Why Islam is true religion and acknowledge Christianity and Judaism

1. AcceptanceI accept. Thanks for creating this debate, Pro. I'm looking forward to a good discussion.2. Burden of ProofIn this debate, Pro will need to shoulder the burden of proof in order to justify his claim that Islam is the true religion. 3. RebuttalI will address the points made by Pro before moving on to give my own arguments. All sources can be found at the bottom of the page.i. "Textual Evidence"Pro quotes Deuteronomy 18:18 and mentions other Biblical verses in which a prophet is mentioned. But why should we think that Muhammad is the prophet mentioned? Pro fails to provide justification for his assertion that "this prophet is none but Muhammad; the Prophet of Islam." Pro goes on to assert that the Jewish prophet Elijah was actually Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Again, we are given no justification for this extreme assertion and therefore have no reason to accept that Muhammad was Elijah or any other prophet mentioned in the Old Testament. Furthermore, I would point out that Elijah lived between 800-900 BC, while Muhammad lived between 550-650 AD. This begs the question of Muhammad could possibly have been Elijah, as to my understanding he was not capable of time travel.Pro's idea that Jesus suggested a "final Prophet" would come after Him is unfounded. The Quran cannot be used as evidence for this point, as this would be circular reasoning. The Bible gives no evidence to support this idea either. Instead, Jesus of Nazareth warns against future false prophets on several occasions. To give just one example, "False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told it to you beforehand. So if they say to you, 'He is in the desert,' do not go out there; if they say, 'He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it." -Matthew 24:24-26 ii. "Logical Evidence""The very message of Jesus and his short stay on earth show that there was a need for another prophet to come"I have already addressed this point. By no stretch of the imagination did Jesus suggest that there was any sort of need for another prophet to come. I would ask Pro to provide scriptural evidence to back this claim."The world, before the advent of the Prophet of Islam was in a case of a total disruption and complete disorder"The suggestion that Islam saved our previously hopeless world is nearly comical. I don't think I need to provide sources to refute this point, just take a look at the world around you. There is no better example today of disruption and disorder than the Islamic societies in the Middle East. iii. "Other Evidences""The Quran is the eternal message of Islam and a timeless miracle that no one can produce the like thereof"Plenty of holy books have been produced by plenty of religions, both before and after Islam. I see no reason to believe that the Quran is anything but a largely plagiarized book."Islam calls for understanding and a deep search in one's self, in the creation of the heavens and earth and the contemplation in everything around man"I think it is very good that Islam does this, but so do many other religions. Why should this serve as evidence that Islam is true?"Modern science testifies to Islam"Science testifies no more to Islam than it does to any other religion. Even if modern science were completely in line with Islam (which I don't believe it is,) this would do nothing to show that Islam was therefore the true religion. "There were lots of material miracles that were performed and eye-witnessed during the life-time of the Prophet Muhammad"I addressed this point earlier, but I'll reinstate it. The Quran and it's content cannot be used as evidence in favor of Islam. Pro must provide independent sources to these miracles in order to avoid circular argumentation.4. Argumentsi. The Muslim conception of God is not maximally greatTypically, God is defined as a maximally great being. This means that God is maximal in all great-making properties. For example, God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. If a conception of God were to be less than maximally great, then that conception would be false as it is conceivable that an even greater being exists, which would itself be God. The Islamic conception of God is not maximally great. An all-good God would have to be an all-loving God. The Islam conception of God is not an all-loving God, but rather a semi-loving God. Let's take a look at some examples found in the Quran that show the Islamic conception of God to be less-than all-loving:"Allah is an enemy to the disbelievers" 2:98"Allah does not like every sinning disbeliever" 2:276"If they turn away- then indeed, Allah does not like the disbelievers" 3:32"Allah does not like the wrongdoers" 3:57"Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful" 4:36"Allah does not like transgressors" 5:87"He does not like those who commit excess" 6:141"Allah does not like traitors" 8:58We can conclude from these examples that the less-than all-loving conception of God found in Islam is not a distortion or selection of a single verse, but rather a common theme displayed throughout the Quran. It follows, then, that the Islamic conception of God is inadequate and that a greater being exists instead.ii. The Resurrection of Jesus of NazarethI'm going to have to be brief with these points, as I am running out of typing room. Islam cannot account for the facts surrounding the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. These facts, best presented by Dr. William Lane Craig, include:FACT #1: After his crucifixion, Jesus was buried in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea. There are no other competing burial stories (which we would expect if this burial story was false) than the one attested to by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians.FACT #2: On the Sunday following the crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by a group of his women followers.The fact the the scripture tells us the tomb of Jesus was found empty by "women followers" is essential. We would expect the witnesses to be men if this was a lie, as women's testament was worthless. Furthermore, Jewish opponents of Christ claimed that the body was stolen by His followers. This is evidence that the tomb was in fact empty, otherwise these enemies would have no reason to make such a claim.FACT #3: On multiple occasions and under various circumstances, different individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive from the dead.Independent attestations of these appearances can be found in each of the four Gospels.FACT #4: The original disciples believed that Jesus was risen from the dead despite their having every predisposition to the contrary.There was no room in Jewish belief for a Messiah that would die (or rise from the dead.) The actions of the original disciples, if the resurrection did not occur, should have been to abandon their belief that Jesus was God. However, they believed so strongly that Jesus was raised from the dead (in conflict with the Jewish belief) that they went to their deaths proclaiming the truth of it. I can't think of anyone who would die for a cause in which they were lying about.5. SummaryI have responded to each of the points made by Pro in this opening round. I showed that Muhammad was not a Biblical prophet (certainly not Elijah) and addressed each of the unfounded assertions made by Pro. Furthermore, I provided two arguments that show Islam is not the true religion. As Pro has the burden of proof, he must knock down both of these arguments and in their place give us his own sound arguments in favor of his position. Until he does this, Pro has failed to carry the burden of proof to justify his claim that Islam is the true religion.Sources:http://www.biography.com...http://www.britannica.com...http://www.vatican.va...http://quran.com...http://www.reasonablefaith.org...