Post by iris89 on Nov 3, 2006 15:10:11 GMT -5
False Religion Spreads False Doctrine and Practice:
INTRODUCTION:
Many religions teach a belief in a false god or gods or that the soul or some invisible part of a human that survives the death of the physical body. Some teach we should worship or venerate the instrument used to execute Jesus (Yeshua), the Isa, and much commerce is made by sales of replicas thereof, They use these and other false teachings, these false religions extract money from and exploit their members. They also wink at the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, creator of all there is, practices such as immoral sex. Some claim their false god(s) demand money or other valuables to protect them, answer their prayers, or to build grandiose edifices or buildings, etc.
But the Bible does NOT teach any of these, they are all false. Let's start by examing two well known false god(s), the Triune god and the old middle eastern celestial Moon god, "Allah."
TWO FALSE GODS:
First it is important to realize there are many false gods of all types that are worshipped. Some individuals even worship money. To fully understand this statement we need to understand what worship means and to do so we need to look at its dictionary definition in a religious dictionary, and is, "homage rendered to God which it is sinful (idolatry) to render to any created being (Ex. 34:14; Isa. 2:8). Such worship was refused by Peter (Acts 10:25,26) and by an angel (Rev. 22:8,9).' [source - Easton's Bible Dictionary by M.G. Easton]. In fact, Jesus (Yeshua), the Son of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, creator of all there is, showed even he should not be worshiped at Matthew 4:10-11, “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) .
Now why so many false gods? A very good question that the Bible answers at 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, “And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. 15 It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) ; and 2 Corinthians 4:4, “in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
Let’s look at two examples, using the two largest religions, Catholic and Islam, as examples.
One, apostate (counterfeit) Christians claims to worship but in actuality does NOT; whereas, the other worships the old middle eastern celestial Moon god, "Allah."
Let's first look at so called Christianity who falsely claim to worship the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, but actually worships a hybrid three-in-one god known as the Trinity - no where mentioned in the Bible. To try and 'prove' this none Biblical god, Trinitarians use questionable translations of John 1:1, but conveniently miss the point that this is "a singular anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb," that is, not just that the noun theos lacks the Greek definite article. Similar Greek construction such Mark 6:49,
Mark 11:32, John 4:19, John 6:70, John 8:44a, John 8:44b, John 9:17, John 10:1,
John 10:13, John 10:33, John 12:6 as usually have an inserted either an "a" or "an" there in most translations.
But we need not get so technical as a quick application of logic to the usual questionable translational construct for John 1:1 quickly shows that it can in no way support a trinity god. Let's look at why. John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.) (AV) - now to have a trinity of anything, one must have THREE like items and only two spirit creatures are mentioned, not three, hence no trinity. In addition, someone can NOT be with someone and be that person also.
Now how did this false god get into so called Christianity? Well it came about in 325 AD when a pagan Roman Emperor, Constantine, a wordhipper of the Unconquered Sun, wanted religious unity in his empire and called a church conference with the view of getting them to accept some pagan doctrines so he could bring about a fusion of so called Christianity with paganism. This council went on a very long time and through coercion and political skull drudgery he finally got most of the attendees, bishops, to go along with what he wanted. This amounted to most of the so called Christian church going apostate.[sources & references - Laing, Gordon Jennings. "Survivals of Roman Religion.". New York: Cooper Square Publishers. 1963, The Encyclopedia of Religions, Carter, Jesse Benedict. "The Religious Life of Ancient Rome: A Study in the Development of Religious Consciousness, from the Foundation of the City Until the Death of Gregory the Great." New York: Cooper Square Publishers. 1972. (page 16-19), Pelikan, Jaroslav. "The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition" (100-600). Chicago: U of Chicago P. 1971. Vol. 1 of "The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine." 5 vols., heraldmag.org., Morodenibig, Naba Lamoussa. "Light From the Trinities.", Edersheim Bible History (page 59-62), New Catholic Encyclopedia, (Vol. XIV, 306), International Encyclopedia of the Bible," Vol. 5, (page 3012), McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. 6, Lamson, Newton & Durant, Will, "Caesar and Christ," cited from Charles Redeker Caesar and Christ, W. Duran (page 595), ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 11th Edition, Vol. 3, (page 366), Payne, Robert, "The Holy Fire: The Story of the Early Centuries of the Christian Churches in the Near East" (1957), BETHUNE-BAKER, J,F. "An Introduction to the Early History of Christian Doctrine". Methuen; 5th Ed., 1933, ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 11th Edition, Vol. 3, (page 366); David, Francis and Blandrata, Georgio, "De falsa et vera unius Dei Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti cognitone" [Latin](The False and True Knowledge of the Unity of God the Father, Son, and Holy spirit), 1566 A.D., by Francis David and others, Eklof, Todd F., "David's Francis Tower, Strength through Peace," (06-16-02), The New Encyclopedia Britannica: " Micropædia, Vol. X, p. 126. (1976), Parkes, James, "The Foundation of Judaism and Christianity," 1960, Durant, Will. "Caesar and Christ." New York: Simon. 1944. Vol. 3 of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75, and Durant, Will, "Age of Faith,"].
