Sura 3:49 and the Gospel of Thomas

Sura 3:42-49 of Qu'ran states

"Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee- chosen thee above the women of all nations. "O Mary! worship Thy Lord devoutly: Prostrate thyself, and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down." This is part of the tidings of the things unseen, which We reveal unto thee (O Apostle!) by inspiration: Thou wast not with them when they cast lots with arrows, as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary: Nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point). Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah; "He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous." She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is! "And Allah will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel, "And (appoint him) an apostle to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe; "'(I have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (Before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear Allah, and obey me." (Boldization  is added) 

This was written about the year 610 AD (Which is when the "revelation" is believed to have begin) to
632 AD (When the last "revelation" is believed to have been given.)

In Staudi Arabia, according to Muslim sources their were "Christian" groups their in Muhammad's life time, and it seems that Muhammad heard the stories these strange "Christians" were telling. One of these stories can be found in The infancy Gospel of Thomas, about Jesus turning clay birds into living ones. This "Gospel" was written in about the middle of the second century, more then one hundred years after Jesus' death, the majority of the "Gospel" could not realistically be trusted according to many individualites. Specify the story of Jesus giving life to clay birds is very likely not historically accurate, as it is not mentioned in The Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John; which are all first century accounts, furthermore this supposed miracle is not mentioned by Peter, James, John, Paul, the writer of Hebrews, Jude or the other disciples in Acts. (Although to glorify GOD in fairness neither is the virgin birth mentioned by many of the New Testament authors; I believe this indicates that the virgin birth was not a primary Christian doctrine compared to The Doctrines of Grace. Compare this quotation from the Gospel of Thomas to the quote from Sura three and I am hopeful that you will see the clear mistake on the author of Qu'ran by included a myth about Jesus from an account over one hundred years after His Death.

"This little child Jesus when he was five years old was playing at the ford of a brook: and he gathered together the waters that flowed there into pools, and made them straightway clean, and commanded them by his word alone. 2 And having made soft clay, he fashioned thereof twelve sparrows. And it was the Sabbath when he did these things (or made them). And there were also many other little children playing with him.
3 And a certain Jew when he saw what Jesus did, playing upon the Sabbath day, departed straightway and told his father Joseph: Lo, thy child is at the brook, and he hath taken clay and fashioned twelve little birds, and hath polluted the Sabbath day. 4 And Joseph came to the place and saw: and cried out to him, saying: Wherefore doest thou these things on the Sabbath, which it is not lawful to do? But Jesus clapped his hands together and cried out to the sparrows and said to them: Go! and the sparrows took their flight and went away chirping. 5 And when the Jews saw it they were amazed, and departed and told their chief men that which they had seen Jesus do."
-The Gospel of Thomas II, 1-5.

The "Muhammad is mentioned in The Bible" argument

The argument: It is argued by some Muslim's that Muhammad is mentioned in The Bible, this isn't merely a recent invention of Muslim's in modern times, this can be found in The Qu'ran in Sura 7:157 "Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful."
 Muslim's use several verses from the Bible to try to prove Muhammad is mentioned. Here are the verses used: 


Deuteronomy 18:15-18

See written response from CARM by Ryan Turner 

Deuteronomy 33:2

See written response from CARM by Ryan Turner


Deuteronomy 34:10

See written response from CARM by Ryan Turner


Psalm 45:3-5

See written response from CARM by Ryan Turner



Isaiah 21:7

See written response from CARM by Ryan Turner

Habakkuk 3:3

See written response from CARM by Ryan Turner

John 14:16 

See written response from CARM by Ryan Turner

Islam's Allah an his deceptive nature

Another problem Muslim's face is the deceptive nature of the Islamic God, "Deceiver" is one of the Islamic God's 99 names that is supposedly reflective of his nature.  The Qu'ran (Believed by Muslim's to be Allah's word as recited to Muhammad.)  says this in regards to the God of Islam's deceptive actions:

"Whoever Allah guides - he is the [rightly] guided; and whoever He sends astray - it is those who are the losers."-Sura Al A'raf 7:178. 


"So whoever Allah wants to guide - He expands his breast to [contain] Islam; and whoever He wants to misguide - He makes his breast tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky. Thus does Allah place defilement upon those who do not believe."-Sura 6:125. 


"And among them are those who listen to you, but We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. Even when they come to you arguing with you, those who disbelieve say, "This is not but legends of the former peoples."-Sura 6:25."Indeed, Allah is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allah intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient, Who break the covenant of Allah after contracting it and sever that which Allah has ordered to be joined and cause corruption on earth. It is those who are the losers."-Sura 2:26-27.
"What is [the matter] with you [that you are] two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has made them fall back [into error and disbelief] for what they earned. Do you wish to guide those whom Allah has sent astray? And he whom Allah sends astray - never will you find for him a way [of guidance]."
-Sura 4:88. 


The problem is knowing that their God has deceived others in the past, how can they trust this God of theirs?

