Answering Christianity Research Center

Praise the Lord,

John 17:21,22
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

This verse is saying that all the believers should be as one. What does it mean for the believers to be one?

Peace be upon you my dear brother Jesus.breadoflife,

All I needed to do to thoroughly silence this blasphemy that you wrote, and believe in, was simply emphasise a couple of quotes from your writings.  Do you even see how ridiculous and stupid trinity is?  I mean, we're not talking about here some straight forward and clear texts that your Bible has about Jesus being MY CREATOR, and here me the blasphemous Muslim rejecting them.  No, we're talking about your polytheist and pagan people inventing insults and blasphemies on GOD Almighty.  Let us take a look at a few simple points here:

1-  The Believers are to be one in each others and in Jesus and in GOD Almighty EXACTLY GOD Almighty and Jesus are also one in mission and purpose.  I have no idea how you missed that my dear one.
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At the risk of repeating myself,
1. The believers should all be as one - in their hearts.
2. Jesus says they should be "one in us" - i.e. what unites them to be one is Lord Jesus and the Father.
3. Jesus says that he and the Father are one
4. The Bible does not say that God and the believers are one.
 

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Clearly, this does not mean that the believers are all literally one person  but that they are of one heart and mind.

So why do you then want to force the same statement on Jesus and GOD Almighty to be literal, and to mean that Jesus is your Creator?  Why can't you humble yourself (arrogant, bold and daring towards GOD, and humble towards humans is what Christians are) before GOD Almighty and not force nonsensical reading and blasphemies into the simple text?

Well, we do not believe that the Father and Son are literally one - since the Father did not come into this world but the Son did and he is the one that died on the cross. For example, your sprit, soul and body are separate yet you are one person.

There are many verses in the Bible which show that Lord Jesus is more than an ordinary man. The  Son of God appeared to his people even in the Old Testament and spoke to them.

Isaiah 44:6

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
    and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
    besides me there is no god.

Isaiah 43:10

11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour.

We can see that Jesus is also called the King of Israel and the saviour (i.e. Redeemer) in the New Testament.

1 Peter 1:1

1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

John 1:49

49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Brother, there is no need to apologise at all; I love you as Lord Jesus has taught me and if I have caused you any offence, it was not intentional.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-6
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I hope this is something we can all agree on

This will be my last reply on this particular post. If God allows, I will start posting new topics (covering other things highlighted in this post, perhaps) in a few days.

God bless us all.

Hi brother,

I tried to send you a personal message but it did not work so I have posted the reply instead.

Obviously, the bread and fruit of the vine does not literally become the blood and body of Jesus. Lord Jesus said that this service must be done in memory of Him and the fact that his life was given as a ransom for many.

Luke 22:19-20
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

John 6:53
53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Therefore, it is not about how it tastes but the life and strength of God we receive.

I saw your message about checking the accuracy of the timeline of prophets. Unfortunately, my historical knowledge regarding the matter is not great so I'm afraid I won't be of much help to you. However, I pray that Almighty God may guide you in all your work and help you to seek him wholeheartedly. If you have any more questions about the Bible, feel free to ask.

May God bless you, dear brother.

gotta correct something here. @jesusbreadoflife: It was not part of Jewish burial rites to use spices and linen cloth, that was Egyptian mummification

I included a reference in my original post - http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8493339_jewish-burial-customs-anointing-oils.html

Also, John 19:40

40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.

Brother Jesus.breadoflife,

You'll have to excuse adnaanshaikh195 here. His primary argument method is "blahblahblah I don't wanna read what you wrote, it probably sucks anyway. I am right. You are just an evil twisted psychopath. Grow up kid". You see, it's really hard coping in debates and discussions when alcohol hits the sweet spot, or as you may know it, the brain.

Let us all submit ourselves into the hands of God who is able to remove our shortfalls. I bear no ill will or anger towards anyone but love you all in Christ.

May the grace of Almighty God be with you.

Hi Brother Osama,

So now you agree with me that the Lord Jesus Christ was already an annointed Messiah before the crucifixion.  He wasn't just a mere Prophet and just Jesus.  No, he was the Lord Messiah (Al-Sayyed Al-Maseeh as we say in Arabic).  So, the women coming to the tomb with "spices" is a misleading interpretation and a translation, because there was no need to annoint him in the tomb.  And why would you annoint a dead person to become the Messiah anyway??  So this clearly shows that in Luke 24:1, the women actually came to the tomb (cave which Christ was laying on the floor in) with MEDICINE to the live and hurt Jesus (not a dead one), and not just mere spices.