Let's next look at Islam who falsely claim to worship the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, but actually worship the old middle eastern celestial Moon god, "Allah."
Dr. Arthur Jeffery, one of the foremost Western Islamic scholars in modern times and professor of Islamic and Middle East Studies at Columbia University, notes:
<<"The name Allah, as the Quran itself is witness, was well known in pre-Islamic Arabia. Indeed, both it and its feminine form, Allat, are found not infrequently among the theophorous names in inscriptions from North Africa">> [source - Islam: Muhammad, and His Religion, New York: The Liberal Arts Press, 1958, p. 85.].
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, states, <<"The origin of this (Allah) goes back to pre-Muslim times. Allah is not a common name meaning "God" (or a "god"), and the Muslim must use another word or form if he wishes to indicate any other than his own peculiar deity">> [source - Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, I:326, Hastings.].
The Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, states, <<"The name Allah goes back before Muhammad">> [source - Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, I:41, Anthony Mercatante, New York, The Facts on File, 1983.].
And, <<"The word "Allah" comes from the compound Arabic word, al-ilah. Al is the definite article "the" and ilah is an Arabic word for "god." It is not a foreign word. It is not even the Syriac word for God. It is pure Arabic.">> [Reference - There is an interesting discussion of the origins of Allah, in "Arabic Lexicographical Miscellanies" by J. Blau in the Journal of Semitic Studies, Vol. XVII, #2, 1972, pp. 173-190.]
And, Neither is Allah a Hebrew or Greek word for God as found in the Bible. Allah is a purely Arabic term used in reference to an Arabian deity.
Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics I:326, T & T Clark, states:
<<"Allah" is a proper name, applicable only to their [Arabs'] peculiar God.">>'
[source - Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics I:326]
<<"Pre-Islamic Arabia also had its stone deities. They were stone statues of shapeless volcanic or meteoric stones found in the deserts and believed to have been sent by astral deities. The most prominent deities were Hubal, the male god of the Ka'ba, and the three sister goddesses al-Lat, al-Manat, and al-Uzza; Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh, thought these three goddesses to be the daughters of Allah. Hubal was the chief god of the Ka'ba among 360 other deities. He was a man-like statue whose body was made of red precious stone and whose arms were of solid gold.">> [source - (George W. Braswell, Jr., Islam Its Prophets, Peoples, Politics and Power" [Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN; July, 1996], p. 44]
<<"The old middle eastern Moon god who has gone by many names is still well venerated. This is shown by "The Archeology of The Middle East" which states, "The religion of Islam has as its focus of worship a deity by the name of "Allah." The Muslims claim that Allah in pre-Islamic times was the biblical God of the Patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. The issue is thus one of continuity. Was "Allah" the biblical God or a pagan god in Arabia during pre-Islamic times? The Muslim's claim of continuity is essential to their attempt to convert Jews and Christians for if "Allah" is part of the flow of divine revelation in Scripture, then it is the next step in biblical religion. Thus we should all become Muslims. But, on the other hand, if Allah was a pre-Islamic pagan deity, then its core claim is refuted. Religious claims often fall before the results of hard sciences such as archeology. We can endlessly speculate about the past or go and dig it up and see what the evidence reveals. This is the only way to find out the truth concerning the origins of Allah. As we shall see, the hard evidence demonstrates that the god Allah was a pagan deity. In fact, he was the Moon-god who was married to the sun goddess and the stars were his daughters.
