Donald Hank
How to turn the tables on a Muslim proselytizer
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By Donald Hank
June 10, 2015

There is a reason why Muslims choose the sword over reason. It seems their religion does not lend itself to an objective approach in converting the infidel.

This morning when I opened the home page of my internet server, the whole page was taken up by a big ad for Islam, namely, a chat room for those desirous of converting.

http://www.islamreligion.com/chat-aud/?cmp=en-aud-world&kw=&pm=search.iminent.com&gclid=CN2zk9zPgsYCFYwYHwodwJEAZQ

Now note that today's major servers would never put up such an ad for a Christian organization to proselytize for Jesus. This is because our Western Liberal Establishment is openly anti-Christian and is working toward destroying traditional Western culture with Christianity as its centerpiece. But the fact that the liberal establishment advocates both for Islam and for the LGBT agenda, which strongly, sometimes violently, oppose each other, is good evidence that they are aware of the attractiveness of Christ's message and the historic accuracy of the Bible. They would allow a balanced discussion if Christianity could be defeated by logic, reason and marshaling of facts, but it cannot. After all, if the liberals were really for Islam per se, they could not be for LGBT or vice-versa. The only viable explanation for their apparent but insincere support for both is that both teachings are anti-Christian and share no other common traits. Of course, Western liberals are not liberals in the true sense of the word because they are more than willing to see people convert to a cruel and intolerant religion and also to its opposite, the LGBT agenda, but not to a message of peace and love that can be supported by objective means, ie, logic, reason and facts, and they do everything in their power to squelch honest debate. But in this way, they unwittingly support Christ's message by demonstrating its power and their own irrational fear thereof – suggesting they fear the wrath of a God whose existence they are trying desperately to deny, but failing.

In their push to convert Christians to Islam as part of their bigger program of de-Christianizing the West, the establishment uses our major internet servers as propaganda machines, by way of chat rooms.

The good news is that, if you master an effective technique, you can easily counter this movement by entering one of these chat rooms for people who wish to convert and following a protocol that I suggest in the following.

I entered the chat room for "conversion to Islam" and started out with satire, pretending, that non-Muslims are mean and cruel to Muslims. I told them my father vowed to kill me if I converted. They know that this can't be true because it is only Muslims who use these tactics and that will prick them in their conscience, suggesting they have nothing good to offer the Christian world. At this point, my interlocutor was off balance and struggling to deal with this unconventional opponent.

I said I was told by a Muslim friend (fictitious) that Allah was a loving and forgiving God (see our conversation below). Notice that when I suggested that, he initially ignored it, because no one ever claimed that Allah was loving and forgiving and that is one reason why Islam cannot convert Christians by proselytizing. But he later hesitatingly said that I was right, stretching the truth to beyond its tensile limit and averring that Allah is "loving and forgiving." He knew that if he said Allah was a vengeful and hateful god, he would lose me.

I then said my Muslim friend had told me that Allah had sent his son to die for us and redeem us of our sins. (I said this for a reason, see below).

This, of course, he denied because the contention that God could not have a son is a cardinal point in the Muslim catechism..

Now you need to know something important about Islam and its Achilles heel. It has painted itself into a corner by claiming that the Bible (which proclaims Christ as the Son of God) was true but that it was changed by those who came after Jesus. This makes them Bible believers – sort of – and gives them an inroad in their conversion of unwary Christians. Note in the below conversation that Ahmed was on the defensive throughout as I challenged this tenet of his faith.

Effective Technique for Turning the Tables on Muslims Trying to Convert You:

Here is what you need to say to any Muslim who tries to convert you:

Politely tell them you understand that Muslims believe the Old Testament given to Jesus was true but that the message was changed by those who came after Him. (Don't let them drag you off this one vital issue. You need to avoid the temptation to discuss other aspects of their faith or the Bible or insist that your view is right or tell them why you don't believe in Allah, which BTW, is just the Arabic word for God, used also by Arab Jews and Christians to refer to the Almighty. Especially don't get into that confusing "Moon God" theory).

They will say that is true, that the Bible was distorted.

Ask them if they also believe the Jews changed parts of the Old Testament.

They will say that is true.

Then ask them how it is possible that the parts of the Old Testament found near the Dead Sea, known as the Dead Sea scrolls, which were written before Christ, convey the same message as those same parts that we read today in our Old Testament.

Note Ahmed's response to this question below. Muslims can't answer this.

