HE WROTE:

Scriptures emphatically teach that the women are one flesh with the men, and men must view their female spouses as their own bodies:

"Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’ So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone OF MY BONES and flesh OF MY FLESH; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken OUT OF MAN.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become ONE FLESH." Genesis 2:17-24

The above text shows that man finds his completion and wholeness in the woman since he is alone without her, something that God said isn’t good. The expression "fit for him" in Hebrew is kenegdo and means "a help corresponding to him," that is "equal and adequate to himself." (Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (BDB) [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968], p. 617)

 

RESPONSE:

Here is why Genesis 2:17-24 is irrelevant.

When the woman disobeyed God by eating from the tree, she became inferior to man, and they were no longer “one flesh” but this way Eve lost her status when she seduced Adam to the tree.

 

“Adam was deceived by Eve, not Eve by Adam” it is right that he whom that woman induced to sin should assume the role of guide lest he fall again through feminine instability."  (Ambrose d. 340)

And do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age the guilt must of necessity live too. You are the devil's gateway: you are the unsealer of that (forbidden) tree: you are the first deserter of the divine law: you are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God’s image, man. On account of your desert-that is, death-even the Son of God had to die. (*) (*)

Eve destroyed her status as the image of God, so Gen. 2:17-24 is irrelevant because it occurs before they ate from the tree.

 

According to the Bible, God didn’t know Adam would eat from the tree, Adam is warned in Gen. 2:17 before the woman is created, yet the woman leads the man astray.

 

Why didn’t GOD know Eve would seduce Adam?

 

HE WROTE:

The statement that there was no suitable mate for the man amongst the animals further shows that woman is equal to man in essence and nature, and is much higher than animals since the implication here is that anything less than human, anything different from man in essence, wouldn’t have sufficed as a helper for him. The fact that God created the woman out of Adam also proves her equality in essence since anything originating out of man would have to be of the very same nature. After all, human flesh gives birth to human flesh and human beings bring forth other human beings, they don’t produce animals.

 

RESPONSE:

 

The book of Genesis implies bestiality:

He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. (Genesis 2:18-20)

Let us assume that if Eve was never created as a suitable helper, Adam would be ordered to find a mate amongst the animals!

 

Adam was created from a different substance than Eve, Adam was created from the atoms of the earth (clay), but Eve originates from the ribs of Adam (2:21).

 

Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? (Job 10:9)

 

So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:21-22)

According to the Jewish apocrypha, Eve blames herself:

And we sat together before the gate of paradise, Adam weeping with his face bent down to the earth, lay on the ground lamenting. And seven days passed by and we had nothing to eat and were consumed with great hunger, and I Eve cried with a loud voice: 'Pity me, O Lord, My Creator; for my sake Adam suffereth thus!' (1)

 

 

HE WROTE:

The next text illustrates this point rather clearly:

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." Ephesians 5:25-33

Paul commands husbands to view their wives as their very own bodies, quoting Genesis 2:24 and the example of Jesus’ relationship to the church to cement his case.

And, because of this coequality of essence and physical union, men are not to treat their wives harshly. Paul repeats this exhortation in another of his epistles:

"Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them." Colossians 3:19

 

RESPONSE:

 

All religions teach the same as Colossians 3:19, Paul is speaking of marriage and not status, he degrades woman in other verses (see 1 Timothy 2:14).

 

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:

 

O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under Allah's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right, then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. (The Farewell Sermon)

 

The Holy Quran says:

 

ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may Take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good. (Al-Quran 4:19)

 

We have dealt with Genesis and showed how the woman lost her status, now Shamoun quotes Eph. 5:25-33 referring back to Gen. 2:24.

 

Paul is signifying oneness in purpose and not “physical union”. The Greek word for one is hen, we find Jesus using the Greek word in John 10:30.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one (hen)." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him (John 10:29-31)

The Greek word matches the same meaning; Jesus and God are “one” in purpose, the disciples are “one” in purpose (John 17:11), and the husband and wife is “one flesh” in purpose.

 

Paul is emphasizing the “one” spiritual purpose between a husband and wife, that is worshipping God as “one flesh” (Eph. 5:25-33, Ecc. 12:13)

 

The Quran teaches the purpose of life is to worship God. All human beings are “one flesh” in the purpose of serving God.

 

 

Who is the first sinner?

 

Paul says Eve was the first sinner, (1 Tim. 2:14).

 

The Apocryphal books condemn her strongly; the Catholic Bible says “The birth of a daughter is a loss” (Sirach 2:6).

