Word for Word, Christian 2

Page 316

This unit is flooded with parables and sidenotes devoid of anything extraordinary about Jesus. My point is, 99% of what is written of Jesus is limited to "teachings" and comments about artwork of Him. Islam believes that Jesus is a mere teacher. They agree Jesus was resurrected, but only a common resurrection, believed for all Muslims who have achieved the favor of Allah.

After the "Good Samaritan" parable, there is this:
Jesus taught people to respect and love other people, no matter who they were. He stressed that the Kingdom of God was at hand and that people needed to come into a right relationship with God. In time, his ideas would grow into a new religion.

Notice "In time, his ideas would grow into a new religion." What an understatement of what Christians believe. According to this, any teacher could have started Christianity.

The Teachings of Jesus

By the time Jesus started teaching, the Jewish community had changed a great deal. Jews had been settling in small groups all over the...  ( Diaspora is discussed, the location of Jews...) The Jews who returned to Judah after their exile began to disagree among themselves about how they should practice their religion. One major group, the Sadducees (SAJ uh sees), were in favor of following the traditional rituals in the temple. The other major group, called the Pharisees (FAIR ih sees), called on Jews to strictly follow the laws of the Torah in their daily lives, too.

Other, more radical groups existed as well. One was made up of the followers of Jesus. They believed that Jesus was the messiah promised in the Bible.

Yes, Jesus was radical because He rebuked the Pharisees and the Sadducees for their false witness of God. Yet according to this account, Jesus remained in the Jewish teachings and was followed by "a radical group," minimizing the impact and purpose of  Jesus.

The Life of Jesus

(If this is supposed to be what Christians believe, why can't we have "The Life of the Savior" as Islam has "The Life of the Prophet"?) Watch this, not one word of the virgin birth, one would think by this account that Mary would have a child by Joseph...

The story of the life of Jesus is told in the New Testament of the Bible. According to the New Testament, an angel appeared to a woman named Mary in the city of Nazareth about 2,000 years ago. The angel told her that she would have a child. The angel told Mary to name the child Jesus.

Islam believes this much.

Mary and her husband Joseph were Jews, and when Jesus was born they raised him as a Jew. Jesus learned the laws and customs of Judaism and studied the Torah. As he grew older, Jesus became a religious teacher.

Oh so he did it by studying...oh, okay...

He based his teachings on traditional Jewish beliefs. For example, he stressed that people should obey the Ten Commandments and the teachings of the prophets. According to the New Testament, he told his followers, "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil (sic) them." (Matthew 5:17)

According to the New Testament account, Jesus called for a new covenant. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told people that they should act with kindness and love toward others, even their enemies. This teaching is best understood in the light of Jesus' preaching about the coming of God's kingdom.

I think it would be best understood if they said, "Christian's believe Jesus is the new covenant, that He died for our sins, that He paid the price for sin and forgave those who killed Him. But they omit all that.

Jesus taught that the day of judgment by God was nearing. He said God would forgive all people who sincerely turned to God. (Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me." He stressed that the attitudes and beliefs in a person's heart were more important than actions alone. In this way, Jesus emphasized the aspects of the Torah that stressed the importance of love, such as "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18)

Not all Jews liked everything Jesus was saying. Jewish leaders were upset because Jesus' followers called him the messiah. These leaders did not accept the claim that Jesus was the messiah. The Greek word for Messiah comes from Christos which is the Greek word for Christ.

(nothing to write here but have to write something, copyright problems, sorry)

As Jesus gained followers among the Jewish population, opposition from religious leaders grew. The leaders of the Roman empire were also against Jesus. In 63 B.C., Rome had conquered Judah, which then became known as Judea (jooDEEuh). The Roman leaders thought that Jesus was stirring up the Jewish community. They feared he might lead a revolt against Roman rule.

The Roman leaders did not fear Jesus. Pilate did everything he could to wash his hands of it, even demonstrating so. What historians, experts, scholars were these?

The Death of Jesus

Finally, in about A.D. 33, Jesus' opponents acted. (Finally? Were we tired of Him?) Jesus and his followers, called disciples, came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish festival of Passover. According to the New Testament, people gathered and cheered Jesus as he entered the city. Nevertheless, he was arrested just after he ate the traditional Passover meal.

Not one word about Jesus telling His disciples He would be killed, of His preparations. That would be more than a teacher as Islam claims.

According to the New Testament, his opponents took Jesus before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. They said Jesus claimed to be king of the Jews. They charged him with treason against Rome. The Romans did not permit any kings within their empire. All people were expected to obey only the Roman emperor. Pilate ordered that Jesus be put to death. He was crucified--nailed to the cross to die--by Roman guards, according to Roman custom.

