Is Paul a Hijacker of Early Christianity ?

Dear friends:
I highly recommend you to read the above book" Seeking Allah , Finding Jesus", just a few paragraphs from that book for you to sample.

Click the link below for more details:

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity

Feb 11, 2014

by Nabeel Qureshi and Lee Strobel

... Nabeel Qureshi had been taught to despise Paul as a hijacker of early Christianity (181), but now he started to ask himself why a devout Jew would turn Jesus into God. The core doctrine of Islam was the “oneness” of God. To call Jesus God was an unforgivable sin that led to hell. So this was a major issue.

Interestingly, it was his study of science at Old Dominion that made him realize that a Triune God was not out of the question. As he explains it, “One molecule of nitrate is three resonance structures all at the same time and never just one of them. They are three in one” (191). So why couldn’t one God be three persons at the same time?

He was further shaken by his study of the life of Muhammad. Allegiance to the prophet is allegiance to Islam and vice versa (203). Taught that Muhammad was a flawless man who all Muslims were to emulate, Nabeel discovered that, among other nasty things, Muhammad was a violent, petty leader who murdered without provocation, ordered his soldiers to rape the women they took captive in battle, and consummated marriage with a girl of only nine. What shocked him further was the fact that he got this negative information from Muslim sources, not Christian ones.

Qureshi writes:

It was then that I realized the value of apologetics and what arguments had done for me. All my life, barriers had been erected that kept me from humbly approaching God and asking Him to reveal Himself to me. The arguments and apologetics tore down those barriers, positioning me to make a decision to pursue God or not (241)

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus ( Best Seller)

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity

Feb 11, 2014

by Nabeel Qureshi and Lee Strobel

(  A few paragraphs from a Book Review)

...M- Main Arguments

Throughout the book the reader is treated to a thorough education of Islam and the various sects therein.  This reviewer was also surprised to learn the difference between Eastern Muslim thought and Western thought when it comes to the issue of authority.  As Qureshi writes:

"People from Eastern Islamic cultures generally assess truth through lines of authority, not individual reasoning.  Of course, individuals do engage in critical reasoning in the East, but on average, it is relatively less valued and less prevalent than in the West.  Leaders have done the critical reasoning, and leaders know best.  Receiving input from multiple sources and then critically examining the data to distill a truth is an exercise for specialists, not the common man." [p. 79]

This proved to be a hurdle that the author had to jump before he was able to properly investigate the questions of Jesus' deity and the historicity of His resurrection from the dead.  This reviewer was very impressed with the author's ability to effortlessly weave issues of historical methodology and philosophical argumentation, such as inference to the best explanation, into his personal narrative.

Arguments and questions dealt with in the book are many:

• The historicity of Jesus' death on the cross
• Jesus' deity
• Jesus' resurrection from the dead
• Does the Trinity make sense?
• The reliability of the Quran vs. the Bible
• Does the atonement make sense?
• and more!

One of the many instructive points of the book for this reader was when the author explained why one cannot assume that the Quran is the Islamic equivalent to the Bible.  Qureshi writes:

"If you can imagine God's mystery and wisdom, His power, depth, and perfection, His divine mandates and prophecies, all synergistically inhabiting the physical pages of a book, vivifying it with the very essence of God, you will begin to understand how and why Muslims revere the Quran...For Muslims, the Quran is the closet thing to an incarnation of Allah, and it is the very best proof they provide to demonstrate the truth of Islam.  The best parallel in Christianity is Jesus himself, the Word made flesh, and his resurrection.  That is how central the Quran is to Islamic theology." [p. 228]... 

For the whole article of this book review, please click the link below.

Truthbomb Apologetics: B.O.M.B. Book Review- Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Mulsim Encounters Chrisitanity by Nabeel Qureshi