Mel Gibson’s Controversial Passion Movie

Most of the buzz about Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” has subsided.

I heard a lot and read a lot about this movie before going to see it. You’d think I knew what I was in for, but I really didn’t.

It gave me a LOT to think about.

The next morning I woke up with a flurry of thoughts in my head and wrote about it.

If you’ll permit me to bare my soul a little bit, you might appreciate this article:

Blessings,

Perry Marshall

44 Responses to “Mel Gibson’s Controversial Passion Movie”

  1. Bruce Baker says:

    Hello Perry–

    I’ve just discovered your Web site and I’m poking around a bit. I like what I see so far. Thanks for all the hard work that went into this defense of the faith.

    What I’m not seeing is an “about me” page. So where do I go to learn about you.

    I’m sure you’ll agree that we all start with certain presuppositions. These presuppositions often are shaped by our background, traditions, and experiences. Knowing these things about a person will very often help in understanding them. In written media, much of the communication that takes place face to face (or even over the phone) is missing. All we have are the words. While that’s enough, words require definition and sometimes what one word means to author might not mean that to the reader.

    All this to say, I’d like to get to know you better! :-) How can I do that?

    

    Baker Bruce
    Author of Spiritual Maturity: The Road to Wonderland

     “Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:13 NIV)

  2. Reg Le Sueur says:

    I would like to suggest that “The Passion of the Christ” is a sick sado-masochistic movie which cash’s in on the American people’s obsession with this dead Palestinian. No-one knows what (if anything) happened, as the Gospels are all anecdotal and written late, and are contradictory; and Paul invented his own Christ-orientated religion.
    If you view Mel Gibson’s other films you may note that they all portray extreme violence and sadism.

    • Maria says:

      Dear Reg Le Sueur, I’m so sorry that you think that way. I do hope that one day your eyes will be opened and you will see the love of Christ has for you and why he died the way he did for you. I pray that one day you will see how much Jesus adores you and you will follow Him.

      • OSEI-AGYEI Kwasi Snr says:

        When the blind doesn’t pray for her eyes to opened but think that some other person is blind and wants to pray for him, I think that that is a big problem

      • OSEI-AGYEI Kwasi Snr says:

        When the blind doesn’t know that she is blind and thinks that the other person is rather blind and tries to offer him prayers you can guess what the answer wil be. So absurd.

  3. vaqar says:

    hi perry…i hve just gone thru few of ur articles sent by u on my mail…all i found in ur words is distraction and mere unanswered questions…i’m a muslim alhamdulilallah…jesus was a true prophet of allah and he s gonna be back soon ..his god name was allah , is allah and will be allah…muhammad SAW is His last prophet and issa a.s mean Jesus a.s may peace be upon him will be back as a follower of muhammad s.a.w soon…cos his onewish was accepted by allah which was the wish of moses Musa a.s…aswell that when they heardaabt the last people of allah mean sent to this mortal world of ours …and its significance over all the previous ppl which allah calls ummat…man u need to study islam comprehensively and all ur questions will be answered but if u study it with an open mind …the Holy Quran is the answer to every question of every person alive today whether hes a jew , christian, hindu or an athiest …may allah bles us with the intellect, rationality and substance to understand Allah and his such vast ocean of creation…evry creation says a lot about his creator…human mind is very limited and allah is too great to be understood by it…but yeah there s one other organ in the human body we call heart which is the real abode of allah…laillahilallahmuhamd ur rasullah …these few words r the answer to all ur questions bro…i invite u to become a muslim a true believer in allah …and also invite you to visit pakistan to undersatnd islam…dont look at todays muslim and the the propagandist theories abt them though some r true and other r just satans work to stop the humanity to return towards one allah…the whole europe is in darkness….every man woman is in darkness if he doesnt know abt his her creator…dont u think evry day how many ppl die around u…so wats the end of creating such a systematic universe …where is this whole universe flowing whos its generator and whos gonna vanish it to resurrect all the dead and then heaven and hell …evry single word we say every single deed we commit …we will be made accountable for it…allah is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent…he s aleem, khabeer, all knowing and all informative..about every thing in this small universe which we know… there are seven skies and seven earths like this and allah knows how many galaixies, milky ways and neblae in each one of them…He is Rab ul Mashriqaen wa Rab ul maghrabain…just come out of this shallow water into the depths of his celestial light …frm the darkness of ignorance to the nur of Allah…may allah bless u with a true faith and guide us all to our true end…to meet allah in jannat ul firdaus…amen..do write if you need guidance about knowing the true allah…nt the half truth which u hve got now…i ‘m sorry but its my duty to inform u about the truth which evry single soul wants to knmow …its the Holy Quran and the life and sunnah of Allah”s last true prophet Hazrat Muhammad Saw…tc…vaqar

    • Chukwu Emeka says:

      Dear Vaqar,
      I would answer you and hopefully show you a something you might have never considered.
      I love your defense of Islam I love it, but I wish to bring a few things to your notice if you will allow the truth to penetrate you soul.
      Do you know the meaning of Isa? It means “Salvation of Allah” and you ignore and neglect the salvation of Allah because you do not take the time to read your Quran, but rather believe other men to teach you, do you not know every body will stand alone in Judgment. read,learn, understand, and ask Allah to guide you in you understanding of before you follow blindly brother your soul is in your hands and not in Prophet Mohamed SAW hands.

