All gods are the same … Are they not?
All gods are the same according to some. But are they really?
First I will quote something from James Freeman Clarke…
Of all the systems of belief which have had a widespread hold on mankind this may be posited, that they are commonly true in what they affirm, false in what they deny. The error in every theory is usually found in its denials, that is, its limitations. What it sees is substantial and real; what it does not see is a mark only of its limited vision.”1 Ten Great Religions, Vol. II., p. 62. @The Moslem Doctrine of God
When reading an open letter(pdf file) from the Muslim religious leaders in Britain that was written to the Pope and the leaders of other Christian churches, there seems to be a common truth - at first glance anyway. 
It is not what is said that is the problem, but rather what is not said. Things of fundamental importance to the Christian faith was not addressed at all in this letter! And it is glaringly obvious to those who know what the Koran actually says about Allah in context; that Allah and the God of the Bible are not the same God at all.
It is exactly in what the Koran denies that we find the biggest problem for those Christians who understand and believe that the bible speaks of the triune nature of God. (there are many other differences between the Islamic revelation of Allah, Christology and the Holy Spirit and the Biblical revelation of God. Too many to speak about in this one post)
In fact, in the open letter they quote one seemingly ambiguous verse which seems to agree with the Christians view on Christology. This verse is quoted after a whole spiel about how we can come together and worship the same One God along with them. They say that we can come to them to their understanding of their God; that is really what is being offered here.
This is how the verse is written in the letter…
…. the Messiah Jesus son of Mary is a Messenger of God and His Word which he cast unto Mary and a Spirit from Him…. (Al-Nisa’, 4:171).
But they fail to quote the whole verse in its entire context and the reason is quite obvious…
O people of the scripture, do not transgress the limits of your religion, and do not say about GOD except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was a messenger of GOD, and His word that He had sent to Mary, and a revelation from Him. Therefore, you shall believe in GOD and His messengers. You shall not say, “Trinity.” You shall refrain from this for your own good. GOD is only one god. Be He glorified; He is much too glorious to have a son. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and everything on earth. GOD suffices as Lord and Master (Surah An -Nisa 4:171)
Compare that verse to what Paul says…
1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
From what I have read of this open letter, and from what I have read in the Koran and the Bible, it is made clear to me that it is not the things that are commonly true that are problematic. But rather, it is the things that are denied which become the things that divide, just as James Freeman Clarke concluded in his book ‘Ten Great Religions’. And those things are the very things that are fundamental to Christianity and its followers.
The integrity of Scripture and the reasonableness of the doctrine of the Trinity are the two points in Christianity against which Islam emphatically testifies. At the same time these two ideas are fundamental in the Christian system. The doctrine of the Trinity is not only fundamental but essential to the very existence of Christianity. Dr. Baur of the Tübingen school acknowledges this when he says that “in the battle between Arius and Athanasius the existence of Christianity was at stake.” In some form the doctrine of the Trinity has always been confessed by the Church and all who opposed it were thrown off from its fellowship. “When this doctrine was abandoned, other articles of faith, such as the atonement, regeneration, etc., have almost always followed, by logical necessity, as when one draws the wire from a necklace of gems, the gems all fall asunder.” (Henry B. Smith.) The doctrine of the Trinity, in its widest sense, includes that of the Incarnation and of the Holy Spirit. In studying what the Koran teaches on this subject, therefore, we must examine not only what it tells of the Trinity, but also those passages that speak of the nature of Jesus Christ and of Holy Spirit. @The Moslem Doctrine of God
Now that is just one point that I have addressed, and the above article systematically shows the very clear differences between the two revealed natures of Allah and God. We do not worship the same God as both god/God’s are revealed differently in the Bible and Koran. God is not one of division and both the bible and Koran state this, so in theory, only one Holy Writ can be right.
The article ‘MOHAMMEDAN IDEAS OF THE TRINITY‘ examines it the following way and is worth more than just a cursory read…
The following order will be observed in our study: (a) the Koran passages that speak directly of the Trinity; (b) those that refer to the subject indirectly; (c) the Christology of the Koran as it bears on this doctrine; (d) the passages that speak of the Holy Spirit.
