torquemada

It is ironic that the evangelical community thinks it proper to blacken Islam and Mohammed. It can be shown that Islam is an outgrowth of Ebonite Christianity, the tradition which came from the earliest Christians around James of Jerusalem, the brother of Jesus. Since the Christian churches have done their best to ignore the earliest Christians and James, it is amusing to note that therefore Islam probably comes closer to the earliest Christian beliefs than any current Christian church.

An easy way to get in touch with this material is to read Hans-Joachim Schoeps' book JEWISH CHRISTIANITY.

Of course Islamists won't like this. They think that God or Gabriel dictated to Mohammed the truth about everything. They would not like to be thought of as plagiarizers of the Jewish Christians. But it is clear that Islam is essentially a Jewish-Arabian version of biblical belief.

Blui

Islam has far more in relation to the Old Testament then Christianity, even the temperament of God is the same, God-fearing, wrathful, angry.

Clivedurdle

I love this myth that the NT is peaceful in comparison with the old! Revelation, bits of Matthew, would tend to state otherwise!

And love your neighbour is in the books of Moses! And where is the equivalent to the song of songs?

torquemada

If Jesus returned to earth he would feel more comfortable in a Mosque than in a Jewish synagogue, a Baptist church, or a Catholic church. Why? Because Islam is the "semitic revenge" for hellenization and romanization.

Blui

It is peaceful in comparison, by 'comparison' you are obviously meaning 'do the sum of the Old Testament God-verses outweigh the New Testament in terms of God being vengeful, wrathful and angry'.

Easily yes, the New Testament God is much more peaceful, this however does not equate to God being 100% peaceful, do not confuse this.

I doubt it, the Qur'an, at the end, encourages foreful violent actions against non-Muslims, not exactly the 'other cheek' .

Sven

I'm not aware of any evidence that James really existed and was the brother of Jesus.

Clivedurdle

I have seen odd bits that the koran may be a child's version of the old and new testaments so I would welcome a discussion of the actual roots of Islam - it would be amusing if it were a puritan judaeo - xianity!

Clouseau

I think quite lot of people think that Islam and Mohammed blacken themselves quite adequately by themselves, though they don't often say so.

Maybe evangelicals, and many other people don't even know that. That may be because it isn't true, of course.

That could be a false statement- so prove it is true. Referring to whole tomes without even so much as a line of a quote is one of the resorts of scoundrels- so allay all suspicion.

I doubt that immensely. They say that's what happened, but I don't suppose they apply the same standard of proof if you want to borrow money off them.

But Muhammedans are actually keen to get some of the Bible's kudos and authority rubbed off on their own novel. They are in a very peculiar position, doing that as well as pointing out the unreliability of the Bible.

Basically it's a pompously grandiloquent, convenient re-write with all the wonderful benefits of hindsight, long after eye-witnesses are safely buried.

torquemada

The apostle Paul mentions James as "the brother of the Lord." There is biography of him by robert Eisenman of the State univ. of California, Long Beach. Unfortunately Eisenman has never quite learned to write clearly. But you can read it if you have patience.

Weltall

Oh well that settles it then. Paul said it, it must be true.
[Northern Californian]Ok, why should I bother?[/Northern Californian] Actually, never heard of the guy. Care to provide a bit more detail on this biography, sources used, evidence presented etc?
Well, I wont be reading it then. I have quite enough on my plate at the moment and most of it requires translation so I have enough unclear writing to last me for a few months already.