      1}The Quran states that Isa has no father and that God came down and put into Mary his Spirit and His Word.
      {Surah Ambiyaa 21:91} “…and she (Maryam) guarded her chastity, therefore We breathed into her of our Spirit and made her and her son a sign for all people.” Q} in this case who is the father of Jesus Christ? you see you blaspheme against God and the Quran by saying Isa is not Gods Son. Who is his father in this case is he a bastard please explain?
      2}{Surah 3 Al-Imran 45} The Holy Quran accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah. whip out your dictionary and look up the meaning of messiah and you in person deny him as your messiah when the Quran accepted him as the messiah? so ARE you are wiser than the QURAN.
      3}{Surah 3 Al-Imran 44} shows the excitement and even the Angels throwing lots over who will deliver the message to Mary, who has ever caused such excitement in the world we live in today? and you guys consider him just as a regular prophet?
      3} In the worlds history only Adam and Isa have no Biological father so are both Bastards or Children of Gods direct creation, why would God take the stress to come in person to create again a regular prophet? think bro.
      4}Only twice in the history of the world was life created out of nothing but soil, In the creation of Man by God when he said let us create man in our image and likeness, and when Isa created a bird out of Clay and breathed into it and it became alive. Think God said let us create man Let us? who was God talking to as in the let us? obviously only Gods equal could be summoned by God to create life in its original form. think Bro again.
      4}If you know the meaning of (Isa-Kalimatullah & Isa-Ruhullah) [word of God and Spirit of God]and you say we Christians assign partners to God? how can Gods Word and Spirit be his partner? can your Word and Spirit be separated from you or be partners to you and not a part of you inseparable part of you? Can you give your Word in the Court of law while bailing sombody, that if the person escapes you will be held liable, when the person escapes would you ask the court to arrest your invisible word/ would you not be arrested in place of your given Word?
      5}I would say maybe you are ignorant of History or are not looking into history as a marker of times. Christianity was strongly around and growing in Power and numbers{Despite all the persecutions, killings, suppression’s, of Christianity it was growing strongly 400 years before Prophet Mohamed SAW how come? if not that the hand of God was upon Christianity.
      6} A the old Muslim scholars PRESUMED in their Godly wisdom that the Comforter promised by Jesus Christ was Prophet Mohamed SAW, wonderful this is forgetting that Ishmael in the tourah has his own specific promises from God and Issac has his own promises how could parallel lines meet in Islamic beliefs?
      7}In the entire Quran God describes his self as We, Us, who is We and Us to God Surly you know God can only call upon his equal to create as he is more than capable to create.
      8} Do you know any other prophet as powerful as Isa in the Quran and the history of Mankind?
      9}{Surah 3 Al-Imran 59}Isa is the only person compared to Adam Note:Adam had no direct biological father but God and that makes him unique. where is his uniqueness accepted buy the Muslims? Their Holy Book the Quran does accept, acknowledge, receive, Isa as a completely unique creation different from others but the people reading the Quran twist the true sayings of the Noble Quran
      10} Have you realized the Quran mentioned the Authenticity of the Tourat, Injeel, and Zabur so why do you a human say otherwise? do you not know you are supposed to search out the truth for your self.
      I can go on for a year showing you the Authenticity of Christ and all the truths about him in the Bible. Read your self and see the Quran made it legal for you to re the Bible why not search for you salvation as a personal matter and stop following Human beings that are as weak as you and I, Blinded because of their lofty positions among the people, read for your soul and for your personal salvation.
      Thanks and may God bless you. Note Christians are not Polytheists as most Muslim scholars stated only to deceive people from the truth of life and the wishes of God.

      Let me inform you in the Tourat Gods promise to save the world through Abraham was through his son from Sarah, being Issac and from there Jacob, Ishmael was not a part of that promise but God made a way for him to reenter the heritage of Abraham, that is believing in Jesus Christ and not fighting the messiah of human kind.
      I rest my case for sake of space.
      May God bless you Brother as you search for the truth in Spirit and Truth

      • Amir Khurairah Ahmad says:

        1.Al-Anbiyaa'(21:91)
        And [mention] the one who guarded her chastity, so We blew into her [garment] through Our angel [Gabriel], and We made her and her son a sign for the worlds.

        Tafsir al-Jalalayn
        And, mention Mary, the one who guarded her virginity, [the one who] preserved it from being taken, so We breathed into her of Our spirit, namely, Gabriel, when he breathed into the opening of her garment and she conceived Jesus. And We made her and her son a sign for all the worlds, that is, [for] mankind, jinn and angels, because she bore him without [having] a male [partner].

        2. Al-Imran (3:45)
        [And mention] when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary – distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah ].