Once Mohammed’s view of the Trinity, Christology and his view on the Holy Spirit are clearly understood, then and only then can we begin to understand the that this letter is in a sense addressing nothing of real theological difference at all but rather a political correct view - which is in no way a correct theological view according to the Bible.
But what this letter will do is show to the world that if anyone dares to speak about the true, real differences one could then be labelled an extremist. The Times noted the possibility of marginalisation and that it will become plainly obvious to everyone who are the extreme militants, the guardians of the faith. Although only one side is addressed in this article that being the Islamic extremist, when it said the following…
But it will make it harder for those who thrive on a narrow, militant interpretation of Islam to pose as the true guardians of the faith.
There will be a problem here, not only will the Islamic militant guardians stand out like a sore thumb, but I am guessing those pesky fundamental Christians will get a fair rap over the knuckles once this letter is examined by the more conservative bunch. You know the ones I am talking about, those who exegete the bible using Historical, Grammatical Hermeneutics who understand that the Holy Bible teaches universal absolute truths that sit outside any culture at any time, where context actually does matter greatly kind of way!!! I am talking about the people who have understood the truth of the matter of spiritual things that the natural man cannot fathom as it is foolishness the him.
One such person who has seen the problem of this letter who perhaps hears the deafening silence of certain convenient things that have been omitted says this…
For it is a classic piece of manipulation and, I’m afraid to say, menace. Masquerading as the promotion of peace through emphasising characteristics that these religions apparently share, it instead effectively puts a scimitar to the neck of the Christian church and says: ‘Peace on our terms’.
At least one cleric gets it. In the Times the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the one Anglican who understands the threat from Islamism, noted that the letter required Christians to adopt the Muslim belief in the oneness of God. @Melanie Phillips
(Biography: Melanie Phillips is a British journalist and author)
Here is a poll question for you, and be sure to read the question carefully. And if you don’t really know the bible or the koran but can only go on what the media (MSM) is saying or you fall into the melting pot of political correctness, then this question is quite irrelevant to you anyway, isn’t it? After all this question is for the militant, fundamental extremist.
Retiring Baby Boomers and the Coming Economic Crisis
What does the economy hold for us in the future? This is BIG news for those who follow prophecy as the stock market is edging toward shaky ground. Could this be the catalyst for such a world wide economic change? I received this email from Ray Gano and although I don’t agree with everything he says, I thought that the following email was blog worthy. It certainly waves a red flag at the US stock market and it strongly indicates the need to monitor the Greenback as time goes on.
Fortunately here in Australia, we have managed to ride the weathering storm thus far. But for how long we can do this is unsure. Like the old saying goes … ‘The US sneezes - the rest of us catch the cold’.
The other question to ask in light of this is whether or not the US markets will continue to have an effect on the rest of the world, or will the Euro with the help of China be like the phoenix and rise from its ashes with an economy that is strong enough to tip the balance in favour of the Euro. Although not all agree with this and say… that America’s hegemony is strong and will continue to be strong.
Here is the email that talks about the baby boomers and their retirement…
Oct 17th, 2007, the tailspin officially began.
What are you getting so worked up about Ray?
“Under current law, Social Security won’t have enough money to pay promised benefits in 2041 but there is another crunch much, much sooner, the result of the the federal government relying on Social Security to pay for its annual spending.”
“We face a tsunami of spending due primarily to the retirement of the baby boom generation and rising health care costs,” Walker said. “So what’s happened is we’ve gone from 16 workers paying into Social Security for every person drawing benefits in 1950 to 3.3 to one today, and we’re going down to two to one by the time the boomers retire in big numbers and that’s about where it will stay over the long run.”
“We’re going to have tens of thousands of baby boomers retiring every week over the next decade or so and that means that by time we get to 2017, just 10 years away, we will no longer be collecting enough payroll taxes to pay Social Security benefits,”
Source - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301997,00.htmlBut that is just Social Security, let me give you a short history lesson and why there is even more bad news.
In the 1970’s there was a law created that when it came out, it was touted as a great law, a law for the people. The law was called “ERISA” or known as the “Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This is the law that gave birth to the 401(k). One of the reasons ERISA is significant is because it forced millions of employees to become investors, investors without any financial training or education. This is why the financial expert’s advice is “Work hard, save money, get out of debt, invest for the long term, and diversify, diversify, diversify.”