Archaeologists have uncovered temples to the Moon-god throughout the Middle East. From the mountains of Turkey to the banks of the Nile, the most wide-spread religion of the ancient world was the worship of the Moon-god. In the first literate civilization, the Sumerians have left us thousands of clay tablets in which they described their religious beliefs. As demonstrated by Sjoberg and Hall, the ancient Sumerians worshipped a Moon-god who was called many different names. The most popular names were Nanna, Suen and Asimbabbar. His symbol was the crescent moon. Given the amount of artifacts concerning the worship of this Moon-god, it is clear that this was the dominant religion in Sumeria. The cult of the Moon-god was the most popular religion throughout ancient Mesopotamia. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Akkadians took the word Suen and transformed it into the word Sin as their favorite name for the Moon-god. As Prof. Potts pointed out, "Sin is a name essentially Sumerian in origin which had been borrowed by the Semites." [source - The Archeology of the Middle East]"[additional references - "South Arabia's stellar religion has always been dominated by the Moon-god in various variations" (Berta Segall, The Iconography of Cosmic Kingship, the Art Bulletin, vol.xxxviii, 1956, p.77).; Isaac Rabinowitz, Aramaic Inscriptions of the Fifth Century, JNES, XV, 1956, pp.1-9; Edward Linski, The Goddess Atirat in Ancient Arabia, in Babylon and in Ugarit: Her Relation to the Moon-god and the Sun-goddess, Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica, 3:101-9; H.J.Drivers, Iconography and Character of the Arab Goddess Allat, found in Études Preliminaries Aux Religions Orientales Dans L'Empire Roman, ed. Maarten J. Verseren, Leiden, Brill, 1978, pp.331-51); Richard Le Baron Bower Jr. and Frank P. Albright, Archaeological Discoveries in South Arabia, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1958, p.78ff; Ray Cleveland, An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1965; Nelson Gleuck, Deities and Dolphins, New York, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1965).; Another Aramaic Record of the North Arabian goddess Han'Llat, JNES, XVIII, 1959, pp.154-55.">>[source - There is Only One True God by Iris the Preacher 2005.].
WORSHIP/VENERATION OF OBJECTS-A FORM OF FALSE WORSHIP:
Catholics and other apostate (counterfeit) Christans worship/venerate objects such as the cross which Jesus (Yeshua) is believed by some to have died on, but which was more likely to have been a straight piece of tree as the Romans executed none Romans on such so they could simply drop them in a slit trench. Of course such veneration is both Biblically wrong as shown at Isaiah 44:9-18, “They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit: and their own witnesses see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. 10 Who hath fashioned a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be ashamed together. 12 The smith maketh an axe, and worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in the house. 14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth a fir tree, and the rain doth nourish it. 15 Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread: yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. 16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: 17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it and worshippeth, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. 18 They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) . Of course this also applies to statue idols, pictures, icons, etc.
Of course, this same false practice is found in Islam. How so? Members of Islam prostrate themselves and make prayers five times a day toward the Kabba in the city of Mecca, a man made large masonry building which they consider the 'holiest' place in Islam. They even go so far as to drape a large piece of cloth over it heavily inlayed with lots of gold.
And, the Bible goes on to show idolatry in any form is wrong at Acts 7:40- , "Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? 43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'” (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
WORSHIP AND PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD:
False religion also misleads people with respect to death. They teach such things such as one has a soul that goes somewhere at death and some even teach that a certain sum of money must be paid to get him/her out of a mythical place called Purgatory. Yet the Bible clearly says at Ezekiel 18:4, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) . This fact is further emphasized at Ecclesiastes 9:5 and 10, “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.” (AV) and “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” (AV) clearly emphasizing that we are a living soul, not that we have one. If the reverse were true, there would of course be no need for a resurrection as shown at Hebrews 6:1-2, “Wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ, and press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” AV); and 1 Corinthians 15:12 and 20-21, “Now if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (AV) , and “But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.” (But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.” (AV) , and 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, “But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak; 14 knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you.” (AV); and Acts 17:13-14, “ inasmuch as he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (AV). This all is in harmony with what was prophesied at Isaiah 25:8, “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” (AV) .
And Muslims do not believe in the resurrection by the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, creator of all there is, of his Son, Jesus (Yeshua), thereby denying the truth and showing they are not in harmony with John 8:32, “and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) .
