Book Review: Paul Meets Muhammad - A Christian-Muslim Debate on the Resurrection By Michael R. Licona

So I just bought this book the other day because there's a 30% off sale going on at Baker right now. This was a book recommended by Abdu Murry during his breakout sessions at the Legacy 2010 conference. Anyway, here's my review.

I thought the idea behind this book was great. It's set in a fictional future where scientists at MIT have come up with a way to program a computer with the writings of and writings about any historical figure. The computer then generates a hologram of that person and can simulate conversations as if that historical figure were actually present.

To test this, the scientists generated holograms of the apostle Paul and the prophet Muhammad. Thousands of people crammed into a sports stadium to witness this demonstration.

The book is written as if it is a transcript of this fictional debate. The pressure is on Paul to prove the resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact. Paul presents his argument using three facts: the actual death of Jesus on the cross, the empty tomb, and the appearances of Jesus to his followers, including Paul himself. Muhammad then presents a counter argument against Paul's points after which, each debater responds one more time. Then the moderator, a professor from the philosophy department at MIT, asks questions of each of the participants before ending with a closing statement.

The arguments for the resurrection that Paul gives are nothing new, but to see them presented in this way is a fun take on historical data. Paul presents testimony from 1st century historians and church fathers and contemporary scholars, some of whom are critical of Christianity. The Muslim side of the debate is also pretty standard. Muhammad's argument is basically "Allah gave me the Qur'an, and because it's from Allah you should believe it." Muhammad brings up some other points against Christianity such as the reliability of the gospels and some contradictory evidence from the so-called Gospel of Barnabas, but these really aren't addressed because they don't pertain to the resurrection.

While this book doesn't end with a clear winner of the debate, the author is a professor of apologetics and has a Ph.D in New Testament studies, so it's safe to assume that Paul won the argument (at least in the mind of the author). Personally I found this book to be pretty free from Christian bias, although some may say that I wouldn't see it anyway because if I'm biased it would be in the same direction as the author.

All things considered though, I really enjoyed this book. Both sides of the argument are well researched and cited with extensive footnotes found at the end of the book. While this is not a book designed to prove Christianity is true and Islam is false, it does give a great case for the resurrection of Jesus while showing that the arguments against it don't hold much water. I had heard most of the arguments from both sides before, having used some of them myself in response to Muslims using the same arguments presented in this book. I think that this book presents the information in a clear way and in a format that's easy and fun to read.

In Christ
Alex

Some thoughts on this mornings sermon

I think I heard a works-righteousness sermon this morning.

We had a guest pastor and he preached on the story from Mark 10 where James and John request to sit at Jesus' right and left in Heaven. The pastor said that there was nothing wrong with wanting to be great. I agree with this. I don't think that there's anything wrong with wanting to be successful at what you attempt in life. I mean, God gave us gifts and we should strive to use them in the best of our ability to glorify Him.

I started to disagree with him when he said that we practice servanthood in order to be great. He went back to Mark 9:35 where Jesus said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." Now I agree with that, but I don't like the way our guest pastor explained this verse. He basically described servanthood as means to an end, with the end being greatness and then ended his sermon.

I think he needed to keep going. I think that servant-hood is an end in itself. I don't think that we should practice servanthood with the idea in the back of our head that these acts of service will make us great in the eyes of God. That's working to get a reward, or works-righteousness. I think that because Christ loved us first, we do acts of service. Greatness may come eventually as a byproduct, but attaining greatness shouldn't be the driving force behind our servanthood.

Where this really makes a difference is when I think about my Muslim friends. They do good things and acts of service because they need to earn their salvation. I, on the other hand, as a Christian, don't need to work myself into Heaven. I can't. I'm sinful by nature and anything I try to do on my own is tainted with that sin. Christ did the work of salvation for me. My good works spring from the love that Christ showed me and are expressions of my trying to share that love with others.

Now this pastor was retired so I don't know how many times he has preached this sermon while filling in at other churches. I hope he didn't mean to preach works-righteousness. I hope he just needs to think a bit harder about how his words are being heard.

My Day in Toronto....

Hey Everyone

So since this is our last weekend in Toronto, we thought it would be a good idea to go downtown. This little excursion was planned a few weeks ago and then we realized that our trip was to coincide with the G20 summit. So we looked at the map and didn't plan to go near where the police had the security fence set up. So this morning we headed by subway into downtown.

The station where we got off was just on the edge of the barricade. When we got out on to the street there were no civilians to be seen, only lots and lots of police and other security personnel. Other than that, our day went pretty well aside from the rain.

It wasn't until we tried to get home that things got a bit messy. We stopped in for coffee and to catch the last few minutes of the soccer game. As soon as we sat down, the game broke for a news update of the G20. There was a riot going on and a cop car had been set on fire. Just after that report, five cops on motorcycles drove past followed by a huge coach bus filled with police in full riot gear. We left the coffee shop only to learn that all above-ground public transportation was stopped along with a good part of the subway that went farther into the heart of the city.