        Tafsir al-Jalalayn
        Mention, when the angels, namely, Gabriel, said, ‘O Mary, God gives you good tidings of a Word from Him, that is, a boy, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, He addresses her attributing him to her in order to point out that she will give birth to him without a father, for, the custom is to attribute the child to its father, honoured shall he be in this world, through prophethood, and the Hereafter, through [his] intercession and the high stations [al-darajāt al-‘ulā, cf. Q. 20:75], and of those brought close, to God.

        3. Al-Imran (3:44)
        That is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you, [O Muhammad]. And you were not with them when they cast their pens as to which of them should be responsible for Mary. Nor were you with them when they disputed.

        Tafsir al-Jalalayn
        That, which has been mentioned of the matter of Zachariah and Mary, is of the tidings of the Unseen, of the news of what was unknown to you. We reveal it to you, O Muhammad (s), for you were not with them, when they were casting quills, in the water, drawing their lots so that it be manifested to them, which of them should have charge of, [which of them should] bring up, Mary; nor were you with them, when they were disputing, about the custodianship of Mary, such that you might have known it and related it; but truly you know it only through revelation.

        3,4&4. Al-Ikhlas (112:3)
        He neither begets nor is born,

        Tafsir al-Jalalayn
        He neither begot, for no likeness of Him can exist, nor was begotten, since createdness is precluded in His case.

        5. Al-Fil (105:1)
        Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?

        Tafsir al-Jalalayn
        Have you not considered (an interrogative meant to provoke marvel, in other words, ‘marvel at’) the way in which your Lord dealt with the Men of the Elephant?, who was named Mahmūd, and the men were Abraha, King of Yemen and his troops. He had built a church in San‘ā’ in order to divert pilgrims away from Mecca to it. A man from among the Banū Kināna defecated in it and stained its prayer niche with a deflowered virgin’s blood, in contempt of it. Abraha then swore that he would knock down the Ka‘ba. So he approached Mecca with his troops riding Yemeni elephants with Mahmūd at the vanguard. But when they turned to destroy the Ka‘ba, God unleashed upon them what He relates in His words:

        That is power. No other power can challenge Allah power.

        6. As-Saf (61:6)
        And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad.” But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, “This is obvious magic.”

        Tafsir al-Jalalayn
        And, mention, when Jesus son of Mary said, ‘O Children of Israel — he did not say ‘O my people’ [as did Moses] because he was not related to them in any way — I am indeed God’s messenger to you, confirming what is before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad.’ God, exalted be He, says: Yet when he brought them, [when] Ahmad brought the disbelievers, the clear signs, the revelations and the indications, they said, ‘This, namely, what has been brought, is manifest sorcery!’ (sihrun: a variant reading has sāhirun, ‘a sorcerer’, meaning the one who has brought them [is a manifest sorcerer])

        7. Refer to Al-Ikhlas (112:3)

        8. Isa (pbuh) is one of Allah messenger.

        9. Al-Imran (3:59)
        Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, “Be,” and he was.

        Tafsir al-Jalalayn
        Truly, the likeness of Jesus, his remarkable case, in God’s sight, is as Adam’s likeness, as the case of Adam, whom God created without father or mother: this is a comparison of one remarkable thing with another more remarkable, so that it convinces the disputer and establishes itself in one’s mind more effectively. He created him, Adam, that is, his form, of dust, then said He to him, ‘Be,’, a human being, and he was; similarly, He said to Jesus, ‘Be’ — without a father — and he was.

        10. Al-Baqarah (2:120)
        And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion. Say, “Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance.” If you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would have against Allah no protector or helper.

        Tafsir al-Jalalayn
        Never will the Jews be pleased with you, neither the Christians, not until you follow their creed, their religion, Say: ‘God’s guidance, that is, Islam, is the true guidance’, besides which there is only error. And if you were (wa-la-in: the lām is for oaths) to follow their whims, hypothetically speaking, [whims] to which they are calling you, after the knowledge, the Divine revelation, that has come to you, you shall have against God neither friend, to protect you, nor helper, to defend you against Him.

        Islam is not a new religion. Islam is reformer.

      • Andrie Yanto says:

        ha ha ha……
        really interesting to see two people fight and defend each religion.Islam vs Christianity.what a Classic war.That one fake and this one true,or this one true and that one false.OR….just or,that one or this one both true or both fake/false.
        I tell u what,….why don’t you both killing each other to prove whose God is true.Which one GOD will show up,it must be a true real GOD.
        What a damm fool.

        • Chris Needs says:

          Hi Andrie

          It is no longer necessary to kill each other over which is the true God anymore. This was settled long ago by Elijah the prophet of the God of Abraham.

          Elijah challenged the prophets of baal to a contest of setting light to a sacrificial pyre.

          The 450 baal prophets danced and pleaded with their god (1 Kings 18:26 holy bible). They cut themselves until blood gushed out of them, all to no avail. Elijah simply said “Hear me, O Lord, that this people may know that You are God so they will turn their hearts back to You”.

          The fire of the Lord fell and consumed Elijah’s sacrifice (1 Kings 18:38). So it is no longer necessary to “prove whose God is true”.

