Before Abraham was, I AM

“Before Abraham was, I AM” [John 8:58]

Jesus used the same set of words used by GOD to Moses in Exodus 3:14 [God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' “]; This implies that Jesus is GOD.
This verse also proves Jesus’ pre-existence before the creation and thereby confirms his divine status.

Below are a few points for contemplation:

1) In the English translation, both verses are the same “I AM”. But Exodus is written in Hebrew & John is written in Greek – and in actuality are two distinctly different words. In Hebrew, GOD uses the word “Hayah” http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Exd&c=3&v=14&t=KJV#conc/14 ; and in Greek, Jesus uses the word “Ego Eimi” http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Jhn&c=8&v=1&t=KJV#conc/58 . Hence, to claim that Jesus used the exact same words in Exodus is not entirely accurate!

2) The phrase “Ego Eimi” or “I AM” is used many times in the New Testament. For e.g.
a. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. [Acts 26:29] [http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Act&c=26&v=29&t=KJV#conc/29]
b. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ]; and shall deceive many. [Mark 13:6] [http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mar&c=13&v=1&t=KJV#conc/6]
c. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? [ Mark 26:22][ http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mat&c=26&v=1&t=KJV#conc/22]
d. Some said, This is he: others [said], He is like him: [but] he said, I am [he]. [John 9:9] [http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Jhn&c=9&v=9&t=KJV#conc/9]
Based on the above criteria, Paul, the disciples and the beggar would also be GOD, since they all said “Ego Eimi”

3) A figurative meaning – There is absolutely no doubt that Jesus “figuratively” existed in Abraham’s time. Jesus says “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad”. How did Abraham see the day of the Christ? SIMPLE!!! GOD revealed it to him since GOD is ALL KNOWING. Thus, in the infinite wisdom of GOD, Christ certainly existed before Abraham. This is inline with GOD’s similar revelation to Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

A Prophet Like Unto Thee…

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate

In the Book of Deuteronomy, our Almighty GOD made a firm promise to Moses (peace be upon him); a promise to raise a prophet like him.

“And the Lord said unto me…I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deuteronomy 18: 17-18

Ask any average Christian about this awaited prophet and you will get a unanimous answer – JESUS(pbuh)!!

Really??

Before confirming this claim, let us break and analyze this verse into 3 parts:

1) A Prophet from Among the Brethren of the Israelites
2) A Prophet Like Moses
3) GOD puts HIS words into the Prophets mouth

A PROPHET FROM AMONG THE BRETHREN OF THE ISRAELITES

As per the Hebrew Dictionary of the Bible, “Brethren” is the: “Personification of a group of tribes who were regarded as near kinsmen of the Israelites.”

This prophecy was spoken to Moses and addressed to the Israelites. Hence the “brethren” of the Israelites are the Ishmaelites, the present day Arabs. (Ishmael and Isaac were the two sons of Abraham). The Ishmaelites were referred as the brethren to the Israelites in many places (e.g. Gen 16:12, Gen 25:18)

Since Jesus himself was an Israelite and not their brethren, this alone suffices to prove that this prophecy is not about the coming of Jesus. This prophecy refers to a prophet from the Arabs – none other than Muhammad (pbuh).

A PROPHET LIKE MOSES

The second part of the verse informs us that the prophet would have a role & mission identical to Moses.

Given below is a comparison between the crucial characteristics of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad

which further clarifies the identity of the Prophet Like Moses.

BIRTH: Moses & Muhammad - Usual; Jesus - Unusual

FAMILY LIFE: Moses & Muhammad - Married, Children; Jesus - No Marriage, No Children

DEATH: Moses & Muhammad - Usual; Jesus - Unusual

CAREER: Moses & Muhammad - Prophet/Statesman; Jesus - Prophet

FORCED EMIGRATION: Moses & Muhammad - To Median & Medinah; Jesus - None

ENCOUNTER WITH ENEMIES: Moses & Muhammad - Hot Pursuit & Battles; Jesus - None

RESULTS OF ENCOUNTER: Moses & Muhammad - Moral & Physical Victory; Jesus - Moral Victory

WRITING OF REVELATIONS: Moses & Muhammad - In their lifetime (Torah & Quran); Jesus - After him

NATURE OF TEACHINGS: Moses & Muhammad - Spiritual & Legal; Jesus - Mainly Spiritual

ACCEPTANCE OF LEADERSHIP: Moses & Muhammad - Rejected then accepted; Jesus - Rejected (by most Israelites)

This comparison is self-evident. It not only shows that Moses and Jesus were unalike; it actually proves that Moses and Muhammad were alike.