 

The author Dan Brown of The Da Vinci Code quotes the Gospel of Mary Magdalene to reveal the biggest secret about Jesus:

 

And the companion of the Saviour is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" (The Da-Vinci Code, p. 246)

 

The book argues that Jesus impregnated Mary Magdalene and the bloodline exists in France!

 

Also, the Old Testament is full of disturbing stories that degrade woman.

 

Women in Christianity

 

Islam upholds the equality of man and woman.

And their Lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: "Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: Ye are members, one of another: Those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in My Cause, or fought or been slain,- verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath;- A reward from the presence of Allah, and from His presence is the best of rewards." (Al-Quran 3:195)

 

 

HE WROTE:

One writer commented on how significant and astonishing Paul’s statements from Ephesians are in contrast to the Apostle’s immediate historical and cultural surroundings:

"The high and honorable marriage ethic set forth in Ephesians, which stems from Christ’s view of women, cannot be found in the pagan literature of the Greco-Roman or in the cultures of Islamic societies. The civil and humane behavior that is expected between a Christian husband and wife today reflects a sea-change effect Christ bequeathed to the life and well-being of women. Renowned historian of ancient Rome corroborates this by saying that ‘the conversion of the Roman world to Christianity [brought] a great change in woman’s status.’ Another has added: ‘The birth of Jesus was the turning point in the history of woman.’" (Alvin J. Schmidt, The Great Divide: the Failure of Islam and the Triumph of the West [Regina Orthodox Press Inc., Boston, Massachusetts 2004], pp. 66-67)

 

RESPONSE:

 

Islam redeems the woman and rescues her from the blemish of Christianity.

 

The Holy Quran says:

 

And their Lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: "Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: Ye are members, one of another: (Al-Quran 3:195)

 

If any do deeds of righteousness,- be they male or female - and have faith, they will enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them. (4:124)

 

God’s alone is the dominion over the heavens and the earth. He creates whatever He wills: He bestows the gift of female offspring on whomever He wills, and the gift of male offspring on whomever He wills; (49:42)

 

O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). (49:13)

 

 

The author Alvin J. Schmidt is commenting on Ephesians 5:25-33, but the Old Testament has disturbing verses, for example, the burning of woman (Leviticus 21:19) the slicing off her hand (Deuteronomy 25:11-12) and her lack of freedom (Exodus 21:7).

 

Let us quote a passage from Abul Ala Mawdudi

 

To cure the West of its moral ailments came Christianity. In the beginning it served the purpose well: it put an end to immoral customs, cleansed the various aspects of life of immodesty, made efforts to eradicate prostitution; retrieved corrupt women and dancing girls, and inculcated moral teachings on the people. But the concepts held by the Christian patriarchs of woman and conjugal relationship were not only opposed to human nature but unnatural to the extreme.

 

Their basic doctrine was that woman was the mother of sin and root cause of all evil. She was the primary cause of stimulating man towards in and corruption and thus led him to Hell: all human ills and troubles emanated from her. The mere fact of her being a woman was enough to render her detestable. She should feel ashamed of her beauty and charms, for these served as means to Satanic temptations. She should, therefore, keep on atoning constantly for her inherent sins, because she was responsible for causing all human ills and misfortunes in the world…

 

Their second doctrine was that the sexual relation between man and woman was in itself an objectionable, dirty affair, even if it was established within legal marriage. This monastic conception of morality was already taking root in Europe under the influence of neo-Platonism. The Christian Church led it to its logical extreme. Consequently, celibacy and spinsterhood became the criterion of the nobility of character, and married life came to be regarded as a necessary evil. (Purdah and the Status of Women in Islam, Abul Ala Mawdudi, p. 9-10)

 

Notice how Alvin writes “cultures of Islamic societies” and not “scriptures of Islamic societies”. He avoided this because the Holy Quran honors the female sex (4:19, 16:97 42:50, 53:45) and rejects the “original sin” (49:13)

 

The scholar Muhammad Ataur-Raheem says:

 

The unreliability of the gospels appears to be admitted by the Church itself: The metaphysics of Christianity today is not even based on what is in the gospels. The established church is founded on the doctrine of original sin, of atonement and redemption, of the divinity of Jesus, of the divinity of the Holy Ghost and of Trinity. None of these doctrines are to be found within the gospels. They were not taught by Jesus. They were the fruits of Paul’s innovations and the influence of Greek culture and philosophy.

