The M+G+R Foundation

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Are Not Incoherent Amongst Themselves


On The Contrary - There Is Great Coherence Amongst Them!

Originally published on September 23, 2003


ABSTRACT

There is an undeniable common denominator that links the original teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. To deny this common denominator necessitates the rejection of the teachings of the Torah, the New Testament and Qur’an. The acknowledgment and acceptance of this common denominator would be the foundation of the harmonious coexistence of the children of God.


PREFACE

The bold and unequivocal statement of what I believe to be true does not, in any way, constitute a judgment against those who believe differently; I, at one time, did not believe some of these truths myself. It was through the loving patience of God that I came to His Light without ever forgetting where I came from, and without ever forgetting those with whom I shared other beliefs.


INTRODUCTION

Before embarking on this potentially controversial document and to counter, from the outset, any accusations that the author is anti-Catholic, it is important to make very clear that miguel de Portugal is not against the Catholic Faith. On the contrary, he lives it. (1)

Every single quote from the Qur’an that the reader will find in this document has been checked in versions translated into the English, Spanish and Portuguese languages to ensure that the core message of the particular quote truly reflects the version in its original language.


BACKGROUND

Most everyone has "a faith of sorts" on which to anchor their lives. Even the militant atheists have a "faith of sorts". By their active denial of a God they are actually acknowledging Him - so they actually believe in God - they just reject Him or, in most cases, they actually reject those who claim to be representing God.

The agnostics also have "a faith of sorts". They are still gathering information before making up their minds about God. If they did not have "some sort of faith", they would not bother with evaluating information relevant to something that is completely irrelevant to them.

However, the "faith of sorts" of the militant atheists and the agnostics is not the issue we are addressing now. The issue we wish to address now lies on the faith that many profess to have but seldom live.

This is a crucial issue because the majority of those who claim to have faith, most likely have faith in everything related to God but not in God Himself! We have the history of ongoing bloodshed in "the Name of God" and for "the Glory of God" that humanity has lived through during the past 6,000 years to back up this statement as well as the condition - social and moral - of the world today.

For example and in general terms...

A.  Many of the Jews continue to claim their "Chosen Status" in accord with their ancient Covenant with God, in spite of the fact that they continue to NOT uphold their part of the Covenant. They just act as if the lessons God taught them, and which are recorded in great detail in the Old Testament, were meant for someone else. A Covenant in Heaven, just as one on Earth, demands a mutual commitment and fulfillment. A covenant is not "a one way street".

As if that was not enough, many of the Jews place their faith and hope on the future coming of their Messiah and that Jesus was just some Middle Eastern carpenter with great charisma, but not the Messiah.

B.  Many of the Roman Catholics (Catholic Church of the West) believe in the Roman Church and its teachings and trappings, in spite of the fact that many of those teachings and trappings clearly contravene the Holy Scriptures which they read and preach about every Sunday.

Just like our brethren of Judaism - They "believe" and preach the Sacred Scriptures selectively, to conform and please the very worldly needs and desires of the "faithful". This is something that Paul warned us about in 1Thess. 2:4-6.

C.  Many of the Orthodox Christians (Catholic Church of the East) believe that the Catholic Church of the West (see item B. above) is the reason for every calamity that has stricken the world since they split in the year 1054 AD (2) and that, by maintaining every detail of ancient rituals, they will be protected from the errors that plague the Roman Church.

D.  Many of the Protestants believe that the Catholics (East and West) are wrong and that the Protestant Churches really have the answer. However, most also live a life dissonant with the Holy Scriptures, although they may be able to quote Biblical passages from memory. Selectively, of course.

E.  Last, but not least, are many of our brethren from Islam. They believe that the Qur’an came directly from God through the Prophet Mohammed; a belief that we cannot, in good conscience, deny. Yet, many of them practice their faith by making the Qur’an and the Prophet Mohammed the objects of their Faith instead of God. Events have shown over the centuries that anyone has a better chance of survival by criticizing God instead of criticizing the Qur’an and/or the Prophet Mohammed.

This thorny issue - dissonance and duplicity, that is, a complete lack of coherence - is what we are going to address in this Document. This is not with the intent of defacing any of the Faiths - which we truly respect by word and deed. Our intent is to be like a mirror and to assist our brothers and sisters to see that, in most cases, they are deceiving themselves. At the same time, we are issuing a call to union under the spiritual banner on One God, adored differently only in the minor culturally inspired details.


