Ignoring Muslims, Christians and Jews

In the last few months, I’ve received numerous letters from readers of my book and visitors to this site, which have prompted me to answer them in detail. I’ve now decided to print some of those answers here for those who haven’t written but could be interested in the ideas expressed. I believe the content of the original letter from a visitor is self-evident in my reply.

Dear Commentator,

In truth, I have little respect for how Muslims, Christians and Jews interpret their Scriptures! I do not learn about their religions from THEM or THEIR CLERGY. Instead, I listen very closely to the Prophets of all three faiths. I wrote my book, “Of Promises and Previews,” in the hope that others would also learn from ALL the Prophets, who told a continuous story. In fact, the Prophets never contradict each other. It has been the clergies that have tried to prove their own religion the “only true faith." By so doing, they have spread the hatred that plagues the world and now threatens to start a nuclear war. But, the Prophets also tell us that we don’t have to suffer that war and the "gross darkness" (Isa. 60:2) they vividly describe. And that is my sole purpose for writing my book: the Prophets precisely described a nuclear winter, but they also told us how to avoid it. And therein lies my whole focus.

You, on the other hand, do not even mention those prophecies, but busy yourself with other matters that fail to capture my interest. For instance, I do not pretend to know the precise individuals God will condemn. In fact, I think it a grave error on your part--and all who join you--in your presumptuous proclamations about who will be saved and who will be condemned!

The God I worship and the Messiah He promised us will take care of judging us. I am solely trying to awaken people to Their Promises and the Previews of them. Some of those Promises can be fulfilled in our lifetime in the form of a nuclear war, the nuclear winter that follows the war and the eventual return of our Messiah to deliver us from our manmade horrors. But some of those Promises told us how we can avoid the prophesied destruction and experience the joyous return of our Messiah. In short, I'm simply not interested in the mysterious statements in the Book of Revelation that occupy you. I stay concerned with the realities of our world, which does not include conjecturing on the identify of "beasts." Nor do I think that mouthing phrases like "trying to live in peace with others” is worth a penny! People have been saying such things for thousands of years--it doesn't work! Nor does preaching "tolerance," and all other fine sounding sayings, mean anything in practical life.

We urgently need an improved and enlarged understanding of God and our promised Messiah, which we can gain by studying what ALL the Prophets told us. Without such understanding, the extremist Muslims will FULLFILL the most dreadful prophecies, which they believe it is their God-given duty to fulfill. And, sadly, they are probably right, since someone must fulfill them, if we refuse to grow wise enough to avoid them!

Prayers To Fit All Believers

In 1962, the Catholic Good Friday Prayer included these thoughts: "…for the faithless Jews: that almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts ... (and) for the blindness of that people, that they may be delivered from their darkness." After Vatican II in 1970, the prayer was changed to: "Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant ... (and) may arrive at the fullness of redemption." This year, it’s reported that Pope Benedict has revised the prayer again to ask God to "enlighten" the hearts of the Jews so "…they may acknowledge Jesus Christ as the savior” of all mankind.

The next chapter in this “saga” finds conservative rabbis expressing “dismay” over the Catholic prayer asking God to help Jews “…acknowledge Jesus Christ as the savior.” But that prayer could help all believers, by serving as an example of other needed prayers.

While Catholics ask God to help Jews recognize Jesus as the world’s Savior, Muslims, following Muhammad’s teachings, could be praying for Christians to acknowledge Jesus as nothing less — nor more — than the Promised Savior, instead of the second member of a trinity of gods. And if Christians stopped calling Jesus “God,” Jews could become more able to recognize him as the world’s Savior.

While all this praying for others is going on, Jews could be praying for Muslims to obey Muhammad, who told them to believe all the Prophets who preceded him — and he especially mentioned Moses. But Moses told the world that someday God would restore Israel and return the Hebrews to their homeland. So, why are supposedly devout Muslims trying to destroy the fulfillment of that prophecy?

In short, if all Jews, Christians and Muslims engaged themselves in such prayers, we would have a world of people praying for each other instead of a blood soaked earth!

Then again, perhaps each religious family could try praying for their own enlightenment! So, Jews could ask to be enlightened about the Messiah’s identity. Christians could ask to be enlightened about the real identity of the One and Only Lord God. And Muslims could ask to be enlightened about their own role as the third monotheistic religion that came to correct — not eradicate — their fellow believers.

By helping themselves enlarge their own religious understanding, believers would be helping all of their fellowmen enjoy “peace on earth, goodwill toward men,” which is one thing God has always told all “peoples of the earth” to pursue!

If Muslims Believed Muhammad,

They Could Transform the World

Through the Koran, Muhammad tells Muslims to "Say: We believe in God and what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael, to Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and what was given to Moses and Jesus and the prophets. We discriminate against none of them" (The Family of Imran 3:84). Another time, Muhammad warns Muslims against drawing “…a line between God and His apostles, saying: 'We believe in some but deny others....’" (Women 4:150).

About 3,400 years ago, before the Hebrews had even entered the "Promised Land," Moses warned his people of a future day, when they would be "…driven out [of the Land] to the farthest parts under heaven…" (Deut. 30:4). But Moses also assured the Israelites that God "...will have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you" (Deut. 30:3).

If, today, Muslims truly believed Muhammad, they would believe "what was given to Moses." And they would rejoice in the resurrection of Israel as Moses foretold. Instead, countless Muslims, "believe in some [prophets] but deny others," while they prepare to "wipe Israel off the map.” In other words, if Muslims believed the Prophets who preceded Muhammad and drew no “line” between them, they would humbly admit to God and the world, "We have been wrong to fight against Israel." And an astonished world would behold Israel's deadly enemies evidencing incredible faith, unmatched by Jews and Christians throughout their bloody history!