There is nothing that suggests that the women came to anoint Lord Jesus so that he may become Messiah. It was just common Jewish burial practice to wash the body, wrap it in linen cloth and anointed with spices and oils. A basic definition of the word 'anoint' is 'To apply oil, ointment, or a similar substance'. There are examples in the Bible where anointing is used to sanctify someone such as a King but in the case of a burial, the definition I have given here is the most fitting. 

http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8493339_jewish-burial-customs-anointing-oils.html

Furthermore, Jesus was never burried.  Burried to us today means that one would be placed in a coffin and burried underground.  This NEVER happened to Jesus.  He was only put in a cave on the floor, wrapped in cloths, and rested there for 3 or so days.  So no burrial occured, which further proves that the Bible here is also speaking in metaphores:

Jesus was buried in a tomb - it was not uncommon in those times. Abraham and Jacob was buried in a tomb as it says in the Bible

Acts 7: 15-16
15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, 16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Genesis 25:8-9
8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9 Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre,

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Your points on http://www.answering-christianity.com/balanced_lies_rebuttal.htm do not look at the verses in the Bible in the same meaning that it was written in. As time does not permit me to go through them all, I shall address a couple for now. Paul is not saying that it would be OK to lie nor did he lie.

Romans 3:7
7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?
This is the verse you referrred to and upon reading it, it clearly shows that if I tell a lie in order that God may be glorified, I would be condemned as a sinner irregardless. Paul is talking about a hypothetical situation - note the use of the word 'if'.

Philippians 1:15-18
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

You say that this shows that Paul lied for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. These verses do not show that at all. What Paul says is that he is aware of some who proclaim the name of Lord Jesus for their own selfish ambition. Yet Paul rejoices not in their lies but in the truth that they say - the Gospel of the Lord. How can he not rejoice when the Gospel is spread for the saving of many lives? After all, it is the spirit of God who works in people's hearts - not men whether they be liars or truthful. Those who lie will have to stand before God in judgement.

This is what Paul says in Philippians 1:9-11 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. As this is what he believed and urged others to do, he would not lie.

My dear brother, the text is crystal clear about Paul saying that if he had to lie, then he would.  No need to re-translate it and re-interpret it.  Here is what the English translation says:

Philippians 1:15-18
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

Romans 3:1-8
1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what is the profit of circumcision?
2 Much every way: first of all, that they were intrusted with the oracles of God.
3 For what if some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of none effect the faithfulness of God?
4 God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.
5 But if our righteousness commendeth the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visiteth with wrath?
6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
7 But if the truth of God through my lie abounded unto his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?
8 and why not, Let us do evil, that good may come? whose condemnation is just.

Dear Brother, the Holy Spirit is my witness when I say I did not re-interpret it or retranslate the passage, I just explained in simpler terms. After all, who am I to add to or take away from the word of God? You don't need to look beyond these verses to come to the conclusion I came to. For example, Romans 3:7 - But if the truth of God through my lie abounded unto his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? Well, it is 100% clear in this verse that I would still be condemned as a sinner even if a lie I tell is for the glory of God. Similarly, in verses Philippians 1:15-18, the passage is very clear - there is only 1 meaning of this - some people are preaching Christ out of false motives - 'envy and rivalry' so that 'they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains'. The lying that you refer to is the 'false motives' that Paul describes. This says that the lie is that people pretend they preach out of goodwill but it is actually for their 'selfish ambition'.They are competing with Paul whilst he is imprisoned. Paul is saying he doesn't care (i.e. about the envy and rivalry) but he rejoices as Christ is preached.  I just cannot see from where you got the idea that Paul would lie if he had to.

So as we clearly see, Yahweh Almighty Himself supposedly tricked the enemies of David into thinking that Samuel came to sacrifice, when in actuality this wasn't his primary purpose and mission.  His primary mission was to annoint David, which was kept hidden under the Command of GOD Almighty.

Yes, God did not allow Samuel to reveal His plans to Saul. Why would he? It wasn't the time when God wanted David to be revealed as the King of Israel. That is not the same as lying.

Furthermore, did not GOD Almighty send LYING SPIRITS THAT CAUSED PEOPLE TO LIE many times in the Old Testament?

This is the passage that you are referring to:
1 Kings 22:17-23
17 Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”
 
18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”
 
19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’

“One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’
 
22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.

“‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’
 
23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

King Ahab wants to go to battle and he was Jehoshaphat to go with him. Jehoshaphat wants to ask the Lord before going for battle so the King calls out 400 false prophets and they all say that the King will be victorious. Jehoshaphat is not convinced and he wants to hear from a prophet of the Lord and therefore Micaiah is called. He prophesied disaster.

