Book Reading Events

Click here for previous session     One supremely disconcerting challenge revolves around the word, monogenes. This is the only word in the ancient Greek biblical texts which bears the translation “only begotten.”66 This term occurs nine times in the New Testament, and the translation of this term in the Gospel and First Epistle of John form the foundation of the “begotten, not made” doctrine. Of the nine occurrences of this term, monogenes occurs three times in Luke (7:12, 8:42, and 9:38), but always in reference to individuals other than Jesus, and in none of these cases is it translated “only begotten.” That alone is curious. A person would...

Click here for previous session     Excessive Dogma in the Righteous Persons is the Root Cause of Infidelity of Mankind and its deviation from True Religion   The Statement of Allah the Almighty and Most Exalted: "O People of the Scripture (Jews...

Click here for previous session     Jesus Begotten? To create is divine, to reproduce is human. —Man Ray, Originals Graphic Multiples Christian laity have accepted the doctrines of Jesus being of divine sonship and ”begotten, not made” for so long that these doctrines have largely fallen from scrutiny. Until three centuries ago, dissenting views were suppressed by means sufficiently horrific to have driven intellectual challenges underground. Only in recent times have Western societies been freed from religious oppression, allowing a free exchange of opinions. Not so in Muslim lands, where these Christian doctrines have been freely opposed since the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, 1,400 years ago. The Islamic understanding is that “begetting,” which is...

Click here for previous session     (Allah guides whom He wills)   Allah the Almighty stated: "Verily, you (O Muhammad) guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided." (28:56) In the Sahih,...

Click here for previous session     Virgin Birth    A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.  —Carl Sandburg, Remembrance Rock And in the case of Jesus, a baby was God’s determination that revelation should go on. A few “progressive” churches have made a ruckus by questioning the virgin birth. They shouldn’t. It happened. At least, that’s the mainstream Christian and Islamic opinion. The Christian viewpoint is well known, although the lack of convincing biblical detail is frustrating to many. The Islamic teaching is that just as God created Adam from nothing more than clay, He created Jesus without biological father as a sign to the people—a miraculous origin portending messianic status. Surah...

Click here for previous session     The Intercession   Allah the Almighty said: "And warn therewith those who fear that they will be gathered before their Lord, when there will neither be a protector nor an intercessor for them besides Him, so that...

Click here for previous session     Consequently, the “Lord’s Christ” (i.e., the “Lord’s Christos”—the “Lord’s anointed,” or the “Lord’s messiah”) list includes Saul the Christ, Cyrus the Christ, and the many Davidic kings—all “Christs.” Or at least, that’s how the Bible would read if everyone’s title were translated the same. But they aren’t. In the selective wisdom of the Bible translators, christos is translated “anointed” in every case but that of Jesus Christ. When the word “anointed” is found in any English translation of the Bible, a person can safely assume that the underlying Greek is the same christos from which Jesus gets his unique label of “Christ.” This exclusive title of “Christ” with a capital C, and “Messiah” with a capital M, is singularly impressive. In fact, it...

Click here for previous session     (What the Lord has said) Allah the Most Exalted said:  "Until when fear is banished from their hearts they say: 'What is it that your Lord has said?" They say: 'The Truth, and He is the...

Click here for previous session     The name “Christ” is derived from the Greek christos, which was subsequently Latinized to “Christ.” The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament defines christos as “Christ, Messiah, Anointed One.”60 A second opinion is as follows: “The word Messiah (sometimes Messias, following the Hellenized transcription) represents the Hebrew mashiah, or mashuah ‘anointed,’ from the verb mashah ‘anoint.’ It is exactly rendered by the Greek christos ‘anointed.’” In plain English, if people read the Old Testament in ancient Hebrew they will read mashiah, mashuah, and mashah. Read it in ancient Greek, and the above three...

Click here for previous session     The created one could not be an object of worship   Allah the Almighty said: "Do they attribute as partners to Allah those who created nothing but they themselves are created? No help can they give them,...