If militant Muslims and their supporters renounced their ignorant rejection of Israel and transformed themselves into peaceful believers in Abraham’s God, astounded Jews and Christians would be hard-pressed to renounce their own ignorant dismissal of Muhammad as a “false prophet” and Islam as a “false religion.” Then, Jews and Christians, following the Muslims’ unique example, could finally abandon their own erroneous manmade teachings about “God the Son” and embrace Muhammad’s messages about “the Messiah, Jesus” (The Family of Imran 3:45), which Jews and Christians have always scorned — the very messages that could create peace among all “believers.”

If Muslims believed Muhammad…..

Choosing Silence

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In the Koran, Muhammad plainly tells his followers to believe the Prophets who preceded him and “…discriminate against none of them” (The Family of Imran 3:84). Moreover, Muhammad specifically mentioned Moses as a Prophet worthy of belief.

When Moses led the Hebrews to the “Promised Land,” before they had even entered the land, he told them of the future fall of their yet-to-be created nation and the exile of their disobedient descendants. But he also foretold their eventual return to the resurrected nation of Israel (Deut. 30:3-5).

So, how do Muslims reconcile their devotion to destroying today’s “resurrected” Israel with Muhammad’s instructions to believe Moses? To date, most of the Muslims who contact me through my website and blog tell me that the Hebrew Scriptures have been “corrupted.” Therefore, they can “righteously” seek to “drive Israel into the sea,” because its current existence is based on lies inserted in the ancient Texts by the exiled, desperate, homeless Jews.

Regardless of what some Muslims clerics tell their followers, the fact remains that there is not a single piece of evidence to prove that the Hebrew Scriptures we read today, which foretell Israel’s restoration, are not faithful renditions of the original Text. The most ancient Scriptures in the Hebrew language discovered to date were retrieved from caves near the Dead Sea. Dating methods cannot determine the exact age of the individual Scrolls, but authorities agree that most were written during the last three centuries before Jesus. That means, before the Jews were exiled, as Moses foretold, and many hundreds of years before Muslims existed to declare them “liars” who corrupted their own Scriptures, the Jews were warned of their future — the precise future they have actually endured.

To us, the Dead Sea Scrolls are of ancient origin. But we need to remember that those Scrolls were, themselves, copies of much older Writings, which have probably long since disintegrated. It’s believed the Hebrews in Biblical Israel ceremoniously buried their worn Scrolls, to prevent their desecration. Hence, there’s no way for us to know if the Dead Sea Scrolls are faithful renditions of previous copies, much less of the Prophets’ original teachings. Nor is there a shred of evidence to prove they are not recordings of the actual words spoken by men who lived long ago. That means, any claim that portions of the Hebrew Scriptures were significantly altered has nothing but man’s unlimited imagination to support it!

Still, that fact does not deter those Muslims who choose to believe the Hebrew prophecies of Israel’s “resurrection” were deceitfully placed in their Scriptures after the Jews’ exile from ancient Israel. When people choose to eliminate portions of the ancient Scriptures, they are accepting their “alterations” as facts. And, to persuade others of those “facts,” they must first convince themselves they know “the absolute truth.” Whether they are telling themselves deliberate “lies” or simply making “mistakes” might be open to debate. Yet, when Muslims tell themselves and others that God never promised to resurrect Israel, they are denying a promise delivered by the very Prophets that Muhammad told them to believe! Once they have chosen to deny that promise, they have embarked on the path of self-deception that offers no further choices on the matter until they choose to acknowledge their “lies” or “mistakes” or whatever you choose to call them.

The world desperately needs wise Muslims who choose to speak the truth about those prophecies to their fellow Muslims — but, so far, they’re choosing silence.

(The above contains edited excerpts from my book, “Of Promises and Previews”)

Reality and Pure Fancy

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Biological and chemical weapons that can wipe out whole populations, along with nuclear weapons, which have the ability to destroy life on earth, are an ever-present threat to all the peoples of the earth. And not all of those weapons or the material to make them are under the strict supervision of peace-loving, prosperous nations that would never consider selling their wares to the highest bidder.

To offset that unnerving reality, I ask you to indulge in a momentary flight of pure fancy. Let us imagine that, tomorrow, all Christians and Muslims suddenly believed the Hebrew Prophets and bowed down to the Jews, in wholehearted recognition of the honored role we’ve been told they will play in the Messianic Age. If that happened, the stunned “fathers” of monotheism would stop in their tracks, praise God with all their heart, soul, and strength — and turn their hearts to the “children” of the faith. Or if, tomorrow, all Jews were to suddenly believe Muhammad, look up to Heaven and say, “Our Messiah, Jesus, we await you,” stunned Christians and Muslims would stop in their tracks, praise God with all their heart, soul, and strength — and turn their hearts to the fathers. And if, tomorrow, believers made real peace with each other, then God’s other children — the heathens and skeptics who prefer their own beliefs to believing in a God Whose devotees hate each other — would finally have a tangible reason to rethink their own beliefs.

Most Christians and Muslims, however, do not believe the Jews will become “a name and a praise” in the Messianic Age, as the Prophet Zephaniah foretold (Zeph. 3:20). And the Jews have never believed that Jesus and Muhammad were true Messengers from God. Hence, in the absence of immediate Divine intervention, the three families that call themselves “believers” are not going to make peace tomorrow; their unbelief prevents it. So, tomorrow, they’ll do as they’ve always done: Instead of embracing beliefs that would turn their hearts to each other, they’ll call each other liars! And “gross darkness” with “utter destruction” shall envelop the earth, as the Prophets Isaiah and Malachi precisely described (Isa. 60:2; Mal. 3:24/4:6).

