Why Mecca?

[AlShamms]

Well, I think Muslims do know Jesus, and many Christians know Muhammed. They are of the same spirit, as we all are. Sacred texts would not make us different, for a book is just a book, but the Word of God is the Word of God, no matter by whose hand it is written and in whichever tongue. Love and mercy is the universal virtue.

Steve, I have to disagree with you here. Christ said in the gospel of John, chapter ten verses four and five:


And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.



And in the same gospel in verse 27 Christ again says:


My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:



Again, no offense to any muslims on this board but they do not know Christ of the Bible, if they did, they would follow him. No, they teach another Jesus, one named Isa.

That said, there are many Christians who fear their Muslim and Jewish brothers, and many Muslims who fear their Christian and Jewish brothers. The excuses and reasons are all empty words, for the fear is not God speaking through them but the dark one. The dark one spreads fear, and he tricks the righteous into being unrighteous. For whom else would be better to seduce? Those that live in sin and depravity have already been conquered, thus where goodness gathers the dark one follows.


All men are unique. Some can be seduced with fear, others by their pride, and others by greed. There are three ways that men fall, and fall he does in some combination of these three.


My question is very simple: What makes something "holy"?


Is not the body a temple? What can be holier than the human form? (See Michaelangelo) Yet, men say that one temple is holy and another temple is not, simply because of the ideas in the person's head or their habit of worship. So man himself is not holy, only certain behaviors make him holy? That is preposterous. A child is innocent and can be taught to pray, but that does not make them wise in faith. If a monkey were trained to pray would its soul be given Grace? Of course not.


Thus what is holy has nothing to do with man. Man cannot make something holy, not can he disgrace something holy. He can, however, make himself holy or disgrace himself, as he so chooses. And how does he do this? He does it in how he treats others.

Steve again I must disagree with you because you depart from scripture. Man cannot, according to scripture make himself holy. He can however because of his sinful nature, disgrace something that is holy. In the book of Moses called Exodus in the third chapter, we read YHVH speak a command unto Moses:


"And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."



What made the groud holy? Something special about the groud itself? No. The ground was holy because the presence of God was there. Moses in his ignornace did not know to make himself clean by removing his shoes in the presence of God. So God had to show him how to approach His presence. There are other examples of man not being able to make himself clean without the instruction of God. And if I may be so bold....it is this reason why the muslims perform wudu before performing salat. It is (if I am not mistaken) an outward representation of an inward or spiritual state. However the muslim (as with the chrisitan) would still be unclean were it not for the instruction of God.


So to answer your question Steve as to what makes something holy....It is the presence of God that makes a thing or person, holy.


Shamms