Posts by: Staff Writer

One of the most effective parables to use in sharing God’s love with Muslims, in Dr. C’s opinion, is that of the lost jewelry coin. Since jewelry is still of great importance to Middle Eastern and Asian women, they even now relate to the idea of loosing something special to them. In fact, most people have lost something of value to them. So, the parable of the lost coin/jewelry might hit closer to home than the parable of the lost sheep with adults in today’s culture.

Both parables can also be used with those of a variety of backgrounds to illustrate how God values and searches for us (Luke 15:4-32). There is no similar illustration of God’s persistent love in Islam.

Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son is discussed in this clip (Luke 15:11-31). This story is of a rebellious young man, a prodigal son, who does not realize what is important until he hits rock bottom. Jewish background believer Bob Siegel retells the story, including background information from his culture.

Through this story we see God as our Heavenly Father, full of hope, waiting for us to come to life’s most important realization: that he loves each of us and wants us in his family. There is nothing like this in Islam.

In Matthew 13:1-23 we see Jesus telling a story based on something people knew from every day life: seeds and types of soil. God’s word is like seed. If we do not understand or accept it, it is as if it fell on packed earth. Perhaps we accept it with joy, but quickly fall away. Many or most of us who claim to believe do see the seed sprout, but we focus on the cares or pleasures of life rather than God’s word and kingdom; so we can not be as fruitful and the best soil, which might produce up to 100 times what was sewn.

Jesus taught us how to treat our neighbors, and who our neighbors are. He also told us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). These are some of Jesus’ teachings which so contrast with Islam, and are refreshing and at times startling to people from Muslim background. Former Muslim Huda loves these teachings of Jesus on neighbors and enemies.

Some of this teaching is in the laws of the Old Testament, but with his usual flair, he affirms, expands, and breathes life into the concept. It is part of his teaching on how we should live for God’s kingdom here on earth.

 Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves. When he was challenged on this, he told the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Jesus teaching on neighbors illustrates that we must love whoever comes across our path, as ourselves, whether they are like us, or dramatically different, as was the Good Samaritan from the injured Jew he rescued.

Other religions have incorporated The Golden Rule into their teachings, without knowing that it was Jesus who taught it in Matthew 7:12,

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.”

Many in the Muslim world, and elsewhere, are disenchanted. They feel that the teachings they grew up with lead to practices they see every day and dislike: terrorism, Muslim on Muslim violence, mistreatment of women and minorities. Many want to find the truth.

In this clip, Rev. Georges Houssney, world-wide teacher and evangelist from the Middle East, gives us three keys for finding the truth:

#1 Be Sincere, #2 Pray, #3 Compare Teachings and Leaders.

Be Sincere: Do we truly want to find the truth? It takes courage to openly examine what we have been taught or grew up believing, but if we are sincerely open and sincerely seek truth we are putting ourselves in the position to find it.

Pray: This can be difficult if you do not believe in God. Many agnostics however have prayed, “If there is a God, reveal yourself to me!” And it has happened. If you do believe in God, pray that he show you which holy book and teachings reveal him and his way.

Then compare the teachings of the major religions. You will see that although most have similarities, they vary in significant ways. They can’t all be true. When you compare the leaders of world religions, you will clearly see that there is no one who compares to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is the Bible really written in different styles? Yes. Does this help us to understand why it is different from the Qur’an? Yes!

In learning about the Bible, especially if coming from a Muslim background, it is helpful to know that the Bible is written in several styles. At times the styles reflect the character of the author, their background, culture, or first language. It also includes what we would call different genres of literature, meaning different classes of writing. Some of the book is poetry, some proverbs – words of wisdom, some parables, some analogies, some history, theology, and advice for living. These examples show us how the Bible is written in several styles.

The inspiration of the Bible: How does the inspiration of the Bible differ from the way other holy books claim to have been inspired?

1 Peter 1:20,21,  tells us that Bible Scripture was inspired as a prophet was led along by the Holy Spirit. This differs from the dictation form of “inspiration” recounted by Mohammed. He claimed to have a series of revelations from “Angel Gabriel,” at least one for each book (surah) of the Qur’an.  (In fact, the hadiths, traditions, report that Mohammed was afraid after his first “revelation,” and not even certain if the angel that appeared to him was from God, or a demon.)  Joseph Smith also received revelation from an angel. For the translation of the cryptic tablets of Mormonism, English words reportedly appeared to him in a box-like device.

Most of the books of the Koran begin with an affirmative statement, “Bismallah ar-rahman ar-raheem” (in the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate), for example at the beginning of book 2, The Cow. To those used to reading the Qur’an, such words are a key that what follows is to be considered as coming directly from God.

The Bible does have verses which say this about God (Exodus 34:6, Jonah 4:2), but no books of the Bible start out with a similar queue. So, for a Muslim who begins to read the Bible, it can be difficult to accept that it is the inspired Word of God. Also, the Bible includes many details about patriarchs and prophets that Muslims have heard about. Not everything it says about them is flattering. The Bible is a book based in reality, so it records the truth about God’s people, their mistakes and sins, as the saying goes, “warts and all!”

In order for Muslims to understand the difference in Biblical inspiration from what they expect, Dr. Cynthia points out that although there are places where the Bible directly reports what God says, “This is what the Lord says” (Jeremiah 21), and very rarely a voice is heard from heaven, as with Moses and the heavenly voice at Jesus baptism. God as Jesus spoke directly to the people in his sermons, like the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and in instructions to his disciples.

God also speaks indirectly in the Bible. “Then the Word of the Lord came to me,” Zechariah says in 4:8, reporting to us who hear indirectly what he was told.

God’s word is often implied, as in wisdom presented in Proverbs, advice in letters of the New Testament, and in the lessons we absorb from considering the lives of Bible characters (1 Corinthians 10:11, James 5:10, Hebrews 11-12:3).

In this clip Huda asks if there is more than one translation of the Bible into Arabic. Dr. C tells her yes, and demonstrates several examples, explaining that some translations are easier for Arabs of Christian background, and others for Arabs of Muslim background.