Facing the Muslim Challenge

A Handbook of Christian-Muslim Apologetics

by

John Gilchrist

2002
first print 1999

[ Life Challenge Africa, PO Box 23273, Claremont/Cape Town 7735, Rep of South Africa ]

Contents


Introduction
 
 The Christian-Muslim Cutting-Edge 5
 The Christian Response: Right Methods and Approaches8
 
1.    The Integrity of the Bible
 
 The Textual Authenticity of the Qur’an and the Bible
 
 1.1     The Ancient Biblical Manuscripts17
 1.2     The Early Different Qur’an Codices20
 1.3     The Passages in Mark 16 and John 823
 1.4     Missing Passages from the Qur’an26
 1.5     Variant Readings in the New Testament29
 1.6     Evidences of Qur’anic Variant Readings32
 
 Biblical Contents and Teaching
 
 1.7     Apparent Errors in Biblical Numerics35
 1.8     The Authorship of Matthew’s Gospel38
 1.9     The Variety of English Translations41
 1.10    The Genealogy of Jesus in the Gospels43
 1.11    Biblical "Pornography" and Obscenities46
 
 The Qur’an in Relation to the Bible
 
 1.12    The Jewish and Christian Scriptures49
 1.13    Tahrif – The Allegations of Corruption52
 1.14    The Tawraat, Injil and Qur’an55
 1.15    The Old and New Testaments in the Bible58
 
2.    The Doctrine of the Trinity
 
 The Christian Doctrine of God
 
 2.1     Biblical Origins of the Trinitarian Doctrine63
 2.2     The Incomprehensible Nature of God66
 2.3     The Unity of God: The Basis of the Trinity69
 2.4     Does the Doctrine have Pagan Origins?72
 2.5     The Father, Son and Holy Spirit74
 2.6     The Qur’an and the Christian Doctrine78
 
3.    Jesus the Son of the Living God
 
 The Deity of Jesus Christ in the Bible
 
 3.1     The Qur’anic Rejection of Jesus’ Deity81
 3.2     The Son of God in a Metaphorical Sense?84
 3.3     Biblical Limitations on the Son of God87
 3.4     The Unique Sinlessness of Jesus89
 3.5     Old Testament Prophecies of his Deity92
 3.6     "Flesh and Blood have not Revealed This"95
 
4.    The Crucifixion and the Atonement
 
 The Historical and Spiritual Issues
 
 4.1     The Consequences of Man’s Fallen Nature99
 4.2     Do Christians Enjoy a License to Sin?102
 4.3     The Young Ruler and the Commandments105
 4.4     The Substitution Theory in the Qur’an108
 4.5     The Swooning Theory of Muslim Apologists111
 4.6     What Really was the Sign of Jonah?114
 
5.    Muhammad in the Bible?
 
 Muslim Arguments from Biblical Texts
 
 5.1     The Prophet Like Moses in Deuteronomy 18117
 5.2     Jesus – The Prophet Foretold by Moses120
 5.3     The Prophet From Among their Brethren123
 5.4     Jesus’ Promise of the Coming Comforter125
 5.5     "His Name Shall be Ahmad" in the Qur’an128
 5.6     The Holy Spirit: The Promised Comforter131
 
6.    The Gospel of Barnabas
 
 The Spurious Gospel in Islamic Apologetics
 
 6.1     Muslim Interest in the Gospel of Barnabas135
 6.2     Medieval Origins Proving it is a Forgery137
 6.3     Other Evidences Against its Authenticity140
 6.4     The Original Authorship of the Gospel142
 6.5     Paul and Barnabas in the Book of Acts145
 
Bibliography

The complete book can also be downloaded as a zip file.
Citation template for bibliographies:— Gilchrist, John. Facing the Muslim Challenge, 2nd Edition, Life Challenge Africa, Cape Town, 2002 (www.answering-islam.org/Gilchrist/Challenge/).
Hardcopies of this book can be ordered from the publisher.

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