Warren Buffet made a great statement that kind of sums this up..
“Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those that take the subway”
Many people know that the Baby Boomer generation is the largest generation in history. Many of our companies made millions from the baby boomer wave. When the baby boomers had kids, Gerber made millions. When the baby boomer kids got older Matel, Hasbro, etc made millions. The baby boomer’s lived life at a fast pace, thus was born McDonalds, Burger King, etc. I point these things out because the baby boomers are a generation to be considered.
When the baby boomers bought, companies made millions.
Baby Boomers have money they have saved for retirement via their 401(k), IRAs, ect.
Between 1995 and 2005 the millions of people who followed the “Work hard, save money, get out of debt, invest for the long term, and diversify, diversify, diversify.” Advice lost an estimated $7-9 trillion. And much worse than losing $7-9 trillion, the people who followed that advice missed out on what the Economist and other magazines called the biggest financial boom in history. So not only did those investors lose money from the 2000-2003 stock market crash, they failed to make a lot of money in the financial boom in real estate and commodities. That is the price of bad advice and even worse not having the knowledge to know better and the education.
But back to ERISA…
ERISA has a major flaw that many people do not look at or even know of. ERISA has a mandatory withdrawal mechanism at age seventy and a half. At that age you MUST start withdrawing your money from the 401(k)s, IRAs, etc. That means millions of baby boomers will be forced to systematically withdraw from their 401(k), IRAs, ect.
Where is all this money invested? It is in the stock market.
As I stated before, when the baby boomers BOUGHT, companies made millions.
This year, 2007, the first baby boomers turn 61.
What will happen when the baby boomers start to sell?
In 2016 it is estimated that there will be 2,282,887 baby boomers that are turning seventy. They all must start selling and pulling their money out of the stock market.
In 2017 it jumps to 2,928,818 more people. That is about 700,000 more people than the year before that will start selling and pulling their money out of the stock market too. (1)
That is 5,211,705 people together. That many people will affect the economy and more are added each year for approximately 20 years. We did not count the immigrants either in the mix. (1)
All in all, that is a lot of stock being sold, or at least trying to be sold.
What happens when millions of people start selling millions of shares of stock?
The prices start to drop and fast.
The laws of supply and demand will come into effect, and the odds of major panic just increased enormously.
So why is there a mandatory withdrawal? Why not just change the laws? All that money that was put in was put there tax free. Uncle Sam now wants his due…the taxes. This is another reason why the huge spending, the fiat currency, etc. This is also why we will probably never see the death tax go away any time soon either.
This is one of the primary reasons Wilfred Hahn and I created our multimedia CD “Escape The End Time Money Snare.”
Folks the storm is coming. We are called to occupy till He returns. He may return tomorrow or may tarry another 20 years, we dont know.
What have you done to prepare for the storm?
Ray
ProphezineEndnotes -
1- Adapted from Robert Kiyosaki’s book “Rich Dad’s Prophecy”
Other articles of interest are…
- Is another Wall St crash coming? The triggers for 1987’s Black Monday – when Wall Street fell 22.6pc in a single day – are back, writes Ambrose Evans-PritchardExactly 20 years after “Black Monday” – which saw Wall Street plunge 22.6pc – economists have warned of eerie parallels with the tensions visible on global markets today.
- The End of National Currency Global financial instability has sparked a surge in “monetary nationalism” — the idea that countries must make and control their own currencies. But globalization and monetary nationalism are a dangerous combination, a cause of financial crises and geopolitical tension. The world needs to abandon unwanted currencies, replacing them with dollars, euros, and multinational currencies as yet unborn. Benn Steil is Director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and a co-author of Financial Statecraft.
- First Baby Boomer Files For Social Security Benefits WASHINGTON — Kathleen Casey-Kirschling filed for early retirement Monday, becoming the first baby boomer to start collecting Social Security.Born one second after midnight in January 1946, the retired teacher leads the way for as many as 80 million individuals who will qualify for the retirement payout.”I think I’m just lucky to be at the top of the boom.
