ArchivedThe Quran - Is pre-ordained sin mans responsibility?Peace to all The answer to your questions is no.. God the Father could not say to Adam that He was forgiven for a very good reason that explains the basic difference between the way Islam and Christianity understand God. The ultimate question is not whether man is by nature as bad as the Bible declares him to be, with a heart that is desperately corrupt, and decietful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9) but whether God is as good as the Bible declared him to be. My understanding of Islam is that you see Allah as the Lord of the Universe, with specific attributes, such as righteousness, mercy and justice. The Bible however teaches us that God is, within himself, holy and righteous. In other words, He doesn't just act that way, He IS Holy. Now as a holy God, man constantly is breaking His holy laws when he acts less than holy in his actions, thoughts and words. Romans 3:23 teaches that man constantly and continuously falls short of God's holiness. I know that Lady Fatima has already said that Islam teaches that the fall of Adam and Eve was to ensure that man would live not in paradise, but on earth, but doesn't that just prove what we Christians have been trying to show you in various posts.. that all that happened in the Garden was part of a bigger plan and purpose. God didn't just put Adam and Eve in the garden .. he put them there and knew that they would not succeed in maintaining a righteous and holy character. Surah 2:36 states that "the Devil made them slip from it and to depart from the state they were in." Yes, provision was made on the earth for them, but in their character and person according to the Quran, there was a change in the inner being of Adam and Eve.. a profound change inside them. the root word here is ahbituu which means to go down or to to descend from a high place to a low place. Death was the ultimate result of their sin, and that has never changed, even with the advent of Islam.. death still is the end result of all who live on this earth. Now, Adam was never allowed to return to the garden and he died as has every other human since Adams' time, yet that is not the case with Jesus. According to Islam, Jesus ascended to heaven and is today the only person to be in heaven who has never died. How did he get there, whenever even your greatest prophet, Muhammad had to die? Jesus in the gospels told his disciples he would go to heaven, because He had come from there ( John 3:13, and John 16:28) I came from the Father and have come into the world, again I am leaving the world and going to the Father.) There was no surprise in Jesus's understanding of His mission. Jesus came to this earth, as I said in an earlier post with one specific mission.. to die and yet to LIVE!! God who is God Himself came to this earth as a man, and KNEW what was required of Him and he set Himself to do it so he could cry out on the cross IT IS FINISHED". You know, I've heard Muslims say, we Christians have a pessimistic view of what man's nature is like and that is why we have a God who cannot just say "your sins are forgiven." But you know, our belief may sound pessimistic, but our God has provided for us the most glorious and wonderful after life, where we will shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father. So Alexei, this is only a partial answer to your excellent question, but what I have tried to say here is really three things 1. Islam teaches that God acts in Holy ways. Christianity teaches that God IS holy. His attributes, which also include justice and mercy demand that He cannot just turn a blind eye to man's sinful state, but he must deal with it, to be true to himself. Yes, if he was like you or me, it would be easy to say "I forgive". But God is absolute holiness and His holiness and his justice demand that sin be atoned for. 2. Jesus as God KNEW that He was on the earth to be a ransom, or to bring about a change in the character of man. Man was created holy in the image of God and He fell. God needed to deal with that sin and it's consequence death, which every human being, including every prophet and Muhammad himself has had to suffer. 3. Only Jesus alone in Islam is in heaven having never tasted death. He told His disciples He was from heaven, and He was returning there. he cried from the cross "It is finished". yes, he tasted death, but death lost it's sting for ever and through His death and His resurrection, the promise is that all believers will be restored to the nature that they were created with at the time of Adam. I will add more later, but am interested in your response. |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
When 🌈Pride🌈 cometh, then cometh Shame