The contradicting scriptures
The Bewildering Scriptures
When thy mind leaves behind its dark forest of delusion,
Thou shalt go beyond the scriptures of times past and still
to come.
When thy mind, that may be wavering in the contradictions of
many scriptures,
Shall rest unshaken in divine contemplation,
Then the goal of Yoga is thine.
Juan Mascaro, The Bhagavad Gita 2:52-53
(Juan Mascaro,
The Bhagavad Gita, Penguin,
1962.)
"A
Partial List of Problems and Contradictions in the Quran
This is a partial list of problems
found in the Quran, which to the best of our knowledge
remain unanswered. Your thoughts, comments, or explanations
of any of the below are welcomed.
1. Creation: The
biblical Genesis account says God created all in six days
(see Genesis 1:1 - 2:2). The Quran, however, has a real
problem here as Surah 41:9, 10, 12 have a total of eight
days of creation (4+2+2=8) Meanwhile, Surah 10:3 gives the
total number of days of creation as six. This is a problem
of self-contradiction.
2. Pharaoh:
According to the Quran (Surah 7:120-125) Pharaoh used
crucifixion in dealing with the sorcerers - a practice which
historical evidence gives no precedent to before the
Babylonian Empire. This is once again a problem of
historical compression.
3. The Golden Calf:
According to the Quran (Surah 20:90-100)a Samaritan helped
the Israelites build the golden calf, and it mooed after
coming out of the fire. In reality, Samaritans did not exist
as a people until at least 1000 years after the time of the
Moses and the Israelite exodus from Egypt. Again a problem
of historical compression.
4. Judaism:
According to the Quran (Surah 9:30) the Jews believe that
Ezra is the Son of God - the Messiah. This never has been a
tenet of Judaism. This is a clear problem of distorted
knowledge of other religions and historical fact.
5. Alexander the Great:
According to the Quran (Surah 18:89-98) Alexander the Great
was a devout Muslim and lived to a ripe old age. Historical
records however show that Alexander the Great died young at
33 years of age (b. 356 B.C. - d. 323 B.C.), and believed he
was divine, forcing others to recognize him as such. In
India on the Hyphasis River (now Beas) Alexander erected
twelve altars to twelve Olympian gods. Once again the Quran
shows errors in historical and religious fact.
6. The Trinity:
According to the Quran (Surah 5:116, 5:73-75) the Christians
believe in "three Gods" - Father, Mother, and Son. This
shows the influence of heretical 'Christian' sects in
central Arabia at the time of Muhammad. In contrast,
Christianity has always distinctly stated that the Trinity
is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The teaching of the
Quran on the Trinity has undoubtedly led to confusion among
many Muslims on what the Bible (and thus Christianity)
teaches about the Triune God.
7. Mary: According
to the Quran (Surah 19:28, 3:33-36), Mary, the mother of
Jesus, was the daughter of Imran or Amram, the father of
Moses and Aaron. Mary is also said to be the sister of Moses
and Aaron. Clearly Muhammad confused Mary with Miriam.
A second interesting point about Mary is the story of the
date palm speaking and offering its fruit to her (Surah
19:23). This legend is easily traced to similar legends
found in the apocryphal "Protoevangelium of James" the
"Pseudo-Matthew" and "the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary"
all of which have been dated to the fourth to sixth
centuries, and were again believed by the sects found in
Arabia. (More in-depth information on Quranic sources may be
found in Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall's The Religion of the
Crescent).
8. Textual Variants in the Quran:
Many Muslims claim that the Quran today is identical to the
revelations received by Muhammad. However, there is
overwhelming unanswered evidence to the contrary. This
includes evidence of variations both prior to, and after
Uthman.
How do we view and respond to these unresolved problems of
logic, history and religious knowledge? While they do not
serve as the basis for our belief that the Quran is not the
revelation of God (as there are issues of far greater
consequence between the message of the Bible and the message
of the Quran), they do show us that there are legitimate
problems with the belief that the Quran is God's revelation
to man, as God who is all knowing and infallible could not
give statements of error, and then claim them as His Truth."
www.rim.org/
When your soul passes beyond delusion’s turbid quicksands,
Then will you learn disgust for what may yet be heard.
When your soul, by scripture once bewildered,
Stands motionless and still, immovable in ecstasy,
Then you will attain to sameness-and-indifference (yoga).
R.C. Zaehner, The Bhagavad-Gita
2:52-53
(R.C. Zaehner,
The Bhagavad-Gita, Oxford University Press, 1969, p. 51-2.)
"Internal Contradictions:
And it just doesn't add up: Sura 4:11-12 and 4:176
state the Qur'anic inheritance law. When a man dies, and is
leaving behind three daughters, his two parents and his
wife, they will receive the respective shares of 2/3 for the
3 daughters together, 1/3 for the parents together [both
according to verse 4:11] and 1/8 for the wife [4:12] which
adds up to more than the available estate. A second example:
A man leaves only his mother, his wife and two sisters, then
they receive 1/3 [mother, 4:11], 1/4 [wife, 4:12] and 2/3
[the two sisters, 4:176], which again adds up to 15/12 of
the available property.
How many angels were talking to Mary? When the Qur'an
speaks about the annunciation of the birth of Jesus to the
virgin Mary, Sura 3:42,45 speaks about (several) angels
while it is only one in Sura 19:17-21.
Further numerical discrepancies: Does Allah's day
equal to 1,000 human years (Sura 22:47, 32:5) or 50,000
human years (Sura 70:4)? --- How many gardens are there in
paradise? ONE [as stated in 39:73, 41:30, 57:21, 79:41] or
MANY [18:31, 22:23, 35:33, 78:32]? --- According to Sura
56:7 there will be THREE distinct groups of people at the
Last Judgement, but 90:18-19, 99:6-8, etc. mention only
TWO groups. --- There are conflicting views on who takes
the souls at death: THE Angel of Death [32:11], THE angels
(plural) [47:27] but also "It is Allah that takes the
souls (of men) at death." [39:42]
Angels have 2, 3, or 4 pairs of wings [35:1]. But Gabriel
had 600 wings. [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 54, Number
455]
How many days did Allah need to destroy the people of Aad?
One day [54:19] or several days [41:16; 69:6,7]
Six or eight days of creation? Sura 7:54, 10:3, 11:7,
and 25:59 clearly state that God created "the heavens and
the earth" in six days. But in 41:9-12 the detailed
description of the creation procedure adds up to eight
days.
Quick or slow creation? Allah creates the heavens
and the earth in six days [7:54] and many Muslims want to
be modern and scientific, and make that six eons, but then
again, He creates instantaneously [2:117], "Be! And it
is".
Heavens or Earth? Which was created first? First
earth and then heaven [2:29], heaven and after that earth
[79:27-30].
Calling together or ripping apart? In the process of
creation heaven and earth were first apart and are called
to come together [41:11], while 21:30 states that they
were originally one piece and then ripped apart.
What was man created from? A blood clot [96:1-2],
water [21:30, 24:45, 25:54], "sounding" (i.e. burned) clay
[15:26], dust [3:59, 30:20, 35:11], nothing [19:67] and
this is then denied in 52:35, earth [11:61], a drop of
thickened fluid [16:4, 75:37]
Where is Allah and his throne? Allah is nearer than
the jugular vein [50:16], but he is also on the throne
[57:4] which is upon the water [11:7], and at the same
time so far away, that it takes between 1,000 and 50,000
years to reach reach him [32:5, 70:4].
The origin of calamity? Is the evil in our life from
Satan [38:41], Ourselves [4:79], or Allah [4:78]?
How merciful is Allah's mercy? He has prescribed mercy
for himself [6:12], yet he does not guide some, even
though he could [6:35, 14:4].
Will there be inquiry in Paradise? "neither will they
question one another" [23:101] but nevertheless they will
be "engaging in mutual inquiry" [52:25], "and they will
... question one another" [37:27].
Are angels protectors? "NO protector besides Allah"
[2:107, 29:22]. But in Sura 41:31 the angels themselves
say: "We are your protectors in this life and the
Hereafter." And also in other suras is their role
described as guarding [13:11, 50:17-18] and protecting
[82:10].
Is everything devoutly obedient to Allah? That is the
claim in 30:26, but dozens of verses speak of the proud
disobedience of Satan [7:11, 15:28-31, 17:61, 20:116,
38:71-74, 18:50] as well of many different human beings
who reject His commands and His revelations.
Does Allah allow shirk? Shirk is considered the worst
of all sins, but the author of the Qur'an seems seems
unable to decide if Allah will ever forgive it or not. No
[4:48, 116], Yes [4:153, 25:68-71]. Abraham committed this
sin of polytheism as he takes moon, sun, stars to be his
Lord [6:76-78], yet Muslims believe that all prophets are
without any sin.
The event of worship of the golden calf: The
Israelites repented about worshipping the golden calf
BEFORE Moses returned from the mountain [7:149], yet they
refused to repent but rather continued to worship the calf
until Moses came back [20:91]. Does Aaron share in their
guilt? No [20:85-90], yes [20:92, 7:151].