Christianity: Pure, without paganism

It has been claimed in past years and recent years that Christianity is a pagan based religion or it contains paganism. Some will go so far as to state Jesus never existed and is a complete pagan myth like other "gods", others will try to convince their audience that aspects of Christianity are taken from pagan religions, such as the virgin birth or The Trinity. However this claims are simply not true, and lack evidence. There are many claims that are made, here are ten (GOD willing):

Mithra had a virgin birth.
Mithra had twelve followers
Horus had a virgin birth
Horus was resurrected
Horus had twelve followers
Horus was baptized
Horus was crucified
Krishna had a virgin birth
Dionysus was born of a virgin
Attis was born of a virgin

It may surprise you to know that all of the ten claims have no valid evidence to support them.
Watch the below video(s) for additional detail, please.

Sura two: The Book of Judges and the Koran

The Qu'ra states in Dura two, a'yat 246-251 "Have you not considered the assembly of the Children of Israel after [the time of] Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs, "Send to us a king, and we will fight in the way of Allah "? He said, "Would you perhaps refrain from fighting if fighting was prescribed for you?" They said, "And why should we not fight in the cause of Allah when we have been driven out from our homes and from our children?" But when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned away, except for a few of them. And Allah is Knowing of the wrongdoers. 
And their prophet said to them, "Indeed, Allah has sent to you Saul as a king." They said, "How can he have kingship over us while we are more worthy of kingship than him and he has not been given any measure of wealth?" He said, "Indeed, Allah has chosen him over you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature. And Allah gives His sovereignty to whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing [in favor] and Knowing." 
And their prophet said to them, "Indeed, a sign of his kingship is that the chest will come to you in which is assurance from your Lord and a remnant of what the family of Moses and the family of Aaron had left, carried by the angels. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers."
And when Saul went forth with the soldiers, he said, "Indeed, Allah will be testing you with a river. So whoever drinks from it is not of me, and whoever does not taste it is indeed of me, excepting one who takes [from it] in the hollow of his hand." But they drank from it, except a [very] few of them. Then when he had crossed it along with those who believed with him, they said, "There is no power for us today against Goliath and his soldiers." But those who were certain that they would meet Allah said, "How many a small company has overcome a large company by permission of Allah . And Allah is with the patient." 
And when they went forth to [face] Goliath and his soldiers, they said, "Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people."
So they defeated them by permission of Allah , and David killed Goliath, and Allah gave him the kingship and prophethood and taught him from that which He willed. And if it were not for Allah checking [some] people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted, but Allah is full of bounty to the worlds."


Note I 
Notice the Qu'ran states: "Have you not considered the assembly of the Children of Israel after [the time of] Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs, "Send to us a king, and we will fight in the way of Allah "?" The literal text seems to have no brackets, it literally seems to state "Have you not considered the assembly of the Children of Israel after Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs..." Implying that this event happened soon after Moses' death, however it can still be argued that the text is simply giving Muslims a time period. This argument, it being mine is
among the weaker arguments in my opinion. 


Note II
The Qu'ran stated "And when Saul went forth with the soldiers, he said, "Indeed, Allah will be testing you with a river. So whoever drinks from it is not of me, and whoever does not taste it is indeed of me, excepting one who takes [from it] in the hollow of his hand." But they drank from it, except a [very] few of them." This seems to be taken from The Book of Judges, this event however happened with Judge Gideon, not King Saul, we see these if we consider the following verses: ¹ Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. ² The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ ³ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

 ⁴ But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

 ⁵ So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” ⁶ Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

 ⁷ The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” ⁸ So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others."-Judges 7:1-8. It seems at least likely, that the writer (or writers) of the Qu'ran had falsely attributed an action of Gideon with Saul. 

Apparent plagiarism in the Qu'ran

Sura two: The Book of Judges and the Koran.
Sura 3:49 and the Gospel of Thomas (In regards to the clay birds)

The Koran: Allah always speaking?

Muslims will claim that the Qu'ran (Or Koran as an alternative way of spelling) is the perfect word of Allah and that it is eternal, and is written in Heaven. However, an honest reading of the Koran would reveal that the God of Islam is only the speaker some of the time, the text has two genres within it. Sometimes it is the God of Islam and sometimes it is another speaking about the God of Islam, below there are two examples.

Example 1) The God of Islam is speaking: "This day I have perfected your religion for you, and have filled up the measure of My favors upon you; it is my pleasure that Islam be your religion; but whoso without willful leanings to wrong shall be forced by hunger to transgress, to him verily will God be indulgent, merciful."-Sura 5, a'yat 5?

Another is speaking: "And if two men commit the same crime, then punish them both; but if they turn and amend, then let them be: For God is He who turneth, merciful!
With God Himself will repentance of those who have done evil ignorantly, and then turn speederly unto Him, be accepted. These! God will turn unto them: for God is He who turneth, merciful!"- 4:20-21.
And yet these are supossingly the very words of Allah Himself. He doesn't say "I am He who turneth" or "With us will repentance be accepted" The way this is written it seems like a mere person is simply writing about GOD, it doesn't appear GOD is speaking at all.

Example 2) The God of Islam is speaking: "And they who have fled their country and quitted their homes and suffered in My cause, and have fought and fallen, I will blot out their sins from them, I will bring them into the gardens beneath which the streams do flow." 3:194.

Another is speaking about the God of Islam (Just a few a'yats later): "Among the people of the Book are those that believe in God, and it what He has sent down to you, and in what He hath sent down to them, humbling themselves before God. They barter not the signs of God for a mean price"- 3:198.