Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog
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What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Qur'an, by James White - a Review by TurretinFan
05/15/2013 - Tur8infan
With great pleasure, I recently read my friend James White's book, "What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Qur'an," published by Bethany House Publishers. It may be helpful to begin by clarifying what the book is not, then identifying what I liked about the book. ...[Click Here to Continue Reading]
11:20:21 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
Reformed Podcast Interview
04/02/2013 - James White
I will be doing a lot of interviews over the next few months as What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur'an comes out from Bethany House Publishers. Yesterday I recorded an interview with the Reformed Podcast on the book. Here it is.06:35:26 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
A Very Brief Rejoinder to Bassam Zawadi
03/22/2013 - James White
I am getting ready for a quick trip to New York (well, a trip to New York used to be a long trip, until I flew to Sydney, which makes all trips inside the US seem short) and have other things I need to get done, but I was directed to an article, here, that I wanted to respond to very quickly. Yes, I will be brief. Well, I will try anyway.Those who have listened especially to my interaction with Abdullah Kunde's comments on Surah 5:47 know that I have spent a good deal of time on this text. Bassam Zawadi attempted to make some comments on the text in our debate in London, but I truly believe his attempted explanation is "lacking in explanatory power," so to speak. Let's look at what he said and respond to it:
It's been a tradition for Dr. White to bring up Surah 5:47 in his debates when it says that Christians should judge by the gospel. I want to use this opportunity to clarify what that passage is really saying. Now, Surah 5:47, when it says that Christians should judge by the Gospel needs to be read in its proper context. One needs to understand how the Qur'an uses the word "Gospel" and needs to bear in mind the fact that the early Muslims did not believe or understand the Qur'an to be saying that the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John are inspired. One should also read Qur'anic passages such as 2:185 and 5:68, which illustrate that the Qu'ran is to be followed by everyone including Christians. The same verse that is being alluded to - Surah 5:47 - itself continues on to say - he only quoted the first half - it does on to say "whoever does not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the transgressors.", which is a general statement that one must judge by all revelation sent down by God, including the Qur'an. If one refers to the understanding of the early Muslims one would observe that the correct understanding of the verses from the Qur'an, which command the Jews and Christians to judge by the Torah and Gospel respectively actually means that they must judge by the Qur'an since this is the only way to really judge by the Torah and Gospel sent to Moses and Jesus peace be upon them both respectively, for those original revelations taught the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) according to Islam. Therefore, to judge by them means that you must accept the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him), which in turn means that you must then accept the Qur'an as the word of God and judge by it. So that is the correct understanding of Surah 5:47.
The essence of Bassam's interpretation of Surah 5:47 is that the text, though it specifically says وَلْيَحْكُمْ أَهْلُ الْإِنجِيلِ بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ, that is, judge by what Allah has revealed therein, where the ONLY possible antecedent in Arabic is the Gospel, actually means not to judge by the Gospel, but by the Qur'an! And this in a context that specifically delineates (in fact, the entire chain demands we differentiate) between the Torah, given to Moses (link #1), the Gospel, given to Jesus (link #2), and the Qur'an, given to Muhammad (link #3). What is more, it is in a text where the three groups are being addressed, specifically, Jews, Christians, and Muslims. So to say the text is saying nothing more than "believe in the Qur'an" is not a compelling assertion. It wasn't when Bassam made it in London, and it still is not today. To establish his interpretation, Bassam would have to derive it not from later tafsir, but from the text itself. I would go into the text more fully here to elucidate the problems Bassam's interpretation has, but as I said above, brevity is of necessity this evening. Suffice it to say that if you attempt to make this nothing more than a "believe in the Qur'an not the Injeel because the Injeel has been corrupted and lost" assertion, you leave the text without meaning.
Remember, the text specifically addresses a particular people, the Ahl al-Injeel, the People of the Gospel. Such a people existed in Muhammad's day. We have at least some knowledge of what they believed, and how they lived. These words are addressed to them, and are we supposed to believe that they actually meant "People of the Gospel---you have no gospel, believe only in the Qur'an"? For Bassam's interpretation to have any merit, it would have to explain, from the text, how the people to whom these words were originally addressed could possibly have obeyed them. Evidently, they could do so only by NOT judging by what is "contained therein" (in the Gospel), but by abandoning the Gospel and embracing the Qur'an! Such a conclusion, I note would completely undercut the argument found in this section (that the Qur'an is the final revelation, and hence Muhammad the final prophet), but that doesn't seem to be of a concern to the modern Muslim apologist who is simply trying to find a way to maintain his modern "the Gospel has been corrupted and lost and was before Muhammad's day" conclusions with the reality of the text of the Qur'an that simply does not make this assertion.
Now, the anachronistic nature of Bassam Zawadi's reading of the text is illustrated by the included element of the alleged prophetic testimony to Muhammad, surely one of the weakest elements of modern Islam's apologetic framework. Some Salafi interpreters do, in fact, see such a theme behind this text, as well as Surah 10:94, though it is hard to prove this from the text itself. The only way to really derive such an interpretation is to do so by reading the Qur'an in the light of another source, i.e., the hadith, and many are willing to do this (though few consider the epistemological problem this creates for their claims regarding the nature of the Qur'an in contrast with the nature of the ahadith). Is Zawadi saying that the act of judging, noted in verse 47, is not in reference to the context provided by ayah 43, but is instead a reference to judging whether Muhammad is prophesied in the Injeel? How can that be, once again, if the real argument is "believe the Qur'an"? All of this still leaves unanswered the real question: how could anyone in the days of Muhammad have obeyed the command to "judge" by what was contained in the Injeel if the Injeel had been lost? The words simply do not allow any way around their import.