GOD PUTS HIS WORDS INTO THE PROPHETS MOUTH

Generally, this description would apply to any prophet of GOD who is communicating GOD’s message to mankind. But notice the specific words – “Put words into his mouth”; this type of revelation exactly describes the type of revelation received by Muhammad.

The word of GOD was “put into his mouth”. Angel Gabriel used to bring down the revelation and made Muhammad repeat it exactly. Numerous verses of the Quran begin with words such as Say, Remind or Inform – implying that the prophet was commanded to do so.

Hence, after careful study, we can confidently conclude that this prophecy refers to Muhammad and not to Jesus (peace be upon them).

World’s Oldest Bible – CODEX SINAITICUS

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate

On 22nd of July 2008, the University of Leipzig declared that one of the world’s oldest bible – Codex Sinaiticus, would be accessible online.

What is the impact of such an event for the Christians?
Is this a blessing or a curse for the Christian Faith?

For the majority of the Christians, it would seem as a blessing and a reaffirmation of their faith in the bible. But, for the Christians who are constantly willing to search for the true message of Jesus Christ; this would be a stumbling block! WHY?

Here are some facts about the “Codex Sinaiticus”.

Name: Codex Sinaiticus
Date: 4th Century
Contents: Contains the Old and New Testaments (Four Gospels, Acts, Catholic Epistles and Pauline Epistles) plus The Epistle of Barnabas and The Shepherd of Hermas.
Alterations: The Catholic Encyclopedia confirms the presence of seven correctors of the text from the 4th century to the 12th century. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04085a.htm)
Differences: Bible scholar H. C. Hoskier enumerated 3036 differences in the gospel between Sinaiticus and Vaticanus (which is a slightly older codex also dated 4th century). Given below are the counts:

Gospel of Matthew: 656 differences
Gospel of Mark: 567 differences
Gospel of Luke: 791 differences
Gospel of John: 1022 differences

HOW WOULD THIS INFORMATION WEAKEN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH?

1) The oldest available copy of the New Testament was written 350 years after the mission of Jesus Christ.
2) The Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas, both present in the Codex Sinaiticus, are not part of the 21st century bible.
3) Biblical scholars and the Catholic Encyclopedia admit that alterations and corrections have been made on these 4th century manuscripts.
4) There are more than 3000 differences within the gospels between the Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. These differences can even be seen today – There are hundreds of bible versions; and none of them are alike!!

For any truth-seeker, this information is quite sufficient to convince him that the present day bible has gone through numerous alterations and modifications and hence cannot be considered as the Word of our Almighty GOD.

John 1:1 – Signed, Sealed and Delivered

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate

John 1:1

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (King James Version)

“εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογος” (Greek Text)

“en arche en ho logos kai ho logos en pros ton theon kai theos en ho logos” (Greek Transliteration)

John 1:1 has been the most frequently quoted verse to prove the Trinitarian belief of Christianity. This verse, when explained by Trinitarians, equate Jesus to the Word and thereby Jesus to GOD. In this article, John 1:1 has been carefully analyzed to give readers a much clearer and different perspective of Jesus the Christ (pbuh). It also proves how the bible translators have manipulated verses to inculcate the readers with the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus.

I. LOGOS: The Greek word Logos has several meanings, such as – Logic, Word, Speech, Order, Thought, Doctrine, Reason, or Principle, among other things. It has been used extensively in the fields of philosophy, analytical psychology and religion. In John 1:1, translators have carefully selected “WORD” as a substitute for Logos! Is this an accurate substitute? If studied carefully, Logos appears more than 300 times in the New Testament. Given below are a few examples. The substitute for Logos has been marked in bold.

Matthew 5:32 – “But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery”
Matthew 7:28 – When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching…
Matthew 8:8 – The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Matthew 12:37 – For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

As observed, Logos has been given different English substitutes in different places. Also, none of the above substitutes are CAPITALIZED. This raises vital 2 questions:

1) Why did the English translators choose WORD as the appropriate substitute for Logos in John 1:1? And
2) Why did the English translators capitalize the letter “W” in Word in John 1:1?

IMPORTANT NOTE: All ancient Greek manuscripts were written in ALL CAPS. Bible translators used to capitalize words depending on their OWN understanding of the scripture!!!

