Copyright © By Dr. Adel Elsaie, Book Title: "Please Revise the Bible, Again"

Chapter 5

Biblical Values

In a recent poll two thirds of Americans surveyed believe that Muslims should adopt “western values” of democracy and freedom instead of Islamic values. This shows that many Americans feel that “western values” are different from Islamic or general religious values. They assume that Muslims hate democracy and freedom. This poll shows that Americans have very little knowledge about Muslims or humans at large. People form these negative opinions because they don't have the right information. Islam as a monotheistic religion, like Christianity, believes in the Divine Values of justice, democracy, and freedom. Islam advocates  true democracy, that is not tainted by corruption, and freedom of expression as long as they do not offend God or His messengers.

 

No one really believes that any Muslim, or any human being for that matter, does not advocate true democracy. However, real democracy is hard to find in Muslim countries. In many Muslim countries, moderate Islamic parties are declared illegal, mainly because of their opposition to the rampant corruption of single ruling party, and are subjected to prosecution. Jews in Israel have fundamentalist religious parties but Muslims have no such right to establish moderate Islamic parties in their own countries. Due to restrictions imposed on those parties, militant Islamic groups develop as a result of this oppression. Secret services are usually quite strong in Muslim countries, where anyone remotely suspected of having religious values of justice, democracy, and freedom is subjected to terrible torture in prisons. During the second Gulf war, it was reported that Saddam Hussein had a grinding machine for grinding humans! Yes, this is not a typographical error; it was a grinding machine for grinding humans! This is the kind of torture chambers that are invented for oppositions by Muslim dictators. They know if the Divine values of Islam are applied, they will be asked about the billions of dollars that they swindled; the thousands of innocent lives that they tortured and slaughtered; the crime of bringing their country many decades backward; and the destruction of people’s identity and dreams. And the irony is that Muslim dictators are supported by western democracy.

 

On the other hand, democracy in some western countries is not that great either; it is being bought by elected officials and many people have abandoned their so called democratic process. Millions of dollars are raised during elections so that these elected officials can have tremendous fringe benefits such as health insurance and sizable pension that are denied to millions of their constituents. Real democracy should advocate that elected officials should feel the dreams and share the frustrations of average citizens and act accordingly. Thus, Muslims believe true democracy, but cannot exercise it in their countries.

 

            No one really believes that any Muslim, or any human being for that matter, does not advocate freedom of expression. The freedom of expression in most Muslim countries is only guaranteed within the boundaries set by governments! These boundaries are called emergency laws that are designed to restrict human freedom and human rights. Most of these laws and practices are imported from the collapsed late communist Soviet Union. Thus, Muslims believe in freedom of expression, but cannot exercise it in their countries.

            No one really believes that any Muslim, or any human being for that matter, does not advocate freedom of religion. Again, the freedom of religion in most Muslim countries is only guaranteed within the boundaries set by governments! Thus, Muslims believe in freedom of religion, but cannot exercise it in their countries. The boundaries of the freedom of religion are applied on both the Muslim majority and other religious minorities. But the rights of religious minorities in Muslim countries are only publicized. One half truths Middle Eastern Christian living in a western country went to the TV to complain that building a church in a Muslim country requires a government approval. He chose to ignore that building a mosque too requires a government approval. Thus, Muslims believe in freedom of religions, but cannot exercise it in their countries.

            The freedom of sex in Muslim countries is exactly the same as that of the orthodox Christianity and Judaism. While freedom of sex that leads to teenage pregnancies and extramarital affairs is rampant in western counties, there are still many western citizens that detest this phenomenon. This freedom of sex destroys families and children. In Islam, sexual fidelity is sternly demanded, and proven adultery is punishable in an Islamic country that adopts the Islamic laws.  Moreover, the freedom of using drugs in Muslim countries is exactly the same as that of the orthodox Christianity and Judaism. While the freedom of using drugs is rampant in western counties, there are still many western citizens who despise this phenomenon. The number of alcoholic and drug addicts in the west is frightening. And the number of prisoners is terrifying.