The fact is I continue to raise this issue because I have yet to find a serious, consistent, text-based response to the questions I am asking. In fact, if you will compare what Bassam said with what Shabir Ally said with what Abdullah Kunde said...well, your head will be spinning! There simply isn't any consistency as to their own views on the matter! And surely, raising issues of "gospel" vs. "gospels" only shows that my friends on the other side of this issue have yet to begin to seriously think through the problem their text presents to them. Where is the evidence, Mr. Zawadi, that the author of the Qur'an had the level of knowledge you possess relating to the New Testament? You assume he possessed it if you introduce the gospel/gospels distinction, but you cannot simply assume it. You have to prove it. And that my friends have not even begun to attempt to do. So before you repeat the tired and worn "the Qur'an says Allah gave Jesus the Gospel, not gospels, so the Gospel must be lost" argument, provide the necessary foundation, the proof that the author of the Qur'an could even distinguish between the singular "gospel" and the plural "gospels"! In fact, given the Qur'an's uncritical acceptance of mythological fabrications as if they were part of the gospel story itself (Jesus speaking from His cradle, making clay birds, etc.), there is actually evidence that the author of the Qur'an was manifestly ignorant of the actual form, let alone content, of the "gospel." So before you can use such distinctions to avoid the conundrum presented to you by the inconsistencies of the Qur'anic text by reference to the gospel/gospels distinction, you must ground it with solid arguments that are not anachronistic or fideistic in nature. And that, so far, is not something Bassam Zawadi, or anyone else I know of, has done.
18:03:45 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
Video from Trinity College Debate
02/27/2013 - James White
22:04:55 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
Great Debate with Adnan Rashid at Trinity College, Dublin
02/27/2013 - James White
What a day here in Dublin! Got a great night's sleep after the UCD debate, got my presentation for this evening done, and then met Adnan Rashid for lunch in downtown Dublin. Had a great time getting to know each other better and making some hopefully exciting plans for future encounters. I am glad to get the opportunity to really sit down and talk heart to heart with some of my Muslim debate opponents. I think that led to a great debate this evening at Trinity College, one of the premier universities in the western world. The topic this evening was, well, from a Christian perspective, a "slam dunk." Did Muhammad teach the same message as Jesus? Obviously not. But, of course, I knew exactly where Adnan would be going. His approach was to undercut the biblical text and basically leave us with nothing but...the Qur'an, of course! Now, using liberal Western scholarship to undercut confidence in the words of the first century gospels so that you can replace them with the utterly unsubstantiated, a-historical words of Jesus from the Qur'an, a seventh century document, which not a single one of those liberal Western scholars would ever consider to be even slightly relevant to reconstructing the teachings of Jesus, is an amazing leap, but hey---that's what you need to do!
I spent the evening pointing out the double standards and getting a good opportunity to clarify the Christian message at the same time. These two debates have been a little unusual in that the audience participation has actually been far more valuable than normal. I had the opportunity to explain the Trinity, the cross, redemption---many key issues. I truly hope the Lord will make my words come alive in the hearts and minds of the Muslims who heard, for the first time, a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus the Messiah.I head home tomorrow, and have quite the busy schedule over the next number of months. Also, if the trip doesn't leave me bleary eyed and mind-numbed, I will try to sneak a DL in on Friday, but I can't make any promises. I've had some pretty rough trips back across the pond, as they say!
Below is the mp3 of the debate from my LiveScribe pen. The folks from Arann Reformed Baptist Church video taped again, so the video may be up as quickly as it was yesterday. However, I won't be able to blog anything for a long while, so I hope maybe some others on the blog team may be able to get the videos posted if they show up on YouTube.
14:51:23 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
UCD Video Already Up!
02/27/2013 - James White
Single camera shoot, but hey, even the audio would be better than my little pen-derived mp3. Anyone notice I've been growing out my goatee? It's so bright it helps with reading in low light. OK, not really.Thanks to the brothers from Arann Reformed Baptist Church for putting this video up so quickly!
02:25:36 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
A Wonderful Evening at University College Dublin
02/26/2013 - James White
Just in from the debate at University College, Dublin. Enjoyed my encounter with Adnan Rashid, though it didn't go quite as long as I had hoped. In any case, met some great believers, and had some good conversations with our Muslim friends, too. The Christian students hosted a reception afterward. Adnan was surrounded and in some intense conversations, while I was mainly meeting folks who listen to the Dividing Line (I did have a conversation with a Muslim from Albania). Tomorrow evening we engage each other on whether Muhammad taught the message of Jesus at Trinity College, Dublin, at 6pm. Should be most interesting and challenging!Once again, may I thank all those who have made this trip possible. We arranged it almost "spur of the moment," and the fact that so many of you stood with us to allow it to happen is a great, great encouragement.
I used my LiveScribe pen again tonight, and so, we have a less-than-professional audio file of tonight's proceedings already available. You can listen via the flash player below, or download here. Better recording/versions upcoming!
15:47:22 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
Just a Program Note
02/25/2013 - James White
Greetings from Dublin! I was just informed that due to a scheduling conflict the debate tomorrow evening at University College Dublin will start at 7pm, not 6pm as advertised. Look forward to seeing you all there for a good time of important debate!11:16:05 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
Why Does a Muslim Reject the Gospel?
02/21/2013 - James White
Here is my high-speed lecture to the students at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte campus from last Thursday. Really enjoyed being at RTS, and look forward to getting back in the not too distant future!18:26:10 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
The Deen Show's "Aspiring Baptist Minister" Reviewed and Refuted
12/27/2012 - James White
11:13:28 - Category: Islam - Link to this article -
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