This fact is absolutely crucial, because if, as they maintain, Jesus had a true copy of the Old Testament, but if that copy was the same as we know today – which they deny but which is demonstrated by the Dead Sea scrolls – then the pillar on which their teaching rest is destroyed and, since the claim to believe the Bible but not to know what it said before it was "changed," they are then compelled to accept the Bible as it is known today. Jesus also was able to read and quote those portions that prophesy His coming. This fact reinforces the hypothesis that Jesus' words as recorded in the New Testament are accurate and were not distorted or changed, contrary to Muslim teachings. The Dead Sea scrolls show that He was actually quoting the Old Testament as we know it, not a distorted version, and some of these, such as Isaiah 53:3, are unmistakable references to His life. In fact, how could He be reported to have quoted the Old Testament that we know today if that copy was distorted and if the New Testament containing these quotes was also distorted, as they also claim?

Without this unfounded teaching that the Old Testament was distorted, Islam's whole theological edifice collapses.

On the positive side, these Muslims who try to convert us online are actually scholars who know a lot about our Bible and Muslim teachings, and therefore have a certain scholarly and objective approach to the truth. Note that Ahmed did not become belligerent when I confronted him with these facts. He was in fact surprised and promised to research the Dead Sea scrolls. I am certain he will do so, at least in order to respond to others who confront him. Of course, he has the option to manufacture a new excuse as to how the Bible got changed without really being changed, but the excuses are wearing even thinner than they were to begin with.

The real sticking point for Muslims is that the Great Isaiah scroll, found as part of the Dead Sea scrolls, is dated as having been written before Christ, both by radiocarbon and by paleography, thus giving the lie to the Muslim contention that it was changed by "those who came after Christ."

The Hebrew-language Isaiah scroll in particular, which matches quite well with the Masoretic texts on which the Hebrew-to-English translation of the King James and later versions of the Bible are based, contains a text in Chapter 53, verses roughly 3 through 9, that foreshadows the life of Christ with uncanny accuracy.

You can see in translation a comparison of the Dead Sea Isaiah scroll with the Masoretic text here (Hebrew scholars tell us that the differences in the original are mainly grammatical. Thus the basic message is the same, at variance with Muslim teachings):
    Sample: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:3
My chat with Ahmed at this site (which may or may not be available when you read this):

http://www.islamreligion.com/chat-aud/?cmp=en-aud-world&kw=&pm=search.iminent.com&gclid=CN2zk9zPgsYCFYwYHwodwJEAZQ

Please wait for a site adviser to respond.

Ahmad: Hello. Welcome to IslamReligion.com.

Ahmad: How may I help you today?

you: Hello Ahmed,

Ahmad: how can I help? :)

you: I am interested in converting but my father said he would kill me if I did.

Ahmad: you dont have to tell your father if you fear from him

Ahmad: but you should convert if you believe that Islam is the truth

Ahmad: and we can help you convert here

you: But I want him to know the good news of Allah.

Ahmad: tell him slowly

Ahmad: so that he can accept it

you: I want everyone to know that Allah loves us and wants to forgive us our sins

Ahmad: may Allah bless yo

Ahmad: you

you: Thank you.

Ahmad: you're most welcome

Ahmad: so would you like to convert?

you: Well, I have been told by a Muslim friend that Allah is a loving and forgiving Gd

Ahmad: thats true

you: and that he sent his son to die for our sins.

Ahmad: no

Ahmad: God does not have a son

Ahmad: Can I have your e-mail address, please? I'd like to send you some recommended readings.

you: My understanding is that Muslims believe the Bible.

Ahmad: no

Ahmad: we believe in the bible that was given to Jesus

Ahmad: not the bible we have today which has been changed by man

you: Who changed it?

Ahmad: the people who came after

you: Was it the scribes?

Ahmad: people later on

Ahmad: like Paul

you: when did they change it?

you: So the Old Testament that we have today is not accurate?

Ahmad: no

Ahmad: Some scholars say so many revisions occurred in the 100 years following Jesus' death that no one can be absolutely sure of the accuracy or authenticity of the Gospels, especially of the words the authors attributed to Jesus himself. -Jeffery L. Sheler

Ahmad: this is what bible scholars say

Ahmad: The gospels are not eyewitness accounts -Allen D. Callahan, Associate Professor of New Testament, Harvard Divinity School

Ahmad: Thats why the bible has contradictions as well

you: and did these people change the Old Testament?

