AT the time of Adam and Eve, there was no religion. Only in later chapters revealed that God adopted the Israelite people as his chosen thus Judaism. Christianity was not around until Jesus sent his apostles to the population.
sorry to bust your bubble
At the time of Adam and Huwwa (peace be upon them), there was a religion, it was called Islam. Adam (peace be upon him) was the first homosapien man and was the first Muslim and the first Prophet of Islam. The only religion that God has given to man is Islam. The beliefs that the Messengers Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them) taught was Islam i.e. to accept Him and be obedient to the Creator (knowing that He exists). That is the definition of being a Muslim. A non-believer is one who rejects Him and is therefore disobedient to the Creator (knowing that He exists). Those who are unaware of God will be tested on the Day of Judgement. Those among them who accept God will be successful and those who reject Him will not be.
Surely the (true) religion with Allaah is Islam, and those to whom the Book had been given did not show opposition but after knowledge had come to them, out of envy among themselves; and whoever disbelieves in the communications of Allaah then surely Allaah is quick in reckoning. Qur’an 3:19
Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christian but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists. Qur’an 3:67
And they were not enjoined anything except that they should serve Allaah, being sincere to Him in obedience, upright, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and that is the right religion. Qur’an 98:5
Surely Allaah chose Adam and Nuh and the descendants of Ibrahim and the descendants of Imran above the nations. Qur’an 3:33
The very last verse revealed in the Qur’an reiterates that Islam is the way.
This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.
Qur’an 5:3
An example of a disbeliever is Shaitan (Satan, real name Iblis) who knows that God exists but consciously rejects God and is arrogant and rebellious to God. Many people are presented with the truth but they consciously turn their back to it.
You obviously have not read the Koran or any of the other two books of Islam. It is not only a religion, it is a government and a social mediator (so to speak). To be short it is not a peaceful religion.
Bladerunner you have obviously not read the Qur’an either. What other 2 books of Islam are you referring to? Can you quote a single Qur’anic verse (both in context within the text and in historical context) that indicates that Islam is not a peaceful religion?
They in most cases are very angry and many (not all) of those that are angry become activist with the purpose to force their will upon everyone else and of course destroy Christianity on the way.
We all have a view and we give that view to people. If the Christian belief is correct it cannot be destroyed. The truth will always prevail. The Christian faith was hijacked by the early Christian church and Paul. Jesus (peace be upon them) did not claim to be the Begotten Son of God, this was invented years later. Jesus (peace be upon them) told people to be obedient to the One True God. “Hear O Israel, Your Lord God is One”. How do you force, to use your words, to think differently? When Muslims were being tortured 14 centuries ago to return back to idolatry by the Mushrikeen, the Muslims asked the Messenger (peace be upon him) what will happen to these Muslims who have turned back on their faith. A verse was revealed to show that it is what you believe in, in your mind that will count. Hence you cannot convert anyone to any belief as their thoughts are theirs to think as they wish.
Certainly they disbelieve who say: Surely Allaah, He is the Messiah, son of Maryam; and the Messiah said: O Children of Israel! serve Allaah, my Lord and your Lord. Surely whoever associates (others) with Allaah, then Allaah has forbidden to him the garden, and his abode is the fire; and there shall be no helpers for the unjust. Qur’an 5:72
There is no compulsion in religion; truth is henceforth distinct from falsehood; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the Shaitan and believes in Allaah he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and Allaah is Hearing, Knowing. Qur’an 2:256
Especially in the USA, activist groups are chipping away at the very foundation that made this country what it was just a few years ago. The center of this is the God issue and anything to do with the Christian Religion. (i.e a Cross on Public land).
The foundations that you refer to were created by man, not by God. People can worship whoever they want or follow their own desires as they wish. No constitution can prevent people from thinking and believing what they want in their own minds.
In reality, if you do not believe it is 'no skin off my nose'. I and most Christians will treat you respect, tolerance and will offer you a seat in our house in hopes of getting to 'see the light'. If you are to be accepted in His house, the Burden of choice is on you.
The ‘light’
is Islam, as that is the only belief that God has given us. Anything else will be ‘darkness’. All three main messengers of Islam i.e. Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them) taught the same message. Each of them were given scripture i.e. the Torah (Arabic Taurat), the Injil and the Qur’an respectively giving the same root message of Tauhid i.e. the Oneness of the Creator who has always existed and will always exist. There is no such thing as the Old Testament, it’s called the Torah. The New Testament was written by man and is not from God. That is not to say that it does not contain any truths. Anything in any document that agrees with the contents of the 3 ORIGINAL scriptures is of course acceptable e.g. the virgin birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) in the NT. Unfortunately we no longer have the original Torah, the oldest copy is about 1,500 years old. The Injil was lost soon after the time of Jesus (peace be upon him) so again unfortunately we cannot refer to it. For those proponents who advocate that the Injil and the NT are the one and same are wrong. The TEN commandments (the Hebrew version) and the Qur’an are the only 2 scriptures that remain intact.