The above is an edited excerpt from my book, “Of Promises and Previews”

“Utter Destruction”: a “Do-it-Yourself” Project

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Through the Hebrew Scriptures, the “Lord of hosts” (Isa. 9:6) tells us that someday: “…I shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; Lest I come and smite the land with utter destruction” (Mal. 3:24/4:6). The “fathers” of monotheism are the Hebrews; the “children” are the Christians and Muslims — along with all of “God’s children,” regardless of their beliefs.

The “fathers,” through the Hebrew Scriptures, were the first to speak of the promised Messiah, who will serve as the “…ruler in Israel…” and he shall be “…great unto the ends of the earth” (Mic. 5:3). Under the Messiah’s rule, the Israelites, who had become “a curse” among the nations, will then become “a name and a praise,” and there will be “...peace without end...The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall accomplish this” (Isa. 9:6/7).

In other words, Judaism identifies the Messiah by his deeds, which he will successfully execute through “the zeal of the Lord of hosts.” Obviously, when Jesus lived in Israel, he did not perform the prescribed deeds, since there is no “peace without end,” and the Jews are still cursed the world over. Therefore, regardless of the “children’s” beliefs, the “fathers” have stood firm in their denial of “the Messiah, Jesus,” as Muhammad identified Jesus (Women 4:171). In daily life, it has been that denial that has kept the Jews “a curse and a reproach” (Jer. 44:12)

For 2,000 years, “the children” have cursed and killed “the fathers” whenever they’ve felt “inspired” to cleanse their neighborhood, city, or nation of Jews. These days, however, all nations have become so accessible and modern weaponry so powerful, some Muslims have become convinced they can finally make “God’s religion reign supreme” (The Cow 2:193). To supplant Judaism and Christianity with the “ultimate truth” expressed through Islam, those Muslims believe they could righteously use the weapons of mass destruction that would annihilate “God’s enemies” (including “the great Satan,” as they speak of the United States).

It’s tempting for outsiders to think of those Muslims as only “a fringe group of fanatics,” over which the world will surely gain control before they do any “real damage.” But, in the populous Muslim community, the persons who believe it their sacred duty to “drive Israel into the sea” constitute a sizable “fringe group.” To be sure, all Muslim nations do not openly clamor for Israel’s demise. Still, the rest of the world has no reason to expect Muslims to war against Muslims, merely to prevent a biological or chemical attack against “the Zionists,” their most immediate and mutual enemy. That attack, alone, would launch a nuclear war.

If we truly seek to avoid that war, Jews, Christians, Muslims — and all of God’s children — urgently need to enlarge our understanding of the God revealed by all the Prophets, from Abraham through Muhammad. Only through our improved understanding can we begin to turn our hearts to each other — and distance ourselves from the “utter destruction” we now know how to create as a “do-it-yourself” project!

(Some of the above is excerpted from my book: “Of Promises and Previews.”)

The Essence of Islam

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Muhammad told the world that God is God and the Messiah is nothing more nor less than God’s servant. But Muhammad unequivocally identified Jesus as the Messiah. Thus, Muhammad contradicted Judaism in its absolute rejection of the "Messiah, Jesus" (Women 4:171). And he contradicted Christianity, which, by Muhammad’s time, had officially identified Jesus as the Second and coequal Member of a Holy Trinity of Gods.

Nowadays, however, Muhammad’s confirmation of Jesus as the Messiah isn’t an Islamic teaching Muslims religiously convey to the world. In fact, the most publicly heard Muslims don’t even mention it! Evidently, they consider it an insignificant subject compared to the Koran’s directive to reward evil “…with like evil” (Counsel 42:40) — the teaching they practice with such devotion, outsiders could perceive it to be the primary message of Islam!

An Identical Role for “Believers” and “Unbelievers”

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What would it actually take to persuade you to “alter” your religious beliefs? I’m inclined to think we’ll have to be sitting in the darkness of a “nuclear winter” before people seriously question their religious thinking! And when I say “people,” I do not only mean what the Muslims, Christians and Jews think! To be sure, the “self-satisfied” atheists and the “removed-from-it-all” agnostics and the “beyond-it-all” believers in “heathen” religions are doing absolutely nothing to help the world avoid the Religious War that will hurtle everyone into the prophesied “gross darkness” of a manmade “nuclear winter!”

The Prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam brought messages about the Lord God of all creation that never contradicted each other, as they introduced the world to the One Thinking Source of all the energy in existence. Their teachings have persuaded a huge portion of the world’s population to embrace one of those three “related” monotheistic religions. Yet, amazingly, many Jews and Christians actually believe that “Allah,” the Name used by Muslims for Abraham’s God, is not the same God that Abraham worshiped. That is how “elementary” their ignorance is! Worse yet, each religious “family” embraces their clergy’s interpretations of their own Holy Book. And each “family” is so certain their clergy’s teachings are “right,” they won’t even consider reconsidering their beliefs. So, will the unbelievers learn and save us?

They could, but chances are, they won’t! Even as you won’t, no matter your current beliefs. But, tell yourself the truth! Are you really so satisfied with what you believe — whatever that is — that you are more willing to suffer a nuclear war than to try to improve your understanding? Even if you’re a “non-believer” in Abraham’s God, if enough of you finally came to appreciate what ALL the Prophets taught, the “believers” of the world would finally have a compelling reason to pay attention to you! And you would finally awaken them — which is what you’ve wanted to do all along, but you lacked the “right” message! So, no matter your “religious philosophy,” you could diminish the Religious War that is closing in on every single human being, by learning from ALL the Prophets and speaking of them to others. (You could learn from the individual Sacred Books, or discover the essence of their teachings from my book. The point is, SEEK and you CAN find!)