DETAILS

To illustrate our point we will utilize the irrational logic that lead to the wave of "killing in the Name of God" and "in the Name of Christ" over the last fourteen centuries.

For this purpose, we shall study the interaction of two man-made archenemies - as defined and quantified by the amount of blood shed: Christians and Muslims.

From the brutality exhibited toward the so-called "infidels" by the so-called "Christians", one would think that the Holy Qur’an is an evil book wherein the children of Islam are taught to be anti-Christian.

To dispel such error let us go directly to the most venerated Holy Qur’an and see what they say about Jesus Christ.


The Annunciation

[Note: In the Holy Qur’an "Sürah" is the equivalent to "Chapter" in the Judeo-Christian Holy Scriptures. We will simplify by using, for example, S. III. 45, to signify: Sürah III, verse 45] (3)

The Archangel Gabriel announces to Mary:

in S. III. 45

"O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus..."

and in S. III. 48

"And God will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel."

Now, let us take a close look at this: The Prophet Mohammed reports that God said what we have quoted above. The Prophet does not say that it is he who was taught "the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel". He says that it was Jesus the one who was taught "the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel".

We further read in S.II.45

"a Word from Him (God) ... Will be Christ Jesus..."

This is a firm and clear declaration, through the Prophet Mohammed, that Jesus Christ is the "Word of God made flesh".

Let us Christians give due credit to the Prophet Mohammed for he is acknowledging here far more than most Christians believe in, if we gauge their belief by how much importance they give to the reality that "...in Jesus resides the Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel."


Spelling out the Mission of Jesus

Mohammed further states in S.III.49 that God said:

"And (appoint him) an apostle (messenger) to the Children of Israel, (with this message): [In the following statement it is Jesus speaking, according to Prophet Mohammed’s account]

"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 God’s leave... (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 God and obey me."

According to the Gospel, Jesus never claimed to do anything on His own - He always invoked "God’s leave" - His Father, His God and our God (paraphrasing His own words). [John 17:1-4]

It seems to even a casual, but objective, observer that the Prophet Mohammed was a staunch supporter and promoter of Jesus Christ and His mission. This is why the wayward Christians and Jews of the time became the enemies of the exhortations of God through the Prophet Mohammed. This enmity resulted in wars and mutual persecutions.


Pondering on the above...

Let us Christians remember that Jesus ran into very serious trouble with the Temple Masters [the equivalent of the established Religious Institution in those days]. He was obedient to God, the Father, and not to tradition. Mohammed was entreating the Christians of his time to be obedient to Jesus Christ and not to regress to Pagan style worship.

Should anyone then expect the Christians of that time to be kind to those who were attentive to what the Prophet Mohammed had relayed, calling to their attention, in the Name of God, their abuses and excesses? (4)

But what should we expect? These same "Christians" burnt Joan of Arc, and later placed her in the altar as St. Joan of Arc; they also sacked Constantinople and massacred the Christians of the Church of the East. (4)

Who can then take seriously the claim, with its implication of infallibility, that the Holy Spirit is the Infallible Guide of the Roman Catholic Church? Although it is indeed true - the problem has been that such Infallible Guidance is mostly ignored by those who have placed the Church ABOVE God. (5)


The Greatness of Jesus according to the Qur’an

In S. III 55, God the Father, according to the Prophet Mohammed, said:

‘Behold! God said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow Thee superior."’

The Prophet Mohammed is not saying that his own followers will be "superior" - he is saying, in the Name of God, that those who follow Jesus will be made superior. Hardly a position to justify the abuses by Christians against the Muslims over the centuries - abuses which are now yielding the horrible fruit of terrorism.

In the same verse we read about Jesus’ Resurrection and Glorification: "I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme..."


Summarizing what has been stated about Jesus in the Qur’an

In S. III 60 we read:

"The Truth (comes) from God alone; so be not of those who doubt."


The accuracy of the Holy Texts

Let us ponder the significance of a new book (6) published in the Fall of 2003, written by a German Middle Eastern linguistic expert under the pseudonym Christoph Luxenberg. He challenges the accuracy of the translation of the Qur’an from the alleged Aramaic-like original language to the Arabic. (It is the Arabic text which Islamic orthodoxy claims to be the original words spoken by God to the Prophet Mohammed.)

At this time we should remember that the Judeo-Christian Holy Scriptures have been translated 3,000 times (7), and in far too many cases altered just to suit very temporal agendas.

