As a minister of the Gospel, I have a question that I was recently asked and I was curious if you had ever been asked the same: How can we preach a loving God and Christianity to Muslims if our God in the Old Testament was a violent God just as their Allah? I understand how and why God needed to show His power by using the small nation of Israel to show His power; however, I know individual Muslims can give a rebuttal that Allah is requiring them to do the same. I think it would help the brethren to have a collective answer to combat Islam.<\/p>\n\t
First, we need to understand that the physical violence advocated by Islam is totally different from how the New Testament teaches Christians to treat their neighbors and their enemies. See Understanding Islam<\/a>.<\/p>\n But is the God of the New Testament different from the God of the Old Testament? The answer the Bible gives is “No.” “Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail<\/em>” (Hebrews 1:12). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever<\/em>” (Hebrews 13:8).<\/p>\n The Bible never advocates personal vengeance as Islam does. Yes, in the Old Testament God punished the wicked, but it was God who made the decision, not man, even when God used men and their nations as tools for the punishment. See:\u00a0How can God command us not to murder when God murdered people in the Old Testament?<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Can God be fair if He doesn’t give a sinner another chance?<\/a> Also, when God saw the need to eradicate sin, it was for a limited time and in a limited region. Islam basically declares war against any contrary belief.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: As a minister of the Gospel, I have a question that I was recently asked and I was curious if you had ever been asked the same: How can we preach a loving God and Christianity to Muslims if our God in the Old Testament was a violent God just as their Allah? I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[90,361,362,268,200],"class_list":["post-45985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-god","tag-islam","tag-muslims","tag-old-testament","tag-violence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16830,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/nebuchadnezzars-dream-in-daniel-is-a-good-way-to-reach-muslims\/","url_meta":{"origin":45985,"position":0},"title":"Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel is a good way to reach Muslims","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Sir, the Muslims believe that Allah is the God of Abraham and the prophets. Although they err greatly by attempting to come to God without coming through Christ (John 14:6), nonetheless, Islam recognizes the God of the Old Testament. I have found Nebuchadnezzar's dream Book of Daniel to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28432,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-threat-of-militant-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":45985,"position":1},"title":"The Threat of Militant Islam","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andrew Roberts Biblical Insights, July 2007 Islam has been hijacked! We have heard that catchphrase often since 9\/11. From politicians to reporters to daytime talk show hosts, we have heard that a quiet, peace-loving, Middle Eastern religion has been kidnapped and corrupted by radicals who hate freedom. This idea\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17250,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-call-upon-you-to-obey-allahs-command-and-convert-to-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":45985,"position":2},"title":"I call upon you to obey Allah’s command and convert to Islam","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a former Christian who converted to Islam after reading the Qur'an with an open mind. I am now a devout Muslim. I write this letter to you so that you might consider converting to Islam and becoming a Muslim. Peace be upon he who follows the right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36606,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-allah-and-yahweh-the-same-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":45985,"position":3},"title":"Are Allah and Yahweh the same God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Many people believe that Allah and Yahweh are the same God though they have very different characteristics that I don't think they're the same.\u00a0 However, since the Arabs are Ishmaelites they obviously know God.\u00a0 Could it be that Allah is a partial interpretation of Yahweh that came about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36604,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-use-allah-for-god-in-malaysian-bibles\/","url_meta":{"origin":45985,"position":4},"title":"Is it wrong to use “Allah” for God in Malaysian Bibles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings, With the general election just around the corner here in Malaysia, many issues are being used as fodder including the issue of the use of the Arabic word for God in Malay translation of the Bible being used among native congregations. 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