Bible Discussion – AlJumuah Magazine

Rectifying Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 24

We continue our series on the story of how Christianity veered off the monotheistic path adhered to by Jesus. Instead of remaining faithful to the teaching of Jesus hiimself, Church officials defended the teachings of Paul. Accordingly, they built their doctrine preferring…

Rectifying “Monotheism” In Interfaith Exchange – Part 23

The Christian’s Gospel according to John is prefaced with a Greek philosophy-oriented ‘Prologue’ (John. 1:1-18), which we have referenced repeatedly in this series. According to this passage, a supposed, one-time embodiment of God in human history—what is said to have become God’s…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 22

We continue discoursing the resolution of the fine print in the Church’s doctrine of the ‘divinity’ of Jesus. The ‘Greek Fathers’ weigh in with their contributions to the development of doctrine and Greek philosophy is back, center stage. The Cappadocian ‘Fathers’ Legitimize…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 21

Resolving the fine print in the Church’s doctrine of the ‘divinity’ of Jesus—from which doctrine we” seek refuge with Allah”— was an ugly process, at its zenith throughout the 4th Christian century (ce). In previous installments we have viewed opposing positions—one taken…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 20 | Linda Thayer

We continue our series recounting the monumental struggle within the Christian Church regarding what was to be their officially ‘correct’ understanding of how it was that Jesus was ‘divine,’ since his supposed ‘divinity’ was something that had been promoted by Paul—the Church’s…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 19

We continue with the story of the Church’s formulation of the fine print in her doctrine of “divinity” associated with Jesus as contested in the 4th century of the Christian Era (ce) by Arius vs. Athanasius and their followers. Page references are…

Kosher or Not: Can a Non-Jew Convert to Christianity? (Part 8)

Some Bible translations start this story in Acts 10 under the editorial sub-heading, “The Inauguration of the Gentile Mission,” thus stamping the New Testament text with the Church's acceptance of Paul as a spokesman for Christianity and accepting Paul's subsequent Gentile mission…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange – 17

WE PAUSE IN our look at Rubenstein’s best-selling book, When Jesus Became God, The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome, and in our re-packaging of his account of how the Church in her 4th century worked out her…

Kosher or Not: Can a Non-Jew Convert to Christianity? | (Part 7)

HAVING LOOKED (Parts 1-6 of this series) at evidence in the Gospel accounts of the New Testament regarding whether non-Jews were ever invited to be followers of Jesus, we now turn to the narratives of the book, the Acts of the Apostles,…

Monotheism In Interfaith Exchange -16

CONTINUING IN THIS installment, we look further at Richard E. Rubenstein’s book, When Jesus Became God, The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome so as to elucidate the 4th century Arian controversy that divided the dominant Christian Church…