Statistically speaking - one or two translation versus the 3,000 translations of not very original texts (8) renders the "once translated text" as "original" as it could ever be.


Apparent inconsistencies in the Qur’an

Now it appears that confusion sets within the Qur’an - or is it that God has chosen not to reveal to Mohammed the reality of the Trinity (9)?

For those not familiar with Islam: Muslims do not believe in the Trinity, yet, one may read about it in the Qur’an.

In S. IV. 171 we read:

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion; nor say of God ought but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of God, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in God and His apostles. Say not "Trinity".

It is crystal clear: In the same paragraph where the Trinity is denied they speak of God the Father ("He bestowed on Mary"), the Holy Spirit ( "a spirit proceeding from Him") and Christ Jesus ("His Word") Actually, the Trinity is more clearly illustrated in the Qur’an than in the New Testament. Odd isn’t it?

This dichotomy of word and understanding can only be possible if God does not wish the children of Islam to understand the Trinitarian concept as of yet, and that is God’s prerogative. This obvious inconsistency, as should be expected, does not diminish the importance the Qur’an ascribes to Jesus and Mary and their mission as the Qur’an continues to uphold and defend them.

Another apparent major problem is a matter of terminology and lack of information.

Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God... And He is not, if one defines "son" or "daughter" as the product of the union of a male and a female of the human species.

In the Qur’an [S.IV. 171] we also read:

For God is One God; Glory be to Him: (Far exalted is He) above having a son."

Of course - God is The Uncreated Pure Spirit from Whom all issue. Obviously He did not "father" Jesus as a man would father a son. The incarnation of Jesus took place as quoted above which is the same that we find in any translation of the New Testament, i.e.

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary... For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her." [Matthew 1: 20]

and

"And the angel said to her in reply: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy child to be born will be called the Son of God’" [Luke 1: 35]

But why does this serious challenge appear in the Qur’an who speaks so highly of Jesus, and place Mary on a pedestal which not even the Christians have been able to match in the New Testament?

Simply because by the time God entrusted Mohammed to communicate His displeasure to the then known world, the Catholic Church was well into the road of corruption and self service (3)(4), and not in the service of God. In essence, normally functioning in direct contradiction to what Jesus taught through Matthew 6:24-34.


Some Specific Examples of Deviation

In Pagan mythology it was customary to believe that a "God" who resided in their Heaven equivalent would have physical intercourse with a human maiden with the offspring becoming a "lesser God", yet, a "God".

The by now well developed self-serving mentality of the Catholic Church Administration took advantage of such psychological predisposition of the pagan masses for the easy introduction and promotion of the new religion amongst them. They allowed the unspoken inference of such union between Heaven and Earth to stand.

What God tried to set straight utilizing the Prophet Mohammed was that Jesus Christ was not the offspring of His physical interaction with Mary as it was being subtlety inferred by default.

For the same ulterior motives, the Catholics (East and West) heavily promoted the concept of Mary being the Mother of God and later named Her Queen of Heaven. It fitted perfectly with the Pagan concept of a Supreme Mother Goddess (10) denounced by Jeremiah [Jeremiah 7:18], thus Christianity would be easier to promote in this fashion.

No doubt - Mary is the Mother of the Word of God manifested in Jesus, as we have theologically explained (11); but Mary IS NOT the prime cause nor is She Divine (though some have claimed this and many behave as if it were true). The only Prime Cause is the uncreated Creator - the Father.

Nonetheless, the implied concept, the Administrators thought, was more advantageous for the spread of their temporal power and control.

If you wish to have another example of the Paganization of Christianity consider the following...

The Cherubs that one does not seem to be able to get away from in traditional Catholicism (little children with wings) - Where do they come from? There is nothing Biblical that indicates that Cherubs are like that.

Those little and very traditional Catholic cherubs are no more and no less than the way the Pagans represented their god of love "Eros".

We wish to digress at this point and....


Let us Glorify God further...

Men of the Catholic Church have tried, utilizing marketing techniques as well as financial and brutal physical power, to "Evangelize" the world. [Even Mary had to intervene in México as Our Lady of Guadalupe to subtlety, but effectively, correct such behavior in the alleged Christianization of the New World.]

This was the result of their lack of true faith. If they had Faith in God, they would have acted as Jesus taught, and Don Bosco demonstrated (12), and, empowered by that Faith, the new religion, with the true and awesome Good News, would have spread like wildfire.