Ahmad: Christian Scholars Recognize Contradictions in the Bible

Ahmad: http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/584/viewall/

Ahmad: Misquoting Jesus (video)

Ahmad: http://www.islamreligion.com/videos/2406/

Ahmad: 101 Contradictions in the Bible

Ahmad: http://www.missionislam.com/comprel/biblecontra.html

you: the people who came after Jesus?

Ahmad: Yes

Ahmad: they changed the original message

you: Let me see if I understand. The people who came after Jesus changed the Old Testament too?

Ahmad: Yes

Ahmad: and this is no secret

Ahmad: you can research this

Ahmad: the bible has been changed many times

you: So the people who came after Jesus changed the Bible many times?

Ahmad: yes

Ahmad: many things were added

Ahmad: and many removed

you: Are you sure it was not the people who came before him?

Ahmad: we dont even have the original language the bible was reveled in

Ahmad: the Jews changed the old testament before him as well

Ahmad: but after Jesus

you: When did they do that?

Ahmad: people changed the new testament and the old as well

Ahmad: Bible Scholars admit that the Bibles have been altered (not translation issues-but content)

Ahmad: Daniel B. Wallace (A Bible Scholar) has taught Greek and New Testament courses on a graduate school level since 1979. He has a Ph.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary, and is currently professor of New Testament Studies at his alma mater. He is the senior New Testament editor of the NET Bible. Dr. Wallace is also the Executive Director for the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. He says that the Bibles we have today are not all the same, and have verses missing, and even entire parts. He also states that no serious student of the Bible would ever declare otherwise (about the Bibles being unaltered) He gives several examples of the differences between versions, and some examples of missing data from one version to another. https://bible.org/article/why-so-many-versions

Ahmad:

you: Ok, I am a translator and understand these things. I have read the New Testament in the original Greek and know that the manuscripts differed some and that Bible translators had to decide which were most likely the authentic versions (which did not vary substantively), but here is my problem. You say that people changed both the New and the Old Testament. However, the parts of the Dead Sea scrolls, which predate Jesus, are almost completely identical to those parts that we read today.

you: I mean: you said that the people who came after Jesus also changed the Old Testament. But the Dead Sea scrolls show that the differences are only minor and do not change the basic message.

Ahmad: For example the trinity was added to the bible

Ahmad: Who Invented the Trinity?

Ahmad: http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/600/viewall/

you: Thank you for that. I will check it out.

you: But you didn't answer my concerns about the Dead Sea scrolls. [THE SUCCESS OF A DEBATE DEPENDS ON NOT BEING DRAGGED INTO ISSUES FOR WHICH YOU ARE UNPREPARED OR KNOW LITTLE ABOUT. NOTE HOW I IGNORED THIS ISSUE OF THE TRINITY HERE. I WOULD TACKLE IF LATER IF I HAD TO, BUT I AM SETTING A TRAP HERE AND HE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET OUT OF IT]

Ahmad: I'm not really sure about the dead sea scrools [THE DEBATE HAS TURNED AND HE IS LOSING AS OF NOW]

Ahmad: scrolls

Ahmad: i will have to read about them

you: I appreciate your sense of scholarship, Ahmed.

Ahmad: thank you for listening

you: I hope you will let the truth lead you.

Ahmad: may God bless us all and guide us to the truth

you: Amen! [I SAY THIS WITH ALL SINCERITY, OF COURSE. I KNOW THE TRUTH AND AHMED MAY LEARN IT, WITH GOD'S HELP]

Ahmad: Can I have your e-mail address, please? I'd like to send you some recommended readings.

you: my address is zoilandon@msn.com [I AM NOT AFRAID TO GIVE HIM MY ADDY BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT HE SENDS, IT CANNOT DISPROVE WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. THE CONTENTION THAT OUR BIBLE IS A DISTORTION IS THE KEY TO THEIR "FAITH" AND I HAVE PROVEN IT IS FALSE.]


© Donald Hank

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
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Donald Hank

Until July of 2009, Don Hank was operating a technical translation agency out of his home in Wrightsville, PA. He is now retired and residing in Panama with his wife and daughter.

A former language teacher, he holds an undergraduate degree in French and German from Millersville State University (PA), a Master's degree in Russian language and literature from Kutztown State College (also in PA), has studied Chinese for 3 years in Taiwan at the Mandarin Training Center, and is self-taught in other languages, having logged a total of 8 years abroad in total immersion situations.

He is also the founder of Lancaster-York Non-Custodial Parents, a volunteer organization that provides Christian counseling for non-custodial parents.

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