Orthodox Christians become a Muslim

"Given to an Unlettered Prophet (Qur"an 7:157)"(How do we know that? Because it says so in the Qur"an and his enemies never called him a liar)." Jesus was the Son of God who died on the cross. (Matt 16:21; 17:22-23; Luke 24:19-27, 44-46) How do we know that? Because Jesus said so and his enemies never denied this. So the same type of logic used to prove the Quar"an also proves Christian doctrine, yet, Muslims deny these teachings. Double standard? Con says the Quar"an "Has remained unchanged," so has the Bible: "After those prophets We sent forth Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Torah already revealed, and gave him the Gospel, in which there is guidance and light, corroborating that which was revealed before it in the Torah, a guide and an admonition to the righteous. Therefore let the followers of the Gospel judge in accordance with what Allah has revealed therein. Evil-doers are those that do not base their judgements on Allah's revelations." (Sura 5, Al-Ma'ida [The Table], verses 46, 47) If, at the time these words were written, the Bible had already been corrupted, believers in the Gospel could not judge in accordance with what Allah had revealed therein. Therefore the Bible was uncorrupted at the time the Qur'an was written (7th century C.E.). Would Allah tell us to trust a corrupted book? We have today in our possession 5,300 known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, another 10,000 Latin Vulgates, and 9,300 other early versions (MSS), giving us more than 24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament in existence today! (taken from McDowell's Evidence That demands a Verdict, vol.1, 1972 pgs.40-48; and Time, January 23, 1995, pg.57) With such a wealth of manuscripts we can delineate what the originals said. It is evident from a comparison of ancient manuscripts in the original languages that the Bible hasn"t changed. Allah promises that it is impossible for anyone to alter his word. He says: "None can change the decrees of Allah." (Sura 6, Al-An"am (Cattle), verse 34) This agrees with what Jesus said: "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law." (Matt 5:18) And the prophets before him, for example Isaiah: "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever." (also see 1 Peter 1:25) So the claim that the Torah, Pslams and Gospel were corrupted is actually a claim that Allah was unable to keep his promise which he gave through his prophets to preserve his word. Now if he couldn"t preserve the Bible how will he preserve the Quar"an? "He has already revealed the Torah and the Gospel for the guidance of men, and the distinction between right and wrong." (Sura"3, Al-Imran [The Imrans], verses"3, 4. That ought to settle the point that Allah considers the Bible reliable, do you? Was Jesus God, or sent by God? He was both. He accepted worship (Matt 28:9), and worship belongs to God alone. (Matt 4:10) When Thomas called him "my Lord and my God" Jesus blessed this profession of faith. (John 20:28-29) Isaiah prophesied he would be God. (Isaiah 9:6) So if Con denies Jesus" divinity, he is contradicting the previous prophets and their Scriptures, the very Scriptures the Quar"an tells him to accept as the word of God. He goes to Mark 13:32 to prove that Jesus is not all-knowing, which means he accepts Mark"s Gospel as a reliable source of information about Jesus. Mark also says Jesus was crucified and was the Son of God (Mark 14:61-62; 15:24). Muslims deny these doctrines, so we can see the bias in how they cherry-pick the Gospels to prove their point. Mark 13:32 puts Jesus on an ascending scale above every human and angel, second only to the Father. As a man, Jesus was limited in knowledge, but as God, he knew all things. "Now we know that you know all things." (John 16:30; 21:17) Jesus could even read hearts. (Mark 2:6-8) He was born of a woman (Matt 1:23-25) yet existed before Abraham (John 8:57-58); so God is a being that can occupy two radically different positions at the same time. He experienced both natures. This isn"t surprising for nothing is impossible for God. (Matt 19:26) Con uses John 5:30 to prove Jesus isn"t almighty, but does he obey John 5:23? Does he honor the Son just as he honors the Father? Jesus commanded this; but we can"t honor them both the same is one is given worship and not the other. If Jesus is God, we"d expect that he can"t act independently of God the Father, which is the point of John 5:30. Con cherry-picks Bible verses about Jesus" human nature, and ignores all those about his divine nature such as John 1:1-3, 10, 18, 34; 17:5; Acts 20:28 etc. Con uses Exodus 40:31-32 but in verse 1 God"s name isn"t Allah, it is Yahweh (Jehovah). Muslims have abandoned this name of God, Christians haven"t. Prostrating is a custom of Jewish culture, but all believers are not commanded to do so. Con claims the Bible contains contradictions, has he not read the many contradictions in the Quar"an? Sura 4:157, 158 reads (in part): "For of a surety they killed him [Jesus] not:"Nay, God raised him up unto himself." (Ali) But Sura 3:55 plainly states, according to the original Arabic and Sale"s version: "When God said, O Jesus, verily I will cause thee to die, and I will take thee up unto me." The Arabic is muta-waffiika meaning "cause you to die." And again Jesus says he will die in Sura 19:16-38. Sura 2, verse 285 (Rodwell): "We make no distinction between any of His Apostles," whereas in verse 254 of the same sura we are told, "Some of the Apostles have we endowed more highly than others." Another discrepancy regards the kebla, or direction Muslims should face when praying. On the one hand the Quran states: "The East and the West is God"s: therefore whichever way ye turn, there is the face of God." (Sura 2:109, 172, Rodwell) But we also read: "We have seen thee turning thy face towards every part of heaven: but we will have thee turn to a kebla that will please thee. Turn then thy face towards the sacred Mosque." (Sura 2:139, 144, 145, Rodwell) Is it or is it not vital which direction one faces when praying? The Quran gives contradictory instructions and reasons in support of each. Then again, according to some verses the apostles of Jesus Christ were Muslims (that is, those "who surrender themselves to God") ; and also Abraham: "neither Jew nor Christian; but he was sound in the faith, a Muslim." (Sura 3:60; 5:48, 111, Rodwell) But according to Sura 39:14 (Rodwell), Muhammad was the first Muslim: "SAY: I am bidden to serve God with a sincere worship: and I am bidden to be the first of those who surrender themselves to him, (Muslims)." Again, according to Sura 2:59 (Rodwell) salvation is for others besides Muslims, but Sura 3:79; 5:76, 77 say only Muslims will be saved. What proof did Con give that the Bible"s creation story contradicts science? None. God"s creation rest doesn"t imply that God gets tired, anymore than when "the land had rest from war" (Josh 14:15) implied that the land got tired. In Jesus" day the mustard seed was the tiniest of the seeds commonly sown in Israel. (Mark 4:31) The context was limited to sowing, it wasn"t comparing all the seeds of the world. Con claims Islam is closer to Jesus" faith in how they dressed, but Christians are closer to Jesus in what they believe, i.e. Jesus is the Son of God, and died on the cross for us, baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matt 28:19-20) He claims he can prove God"s name is Allah, but God has many names. He is also called Yahweh, "That men may know thou, whose name is Jehovah (Yahweh), you alone are the Most High." (Psalms 83:18)