Unfortunately, it seems that the only "Faith" that the Church Administration was interested in promoting was:

"Have the Faith that if you give us your money and property your sins will be forgiven and you will have Eternal life, and the members of your family entrapped in Purgatory will be released soon."

Should we then be surprised that the Roman Church became the temporal power that it did? After passing off amongst the innocent faithful the Constantine Donation (4) as something real, they combined the Pharaonic Egypt and Imperial Rome into an Imperial Church with its own Pharaoh-Emperor: the Pope - a concept which even a true Egyptian Pharaoh rejected (13) and a condition Blessed Pope John XXIII started to dismantle through the Grace of God.

What is to the Glory of God, and certainly not of man, is that in spite of those abominable abuses carried out by the Administrators of the Roman Catholic Church, the pristine Catholic Faith reached the 20th Century. Unfortunately, that Faith is now being also tainted as the centuries old scandals and abuses and excesses of said Administrators come to light. Since the average individual does not have the intellectual or spiritual maturity to separate the Wheat (the Faith) - from the Chaff (the Administrators) their Faith suffers (14).

Now, back to the Qur’an and the exaltation of Jesus and Mary within it.


The Qur’an Exalts Mary

We have heard Catholics, priests included, who have referred to the children of Islam as "camel drivers". To those we have said and say:

While the Roman Catholic Church dithered for centuries about the Immaculate Condition of the Virgin Mary (and, finally, in the 19th Century the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was pronounced) these alleged "camel drivers" had that reality as part of their Holy Book - the Qur’an.

In S.III. 42 we read:

"Behold! The angels said: "O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee - chosen thee above the women of all nations."

Catholics should be so Blessed if the much hallowed Vatican and its almost adored Popes had acknowledged Mary’s highly exalted position and Immaculate condition 1600 years ago!

But all is not a "bed of roses" in the Qur’an either. In S. IV. 163 Jesus is lumped together with Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac... Solomon and David while, at the same time, in S. V. 49 they exalt Him above all:

"And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary , confirming the Law that had come before Him: We sent Him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before Him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God."


CONCLUSION

We may logically ask: "Why did God send Mohammed six hundred plus years after the establishment of the Catholic Church?" Or as some skeptics may ask: "Was Mohammed really sent by God?"

Let us review what was happening to the Church founded upon the Rock of Christ (15) by that time:

Mohammed came into the scene about two hundred years after the Church was "purchased" by Emperor Constantine and its decaying had set in. Not only history backs such statement but the Qur’an very clearly addresses it too. In S. IX. 31 we read:

"They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of God..."

And in S. IX. 34. We further read:

" O ye who believe! There are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder (them) from the Way of God. And there are those who bury silver and spend it not in the Way of God: announce unto them a most grievous penalty".

Such warning was given by Heaven ca. 1300 years before Mary started appearing (16) trying to get our attention about similar issues...

1300 years later the Roman Catholic Church was busily doling out three billion dollars, in the United States alone, to sweep under the rug the utilization of children of God as sex toys (17) by the so called Pastors who, in turn, were protected by the "Great White Shepherds" (18) like the late Cardinal Law (19), Cardinal Egan (20), Cardinal Levada (21) and many others who continue to be rewarded by the Vatican Leadership (22) for their loyalty to the Church and not to God.

Never mind that Mohammed relates to us in S. XXI. 91 what God stated about Mary:

"And (remember) Her who guarded Her chastity: We breathed into Her of Our Spirit, and We made Her and Her Son a Sign to all peoples."

Events seem to indicate that the Roman Catholic Church Administration may have understood this "sign" to be a "Dollar Sign"!


EPILOGUE

There is a problem that we have not touched here because it demands a whole document; however, we must mention it.

In the Qur’an (the English translation) (3) we read that Jesus was not crucified (and did not die) but in some verses one reads about His being raised up as well as the future resurrection for all. According to A. Yusuf Ali (3), the Islamic theologians cannot agree whether He was crucified or not - but, of course we Christians do know that...

"...He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, and on the third day He rose..."

Which, of course, brings us back to the original and central point of this document - Faith!

We must have Faith in God above all. Religion, whether Judaism, Christianity and Islam are only the means, the tools, for humans to reach God.