Islam is the only religion that makes loving, respecting and believing in Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him), including his miraculous birth, an article of faith. Muslims believe he indeed did raise the dead and he also brought a message, the original Bible is from God. However, over time, his message has been changed and altered to give us what the Bible says today. Christian scholars confirm this alteration. That is not to say that every verse in the Bible is rejected by Muslims. In fact, the Quran contains commands similar to many of the commandments in the Bible.

 

A few examples:

Biblical Commandment: Thou shall have no other gods before Me.

Quran:             Know therefore that there is no god but God. (47:19)

Do not associate another deity with God. (17:22)

Biblical Commandment: Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image.

Quran:             No visions can encompass Him, but He encompasses all visions. (6:103)

Biblical Commandment: Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Quran: Glorify the name of your Lord morning and evening. (76:25)

Do not use God's name in your oaths as an excuse to prevent you from dealing justly. (2:224)

Biblical Commandment: Honor thy father and thy mother.

Quran:             You shall be kind to your parents. ... You shall lower to them the wing of humility and pray: "O Lord! Bestow on them Your blessings just as they cherished me when I was a little child." (17:23-24)

Biblical Commandment: Thou shall not kill.

Quran:             And do not take any human being's life – (the life) that God has willed to be sacred - other than in (the pursuit of) justice. (17:33)

Biblical Commandment: Thou shall not commit adultery.

Quran:             You shall not commit adultery. Surely it is a shameful deed and an evil way (opening the door to other evils). (17:32)

Biblical Commandment: Thou shall not bear false witness.

Quran:             And (know that the true servants of God are) those who do not bear witness to falsehood. (25:72)

Biblical Commandment: Thou shall not covet.

Quran:             Do not covet the bounties that God has bestowed more abundantly on some of you than on others. (4:32)

Such remarkable similarities are not surprising, because Muslims believe that Judaism, Christianity and Islam all originate from the same God. God's laws are universal but their adoption is a matter of choice. The Quranic order that there be "no compulsion in religion" (2:256) reverberates in James Madison's, "The religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man."

It is precisely because Muslims believe in Jesus as a great prophet and because Muslims believe in the infinite mercy and grace of God, that Muslims cannot accept the whole Bible as the literal word of God. In fact, anyone with common sense and basic sense of humanity and morality will reject the claim that the Bible is the word of God after reading this chapter.

The verses below are taken from the Bible. You have the right to check the following verses to see for yourself that they are not taken out of context. If we claim that the Bible is the authentic word of God, we will be insulting Him because God is not cruel, unfair and discriminatory as portrayed below. There are many verses in the Bible that are rejected, and Christians are guilty for not following them. The reason why Christians reject the observance of the Torah is because they follow the innovations of Paul, who corrupted the teachings of Jesus. Scholars have testified that Paul is the founder of Christianity. But amazingly, there are verses in the Pauline epistles being neglected today!

Only imperfect human beings can pen verses such as those below. This fits perfectly with the Muslim stand that in the name of religion, man has altered and changed the Bible. So much of the Bible, including the vague concept of trinity, is the work of man. Can these verses be the words of God? If they can't be the words of God, then is it not safe for us to conclude the Bible is not entirely the work of God because it has been altered by man.

Consequently, isn't the question of, “What else in the Bible is the work of man?” a very valid one?

You decide:
 

Genesis 3:16, Ephesians 5:22-24, Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 3:1-6

The husband is to rule over his wife. Wives are to be subject to their husbands even when the husband is disobedient to God. Man is the image and glory of God, while woman is the glory of man. Man was not created for woman but woman for man.

(Note: Paul canceled the whole Mosaic Law by believing in Jesus, except this one!)

Genesis 3:16

Women should suffer pain during childbirth.

(Note: This verse was used by the Church to oppose the use of anesthesia during childbirth.)