All that being said, we made it home with no surprises which was nice. As I sit hear typing this, the TV is on in the background with constant updates of the craziness that is the rioting. Store windows have been smashed, more cop cars have been vandalized and lit on fire, and more police seem to be arriving every minute.

Please pray for everyone who is involved in all of this. Also, I'm working on my sermon for tomorrow so I could use some prayers as well.

In Christ,
Alex

How Time Flies....

Hello Everyone

This week has been crazy busy. I've been going out at night a few times with our host to meet with some people and to tutor others. I'm really starting to think that God had me spend all that time at Grand Valley studying math and science so that I'd be prepared to help my host tutor some of these families. Anyway, I'm really enjoying working with these students. School is just ending here, so most of our tutoring is over. That's kind of sad.

Most of those you who read this and who know anything about me at all, know that I really enjoy a good meal. Did I ever get my fill yesterday! Yesterday was a marathon of cross-cultural eating. Our ESL students graduated yesterday morning and that was concluded with a lunch provided by the Somali Women and Children group. The food consisted of mostly some spiced rice and some pretty spicy vegetables. In the afternoon we had our end-of-the-year Homework Club party. That also included a meal that wasn't really supper but could have been. This kids ate pizza but the adult volunteers (ie. Kim and I) got a delicious buffet of rice, Sambus (also called Samosas if they were in India), some kind of home-made Somali cookies that were really good, and goat. Yes, that's right: I ate goat yesterday. I'll let that sink in for a minute

...

And then for supper, we went to some friends of our hosts where we feasted on lasagna, salad, spicy chicken legs, mango shakes, popcorn, and Somali tea (which is amazing, by the way). I don't think I've eaten that much in one day in a very long time.

Today, our hosts had a meeting with their boss so Kim and I slept in a caught up on some reading. After lunch we went to our of our friends houses and measured for some drywalling that we'll be working on tomorrow. We finished up our day with they bike clinic that we've been working at on Thursdays. (On a side note, I can now fix bikes. Not terribly exciting, but a big step for me nonetheless)

I want to thank you all again for keeping Kim and I in your prayers. We'll be home in just over a week and I'm sure we'll have all kinds of cool stories.

Nabad Geliyo
Alex

Another Week

Hey Everyone

I just realized that I haven't written anything since last weekend. That's mostly due to the fact that this week was a lot like last week. We're still trying to learn the Somali language but that's going well. Kim and I are mostly tutoring on our own now. We have two families that we're working with to help with Math and English. When we're not putting in air conditioners or pricing fences or working with students, we mostly read. Our hosts have lent us a huge supply of books so that we can better understand our new friends and their religion. I'm also spending time on my sermons. I'll let you know how they go over.

Today we had a very diverse cultural experience. We went with our hosts to a Hindu temple, a Muslim mosque, a Somali restaurant, and then Kim and I went to a Swedish furniture store. (Yes, you read that correctly. There is an IKEA 15 min from where we're staying and we definitely went there.)

Anyway, tomorrow we're going to play tourists and visit Niagara Falls. Hopefully I can take some pictures that will be worth putting up here.

Again, I thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We miss you.

In Christ,
Alex (and Kim. I put Kim in parentheses because I wrote this entry in the first person and Kim isn't sitting here with me anyway. But I assure you, she supports what I wrote)

End of Week 1

Hey Everyone

I can't believe we've been here a whole week already.

Thursday we had a good morning with our hosts learning more of the language and more about our new friend's religion. In the afternoon, Kim and I went and tutored the daughter of one of our new friends. I had to remember  my trig but it went well. Maybe this is why I spend 5 years studying math and science. Hmm....

Friday we went to downtown Toronto. What a huge city. There are more people in that one place than most other places I've ever been. We had fun but it was a lot of walking.

Today was a chill day for us and we spent it mostly lounging around our apartment reading. I've been working for almost an hour to get the internet in our apartment from the connection upstairs but it's not going well.

Anyway, I hope all of you are having a good summer so far. We'll see you in a few weeks.

In Christ,
Alex and Kim

It's Hot

Hey Everyone

We've had a good time so far. We've met a lot of new friends whose names are hard to remember because they're nothing like American (or Canadian) names. Our hosts are working with us to help us learn the language. That's not easy either because it's very unlike anything we've ever learned before. Arabic is probably the closest language and Alex took that a long time ago and has forgotten all but a few phrases.

It's been really hot here the last few days. Most of what Alex will be doing for the next few weeks is putting in air conditioners for our new friends. We've both been having a lot of fun working at the homework club with the kids. Tomorrow Kim will help teach the ESL class that Alex helped with on Monday. Alex had a good time and so we hope Kim will also.

Again we thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue them.

In Christ
Alex and Kim