LUST FOR IMMORAL DEVIANT FORMS OF SEX:
Among both apostate (counterfeit) Christians and members of Islam some practice deviant forms of sex and both religious groups say this is wrong, but wink at its practice. On 11/02/2006, one leading Evangelical leader was uncovered to be publicly denouncing homosexuality as condemned at Romans 1:27, “and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV); here is the news account of this winking at wrong doing by The Rev. Ted Haggard, <<”CATHERINE TSAI, Associated Press Writer (11/03/2006), COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A leading evangelist and outspoken opponent of gay marriage has given up his post as president of the National Association of Evangelicals while a church panel investigates allegations he paid a man for sex. The Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as head of the 30 million-member association Thursday and also gave up leadership of his New Life Church pending the investigation into allegations he had monthly trysts with a gay prostitute over the past three years…
"I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that has been discussed, but there is an admission of some guilt," Ross Parsley told KKTV-TV of Colorado Springs.
Parlsey did not elaborate, but in an e-mail addressed to congregants, he wrote that the church's four-member board of overseers had since met with Haggard. "It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true. He has willingly and humbly submitted to the authority of the board of overseers, and will remain on administrative leave during the course of the investigation," the e-mail stated. A copy was obtained by KMGH-TV in Denver…
[outted by]Jones, who said he is gay, said he was also upset when he discovered Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage. "It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex," he said.
Jones claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years. He said he advertised himself as an escort on the Internet and was contacted by a man who called himself Art, who snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience…
At the time, Haggard said that he believed marriage is a union between a man and woman rooted in centuries of tradition, and that research shows it's the best family unit for children.”>> [[Note, the Los Angeles Times also had a very telling article on this, “Evangelical leader steps down amid allegations The Rev. Ted Haggard denies a man's public charges that the pastor of a mega-church had been paying him for sex. By Stephanie Simon, Times Staff Writer (11/03/2006).]].
Of course this is no isolated case. The cases are so numerous that the accounts would definitely fill a library rack many meters or yards long. Some references on this dysfunction would be “The Church and the Homosexual Priest Facing the challenges and accepting the gifts offered by homosexual priests in the Catholic Church” by James Martin – in The National Catholic Weekly, The Changing Face of the Priesthood, Rev. Donald B. Cozzens, Prince Charles Praises Openly Gay Anglican Priest, by Terry Vanderheyden, published Oct 11, 2006, by LifeSite News:, etc.
And this wrong practice is not limited just to apostate (counterfeit) Christians but the winking at violation of Romans 1:27 carries over into Ialam where gay members of Islam actually operate a web site implicitly implying Muhammad (pbuh) may have been gay, called Gay Egypt>com which states, “sponsors 3,500 forums for 175 million GAY muslims & their admirers across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, & Worldwide.”
Gay Egypt said this of Muhammad (pbuh), <<”These essays reveal a forgotten history including the amazing saga of the Prophet Muhammad [(pbuh)]and Zaid Ibn Haritha. A story which has been suppressed in order to justify the persecution of gays in the name of Islam.
Zaid was a slave, a wedding gift from Muhammad's [(pbuh)’s] wealthy older bride Khadija, so there was no question of adultery under Sharia law. When the Prophet eventually freed Zaid, he proclaimed a formal partnership or union, equivalent to a marriage. Zaid became, in effect, a "male wife" who was equal in status to Khadija.
First with Zaid, and later with Ali, Muhammad [(pbuh)] formed a bond which was even closer than those of his ten "heterosexual marriages." Love that was tested through extreme adversity and martydom. [source - www.gayegypt.com/archivesonly.html]>>.
Of this organization, Newsweek said,<<”GayEgypt.com "pokes fun at Egypt's autocratic regime with an irreverence no domestic site would dare express,">>, and the The Middle East Times said, <<"GayEgypt.com has emerged as a key source of information and communication for the gay community in Egypt.">>.
Interestingly Islam is winking at this and doing nothing about Gay Egypt.com, nor are members of Islam protesting what most would take as a serious attack on their prophet’s moral character; yet they rioted over silly cartoons of Muhammad (pbuh). Makes one wonder does it not?
CONCLUSION:
Apostate (counterfeit) Christians and members of Islam have been shown to practice what was shown as wrong in the Bible and to also wink, do little about or turn a blind eye to them, at these wrong practices.