The New Testament says that the body of Jesus was placed in a tomb of solid rock. A large stone was rolled in front of the tomb to seal it. Three days later, however, a woman returned to the tomb. The stone had been rolled away. The tomb was empty.

(What, no angels? Where is Mary? No compelling descriptions of the reappearance of Jesus? Aisha said much of Muhammad and an angel...)

The disciples of Jesus believed that Jesus rose from the dead. This event is called the Resurrection. It convinced the disciples that Jesus was the messiah. They spread the gospel, or "good news," about Jesus and his teachings. (do they mean the good news that Jesus died for our sins? can't they admit Christians believe that?) They also wrote the New Testament. The religion based on the teachings of Jesus, called Christianity, became the largest religion in the world. You will read about how Christianity spread in Chapter 15.

What about our belief, according to the New Testament, that Jesus rose from the dead? That He walked among us for 40 days and then rose into heaven seen by many? Muhammad's version of ascension was written up twice in the Islam section, once with a photo of the Mosque he supposedly ascended from. What about ANYTHING about Jesus that would take more than a popular teacher?

Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Islam does not. The Quran states: 9:30. The Jews call Ùzair [Ezra] a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!  4:171 Say not "Three (Trinity)" : desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is One God. Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son.

As stated before, there is 10x the text supporting the idea that Muhammad is the Prophet with FEWER disclaimers such as "Muslim's believe..."  (see graph) 10 times more than dedicated text than what Christians believe about Jesus. These are the small allowances that give Jesus more credit than being a "popular teacher."

1. Found in another section, "Christianity and the Fall of Rome," pg 459, there is a picture of a stone fish and cross and the caption reads, "The fish was one of the earliest Christian symbols. The Greek word for fish contains the first initials of the words, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."   This is the closest the textbook comes to admitting that Christians might believe He was the Savior, Son of God. Is this balanced? 19 times Jesus is described as a teacher. How many songs do Christians sing about Jesus the teacher?

2. There is a picture of Jesus with the caption, "According to the New Testament, Jesus healed the sick and performed other miracles to demonstrate the power of God." Muslims believe that Jesus healed people by permission of Allah. (see below)

3. The story of Paul of Damascus seeing a vision of Jesus  is given. This small concession is surrounded both before and after with disclaimers of "According to the New Testament" and "Christians believe." These concessions make up what constitutes 1/10th of what is devoted to Muhammad as the Prophet, and these concessions are heavily surrounded with "Christians believe."

Muslims believe that Jesus could heal people. In the Quran, Allah is quoted supposedly giving instruction to Jesus in Surah 5:110: "O Jesus son of Marium!" (Islam believes that the sister of Moses is the same Mary...dates and stories are all mixed up) ... you healed the blind and the leprous by my [Allah's] permission;..."  All miracles performed by Jesus are claimed to be by permission of Allah. Muslims believe Jesus could perform miracles "to demonstrate the power of Allah." Very similar to the textbook and noted in the tiniest font.

To see documentation of the parallels of Islam's beliefs lining up with what is in the textbook, while omitting what Christian's believe that doesn't line up with Islam, click here.

For those who do not know, Mohammad first went to the Jews as a prophet, writing of peace; was rejected. Mohammad then went to the Christians claiming to be a prophet and wrote peace; was rejected. Mohammad went back to his own people and was rejected until he (for a short time) said Allah allowed them to worship Allah's daughters. Mohammad then began to mastermind or lead slaughters of unbelievers in 60 massacres, and the Quran changed dramatically to hate, that is why there are so many contradictions. That is also why there are so many familiar phrases and precepts between the religions. Mohammad appeared on the scene over 600 years after Jesus was resurrected, he tried to claim to be a prophet, though illiterate, he knew the scriptures of the Bible well. But "Allah" is certainly NOT the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The characters are exactly opposite! In fact the Hebrew phonetic word Allah (aw-law) means to lament, mourn and curse. (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance #421, 422, 423)

This has been a word for word sample comparison of the Islam and Christian sections.

Other items found in the Christian section:

To see details and page numbers of the above, click here

Our Founding Fathers fought bravely for our religious freedom. California recently tried to pass a bill that would give CPS the right to take our children if they were homeschooled and did not attend public school. In public schools, they demand our children know other gods.

God is a jealous God. He said we are to be a people set apart for Him. I have the right to believe that. God said not to inquire about other people and how they serve their gods. Yet California is ever closer to forcing our children to do just that under threat of taking them away from us. California has proven to be a leader in such issues for the nation. Where is religious freedom?

I tell you the truth, if we don't turn around as a nation...time will run out very suddenly for those that do not know God. God will not suffer the children continue to be asked to assume the position of the Muslim and pray to Allah. The faith of our children is under attack. How long will we abandon them alone on the cross of public school? How long will we allow them to be spiritually crippled by the thought police? America, turn around. America, live. 

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