Was Jonah cast on the desert shore or was he not?
"Then We cast him on a desert shore while he was sick"
[37:145] "Had not Grace from his Lord reached him, he
would indeed have been cast off on the naked shore while
he was reprobate." [68:49]
Moses and the Injil? Jesus is born more than 1,000
years after Moses, but in 7:157 Allah speaks to Moses
about what is written in the Injil [the book given to
Jesus].
Can slander of chaste women be forgiven? Yes [24:5],
No [24:23].
How do we receive the record on Judgment Day? On
Judgment day the lost people are given the Record (of
their bad deeds): Behind their back [84:10], or in their
left hand [69:25].
Can angels disobey? No angel is arrogant, they all
obey Allah [16:49-50], but: "And behold, we said to the
ANGELS: 'Bow down to Adam'. And THEY bowed down, EXCEPT
Iblis. He refused and was haughty." [2:34].
Three contradictions in 2:97 and 16:101-103: Who
brings the revelation from Allah to Muhammad? The ANGEL
Gabriel [297], or the Holy Spirit [16:102]? The new
revelation confirms the old [2:97] or substitutes it
[16:101]? The Qur'an is PURE Arabic [16:103] but there are
numerous foreign, non-Arabic words in it.
The infinite loop propblem: Sura 26:192,195,196: "It
(the Qur'an) is indeed a revelation from the Lord of the
Worlds, ... in clear Arabic speech and indeed it (the
Qur'an) is in the writings of the earlier (prophets)."
Now, the 'earlier writings' are the Torah and the Injil
for example, written in Hebrew and Greek. HOW can an
ARABIC Qur'an be contained in books of other languages?
Furthermore, it would have to contain this very passage of
the Qur'an since the Qur'an is properly contained in them.
Hence these earlier writings have to be contained in yet
other earlier writings and we are in an infinite loop,
which is absurd.
"An old woman" and God's character
About the story of Lot: "So we delivered him and his
family, - all exept an old woman who lingered behind." [Sura
26:170-171] And again: "But we saved him and his family,
exept his wife: she was of those who lagged behind. [Sura
7:83]. Either this is a contradiction or if indeed Lot's
wife is derogatorily called "an old woman" then this does
not show much respect for her as a wife of a prophet.
More problems with the story of Lot
"And his people gave NO answer but this: They said, "Drive
them out of your city: these are indeed men who want to be
clean and pure!" [Sura 7:82 & 27:56]. Yet: "But his people
gave NO answer but this: They said: "Bring us the Wrath of
Allah if thou tellest the truth." [Sura 29:29]. Obviously
these answers are different.
The "pleasure" of Allah?
Is God's action of punishment or mercy and guidance or
misguidance arbitrary?
Did Abraham smash the idols?
The accounts of Abraham, Suras 19:41-49, 6:74-83 differ
quite a bit from Sura 21:51-59. While in Sura 21 Abraham
confronts his people strongly, and even destroys the
idols, in Sura 19 Abraham shuts up after his father
threatens him to stone him for speaking out against the
idols. And he seems not only to become silent, but even to
leave the area ("turning away from them all").
What about Noah's son?
According to Sura 21:76, Noah and his family is saved from
the flood, and Sura 37:77 confirms that his seed survived.
But Sura 11:42-43 reports that Noah's son drowns.
What about Noah's son?
"Before them *the people of Noah* rejected (their
messenger): They rejected Our servant and said, 'Here is
One possessed!' And he was driven out." [Sura 54:9] Now,
if he is driven out [expelled from their country] how come
they can scoff at him while he is buiding the ark since we
read "Forthwith he (starts) constructing the Ark: Every
time that the Chiefs of *his people* passed by him, they
threw ridicule on him." [Sura 11:38] He cannot be both:
Driven out and near enough that they can regularly pass
by.
Pharaoh's repentance in the face of death?
According to Sura 10:90-92, Pharaoh repented "in the sight
of death" and was saved. But Sura 4:18 says that such a
thing can't happen.
Abrogation?
"The words of the Lord are perfect in truth and justice;
there is NONE who can change His words." [Sura 6:115] Also
see 6:34 and 10:65. But then Allah (Muhammad?) sees the
need to exchange some of them for "better ones" [Sura
2:106, 16:101]. And it is not for ignorant people to
question Allah because of such practices!
Guiding to truth?
"Say: 'God - He guides to the truth; and which is worthier
to be followed ...?" [Sura 10:35] But how much is left
over of this worthiness when we also read: "Allah leads
astray whom he pleases, and he guides whom He pleases,
..." [Sura 14:4]. And how do we know in which of Allah's
categories of pleasure we fall? How sure can a Muslim be
that he is one of those guided right and not one of those
led astray?
What is the punishment for adultery?
Flogging with a 100 stripes (men and women) [24:2],
"confine them to houses until death do claim them
(lifelong house arrest - for the women) [4:15]. For men:
"If they repent and amend, leave them alone" [4:16]. 24:2
contradicts both the procedure for women and men in Sura
4. And why is the punishment for women and men equal in
Sura 24 but different in Sura 4?
Will Christians enter Paradise or go to Hell?
Sura 2:62 and 5:69 say "Yes", Sura 5:72 (just 3 verses
later) and 3:85 say "No".
God alone or also men? Clear or incomprehensible?
The Qur'an is "clear Arabic speech." [16:103] Yet "NONE
knows its interpretation, save only Allah." [3:7].
Actually, "men of understanding do grasp it." [3:7]
Was Pharaoh Drowned or Saved when chasing Moses and the
Israelites?
Saved [10:92], drowned [28:40, 17:103, 43:55].
When Commanded Pharaoh the Killing of the Sons?
When Moses was a Prophet and spoke God's truth to Pharaoh
[40:23-25] or when he was still an infant [20:38-39]?
When/how are the fates determined?
"The night of power is better than a thousand months. The
angels and spirit descend therein, by the permission of
their Lord, with all decrees." [97:3,4] "Lo! We revealed
it on a blessed night." [44:3] To Muslims, the "Night of
Power" is a blessed night on which fates are settled and
on which everything relating to life, death, etc., which
occurs throughout the year is decreed. It is said to be
the night on which Allah's decrees for the year are
brought down to the earthly plane. In other words, matters
of creation are decreed a year at a time. Contradicting
this, Sura 57:22 says, "No affliction befalls in the earth
or in your selves, but it is in a Book before we create
it." This means it is written in the Preserved Tablet,
being totally fixed in Allah's knowledge before anyone was
created. All of the above is contradicted by "And every
man's fate We have fastened to his own neck." This says
that man alone is responsible for what he does and what
happens to him. [17:13]
Wine: Good or bad?
Strong drink and ... are only an infamy of Satan's
handiwork. [5:90, also 2:219]. Yet on the other hand
in Paradise are rivers of wine [47:15, also 83:22,25]. How
does Satan's handiwork get into Paradise?
Will all Muslims go to Hell?
According to Sura 19:71 every Muslim will go to Hell (for
at least some time), while another passage states that
those who die in Jihad will go to Paradise immediately.
Will Jesus burn in Hell?
Jesus is raised to Allah, [Sura 4:158], near stationed
with him [Sura 3:45], worshiped by millions of Christians,
yet Sura Sura 21:98 says, that all that are worshiped by
men besides Allah will burn in Hell together with those
who worship them.
Jinns and men created for worship or for Hell?
Created only to serve God [Sura 51:56], many of
them made for Hell [Sura 7:179].
Who is the father of Jesus?
A more involved argument that is difficult to summarize in
one sentence.
Begetting and Self-sufficiency:
A self-contradiction on account of confused terminology.
Could Allah have a son?
Sura 39:4 affirms and Sura 6:101 denies this possibility.
Did Jesus Die already?
Surah 3:144 states that all messengers died before
Muhammad. But 4:158 claims that Jesus was raised to God
(alive?).
One Creator or many?
The Qur'an uses twice the phrase that Allah is "the best
of creators" [23:14, 37:125]. What other creators are in
mind? On the other hand, many verses make clear that Allah
alone is "the creator of all things" [e.g. 39:62]. There
is nothing left for others to be a creator of.
From among all nations or from Abraham's seed?
Surah 29:27 states that all prophets came Abraham's seed.
But 16:36 claims that Allah raised messengers from among
every people.
Marrying the wives of adopted sons?
It is important that Muslims can marry the divorced wives
of adopted sons [Sura 33:37], yet it is forbidden to adopt
sons [Sura 33:4-5].
Another eleven contradictions...
answering-islam.org/
When your intellect will completely pierce the veil of
confusion,
Then you will become
indifferent to what has been heard and what is to be heard
(from the scriptures). (2.52)
When your intellect, that is confused by the conflicting
opinions and the ritualistic doctrine of the Vedas, shall
stay steady and firm on concentration of the Absolute (or
the Supreme ),
Then you shall attain the union with the Supreme in
Samadhi. (2.53)
Dr. Ramananda Prasad, The Bhagavad-Gita 2.52-53
(2.52) Scriptures become dispensable after enlightenment.
