Dear All
I think the problem is that the Muslim who produced the first comment on the Revelation did so tongue-in-cheek, finding it an easy comment to make, and feeling no desire to actually attempt to understand the document on which he was commenting. There is no point in taking it as indicative of "How Muslims understand the Revelation".
What is going on is that the Muslim concerned has found a place to hang a cheap jibe at Christians. Some Muslims, who don't think very clearly about things, may take it as a serious comment. Far more will find that if they give it to Christians this produces confusion in the Christian and leaves them unable to carry on with the argument. The Muslim will then claim a victory and move on without the thought that the text they have been using may in reality have a meaning which, had they understood it, would have taken them a step nearer to the truth and eternal life.
Sometimes there is a way of reversing the situation and challenging the Muslim to stop for a moment and think; it is useful to try to find one for every passage that the Muslim quotes.
We saw something similar with Ibrahim/Eliyah's comment on the sign of Jonah:
Quote
"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40)
Muslims argue that Jesus can't have been killed because Jonah did not die. This, of course, is nonsense, but it often makes Christians give up for a while so that they can think of an answer, and in this time the Muslim declares a victory and moves on. One point to make here is to ask what the significance of the three days is. Clearly Jesus was three days out of sight of the earth; what was he doing? No problem here; Jesus is fortelling three days in the tomb.
If the Muslim attempted to understand the saying, he would have to conclude that it is really about the death and resurrection of Jesus. Muslims are very keen, however, not to engage their brains at this point.
In the case of the saying from the Revelation, the Muslim is attempting to suggest that Christians are horrible people because they believe in a book which says that Jesus will make war on the wicked. However, this is the whole point of judgement. It might be worthwhile asking the Muslim if, given the point they make, they are denying that there will be a day of judgement. Should they say that they are indicating such a denial, then they are
kaffir and are in danger of being killed by other Muslims. If they follow the standard Muslim line and indicate that they do believe in the day of judgement, then there is no problem with the Revelation; the wicked will be killed, including all those who do not have faith in the real Christ Jesus.
Essentially there is no point in responding to this observation unless one can get the Muslim to think about the real implications of what he is saying.
Yours
John the Bearded
Edited by John the Bearded, 01 June 2009 - 09:05 PM.
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jihad on the infidels
