If you have not read the blog regarding Sam Harris yet, then you will want to do that prior to reading this blog, as it is answering what was set up in that blog.
The question Sam Harris asked is why we do not believe in the God of Allah because the Qu’ran says Jesus was just a prophet and not divine. The first logical response is why should we believe the Qu’ran over the Bible. The ultimate question Sam is posing is whether Jesus is who the Qu’ran claims He is or whether Jesus is who the Bible claims He is. Because if Jesus is not who the Bible says He is then we should be concerned about whether or not we are following the right God.
The problem with answering Mr. Harris is where to start, because there is just so much information he is assuming within his comments. He is putting Christ and Muhammad on the same plane, which they are not. He is putting the Qu’ran and the Bible on the same playing field, which they are not. Just these two factors alone will dismantle his first objection. I will take the first part today: Christ is superior to Muhammad on many different levels.
Just looking at their lives will confirm that Christ is superior to Muhammad. Muhammad claimed he was a mere man; where Jesus claims to be God (Mark 14:61-64), and actually the Sura claims Jesus to be the Savior (5:17, 75). Jesus performed numerous miracles recorded in the Bible and secondary accounts in Jewish literature, where Muhammad performed no miracles and admits this in the Qu’ran.
Muhammad offered no sure hope of salvation, but guidelines for hopefully finding favor in Allah’s presence, as everything in the Muslim faith is predestined with no hope. Jesus provided a means for all to be saved if they wished. 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also died once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that he might bring us to God.” Muhammad spent the last 10 years of his life at war, forcibly making people convert to Muslim or die. Jesus never utilized violence, even to save His own life, and never forced anyone to accept Him as Savior. Muhammad was a polygamist, even exceeding the number allowed in his religion (four), but he did make sure that he added a verse in the Qu’ran to cover his sins (33:50). Jesus did not make an excuse for anything He did, nor did He have to because He did not sin.
Muhammad was notorious for violating his own laws about plundering caravans coming to Mecca and he engaged in retaliation and revenge, contrary to his own teaching. Lastly, Muhammad would seek forgiveness for himself a couple of times in the Qu’ran (40:55; 41:19; 48:2). There is no place in the Bible where Jesus seeks forgiveness for anything, but He did claim authority to forgive sins (MK 2:5-11).
Christ is the most unique person whoever lived, and there is no one like Him that has lived. No other teacher ever claimed to be God. No proof of any other great teacher has the proof of who they claimed to be as Christ did. No other true faiths or religions have offered salvation by faith, except Christianity. The ones that are around have copied Christianity and not vice-versa. No other leader has ever died for the sins of the people, and those that were not his followers (John 15:13; Rom. 5:6-8).
For Mr. Harris to even compare Muhammad to Christ is like comparing an apple to a Stealth Bomber. There is no comparison. Using the Muslim faith to presuppose that all religions are the same and thus there is no true religion is a straw-man argument and fails on every level, as no two religions are the same, though some may appear to have similar elements. If there are differences then one must be right and one must be false, and the goal should be to find truth.
In the end, we have to deal with Jesus and who He is. As Sam Harris states in his book, “Either the Bible is just an ordinary book, written by mortals, or it isn’t. Either Christ was divine, or he was not. If the Bible is an ordinary book, and Christ an ordinary man, the basic doctrine of Christianity is false” (L.T.A.C.N., 5).
Sam Harris acts as if he wants all faiths to go away, but his animosity is really with Christianity, as the rest of the book rarely mentions other faiths the way he mentions Christ. From this point on we will look at his other objections about Christianity. He really uses the Muslim faith to try and misdirect us from the core of the argument, Jesus Christ.
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