Praise and Thanks be to the All-Powerful God
The Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani
(Translation of a Persian poem)
Praise and thanks be to the Lord God;
It is because of Him that all existence found expression.
This universe is but a mirror of His countenance;
Each and every particle leads the way to Him.
In the mirror of the heavens and the earth,
His unique face is reflected in all its glory.
Each blade of grass is aware of His Being;
Each branch points the way to Him.
The light of the sun and the moon is but a reflection of
His light;
Every manifestation is subject to His decree.
Each brain is but a secret among His secrets;
Each step seeks the portals of His glory.
Every heart's desire is to relish the beauty of His
countenance;
Even the one that is lost is really in search of His path.
He created the sun, the moon and the earth;
He displayed His creative might in millions of forms.
All these creations are but a register of His creativity;
In which are contained an infinite number of mysteries.
He placed this book of nature before our eyes;
To remind us of the path to righteousness.
So that you recognize the God Almighty
Who bears no resemblance to the world and all who
dwell in it.
So that it should be a criterion to judge the revelation
from the Beloved;
To enable you to recognize from among thousands, the
ones that are from the Friend.
So that all paths of imposture are blocked;
So that light and darkness can be told apart.
Then whatever the Lord God willed came to pass;
And His handiwork bore witness to His Word.
Idolators and all their pretence
Are pierced by the sharp arrows of these witnesses.
If you call someone else as Gracious God,
The heaven and the earth will spit in your face.
If you invent a son for Him Who is Unique,
All high and low will curse you.
This world is virtually proclaiming aloud:
That God is Unique, All-Sustaining, and without
partner.
He has nor father nor son nor wife;
He is Immutable since eternity.
If the rain of His grace were to slow down for a
moment,
All this creation and the universe would come to
nought.
Take a close look at the laws of nature,
So that you realize the greatness of the Lord of all the
worlds.
[Dia-ul-Haqq, Ruhani Khaza'in, Vol. 9, pp. 251-252]
Read more about Allah in The Essence of Islam: Volume One
William Lane Craig's Confession: 'If we Examine Trinity, through the lens of the Old Testament, It is not Believable!'
William Lane Craig is one of the leading Christian apologists and it is useful for the Unitarians to have his confession, which I have paraphrased a little, to keep it short: 'If we Examine Trinity, through the lens of the Old Testament, it is not Believable!'
Moderator, Rabbi Tovia Singer and Prof. William Lane Craig
The Rabbi Tovia Singer makes a good point about absence of Trinity in the Old Testament, in the video debate presented here and Prof. William Lane Craig has no genuine answer as to why God confused and not give the complete picture of Divinity to the Jewish prophets for 2000 years before Jesus, may peace be on him. However, William Lane Craig, an expert and an articulate debater that he is, weaves a verbose response of confusing and not defined terms, to keep those who are indoctrinated into Triune understanding bewildered! The fact of the matter is that the term Trinity is not mentioned even in the New Testament.
For 2000 years before Jesus, the Jews never thought of Trinity, as in Craig's own words there was no reason to, going by the Old Testament. So, how can Trinity be legitimate if none of the Old Testament Prophets preached it. Mind you, the Old Testament makes 75% of the Bible and the New Testament mounts to nothing if it is not preceded by the Old Testament and that was the reason, why the Christian Fathers included it in the canon of the Bible.
The Unitarians build their case on what is central and fundamental and explain away allegoric and peripheral in light of that and the Trinitarians do the exact opposite and no wonder their teachings give rise to countless contradictions and absurdities, some of which are highlighted in the articles linked below. One I would mention here, a literal son, who is co-eternal with his Father, as the Trinitarians will have us believe, is logically and philosophically, simply silly. The Father has to at some point in time father the literal son and predate him, otherwise the son is literally not a son! Additionally, even if Jesus was magically eternal before, when he died for three days and three nights by the Trinitarian, childish counting, he is not eternal anymore. The understanding of what the debaters are doing is certainly in light of a profound verse of the Holy Quran, from Sura Aal-e-Imran, as the Rabbi focuses on central and fundamental and William Lane Craig, like any other Trinitarian, obsesses over what is 'susceptible of different interpretations.' The Quran says:
He (Allah) it is Who has sent down to thee (Muhammad) the Book; in it there are verses that are decisive in meaning - they are the basis of the Book - and there are others that are susceptible of different interpretations. But those in whose hearts is perversity pursue such thereof as are susceptible of different interpretations, seeking discord and seeking wrong interpretation of it. And none knows its right interpretation except Allah and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge; they say, 'We believe in it; the whole is from our Lord.' - And none heed except those gifted with understanding. (Al Quran 3:8)
Read more and watch the videos in the Muslim Times click here
Santa Claus is Make-Belief for Children and Eucharist and Trinity, Make-Belief for Grown ups?
Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD
Santa with his rein-deers
The receptionist in my office, who is in her thirties, whom I will call a Santa girl, told us that when she was eight years old, she was living in a house with a chimney, in Endicott, New York. She was expecting gifts from Santa Claus again on Christmas Eve, as he had been very generous the previous years and made her very happy with his gifts. She wanted to reciprocate the gesture by writing a letter to Santa. Her letter included some pictures, the details of which she now does not remember. She put the letter by the Christmas tree, for pick up. But, Santa forgot to pick up the delivery on Christmas eve from the Santa girl, or was it her mother who did not pay attention, among all the other celebrations.
She was broken hearted that Santa did not approve of her and started crying. She was hard to console and as adults tried to appease her the secret came out that Santa is not for real.
But, Santa has been real for millions over the centuries and continues to be real for millions more.
Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and simply "Santa", is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins who, in many western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24.[1] The modern figure was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas,[2] which, in turn, was part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of Christian bishop and gift giver Saint Nicholas. A nearly identical story is attributed by Greek Orthodox and Byzantine Christian folklore to Saint Basil of Caesarea. Basil's feast day on January 1 is considered the time of exchanging gifts in Greece. According to Encyclopedia Britannica:
Santa Claus, legendary figure who is the traditional patron of Christmas in the United States and other countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint. Father Christmas fills the role in many European countries. The Dutch are credited with transporting the legend of Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) to New Amsterdam (now New York City), along with the custom of giving gifts and sweets to children on his feast day, December 6. The current depiction of Santa Claus is based on images drawn by cartoonist Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly beginning in 1863.[1]
Santa Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man - sometimes with spectacles - wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots (images of him rarely have a beard with no moustache). This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast.[3][4][5] This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films.
To read further click here
Debate: Who was Jesus? Man or God? Sir Anthony Buzzard vs Drew Ayers
God the Father is referred to as God more than 1300 times in the New Testament alone, which forms only 25% of the Bible. References to Jesus as God are a couple or very few at best and are contextual misinterpretations or later interpolations.
Sir Anthony Buzzard has a very well written and useful book The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound.
Sir Anthony Buzzard
Sir Anthony Buzzard states in the very beginning of this debate that Unity of God is a simple and easily comprehensible teaching, yet very elegant in my opinion, he stresses that Trinity is an unnecessary complexity. If our Christian readers become Muslims, they will find that the Islamic creed, "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet," is very simple yet elegant! The Unitarians build their case on what is central and fundamental and explain away allegoric and peripheral in light of that and the Trinitarians do the exact opposite and no wonder their teachings give rise to countless contradictions and absurdities, some of which are highlighted in the articles linked below. One I would mention here, a literal son, who is co-eternal with his Father, as the Trinitarians will have us believe, is logically and philosophically, simply silly. The Father has to at some point in time father the literal son and predate him, otherwise the son is literally not a son! Additionally, even if Jesus was magically eternal before, when he died for three days and three nights by the Trinitarian, childish counting, he is not eternal anymore. The understanding of what the debaters are doing is certainly in light of a profound verse of the Holy Quran, from Sura Aal-e-Imran, as Sir Anthony Buzzard focuses on central and fundamental and Drew Ayers, like any other Trinitarian, obsesses over what is 'susceptible of different interpretations.' The Quran says:
He (Allah) it is Who has sent down to thee (Muhammad) the Book; in it there are verses that are decisive in meaning - they are the basis of the Book - and there are others that are susceptible of different interpretations. But those in whose hearts is perversity pursue such thereof as are susceptible of different interpretations, seeking discord and seeking wrong interpretation of it. And none knows its right interpretation except Allah and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge; they say, 'We believe in it; the whole is from our Lord.' - And none heed except those gifted with understanding. (Al Quran 3:8)
Trinitarians choose to obsess over Jesus and God the Father but seldom or infrequently trouble the Holy Ghost. In their obsession about the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Trinitarian apologists choose to read the Triune God, every time word God is mentioned in the Old Testament, which is hundreds of times, but, for 2000 years before Jesus, none of the Jews ever read the word in Triune terms and understood only one God, who is God the Father, in the later Trinitarian Christian understanding.
The concept of Trinity has no legs to stand on |
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