Deliver Us from Religious Clergies!

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To answer some comments on my previous post, I’m absolutely NOT subtly or openly urging people to become Muslims. Even as I’m not suggesting we should all become Jews or Christians. But if “enough people” (whatever that number must be) embraced the three religions’ COMBINED revelations about God and the Messiah He promised to send us, they could end the Religious War that is currently emerging throughout the world, in which militant Muslims seek to cleanse the earth of "infidels" (another name for “unbelievers”). Still, there remains the sad thought that no one with the slightest knowledge of religious history can reasonably expect “believers” to bring peace on earth!

To make “real peace” among themselves, members of all three religions would each have to alter some portion of their own manmade beliefs. But, in a typical example of “religious unity,” Muslims, Christians and Jews, alike, have always been unwilling to alter any part of their own beliefs! So, each embraces their own clergy’s interpretations of their own Sacred Book — interpretations that have provoked hatreds and wars throughout their shared religious history. And those are the same interpretations that are now driving us into a “shared” nuclear war.

Of course, so many self-centered Christians are so convinced they will be “whisked away” before violence consumes the rest of the world that they have no incentive to alter their own understanding. And stubborn Jews are so accustomed to being persecuted and ostracized, they have long since closed their ears and their minds to the beliefs of “outsiders.” And self-satisfied Muslims believe, so thoroughly, that the whole world will someday be “Islamic”— in whatever way they define “Islam” — they can scarcely bring themselves to denounce the violence their “extremist” members are wreaking. After all, what the “fanatics” are doing could be “God’s Will.”

So, here we are with each religious family too convinced their understanding is too right to be altered. Each convinced the others should change. Each “deep-down” resigned to enduring whatever happens or gladly anticipating their own “deliverance.” And each convinced that all they can do is urge their fellowmen to “convert” or urge them to practice “tolerance” — as though “believers” have ever proven truly tolerant of other beliefs for more than an occasional public minute!

All the while, Jews need to recognize the world’s Messiah, rejected by their presumptuous clergy, because Jesus did not do what they expected the Messiah to do for them -- as though the Messiah had to perform his propheised acts on their schedule! And Christians need to recognize Abraham’s One and Only unseen God, revealed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, which introduced Him to the world. Instead, Christians are taught by their brazen clergy to say "God" but mean "Jesus," instead of revering the God to Whom Jesus prayed! And Muslims need to recognize that they have not become God’s “chosen people,” whose “Holy Land” has been usurped by Jewish “infidels” supported by Christian “infidels,” as their egotistical clergy declares!

Speaking Up for Muhammad

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Muhammad did not live to simply repeat the teachings of the Prophets who preceded him. Muhammad came to awaken the “unbelievers,” who had rejected organized Christianity and Judaism, by teaching them about their Maker in terms related to their own experiences. But the Christian clergy has always claimed that Christian teachings are all that can “save our souls” — thereby glibly denigrating the billions of people who have embraced Abraham’s God without becoming Christians.

Through his recitations that became the Koran, Muhammad told all Arabs to believe “…what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael, to Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and what was given to Moses and Jesus and the prophets.” Muslims are to “…discriminate against none of them” (The Family of Imran 3:84). In actual practice, however, Muslims have done exactly what Jews and Christians have always done, with arrogant certainty. They “...draw a line between God and His apostles, saying: ‘We believe in some but deny others’....” The Koran warns everyone who draws such lines of “...a shameful punishment” (Women 4:150–151).

For a certainty, the miseries that have come from drawing those “lines” have proven to be an endless “punishment” for all human beings, everywhere, who have been persecuted and maimed in hateful religious arguments and wars.

Among non-Muslims, misunderstanding Muhammad is commonplace. And even today’s “extremist Muslims” misunderstand him, which, in itself, is nothing new! If people really understood the Prophets, we wouldn’t have the bloody miseries that monotheistic religions have incited throughout history.

Muhammad came to acquaint Arabs with Abraham’s “Lord God.” But, while doing so, he also corrected the severe errors made by the Hebrew and Christian clergies — errors that started the wars which now threaten to culminate in nuclear explosions.

First, he assured the Jews, the descendants of the Hebrews, that Jesus is the promised Messiah, though their clergy had officially denied it. Second, he denounced the Christian clergy’s proclamation of the Trinity, which identified Jesus as “God the Son.” Thus, Muhammad became the instant enemy of the Jewish and Christian clergies, who promptly pronounced him and his religion “frauds.” Through all the following centuries, Jews and Christians still embrace that ignorant summation of what has become the 2nd largest religion in the world and could soon overtake Christianity’s leading role.

All the while, Muhammad continues to tell us to believe in ALL the Prophets, whose revelations about God and the Ten Commandments, which He sent to guide all mankind, never contradict each other! It is the CLERGIES of the three religions who argue against each other, not the God-sent Prophets whose words are preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian New Testament, and the Koran. We urgently need to listen to them, to gain their “combined” knowledge of God that could shake the terrorists’ conviction that they are the only “true believers” — a prideful concept they share with the “humble” Christians.

More for Ken and All Who Agree or Disagree With Him

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Muhammad made plain that he was speaking of Abraham's God. Of course anyone can say he wasn't, but Muhammad clearly identified the Subject of his "discourse." And I repeat, he did not come to repeat what the Prophets had already said. He came, not only to awaken huge numbers of people to God, but to correct the errors of the Christian and Jewish clergies. Those still "uncorrected" errors have produced endless bloodshed for 2,000 years and are now preparing to fulfill the
prophecies of "gross darkness," which Malachi told us we
could only avoid if the "fathers and the children" turn
their hearts to each other (Mal. 3:24/4:6).