II. THEOS: In Greek, “Theos” means God. In the New Testament, Theos usually refers to the Heavenly Father. But it also refers to the Devil (2 Cor 4:4), minor god’s (1 Cor 8:5) and men with authority (John 10:34-45). So, how do we decide between these choices? Will a different translation alter the meaning completely? YES, IT DOES. See below the verse John 1:1,

· And the Word was GOD, or
· And the Word was a god

Any regular bible reader would point out that God with a capital “G” always refers to the Father in Heaven; while god with a small “g” refers to prophets and people with authority. For e.g. in Exodus 7:1 – “And the Lord said unto Moses - I have made thee a god to Pharoh…”

Also, when the original Greek text is analyzed, the first theos has the definite article: τον θεον which can be translated as “The God”. But the second theos has no definite article linked to it: θεος; and hence should be translated as “a god”. So, the real translation should be:

“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with The God, and the word was a god”

This alters the meaning completely because if Jesus was the word, and the word was a god; then Jesus is nothing more than a prophet like Moses; eliminating all claims of divinity.

So, what was the sole reason for this deceit?

To indoctrinate the Trinitarian concept of Jesus, i.e. a GOD became MAN.

ISLAM - The Action Verb

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate

A NAME by definition is a word or a combination of words by which a person, place, or thing is identified. A NOUN by definition is a word that can be used to refer a name, place, or a thing.

All the major world religions are based either on a person or a place; and hence come under the NOUN category. Given below are a few examples:

Judaism: Originated from the Land of Judah
Christianity: Derived from the founder – Jesus the Christ
Hinduism: Originated from the Land of the Indus River
Buddhism: Derived from the founder – Gautam Buddha
Confucianism: Derived from the founder – Confucius
Jainism: Derived from the word Jinas – Conqueror; a title given to their founder Rishabha

ISLAM: Absolute submission to the Creator

ISLAM is the ONLY religion in the world which is not a NOUN but rather a VERB. It is an ACTION – an act of submission. And unless we perform this action, we are not qualified to be known as MU-ISLAM or Muslim – the one who has submitted.

How to look for Jesus

In the Name of GOD, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate

Jesus, the son of Mary, is a crucial figure for 3.7 billion people. The Christians consider him as the very own Image & Son of God while the Muslims revere him as one of the mightiest messengers of God. Both these religions wait for his second coming and to establish the kingdom of God on earth. Now, in this day and age, how does one go about to recognize this great man? This short article gives readers the basic facts (based solely on the bible) to identify Jesus the Messiah. Only the verses spoken by Jesus have been taken as reference in this article.

HIS GOD: Aramaic was the native language of Jesus. The only time when Jesus calls out for his GOD in his native language is while on the cross – He shouts “Elahi, Elahi, lama sabachtani? – My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Aramaic Language: GOD – ELAH; My GOD – ELAHI

Arabic Language: GOD – ALLAH; My GOD - ILAHI

Since both Aramaic and Arabic are ancient Semitic languages, it would be accurate to say that Jesus invoked the same GOD Muslims pray to till today.

HIS RELIGION: As per Matthew 5:17-19 – Jesus says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen; will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus being a devout Jew focuses on the established Law of Moses. No where in the gospels did he abandon the existing laws; but rather he modified the existing laws to give the people a better understanding of why the laws have come to place. So, in short, Jesus was following the Law of Moses & other prophets – a religion which was strictly monotheistic; a religion of complete submission to the ONE Almighty Creator.

HIS PRAYER: The way Jesus prayed would have followed the basic guidelines set by the Law of Moses; which includes cleansing with water, kneeling and prostration. This is confirmed by the gospel of Luke 22:41 says “… he knelt down and prayed”; and the gospel of Matthew 26:39 “..he fell with his face to the ground and prayed..”

HIS GREETING: As seen from the gospels, Jesus used to greet his followers by saying “Peace be upon you”. This phrase when translated to Aramaic would be “Shalom alaichem”; which is strongly similar to the Islamic greeting “Assalam alaikum”.

GOD WILLING: Jesus lived a life of perfect submission and humility. He was a perfect servant carrying out the will of his Father in Heaven. Even in the Lord’s Prayer, he instructs the people to declare “Thy Will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven”. In James 4: 14-15: James instructs to people to say "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.". This is again similar to the Islamic rule to say “InshaAllah – By the will of GOD”

HIS PHYSIQUE: Adhering strictly to the Law of Moses, Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day as per the gospel according to Luke 2:21. Jesus also had a beard which is an integral part of the religion.

The ONLY religion that abides by all of the above traditions of Jesus is the religion of ISLAM – the religion of complete submission to the Creator.

So, if you are looking for Jesus, you should be actually looking for any average practicing MUSLIM.