troubledgoodangel
Posts: 29
Joined: Dec 2006
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March 05, 2007 6:58 AM
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Only Christ can solve the problem between time and eternity, and therefore between religion and politics. I endorse these words of Fr. Albacete with the understanding that by Christ we mean God and nothing less. Lesser Prophets can only speak of eternal life, but cannot bestow it upon anyone! A prophet who is true can bring about what he says in a limited way (ex. Elijah and John the Baptist). The Prophet Who is the Truth Himself, however, can bring about everything He says! The quandary of Islam, for instance, is that by its own admission it has cast its lots with a Prophet lesser than God, whose words in consequence are lesser than Spirit and Life. In my clumsy attempts at a dialogue with Islam I had recently been asked by a Moslem scholar, a certain Mr. Boulter ([email protected]), what do we Christians mean by "Spirit and Life." These, I responded, are the words of Christ Himself, not my words. We Christians have a Prophet Who is God and Truth at the same time! He is Jesus, the Son of God (you call God "Allah"). This is precisely the reason why inconsistencies in our faith are unthinkable. When our Prophet says that "His words are Spirit," He means that He is "the light of the world" (Jn 8:12) - the entire Light! And when our Prophet says that "His words are Life," he is saying that those who follow the Gospel (Christians' Qu'ran), "will have the light of life" (Jn 8:12) - the Wholeness of Life! This is precisely why our Apostle Peter when referring to Christ has said, that "His words are the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68). Another issue that came up, was Dr. Al-Fawzan's (Dr, Fawzan is a prominent Moslem philosopher) assertion that "Moslems, like the Judeo-Christian Abel, will not fight against their brothers Cains, except when fighting against the enemies of Allah." Dr. Fawzan insists that "Islam's main raison d'etre is the defeat of all those who oppose their God," and that "this is comparable to our Christian struggling against evil." This is true, I said in my continuing dialogue with Mr. Boulter, provided that Dr. Fawzan means a spiritual defeat of evil (Christian view), rather than a physical elimination of opponents, the stuff of Cain! For we, Christians do not advocate winning by bloodshed! Instead, our jihad is through humility, magnanimity, and compassion toward everyone who opposes us! If therefore you believe that killing one's brother "is an abomination to Allah," you need to explain why the Moslems, Sunnis and their brother Shiites, are blowing each other in smithereens with explosive belts and bombs! My understanding is that only in the Light of Christ your Prophet Muhammad can ever make sense!
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