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Do Christians And Muslims Really Worship The Same God?

...Declares salvation for every nation (Acts 10:34–35). Allah’s stance on Christians and Jews: Commands fighting them until they submit and pay a tax (Surah 9:29). Declares curses and anger upon them (Surah 5:60). Sahih Muslim Hadith 6665 even states that Allah will place Muslims’ sins on Jews and Christians to punish them instead. These teachings cannot both reflect the same God. 5) Can God Be Seen? What the Bible and Qur’an Say A final and often overlooked difference between YHWH and Allah lies in how (or if) God can be seen or encountered. The Bible: God Became Visible in Christ The Bible teaches that while God is Spirit a...

Is there salvation for fallen angels?

...I've seen and heard this question asked numerous times before, and I've even wondered it myself in my earlier years as a new Christian. Is there salvation for angels and can demons go back to their previous, uncorrupted state? 2 Corinthians 11:14And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. As far as scripture is concerned, Satan can pretend to be angelic for the sake of deceit, but that's about it. There's no mention of redemption for angels or demons — that's the long and short of it. So let's explore four areas of Scripture to see what we do know. #1 They have been imprisoned for judgement by God. 2 Peter 2:4For if God did...

BOOK REVIEW: Four Views on Hell 2nd edition

...e in that salvation…Actual existential participation of all people in salvation is not a present reality, it lies in the future.” (109, italics his) Moving on to the hell topic, Parry insists that God’s justice is all about salvation, not merely punishment or retribution: “While retribution may possibly be a necessary condition of justice, it cannot be a sufficient condition, because retribution cannot undo the harms done and put right the wrongs.” (113) He then surveys OT accounts of ‘doom, then healing’ foretold for Israel and nations such as Moab and Egypt, from which he derives “the pattern of judgment followed by restoration.”(114, ita...

Jesus, Mithras and Ancient Roman Cults: Separating Fact from Fiction

...work for salvation is achieved by and through Jesus, we don’t work or do things to attain that salvation. We also know what the seven grades of initiation into Mithraism were called, thanks to Jerome listing them out in chapter two of his letter To Laeta: Those I mean by which the worshippers [of Mithras] were initiated as Raven, Bridegroom, Soldier, Lion, Perseus, Sun, Crab, and Father? It’s not unusual for religions to have special rites and rituals, but since we know very little about Mithraism, it’s really impossible to make any proper claims that it is similar to Christianity in any meaningful way. Death and Resurrection While there are no expl...

Lent Day 18: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 1-9

...out their salvation. Avoid slipping back into the ways of the “old man” (our pre-conversion mindset and lifestyle), and instead stand strong “in the footsteps of a conquering Christ” so we can avoid the nets of death and instead “possess the immortality that we have received” – which we do by keeping the commandments of Jesus, “whereby death is driven out and overcome” (Matthew 19:17), and go from slaves to sin to friends of God (John 15:14). What could me more “crafty”, he goes on to say, than someone, inspired by the enemy, who invents “heresies and schisms” under the very name of “Christian” to deceive those who are weak in the...

The Deity of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew - Part 1

...ehovah is salvation) because he himself is going to be doing the saving. As if this is not enough, the word is not only included but also placed in the emphatic position at the beginning of the phrase. In Greek, the word to be emphasised is placed at the beginning. Beyond all doubt, the angel is identifying Jesus himself as Jehovah who saves! Further, the Old Testament states that it is Jehovah who will save Israel from their sins, Israel being the group most naturally understood to be “his people” in verse 21 contextually (in both historical and religious contexts of the writing of Matthew and the events themselves). That Jehovah himself will save Israel...