          Chris

      • perrygrino says:

        @ chwuku emeka

        you claim someone should learn.you dont know anything yourself.learn very well.who told you there is something called christianity.contact me and i will teach you with evidence where christianity came from.you pagans yet you dont know.the simplest mistake that my 13 year old brother will not make is what you made….in the middle east languages,WE is used to express respect to God but it stands
        singular.learn ok.i can send you good books to read.if any man should follow religion,it should be islam

    • andri utomo says:

      Asslm’allkm Wr.Wb….
      hello Vaqar…i was so interest with ur opinion. That’s so sharp and faihtfully, i like it Bro…!!
      next time, i want to read ur opinion like this again. So that, the peoples like’em could’b understand what we call “Muslim”…
      I do appologiest to u if i’ve a wrong word.Coz i’m not so understnd bout the English spoken.
      God blez ya…..

      Andri

  4. Amy Smith says:

    Wow, I find this website very abrasive and matter of fact. I am not shocked that this website is being advertising on YouTube though. And why is it so anti-Christian? You must be right, people who love and give and share themselves with others is quite dangerous! We should be terrified to death about Baptist and Calvanists preaching about loving one another, staying true to your spouse, giving to the poor and trusting God. Whoa! Scary stuff, nope we shouldn’t have this in our homes, let everything be relative please. A baby is murder…that’s ok! A 10year old girl is sold into a sex slave market…right on! Stabbings, bombs, wars, famines, lets continue it pleeeease, lets live our selfish lives :) Unless you feel that everything i listed is morally wrong…well how can you say that, it’s relative! The matter of the fact here is that God’s moral law is written in our hearts and it doesn’t matter what part of the world, your ethnic, cultural or racial background, your conscience will detect that. Turn the world from Christianity? It’s already happening, and the world today doesn’t seem like a bed of roses does it?

  5. Asjad says:

    The matter of fact is that Spirit or Soul is created by God and there is not a person on this who does not have it. The word thats is TO BE is a command of God. Now all who walked,walking or going to walk on the earth are the spirit and word (To Be) of God thats how we all are created and Jesus and Adam were no different in this repect however, Having both these ingrediants they weer brought about differntly one with father and mother and other without father. There is another historical figure of Malchisedik in the Gospel whp appears to be greater than both since having no begining no ending (WoW). So Jesus is no different than us except that he was born miraculously and was the prophet (Messiah) to his People (Childern of Israel.) Messiah doesnt mean God by the way. Jesus is a messenger and the Messiah that is Muslim belief and he did all his miracles by the permission of God as he himself claims in the New Testament.

    Regards ASjad

    • Dalibor Šver says:

      Hello, Asjad. You wrote:
      “Jesus is a messenger and the Messiah that is Muslim belief and he did all his miracles by the permission of God as he himself claims in the New Testament.”
      He himself also claims in the New Testament that He is a God. (see Gospel of John)
      Others also claim in the New Testament that He is a God. (see Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, 1 John 5:20, Phil 2:6, Rev 1:7-8)
      Prophets in the Old Testament also claim for Him that He is God (see Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 23:5-6).

    • Ted says:

      Suppose a man does indeed come up to you and does says,

      “I am God, worship me.”

      Would you believe him?
      Would you worship him?

      The immediate reaction of any decent monotheistic believer
      would be to call the person making such a claim an impostor
      and a blasphemer. If that is your reaction too, then why
      would you demand something from Jesus which you aren’t going to
      accept anyway? Most would declare insane anybody who would make
      such a statement. Jesus knows about this natural reaction as
      well as anybody else and saw no reason to make his claims in
      such a foolish way. But he did make the claim in indirect ways
      and those are just as clear.

      Maybe you are cautious and open and don’t want to completely
      dismiss such a claim … after all, saying that God is not
      able to come and appear in the form of a man does restrict his
      power, and you believe in an all powerful God, … but you would
      at least demand conclusive proof for such a claim, wouldn’t you?
      After all, if you do worship somebody who is not God you are
      guilty of idolatory. But refusing to worship God when he demands
      so is just as great a sin.

      What matters in the end is not the existence of this literal
      statement, but whether there is clear evidence that he is indeed
      God, no matter in which form he issued the claim. If there is
      clear proof for his divine identity, then you have to worship Him
      even if the wording of his commands is not precisely the way you
      may think they should be. We cannot prescribe for God how
      he has to reveal himself before we accept it.

      For example, in the Gospel according to John, (speaking of
      eternal life) Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.
      He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”
      (John 11:25). He makes the offer of eternal life conditional on
      faith in his own person. This would be blasphemous for anybody
      other than God. This is an incredible claim. Does he give any
      evidence for his authority to make such claims? The record
      gives many details of what happened at this particular day, but
      at the end we read, “When he had said this, Jesus called in a
      loud voice, `Lazarus, come out!’ The dead mean came out, his
      hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around
      his face. Jesus said to them, `Take off the grave clothes and
      let him go.'” (John 11:43-44).

