Shalom and Greetings in Christ Jesus,
 The Most Disturbing Thing about "A Christian Response to 'A Common Word ...'" There is nothing "Christian" About It "I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. "I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? - John 5:41-44 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. - 1 John 2:15-17 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." - Luke 10:21-22 Undoubtedly, the most disturbing thing about this so-called "Christian" response to 'A Common Word ...' is the repeated use of out-of-context quotations from the Epistle of 1 John. Secondly, one would think that some of these big name Evangelicals that signed their name to this would know better, ... but then again, maybe it is the other way around. Maybe them signing on is the more disturbing thing. I cannot make up my mind. Whichever one it is, it certainly is not "Christian" as it is a complete distortion of biblical truth. If those involved were just the liberal theologians who wrote the document and in the process of doing so distorting the biblical concept of love between God and man viewed through the whole council of Scripture (The sum of Your word is truth ... Psalms 119:160a), then this would not require such a detailed rebuttal. A member of the Moriel team likes to remind us by always signing off emails with this quote from Jacob Prasch: "A text taken out of context in isolation from its co-text is a pretext". This is exactly what these "big gun" scholars have done with their response, giving credence to those who say; PhD stands for "piled higher and deeper" (in all honesty I respect higher education when it truly educates). If anyone has studied the Epistle of 1 John inductively, him or her would know immediately those responsible for 'crafting' this response do not know or understand to what they are talking about. They would know that these people don't "know" - because "know" is a key word in 1 John - or these people would "know". A few things the writers would know if indeed they understood what they were quoting (this is by no means exhaustive but just a small sample). We/You know: - Jesus if we keep His commandments (1 John 2:3)
- Are in Christ by keeping His word (1 John 2:5)
- The love of God has truly been perfected in you by keeping Christ's word (1 John 2:5)
- It is the last hour because antichrist is coming and many antichrists have appeared (1 John 2:18)
- Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer - you know that no murderer has eternal life (1 John 3:15)
- He who knows God listens to the [Scriptures], he who is not from God will not, By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:6)
- We know we abide in God because He gave us His Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13)
- We know that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13)
It is important to note that the Greek word for know in the above verses is ginosko (G1097) and it is a verb that suggests extreme intimacy and revelation by the Holy Spirit. According to Strong's it was a "Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman" and according to Vines: ... to come to know, recognize, understand," or "to understand completely," ... In the NT ginosko frequently indicates a relation between the person "knowing" and the object known; ... such "knowledge" is obtained, not by mere intellectual activity, but by operation of the Holy Spirit consequent upon acceptance of Christ. ... [1] Concerning this argument about whether the god of Islam called "Allah" and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are simply referring to the same God, many rightly study their names in the original languages. Clearly, YHWH and allah are not the same name (I know not the same person or God either, but follow me for argument sake). However, the case can be made that al, allah or alaha is just the Arabic name or rendering for god from the Syriac/Aramaic language, what the Hebrew translates as El or Elohim (Theos in Greek). Specifically, as Jacob Prasch states in the first article below, allah was the ancient Nabatean moon god and this is from where much of the Islamic symbolism comes from such as the crescent moon. However, this is not the way that we face this very real problem of identifying the correct person in a world where numerous people have the same names. We likely do this ourselves often everyday when looking up names, numbers and information online or in directories, and to some such as law enforcement it is a daily job. In fact, people around the world have been facing this challenge for years now. If one needs to find a Paul Jones or a Jose Garcia there is likely to be hundreds if not thousands depending on where one is looking. How can you find the right one? We look for distinguishing personal characteristics and traits that mark the individual from all the others with the same name. In the case of the God of the Bible and the god of Islam, the Scriptures of both Judeo-Christianity and Islam give us ample distinguishing features about these persons. It is fairly simple and the fact that the powerful Christian leaders of today are having such a hard time discerning the difference is very telling. These people are either completely ignorant of the Scriptures, deceived, or in love with the honors that come from the world. Perhaps it is a combination of all three.
Let us consider a few of the distinguishing characteristics of the Triune LORD of the Bible and the Allah of Islam from the same Epistle of 1 John: Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. - 1 John 2:18-19 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. - 1 John 2:21-26 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. - 1 John 3:1 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. - 1 John 3:23-24 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. - 1 John 4:2-3 Let us compare with ... Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth! How could He have a son when He has no consort, and He (Himself) created everything, and He is the Knower of all things. - Sura 6.101 Say: He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And none is like Him. - Sura 112:1-4 And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure. Nay! Allah took him up to Himself; and Allah is Mighty, Wise. And there is not one of the followers of the Book but most certainly believes in this before his death, and on the day of resurrection he (Isa) shall be a witness against them. - Sura 4:157-159 O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Isa son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Marium and a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and His apostles, and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one God; far be It from His glory that He should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector. - Sura 4:171 And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away! - Sura 9:30 O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people. - Sura 5.51 Foremost, how can a god that denies that he has a son and denies that Jesus is the Christ (that Jesus is the Savior/Messiah), the Scriptural definition of antichrist, be the "God" of the Bible? Yet, it gets worse. This god denies the cross, the death and resurrection and the creation by an through Christ. Concerning the supposed "love" we have in common his scriptures command that his followers kill the "unbelievers" starting with Christians, and especially those who are the chosen race and nation to bring this Messiah into the world, the Jews. However, it does not stop there. All peoples, nations and religions are to be converted "by force" or put to death as is already witnessed in countries such as India where Hindus and Muslims are at war not only against Christians but also against each other. Yet, by signing on, these Christian leaders, whether in ignorance, deception or willful misconduct, are calling "good, evil, and evil, good." Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! - Isaiah 5:20 The first Scripture quoted by this group is Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Again, their focus is on love, but Who are we to love? This is YHWH Elohim. In Exodus 3:14 God reveals His name to Moses, "God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.' "" Numerous times in the gospels and especially in the Gospel of John Jesus confirms that He is indeed God in the flesh by stating He is "I AM". "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." - John 8:24 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. - John 8:58-59 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. - John 14:6 Again, there is no way that YHWH or Jesus (Yeshua) is the same as the god of Islam and it is very clear there is serious error involved not only with those who have written this document but with those who have signed on. I believe anyone who understands the Scriptures and believes can in no way support this document or those who have signed it and I urge that you contact your pastors and leaders and notify them of this alert. Pray that these men and woman will repent of their sin and publicly denounce this document. Below is a statement from Moriel as well as the document and a truncated list of the signers and links to the full list. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Scott Brisk *To Forward this newsletter to others, send the link for the online posting (see click here above) or use the "Forward Email" link at the bottom. This way you can be sure you won't be unsubscribed by someone else. | 
