Sarah Arnold, yesterday at Townhall.com reported that Hundreds of UCLA Students Converted to Islam and reported prayed Islamic prayers shouting "Allahu Akbar". the saying Allahu Akbar means Allah is the Greatest God. I am sure that these ignorant students do not realize this, but they are playing with fire.
I have said before that whoever Muhammad was speaking to in that cave, it wasn't an angel of God. Let me be more explicit; Allah is the Snake in the Garden of Eden. He is the very devil, and these students have just pledged themselves to him. Unlike Christianity which requires a catechism (course of instruction) it is easy to convert to Islam. But I will leave gentle readers to find out for themselves.
Hundreds of University of California of Los Angeles (UCLA) students converted to Islam and participated in a massive group prayer to Allah on Wednesday night.
Just before police officers moved in and dismantled defiant pro-terrorism protest encampments at UCLA, students said Muslim prayers as the sun set over the campus.
The pro-terrorism students chanted "Allahu akbar" during the prayer and chanted "Allah is the greatest" of all gods.
Fortunately, the True God of creation, who can not lie, is merciful, even if Allah is not. One can repent of such foolishness. But one has to repent and ask for forgivenness. I doubt these students will do so though.
Becoming a Christian requires a catechism? I've never seen that in my Bible. I'm not trying to be snarky or argumentative, just asking out of genuine curiosity.
ReplyDeleteEven in the early Christian church new Christians underwent a course of education to be sure they understood what they were agreeing to. Lutherans who baptize babies then go through 2 years of catechism before first communion. All protestant denominations are not so formal, but they should be. The Roman Catholic faith has similar catechism requirements.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it should be noted that the gates of Heaven are always open, but the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. In other words, people are there because they want to be.
Hope that helps,
Wade
Thank you for the reply, but I'm still having trouble understanding. You offer no scripture supporting this practice, and absent such, I have to conside it as what Christ spoke of in Mark 7, verse 7.
DeleteInteresting. I is always dangerous to use isolated verses as "proof verses," though I don't know if that is what you are doing. Looking at the entirety of Mark 7, the setting was the Pharisees noting that the disciples of Jesus ate without properly washing their hands (properly being not to cleans them of dirt but to purify them ritually). This referred to the 613 ritual rules the Pharisees believed should followed by every Jew in order for the Messiah to come. These are the ritual rules Christ is railing against here.
ReplyDeleteAs far as a specific catechism, or learning period, see Paul's conversion in the Acts. Paul spent time after striking him blind hearing Jesus admonish him for persecuting Him. How much time, and exactly what the learning consisted of is unknown. However, it seems to have been many months if not a year or so. In other places in the Epistles, there are hints that new converts were baptized and spent some time learning about the faith.
The term "catechism" is a Latin term coming from the Roman church. Whatever you call such learning, at a minimum, one must be sealed with Baptism, and when one takes Communion, it is the body and blood of Christ, not a mere symbol.
Thanks for commenting, and I hope that helps.
Wade
I wasn't using Mark 7 as a proof verse, as you termed it, just as what I see as the clearest explanation I reject any practice, requirement, tradition, etc. of any sect that has no foundation in scripture. As to Paul, it is my opinion that, given his history of zealously persecuting the early church, that God kept him there to make sure that He had Paul's attention. I may be wrong on that, as it's not spelled out in the Word anywhere that I can find. As for learning after being saved/baptized, we all spend a lifetime studying and learning after we are saved. That's our spiritual food, without which we will die spiritually. But I firmly believe that we become a part of His church the moment we repent of and forsake our sins. The thief who was crucified with Jesus was saved when he acknowledged Jesus in Luke 23:42-43. In Acts 2:41, it says that three thousand souls were added in one day. In verse 47 of the same chapter, it talks about adding to the church daily such as should be saved. Luke 7:50, Jesus tells the woman who washed his feet with her tears that her faith had saved her. These and many others do not speak of any delay or additional requirements. If I'm missing something, I want to learn and live accordingly. But in 1 John 4:1 we're instructed not to believe everything we might hear, so I try to measure everything to the Word of God. Thank you forbtaking the time to have this conversation.
DeleteThanks for posting again. You cause me to think and perhaps rethink my positions. You are absolutely right about the thief on the cross. Jesus has the power to forgive anyone at any time for any reason or no reason. And it is true that there is no actual mention of "catechism" in the Bible. We too believe in the word: Scripture alone, Faith alone, Grace alone, Christ alone. Cling to these and you will be saved.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I suspect that the requirement for catechism came about because Martin Luther had much to do to strip down the faith to as close as he could come to the original practices of the early church, before the Popes had added all their individual obligations. The people, remember, weren't allowed to read the Bible, even if the could, and even if they had one. But Luther was a Doctor of the Church, had read the Bible, and knew that the Pope was...well...a fraud. The average man or woman died being terrified that if he did not eat this on that day, or ate anything during fast days, or a thousand other things, he would not be saved. You and I owe this man considerable gratitude for his courage and strength. I am a very conservative Lutheran, not to be confused with the branch of Lutheranism that has gone off the rails.
Nice discussion,
Wade
I'd be interested in continuing and perhaps expanding this conversation if you're interested, but this is an awkward format for such. If you'd like to do so, my email address is alaskan454 at torguard dot tg. If you have no interest, no problem. I have enjoyed what we have already discussed here.
DeleteJames