When the Bible says that Jesus is the Rock of our Salvation, it’s not kidding. Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity. If it were to be proved that Jesus didn’t die on the Cross and rise again then Christianity would crumble. Fortunately, there is a solid case backing the cornerstone of our faith. This is what makes Christianity so unique. It can be disproved. All other faiths are based on ideologies or statements, but Christianity is based on a fact which proves the validity of the ideologies and statements spoken by Christ.
Interestingly enough, Christianity really can’t be proved either. Since we base our faith on the absence of a body, we really can’t prove that Christ was resurrected since we don’t necessarily have any physical evidence. This doesn’t mean we don’t have a strong case, however. Everything about what happened just a few days after Christ’s death points towards his resurrection. The empty tomb, the disciple’s radical response, and the lack of counter-evidence. Because of all of this, no one has been able to make a sufficient counterclaim as to what happened that morning the tomb was found empty.
Proving Christ’s resurrection is a lot harder when you can’t use the Bible as fact, but this is no longer the story after you have shown your Muslim friend that the Bible hasn’t been changed (as I discussed in Part 4). With the Bible as a reliable resource, the truth is blatantly clear, which is nice because the bulk of debate between Muslim’s and Christians rests on Jesus. Did he claim to be God? Did he actually die on the Cross? Was he resurrected on the 3rd day?
Before I continue on, I must warn you to be patient when sharing your faith with a Muslim. Do not get frustrated when you have to repeat everything you said the day before, or when a Muslim rejects your words without excuse. Put yourself in their shoes. They have to face the possibility of rejecting the religion that is so near and dear to their hearts and possibly getting disowned, killed, or even sent to hell. Doubting Islam is one of the worst sins a Muslim can commit.
“To prove and defend your faith, direct all criticism to Christ, his declaration of divinity, and his resurrection. He can stand up for himself.”
When it comes to discussing with Muslims these three points of debate, it is also important to know that a Muslim generally knows several Bible Verses to prove their point, so prepare beforehand. Though they study reasons why they are right, they don’t often study opposing theories that could show how they are wrong. For example, they might quote several verses that seem to state that Jesus is not calling himself God, such as praying to God (because how can you pray to yourself?). Or where Jesus says that The Father is greater than he. But most Muslims know nothing about the verses where Jesus does call himself God, like in Mark 2:10 where Jesus says that “the Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins,” which is something only God can do. So, if a Muslim quotes a bunch of verses to you, don’t assume this means they are well-versed. It’s quite possible that they haven’t read the Bible and have only heard these verses from one of their many highly-honored Muslim apologists.
There are tons of other verses that in various ways show Jesus’ divine character. I could spend hours defending this, and proving Christ’s death and resurrection, but there are far more educated people who could do a much better job, like this article by Bible.org. It would also be worthwhile to read up on what the Muslim idea is as far as what happened with Christ and the cross. Here is one page that explains one view, skipping through verses to prove the point that they want to prove and ignoring the verses that state otherwise.
To prove and defend your faith, direct all criticism to Christ, his declaration of divinity, and his resurrection. He can stand up for himself. Thousands of brilliant men and women have tried to disprove Christianity over the years, most of them died without succeeding and many others trusted in Christ after seeing the evidence.
To close this topic, I also want to inform you of some of the many false ideas that Muslims have about what we believe in regards to Jesus. By covering some of these false ideas, you can help a Muslim see why it isn’t preposterous to think that Jesus is God. Muslim’s think Christians believe:
- God had relations with Mary to produce Jesus. Of course, this is false, God isn’t limited to how humans reproduce. The Bible even confirms this by saying that Mary was still a virgin. That was the prophecy that Jesus would be born of a virgin: someone who has never had sex.
- There are three Gods. This is understandable, as the Trinity is confusing especially for those who don’t know much about it. It is important to remember that God is one being in three persons. Refer to John chapter one for a more clear, and yet confusing description.
- Man can become God. False, man cannot become God, but God can become a man. Even Muslims believe God can do anything.
- God wouldn’t become a man. They say this because they think it’s ridiculous. They would compare it to a king deciding to live out in the slums of his kingdom for 30 years rather than in his palace. And they are right, that doesn’t make sense, why would God give up his throne to become a man? But that’s why it is important to show God’s love. If God deeply loved his people, and the only way to save them was through dying in their place, wouldn’t a perfectly loving God do that? If I know the Muslim REALLY well and they say that God wouldn’t do that and, I would add “Then I guess my God is more loving than yours,” in a joking manner.
- Dying on the Cross is too dishonorable for God to command it of his loyal messenger. Yes, it was dishonorable, but Jesus had to in order for our shame to be covered. Jesus willingly chose to be shamed in such a horrible way because he loves us too much to see us be separated from him.
Click here for Reaching Muslims Part 6: Piercing Hearts
