Bible and Koran Differ in Violence
Over at HotAir, Bryan has written a good post discussing the pointlessness of comparisons between the Koran and portions of what Christians call the Old Testament. Many atheists and secularists will counter claims that portions of the Koran seem to teach violence with quotes from books like Leviticus to show the equivalence between the two religions. Bryan explains why this is a vain attempt to compare apples to oranges. It's not overly long and well worth reading.
posted by Anna Venger @ 3:41 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I liked this post, but I think this debate requires a Muslim scholar to provide balance. It may be that Bryan's idea that passages toward the end of a religious book hold more meaning is false for non-Biblical texts. The more accurate analysis might be that books written over vast time periods contain more relevant information toward the end.
Good points, Andy.
What I think is important to remember is that there are three types of law in the Bible. Religious, civil and moral. Religious laws in the "Old Testament" apply to Jews practicing the religion of Judaism. The civil laws applied to the nation of ancient Israel. In general, moral laws apply to all who would follow God and cannot change. That's why quoting certain passages from Leviticus cannot be equated with the Koran for validity in our lives today.
Right. This is what Bryan is saying too, only he is trying to apply Biblical qualities to the Quran by saying that the later passages hold more relevance in Islam for the same reasons they do in the Bible. Seems like apples and oranges to me.
I think this is the more convincing argument:
When the pope uses strong language that offends Islam, the entire world, including the west with which the pope is identified, calls for an apology. When Islamic extremists call for and carry out killings in retaliation, a fair chunk of the world, including the Muslim community, says nothing. Forget about comparing the writing forms and trends in religious texts. We'd do a lot better to simply judge the tree by its fruit.
That said, there are plenty of reasons to challenge Muslims in our world, but we have to be careful that we do it wisely.
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