      When you read the Gospels carefully you will find that
      consistently

      * Jesus talks like he is God,
      * Jesus acts like he is God,
      * Jesus gives evidence for claiming this authority rightfully
      by performing miraculous signs.

      After 3 years with his disciples we read how one of them
      asks Jesus and wants to be “shown the Father (God)”.

      Jesus answered, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after
      I have been among you such a long time?
      Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. …
      Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the
      Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the
      miracles themselves.” (John 14:10-11).

      Jesus expected the disciples and the people around him to
      recognise his true nature and identity from his words which
      are only appropriate for God to speak and from his deeds.
      Jesus does give enough proof and then lets you draw your own
      conclusions. Everybody could make the claim to be God. And
      many have made claims to be (a) god throughout history. Only
      the true God can give true evidence for it and if you have
      the evidence there is no need for the explicit command to
      worship anymore. The statement “I am God” adds nothing of
      substance to the question regarding his identity. His real
      identity is established by the proof he gives, not by claims
      each and everybody can make. After he has given the evidence,
      there is no more need for the statement. Those who are open
      for the truth will recognise the evidence, those who ignore
      the evidence won’t be convinced either if he adds this
      specific statement you seem to demand from him. And if you
      have recognized his true identity, worshiping him is only
      proper and will nearly be an “automatic” response.

      I know this is an incredible thought, it is unbelievable.
      That is why it took even the disciples themselves such a
      long time to really understand it. They have really only
      started to comprehended the meaning of it all after Jesus’
      own death and resurrection, after they meet the risen Lord.

      In the Gospel according to John, end of chapter 20, and
      the Gospel according to Matthew, end of chapter 28, we read
      how Jesus receives worship and affims this. Even though he
      never demands the worship, he accepts it and confirms it as
      proper.

      You claim:

      N O W H E R E Jesus says “I am God, worship me.”

      and understand this as

      NOwhere Jesus says “I am God, worship me.”

      and you are right when taking it the literalistic way. He never
      says these very words. But he makes his claims very clear in
      many other ways. Open your eyes and you will see that the right
      way to read this statement is

      Jesus says “I am God …”

  6. Shayan Khan says:

    If Jesus is God, (according your beliefs, ofcourse) why did he arrive in this world (created by him, since he is God) very late in time. Why did he also state he was the messenger of God (was he his own messenger?) Why did he consider it right to present his scriptures at a particular period in time, and not a million years ago (or when the world was created). Why is the creator of this immaculate universe, a mortal? If Jesus died, then the universe should collapse, along with every other creation of his.
    Please, be rational, and stop believing nonsense, simply “edited” by the misinformed people.
    Second, plese refer to the context whenever you quote verses from any religious book. Why was it said? In response to what? in what situation? For what reason? It may be easier to concieve once all of this information is regarded as a neccessity to know, before posting quotations (from Holy scriptures, in this case). Not following this procedure may result in incomplete, and incorrect conception.
    Why do most Christian books contain different statements regarding the same matters?(and they conflict with each other)
    Why do most Holy scriptures state Jesus is just a messenger of God, a man who will spread the word of God, describe the teachings of God to people? This means, only one book is presenting the truth. Either the Bible is incorrect, or other books are flawed.

    Here is a short video presentation of Dr.Zakir Naik proving Jesus himself says he is NOT God:
    1.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfbX-n0WQLY&NR=1

    Evidence he says he is NOT the “biological son” of God:
    1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-s7P5UHH3g&feature=related

    Here are some scientific errors included in the Bible: (Presented by Dr.Zakir Naik)
    1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZZunWHmHHE
    2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGmo5cp8te0
    3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvNIgHA7nzQ

    So, has the Bible been altered over different intervals of time? The evidence presented in the videos clearly show that. How can we believe Christian books when every one of them is in contradiction with one another? Every statement may seem to have little credibility then.

    I hope you seek the truth. And, i don’t imply on converting your religion, i don’t believe in that. As long as the beliefs, and teachings are correct, (What God wants from us) there is no need to convert to other religion(s).
    We all have the same God, we all breathe the same air, we all live in the same planet, yet we have different beliefs, our practices are different. One set of universal practices is established by God, and forwarded by the messengers. That is all we require.

    • zahara buhary says:

      assalamu alaikum warahmathullahi wabarakathhu i like your comment about is jesus god.but he was well played prophet in islam. we must respect him as a prophet of allah.there is only one god to all man kind.without any race or nationality or cast.

      • Chris Needs says:

        Hi zahara buhary

        In Islam what is done to false prophets, prophet’s that say something that is obviously a lie?

        Chris

    • P. Peter says:

      No man is justified by works of the law.
      No one pleases God without faith.

      Islam right now as I understand is a set of laws to be followed as strictly as possible.

      If a man breaks a single law then it is equivalent to breaking the whole law. Name a Muslim who has not broken any of its rules, a muslim who has not missed even a single prayer.
      Every muslim depends on the mercy of God to reach heaven, not on his own efforts.

