Mr. Hammond,
I would not consider Muslims a "third denomination of Christianity." Maybe
it's best to summarize Christianity as "the saving power of a crucified and
risen Christ or Saviour." My understanding of the Muslim religion is that
they have to work to gain eternal life. Same goes for Mormons (if I'm not
mistaken). If one has to divide Christianity into denominations, I would
consider the following three: Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Ukrainian, etc.),
Roman Catholic, and Protestant. But these divisions don't do justice to
many denominations such as the Coptic Church and may well be an
oversimplification.
ttv
-----Original Message-----
From: George Hammond [mailto:ghammond@mediaone.net]
Sent: Thursday October 04, 2001 2:40 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Are Moslems a "3rd Denomination" of Christianity?
[Hammond]
I have never actually read the entire Koran,
but I've heard many experts comment on it.
Apparently it is a near copy and transliteration
of the Christian Bible effected by Mohammed around
700 A.D.
Moslems believe there is a God, identical to the
Christian God and the Moslem name of God is rendered
as "Allah".
The Mormons have their own "transliteration" of
the Christian Bible called the "Book of Mormon"
transliterated by their prophet Smith, and they
certainly consider themselves Christians.
After all, Catholics and Protestants are both
considered Christian denominations because they
recognize the NT, but Islam also recognizes Jesus
and the NT in it's interpretation. Why then isn't
Islam essentially another Christian denomination?
Should Christianity consider Islam as
"The 3rd Denomination" of Christianity after
Catholicism and Protestantism?
-- Be sure to visit my website below ----------------------------------------------------------- George Hammond, M.S. Physics Email: ghammond@mediaone.net Website: http://people.ne.mediaone.net/ghammond/index.html -----------------------------------------------------------
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