By Chief J.D.EPHRAIM.
I have read, in the Press ,people of certain religions, gleefully announcing the conversion of some Nigerians from one faith to the other. They believe they are bringing people to God. But most often such efforts are either, based on mischief, or ignorance. If it is based on IGNORANCE, then it is forgivable through education . But if it is mischief, then such people are candidates for eternal damnation. But God is merciful, if only such people repent. I can speak for the Christian faith because I understand it more than I understand the islamic faith. Our message as Christians, is that of preaching salvation. Where will the soul be when you die and you reach eternity? I have been enriched by my little knowledge of the glorious Qur’an. In it Muslims have been admonished to accept all past prophets, right from Adam, Ibrahim, Isaac, Jacob, all of them ,including Jesus the Christ, who, it was admitted, was born miraculously,
not by the union of woman and man, but by the holy spirit. Muslims refer to Jesus as the Messiah, who will come back to earth , on the last day, to judge those still alive and the dead, who will resurrect. He is the “word ” of God- ( Kalmar Allah). He was there from the begining of creation, however, not in human form but with God.
Points of departure of Muslims are their believe that Jesus is not God, but was a special kind of prophet. This is a departure from Jesus’ revelation to his disciples. They ( the Muslims) also believe that he (Jesus ),was not the son of God, as God can not have a son, in the human sense, and that Jesus said it himself, that there is only one God.Muslims believe that Jesus was not killed, but that he miraculously disappeared and went to heaven snd that if he were God, then he can not be killed. Of course this is designed to defeat the Christian contention , or belief that Jesus was the sacrificial lamb of God given by God to spill his blood for the salvation of mankind- ( not to save Christians alone ,but the whole of those who believe. The only qualification is “believe”). The Muslims do not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity of the God-head. They argue that the Bible has lost originality , as it has been translated into many languages from the original Hebrew , many times over and has, in the process, lost its originality.
One interesting thing about the two religions is that they accept the two most important commandments given by God, which are love : love for God and love for others( no religion, race, tribe , or country is stated). It says, love your neighbour as yourself. Your neighbour could be physically ,far away from you. It is on these two laws of God ( commands), that the ” law and the prophets” – in any of the two religions, hang on.
Another beautiful thing is the command on all Muslims to accept Jesus the Christ, including all his teachings. This is the kernel of my long speech , because it is on this that all other things hang. We Christians, know who Jesus is and what he taught and his role on earth and where he is now. The Muslims too, are supposed to know who Jesus is and what he taught and where he is and what would be his role on the last day. If anybody says there is no” ORIGINAL” Bible, then he is wrong and should be tasked to produce the original because Muslims too are supposed to be Christians by accepting Jesus Christ and his teachings. If he can not, then on what basis is he obeying the teachings of Jesus? It means he is disobeying what his religion teaches and therefore can not be a true practitioner of that religion. The original language of Jesus is Hebrew.Hebrew was the original language of the Bible.
The Hebrew Bible is still in existence and substantially, it is the same with our “King James” translation of the Bible. We Christians know what Jesus taught. We also know the obligation of all Muslims to accept the teachings of Jesus Christ . If they fail to, on whatever excuses, then it is an admissiom that they can not , or should not, be regarded as true Muslims.The religion requires that all Muslims must first, be Christians, before they are considered true Muslims.
I have tried to explain this in various fora that both Christians and Muslims have more things that unite them than things that divide them, and in most circumstances ,of the division , such division , is based on a very dangerous misunderstanding of the Christian doctrines on the son’s-ship of Jesus, the Trinity, the crucifixion of Jesus etc.If such were to be so, then there would be no Christianity at all. But it is not so. It is clear doctrinal misunderstanding that can be cured by education and more education. Most Muslim traditions as practiced today, follow the teachings in the old testament- ( the Torah and the prophets ) .Jesus was a Jew. He practiced Judaism. The old testament part of the Bible is the same thing Judaism is using for its teachings.
But Jesus represented the fulfilment of the past, the old, and marks a new begining. The “alaula”, or “tsarkakewa”, before prayers, removal of shoes when entering holy places , the uttering of ” Assallama allaikum ( in Arabic) and ” sallama aleikhum” by the Jews, all mean the same thing. In fact both the Jews and the Arabs are divided on the issue of land and not religion. It has been there right from the begining . Both Arabs and the Jews are the children of one man -Abraham . The only difference is that Christians believe one of the two children is a child of the promise of God and there are so many things that go with that promise. In Nigeria, muslim women’s and men’s forms of dressing, prayers, the architecture are all similar to what obtains in the middle -East. Muslims are enjoined to pray five times while in the Christian old testament (judaism specifically ) , they pray seven times– the hours of prayers are stated ( although Christians are urged to pray at all times). What would one then say about the mode of dressing of the Catholic Rev. Sisters in Nigeria and the Islamic veil worn by Muslim women?
Therefore, I can not see any true Christian abandon ing the faith which assures him of salvation of his soul, and going to another, which commands that their followers must first, be Christians. If any one does that , by leaving christianity to Islam ),then he is ignorant of both Christianity and Islam. I can not preach hate. God is not hate , and infact abhors it ,but God is love. I can not be obeying God by hating or killing another human being. If a Christian
or a Muslim does that , then he/she is not obeying the commands of God. I must not mislead people by preaching hate and killing. Certainly, you can not kill for God, God does not need anybody’s assistance. When and if you do that , it can only be for Satan. If God had wanted, He would have created us the same. But God is a God of diversity.He loves diversity. There in lies the beauty of creation.
I can not condemn Islam, it is beautiful in the eyes of its believers, but all I can do, as a Christian, is to pray that all humanity come to the understanding of truth, so that on the last day, we will all be saved. That is the true religion : it should be in our faith ,expressed in our works. Let us therefore, love God and love one another, as commanded by God for both Christians and Muslims. Love for God and humanity is true religion. I beg for true knowledge and understanding.
Chief J.D.EPHRAIM.