According to Shamkaracharya, the verse means that the one
who has rent asunder the veil of ignorance and realized
Brahma, becomes indifferent to the Vedic texts that
prescribe details of performing rituals for the attainment
of desired fruits.
(2:53) Non-scriptural reading, or reading of different
philosophical writings is bound to create confusion.
Ramakrishna said: One should learn from the scriptures that
God alone is real and the world is illusory. A beginner
should know God alone is Sat, and everything else is Mithya.
After Self-realization one finds God alone has become
everything. Everything is His manifestation. He is sporting
in various forms. In Samadhi (or the superconscious state of
mind) the confusion arisen from conflicting views ceases and
mental equipoise is attained.
Different schools of thought, cult, and system of philosophy
are different rungs in the ladder of yoga. People's
temperaments are different due to difference in their stage
of evolution. Therefore, different schools of thought are
necessary to suit different individuals as well as the same
individual as he or she grows and develops. The highest
philosophy of pure Advaitism of Shamkara is the topmost rung
of the ladder. It cannot be comprehended by the vast
majority. All schools and cults are necessary. One should
not get confused, because they are not meant to confuse, but
one should choose wisely.
Dr. Ramananda Prasad, The Bhagavad-Gita 2.52-53
(Dr.
Ramananda Prasad, The Bhagavad-Gita, 2nd. Edition)
"TRINITY
According to most Christians, Jesus was God incarnate, full
man and full God.
Can the finite and the infinite be one? "To be full" God
means freedom from finite forms and from helplessness, and
to be "full man" means the absence of divinity.
1.To
be son is to be less than divine and to be divine is to be
no one’s son. How could Jesus have the attributes of sonship
and divinity altogether?
2.Christians
assert that Jesus claimed to be God when they quote him in
John 14:9: "He that has seen me has seen the
Father". Didn’t Jesus clearly say that people have never
seen God, as it says in John 5:37: "And the
father himself which Has sent me, has borne witness of me.
You have NEITHER HEARD HIS VOICE AT ANY TIME NOR SEEN HIS
SHAPE"?
3.Christians
say that Jesus was God because he was called Son of God, Son
of Man, Messiah, and "savior". Ezekiel was addressed in the
Bible as Son of Man. Jesus spoke of "the peace makers" as
Sons of God. Any person who followed the Will and Plan of
God was called SON OF GOD in the Jewish tradition and in
their language (Genesis 6:2,4; Exodus 4:22; Psalm
2:7; Romans 8:14). "Messiah" which in Hebrew means
"God’s anointed" and not "Christ", and "Cyrus" the person is
called "Messiah" or "the anointed". As for "savior", in
II KINGS 13:5, other individuals were given that
title too without being gods. So where is the proof in these
terms that Jesus was God when the word son is not
exclusively used for him alone?
4.Christians
claim that Jesus acknowledged that he and God were one in
the sense of nature when he says in John 10:30
"I and my father are one". Later on in John
17:21-23, Jesus refers to his followers and himself
and God as one in five places. So why did they give the
previous "one" a different meaning from the other five
"ones?
5.Is
God three-in-one and one in three simultaneously or one at a
time?
6.If
God is one and three simultaneously, then none of the three
could be the complete God. Granting that such was the case,
then when Jesus was on earth, he wasn’t a complete God, nor
was the "father in Heaven" a whole God. Doesn’t that
contradict what Jesus always said about His God and our God
in heaven, his Lord and our Lord ? Does that also mean that
there was no complete god then, between the claimed
crucifixion and the claimed resurrection?
7.If
God is one and three at a time, then who was the God in
heaven when Jesus was on earth? Wouldn’t this contradict his
many references to a God in Heaven that sent him?
8.If
God is three and one at the same time, who was the God in
Heaven within three days between the claimed crucifixion and
the claimed resurrect ion?
9.Christians
say that: "The Father(F) is God, the Son(S) is God, and the
Holy Ghost(H) is God, but the Father is not the Son, the Son
is not the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost is not the
Father". In simple arithmetic and terms therefore, if F = G,
S = G, and H = G, then it follows that F = S = H, while the
second part of the statement suggests that F ¹ S ¹ H
(meaning, "not equal"). Isn’t that a contradiction to the
Christian dogma of Trinity in itself ?
10.If
Jesus was God, why did he tell the man who called him "good
master" not to call him "good" because accordingly, there is
none good but his God in Heaven alone?
11.Why
do Christians say that God is three-in-one and one in three
when Jesus says in Mark 12:29: "The Lord
our God is one Lord" in as many places as yet in the Bible?
12.If
belief in the Trinity was such a necessary condition for
being a Christian, why didn’t Jesus teach and emphasize it
to the Christians during his time? How were those followers
of Jesus considered Christians without ever hearing the term
Trinity? Had the Trinity been the spinal cord of
Christianity, Jesus would have emphasized it on many
occasions and would have taught and explained it in detail
to the people.
13.Christians
claim that Jesus was God as they quote in John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God". This is John speaking and not Jesus.
Also, the Greek word for the first occurrence of God is
HOTHEOS which means "the God" or "God" with a capital "G",
while the Greek word for its second occurrence is "TONTHEOS",
which means "a god " or "god" with a small "g". Isn’t this
dishonesty and inconsistency on the part of those
translating the Greek Bible? ? Isn’t such quotation in
John 1:1 recognized by every Christian scholar of
the Bible to have been written by a Jew named Philo
Alexandria way before Jesus and John?
14.Wasn’t
the word "god" or "TONTHEOS" also used to refer to others as
well as in II Corinthians 4:4 "(and the
Devil is) the god of this world" and in Exodus 7:1
"See , I have made thee (Moses ) a god to Pharaoh"?
SALVATION:
Christians say that "GOD LOST His only son to save us". To
whom did God lose Jesus if he owns the whole universe?
15.
If it was agreeable with God’s Majesty to have sons, He
could have created a million sons the like of Jesus. So what
is the big clear deal about this only son?
16.Why
does the Bible say that Jesus wanted to die on the cross,
when the one on the cross was shouting "My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?" according to Matthew 27:45
and Mark 15:33?
17.
If God had wanted to save us, couldn’t He have done that
without sacrificing Jesus?
18.
God is Just, and justice requires that nobody should be
punished for the sins of others, nor should some people be
saved by punishing other people. Doesn’t the claim that God
sacrificed Jesus to save us because He was Just, contradict
the definition of justice?
19.
People sacrifice things they have to get something they
don’t have when they can’t have both. Christians say that
"God SACRIFICED His only son to save us". We know that God
is Almighty; to whom did He sacrifice Jesus?
20.
A real sacrifice is when you can’t get back what you have
offered , so what would be the big deal about such a
sacrifice if God could recover the same offering? (according
to the Christians’ terminology)?
21.
If all the Christians are saved through Jesus and are going
to Heaven no matter what they do, then the teachings of
Jesus are irrelevant and the definition of good and bad are
also rendered irrelevant. If this is not so, then do
Christians who believe in Jesus yet do not follow his
teachings nor repent go to Hell?
22.
How can Christians take deeds as irrelevant after becoming
one when Jesus says in Matthew 12:36; "But
I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment. For
by the words thou shalt be justified, and by the words thou
shalt be condemned"?
23.
Christians say that people go to Heaven ONLY THROUGH JESUS,
yet Paul says in 1 CORINTHIANS 7:8-16 that
the unbelieving husband is acceptable to God because he is
united with his wife and vice versa, and their pagan
children are also acceptable to God. So people can go to
heaven without believing in Jesus according to this.
24.
How come the Bible says that ALL Israel is saved although
they don’t believe in Jesus? Doesn’t that contradict the
claim in the Bible that the only way to heaven is through
Jesus?
25.
According to Christians, those who have not been baptized
will go to Hell. So even the infants and babies go to Hell
if not baptized, since they are born with an inherited
original sin. Doesn’t this contradict the definition of
justice? Why would God punish people for sins they never
committed?
HOLY SPIRIT:
The only place in the Bible where the Paraclete was called
the Holy Spirit is in John 14:26 "But the
Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, he will teach you all things and bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you". What has the Holy
Spirit brought or taught for the last 2000 years?
26.Christians say that the Paraclete means the Holy
Spirit (John 14;26). Jesus said in
John 16:7-8 "If I do not go away the Paraclete will
not come to you". This could not mean the Holy spirit, since
the Holy spirit was said to have been there before Jesus was
even born as in Luke 1:41 "Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit". Here, the Holy spirit was also
present during Jesus life time. So how could this fit with
the condition that Jesus must go away so that the Holy
spirit will come?
27.In
John 16:7-8, it says: "But if go, I will
send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the
world of sins and of righteousness and of Judgment". What do
"he" and "him" refer here? Don’t they refer to a man?
28.Does
the Holy Spirit talk to good Christians and bad Christians
as well? Is the Holy spirit with them all the time or just
at certain times? When does it start visiting a person who
wants to become a Christian?
29.How
can you as a Christian tell if the Holy Spirit is inside
another Christian? How come many Christians fooled people by
claiming that the Holy spirit was inside them only to be
converted to another religion later on ?