      Quran says that what happened on the cross is a secret or mystery. Quran says that if you have any doubts they can refer to the earlier books. So if you want to know what happened on the cross refer the old testament and the new testament. you will find that an atonement has been made for your and our sins on the cross. Only you have to believe it and trust it.
      Love God, continue to follow your laws, i don’t mind. Love your neighbour, anyone who needs your help or anyone who helped you is your neighbour.Do as much good as you can with love in your heart, so much love that you shed tears when you see suffering.
      Isn’t it said that killing one person is same as killing the whole humanity and saving one life is same as saving the whole humanity.
      Go ahead and do good to people. morre people will become better muslims (muslims in heart and deed) by seeing you.
      Through talk and thinking you get muslims but they will remain just muslims. let God see you do good and then decide to add more to your religion.

      If you still feel that you can get to heaven by your own works then best of luck. never tell that i did not let you know.God loves you very much, more than you can even imagine.

      with respects to Quran,

      Peter.

      • P. Peter says:

        I forgot to add

        Quran itself tells that Jews, Sabians, Christians, Muslims and the righteous enter heaven. So I think you should not be too much worried about us. Instead push us towards being better Christians and you strive to be better muslims.

        (Newer english translations use the past tense instead of present but it is actually present tense)- do not remove this line, those wise will understand.

        Peter

    • Martin Lagerwey says:

      Checking your videos the speaker criticizes the bible as erroneous to support his idea that another scripture is infallible. Even if the Bible was correct, following it loyally is problematic. This is obvious since there are so many interpretations such as what is Hell and how old is earth etc. Clearly the effect of gaining guidance from this book is problematic. Gaining guidance from any other scripture is problematic for the same reason. Accepting what you learn from a science textbook has a similar problem that you may trust its accuracy blindly. Test ALL things. (As good scientists continue to do.)

      • Chris Needs says:

        Hi Martin

        I’m not sure where you’re coming from.

        Are you a scientist investigating faith or a believer coming to the conclusion that science makes more sense?

        Chris

        • Martin Lagerwey says:

          Chris. I was raised a christian and trained a scientist. At middle age I had a conversion experience when I realized that I didn’t genuinely believe in miracles or spirit world or God. Science doesn’t disprove God so I am not an atheist in that sense. however if God exists, I suddenly have dozens of questions that are nicely absent in a natural world. I remain open to questions of faith and entered this blog to ask Perry why God raised Jesus (sinner) and nobody else (saved). The debt of death, if paid means Jesus should be dead.
          So your second option is correct, science makes sense. But I am no longer a believer.

  7. David Henderson says:

    I always struggle with a question. What if I was God? Would I want people to worship me? Would I want to create beings to live and die that are born into sin? Would I want to create both good and evil? Do I really need to create evil? Anything wrong with being just making good beings that already sort of fit in “Heaven”. If I am already in “Heaven”, how do I fall out of “Heaven” if I already am there…the concept of the fallen angels seems to confuse me. If I also take the apple tree and everything that was made was Good in the garden then where did the snake come from? I know that I don’t understand and always read that I am incapable of understanding Gods Wisdom and Grace. I pray all the time and I do daily devotionals but I have prayed about this subject. I also don’t understand if we are all equal then why can’t you have a female Catholic priest and why couldn’t they get married and have children..seems fairly natural and maybe less child molesters in the Catholic Church. I too have alot of respect for the Catholic Church although not Catholic.
    I also think God can present Himself to others in many forms and ways so I am not here to judge any religion since I am incapable of understanding his wisdom. It would be strange to tell your children each time that question something that you are incapable of understanding my wisdom and by the way I want you to worship me. My children love me naturally and I love them. I don’t ask them to worship me. I would never create a situation to cause them to go to “Hell” nor would I ever dream of doing so nor would I have created Hell as a part of all things unless it is just the natural order of all things created. Anyway, I need some help trying to understand these things. Your website has helped in other areas so hoping you have some thoughts on the above unless I just missed it on the search.

    • perrymarshall says:

      Consider this possibility:

      God values freedom over safety.

      Does that fit the data?

      The serpent had freedom, Adam and Eve had freedom, God gave the earth over to the three of them to do as they see fit. The serpent now rules the earth.

      Various branches of the church have different ways of defining equality.

      I do not ask my children to worship me because I am not worthy of worship. But everyone worships SOMETHIING. The question is, is what you worship worthy of your praise?

      If only God is worthy of our worship then is it not good of Him to tell us that?

      Hell: I see it as locked from the inside. It’s a destiny of some peoples’ own choosing. Those who clearly do not choose God.

    • Chris Needs says:

      Hi David

      You wrote “Anything wrong with just making good beings that already sort of fit in “Heaven”? ”

      Actually no. These beings are called angels. “God commands His angels.”

      On the other hand man was created in His image. Free spirits capable of choosing good or evil.

      But your real question is why did God create good and evil (Isa 45:7)?

      Everything in creation has an opposite
      light – darkness
      hot – cold
      chaos – order

      What if everything was dark? Or hot? Or Chaotic?
      Or light, cold, in perfect harmony?

      Would those scenarios work?

