Muhammed as Spirit of Truth: A Christian Testimony Against Islamophobia

(This message is in response to a friend’s invitation to comment on the article by Ian Mevorach. I have used the title of his article for my own article here.)

Thank you, Abhi, for calling my attention to this post. I will gladly contribute a comment.

As a disciple of Jesus I not only reject, but I oppose any and all manner of persecution against Muslims. My rejection and opposition is in keeping with what Jesus himself taught and which I have embraced as his disciple, but also what he clearly demonstrated to the disciples. One, he never urged or encouraged the Jews to revolt against Rome, and two, when Peter thought to take up the sword and kill those who came to arrest Jesus he was stunned to hear his Master exhort him to put away his sword.

There is nothing new in Ian Mevorach’s message including the pitch about islamophobia. The message is the same erroneous 1) message embraced by Muslims in an effort to force-fit Muhammad and Islam into the New Testament scriptures, and 2) an erroneous message to which some Christians capitulate and perpetuate. Ian is among those who have capitulated, because despite his titles which might suggest he has an understanding of the scriptures he is as ignorant concerning his call for Christians to embrace Islam.

First, his embrace of the mistaken about the utter flakiness of “positively identifying Jesus with Muhammed.” I will grant Mevorach among some Christians who speak with little or no knowledge of the scriptures “positively identifying” is a wide, all-purpose catch-all for slew of things. It is not limited to Islam. The specific reason for this embrace according to Mevorach is based on the familiar mistaken force-fit theological attempts of Muslims to read Muhammad into the words of Jesus as being, the spirit of truth. There are two simple reasons why this is as blatant an error and deception.

1. The gospel of John makes it clear that the “spirit of truth” (John 14:17) is the same as the to whom Jesus refers to as the Helper, Holy Spirit, and Comforter. (Let’s spare ourselves the feeble, muddled efforts to drive the counter argument from the isolated word “comforter" from the Greek language.)
2. This same spirit of truth/Helper/Holy Spirit/Comforter whom Jesus said he would ask the Father  to send and who would be sent to the disciples after Jesus ascended back to the Father is reiterated _ _ with a very interesting a specific time frame. In the opening verses (Acts 1:1-8) of the book of Acts after his resurrection and just before his ascension back to the Father (verse 9) Jesus reiterates to the disciples the promise of the Father to send, he states specifically, the Holy Spirit. Jesus instructs them to wait because for the fulfillment of that promise, “NOT MANY DAYS FROM NOW.” (verse 5)

The question which Muslims (you remember this was in IFD discussions, Abhi) who are quick to pick and choose select, isolated verses from the New Testament is this one: What part of those words of Jesus in verse 5 would lead any reasonable person to think that he meant the fulfillment, as Muslims argue, was to be six centuries later and “not many days from now, that is, from the moment he spoke those words?

Second, the embrace to which Ian Mevorach calls Christians supposedly once they acknowledge they “how wrong we have been” is a farce. The reason it is a farce is because while Mevorach may think he can have it both ways, the truth is that is his own conflated message. He is attempting to join the message proclaimed AFFIRMED by Jesus and the apostles of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus with the message of Islam which DENIES the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. I understand and I am familiar with the Muslim claim that they believe in Jesus and which deceives many Christians like Ian, but just what is left of the gospel message when it has been gutted of the death, burial and resurrection message.? A lie is what is left.

Lastly, the acts of John of Damascus, Martin Luther, Thomas Aquinas, and St. Francis of Assisi were reflect their ignorance and hate. Similarly, any such acts by contemporary Christians towards Muslims or Jews, as I have cited from the example of Jesus, were neither a practice, teaching nor encouragement by Jesus or the apostles to persecute Jews or Muslims. (who weren't around in the first century) The reference to Jews by Jews in the gospel of John as "children of the devil" was never taken up as license by the Christians to persecute the Jews. The reality is that it was the Jews who rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior whose ignorance and hate resulted in the persecution of Christians. Once again, the Muslim attempt to force-fit themselves and equate themselves in the same place as the Jews who suffered the Holocaust and other persecutions is poor. It  is poor because it reflects an ignorance similar to that of the persecutors. It reflects no understanding of the scriptures and plays solely on the ignorance and hatred of some in the name of God throughout history.