30.Does
the Holy Spirit dictate what Christians should do without
choice or freedom at all or does it only guide them and they
have the freedom to follow or not ?
31.If
the Holy Spirit dictates what Christian should do, why do
Christians commit sins and make mistakes ? How can you
explain the conversion to other religions and atheism of
many Christians? Are they told to do that by the Holy
Spirit?
32.If
the Holy Spirit guides Christians only, and they are free to
do what they want, then how do we know that the writers of
the Gospels didn’t make mistakes in writing them?
33.If
Christians believe that the Holy Spirit comes and talks to
them everyday, why don’t they ask the Holy Spirit about
which version of the Bible to follow since there are too
many versions floating around?
MISSION OF JESUS:
Without borrowing from other religions and systems, can
Christianity provide people with a complete way of life?
Since Christianity is limited to spiritual life and does not
provide law, how can a society decide which laws are right
or wrong?
34.Why
do the Christians say that Jesus came with a universal
mission when he said that he was sent to the Jews only? He
said to the Canaanite woman who asked him to heal her
daughter from demon-possession: "I was sent ONLY to the lost
sheep of Israel" and also said: "It is not right to take the
children’s bread and toss it to their dogs",
Matthew 15:21-28.
RESURRECTION:
If you read Matthew (28:1-10), Mark (16:1-20), Luke
(24:1-12), and John (20: 1-18),
you will find contradicting stories. They all agreed that
the tomb was guarded for three days. However, they reported
the discovery of the empty tomb differently.
-
Matthew (28)
and John (20) reported that Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary were the first to discover
the tomb.
Mark (16)
reports that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,
and Salome were the first to discover the empty tomb.
Mark (28)
reports that there was an earthquake that removed the
rock from over the tomb. He says that an angel caused
it. The other gospels do not mention of an earthquake.
Matthew and Mark
say that only ONE man in white clothes was sitting on
the tomb when the woman arrived, and that he was an
angel.
Luke says that TWO
men in white clothes, who were angels, were sitting.
Johns says that the two women did not meet anybody the
first time they came to the tomb, but when they
returned, they saw TWO people, ONE was an ANGEL, and the
other was JESUS.
Matthew reports
that when the guards reported this to the chief priest,
the chief priest paid them a large sum of money, telling
them: "You have to say that his disciples came at night
and stole his body." He claims that the soldiers took
money and spread the story around and since then, the
story had been circulating among the Jews until today
(according to Matthew). The other gospels do not report
of any such thing.
35.
Which narration now is more authentic?
36.Why
is the appearance of Jesus after the crucifixion taken as a
proof of his resurrection when there is an explanation that
he was not dead because someone else was crucified in his
place when God saved Him?
37.How
did Matthew know of the claimed agreement between the
soldiers and the chief priest? Can’t someone say that
someone paid the women a large sum of money and told them to
spread the word around that Jesus rose from the dead, with
the same authenticity as that of the story of Matthew?
38.Why
did they believe that man in the white clothes? Why did they
believe he was an angel? John’s narration is too strange,
since he says that Mary did not recognize Jesus (one of the
two) while talking to him, and she only recognized him when
he called her by her name.
39.How
does an empty tomb prove that Jesus was crucified ? Isn’t it
that God is capable of removing another man from the tomb,
and of resurrecting him too?
40.The
Gospels are believed to be the verbatim words of God, they
are supposed to be dictated by the Holy Spirit to the
Disciples who wrote them. If the source were the same, why
shouldn’t they correspond with each other in reporting such
an important event?
41.How
could Matthew, Mark, Luke and John be considered
eyewitnesses of resurrection when the Bible implies that
nobody at all saw Jesus coming out of the tomb?
BIBLE:
If the Christians consider the Old Testament as God’s Word,
why did they cancel the parts of the Old Testament that
dealt with punishment (example: the punishment for
adultery)?
42.Why
doesn’t Mark 16:9-20 exist in as many
versions of the Bible while it exists as a footnote or
between brackets in some other versions? Is a footnote in
the Bible still considered as God’s word, especially when it
addresses an important feature like the Ascension?
43.Why
does the Catholic Bible contain 73
books while the Protestant Bible has only
66? With both claiming to have the complete Word of
God, which one should be believed and why?
44.Where
do those new translations of the Bible keep coming from when
the original Bible is not even available ? The Greek
manuscripts which are translations themselves are not even
similar with each other.
45.How
can you take two gospels from writers who never met Jesus,
like Mark and Luke?
46.Why
is half of the New Testament written by a man who never even
met Jesus in his lifetime? PAUL claimed with no proof that
he had met Jesus while on his way from Jerusalem to
Damascus. PAUL was the main enemy of Christianity. Isn’t
that reason enough to question the authenticity of what he
wrote? Why do the Christians call those books of the Old
Testament "God’s Word" when the revisors of the RSV Bible
say that some of the authors are UNKNOWN? They say that the
author of SAMUEL is "UNKNOWN" and that of CHRONICLES is "UNKOWN,
PROBABLY COLLECTED AND EDITED BY EZRA"!
CONTRADICTIONS:
47.Concerning the
controversial issues in the Bible, how can Christians decide
by two-thirds majority what is God’s Word and what is not,
as the prefaces of some Bibles say like that one of the RSV
?
48.Why
does Luke in his gospel report the Ascension on Easter Day,
and in the Acts, in which he is recognized as the author,
FORTY days later?
49.The
genealogy of Jesus is mentioned in Matthew and Luke only.
Matthew listed 26 forefathers from Joseph to David while
Luke enumerated 41 forefathers. Only Joseph matches with
Joseph in those two lists. Not a single other name matches!
If these were inspired by God word by word, how could they
be different? Some claim that one is for Mary and one is for
Joseph, but where does it says Mary in those two Gospels?
50.If
Moses wrote the first books of the Old Testament, how could
Moses write his own obituary? Moses died in the fifth book
at age 120 as mentioned in Deut. 34:5-10.
51.In
the King James Version, why does it report SEVEN years of
famine in II SAMUEL 24:13 while it reports
THREE years of famine in I
CHRONICLES 21:12? Why did they change both to THREE
years in the New International Version and other versions?
52.Still
In the same King James Version, why does it say that
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign in
II CHRONICLES 21:12, while it says EIGHTEEN years
in II KINGS 24:8? Why did thessey change in
both to EIGHTEEN in the new Versions?
53.In
all versions, why does it say that David slew the men of
SEVEN HUNDRED chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand
HORSEMEN as evidenced in II Samuel 10:18
while its says SEVEN THOUSAND men which fought in chariots,
and forty thousand FOOTMEN, in I CHRONICLES 19:18?
54.In
all versions, why does it report TWO thousand baths in
I KINGS 7:26 while II CHRONICLES 4:5
reports THREE THOUSAND?
55.In
the King James version, why does it report that Solomon had
FOUR THOUSAND stalls for horses in II CHRONICLES
9:25 while it accounts that Solomon had FORTY
THOUSAND stalls of horses in 1 KINGS 4:26?
Why did they change both to FOUR THOUSAND in the new
versions?
56.In
GENESIS 1, God’s creation progresses from
grass to trees to fowls, whales, cattle and creeping things
and finally to man and woman. GENESIS 2,
however, puts the creation of man before cattle and fowl and
woman subsequent to beast. How can this be explained?"
www.sultan.org/
“And
here it will be fitting to introduce the sages’ defination of the term
truth. It has been earlier demonstrated that without such a
defination men wander in a dry wilderness of hollow fancies, unfounded
opinions, worthless theories and hypostatized words. This defination
may sound quite simple, but it implications are most profound. It
should be graven deeply on the heart. Here it is: TRUTH is that which
is beyond all contradiction and free from all doubt; which is indeed
beyond the very possibility of both contradiction and doubt; beyond
the changes and alternations of time and vicissitude; forever one and
the same, unalterable and unaltering; universal and therefore
independent of all human ideation."
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Paul Brunton, Ph. D.
The Hidden Teachings Beyond Yoga
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Shri Krishna proclaimed this priceless prophecy of
contradicting scriptures thousands of years ago because He
foresaw that contradictions and controversies of future
scriptures would confuse and delude humankind. When He spoke
these words there was only the Sanatana Dharma — no
Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity or Islam, and no
Torah, Dhammapada, Bible or Qur’an. Yet He prophesied that
the scriptures of future religious institutions would
contradict one another.
This is
the exact situation today. In these modern times there are
so many scriptural discrepancies that the minds of seekers
are deluded and in doubt. Those genuinely looking for Truth
in various scriptures and religions are confused, and
sometimes shocked by what they find.
Every religion is tainted with falsehood and discrepancies. Every House of
Worship is perverted and corrupted. Every guru is teaching his or her own
version of Truth. Only fools and fundamentalists do not feel disturbed if
the 'truth' they are preached is contradicted by other Messengers and
Scriptures. Their blind faith do not question glaring falsehood as the
herd instinct give them security in numbers.
A billion Catholics claim that the five billion pagans will be tormented
in the Inferno. A billion Muslims swear that more than five billion
infidels will burn in hell. The few million Jews affirm that the rest of
humankind may jump in the lake as far as their jealous god is concerned.