We can see that King Ahab, unlike Jehoshaphat, had already made up his mind to do what was against the will of God (i.e. go to war) before he had even heard from the prophet of the Lord. God permitted a a lying spirit to be in all the false prophets. This highlights the absolute sovereignty over all things. Even the lying spirit cannot do anything unless God allows them to. If someone wants to commit a murder, they may have that spirit of Satan in him but it is there because God allowed it to be there. If someone is not under the mighty hand of God, they are open to attack - this due to the choices made by people to turn away from God. God protects all who trust in his name - he protects them from Satan, from people etc. However, Satan is free to destroy those who are not the children of God - and yes, Satan cannot do anything unless God allows it to happen. But you can see that the Spirit of God did not lie to Ahab - Micaiah prophesied disaster and revealed everything.

I am aware that it says the Quran that it appeared to them that Jesus was crucified. Well, if that were true, Allah would be lying. Also, there is absolutely no reason why this 'false vision' would be of any use to anyone.

My discussion with you, dear brother, is based on what the New Testament currently says.  And even with what the New Testament says, we can clearly see that Christ never died.

The New Testament does say that Jesus died in many places one of which is below.

Mark 15:37-39
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,[a] he said, Surely this man was the Son of God!

All authority was given to Jesus here on earth, and earth only, by GOD Almighty.  GOD Almighty made him the heir of earth:

This is not entirely true.

Mathew 28:18
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Also, if you accept that all authority on earth had been given to Jesus, why would you refrain from believing what he said and obeying his commands concerning baptism etc ? Yes, the greatest command is to love God. Firstly, to love God means to do his will. Secondly, obeying the greatest commandment does not mean that one is allowed to diregard the others - James 2:10 - For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

When Jesus came to the Earth, he came to do the will of the Father and did everything through His Holy Spirit. No one denies that. Before he was born as a man, he was in the same nature of God but he hold onto his equality with God but left that to come to Earth for the salvation of mankind.

Philippians 2:6-11

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Yes, Jesus did not want to be exalted by men when he was a man but as we can see in the New Testament, he was worshipped after his resurrection when he was no longer of human form.

Dear brothers and sisters, I urge to to seek God's voice for yourself. The Bible speaks of prophets and men of God but their testimony is their own. The Bible shows us the glory of God but we must all seek the God for ourselves and listen to His voice. I was only able to accept the Bible as the word of God after it God revealed it to me. I don't expect that you will listen to my voice and I wouldn't ask you to; but you must listen to the voice of God.

Mathew 11:25
25 At that time Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
 
27 All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.


If we are wise in our own eyes, the Spirit of God will not work in us. Let us be like children and so that we may hear God's voice.
 
And it is the voice of the Lord that lead me to where I now stand in Christ from whom nothing can separate me. I pray that God may do the same for you.

God bless you all.

Hi adnaanshaikh195,

I would disagree that Jesus did not claim to be divine. My previous post showed an extract from the Bible where Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was.

Mathew 16:16-17
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 

You can see that Lord Jesus did not tell Peter that he was wrong but called him blessed as the Father revealed to him who Jesus was.

Further verses showing the authority of Lord Jesus and why it is necessary to believe in him.

John 6:40
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

John 7:37-38
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[a]

Luke 24:44-48
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
 
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

John 3: 16-19
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Lastly, this is what Paul wrote of Jesus:
Colossians 1:19-22
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
 
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—

There is no other way to the Father except through Lord Jesus. May God bless you all.

Hi Brother Osama,

Firstly I shall address medicine administered to Jesus that you speak of.

Luke 24:1
24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

I would disagree that it was a form of medical treatment. It was, in fact, a Jewish custom to prepare the body by using frankinsense, oils, spices etc. Here is a passage of Lord Jesus talking about His burial before his crucifixion:

3 Mary therefore took a pound[a] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it[c] for the day of my burial.
His body was buried in the tomb as it says in the Bible.

Secondly, dear brother, it absolutely does not say in John 20:17 that Jesus told Mary to not touch him as he was still in pain. This is what it says:

17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

As you read the full verse, you can see that the explanation you suggested is entirely different to what the Bible says. I urge you in the name of Lord Jesus to not misrepresent the word of God. You may not believe in it but, dear brother, if only you could see how it does amazing works amongst those who trust in His name.

Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Lastly, I fail to see how it is possible for one to say that the New Testament provides verses which show that Jesus never died. The following verses are a few examples which showed that he did die:

Mark 15:37-39
37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he[a] breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

John 19:32-37
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

God bless you all, may the grace of Lord Jesus be with you.

Dear brother,

When the Bible says heart of the earth, it does not mean a cave.

Mathew 12:40  is the verse we refer to.
40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The heart of the earth is synonymous to deep parts of the earth or the nether regions.

Ephesians 4:8-9
8 This is why it[a] says:
"When he ascended on high,
    he took many captives
    and gave gifts to his people."
 9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions

This shows that Jesus descended into the lower parts of the earth to preach the good news to the people who died under the law so that he was able to take those who were waiting for redemption to Heaven with Him.

1 Peter 4:6
For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

God bless you all.