Genesis 9:20-23

Noah made wine and drank it. He became drunk and lay naked in his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his naked father. He told his brothers outside the tent. Then Shem and Japheth got a coat. They walked backwards into the tent, so they did not see their father naked. The wine made Noah sleep. But when he woke, he learned what Ham had done. He cursed Ham, and prayed that he be the slave of his brothers.

(Question: Does this story identify a man that God chose to save the righteous people and destroy the unbelievers?)

Genesis 15:18

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and part of Iraq belong to the Jews only.

(Note: This is what Israel is attempting to do. This promise was given by God to Abram and not to Israel) 

Genesis 17:10

"This is my covenant, ... every male among you shall be circumcised."

(Note: God repeated the words circumcise, circumcised, circumcising, circumcision, uncircumcised, foreskin, and foreskins appear 157 times in the KJV.)

Genesis 19:30-36

The daughters of Prophet Lot conspired to use their father to grow a family by getting him drunk and then having sex with their father each in one night. They did that, and they became pregnant. The older daughter gave birth to a son called Moab (Hebrew: from my father!), and the younger daughter gave birth to a son called Ben-Ammi (Hebrew: Son of my father!)

Genesis 25: 22-34

Esau and Jacob were Isaac’s sons. One time Esau came back from the field hungry. He asked his brother to let him have some of the red lentil soup that Jacob was eating. And for some of the red lentil soup, Jacob asked for Esau’s rights as firstborn in return. Esau did not have a choice. If he died from hunger, Jacob would have all of his father’s wealth anyway.

(Questions: Would you use your brother like that?)

Genesis 38:8-10

A man who refuses to impregnate his widowed sister-in-law is "wicked in the Lord’s sight" and so is put to death.

(Question: Is this the Justice of God, the Ultimate Just?)

Exodus 20:8-11, 31:15-17, 34:21, 35:1-3

No work of any kind is to be done on the Sabbath, not even lighting of a fire. This commandment is permanent. Death is required for violations.

(Note: This would require even that essential services, such as hospitals, police departments, etc., shut down on the Sabbath.)

Exodus 21:7-11

A father can sell a daughter into slavery to pay a debt. A daughter sold into slavery is not released at the end of six years as is an ordinary male slave.

(Question: Is this the Justice of God, the Ultimate Just?)

Exodus 21:12

Whoever strikes a man so that he dies is to be put to death.

(Question: Is this the Justice of God, the Ultimate Just?)

Exodus 21:15

Whoever strikes his father or mother is to be put to death.

(In Islam a man is accountable to God for a misdeed such as this.)

Exodus 21:16

Whoever kidnaps a man is to be put to death.

(Question: Is this the Justice of God, the Ultimate Just?)

Exodus 21:17, Leviticus 20:9, Deuteronomy 21:18-21

Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death. A stubborn and/or rebellious child is to be stoned to death.

(Question: Is this the Justice of God, the Ultimate Just?)

Exodus 21:20-21

A slave owner is to be punished if he strikes his slave and the slave dies shortly thereafter. If the slave lives a day or two and then dies, the slave owner is not to be punished, for the slave is the owner's property.

(Question: Is there any mercy in the Old Testament?)

Exodus 21:23-2, Leviticus 24:17-21, Deuteronomy 19:21

An eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe, life for life.

Exodus 21:28-32

When an ox gores a man to death, the ox must be stoned. If the ox has gored a man previously, the animal's owner must also be put to death; in the case of the goring of a slave, the only requirement is that the owner of the ox must pay thirty shekels to the owner of the slave.

(Question: Isn’t the slave a human being?)

Exodus 22:16-17

When a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to be married, and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife.

Exodus 32:12 KJV

Moses did not like what God did, so he asked God to repent of this evil act against the Israelis!

(Question: Is it right and holy to ask your Creator to repent?!)

Leviticus 12:2

A woman who has a child is unclean and purification rites are required.