If any historian ever carries out a research of the scriptural
contradictions and religious beliefs of all these religious regimes he or
she will understand the meaning of
blind faith, misrepresentation, forgery, falsehood, and
fundamentalism. The Torah, Bible and the Qur’an have so many
contradictions, some even defying history, that the word Truth loses its
meaning.
The Hindu scriptures, with their pantheon of gods, also bewilder the
seeker of Truth. Some say Shri Krishna is supreme while others believe it
is Shri Vishnu. There are those who swear that Shri Shiva is All-mighty. A
few say Shri Rama is All-powerful. Then there are followers of Shri Durga.
And not to forget Shri Kali. You may, if you wish, include Sai Baba since
50 million prostrate before this ‘bhagwan.’
Are humans to become Jews because they are the “chosen ones”? Are they to
convert into Islam because Muslims swear that the Qur’an is the ‘last word
of god’? Or should they become Catholics because the pope is the
‘representative of Christ’ on Earth? Who are they to follow? Which
scripture should be read? How many Messengers are they to reject? How will
anyone know, after having made a studied choice, that it is the right one?
Then, what about the rare seeker of Truth who steadfastly refuses to
accept any of these narrow, exclusionist religions or paths? How about
those who only seek the Truth that has no contradictions, or the Truth
that pervade all scriptures and upheld by all Messengers? What is this
Truth? Who knows this Truth? Where are they going to find and attain this
Truth?
Shri Krishna declared that only in
Self-Realization will the seeker find Truth and attain the goal of
Divine Consciousness.
Shri Krishna foresaw the present age when those aware of religious
contradictions would desire Truth. The only way to realize it is from within. There is absolutely no more need for any scripture, any
religious regime or their guardians for God- Realization. Only through the
yoga of Self-Realization, when the Kundalini rises to burst open the
Brahmarandhra and connects with Cosmic Consciousness, is Truth known.
Then the Inner Guide, bestowing enlightenment far beyond the best that
guardians of external religious regimes can offer, guides from one
within. This is the Source of human freedom from all bondage, whether
from religious conditioning, social pressures, emotional distress,
psychological fears, living stress, materialistic desires, personal
disorders, substance abuse, or whatsoever. No amount of bhakti, prayers,
prostration and penance in the Age of Kali will enlighten humans as
religions are all outward, mental projections. Their followers will remain
in ignorance of the Divine World of Reality (Lahut)
until the Kundalini rises and breaks open their Brahmarandhra. Only then
does one become a dwija (twice-born or baptized by Allah) i.e., given
spiritual rebirth by the Spirit within. This all
prisoners-of-religion must know!
Truth is Absolute and All Pervading, without contradictions. Only the
Truth of the Holy Spirit (Ruh of Allah, Shri Adi Shakti, Maitreya, Eykaa
Mayee) runs through all the scriptures. She created Shri Brahma, Vishnu,
Shiva, Krishna, Ganesha, Tao, Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, Nanak and
all others The Great Primordial Mother is the Holy Spirit of the Bible,
Ruh of Allah of the Qur'an, the Adi Shakti of the Puranas, the Maitreya of
the Dhammapada, and the Eykaa Mayee of the Guru Granth Sahib. She is one
and the same Divine Feminine, though called by different names in
different scriptures and traditions.
She is the Mother of all humankind and exists
alone
in each and every Sahasrara. She is the Supreme Spirit to whom all
liberated souls in the Kingdom of God pray, prostrate and meditate. She is the
underlying Reality of all the Holy Scriptures and only Her Truth does not
contradict for it is All Pervading. Only She can give Self-Realization for She
is the Adi Kundalini. Only She can destroy all sins, ignorance and delusion
for She is the Great Holy Ghost. Only She can give spiritual birth for She
is the Supreme Spirit. She is
beyond All — Shri Krishna, Abraham, Jesus, Tao, Buddha, Muhammad, Nanak. She
is
the Universal Mind. She is the Cosmic Consciousness. She is the
Ultimate Reality!
The present age of mass communications, social mobility and literary freedom
have begun to expose the deluding dogmas of various religious beliefs, each
falsely professing to be the sole possessor of Truth. It is in
multi-cultural-ethnic-religious melting pots like America, Canada, Australia and
Europe where blind faith and religious fanaticism, among other universal issues,
are being increasingly denounced by well-informed and enlightened humans. These
are the New Age seekers who are convinced that there is going to be a massive
shift of consciousness in this century which will bring about
en masse human transformation on a scale never seen before. This
unprecedented spiritual renaissance will be sparked by Self-Realization. Humans
will explore their own selves, connect with the Universal Mind and become their
own masters, far removed from the centuries-old debilitating dogmas of the
external Idols. They will pray and meditate in the Kingdom of God that is
within, not in the godless religious prisons without.
"Self Realisation
From Svetasvatara Upanishad
Translations by Swami Prabhavananda
Sri Ramakrishna Math
The Rishis (seers of truth) inquire within themselves:
What is the cause of
this universe? Is it Brahman (the Supreme Reality)? Whence do we come? Why do we
live? Where shall we at last find rest? Under whose command are we bound by the
law of happiness and its opposite?
Time, space, law,
chance, matter, primal energy, intelligence- none of these, nor a combination of
these, can be the final cause of the universe, for they are effects, and exist
to serve the soul. Nor can the individual soul be the cause, for being subject
to the law of happiness and misery, it is not free.
The Rishis (seers of
truth), absorbed in meditation, saw within themselves the ultimate Reality, the
self-luminous Being, the one God, who dwells as the self-conscious power in all
creatures. He is one without a second. Deep within all beings He dwells, hidden
from sight by the coverings of the gunas –sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas. He presides
over time, space, and all apparent causes.
Like oil in sesame
seeds, butter in cream, water in the river-bed, fire in the tinder, the Self
dwells within the soul. Realise Him through truthfulness and meditation.
Like butter in cream
is the Self in everything. Knowledge of the Self is gained through meditation.
The Self is Brahman (Supreme Reality). By Brahman is all ignorance destroyed.
Fire, though present
in the firestick, is not perceived until one stick is rubbed against another.
The Self is like that fire; it is realised in the body by meditation on the
sacred syllable OM (AUM).
Let your body be the
stick that is rubbed, the sacred syllable OM the stick that is rubbed against
it. Thus shall you realise God, who is hidden within the body as fire is hidden
within the wood.
He who is realised
by transcending the world of cause and effect, in deep contemplation, is
expressly declared by the scriptures to be the Supreme Brahman. He is the
substance, all else the shadow. He is the imperishable.
The knowers of
Brahman know Him as the one reality behind all that seems. For this reason they
are devoted to Him. Absorbed in Him, they attain freedom from the wheel of
birth, death and rebirth."
www.hinduism.co.za/
If here and now one knows him before the decay of the body, then one is
prepared to receive a body in the worlds of creation.
In the atman one sees as it were in a mirror, in the
world of the Fathers one sees as in a dream, in the world of the spirits,
as reflection in water, in the world of Brahman, as light and shade.
When the wise man knows the sense perceptions — their
rising and their setting, each one in separation — and the origin of each,
then he grieves no more.
Beyond the senses is the mind, beyond the mind, pure
intellect, beyond the intellect, the great atman, beyond the great, the
Unmanifest.
Beyond the Unmanifest, moreover, is the Person,
all-pervading, uncharacterized. When a man knows him, he attains
liberation and proceeds to immortality.
His form is not in the field of vision. No one is able
to see Him with the eye. Apprehending Him by heart, by thought, and by
mind, those who know Him thus become immortal.
When the five organs of perception are still, together
with the mind, when the reason does not function — this they aver to be
the highest state.
This they deem to be yoga — the steady concentration
of the senses. Man then becomes pure attention, for yoga is both origin
and extinction.
KATH U VI, 4-11
“Truth
cannot be sold. It cannot be manufactured. It cannot be
organized. And it cannot be mentally or emotionally
understood. Whatever is the Truth we have felt in our
evolutionary process has always been felt on our central
nervous system . . . It cannot be just a mental idea: "This is
Truth, that is Truth." Everybody must feel that Truth because
it is an Absolute thing. Whatever is Absolute cannot be
argued, cannot be differently decoded. If we understand this
prima-facie then we will understand that we have to go beyond
this human awareness to feel the Truth . . . human awareness
is not sufficient. If it was then there would not have been
any difference of opinions. Everybody thinks that they are
correct. That’s not the way to self-certify oneself.”
Shri Prana-Rupini Devi
Madras, India — Feb. 11, 1990
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Shri
Mataji Nirmala Devi
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“Such
a lot of ignorance. That ignorance is really like a ditch of
no return. I have seen people who have read books after books.
There are people who do one lakh (100,000) mantras, fasting
and reaching nowhere — that are the most hot tempered people,
or they have no Joy in their heart. They leave their families,
come out of it, and think that they have done a great
sacrifice. God does not want all this nonsense. Why will God
who is your Father, who is so Compassionate and Loving
Personality, want you to suffer? Why should you suffer? By
suffering how will you gain moksha is beyond Me . . . We are
killing ourselves — don’t eat food, don’t do this, do that;
all the time after our lives. God has created this world for
your comfort and enjoyment. Why did He create this world if
you had to go through such hell?”
