Of Mistakes and Honesty
Readers of this blog will recall that I once wrote a response to an individual going by the name of landsway concerning whether or not the Christ is himself God (and as such equal to the Father)—particularly when this came to his use of 1 Cor. 8:6. The author acknowledged having read my article yet himself did provide no reply to what were serious problems with his position. Personally, I would have loved to have him continue discussing the subject with me yet he made it quite clear that he did not have the time to do so. I, on my part, respected this and for almost an entire year, this was the end of the matter.
Recently however, I have browsed through this individual’s blog again and found that the author is again reiterating the same viewpoint I had claimed to be faulty. Now, before being misunderstood, I should say that I am emphatic of the fact that every individual has the right to express their own opinion. Yet what I do take issue with, is the fact that in writing a post solely to defend his viewpoint and presenting once again the very same arguments—which to the best of my knowledge I have already refuted here (scroll down towards the comment section), here (once again make your way to the comments), here (within the comments) and in my “On (Christian) Unitarianism and 1 Corinthians 8:6” post (the first link within this post)—he is ignoring what I claim to be insurmountable problems with his understanding of the Bible. Moreover, in providing no reply to my argument and yet continuing to present the same points to his audience (as if no challenge to his understanding of theology has been presented) he risks being accused of intellectual dishonesty (not that I am accusing him of such) and failing to take to heart the very dictum he quotes in his post:
“I recently read that an honest but mistaken man; when show the truth, ceases to be mistaken; or he ceases to be honest.” — landsway
All this to say, given that landsway has taken it upon himself to defend his position as biblical truth, then at the very least he owes that post of mine that specifically deals with 1 Cor. 8:6 a response. It is likely that he has forgotten all about our past exchange yet due to his unprompted decision to make a post solely to promote his reading of scripture, he must in all honesty defend his methodology and conclusion from criticism.
God Omnipotent 
Hey Methodus, I have been following your Blog posts for sometime now and it’s always informative to read and think about the topics. God has really allowed me to have interesting chats with some of my Muslim friends, even Jehovah witnesses and Mormons.
Without coming off as offensive and learning to Love and accept my fellow friends for their beliefs, I have been able to listen to Muslim viewpoints and share what I know of Christianity in related contexts. I believe I share a similar conviction to rebuke gently and correct misconceptions of the Bible when required to, and learn the humble ways of our Lord and Saviour in doing so. No one is to be deprived of the chance to really know for himself who Jesus is. And the decision lies with all of us.
There are inherently many concepts in Christianity regarded as pure Blasphemy and are rejected almost immediately by Muslims as false without them examining it for themselves. This is rather common that generally people believe what they were taught to believe. The same is for the average Christian who relies on “second-hand faith” on what others teach and tell us without ever reading the Bible for ourselves and verifying whether claims are truth. Yet I’m convinced there are people searching for meaning in Life and I’m excited because of the Life Jesus has to offer to them.
I am encouraged to see objectivity in your arguements and I see an underlying Love for people despite posts and comments by individuals that reject our Saviour. Despite this, God is a God that I firmly believe do not need the acknowledgement nor validation of humans to make Him any more real than He really is. Hence, it is rather for our sakes that the banter continues, so that we may know Him better. =)
Reading your posts certainly helps to expand knowledge on the hadith and Qu’ran which my Muslim friends talk about. It seems you study them extensively? Could you refer me to the resources you use that I may study them for myself? =) Much appreciated.
I would also like to welcome any Muslim friends who frequent this site to join us in this search for Truth, for the Truth will hold if it is a Truth.
I have been following another site to understand Islam and it’s viewpoints. Perhaps you may be interested to read its contents.In it certainly you will find comprehensive, and valuable material for further discussions on your site:
http://www.answering-christianity.org/ac.htm
God Bless You =)
November 26, 2011 at 7:14 AM
Hi Chinwee,
Thanks for reading my blog and taking the time to comment. This really means a lot to me. I should also thank you for your words of encouragement, I try my best to be as inoffensive as possible and share the Christian message as best as I can. Like you said, certain claims that Christianity makes about itself are immediately considered blasphemous by the Muslim and so at times explaining these may place the Christian in a precarious position where they want to explain these claims in full without immediately turning the Muslim off to what one is saying. It can be very hard but whenever two people who do not necessarily agree with one another can share their beliefs in a respectful manner, it truly is a wonderful moment.
True, God does not need any of our apologetics and they are more for our benefit than for his. I try to be as objective as I possibly can with my arguments because I really do believe in the truth of what God has revealed in the Bible, hence why I do not feel the need to lie about anything I say. I spend a lot of time thinking about my posts and wondering whether the very arguments I use could be used against Christianity in the same manner—in fact, if that is the case then I won’t use the argument in question at all. Anyway, it’s safe to say that my arguments cannot find fault with the Christian message.
Now I wouldn’t say that I have studied the Qur’an and hadith collection extensively, there is still much that I have to learn and this in itself is very humbling. Yet I will say that I have studied them enough to employ the arguments that I am using. You will note that while I have often been able to show how a certain person who is arguing against me is wrong simply because they have not read the Bible thoroughly enough, no one whom I have debated with thus far has been able to do the same with my arguments. As far as sources go, you should first get yourself a Qur’an and simply read it for your benefit. You should also begin reading through the Hadith collection, here is a website that should be useful (note that the link leads you to the hadith that I’m currently reading. It’s interesting to say the least). Aside from that, I would simply just continue discussing with Muslims. I for one joined a Muslim forum once and tried out the various arguments I have here—they worked so well I was banned soon thereafter. If I have time and you have the desire, I’ll email you the screenshots to this discussion.
I hope that the above proved useful.
November 29, 2011 at 8:06 AM
=) hey bro,
I’m having holidays now. a 2 weeks break so will have some time to look through the hadith resource. I hope God grants me the wisdom and understanding to know from the Muslim perspective the basis for their faith.
Hope little acts of faithfulness and obedience to God will bring more to Him.
God Bless.
December 1, 2011 at 3:03 AM
Hey Chinwee,
No worries and enjoy your holidays. Mine are about to begin in a few weeks.
God bless.
December 5, 2011 at 11:55 AM