 

The breakdown of the family structure in the West demonstrates the lack of an effective guide to behaviour within a Christian marriage, of how a man should behave towards a woman, and a woman towards a man. Extracting a moral principle from the gospels and trying to live by it is not the same as acting in a certain manner because it is known that Jesus acted that way in that situation. One course of action is the fruit of deductive knowledge, the other course of action is by revealed knowledge. (Jesus Prophet of Islam, 1992 edition, pp. 196, 200)

 

 

HE WROTE

God loves women and redeems them along with men. Christ died for both men and women, making all of them co-heirs of the kingdom:

"for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male NOR FEMALE, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." Galatians 3:26-29

"Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, SINCE THEY ARE HEIRS WITH YOU OF THE GRACE OF LIFE, so that your prayers may not be hindered." 1 Peter 3:7

In fact, the Holy Bible refers to women converts that were considered to be of prominent status:

"And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women." Acts 17:4

 

RESPONSE:

 

We are not discussing the crucifixion; the sacrifice of Jesus “for the sins of mankind” is pagan mythology!

 

"The worship of suffering gods was to be found on all sides, and the belief in the torture of the victims in the rites of human sacrifice for the redemption from sin was very general. The gods Osiris, Attis, Adonis, Dionysos, Herakles, Prometheus, and others, had all suffered for mankind; and thus the Servant of Yahweh was also conceived as having to be wounded for' men's transgressions. But as I say, this conception had passed into the background in the days of Jesus" (The Paganism in Our Christianity, Arthur Weigall, 1928, p106)

 

“The divine teacher is called, is tested by the “adversary”, gathers disciples, heals the sick, preaches the Good News about God’s kingdom, finally runs afoul of his bitter enemies, suffers, dies, and is resurrected after three days. This is the total pattern of the sun god in all the ancient dramas”. (Tom Harper, The Pagan Christ, p. 145)

 

See also: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus)

 

Obviously, the Church did recognize that Jesus also “died for women” but they nevertheless believed they were inferior!

 

According to the NT, women are not saved through Jesus’ sacrifice:

 

And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. (1 Timothy 2:14-16)

 

The scholar Bonnie Thurston comments:

 

The Pastoral writer states that a woman “will be saved through childbearing”. On the face of it, this suggests that Christ’s redemptive and saving work does not extend to women; they must save themselves by a particular form of “work”. (Women in the New Testament, p. 146)

 

The Bible says Jesus died for “many”

 

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45)

 

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24)

 

Amazingly, the alleged Old Testament prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion also says “many” and not “the world”

 

"Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:12)

 

The word “many” is significant because it means Jesus only died for the Jews, not the Gentiles.

 

Jesus said he was sent to preach the Torah (Matt. 5:17-20), and that was the purpose of his mission (Luk. 4:43, 19:10, Mk. 1:38) He praised the Jewish Law (Matt. 23:23).

 

Needless to say, the observance of the Law is meant for the Jews, Jesus did not command the Gentiles to follow the Law, and this indicates he was sent only for the Jews.

 

Regarding the “sacrifice” of Jesus, the association of Gentiles in the “redemption” was formulated after the Synoptics were written. There was indeed an evolution of the word “many” to the “world”.

 

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

 

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

 

Jesus made clear the purpose of his mission was not crucifixion:

Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." (Mark 1:38) 

But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." (Luke 4:43)

The Talmudic scholar Hyam Maccoby states:

Jesus and his immediate followers were Pharisees. Jesus had no intention of founding a new religion. He regarded himself as the Messiah in the normal Jewish sense of the term, i.e. a human leader who would restore the Jewish monarchy, drive out the Roman invaders, set up an independent Jewish state, and inaugurate an era of peace, justice and prosperity (known as 'the kingdom of God,) for the whole world. Jesus believed himself to be the figure prophesied in the Hebrew Bible who would do all these things. He was not a militarist and did not build up an army to fight the Romans, since he believed that God would perform a great miracle to break the power of Rome. This miracle would take place on the Mount of Olives, as prophesied in the book of Zechariah. When this miracle did not occur, his mission had failed. He had no intention of being crucified in order to save mankind from eternal damnation by his sacrifice. He never regarded himself as a divine being, and would have regarded such an idea as pagan and idolatrous, an infringement of the first of the Ten Commandments. (The Problem of Paul)

Jesus had no intention of dying for the sins of the world, a pagan concept attributed to him after his departure. The Old Testament promises that God would save the Messiah:

 

Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. (Psalms 20:6)