And We sent after them in their footsteps Isa, son of Maryam, verifying what was before him of the Taurat and We gave him the Injil in which was guidance and light, and verifying what was before it of Taurat and a guidance and an admonition for those who guard (against evil). Qur’an 5:46
Allaah is the guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to) those who disbelieve, their guardians are Shaitans who take them out of the light into the darkness; they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. Qur’an 2:257
I'm sure this must have been brought up already, but anyway:
Why would a rational person accept, without any doubt, a wildly improbable-to-impossible tale about the origins of life (and I'm talking about Creationism, not evolution), and about the existence of a fantastically powerful super-being who could create the whole universe, that nobody alive has ever seen?
Yes, in biblical times, miracles were a dime a dozen. Seas parting, water from stones, wine from water, miraculous cures with no explanation other than God's will.
But at least for all of recorded history, there is not one single verifiable instance of a miracle, or of the physical appearance of a diety.
Couldn't God (should He actually exist) settle the question once and for all (or at least once a century) by just popping by every now and then in a public place with plenty of witnesses, and just saying, Hi there, well, I'm God, you know. If you don't believe me, you see that boulder over there? Well, poof. Now it's gone. Okay, carry on. See you next century.
I mean after all, it's a lot to ask of anybody, to believe in this with no evidence, for God's Sake!
Do we need to see God to know He exists? If there is evidence of His existence is that not enough? The Creator exists outside His creation, so He cannot appear before us in His Own creation. We would have to go outside the Universe to see Him. Hence He cannot appear before us as you are suggesting. However he has sent Prophets and Messengers over the centuries to give us the message. Is that not enough? Despite that there are still people who do not believe now or at the time that the emissaries of God came. We have the Qur’an, the Word of God with us for 14 centuries. There is plenty of evidence in there if you want it e.g. Qur’an 21:30 (creation of the universe), 21:33 (moon and sun having orbits), 21:104 (end of the universe) etc.
God says in the Qur’an even when evidence is presented before the non-believers they cry out for more, they are not satisfied. There motive is to reject, reject, reject. When they see one proof they want another. Many people are reverting to the faith in which they were born into i.e. Islam. They see the ‘light’ and they accept. There was one person who was not a believer who began to read the Qur’an with the point of view of finding something that would convince him that Islam was wrong. To cut a long story short he read the Qur’an 40 times and eventually accepted Islam and thus became a Muslim. So there are people out there who have accepted just as there are many who reject and want to follow their own desires. After all we are not all going to Heaven.
O children of Adam! if there come to you messengers from among you relating to you My communications, then whoever shall guard (against evil) and act aright-- they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. Qur’an 7:35
And We do not send messengers but as givers of good news and warning, and those who disbelieve make a false contention that they may render null thereby the truth, and they take My communications and that with which they are warned for a mockery. Qur’an 18:56
Indeed there have come to you clear proofs from your Lord; whoever will therefore see, it is for his own soul and whoever will be blind, it shall be against himself and I am not a keeper over you. Qur’an 6:104
Oh, I keep hearing about this original sin, but why should I be punished for something I didn't do?
…but aren't you saved if you truly repent?
Or are you telling me that you do not need to repent, whatever the definition, you will be saved so long as you profess to believe in Jesus?
You won’t be, we will be punished for what we do or don’t do. In Islam there is no such thing as Huwwa (peace be upon her) being in the wrong alone. Both she and her husband ate from the tree and were equally guilty and both repented to God. There repentance was sincere and was accepted. Women suffer from childbirth because it is a biologically painful experience not because of what Huwwa (peace be upon her) did. All those women who have a caesarean are they cheating the system?
You are saved if you truly repent but in addition accept God. Any sins committed against individuals can only be forgiven by that individual. God can only forgive sins committed against Him. If a person dies rejecting God (knowing He exists) then there is no forgiveness in the Hereafter.
Except those who repent and amend and make manifest (the truth), these it is to whom I turn (mercifully); and I am the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful. Qur’an 2:160
Except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allaah and are sincere in their religion to Allaah, these are with the believers, and Allaah will grant the believers a mighty reward. Qur’an 4:146
And He it is Who accepts repentance from His servants (Muslims) and pardons the evil deeds and He knows what you do; Qur’an 42:25
Allaah has promised to those who believe and do good deeds (that) they shall have forgiveness and a mighty reward. Qur’an 5:9
One might ask what was God doing for the rest of the 4,500,000,000 years (age of the earth) or 13,800,000,000 years (age of the universe)?
Why is it important to know how God has passed the time since the universe was created by Him? After all, He existed well before the universe was created. What is important is that God has asked us to accept Him and be obedient to Him. That is what we should concentrate on as we will only be successful if we do that in this life and in the Hereafter. After all if we reject Him and disobey Him, we can’t cry about it on the Day of Judgement. We will not have any power to change the judgement.