Sri Bhadramurtih Sri Nirmala
Devi
Madras, India — Jan. 17, 1994
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Shri
Mataji Nirmala Devi
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“Unless
and until you connect it to this All-Pervading Power of Divine
Love, which we call Paramchaitanya, our bhakti has no meaning
because there is no connection . . . The simple thing is this
connection, this Yoga has to take place.”
Shri Padma-nayana Devi
Madras, India — Jan. 17, 1994
"Padma is the lotus
flower, Nelumbo nucifera, perfection of beauty, associated with deities and the
chakras, especially the 1,000-petaled sahasrara. Rooted in the mud, its blossom
is a promise of purity and unfoldment. Aum"
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
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Shri
Mataji Nirmala Devi
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“First
of all, we used to have Sahaja Yogis, say some from England,
some from Spain, some from here. They would always have
different groups, they would never sit together. You could
make out this if the English sitting here, they are sitting
here, they are sitting here, and they would form a group.
But now it's not so. Now I find they all are becoming
integrated. The integration of human beings is the most
important thing for Sahaja Yoga. That comes by understanding,
not by your intelligence, but by understanding that all human
beings are made by God, by His Will, and we have no right to
despise anyone.
The second integration that has come within you is that all
religions, all religions, are born on the same Tree of
spiritual life; that all religions are to be worshipped, all
Incarnations, all prophets, all scriptures are to be
worshipped. There are defects, there are problems with those
scriptures, which can be corrected. So gradually you start
entering into the subtler side of divinity, to understand that
all these people have worked hard to create today the
atmosphere for Sahaja Yoga and no religion is to be despised
and no religion is to be attacked. Attacking any religion is a
very, very absolutely unreal thing and you are working out a
very unreal theory which doesn't exist in the Divine Plan. So
this is how we finish all fundamentalism.
Fundamentalists are the ones who believe that this is written
in this book, this is written in this book, and that we,
because we read this book, we are something better. Anybody
can read any book, what is so great?”
Shri Akanta Devi
The Will Of God, Sahasrara Puja, Cabella, Italy — May 10, 1992
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Shri
Mataji Nirmala Devi
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“Ego
and super-ego are the greatest enemies . . . So in the West we
have the greatest problem of the ego. Whatever appeals to the
ego we run to that. This is how people are made mad by these
gurus. They say you can fly — so you have got into it.
Somebody says you will become very powerful — so you have gone
into it. Somebody says you will become a great Guru and you go
into it. But nobody says you become the Spirit and become One
with the Whole . . .
You must have noticed that there are really very few seekers
in this world. And seekers also must realize that they cannot
be happy with anything else but their Spirit. This is the test
of a seeker. And a non-seeker can never understand a seeker. .
. .
You can know Me only through your vibratory awareness . . . As
ordinary human beings and so-called gurus cannot feel the
vibrations you cannot talk of the vibratory awareness to them
. . . In the same way you are limited now but you have jumped
into the Unlimited. So you can do all these things. That is
why you are saints. The things you can do in the Unlimited you
could not have done before Realization. You start doing
something which you could not have done before, that is, to
raise your Kundalini and those of the people. The gurus,
so-called, can shout, howl, jump and do all these things but
they cannot raise the Kundalini of the people.”
Sri Jagarini Devi
Subconscious, Supraconscious, Correct Foundations And Ideals,
London, U.K. — May 24, 1981
(Jagarini (257th): The
Wakeful. The state in which the Jiva is called Visva.)
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BIBLE-QUR'AN
CONTRADICTION CONTENTS:
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New Testament Contradictions
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Arguments From The Bible
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Contradicting Qur'an 1
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Contradicting Qur'an 2
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Contradictions In The Quran 1
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Contradictions In The Quran 2
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Contradictions In The Quran 3
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Is The Bible The Word Of God?
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Difficulties In The Quran
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Six Or Eight Days Of Creation?
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More Contradictions In The Quran
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Crucifixion
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Quran
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Is Muhammad Foretold In The Bible?
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Is Allah God Of The Bible?
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Do Muslims And Christians . . .?
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Islamic Allegations . . .
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Why Do The Bible And Qur'an . . ?
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The God Of Islam
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Earlier Prophets 1
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Earlier Prophets 2
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Origins Of The Qur'an
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Satanic Verses
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Thoughts On Abrogation
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Perversion Of Quran
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The Bible And The gullible
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The Ten Commandments |
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Cosmology And The Koran |
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. . . . |
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VEDIC
CONTRADICTION CONTENTS:
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Vedic Schism
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When The Universe Was Dark
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Hinduism: A Mass Of Contradictions
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PROPHECIES CONTENTS:
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The
Fulfilled Prophecies
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1: Kingdom Of God Has Arrived
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2: Young Men Have Seen Visions
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3: Comforter Has Made Mysteries Known
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4: Holy Ghost Has Arrived To Baptize
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5: Lord Jesus' Warning Now Enforced
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6: Humans Being Born Of The Spirit
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7: Fatima's 3rd Secret Being Fulfilled
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8: Golden Millennium Has Arrived
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9: Gospel Of Kingdom Preached
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10: Scattered Of Judah Are Returning
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11: Winds Of Resurrection Blowing
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12: Angels Sent Forth Have Arrived
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13: Signs Within Souls Shown
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14: Eclipse Of Qiyamah Has Occurred
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15: Blast Of Truth Announced
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16: Allah's Iron Delivered
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17: Revelation Of Light Completed
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18: Imam Mahdi Has Surfaced
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19: Saoshyant Has Pronounced
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20: "I Incarnate Myself Age After Age"
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21: Shri Kalki Is Manifesting
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22: Great Yogi Has Arrived
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23: Maitreya (Three Mothers) Has Come
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24: Nostradamus
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25: The Eagle Has Landed
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26: Hunab Ku Has Flashed
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27: Scriptures Have Contradicted
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28: Sophianic Millennium Has Arrived
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29: Age Of Aquarius Has Begun
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DIVINE FEMININE
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Holy Spirit
(Christianity)
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Holy Spirit
(Islam)
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Holy Spirit
(Judaism)
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Holy Spirit
(Buddhism)
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Holy Spirit
(Hinduism)
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Holy Spirit
(Taoism)
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HER DIVINE MESSAGE TO HUMANITY
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Divine Message And Gift To Humanity 1
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Divine Message And Gift To Humanity 2
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Divine Message And Gift To Humanity 3
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Divine Message And Gift To Humanity 4
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Divine Message And Gift To Humanity 5
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Divine Message And Gift To Humanity 6
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Divine Message And Gift To Humanity 7
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Divine Message And Gift To Humanity 8
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On-line Self-Realization/Second Birth By Spirit
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Shakti/Last Judgment/Resurrection Forum
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Shakti/Last
Judgment/Resurrection
Archives
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Qui Est Shri Mataji?
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L'expérience de la Réalisation du Soi
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Shri Adi Shakti Forum
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Worldwide Contacts
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MAIN HEADINGS
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Home Page
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Declaration And Divine Message
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Introduction
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New Age Children
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Miracle Photo
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Meeting His Messengers
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Prophecies
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Age of Aquarius
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Our Conscious Earth
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Adi Shakti's Descend
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Witnessing Her Miracles
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Jesus' Resurrection
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His Human Adversary
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Book of Revelation
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Book Of
Enlightenment
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Al-Qiyamah
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His Light
Within
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His
Universe Within
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His Beings
Within
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Subtle
System
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Miscellaneous
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Lectures To Earth
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Shri Mataji
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FAQ
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Self-Realization
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Drumbeat Of Death
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Dance Of
Divinity
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Site Map
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Table Of
Contents
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Shri Adi
Shakti Forum
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Contact Us
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“But
save for these laws regulating caste there is no other
unifying element in all Hinduism. There are two major
sects in the religion, and at least fifty-seven
sub-sects, each seeking to attain salvation with the
aid of its own gods and ceremonies. Christianity,
which is even more intensively divided, is at least
united by its unanimous recognition of the uniqueness
of Jesus. Hinduism has no such common doctrine. It is
true that about 300 A.D. an attempt was made to create
such a doctrine by combining the three main Hindu gods
into a universally acceptable trinity; but the attempt
failed dismally. Brahma, the chief god in that
trinity, never became popular save with the priests
and philosophers. He was not nearly concrete enough a
diety for the plain folk to grasp and believe in and
now there are only a couple of temples in all of India
that are devoted to his worship. And Vishnu and Shiva,
the two other gods in the trinity, always remained
distinct and seperate, continuing to attract distinct
and seperate followings.
Hinduism, despite the fact that it has never been
united on any creed or rite, has rarely if ever led to
bloodshed. Unlike the Christians, who again and again
have resorted even to wholesale slaughter in order to
extirpate all heresy, the Hindus have rarely
persecuted divergence of faith. They have been wise
enough to see that each man has a right to worship as
he himself sees fit, and that no man is justified in
seeking to force his doctrine on his neighbor.
