FALSE PROPHET Don Bridges‎ to Landstuhl Christian Church | December 5 at 10:33am · Edited ·

Jesus said that “many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” John tells us to “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” And Peter tells how false prophets introduce destructive teachings among people by exploiting people with made up stories (false words). Years ago, Origen Bachelor gave a brief history and synopsis of some religions. While it would be profitable to republish his entire article, I will content myself (for now) to present his thoughts on just one religion—Mahometanism (Islam—a word meaning “submit”). Islam is the religion founded upon the Koran by Mahomet. It may be considered a mixture of Judaism and Christianity—with some fanciful embellishments. It is divided into 2 main sects and there is a fixed hostility between them. [It exerts its influence over 1.6 billion people.] Mahomet, the founder of this religion, was born in Mecca in 571. His early life presented no flattering prospects of grandeur or ambition. He was illiterate, obscure and very poor until he married Cadigha, a wealthy widow for whom he worked as a mercantile agent. Her wealth raised him to an equal status with Mecca’s richest citizens. It was during this period that he began to contemplate how to gain eminence and power. Different writers describe his character differently. Some present him as a wild enthusiast whose claims to celestial visions were like those of many hair-brained pretenders whose schemes have fallen into oblivion. To his followers, he was the model of perfection and superior to all other men who ever lived on the earth. They consider him as the chosen and favored instrument of God for the greatest good of mankind. He was well versed in all the arts of insinuation and intrigue. He was fond of being thought to look like Abraham; was liberal to the poor, courteous to his equals, and condescending to his inferiors. As to learning, he had none; and his followers, instead of being ashamed of his ignorance, gloried in this as proof of his mission—calling him the illiterate prophet. He himself confessed to a fondness for women. Although he limited his followers to 4 wives and as many concubines as they could maintain, he had married 15 wives (some say 21) along with a number of concubines. But his having this number of women was in consequence of a divine indulgence with which a God of infinite purity and justice, according to his account, had favored him. It was not till Mahomet was 40 years old that he took upon himself the title of the Apostle of God and began to publish the revelations which (according to his account) were communicated to him from heaven by the angel Gabriel (this continued for 23 years, directly from the archives of heaven). From this mass of revelations, the Koran was compiled after Mahomet’s death. This is the Mahometan view. Others say he was assisted by a Persian Jew and a Christian monk (by whose aid he acquired from each an extensive knowledge of the Jewish and Christian religions). The Koran is a mixture of seriousness and levity; of moral precepts and ceremonial details; of sublime descriptions of God’s character and of groveling, frivolous illustrations of the duty of man. In one passage we read of the exalted attributes of God and of the terrors of judgment day, and in the next we meet with some ridiculous and offensive directions for Muslims to adjust “collisions” among their concubines and wives. Well might Gibbon say of Mahomet’s Oracles that “they sometimes crawl in the dust and at other times are lost in the clouds.” The professed object of the Koran was to replace the true and ancient religion professed by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and all the Prophets; to destroy the idolatry of the Pagan Arabs and the superstitions of Jews and Christians. Much is said of the principle characters and events contained in the Scriptures; but both Jews and Christians are called idolaters; the Patriarchs and Apostles (according to the Koran) were Muslims; the angels worshipped Adam; fallen angels were driven from heaven for not doing so; Christ was neither God nor the Son of God and assured Mahomet of this in a conference with God and himself. Also, it asserts that Christ wasn’t crucified on Mount Calvary when he appeared to suffer—rather another person was crucified in his stead while God took Jesus to himself. The 2 grand principles of Islam are the unity of God and the divine mission of Mahomet. There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his Prophet are familiar sayings among this people. Idolatry and image worship are offensive and they have made havoc with the temples of heathen gods and all pagan nonsense. Catholics have ever found them subtle and difficult opponents on account of the show of image worship in their religious rites. The doctrine of the Trinity is rejected (in the Koran one is forbidden to believe it). Their idea of predestination they take to fatalism; the value of good works is magnified to the highest. According to the Koran, Paradise is adorned with everything costly and magnificent. There the faithful shall enjoy the most beautiful women who shall not cast an eye on any but themselves, with whom they shall enjoy the continual pleasures of love to all eternity; they shall drink the most delicious liquors and the most pleasant wines. There will not only be marriage but also servitude in the next world. The very meanest in Paradise will have 80,000 servants and 72 wives of a celestial kind besides the wives he had in this world; he will have a tent erected for him of pearls, hyacinths and emeralds. And to crown the whole, if the faithful in Paradise are desirous of issue, it shall be conceived, born and grow up in the space of an hour. These are a few of the descriptions of the joys of that Paradise to which the millions of Muslims look forward with the utmost confidence and delight. The spread of the Mahometan religion was 1st effected by argument and persuasion; but after the Prophet arrived at power, these gentle methods were exchanged for those of conquest and war. The terror of his arms together with the fascinating allurements of the fancied Paradise of the Koran conspired to give the most unexampled rapidity to the spread of the new religion—so that in less than a century, Mahomet and his succeeding Generals had subdued a far greater amount of territory than the Romans conquered in 800 years. In addition to the agreeableness of his doctrines to the corrupt propensities of human nature, this warlike Prophet taught his followers that “a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, or a night spent in arms, is of more avail than 2 months of fasting and prayer. Whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven at the day of judgment; his wounds shall be as resplendent as vermillion, and odoriferous as musk; and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by wings of angels and cherubim.” The 1st disciples of Mahomet were called Saracens and among them were some of the most famous warriors in the world. Islam divides itself into 2 general parts—faith and practice. Faith is composed of 6 parts: belief in God, in his angels, in his Scriptures, in his Prophets, in the resurrection and final judgment, and the divine decrees. Practice includes: prayer with washing, alms, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca and circumcision. Friday is observed by the Muslims as their Sabbath because they believe it was on that day that Mahomet fled from Mecca to Medina. This religion obliges their disciples to pray 5 times a day. All devout Muslims scrupulously observe this burdensome ritual.