Your Friend in Christ Iris89
INTRODUCTION:
Many religions teach a belief in a false god or gods or that the soul or some invisible part of a human that survives the death of the physical body. Some teach we should worship or venerate the instrument used to execute Jesus (Yeshua), the Isa, and much commerce is made by sales of replicas thereof, They use these and other false teachings, these false religions extract money from and exploit their members. They also wink at the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, creator of all there is, practices such as immoral sex. Some claim their false god(s) demand money or other valuables to protect them, answer their prayers, or to build grandiose edifices or buildings, etc.
But the Bible does NOT teach any of these, they are all false. Let's start by examing two well known false god(s), the Triune god and the old middle eastern celestial Moon god, "Allah."
TWO FALSE GODS:
First it is important to realize there are many false gods of all types that are worshipped. Some individuals even worship money. To fully understand this statement we need to understand what worship means and to do so we need to look at its dictionary definition in a religious dictionary, and is, "homage rendered to God which it is sinful (idolatry) to render to any created being (Ex. 34:14; Isa. 2:8). Such worship was refused by Peter (Acts 10:25,26) and by an angel (Rev. 22:8,9).' [source - Easton's Bible Dictionary by M.G. Easton]. In fact, Jesus (Yeshua), the Son of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, creator of all there is, showed even he should not be worshiped at Matthew 4:10-11, “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) .
Now why so many false gods? A very good question that the Bible answers at 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, “And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. 15 It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) ; and 2 Corinthians 4:4, “in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
Let’s look at two examples, using the two largest religions, Catholic and Islam, as examples.
One, apostate (counterfeit) Christians claims to worship but in actuality does NOT; whereas, the other worships the old middle eastern celestial Moon god, "Allah."
Let's first look at so called Christianity who falsely claim to worship the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, but actually worships a hybrid three-in-one god known as the Trinity - no where mentioned in the Bible. To try and 'prove' this none Biblical god, Trinitarians use questionable translations of John 1:1, but conveniently miss the point that this is "a singular anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb," that is, not just that the noun theos lacks the Greek definite article. Similar Greek construction such Mark 6:49,
Mark 11:32, John 4:19, John 6:70, John 8:44a, John 8:44b, John 9:17, John 10:1,
John 10:13, John 10:33, John 12:6 as usually have an inserted either an "a" or "an" there in most translations.
But we need not get so technical as a quick application of logic to the usual questionable translational construct for John 1:1 quickly shows that it can in no way support a trinity god. Let's look at why. John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.) (AV) - now to have a trinity of anything, one must have THREE like items and only two spirit creatures are mentioned, not three, hence no trinity. In addition, someone can NOT be with someone and be that person also.
Now how did this false god get into so called Christianity? Well it came about in 325 AD when a pagan Roman Emperor, Constantine, a wordhipper of the Unconquered Sun, wanted religious unity in his empire and called a church conference with the view of getting them to accept some pagan doctrines so he could bring about a fusion of so called Christianity with paganism. This council went on a very long time and through coercion and political skull drudgery he finally got most of the attendees, bishops, to go along with what he wanted. This amounted to most of the so called Christian church going apostate.[sources & references - Laing, Gordon Jennings. "Survivals of Roman Religion.". New York: Cooper Square Publishers. 1963, The Encyclopedia of Religions, Carter, Jesse Benedict. "The Religious Life of Ancient Rome: A Study in the Development of Religious Consciousness, from the Foundation of the City Until the Death of Gregory the Great." New York: Cooper Square Publishers. 1972. (page 16-19), Pelikan, Jaroslav. "The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition" (100-600). Chicago: U of Chicago P. 1971. Vol. 1 of "The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine." 5 vols., heraldmag.org., Morodenibig, Naba Lamoussa. "Light From the Trinities.", Edersheim Bible History (page 59-62), New Catholic Encyclopedia, (Vol. XIV, 306), International Encyclopedia of the Bible," Vol. 5, (page 3012), McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. 6, Lamson, Newton & Durant, Will, "Caesar and Christ," cited from Charles Redeker Caesar and Christ, W. Duran (page 595), ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 11th Edition, Vol. 3, (page 366), Payne, Robert, "The Holy Fire: The Story of the Early Centuries of the Christian Churches in the Near East" (1957), BETHUNE-BAKER, J,F. "An Introduction to the Early History of Christian Doctrine". Methuen; 5th Ed., 1933, ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 11th Edition, Vol. 3, (page 366); David, Francis and Blandrata, Georgio, "De falsa et vera unius Dei Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti cognitone" [Latin](The False and True Knowledge of the Unity of God the Father, Son, and Holy spirit), 1566 A.D., by Francis David and others, Eklof, Todd F., "David's Francis Tower, Strength through Peace," (06-16-02), The New Encyclopedia Britannica: " Micropædia, Vol. X, p. 126. (1976), Parkes, James, "The Foundation of Judaism and Christianity," 1960, Durant, Will. "Caesar and Christ." New York: Simon. 1944. Vol. 3 of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75, and Durant, Will, "Age of Faith,"].
