What Do You Believe?

What Do You Believe?

Illus. A Muslim in Africa became a Christian and some of his friends asked him, “Why have you done such a thing?” He answered, “Well, its like this: Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions. You didn’t know which way to go; and there at the fork were two men—one dead, and one alive—which one would you ask to show you the way?” (from a sermon by Bruce Howell, The Gospel Vs. Religion.)

Muslims believe that the Quran was verbally revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (Jibril), gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death.

Illus. From biblical.com

The Bible was not written in one specific year or in a single location. The Bible is a collection of writings, and the earliest ones were set down nearly 3500 years ago. The first five books of the Bible are attributed to Moses and are commonly called the Pentateuch (literally “five scrolls”).

Moses lived between 1500 and 1300 BC, though he recounts events in the first eleven chapters of the Bible that occurred long before his time (such as the creation and the flood).

These earliest accounts were handed on from generation to generation in songs, narratives, and poetry.

In those early societies there was no writing as yet and people passed on these oral accounts with great detail and accuracy.

The earliest writing began when symbols were scratched or pressed on clay tablets. The Egyptians refined this technique and developed an early form of writing known as hieroglyphics. The Bible tells us that Moses was “educated in all the learning of the Egyptians”, so he would have been familiar with the major writing systems of his time. We also read that God gave Moses “two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God”(Exodus 31:18). All this leads to the conclusion that the earliest writings in the Bible were set down around 1400 BC.

The writings of the thirty or so other contributors to the Old Testament span a thousand years! They recount the times and messages from Moses’ successor, Joshua, to the last of the Old Testament prophets, Malachi, who wrote his little tract around 450 BC.

Then there is a 500-year period when no writings were contributed to the Bible. This is the period between the testaments, when Alexander the Great conquered much of the world and when the Greek language was introduced to the Hebrews. Indeed, they began to use Greek so much that the Hebrew language was replaced by Greek and by another language, Aramaic, which was spoken all over that area of the world at that time.

The New Testament was written during a much shorter period, i.e. during the last half of the first century AD.

The Quran, when challenged cannot defend itself the way Gods Holy Word can. The Bible is the most challenging and the most challenged book for its authenticity of all time. And never one time, has God's Word been disproven!

The Bible is the inspired word of God, not given in third party interpretation, but inspired and given directly by God himself. With the Ten Commandments being written, by none other than God himself, with His very own finger.

Both accounts take faith to believe, however one stretches mankind's mustard size limitations, far beyond its limits. Which one you might ask? The answer is both stretch our faith.

However, one represents the dark side of a religion of hate. And the other represents, everything Good that has ever been or will ever be. Not just represented, but guaranteed by the never ending, extravagant Love God has for His greatest creation, known as mankind.

Hebrews 11:6 NKJ

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Faith...faith in the Loving, selfless act of our Savior, Gods Only Son...is what makes the reality of the resurrection, real for millions of believers all across the globe today.

Biblical History, tells of the event and records the cruxifixction on paper, but it is our faith in the infinite number of miracles that sprang forth from Jesus resurrection, that writes those miracles down in the Lambs Book of Life, and let's us proudly proclaim:

"There's a new name written down in Glory and it's mine! Thank You Jesus for the Cross and the resurrection

John 20 1-2 MSG

1-2. Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”