen.
An examination of the Bible is necessary today because of the many questions being raised by religious people of all circles, including Jews and Christians, as to its inconsistency with contemporary church teachings as well as its inconsistency within itself.
Today, there are thousands of different versions of the Bible in circulation and the transcript has been freely translated from one language to another numerous times. According to Bible scholars themselves, the original scripture is no longer extant. It is nowhere to be found. We have no idea if what we are reading and implementing into our lives and belief system is, indeed, God's teaching.
Muslims believe in the same Omnipotent, All-powerful, Unseen God that the Jews have believed in since Adam. However, unlike the Jews, Muslims join in with the Christians by also believing in Jesus as the "Christ"; "Messiah"; "Logos"; and "Miraculous Conception"; as well as all the previous Biblical prophets and their original scriptures that they brought. Muslims also believe that God is merciful and just to His creatures.
So, they deny the concept of the 'Original Sin' [all children are born into the sins of their parents] and the 'Sacrificial Lamb' concept which requires the blood of Jesus, peace be upon him, to atone for the sins of the sinners.
This being the case, how can Muslims say that God is just and that His revelation, the Bible, is corrupted? Where is it in God's great plan that His revelation loses all credibility? These are all very excellent questions.
It is a known fact that Jesus was regarded by his followers as a prophet and that what he preached was written down into physical form by his disciples.
However, God placed the responsibility on humans to preserve the integrity of this message over time.
When the people failed in their duty, it was made necessary for the Quran to be revealed in order to correct the teachings that were changed. By God's mercy He revealed His will once again to Muhammad over 600 years later, and his companions similarly memorized and wrote it down.
That is what we call The Quran.
By God's Justice He promised that He would preserve it therefore making it the last revelation to humanity. Today an actual seventh century Quran, complete and intact, is on display in a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. I just returned from a trip to Istanbul, Turkey and have gathered a lot of information to be published alongside of my book.
(end of introduction).
Now read the detailed answers to all these questions in his book . .
For the complete book (free online):
www.911bible.com/intro.php
and also on:
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