Let's next look at Islam who falsely claim to worship the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, but actually worship the old middle eastern celestial Moon god, "Allah."
Dr. Arthur Jeffery, one of the foremost Western Islamic scholars in modern times and professor of Islamic and Middle East Studies at Columbia University, notes:
<<"The name Allah, as the Quran itself is witness, was well known in pre-Islamic Arabia. Indeed, both it and its feminine form, Allat, are found not infrequently among the theophorous names in inscriptions from North Africa">> [source - Islam: Muhammad, and His Religion, New York: The Liberal Arts Press, 1958, p. 85.].
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, states, <<"The origin of this (Allah) goes back to pre-Muslim times. Allah is not a common name meaning "God" (or a "god"), and the Muslim must use another word or form if he wishes to indicate any other than his own peculiar deity">> [source - Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, I:326, Hastings.].
The Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, states, <<"The name Allah goes back before Muhammad">> [source - Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, I:41, Anthony Mercatante, New York, The Facts on File, 1983.].
And, <<"The word "Allah" comes from the compound Arabic word, al-ilah. Al is the definite article "the" and ilah is an Arabic word for "god." It is not a foreign word. It is not even the Syriac word for God. It is pure Arabic.">> [Reference - There is an interesting discussion of the origins of Allah, in "Arabic Lexicographical Miscellanies" by J. Blau in the Journal of Semitic Studies, Vol. XVII, #2, 1972, pp. 173-190.]
And, Neither is Allah a Hebrew or Greek word for God as found in the Bible. Allah is a purely Arabic term used in reference to an Arabian deity.
Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics I:326, T & T Clark, states:
<<"Allah" is a proper name, applicable only to their [Arabs'] peculiar God.">>'
[source - Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics I:326]
<<"Pre-Islamic Arabia also had its stone deities. They were stone statues of shapeless volcanic or meteoric stones found in the deserts and believed to have been sent by astral deities. The most prominent deities were Hubal, the male god of the Ka'ba, and the three sister goddesses al-Lat, al-Manat, and al-Uzza; Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh, thought these three goddesses to be the daughters of Allah. Hubal was the chief god of the Ka'ba among 360 other deities. He was a man-like statue whose body was made of red precious stone and whose arms were of solid gold.">> [source - (George W. Braswell, Jr., Islam Its Prophets, Peoples, Politics and Power" [Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN; July, 1996], p. 44]
<<"The old middle eastern Moon god who has gone by many names is still well venerated. This is shown by "The Archeology of The Middle East" which states, "The religion of Islam has as its focus of worship a deity by the name of "Allah." The Muslims claim that Allah in pre-Islamic times was the biblical God of the Patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. The issue is thus one of continuity. Was "Allah" the biblical God or a pagan god in Arabia during pre-Islamic times? The Muslim's claim of continuity is essential to their attempt to convert Jews and Christians for if "Allah" is part of the flow of divine revelation in Scripture, then it is the next step in biblical religion. Thus we should all become Muslims. But, on the other hand, if Allah was a pre-Islamic pagan deity, then its core claim is refuted. Religious claims often fall before the results of hard sciences such as archeology. We can endlessly speculate about the past or go and dig it up and see what the evidence reveals. This is the only way to find out the truth concerning the origins of Allah. As we shall see, the hard evidence demonstrates that the god Allah was a pagan deity. In fact, he was the Moon-god who was married to the sun goddess and the stars were his daughters.
