Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Islam critiqued catches his lord redhanded; Jesus loves his enemies?

In answer to the video "Thanks, Muhammad, for the Death Threats"

As demonstrated earlier, Jesus' "love your enemy" in Matt5:38-48 does not refer to all kind of enemies, only to a certain type, those to whom if replied with good and magnanimity may reform themselves and become our friends, as stated in the Quran
"It may be that Allah will bring about friendship between you and those whom you hold to be your enemies among them".
It is a call to try and show love to those who do not necessarily love us, with the hope of them changing their attitude towards us. In a passage absent from the oldest manuscripts of Luke over a wide geographical distribution, Jesus while on the cross prays to the Father 
Lk23:34"forgive them, they do not know what they are doing". 
Again, the words here are conditional and do not concern those who opposed him knowingly, and whom he condemned in his lifetime. The prayer is to those who engage in harmful behavior from ignorance. These are the type of "persecuters" Jesus, and any other prophet prayed for, because they might mend their ways once truth has been properly exposed to them.

The concept of unconditional divine "love" not only is beyond common sense, as it would encourage the oppressor in the sin and even turn the passive victim into an accomplice in the crime, but in addition this notion is one that is alien to all scriptures. Both the Quran and the previous scriptures clearly define what God loves and what He doesnt
Prov8:17"I will love those who love me, and those who seek me eagerly will find me"  
Prov15:9"The way of a wicked man is an abomination of the Lord, but He loves him who pursues righteousness".
The NT reflects that notion in several places as previously mentioned, including in
Jn14:21"he that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him".
Matt5:39"turning the other cheek" it does not speak of passivity in the face of aggression or when one's life is threatened. Jesus heavily condemned and threatened with destruction those that opposed him, instead of remaining silent. This was the most Jesus was divinely authorized to do. Neither he, nor Noah, Lot and others were permitted by God to pick up arms with their few followers and fight back.

The prophets Moses and Muhammad on the other hand, among other prophets, were permitted and commanded to do so, despite the enemy forces being overwhelmingly more powerful than them and their followers. Jesus did not "turn the other cheek" when slapped at the court, and instead asked for an explanation for the wrong he was made to suffer Jn18:22-3. Paul not only did not "turn the other cheek" when slapped at the court but also revolted himself
Acts23:1-3"God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"
Besides, to argue that Jesus meant passivity in all circumstances would condemn all the soldiers of the Christian world, praised and financed by bible loving Christians, as well as the soldiers of the past through whom YHWH's hand was "fighting" certain people, as was done in the times of the prophet Muhammad 8:17,59:2. 

God certainly loves his creatures, but not the ones that wilfully disobey, rather until they repent. God doesnt love the stubborn sinner but the repentent sinner. Nothing about loving those that do not love Him, and are defiantly sinful. In fact, immediately after stating that God 
Jn3:16"so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" 
a restriction states to who that love extends 
"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned". 
Further, despite the  
1Jn3"great love the Father has lavished on us...This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child". 
God certainly loves his creatures, but not the ones that wilfully disobey, until they repent. God doesnt love the stubborn sinner but the repentent sinner.

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