Do sinners deserve to go to Hell forever? Will only one group of people be saved, and the rest damned? Should finite sins merit eternal punishment? Should God punish those who reject him? Is Hell Just? Welcome to the public debate.
Abdullah Al Andalusi – Portuguese revert to Islam, and International speaker on Islamic thought.
Debates
Farhan Qureshi – American Ex-Qadiyani Agnostic speaker on Eastern Philosophy and Universalism.
Wednesday, 18th January 2012, 6:30pm
Abrar House, 45 Crawford Place, Edgware Road, London, W1H 4LP
Free Admission – No registration required.
Nearest Station: Edgware Road / Marble Arch Tube Station
Categories: Previous Events
The Muslim Debate Initiative 
I was going to say, ‘cool poster’, but on second thoughts it’s really hot!
The poster’s great, a good summary of questions to ponder on and draw one’s interest into attending the debate.
“Should God punish those who reject Him?”
Answer:
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct to this day.” (Flavius Josephus, 90 A.D).
Hi there, I am sorry to have to disillusion you about your Josephus quote but scholars today realise that it has been heavily corrupted by later Christian scribes to make it look as if Josephus believed Jesus was the messiah and died and rose again. He didn’t. Josephus was a Jew not a Christian.
Also your quote from Acts is most interesting. Note that it says that God has appointed a man to judge the world, not that God Himself will do this. So it is saying in effect that Jesus is not God.
There are many scholars that think that much of the Josephus quote is genuine. Probably the majority admit that he was referencing the fact that the Christians around Jerusalem where he grew up in the mid first century claimed that Jesus had risen from the dead. If nothing else it is powerful testimony to the fact that this has always been an essential part of Christian doctrine since the very beginning.
As far as your statement about the quote from Acts, you know full well that Paul referred to Jesus as both God and man. You act as if you are ignorant of the Christian doctrine of the trinity. You know very well that Christians believe that Jesus is fully God and fully man. If you disagree with it that’s you’re prerogative.
“There are many scholars that think that much of the Josephus quote is genuine.”
Indeed I think so too. But that was not my point, which was ‘scholars today realise that it has been heavily corrupted by later Christian scribes to make it look as if Josephus believed Jesus was the messiah and died and rose again. Josephus did not.’
So you quoted a text that had been corrupted by a later (probably second century) scribe to dishonestly back up your claim. To use a forged text and claim it as “powerful testimony” for your beliefs is astonishing.