Leviticus 15:19 - 22

A woman who is menstruating is unclean. Anyone who touches her is unclean until the evening. Anything which a woman who is menstruating sits on or lies on is unclean. Anyone who touches the bed of a woman who is menstruating must wash his clothes and bathe, and is unclean until evening. Anyone who touches anything which was sat upon by a woman who is menstruating must wash his clothes and bathe, and is unclean until evening.

Leviticus 15:28 - 30

After her flow stops, a woman who was menstruating must count off seven days before she is considered clean again. On the eighth day, she must present two birds to the priest for atonement for having had a menstrual discharge.

Leviticus 20:15 - 16

If a person engages in sex with an animal, both the animal and the person must be put to death.

Leviticus 21:9

If a priest's daughter becomes a prostitute, she is to be burnt with fire.

Leviticus 21:14

A priest (or descendant of Aaron) must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, a woman who has been defiled, or a harlot, but only a virgin.

Leviticus 25:44 - 46, Ephesians 6:5, Colossians 3:22, Titus 2:9, 1 Peter 2:18

Slavery is an everlasting institution. Slaves are to obey their masters in everything.

Leviticus 27:3 – 7

Males are more valuable than females.

Numbers 3:10

An unauthorized person who acts as a priest must be put to death.

Numbers 31:18, 31:35, Judges 21:12

Young virgins are considered a spoil of war and can be taken for the use of the victors.

Numbers 31:15-17

Moses asked the Israeli army to kill all the Midianite men and burn all their towns and villages. They took the women, children, and animals and brought them to Moses. Moses was very angry with the leaders of the army. Moses said to them “Why did you let the women live.” “Now kill all the Midianite boys and women and spare the women who had not sexual relations with any man.” The women who were spared were 32,000!

Deuteronomy 7:1-2

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, and he clears away many nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you— and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy.”

 

Deuteronomy 15:1-3

Every seven years, a brother (meaning a fellow Israelite) should be released from his debt. Only a foreigner should be required, again, to honor his debt.

Deuteronomy 17:3-5

"And he should go and worship other gods and bow down to them or to the sun or the moon or all the army of the heavens, .....and you must stone such one with stones and such one must die.”

Deuteronomy 20:10-17

“When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you… Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes.”

Deuteronomy 22:5

A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.

Deuteronomy 22:13- 21

The bridegroom, who falsely slanders his bride, gets off with a fine. She shall remain his wife; he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.

Deuteronomy 22:28- 29

A virgin who is raped must marry her rapist.

Deuteronomy 23:2

A bastard--and his offspring to the tenth generation--are to be punished for his illegitimacy and cannot enter a congregation of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 25:5- 10

A man has an obligation to marry his widowed sister-in-law. If he refuses, his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face.

Joshua 6:21-23

Joshua said to the people of Israel, the Lord has given you the city of the all silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: They shall come into the treasury of the Lord. The people utterly DESTROYED ALL THAT WAS IN THE CITY, BOTH MAN AND WOMAN, YOUNG AND OLD, AND OX AND SHEEP, AND ASS, WITH THE EDGE OF THE SWORD.

(Question: Is there any mercy? Can you imagine this terrorism?)

1 Samuel 15:3

“Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "

(Question: Is there any mercy? Can you imagine this terrorism?)

Proverbs 13:24, 22:15, 23:13

Children are to be disciplined with the rod-- if beaten with a rod, they will not die.

Ezekiel 32:32

“For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.”

Hosea 4:14

The sins of female prostitutes and adulterers can be excused when the men themselves set a bad example.

Hosea 13:16

“Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword, their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.”

(Question: Is there any mercy? Can you imagine this terrorism?)

Matthew 5:18-19

The Old Testament law is to remain in effect until heaven and earth pass away.

Matthew 8:21, Luke 9:60

Jesus shows no compassion for the dead, saying to a man who had just lost his father: "Let the dead bury the dead."

Matthew 10:34-36

Jesus says that he has come to destroy families by making family members hate each other. He has "come not to send peace, but a sword."