The "fathers" of monotheism are the Hebrews and their
descendants, the Jews. The "children" of monotheism are the
Christians and Muslims. But sadly, Ken, you epitomize the disdain
that the "children" have for each other and for
the "fathers,"--who, in turn, disdain the "childrens'" teachings.

BTW, when I quoted Jesus, I was not speaking of you
paying attention to Muhammad!!! I was clearly talking about
believing Malachi, as one of the Prophets, which Jesus called us foolishly “slow of heart” to believe.

As for your definition of a true prophet, I disagree. The
man who introduced God to millions of people who had rejected the Christian missionaries--the same man who founded the 2nd largest religion in the world, which could soon become the largest—fits my definition of a Prophet. You deny him; I don't; it’s as simple as that.

Your reference to Muhammad thinking his faith would
become "universal" is, as I see it, an expression of his
faith that someday everyone in the world will believe in
Abraham's Lord God and in "the Messiah Jesus." I do not doubt that will happen and I’d be surprised to hear that you doubt it. Sadly, the "fanatic Muslims" are now twisting Muhammad's "prediction" and using it as their reason to kill all "unbelievers," and to identify
those "unbelievers" as anyone who does not practice Islam
exactly as they do--which includes many of their fellow Muslims. To my mind, those fanatics are simply the "tools" that will fulfill the prophecies of darkness--which--I repeat again, we could avoid if we were wise enough to learn about God from ALL the Prophets, and thereby, turn our hearts to each other. Of course, it won't happen--the darkness will come--and Jesus will come--but only after indescribable misery on earth--because the "fathers" and the "children" would not
enlarge their understanding!

Although I certainly know people who fit your
description of those who have turned away from God, I also
know many people who have actually turned away from God
because they cannot accept Christianity's teachings that God
became "flesh." Unfortunately, Christian teachings are
all they know and care to know about religion!!! Or, they
simply cannot believe that a Divine Power would
allow the miseries we have always suffered. Of course, they
completely "miss" our need to learn through experience,
instead of being "robots," as they somewhat suggest
God should have made us, to spare us pain while we are
learning!

Now, getting back to specifics--where in the Scriptures
does a Prophet actually say that God is a Trinity??? If that
were true, it would not have taken the Church hundreds of
years to officially declare it! But I am curious about where
you have "read that into" our New Testament.

And, as a brief point, surely, having read some of the
Koran, you've read the "Mary" chapter, and therefore you know
that Muhammad honored her as a Virgin, the Mother of
the "Messiah Jesus," who "…does not disdain to be a servant of God" (Women 4:172).

There remains a real problem with all of our
Scriptures. It's impossible to know what was actually said
by the identified "authors" and what was added. All the
declarations in the world by "believers" that every word in
their own Scriptures is "true," does not prove it so! And,
the Koran is perhaps the most suspect of all--since it's
written form was based on so very many "notes" preserved in
all kinds of ways. But, again I repeat, I am not concerned
with the myriad "rules" for daily behavior declared by the
different religions ,or their "side stories," which--
especially in the Koran--breed hatred of others--stuff I
cannot believe Muhammad said because he honestly expected the Jews and Christians to embrace his "corrections" of their
clergies and join him. Instead of joining him--look what we have! Each
religion declaring that it alone is right and the others are
wrong--and the very real prospect of the manmade "gross darkness" that shall "cover the peoples" (Isa. 60:2), because all
the "right" religions will not even consider that there is
more they could learn from each other!

The Certainty of Fanatic Muslims

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One of the numberless surveys conducted these days reports that 52% of the people in the western world (not just the U.S.) think the issue with Muslims is political and can be resolved peacefully; 29% think it is a religious problem.

I am part of the minority because diplomacy, whether conducted by Democrats or Republicans, can never settle the religious differences that are driving us toward disaster. If nothing changes, we’re going to have a nuclear war simply because:

1) The “fanatic Muslims” won’t care whether Republicans or Democrats run the United States! When they are ready, they WILL use nuclear weapons against “Islam’s enemies,” which they perceive as “God’s enemies.”

2) The “fanatic Muslims” will use those weapons because they devoutly believe they will be doing “God’s Will,” by cleansing the earth of “unbelievers.”

The dark, cold “nuclear winter” that will follow a “nuclear war” will fulfill the Biblical descriptions of a time when “…the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light” (Matt. 24:29); when “…darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples” (Isa. 60:2).

If, however, you don’t believe in Prophets and prophecies, you certainly don’t have to think about them — until the darkness happens. Then, if you’ve survived, you’ll have plenty of time to think. Until then, go ahead and blame Republicans, Democrats, Muslims, Jews, Israel, Iran, Syria, or anyone else that strikes your fancy — except yourself! After all, what could you have done to prevent the war? Obviously, the “fanatic Muslims” have no right to expect you to alter your religious beliefs or unbelief. Besides, you have no reason to reconsider, much less discuss, your personal beliefs with anyone. You’re not forcing others to agree with you and you don’t want others to force you. You just want to live and let live, and you’re sure everyone should do the same.

