Re: Interfaith Dialogue - Islam and Christianity
Prophecy is but one part of what a prophet does. As I stated "a prophet tells God's mind and purpose in specific situations or future events". For example, Abraham can be considered a prophet but no prophecy of his is found in the Bible (as far as I can remember).
Satan, as ringleader, tried to put himself up as God's equal through pride. He, as well as his followers, were cast/chased away from God and now mainly dwells on Earth. (Ezek.28) The angels that followed him are called evil spirits/demons in order to differentiate between them and the other angels, and assist Satan in his service on Earth against both God and man. (Matt.12v24-26) Some of the demons are presently bound awaiting judgement (Jud.v6) the other followers together with Satan will be thrown in Hell at End-of-Time. (Rev.20v10)
[quote=USResident] What would be the difference between the Old Testament and Torah (the Jewish holy scripture)?
The Torah per se only refer to the 5 books attributed to Moses. The Old Testament is the Torah Shebiksav (Written Torah) which consist of the Torah (books of Moses), the Nevi'im (the Historical Writings, the Major and Minor Prophets) and the Kesuvim (the Wisdom books)
Some books were included in the Greek Jewish Septuagint but not considered as equal to the above mentioned. They are not included in the Hebrew Masoretic text. The Roman Catholic Church official Bible follow the Septuagint text and therefor include them as the Apocrypha while all Protestant churches follow the more exact Masoretic text and normally exclude them from their Bibles.
No. Christianity teach that Heaven exist and is the abode of God Almighty. The standard doctrine is that Hell is a place of end-less torture (Jud.v7 & Rev.20v19). For some denominations the concept of a loving God torturing people for ever is too much and they therefor hold that everyone put into Hell gets destroyed completely.
The names mentioned in the Bible are Michael (Jude 9), Gabriel (Dan.8v16), Lucifer (Satan) (Isa.14v12 KJVersion), and Abaddon (Rev.9v11).
Ok. So now lets start discussing God in Christianity and Islam. One thing we agree to in abstract sense is that God is one and unique. All powerful and absolute.
Naturally discussion about God in Christianity means discussing Trinity. What is the best explanation of Trinity you can find in the Bible? And who is this explanation attrributed to. Among all the Abrahamic religions none of them ever talked about Trinity, they have always refered to monotheism. When I compare against Islamic monotheism the first thing that I ask is why should there be a triune God, what benefit does it bring about for humans. How does a Triune God compare to a Mono God, what is the difference and what does it achieve? Is there anything that Monotheism cannot achieve that Trinitarinism can?