MATTHEW 12:47-49, Mark 3:31-34, Luke 8:20-21

When Jesus' mother and brothers want to see him, Jesus rudely asks, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" In Luke he insults them by saying that his mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and did it.

(Question: Didn’t Virgin Mary hear the Word of God and do it?!)

Matthew 19:12,

Men should consider castration, thereby making themselves eunuchs, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

(Note: During the dark and middle ages, saints castrated themselves by the thousands in order to become more godly. Even now, the practice continues in some sects.)

Mathew 19:29, Mark 10:20-30

Abandon your wife and children for Jesus and he'll give you a big reward.

Matthew 23:9

Do not call any man on earth "father."

(Question: So what do you call your biological father?)

Mark 6:11

Any city that doesn't "receive" the followers of Jesus will be destroyed in a manner even more savage than that of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Mark 10:12, Luke 16:18

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Mark 10:29, Luke 18:29

A man who leaves his house, wife, brothers, parents, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive special rewards.

Luke 14:26

One cannot be a disciple of Jesus unless he hates his mother, father, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life.

Luke 14:33 

“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

(Question: Will  rich Evangelists abandon their possessions for the sake of Jesus?!) 

 

Luke 19:27

“But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."

(Question: Is this the loving and forgiving Jesus?)

Luke 20:35

Jesus says that everyone in heaven is single. Does that mean that married people can't go there, that they must get a divorce once they arrive, or what?

John 2:4, 19:26

In John 2:4, Jesus speaks rudely to his mother, saying: "Woman, what have I to do with thee?"

Even when was on the cross, John 19:26: “Woman, behold thy son!”

Is this an authorization for anyone to call his mother woman? Or was this the writing of someone that did not appreciate the mother of Jesus for one reason or another?

John 7:8-10

Jesus tells his family that he wasn't going to the feast, but he was lying, as he later goes "in secret.

John 18:38

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is the Truth?” Jesus did not reply!

Romans 1: 32

This is what Paul says about the Old Testament's "just" system.

“They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.”

Romans 13:1-4, 1 Peter 2:13-14

Be subject to every human institution. All authorities (laws and governments) that exist have been instituted by God.

(Note: This would include those of Nazi Germany, yet believers seldom follow this injunction. Even Jesus and his Disciples violated this principle.)

1 Corinthians 7:1-38

Although it is well for a man to remain chaste, the temptation to immorality is a valid reason to marry; a man should marry if he cannot control himself. Yet, a man who is already married should live as if he were not. He that is unmarried is concerned about how he can please the Lord while he that is married is concerned about pleasing his spouse. It is better to remain single so as to attend to the Lord without distraction. Men and widows should not marry

1 Corinthians 11:14

 

Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

Women are to be silent in church. If they have any questions, they are to ask their husbands at home. It is a shame for women to speak in church.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

We gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.

1 Timothy 2:9

 

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes

1 Timothy 2:11-12

Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent

1 Timothy 5:9-15

You should help a widow only if she : 1) is over 70 years old, 2) had only one husband, 3) has raised children, 4) has lodged strangers, 5) has "washed the saints feet," 6) has relieved the afflicted, and 7) has "diligently followed very good work." Otherwise, let them starve. "But the younger widows refuse [to help]: for ... they will marry; having damnation." Besides the young widows are always idle tattlers -- "busybodies, spreading things which they ought not." He adds that "some are already turned aside after Satan."

 

Hebrews 12:6-8

 

God hurts those that he loves. And if God doesn't hurt you, you are a bastard, not a son.

1 Peter 3:3-6

Wives are not to braid their hair, wear gold, or put on any "apparel." They are to do these things in imitation of the "holy" women of the Old testament who were "in subjection to their won husbands: even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord."

2 John 1:9-11

Do not allow anyone into your house who is not a fellow believer.

According to this statement, no Christian should invite non-Christian to his home!

 

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