      Seems that you have to have extremes for there to be any meaning.

      Chris

  8. David Henderson says:

    Why did it all go to hell so quickly? You hardly get through the 1st page of Genesis after all of it was good. A snake and apple and punishment for eating an apple….Wow…I am not sure Eve or Adam really had a chance…why the snake? where did he come from? so confused but I am praying all the time and just accepting it all on faith anyway but wow…hard to do sometimes but I have faith in God just don’t understand it or I think maybe the story just got told improperly and the same thing about Worship. My God doesn’t ask to be Worshipped but I naturally listen and pray to Him so maybe this Worship thing is just Love anyway as I said above..I love my children and they love me. If they didn’t love me I would love them anyway but here I go again..I still would send them Hell if they didn’t.Sorry..so confused.

    • perrymarshall says:

      David,

      Excellent book: “Havah” by Tosca Lee. Historical Fiction expansion of the Adam & Eve story. Absolutely brilliant. Read this book and see if pieces don’t begin to fall in place for you.

      Or…. study Genesis 1-3 very closely. There is a LOT packed in there. And ask yourself…. does not this story have an eerie familiarity?

    • Eocene says:

      David Henderson:
      “Why did it all go to hell so quickly?”

      That is exactly why the Bible was written in the first place. The Bible was NOT written to be an explanation of scientific beginnings. The first three chapters were written for the Israelites who had just been set free from Egypt. Most slaves have very little educational benefits in their captive state, hence a brief general explanation in general terms was given to explain the beginning of all things in a manner that they could grasp at the time. This is clearly illustrated when Jesus once told his disciples:

      “I have many things yet to say to you, but you are not able to bear them at present.”-John 16:12.

      This would be true for anyone with a limited amount of education on any such matters. Basic foundational fundamentals should suffice, then once grasped, further enlightenment will become much easier to take hold of. The main purpose of the written word was to help the descendants (Israelites) of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob (who had been given the promise of a seed in which all mankind could be brought back to a proper relationship with God) learn the importance of God’s way of doing things and the benefits of living under his guidence. The very first prophecy of the Bible for correcting the bad start is right there in Chapter 3 of Genesis.

      Genesis 3:15
      “And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.”

      This was in response to the independent action taken by the angelic son (angel) who used his free will to become Satan (Resister) and Devil (Slanderer) in challenging God’s right to set laws, standards and principles to guide not only mankind, but all intelligent creation Angelic & human. Hence he cleverly deceived Eve into believing God was withholding something beneficial from her. The tree (Knowledge of Good and Bad) and it’s fruit itself was not poisonous, but merely represented man’s obedience, love and respect to God or if eaten representing man’s course of selfdetermination in directing his own affairs without Creator interference. Thus we have seen disasterous failure after failure of human’s inability to properly direct matters and manage their own affairs for their own benefit and that of the natural world.

      So Satan’s challenge was to God’s sovereign right to rule. But he also lied which is why Jesus called him the first manslayer in the beginning and father of the lie. He lied when he told Eve she possitively would not die for disobedience, but they did. Hence Jesus correctly ascribed the first murder to Satan.

      The descendants of Abraham (‘Israelites’) were now in the best position possible to understand and find out just exactly what spirituality was and what God’s original purpose was for mankind. No doubt, had Adam and Eve not disobeyed, then an entirely different book would have been written for humankind to properly benefit from the natural world that he had given them. Unfortunately, scientific knowledge, technologies, etc was the last thing they needed. Imperfect human’s by nature usually misuse, abuse and exploit any physical technological knowledge that comes their way. By their very imperfcet nature they are fleshly or materialists and see things only in the materialist sense. This is why the long record of God’s dealings with the Israelites was recorded for all of our benefit. From the very beginning the Israelites were a materialistic fleshly minded people. Once they got their freedom and all they could think about is “What’s in it for me?” They must have seen the difference in lifestyle from their own situation and that of your average Egyptian slave driver and hoped for the same materialistic comforts. Nothing wrong with that, but if you have no proper spiritual foundation for organization, standards and principals for living with your fellow man in true peace and security, then you end up with the disorganize mess and failure we find today in all the various forms of governance and disunity that we all experience and relate to today around the world. No amount of material prosperity bring lasting happiness and experience has taught us.

      Jesus was one of the main principles mentioned in that first prophecy of Genesis 3:15. The brusing of the heel has already taken place, but the brusing of the head agaist Satan has yet to be fulfilled, but is still future. The promised seed came through the Israelite nation ONLY because of the promise given to Abraham. His descendants just turned out to be the Israelites, otherwise it could well have been Chinese, Aztecs, Africans or any other group of people descended from Abraham.

      In Revelation chap 12, the main characters of Genesis 3:15 are identified. God’s Kingdom by Christ Jesus is really the main theme of the Bible. Despite the usual materialist focus on Jesus performing miracles, signs, etc, his main work was teaching about God’s Kingdom to come and how it would correct the mess Satan and our first parents brought on humankind. He also at times disected important principles of the Mosaic Law and the true meaning behind the law. This is something the greedy self-righteous religious leaders of Jesus day could never do, hence they hated him for it. It should be noted that Jesus’ worst enemies were not atheists or Pagan governments, but religious clergy of his day who in the end were eventually responsible for his death.

