Vandergraaf, Chuck wrote:
>
> 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
[Hammond]
Well, for a quick overview of the "Koran", see:
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99jan/koran2.htm
I'll just quote one passage from this URL:
"... what generally surprises newcomers to the Koran is
the degree to which it draws on the same beliefs and
stories that appear in the Bible. God (Allah in Arabic)
rules supreme: he is the all-powerful, all-knowing, and
all-merciful Being who has created the world and its creatures;
he sends messages and laws through prophets to help guide
human existence; and, at a time in the future known only to him,
he will bring about the end of the world and the Day of
Judgment. Adam, the first man, is expelled from Paradise for
eating from the forbidden tree. Noah builds an ark to save a
select few from a flood brought on by the wrath of God.
Abraham prepares himself to sacrifice his son at God's bidding.
Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and receives a
revelation on Mount Sinai. Jesus -- born of the Virgin Mary
and referred to as the Messiah -- works miracles, has
disciples, and rises to heaven.
The Koran takes great care to stress this common monotheistic
heritage, but it works equally hard to distinguish Islam from
Judaism and Christianity. For example, it mentions prophets --
Hud, Salih, Shu'ayb, Luqman, and others -- whose origins
seem exclusively Arabian, and it reminds readers that it is "A
Koran in Arabic, / For people who understand." ...."
[Hammond]
Now, I'm going to read the first English translation of the
Koran I can get my hands on, they say 1/5 of the Koran is
"incomprehensible"... I doubt it, since I have never seen any
religious writing which is incomprehensible once you know what
religion is about, including even the Egyptian book of the Dead
(aka Book of Enlightenment)
But clearly, given the size of Islam, even 2 centuries after
the Koran was written, when Islam had conquered the entire Middle
Eastern world from Egypt to Iran, including Syria, I would think
that the Koran would undeniably be in the category of a
"Third Testament" to Christianity. I'd certainly like to hear
what a Quranic scholar had to say about the Theological
parallelism between Islam and Christianity.
Christians, by politically labeling Moslems as "Infidels"
for the past 5 centuries, I think may be keeping us in the dark
about a greater underlying scope and unity of Christianity than
most people are aware of. Islam is certainly not a Pagan religion
as many common uneducated people seem to think.
-- 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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