05-25-2004, 04:24 PM
as salam alykom
I will quote a post made by Dan on another thread, Insh a Allah it will help, it might contain repetion of some info naseeha gave, but Insh a Allah it will help Josh.
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Bismillah
Michelle, I appreciate your quest for knowledge. Before I was muslim, I was catholic also.
Yet even before I thought of being muslim, there were things about the faith that I had trouble with. Such as if Jesus was fully human and divine, there are contradictions in that. Being a man one produces sperm. It is just a fact of being fully man. Jesus remained celebate. If one does not rid sperm from sex then it is either discharged in a nocturnal emmission or through the urine. These living cells could not die because they are from one who is divine right? and Jesus is eternal, correct? So are there billions of little eternal cells in existance, which contradicts God being one? Or was Jesus just really a blessed man? Jesus also had to defecate and urinate. It is part of being human. Is this befitting of God?
Also there was a council held in the 900s I think called the Council of Nicea. This council was formed to decide whether or not Jesus was human, god, or part of each, or fully both. So a group of men decided the nature of God. In Islam, God has told us who He Is.
Also, Islam does not have the concept of Original Sin. Adam and Eve both sinned and both attoned for this sin. (Notice Islam does not put the sin mostly on Eve as Christianity does, which alludes to women being less vituous then men. A view that was propogated through much of Christian history.) Islam believes that only the person who committed the sin is accountable for that sin and only God alone without intecessor can forgive that sin. This concept appealled to me greatly. Why do I have to tell a priest about my fallacies? Didn't I offend God not him? So what does the priest have to do with it? We know that priests sin also sometimes more than what catholics call laypeople. The closeness to God is achieved not by going to some school and through certain rituals but rather through ones deeds. Anyone can get close to God in Islam.
God is the most Just and Merciful, correct? Then why would He torture His own son to forgive our sins? How is this mercy? "God so loved the world that He sent His only Son?" Either God does not really love His son or His love for us is not what we think. If I told my wife that I love her so much that I am going to kill my daughter for her, does that make sense? When the newspapers have stories of mothers killing their children so their boyfriends will be happy, this is out of love of the mother for her boyfriend. Does it make sense to those of us that think rationally?
Do you believe that God gave us gifts to be used? Then why is one of the major gifts of rationality ignored in catholicism?
I would question my mother how three equals one, how could God be one when clearly Jesus and God were apart for a while? "It is just a mystery," would be her reply. "You have to have faith." Faith in what? I don't even know what I am supposed to have faith in. None of questions could be answered. Would God give us a religion that we could not understand?
As for the Bible being uncorrupt, there are many contradictions in it. Read it from front to back like I did and you will see them. The Qur'an was revealed in Arabic and is still in the same exact Arabic as when it was revealed.
How many different versions of the Bible exist? Which one is the correct version? Jesus spoke Aramaic. Where is the bible in Aramaic, which would be the exact words of Jesus? Some gospels were written in Hebrew then translated to Greek then Latin, then the various editions that exist now. If you have taken any foreign language especially on of the non-Romance languages, you know that many times it is difficult to find exact words to translate with.
Also the gospels were written many years after Jesus died. Mark was first around 40AD. He was a disciple of one of the apostles, so the story was second hand, not a eye witness account. The next gospels, Matthew and Luke were written about 70 years after Jesus' death. Both were also based on the gospel of Mark. That is why they are so similar. John was written 100 years after Jesus' death. Also many other gospels were written, one of which was by the apostle Barnabas. Why is his not included? How were these four chosen? Once again by a group of men, not God.
It just occurred to me that you may now find my facts reliable, which I understand since you do not know me. I found out all this in my catholic educatoin which I received for twelve years in private catholic school.
If you are happy with your religion, then that is fine with me. If every person in the world decided to no longer be muslim (which won't happen), I would still be muslim. My faith in this beautiful religion cannot be shaken Insha'Allah. Many people have tried to talk me out of my faith and I let them try. If someone can bring me a religion with more truth, then I would convert to that. It has yet to happen and it never will. I have studied many other religions while I was in college also and none have even come close to Islam. It has everything I need. Peace, paradise, rules to show me how God wants me to please Him, my deeds are mine alone.
I know of many other things that led me from christianity but I have written enough for now. Feel free to ask if you want because I feel our backgrounds are probably more similar than that of other members of the board. I apologize if I have angered or offended you. Writing this though has also stregthened my resolve even more that I have made the correct choice.
I truly did not want to offend you but I only wanted to have truth expressed with out candy coating it.
Thank you. God Bless you, me and everyone else.
Alhamdulillah
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Also I will give u a link later on for another article a helpful one. Just trying to help u take things easssssssyyyyy