Therefore the worshippers of Vishnu and those of Shiva
have dwelt side by side for centuries without
bitterness, and countless sub-sects have arisen and
disappeared in India with very little violence or
acrimony.”
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www.easternreligions.com/
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“..despite
all the arguments made against Mosaic
authorship/editorship, the traditional view is still
as critically tenable as any of the others." J.D.
Douglas et al 8, Page 2
"..there is hardly a biblical scholar in the
world actively working on the [authorship] problem who
would claim that the Five Books of Moses were written
by Moses." R.E. Friedman 3, Page 28
"...it has long been recognized that... [Moses]
cannot have been the author, and that the Pentateuch
is in fact anonymous." D.J.A. Clines, 10, Page 580
”
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www.religioustolerance.org/
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“The
public is poorly informed of the assured results of
critical scholarship, although those results are
commonly taught in colleges, universities and
seminaries. In this vacuum, drugstore books and slick
magazines play on the fears and ignorance of the
uniformed.”
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R.W. Funk"The Five Gospels: The Search For The
Authentic Words Of Jesus.", 1993
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“The
Jesus Seminar attempts to change that through its
conferences, press releases, books, webpage, etc. The
goal is: "to bring the quest of the historical
Jesus of Nazareth to the center of a global forum."
That is, to extract what the participants have
concluded to be the actual words and actions of Jesus
from ancient writings, and present these to the
public.
Their conclusions differ greatly from what Christian
denominations have historically taught. They are also
in major conflict with the current beliefs of most
present-day conservative Christians. Fellows of the
Seminar do not regard Christian Scriptures as
inerrant. They do not believe that the authors
were uniquely inspired by God. Rather, they view the
Bible as a very human document, composed by writers
who actively promoted their own theological beliefs
(or those of the group to which the writers belonged).
The Seminar sees within early Christian writings the
evolution of religious thought. The fellows study this
over the approximately 18 decades from the time of the
execution of Jesus (circa 30 CE) to about 310 CE. They
see many passages in conflict with each other and with
the historical record.”
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www.religioustolerance.org/
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“For
centuries Muslims have been taught to believe that the
Qur'an has been preserved in its original Arabic form
since the beginning of time itself, and preserved
intact from the period of the "sending down" of the
book to Muhammad, right on down till the present. They
have been taught that the text which we read now was
uniquely inspired, in that there were no intermediary
agents who could possibly pollute the integrity of the
script.
At the same time they have also been taught that this
suggested textual perfection of the book proves that
the Qur'an must be the Word of God, as no one but
Allah could have created and preserved such a
perfected text. This sentiment has become so strongly
established in the Muslim world that one will rarely
find a Muslim scholar willing to make any critical
analysis of its content or of its structure, as to do
so would usually be detrimental to his or her health.
However, when an analysis is made by a Western scholar
upon the Qur'an, that analysis is roundly castigated
as being biased from the outset, and even "satanic,"
and therefore, unworthy of a reply.
But that does not stop the analysis from being
undertaken, for the Qur'an when held up to scrutiny
finds itself lacking in many areas.
As we have already discussed, we find problems with
its sources, its collation, its literary makeup, its
supposed uniqueness, and problems even with its
content. It is not difficult to find numerous
contradictions within the Qur'an, a problem which
Muslims and the Qur'an has attempted to alleviate by
conveniently allowing for the 'law of abrogation.' But
even more devastating towards the integrity of this
supposed perfect 'divine book,' are the numerous
errors which are found in its pages. It is therefore
to those errors which we will now turn in our
continuing quest to ascertain whether, indeed, the
Qur'an can claim to be the true, and "perfect" Word of
God, as Muslims have so often maintained since the
very inception of their faith.”
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“One cannot have equal respect for both truth and
falsehood. It is not even desirable to promote equal
respect for truth and falsehood. . . .
According to Christianity, Jesus was the "son of god"
and the whole of the Bible including the New Testament
is "revealed" by god. This belief is, however,
rejected by Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Islam. Again,
according to Islam, Mohammed was a "messenger of allah"
and the Koran is "revealed". Now, a person may believe
that the first statement is true whereas the second
one is false. Alternatively, he may believe that the
second statement is true whereas the first one is
false. Thirdly, he may believe that both these
statements are true; and finally, he may believe that
both these statements are false. In the first case, he
is a Christian and will have more respect for
Christianity. In the second case, he is a Muslim and
is certain to have more respect for Islam. In the
third case, if the person is really serious, then he
is likely to turn schizophrenic, because the teachings
of Jesus and Mohammed are different, if not
contradictory, on many important issues. In the fourth
case, the person is not likely to have any respect for
either of these religions.”
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“Which
Religion?
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and
Sikhism, which, developed from Hinduism, are the main
world religions. Each has its own offshoots, which
have branched out to form new groups who disagreed
with some of the original theories. There are also
numerous religious groups formed out of various tribal
religions from around the world. Most, if not all,
modern religions have developed from ancient tribal
beliefs. Wicca (Witchcraft) for instance was practised
in what is now the UK long before Christianity came on
the scene. I find it somewhat humorous that modern
Wiccans are often branded as evil devil worshipers
when most, if any, do not worship the devil and that
maybe it is those who claim to be religious who should
research where the own religion originates from.
Most modern faiths are convinced that theirs is the
right religion and that all the others are wrong,
although in more recent times there have been efforts
to try to harmonise these different groups. However,
those calling themselves devout will often have none
of this and refuse to compromise at all. Yet any
logical thinking person must acknowledge that it is
impossible for them all to be right at the same time.
One outstanding feature though that links these
beliefs together is that they all stem from the
writings and drawings of men and women who lived long
ago or from word of mouth handed down from generation
to generation. These original writers did not have the
advantage of modern science and technology to help
them with research in gathering and analysing
information that they had collected so how and where
did these ideas come from?
These writers often claimed that "they were guided by
the hand of god", yet at the same time their work
disagreed with writers of different religions. If god
is always right and each of these writers of religious
theory were guided by god then how can there be so
many contradictions and disagreements? The only answer
that I can provide to this question is that ‘they were
not guided by the hand of god’ at all. The reasons for
their writings therefore might have been
self-motivation to gain power and respect over the
illiterate masses and to put them in good stead with
those in authority. However, such writings often got
the author into trouble with the authorities. It will
probably be argued that some if not most of these
writers were poor, if this is the case then maybe
their writings were the work of men and women with
good intentions and the need to help those in
spiritual, emotional and physical pain. If we accept
that the writers ‘were guided by the hand of god’ then
maybe we can also accept that the contradictions came
about as the result of the human weakness to make
mistakes or the freedom given to man by god to go
astray. Maybe we can allow for some input from Satan
to cause these disruptions.”
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www.hypnotherapy.50megs.com/
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“Generally the state of mind of a believer in a
revelation is the awful arrogance of saying ‘I know,
and those who do not agree with my belief are wrong’.
In no other field is such arrogance so widespread, in
no other field do people feel so utterly certain of
the ‘knowledge’. It is to me quite disgusting that
anybody should feel so superior, so selected and
chosen against all the many who differ in their
beliefs or unbeliefs. This would be bad enough, but so
many believers do their best to propagate their faith,
at the very least to their children but often also to
others (and historically there are of course plenty of
examples of doing this by force and ruthless
brutality.) The fact that stares in the face is that
people of the greatest sincerity and of all levels of
intelligence differ and have always differed in their
religious beliefs. Since at most one can be true, it
follows that human beings are extremely liable to
belief firmly and honestly in something untrue in the
field of revealed religion. One would have expected
this obvious fact to lead to some humility, to some
thought that however deep one’s faith, one may
conceivably be mistaken. Nothing is further from the
believer, any believer, than this elementary humility.
All in his power (which nowadays in a developed
country tends to be confined to his children) must
have his faith rammed down their throats. In many
cases children are indeed doctrinated with the
disgraceful thought that they belong to the one group
with superior knowledge who alone have a private wire
to the office of the Almighty, all others being less
fortunate than they themselves.”
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“Ultimately,
however, the import of the Qumran texts resides in
something more then their potential to embarrass the
Church. The real import of the Qumran texts resides in
what they have to reveal of the Holy Land, the soil
which, for so many centuries, has voraciously soaked
up so much human blood — blood shed in the name of
conflicting gods or, to be more accurate, not very
dissimilar versions of the same God. Perhaps the
documents yet to be divulged may confront us a little
more inescapably with the scale and pointlessness of
our own madness — and shame us, thereby, at least by a
degree or so, in the general direction of sanity. The
Dead Sea Scrolls offer a new perspective on the three
great religions born in the Middle East. The more one
examines those religions, the more one will discern
not how much they differ, but how much they overlap
and have in common — how much they derive from
essentially the same source — and the extent to which
most of the quarrels between them, when not
precipitated by simple misunderstanding, have stemmed
less from spiritual values than from politics, from
greed, from selfishness and the presumptuous arrogance
of interpretation. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are
all, at present beset by a resurgent fundamentalism.