Because, today, “everyone” doesn’t believe in “live and let live,” I’ll suggest what you could have done, so you can think about it in the darkness. You could have learned how to turn your heart to others, as the Prophet Malachi plainly said we must do, to avoid the darkness (Mal. 3:24/4:6). But, to honestly “turn your heart” to the “crazy Muslims,” you will first need to turn your heart to the One God revealed by ALL the Prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. You’ll be desperately praying to Someone in the “gross darkness” — why not try learning about the God Who foretold it? If enough of us enlarged our understanding of Him, we wouldn’t have to suffer the darkness!

So, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, or someone in another nation “rooting for” a particular political party to win control over the “dangerously aggressive” United States, it’s time to carefully question whatever you believe and disbelieve. Then, you could finally do what you’ve never done before: Learn from ALL the Prophets sent to enlighten and warn you. Their COMBINED teachings would greatly enlarge your understanding of the God Who, long ago, precisely told us what our stubborn ignorance would bring upon us! An enlarged understanding of Him would deprive the “fanatic Muslims” of their crucially-needed certainty that you are an “unbeliever.”

A Fulfilled Prophecy!

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While visitors to this site are fruitlessly debating God’s “Name,” I think it’s a good time to turn our attention to the Power behind the Name, as the Prophets revealed Him.

Although Muhammad spoke of God as “Allah,” he never refuted any Prophets’ revelations about the One and Only “Lord God.” But, unlike his prophetic predecessors, Muhammad frequently discussed the omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence of the Creator. Most believers have yet to truly contemplate what it means in our daily lives to be subject to Someone possessing those awesome, almost unimaginable, powers.

For example, an “omniscient” God means that the God worshiped by Jews, Christians, and Muslims knew, from the start, that the Hebrews would end up disobeying Him, until they were driven out of their land. In fact, before the Hebrews had even entered the Promised Land, Moses, inspired by God, spoke of a time when they would be “...driven out to the farthest parts under heaven...” (Deut. 30:4). But Moses also revealed what would happen to them after they became “…an oath and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach” (Jer. 44:12) — a prophecy that human history unmistakably proves has been fulfilled! Moses assured them that God “...will have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you” (Deut. 30:3). Then, they will become “…a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth” (Zeph. 3:20).

Throughout history, uncountable people have reproached, cursed and killed Jews, even while they claimed to believe in the “Lord God,” “our Father,” “Allah the King.” Therefore, it would be wisdom for “believers” to stop arguing about God’s Name and start repairing the damage they’ve done to the persecuted people who will yet become “a name and a praise” among us, as the OMNISCIENT God foretold.

Granted, the clergies of Christianity and Islam have perverted the prophecies related to the Jews’ “resurrection,” to make their own religion foremost and their own members “a name and a praise.” But the OMNIPOTENT Creator has spoken, and nothing said or done by Christians and Muslims can alter His decree. So, no matter the Name we use to address Him, it is long past time for us to acknowledge His Powers, which apply to all of God's "children" and could better guide all of us than the manmade concepts that have ceaselessly bred hatreds in His Name--whatever you think that Name is!

A Name for God

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Through the months, I’ve received occasional emails arguing, with surprising intensity, for or against the different “Names” assigned to God by Jews, Christians and Muslims. It finally dawned on me that some believers are missing an elementary point.

Through the Prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we are warned against praying in the name of any of the more than 2,000 “gods,” worshiped by mankind in ancient times. Each manmade idol was given its own name by the people who concocted it! So, every monotheistic Prophet, beginning with Abraham, has advised us to pray to the unseen, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent “Lord God.” And all Jews, Christians and Muslims pray to Him, regardless of the precise Name their language assigns Him.

Granted, Jesus gave us permission to pray in his name, not because he was representing himself as God incarnate, but because he was sent by the Father as mankind’s Messiah. History proves that most human beings need a “human form” to envision and pray to — an invisible God is just too hard for many to mentally and emotionally embrace. So “the Messiah Jesus,” as Muhammad always identified him, helps all who need a human manifestation of Divine Power.

Of course, the Christians also began to pray to saints, but that’s part of their “mix-up” over God’s Identity. We can know the Lord God understands human weaknesses and confusion, since even humans can usually come to understand what causes their “mistakes!” But the intense persecution and suffering that Christians and Muslims have deliberately inflicted on persons who worship the same God, but differ in their religious practices -- beginning with as simple a subject as His Name -- is another story! Our merciful God might not wholly excuse hateful actions committed in any one of His Names!

Only Muslims Believe It!

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The Koran tells Muslims that someday the whole world will be Islamic, which can simply mean that someday everyone will know the Lord God of Abraham and “the Messiah Jesus” (as Muhammad identified mankind’s Messiah).

But Muhammad made clear that Jesus is NOT God; he is a “servant of God.” So, from the start, the Jews, obeying their clergy, scorned Muhammad for identifying Jesus as the Messiah. And the Christians, obeying their clergy, scorned Muhammad for denying that Jesus is “God the Son.”

The Religious War to establish Islam as the world’s only religion has already begun — but it often appears that only Muslims (and me) recognize it as a Religious War! Apparently, the rest of the world prefers to believe that some desperately poor people, recruited by evil-minded would-be “world rulers,” are perpetrating terrorist acts for material gain. Of course some individual terrorists are “out for what they can get.” But earthly riches are not the goal of the terrorists. And most Muslims know it, though, to be sure, not all Muslims support the terrorists. Still, all Muslims believe the world will someday be Islamic, so the vast majority are not willing to actively fight terrorism, since they cannot be certain it is not “God’s Will.”

While, today, only Muslims believe that Islam will someday be the world’s only religion, their belief does not automatically mean they are wrong! But it does mean that if enough people will enlarge their understanding of Abraham’s God, we could avoid the nuclear war that Muslim “extremists” are willing to start.

