Over the next few days, as the Lord leads, I will be sharing information on witnessing to certain religious groups such as Mormons, Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. What I am about to share is a Facebook status of a pastor that has preached revivals and conferences at our church and has become, somewhat, of an authority on the religion of Islam.
I feel that these questions will not only help us to witness to Muslims, but to open our own eyes to what we may not have previously known about what is referred to by mainstream media as "the religion of peace". After reading this, you may decide to start praying (if you don't already) for the safety of Christians in our own country. Regardless, the Lord loves the world and all its people. He is not willing that any should perish. Therefore, we must be willing to witness to any people group....for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!
Some
Honest Questions for Muslims
By Dr. Bo Wagner
Just a
few days ago America was rocked by terrorism yet again, as cowards detonated
bombs at the Boston Marathon. Now authorities are telling us what many of us
suspected all along: young Muslim men,
brothers, are the highly likely perpetrators in this attack. This is a pattern
seen very often since 9-11, but for those who have studied modern history; it
has been clearly visible long before that. America seemed oblivious to Islam
and Islamic terrorism right up until the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979.
Even in the years after that, those in power still seemed not to grasp what we
were facing.
Let
me state at the outset that there are two things that I do not believe. One, I
do not believe that all Muslims are violent. Two, I do not believe that the
Koran is a book of peace or that Islam is a religion of peace. I do not say
this as the knee jerk reaction of one who knows nothing of the subject. I have
studied the history of this subject long and hard, and I have also done what
most Americans talking about the subject have not done: I have read the Koran
cover to cover, twice. I have also read the nine volume set of the Hadiths of
Sahih Al Bukhari. It is on that basis that I see a clear difference between
Christianity and Islam. The Christian rule of conduct is the New Testament of
the Bible. We learn certain principles from the Old Testament, but we recognize
that much of the Old Testament was written for people other than us, and that much
of it has been fulfilled and is no longer binding for us to follow (i.e. we do
not sacrifice lambs any more). The parts of the Old Testament that fall under
the classification of Moral Law we follow, but the Civil and the Ceremonial we
do not. Whatever of the Old Testament was repeated for us in the New Testament
we follow as well. The Muslim rule of conduct is the entire Koran, and to a
slightly lesser extent the Hadiths. Where the New Testament tells the Christian
to behave one way, the Koran and the Hadiths tell the Muslim to behave another
way entirely.
Christians
are commanded to engage in a struggle that has nothing to do with weapons,
death, and destruction:
Ephesians 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We
find Jesus Himself saying:
John
18:36: Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of
this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the
Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
But the Muslim reads something very different in
the Koran and the Hadiths:
Make
war on them until idolatry shall cease, and God’s religion shall reign supreme.
Surah 8:40
A
prophet may not take captives until he has fought and triumphed in his land.
Surah 8:67
When
the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest
them, besiege them and lie in ambush everywhere for them. Surah 9:5
God
has purchased from the faithful their lives and worldly goods and in return has
promised them the Garden. They will fight for the cause of God, slay and be
slain. Surah 9:111
Believers,
make war with the infidels who dwell around you. Surah 9:123
Muhammad
is God’s apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers. Surah
48:29
Prophet,
make war on unbelievers and the hypocrites, and deal sternly with them. Surah
66:9
“O
you who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for your friends and
protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he among you
that turns to them for friendship is of them.” (surah 5:51)
The
Muslim clerics are quite clear on what these passages mean. Mesbah Yazdi, one
of the leading influences of the life of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said this:
“We
must wipe away the shameful stain whereby some people imagine that violence has
no place in Islam. We have decided and are determined to argue and prove that
violence is at the heart of Islam.”
The
Hadiths of Islam (I will quote from Sahih Al Bukhari’s version), a nine-volume
set of the sayings of Muhhamad, paint the exact same picture:
“Allah’s
Messenger said, ‘Allah welcomes two men with a smile; one of whom kills the
other and both of them enter paradise. One fights in Allah’s cause and gets
killed. Later on Allah forgives the killer (who embraces Islam) and also gets
martyred (in Allah’s cause.”) Hadith 2826
I
could literally list hundreds of similar passages from the Koran and Hadiths; I
have simply chosen a select few. This leads me to ask a few questions that I
would honestly like to have some Muslim Cleric answer for us publicly:
One:
Do you believe or disbelieve these passages from the Koran and the Hadiths?
Two:
If you believe them, why should we regard Islam as anything other than
incredibly dangerous, and if you disbelieve them, are you willing to publicly
denounce those that do?
Three:
If you do not believe that Islam is violent by design, how do you explain a
1400 year history of bloodshed, with Muhammad himself being the one who set the
pattern of conversion by the sword? Christians who have behaved violently have
done so in opposition to the example of Christ!
I do
not hate Muslims, I love them, Jesus loves them, and I would love to win all
1.3 billion of them to Christ. But I will not, willingly, sit by while young
Muslim men whipped into a frenzy by what they read in the Koran and the Hadiths
perpetrate violence on my people. If Islam is really as violent as I think,
then we need to start thinking of it very differently. If it is peaceful as we
are told, then Muslim Clerics across the world need to start speaking up and
dealing with these very clear passages, and finding a way to get their people
to quit following them.
________________________________________________
Word of His Mouth Publishers is a ministry of Dr. Bo Wagner. We unashamedly use and fully trust the King James Bible.
Dr. Wagner is the founder and pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, North Carolina. He was saved in 1979 and began preaching regularly as a twelve year old boy in 1982.
He earned an Associate’s Degree in Communications Technology from Cleveland Community College in 1989. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Pastoral Studies with highest honors in 1997 and then his Master’s and Doctorate with highest honors from Carolina Bible College in 2001 and 2003. He founded Cornerstone Baptist Church in 1997. He has been teaching at the Carolina Bible College since 2000 and has been a professor since 2003.
Along with pastoring, Dr. Wagner preaches in many revivals, camp meetings, and family conferences each year.
He married Dana in 1994. They have three Children: Caleb, Karis, and Aléthia.
You can contact us at 704-477-5439 or by e-mail at mrs.preacherswife@yahoo.com.
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