Religion with its symbols and props - the Vatican, Mecca, Medina, the Pope, the Wailing Wall, Rebekah’s Tomb, etc. - IS NOT our goal and objective. Our sole goal and objective was, is and must always be - God!

The condition of the world today accurately reflects what went fundamentally wrong with the Faith - be it Judaism, Christianity or Islam and God is not responsible for it. We are!


AN ADMONISHMENT TO ALL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

We wish to admonish and warn all religious leaders that, unless every effort is made to reconcile all religions (without having to lose their inherent identities and becoming one), freedom of religion as we know it - which you have translated to be the "Freedom to kill each other in the Name of God" - will be taken away from you, one way or another - which translates into "with your cooperation or by force."

You have played into satan’s hands for too long - do not let him perform a "Check mate".

Do not count on that god of yours, whom you claim has propelled you to decimate those who do not believe like you, to protect you. Unless you heed our warning you will fall prey to satan’s snare because the True and Living God, Who Is above all man-made gods, will allow satan to entrap you. (God has done this many, many times, as recorded by the Holy Scriptures, to bring to an end the abuses perpetrated in His Name.)

Make no mistake, do not look over your shoulder to see whom are we addressing! We addressing you - the Religious Leaders of Judaism, Christianity and Islam!

If you directly or indirectly incite hatred which may lead to injustice and the destruction of human life, you are not serving the True and Living God; you are serving satan, clothed in a false light, and whom you dare call god!



NOTES                
(1) Regarding the Catholic Faith, we believe that:
The Catholic Faith [practiced by the Church of East and West] is the one Faith which has the greatest concentration of Divinely Revealed Truths. By no means does it have them all since God is the only Plenitude of Truth. However, no other faith has as many Truths in its Spiritual Treasury as the Catholic Faith has.
The truths best upheld by the Catholic Faith include the reality of the Seven Sacraments; the practice of Indulgences; be it the reality of Purgatory; the truth about the Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, True God and True Man; the Apostolic Succession; the only male Priesthood; the no-abortion stand under any circumstances; the indissolubility of a proper Sacramental Matrimony, etc.
(2) About the split of the East and West Church in the year 1054 AD
(3) Quotations from the Holy Qur’an are from: "The Holy Qur’an"; Translation and Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali; American Trust Publications, 2nd Edition, ISBN No. 0-89259-006-8; Copyright June 1977
(4) Examples of some abuses and some excesses
(5) About Infallibility
(6) Casting doubt about the accuracy of the Holy Qur’an
(7) About Biblical Literalism
(8) About the Greek Originals of the New Testament
(9) The Secret Concept of the Most Holy Trinity
(10) "Queen of Heaven": The Assyro-Babylonian Ishtar, goddess of fertility, whose worship was introduced under King Manasseh and was revived after Josiah’s death. Cakes shaped like stars (Ishtar was identified with the planet Venus) were offered in her honor. In Ephesus the same goddess was known and very much honored as Artemis.
(11) The Theology of Mary, the Mother of God
(12) The Trajectory of St. John Bosco
(13) A Divine Message From 1400 B.C. sent by Pharaoh Akhenaten and delivered by Pharaoh Tutankhamon in 20th Century
(14) The Demise of the Faith
(15) The True Fundamental Rock of the Christian Church
(16) The many, and critical of the Church Administration, Apparitions of Mary
(17) The utilization of the children of God as sex toys
(18) The "Great White Shepherds" and no more than wolves in sheep’s clothing
(19) About Cardinal Law
(20) About Cardinal Egan
(21) Cardinal Levada’s Trajectory
(22) The Rewards by the Vatican leadership



Related Documents

Coherence is the key which unlocks Divine Wisdom

"What went wrong with the implementation of the Divine Plan?" - An Open Letter to H.H. John Paul II

Returning to Pre-Vatican II IS NOT the Answer

We cannot endorse H.H. John Paul II actions anymore

The Snare of One Universal Religion

The Jews did not crucify Jesus - the religious fanatics of the Temple did!

Letters of admonishment to the Catholic Hierarchy

The explanation of mysteries which allow us to better understand the spiritual domain



En Español:  El Judaísmo, el Cristianismo y el Islam no son incoherentes entre sí

Em Português: 
O único fundamento válido da Fé é Deus

Document originally published on September 23, 2003 - In the Eastern Catholic Church, today, the Conception of John the Baptist, is celebrated. • Edited for clarity and for a universal audience on November 7, 2003, on April 30, 2006 and on October 4, 2008


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