      A major part of the Mosaic Law was to illustrate the legal requirement of eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and more importantly life for life. The law required that a perfect human life be sacrificed to give back what Adam had lost. Adam in no way could pass on any perfect qualities of something he no longer possessed. Hence Jesus realy did prove that it was possible for a perfect man to remain faithful all the way to the point of threat of death, and even death itself. The only reason the original tree was there in Eden was to allow this new intelligent creation (Human) to prove himself as an integrity keeper. Had he passed the test (which in reality was nothing) then in symbol of his demonstrating his obediece, he no doubt would have been directed to eat from the other tree mentioned, the “Tree of Life”. This was the tree that had the Cherub stationed in front of after they were driven from the garden area.

      This may be long and windy, but it’s the best nutshell explanation I can give as to the Bible’s origin and purpose of why it was given.

  9. Amayi Titus says:

    I think the ‘Passion’ by Mel Gibson was just to create a controversy and sell.
    But again if there will be people who’ll go to heaven….is there a possibility of rebel like that one of Satan who was an angel and we’re merely humans? Where did Satan get the powers to say…”now I’ll fight God” who according to nearly all religion is an all powerful God.

  10. Chris Needs says:

    On the whole I didn’t like Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”

    But one very interesting thing stood out for me, intentionally or unintentionally I don’t know:

    The people that looked at Jesus fell into two types, opposites actually:
    those that immediately loved Him
    and those who immediately scorned or disdained Him.

    Chris

  11. Rex Estephan says:

    We still have our modern-day pharisees and the like who put more emphasis on religious observance than on living a righteous life. Do you think that heaven is for people who pray all the time while their heart is so full of hate towards a fellow human being who has a different opinion? Some of us only pray as a duty and in order to be seen(by other people)to be doing so but only God (whichever name you choose to use-he is not defined by a name) knows our true thoughts. We can never deceive him even as we deceive fellow mortals with our apparent piousness. True repentance and humility is the only way to heaven. And we should not act righteously just because we will be rewarded by going to heaven but because we are truly repentant of our sins.

  12. Chris Needs says:

    Hi Rex

    Actually God IS defined by a name. When Moses asked Him “who shall I say sent me?” He said “say that ‘I Am’ sent you”.

    The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ (Jeshua Meshiac, literally Jesus the Messiah or Annointed One).

    As you say, this involves true repentence that He enables me to do. I am unable to do it alone or by ANY other means except by Him. We get to heaven by transferring our trust from ourselves to our Saviour. John 6:47 “he (she) who believes on Me (Jesus) HAS everlasting life”.

    It’s so simple, yet we want to make it SOOO complicated.

    Chris

    • Rex Estephan says:

      Thanks Chris. However I beg to differ on the name of God.I tend to think that God’s response to Moses was that without a name he still is. “I am who I am” translates to “even without a name they will know me” He then proceeded to give Moses signs to prove who he is.Later in Egypt, Moses rarely(if he ever did) tell anyone that he was sent by “I am”. It was usually “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

      • Chris Needs says:

        Hi Rex

        Psalm 138:2 (KJV) says, “I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth: for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name.”

        That seems to concur with what you’re saying and if you dig a little deeper, which I’m sure you have, you will see that Jesus is “The Word” of God.

        Chris

  13. Hodete K. Bron says:

    God save the queen..sorry… good afternoon

    errr… I´ve been reading your “vaqar” caricature and I found this more funny than “ahmed the terrorist” sketch. You will made a youtube film on this? Your creativity is really outstanding. Menudos josdeputa estais hechos. me parto el ojete leyendo este web seguid asi, je suis surpris de votre imagination.

    cordialement

  14. Brian Hunt says:

    Within my novel “The Darwin Manuscript” I include the ‘missing’ manuscript from Charles Darwin describing in his words an encounter with ‘the originator’ of life on this planet.

    My question is “Do you believe that life on this planet exists in every form by accident, or do you believe life was created by design and develops to fulfill a specific purpose?

    The ‘missing’ Darwin manuscript explains this in detail, and provides the reason for Charles Darwin’s loss of belief in religion upon his return to England on The Beagle. I wrote it as a piece of fiction, which is why it’s enveloped within a modern thriller, but every reader can have no doubt of its underlying truth.

  15. Niaudraf says:

    Hai all,
    i wonder why in this bible claim that Jesus are the GOD or the son of the GOD? i also wonder why the others messenger like Moses did not become the GOD also? Perhaps he have no father? If u read the bible, Adam are the more complete character that can be the son of the god also. Why? Because Adam did not have father and mother to create him. WOW! Adam are the beginning the human. So,i believe only the God who so powerful that can create everything he want. Or maybe you so nub brain cant believe GOD power.

  16. xixihaha567 says:

    Its challenging to uncover knowledgeable folks on this topic, but you sound like you realize what you are talking about! Thanks

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