But now I urge you to take a moment to tell yourself the truth: No matter what you currently believe and disbelieve, after reading this, you’re not going to pursue an enlarged understanding of God, are you? Instead, you’re going to do what you’ve always done — browse other web sites until it’s time to work or feed the kids or shop or go to bed! That’s “living” in a reasonably peaceful society — until it stops being peaceful! Yet, I suspect you think you’ll have time to think about it, if your peace is actually disrupted! And I agree — by then you’ll have more time to think than you want — because you wouldn’t take the time to think about it now. In short, most people — including the extremist Muslims — are so set in their religious beliefs, I’m fighting a “lost cause,” when urging us to learn from ALL the Prophets. I wonder when I’ll believe it!

How We’ll Get to Setting the World on Fire

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Today, in response to emails from visitors to my website and this blog, I’m providing some background for the on-going, never-ending religious arguments that are now threatening to set the world on fire.

Excerpt from Chapter 18 (“Of Promises and Previews”):

The Old Testament often speaks of the restoration of the Davidic kingdom in Israel, during the Messianic Age. At that time, God has promised to “...save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey...and I will set up one shepherd over them....” Then, “The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel...” (Ezek. 34:22–23, 37:28).

The Hebrew Prophets often spoke of that promised glorious kingdom, but they had little to say about the “one shepherd” of the kingdom. Evidently, they knew almost nothing about him, beyond the fact that out of Bethlehem “...shall one come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days....” “And he shall stand, and shall feed his flock...in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God...for then shall he be great unto the ends of the earth...” (Micah 5:1,3).

Thus, from early times, Judaism focused on the kingdom that will flourish in the Messianic Age, while Christianity and Islam focused on the “one shepherd” of that kingdom — of whom the Jews knew practically nothing. The trouble that came from those two related but separate subjects quickly surfaced.

The Jews, convinced that Christians and Muslims followed false prophets, paid no attention to their teachings about the coming “one shepherd”: “the Messiah, Jesus,” as Muhammad identified him. And the younger monotheistic families, each convinced it had supplanted the fathers of their faith, paid little or no attention to the promised sanctification of Israel in the Messianic Age. In fact, aside from acknowledging “the Messiah, Jesus,” the Koran doesn’t speak of that Age; its future concern is with “the Last Day,” the Judgment Day of mankind (The Family of Imran 3:114).

As it was in those early years, so it is today. Believers revere their own family’s messages, as their clerics interpret them, and they dismiss, as false or obsolete, all teachings that do not conform to their own. As long as each family’s shepherds aggrandize their own understanding of their own teachings and besmirch the others, they cannot “...turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers...,” as Malachi warned must happen, if the world is to be spared “utter destruction” (Mal. 3:24/4:6). Nor can bitterly divided and self-aggrandizing believers inspire unbelievers to turn to the God Who has promised to bless “all the families of the earth” through Abraham (Gen. 12:2–3).

A Note to Sara

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Dear Sara and all who agree with her comments on my previous post "To Iran & Co."
I've decided to reply to Sara with a new post, because her comments are worthy of special attention.

I’m really glad you (Sara) “stumbled on” my blog and wrote me. Your comments are particularly thoughtful. My reference to “nuclear armed Muslims” is certainly not well phrased! And, to be sure, the same expression—-poor as it is-—could be applied to others as well. I could have better expressed myself had I used common
phrases such as “militant” or “extremist” Muslims.

I am actually speaking of those Muslims who sincerely believe it is now their “God-given duty” to cleanse the earth of infidels (unbelievers). They identify “infidels” as everyone who does not worship God as they do—-which includes many of their fellow Muslims. So, of course they don’t represent all Muslims. But they are deeply sincere in their beliefs and willing to use WMDs in their “holy mission.” That, in itself, differentiates them from other “nuclear armed” nations, at least for the present! So far, those nations are reserving nuclear arms for their own defense.

As for the President of Iran’s remark, which you believe is a “mistranslation”—-to the Jews in Israel and to a vast number of people elsewhere, “wiping Zionism off the map” means to destroy Israel. Again, it depends largely on what people “see” in words. You do not equate “Zionism” with “Israel,” but historically, many people always have.

In the same vein, I need to make clear that I am not stressing “a commonality in the message of peace between all three monotheistic religions.” I am urging people to listen to the teachings about God and the promised Messiah, as they were delivered by all the Prophets, from Abraham through Muhammad. Their messages reveal the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Creator of everything, far better than the individual religions do. If we are to avoid the nuclear war, which will descend upon us if we continue to pursue this very real Religious War that we’re only beginning to recognize, we need an enlarged understanding of the God that all three religions embrace. The clergies have turned believers against each other, in their effort to prove their own religion superior to all others; a better understanding of the God they all worship can turn their hearts to each other. The only way to gain that understanding is through the teachings of ALL the Prophets.

While you refer to this “war” as a political struggle, it is actually a Religious War, which could result in the fulfillment of precisely described ancient prophecies. If too many people deceive themselves into thinking this is all about “politics,” we will not even begin to enlarge our thinking about God—-which I suspect is what will really happen! But, I have to keep trying to awaken us to the real teachings of the Prophets, as long as I have the strength. If you, Sara, or others, don’t agree with what I’ve said, I certainly hope you express your thoughts—or any other thoughts you have on the subject.

Some Urgent “Talk” to Iran & Co. — In Less Than 500 Words

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This message is primarily directed to all “peoples of the earth” who are preparing to arm themselves with weapons of mass destruction, so they can force everyone to worship God exactly as they do.

Through the Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah, the Almighty Lord God warned the world: “…behold, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples…(Isa. 60:2).

