Two Kinds


“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” — Luke 7:47 ESV

“There are two kinds of people in the world, those who believe there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don’t.” — Robert Benchley

OK — maybe it’s convenient to divide the world by our various distinctions of temperaments, talents and even spiritual gifts… I get that — but something about it sticks in my craw. Admittedly, it could be a spoilsport reaction to the categories I keep being slotted into. My problems aside… there’s a scientific argument that explains why we tend to categorize and divide. Continue reading

Innocence

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.”   Matthew 18:7-9 ESV

In terms of temptation, we live in a world of bright lights. The colors are vivid and pulsing and now, even retinal. Given their brightness, one would think it would be easy to avoid them. The problem, however, isn’t the lights. The problem is that we are moths. We randomly dart about the lights mesmerized by the colors and the sensations. We circle closer and closer and our caution is lost as we slowly become blind to everything beyond the lights. Even in the painful brilliance we find ourselves unable to look away. Eventually our fragile tiered wings literally catch fire. Continue reading

The Revelation and Preservation of Quranic and New Testament Manuscripts

photo by Crystalina

photo by serpentineantiques.co.uk

Both the Christian and Islamic faiths depend on revelation in order to know anything about God beyond what can be learned through observing nature. Muslims claim that the Quran is the eternal Word of Allah, sent down to earth, complete in its original form and unchanged. Christians, on the other hand, believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Word of God, sent down to earth, complete in his original form and unchanged. The New Testament is held to a lower standard than that of the person of Jesus Christ upon which it is based: Is it eternal? No. Was it sent down from heaven? Inspired, but… no, at least not in the Quranic sense. Was it complete in its original form? Yes. Was it changed? Yes, but we know where the changes are for the most part. For both the Quran and the New Testament, the revelation and preservation of the ancient texts is of utmost importance, for they give us confidence that what the scriptures declare about God is reliable. The problem is: If both scriptures tell us contrasting views of God/Allah, which is reliable and trustworthy?

I’ve had the pleasure of engaging in an online conversation with several Muslims on YouTube on this subject. I hope to use this post as a vehicle for continuing those conversations as the YouTube comment mechanism can be uncooperative at times. As I have a day job, this interaction will require patience. Also, I’ll endeavor to be as informed, truthful and fair as possible, so careful research will be required. Please stay tuned!

Editor’s Note: This thread was moved from the main “Ask Me Anything” page. It was based on comments that originated from the YouTube video “A Guide To Missionary Tactics For MUSLIMS” by Radush Shubuhaat. Look for the thread by “A Berean” that begins “So much cynicism in less than 15 minutes…”

Proof that MuslimByChoice YouTube Channel Blocks Users

Click on the image to open the video in a new window
Click the “SORT BY” drop down menu and select “Newest first”
Look for the comment by @A Berean beginning with ” I watched the entire video waiting to see the “Bad Arguments” of Dr. White.”

I offer this evidence for lovers of truth proving that The Moderator of MuslimByChoice wields their considerable censorship power to stifle free discussion on their YouTube channel. Continue reading

Ask Me Anything!

Featured

I’ve been hanging around YouTube of late, watching videos and commenting here and there, often on Muslim channels. I am fascinated by the religion and am excited to learn more about it. I’m particularly interested to see how Muslims integrate well established historical and scientific facts with their religion — their worldview. I am continually challenged to do the same with my Christian worldview! My hope is that we can mutually learn from each other.

I’ve had many, many productive chats. Along the way, I’ve managed to draw the ire of some of the channel moderators, who will, from time to time, block my replies from being seen. I can see them when I log in, but if I switch identities, they disappear. With that in mind, plus desiring the ability to format conversations (add diagrams, block quotes, bulleted lists, etc.) I am opening up this thread primarily for my Muslim friends in order to provide a safe, confidential forum that is not subject to censorship from either YouTube or the channel moderators. Continue reading

Will This Be On the Final Exam?

Anyone who’s taught for more than a day will be confronted by this question. Will this be on the test? It’s really a question of whether or not they need to keep listening. Our students have become testologists. They have analyzed their world and figured out that some things can be safely ignored without consequence. What’s crucial is what ends up on that exam. It’s logical when you think about it. The exam is measurable, and what you measure represents a distillation of what you believe to be important.

So what about us? What’s on our final exam? When we stand at the pearly gates, what are we going to be asked? Seems like a logical question. Why spend all our time and energy preparing to answer questions that will never be asked? If we could only know what was on the exam, we could properly prepare. Just as important, we could safely ignore those things that aren’t on the final exam.

Lucky for you I know what’s going to be on the final exam. Continue reading

Fear of Forgetting to Worry

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Desert Evening Primrose by God
Photograph by Carolyn McIntyre

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”   Matt 6:34 ESV

For many of us, worry about tomorrow is just the tip of that iceberg. Tomorrow is for amateurs — we’ve got a worry schedule that’s months into the future. After all, worrying is a tough job but, by-golly, someone’s gotta do it! And like all tough jobs — if you want it done right… So… we swallow our antacids, clock in as soon as we open our eyes and clock out somewhere in our restless sleep. “Don’t be anxious…” that’s just crazy talk.

Each of us are born into a state of absolute dependence and vulnerability. From that very day, life becomes a stepwise path toward overcoming that vulnerability. Even as children we are acutely aware of our frailty and grasp at anything that helps us feel more secure and autonomous. I believe that there is very little that people are unwilling to forfeit in exchange for feeling safe and in control. It is the obsession of our culture, perhaps our species.

So — having said that — let me tell you a story… Continue reading

The Problem of Evil

It is with more than a little trepidation that I even approach the problem of evil. The entire Bible, directly or indirectly, is devoted to the subject, as are all of the world’s major religions. And there are so many types and sources of evil from which to choose! There’s self inflicted evil (“you reap what you sow”), there’s evil that is inflicted upon us by others, and then there is generic “evil” that seems to come along “naturally”. Pain, death, floods, droughts, famines, typhoons, tornadoes, tsunamis, birth defects and diseases (both genetic and acquired), to name a few.

Along the way, I have learned that it is generally unproductive for those currently going through personal pain and suffering to question God’s actions, or, as the case may be, inactions. The inquiry degrades from “How can God allow evil in this hypothetical case?” to “Why me?” There is a barb attached to the inquiry; a bias in the questioning that rejects most valid answers as unacceptable, cold and without compassion, and thus not very “God like”.

But for those seekers/inquirers of God who honestly desire to reconcile the Bible’s description of a holy, compassionate and all-powerful God allowing rampant evil to pervade his creation, let’s open the discussion… Continue reading

Hiding Behind Our Faith

I had a limited online “conversation” the other day on a blog discussing old earth/universe vs. young earth/universe viewpoints. It didn’t go as I would have expected. For background, I presently believe in an old earth/universe approach to creation, agreeing with the mainstream scientific community in affirming the age of the universe to be roughly 13.7 ± 0.13 billion years. As you might imagine, this creates some theological problems when reading Genesis 1-3, some of which I honestly haven’t worked out (but I’m working on it!). Most posters on the blog in question believe in a young earth/universe, roughly 6,000 years old, give or take. Many of these believe that scripture gives them no choice but to believe in six literal 24 hour days of creation. While this allows for maximum theological consistency, it does this at the expense of estrangement from the scientific community.

Now, if you think the purpose of this post is to criticize my young earth brethren for their position, you’d be mistaken… Continue reading