Archaeologists have uncovered temples to the Moon-god throughout the Middle East. From the mountains of Turkey to the banks of the Nile, the most wide-spread religion of the ancient world was the worship of the Moon-god. In the first literate civilization, the Sumerians have left us thousands of clay tablets in which they described their religious beliefs. As demonstrated by Sjoberg and Hall, the ancient Sumerians worshipped a Moon-god who was called many different names. The most popular names were Nanna, Suen and Asimbabbar. His symbol was the crescent moon. Given the amount of artifacts concerning the worship of this Moon-god, it is clear that this was the dominant religion in Sumeria. The cult of the Moon-god was the most popular religion throughout ancient Mesopotamia. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Akkadians took the word Suen and transformed it into the word Sin as their favorite name for the Moon-god. As Prof. Potts pointed out, "Sin is a name essentially Sumerian in origin which had been borrowed by the Semites." [source - The Archeology of the Middle East]"[additional references - "South Arabia's stellar religion has always been dominated by the Moon-god in various variations" (Berta Segall, The Iconography of Cosmic Kingship, the Art Bulletin, vol.xxxviii, 1956, p.77).; Isaac Rabinowitz, Aramaic Inscriptions of the Fifth Century, JNES, XV, 1956, pp.1-9; Edward Linski, The Goddess Atirat in Ancient Arabia, in Babylon and in Ugarit: Her Relation to the Moon-god and the Sun-goddess, Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica, 3:101-9; H.J.Drivers, Iconography and Character of the Arab Goddess Allat, found in Études Preliminaries Aux Religions Orientales Dans L'Empire Roman, ed. Maarten J. Verseren, Leiden, Brill, 1978, pp.331-51); Richard Le Baron Bower Jr. and Frank P. Albright, Archaeological Discoveries in South Arabia, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1958, p.78ff; Ray Cleveland, An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1965; Nelson Gleuck, Deities and Dolphins, New York, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1965).; Another Aramaic Record of the North Arabian goddess Han'Llat, JNES, XVIII, 1959, pp.154-55.">>[source - There is Only One True God by Iris the Preacher 2005.].
WORSHIP/VENERATION OF OBJECTS-A FORM OF FALSE WORSHIP:
Catholics and other apostate (counterfeit) Christans worship/venerate objects such as the cross which Jesus (Yeshua) is believed by some to have died on, but which was more likely to have been a straight piece of tree as the Romans executed none Romans on such so they could simply drop them in a slit trench. Of course such veneration is both Biblically wrong as shown at Isaiah 44:9-18, “They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit: and their own witnesses see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. 10 Who hath fashioned a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be ashamed together. 12 The smith maketh an axe, and worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in the house. 14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth a fir tree, and the rain doth nourish it. 15 Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread: yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. 16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: 17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it and worshippeth, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. 18 They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) . Of course this also applies to statue idols, pictures, icons, etc.
Of course, this same false practice is found in Islam. How so? Members of Islam prostrate themselves and make prayers five times a day toward the Kabba in the city of Mecca, a man made large masonry building which they consider the 'holiest' place in Islam. They even go so far as to drape a large piece of cloth over it heavily inlayed with lots of gold.
And, the Bible goes on to show idolatry in any form is wrong at Acts 7:40- , "Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? 43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'” (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
WORSHIP AND PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD:
False religion also misleads people with respect to death. They teach such things such as one has a soul that goes somewhere at death and some even teach that a certain sum of money must be paid to get him/her out of a mythical place called Purgatory. Yet the Bible clearly says at Ezekiel 18:4, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) . This fact is further emphasized at Ecclesiastes 9:5 and 10, “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.” (AV) and “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” (AV) clearly emphasizing that we are a living soul, not that we have one. If the reverse were true, there would of course be no need for a resurrection as shown at Hebrews 6:1-2, “Wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ, and press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” AV); and 1 Corinthians 15:12 and 20-21, “Now if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (AV) , and “But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.” (But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.” (AV) , and 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, “But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak; 14 knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you.” (AV); and Acts 17:13-14, “ inasmuch as he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (AV). This all is in harmony with what was prophesied at Isaiah 25:8, “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” (AV) .
And Muslims do not believe in the resurrection by the true God (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, creator of all there is, of his Son, Jesus (Yeshua), thereby denying the truth and showing they are not in harmony with John 8:32, “and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV) .