Much later, Jesus spoke of a time when: “…the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light…” (Matt. 24:29). And “...unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved.” But he immediately promised, “…those days will be shortened” (Matt. 24:22).

Today, we can strongly suspect that those prophesied days of “gross darkness” could be the aftermath of a full-scale nuclear war, when mushrooming smoke would deprive the earth of sunlight and moonlight, and a “nuclear winter” would envelop the world.

Yet, the Hebrew Scriptures also tell us that we do not have to endure “those days.” According to the Prophet Malachi, the Lord God has promised: “Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the land with utter destruction” (Mal. 3:24/4:6).

The “fathers” of monotheism were the Hebrews and their descendants, the Jews. The “children” of monotheism are the Christians and Muslims. Moreover, we’re told that all human beings, regardless of their religious beliefs or unbelief, are the “children” of the Lord God revealed by the Prophets. And unless something happens that will “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,” nuclear armed Muslims could soon act to fulfill the worst of all prophecies. Or, as the leader of Iran recently described their intentions: they will “wipe Israel (the land of the fathers) off the map.” And, ultimately, “darkness shall cover the earth.”

To be sure, the “something” that could “happen,” to spare us a nuclear winter, would be Elijah’s arrival. But, in this worldwide age of religious cynicism and “know it all intellectualism,” too many people might easily fail to recognize him and heed his teachings. So, it could immeasurably help us, if we prepare to better understand Elijah by enlarging our knowledge of the Prophets’ teachings.

To enlarge our knowledge, we only need to listen to the COMBINED teachings of ALL the Prophets, from Abraham through Muhammad. TOGETHER, they revealed the Lord God and the Messiah He promised to send us, without once contradicting each other! But that means, we must listen to the PROPHETS instead of the CLERGIES of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, who have never ceased contradicting each other, in their arrogant crusade to declare their own understanding “right” and all others “false or obsolete!”

Plain and Simple Ignorance for the New Year

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This message was inspired by those persons who are currently "blaming" today’s terrorism on the “poor” who are simply “protesting their poverty!”

In actual fact, we are experiencing the opening battles of a Religious War, conducted by devout Muslims who sincerely believe it is their “God-given duty” to cleanse the earth of “unbelievers” or “infidels.” They define “infidels” as everyone who does not join in their practice of Islam — a definition that even includes some of their fellow Muslims. So, today’s terrorism has nothing do with the material possessions of anyone, anywhere!

What is “good” about today’s Religious War rests in the fact that it will probably be the last Religious War humankind will have to endure. What’s “bad” about it is it will probably be the last Religious War, because it will be fought with weapons of mass destruction. But it will be a “democratic” war, because it will include everyone in the world, regardless of their beliefs. To explain:

If you are an agnostic or an atheist, you’ll suffer the horrendous effects of a nuclear war, which, in your ignorance, you were utterly incapable of stopping.

If you are a believer in gods other than the Lord God of Abraham, you’ll be as useless as the agnostics and atheists.

But if you are a Jew, Christian, or Muslim, you’ll play a major role, even if you say and do nothing besides cling to your own beliefs, because you know they are “the truth as best man can know it.” As a “true believer,” you will not even consider enlarging your understanding of the God you worship, by learning from ALL the Prophets of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Instead, you’ll cling to the “truth,” as your clergy declares it, while the war escalates, until the whole world is enveloped in the “gross darkness” foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures (Isaiah 60:2).

As a Jew, Christian or Muslim, how “devout” you will be, for making the worst of all prophecies come true! Of course, as a Christian or Muslim, you can also believe that the God of all humankind only loves you and your kind. (At least the Jews you scorn have never displayed that arrogance!) So, as a Christian, you might think that being a “devout hypocrite” is going to entitle you to be “whisked away” and spared the misery you’ve caused others. Or, as a Muslim, you can think your concept of a narrow-minded god, who only loves you and yours, will get you straight into heaven. But, as the Prophets made clear, you’ll have plenty of time to contemplate your ignorance in the "gross darkness" of a nuclear winter.

All the while, this could be our last chance to learn more about God, while the sun still shines. Or, in your plain and simple ignorance, you can refuse to listen to Messengers that aren’t “your own,” or to Messengers that you know “never really existed,” or to the written teachings you “know” have been “changed,” though you haven’t a single piece of proof. By rejecting at least some of the Prophets, you will help the world get to suffer the prophesied nuclear winter — which is one way to learn that the Prophets told us the truth!

Another Year of Nothingness

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I suppose another year of people killing each other in God’s Name was not actual “nothingness,” but it was not “something worthy,” which means 2006 could be seen as another “nothing” year.

Of course, I’m wishing for an enlargement of our religious understanding in the coming year. But, if I don’t sound enthusiastic about it, I suspect the reason is obvious. I’d have to be an absolute dreamer to anticipate our religious “makeover,” and while I’ve “dreamed” through all these years that perhaps, someday, people will “catch on,” I’ve never been convinced it will happen! Still, if the Lord God does not inspire us to improve our understanding, then He must be willing to let us envelop the earth in the “gross darkness” (Isaiah 60:2) of a nuclear winter, and I must accept that. It’s just that I have to keep trying to awaken us, in the hope that just maybe………………….

In the meantime, I do want to call attention to the web site: www.bismikaallahuma.org. I’ve been talking to some pleasantly argumentative Muslims there, on a post titled: The Soul of Hajj. Originally, I posted my comment there about Muslims transforming the world if they believed Muhammad, and I’ve received some interesting responses. Not that anyone has encouraged my ideas!! But they have been courteous and informative and that is refreshing. So, I suggest you try the site and I wish the world a wiser New Year.