Rebuttal to Walid's book's "Here is the Beef" section:
He wrote:
I understood Islam, and believed in the teachings of the Quran, yet after examining these evidences, I knew that the Quran in the balances was found to be wanting. It does not match the required evidence demanded by the Bible to be warranted as divine. The Quran does not compare when it comes to Biblical evidence. Since God is 100% Truth, he sent the Bible with four different elements, that no other book in the world has. These elements are: Manuscript evidence, Archeological evidence, Prophetic evidence, and the evidence of science in the Bible (MAPS). Muslims claim the Quran has the last (Science), which I challenge later in this writing.
My response:
No Muslim on earth would deny that previous Revelations were revealed. The Bible does have a lot of Truth in it, but unfortunately, it does also have some falsehood or man-made alterations and corruption in it. Please visit: What parts of the Bible do Muslims believe are closest to the Truth? and Why?
He wrote:
I would like to address the prophetic evidence for now, and ask the reader to examine it as Islam encourages.
The Bible is the only religious book in existence that dared to detail thousands of prophecies. These prophecies varied, some concerning the rise and fall of world empires. many prophecies of the Bible have already been fulfilled.
My response:
Not all of the Bible's Prophecies were Truthful. Some of them were false! Take for instance the prophecy about Jesus being born from a maid. Mary was not a maid. Take also the Prophecy about Jesus being disfigured beyond human recognition before getting pierced. Jesus was never disfigured to a point where no one could recognize him!
The Bible is narrations and stories. Some of them were false and some of them were proven to be True.
He wrote:
In no other religious literature will you find hundreds of detailed predictions that have been fulfilled precisely as they were predicted. No human has ever presented such detailed predictions of future events. Those who point to the occasional lucky guess of Nostradamus, Jean Dickson, and other false prophets ignore the hundreds of totally incorrect predictions they also made. Henry C. Roberts, the editor of The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus, (Jericho NY: Nostradamus, Inc. 1976) and one of the strongest supporters of Nostradamus admitted in his introduction that these prophetic writings are "unintelligible and garbled to the uninitiated. The strange, broken, and often incoherent nature of the quatrains, both in French and English, is the hallmark of prophetic media." Edgar Cayce, the so-called American sleeping prophet, who made many false claims on locating oil wells or mineral deposits.
Even today forecasting the near future markets is an unpredictable gamble. All man made prophecy and attempt to predict future has been fruitless, the best man have made can be obtained at your local Chinese restaurant when you get a bill with Chinese fortune cookies.
My response:
Really, the only big thing that happened that *seemed* to be a fulfillment of a Biblical Prophecy is the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. Otherwise, most of the Bible's "Prophecies" don't even have much substance.
He wrote:
God claims that the ability to predict and fulfill prophecy is a unique attribute of His nature, as He said: "For I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, `My council shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure'" (Isaiah 46:9-10).
In this passage, the prophet Isaiah declares that only God foreknew future events, He also declares them and then brings them to pass. Also God said: "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." (Matthew 5:18).
The idea of Bible Prophecy is that God have drawn out his plan prior to it's execution (from the beginning), as to prove when they happen, that God is in control, and that's real evidence.
In another verse God challenges you from the Bible: "Present your case, says the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show us the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us the things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination." (Isaiah 41:21-24).
So, the God of the Bible challenges you, will you accept the challenge? And he continues in chapter 42 verse 9: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them." God sees all of history; past present and future. He does not guess what the future holds, he knows!
God said that the only way to know his true message is predictive prophecy, and if that very element is missing then do NOT believe that prophet. These prophecies have to be very unique, not just a general guess as you see all false prophets do. For God to manifest His love and will for mankind, he must make Himself known personally in such a way that a finite man would realize beyond a shadow of doubt that the infinite God was revealing Himself. This irrefutable verification is reserved to only the Judeo-Christian Scriptures alone. No honest person can remain an unbeliever after even a brief study of prophecy, and prophecy is the missing element in ALL other sacred scriptures of the world's religions. Although they are claimed to be in the Quran, an honest research and comparison with the Bible will surely prove this point.
Not even the Hindu Vedas, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Book of Mormon, the sayings of Buddha, the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, can match Biblical prophecy. By contrast, prophecy comprises about 25% of the Bible (8,352 verses). No other religious book can produce the same, or in simple terms, where's the beef?
My response:
You said: "God said that the only way to know his true message is predictive prophecy, and if that very element is missing then do NOT believe that prophet."
This is not true, because GOD Almighty in Isaiah 48:6-9 said that He will decide on things that are new and were not foretold before in the Bible:
"You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? "From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, 'Yes, I knew of them.' You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth. For my own name's sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. (From the NIV Bible, Isaiah 48:6-9)"
Back to my rebuttal to Walid's "Dear Muslim, Let Me Tell You Why I Believed" Book.