LUST FOR IMMORAL DEVIANT FORMS OF SEX:
Among both apostate (counterfeit) Christians and members of Islam some practice deviant forms of sex and both religious groups say this is wrong, but wink at its practice. On 11/02/2006, one leading Evangelical leader was uncovered to be publicly denouncing homosexuality as condemned at Romans 1:27, “and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.” (Authorized King James Bible; AV); here is the news account of this winking at wrong doing by The Rev. Ted Haggard, <<”CATHERINE TSAI, Associated Press Writer (11/03/2006), COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A leading evangelist and outspoken opponent of gay marriage has given up his post as president of the National Association of Evangelicals while a church panel investigates allegations he paid a man for sex. The Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as head of the 30 million-member association Thursday and also gave up leadership of his New Life Church pending the investigation into allegations he had monthly trysts with a gay prostitute over the past three years…
"I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that has been discussed, but there is an admission of some guilt," Ross Parsley told KKTV-TV of Colorado Springs.
Parlsey did not elaborate, but in an e-mail addressed to congregants, he wrote that the church's four-member board of overseers had since met with Haggard. "It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true. He has willingly and humbly submitted to the authority of the board of overseers, and will remain on administrative leave during the course of the investigation," the e-mail stated. A copy was obtained by KMGH-TV in Denver…
[outted by]Jones, who said he is gay, said he was also upset when he discovered Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage. "It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex," he said.
Jones claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years. He said he advertised himself as an escort on the Internet and was contacted by a man who called himself Art, who snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience…
At the time, Haggard said that he believed marriage is a union between a man and woman rooted in centuries of tradition, and that research shows it's the best family unit for children.”>> [[Note, the Los Angeles Times also had a very telling article on this, “Evangelical leader steps down amid allegations The Rev. Ted Haggard denies a man's public charges that the pastor of a mega-church had been paying him for sex. By Stephanie Simon, Times Staff Writer (11/03/2006).]].
Of course this is no isolated case. The cases are so numerous that the accounts would definitely fill a library rack many meters or yards long. Some references on this dysfunction would be “The Church and the Homosexual Priest Facing the challenges and accepting the gifts offered by homosexual priests in the Catholic Church” by James Martin – in The National Catholic Weekly, The Changing Face of the Priesthood, Rev. Donald B. Cozzens, Prince Charles Praises Openly Gay Anglican Priest, by Terry Vanderheyden, published Oct 11, 2006, by LifeSite News:, etc.
And this wrong practice is not limited just to apostate (counterfeit) Christians but the winking at violation of Romans 1:27 carries over into Ialam where gay members of Islam actually operate a web site implicitly implying Muhammad (pbuh) may have been gay, called Gay Egypt>com which states, “sponsors 3,500 forums for 175 million GAY muslims & their admirers across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, & Worldwide.”
Gay Egypt said this of Muhammad (pbuh), <<”These essays reveal a forgotten history including the amazing saga of the Prophet Muhammad [(pbuh)]and Zaid Ibn Haritha. A story which has been suppressed in order to justify the persecution of gays in the name of Islam.
Zaid was a slave, a wedding gift from Muhammad's [(pbuh)’s] wealthy older bride Khadija, so there was no question of adultery under Sharia law. When the Prophet eventually freed Zaid, he proclaimed a formal partnership or union, equivalent to a marriage. Zaid became, in effect, a "male wife" who was equal in status to Khadija.
First with Zaid, and later with Ali, Muhammad [(pbuh)] formed a bond which was even closer than those of his ten "heterosexual marriages." Love that was tested through extreme adversity and martydom. [source - www.gayegypt.com/archivesonly.html]>>.
Of this organization, Newsweek said,<<”GayEgypt.com "pokes fun at Egypt's autocratic regime with an irreverence no domestic site would dare express,">>, and the The Middle East Times said, <<"GayEgypt.com has emerged as a key source of information and communication for the gay community in Egypt.">>.
Interestingly Islam is winking at this and doing nothing about Gay Egypt.com, nor are members of Islam protesting what most would take as a serious attack on their prophet’s moral character; yet they rioted over silly cartoons of Muhammad (pbuh). Makes one wonder does it not?
CONCLUSION:
Apostate (counterfeit) Christians and members of Islam have been shown to practice what was shown as wrong in the Bible and to also wink, do little about or turn a blind eye to them, at these wrong practices.
Your Friend in Christ Iris89