One would like to believe — though this may be too
much to hope for — that greater understanding of their
common roots might help curb the prejudice, the
bigotry, the intolerance and fanaticism to which
fundamentalism is chronically prone.”
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Michael Baignent and Richard Leigh
The Dead
Sea Scrolls Deception
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“It has even been suggested that Mark’s Jesus
agreed with those of his Jewish contemporaries who
thought that God’s ‘earth-creature’ was a
hermaphrodite, uniting both sexes in one. Later, the
Christian author of the First Epistle to Timothy cited
the Eden story to justify status for Christian women.
‘I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority
over the man’ (I Timothy 2:12.) Adam was superior
because he was formed before Eve; Eve was deceived,
whereas Adam was not. Here, the author quoted only
from the second story; in the other it was not clear
that man was created first. He also distorted it: Eve
was deceived first, but, on a reasonable view, she
beguiled Adam, who transgressed too. According to the
epistle, woman could be saved through childbearing.
However, Genesis does not say anything comparable.
Rather, it describes the pangs of childbirth and
fertility as a punishment for Eve’s disobedience.
These texts were creating new scripture by
constructive abuse of the old, a process which reaches
a climax in the letters ascribed to Paul.
At Ephesians 5:31-2 the author inclined to believe
that the union of man and woman (‘one flesh’) was a
mysterious reference to the union of Christ and his
Church; this hidden meaning is not at all in Genesis.
At Romans 5:12-18 Paul himself tells his Roman
Christians how through one man, Adam, sin ‘entered
into the world’ and by the sin of one man death
reigned too. These famous verses have inspired whole
theories of sin and original sin which have changed
many Christians’ perspective on human nature. It seems
clear that the Fall of Adam and Eve was just not the
moral tale of a single couple’s after: the story was
meant to be the origin of a change for all subsequent
humans. It is not, however, stated that what
originated was sin or sinfulness, words which occur
nowhere in the Hebrew text. It was St. Augustine who
ended by arguing that original sin had been
transmitted to each of us through Adam, a view which
he backed up by Paul’s language in Romans 5. However,
he followed a mistranslation of it, based only on a
Latin version of the text. Paul’s Greek had merely
said that ‘death passed upon all men, because [in
that] all sinned’; Augustine followed an author who
mistook it to say ‘death passed upon all men because
of Adam, [in whom] all sinned . . .’ Original sin was
read unnecessarily into Genesis and was then forced on
to Paul by a wrong translation of his writings. In
Genesis, nothing prevents us from thinking that Adam
and Eve from the start of their lives had been
expected to make love, reproduce and eventually die.
After sentencing them, God tells Adam that he will
sweat for a living . . . Toil, not death, is to be his
punishment; death had always been part of the couple’s
dusty nature, and even now, it befalls them only after
long years outside Eden. Through Adam toil is added to
man’s work, the toil of hoeing, weeding and
back-breaking labour on every plot of ground. Through
Eve comes woman’s pains of childbirth. The two of them
transgress by disobeying and eating from the tree of
knowledge: ‘disobedience: man’s original virtue’,
remarked Oscar Wilde. They are expelled from Eden not
in order to die, but so that they will not go on to
further crimes and taste the tree of life (Genesis
3:22.) Through Adam and Eve’s misconduct, we are not
condemned to death. We are condemned to hard gardening
and painful childbirth; we are also denied the chance
of stealing eternal life. . . . The fruit of the tree
was an aphrodisiac, in Augustine’s opinion, and caused
sexual lust to conquer our will. Many artists,
including Durer, placed a cat, about to pounce,
beneath the tree from which our parents ate; cats
(respected by Muslims) had become symbols of sexual
desire in early Christian literature . . .
When pressed to the letter, the story is unfair to
serpents and women . . . (God’s prohibition to eat of
the tree is not addressed to the serpent; it also
occurs before Eve has been created from Adam’s rib.)
Yet a woman’s subordinate desire for her husband is
one of the punishments for the Fall.
In seventeenth-century England, women were asked to
ask forgiveness in their prayers for the sins of Eve.
A similar prayer is still demanded from Jewish women
by one minority group in Israel. The opening chapters
of Genesis do not meet the requirement that truth
should cohere: they are made up from two contradictory
sources. They do not correspond to the facts, for we
know now more of the age of the world, the fact of its
evolution and the process which stretched beyond six
days of work or a garden of greenery near the
Euphrates River; our Eve has been traced back to
Africa, while Adam is imagined as a pygmy. Totally
untrue, the stories have been cited untruly to make
yet more scripture, but they continue to be an arena
for the imagination . . .”
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“Religions
of the world have become lifeless mockeries . . .
If there is ever to be a universal religion, it must
be one which will have no location in place or time,
which will be infinite like the God it will preach,
and whose sun will shine upon the followers of Krishna
and Christ, on saints and sinners alike; which will
not be Brahmanic or Buddhist, Christian or Mohammedan,
but the sum total of all these, and still have
infinite pace for development; which in its
catholicity will embrace in its finite arms, and find
a place for every human being, from the lowest
groveling savage not far removed from the brute, to
the highest man towering by the virtues of his head
and heart above humanity, making society stand in awe
of him and doubt his human nature.
It will be a religion which will have no place for
persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will
recognize divinity in every man and woman, and whose
whole scope, whose whole force, will be centred on
aiding humanity to realise its own true, divine
nature.”
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“The main objective of the Gita is to help people
struggling in the darkness of ignorance cross the
ocean of transmigration and reach the spiritual shore
of liberation while living and working in the society.
The central teaching of the Gita is the attainment of
freedom or happiness from the bondage of life by doing
one’s duty. Always remember the glory and greatness of
the creator and do your duty efficiently without being
attached to or affected by the results even if that
duty may at times demand unavoidable violence. Some
people neglect or give up their duty in life for the
sake of a spiritual life while others excuse
themselves from spiritual practices because they
believe that they have no time. The Lord’s message is
to sanctify the entire living process itself. Whatever
a person does or thinks ought to be done for the glory
and satisfaction of the Maker. No effort or cost is
necessary for this process. Do your duty as a service
to the Lord and humanity and see God alone in
everything in a spiritual frame of mind. In order to
gain such a spiritual frame of mind, personal
discipline, austerity, penance, good conduct, selfless
service, yogic practices, meditation, worship, prayer,
rituals, and study of scriptures, as well as the
company of holy persons, pilgrimage, chanting of the
holy names of God, and Self-inquiry are needed to
purify the body, mind, and intellect. One must learn
to give up lust, anger, greed, and establish mastery
over the six senses (hearing, touch, sight, taste,
smell, and mind) by the purified intellect. One should
always remember that all works are done by the energy
of nature and that he or she is not the doer but only
an instrument. One must strive for excellence in all
undertakings but maintain equanimity in success and
failure, gain and loss, and pain and pleasure.”
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“Direct
Perception versus Scriptures
From The Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva
Section CLXII
Translated by Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Vaisampayana said: Yudhishthira once more asked
Bhishma the son of Santanu, saying, "O thou of great
intelligence, O foremost of all persons conversant
with duties, which indeed, of the two, direct
perception and the scriptures, is to be regarded as
authority for arriving at a conclusion?"
Bhishma said: I think, there is no doubt in this.
Listen to me, O thou of great wisdom! I shall answer
thee. The question thou hast asked is certainly
proper. It is easy to cherish doubt. But the solution
of that doubt is difficult. Innumerable are the
instances, in respect of both direct perception and
audition (or the scriptures), in which doubts may
arise.
Certain persons, who delight in the name of logicians,
verily imagining themselves to be possessed of
superior wisdom, affirm that direct perception is the
only authority. They assert that nothing, however
true, is existent, which is not directly perceivable;
or, at least they doubt the existence of those
objects. Indeed, such assertions involve an absurdity
and they who make them are of foolish understanding,
whatever may be their pride of learning. If, on the
other hand, thou doubtest as to how the one
(indivisible Brahman or the Supreme Reality) could be
the cause, I answer that one would understand it only
after a long course of years and with the assistance
of Yoga practised without idleness. Indeed, O Bharata,
one that lives according to such means as present
themselves (without, i.e., one’s being wedded to this
or that settled mode of life), and one that is devoted
(to the solution of the question), would be capable of
understanding it. None else, truly, is competent for
comprehending it. When one attains to the very end of
reasons (or reasoning processes) one then attains to
that excellent and all comprehending knowledge- that
vast mass of effulgence which illumines the entire
universe (called Brahman).
That knowledge, O king, which is derived from reason
(or inferences), can scarcely be said to be knowledge.
Such knowledge should be rejected. It should be noted
that it is not defined or comprehended by the word. It
should, therefore, be rejected!”
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“In
my final analysis it is important to understand the
concept of "True Religion". Religion cannot be deemed
to be "true" because Bible, Koran, Granth, Vedas, etc.
said it is true. The contents of each must be examined
to be verified by reasoning, which must be in harmony
with natural laws and science. Any contradictions or
inconsistencies will be in violation of God's
attribute of Omnisciency.
The Vedic religion was not and is not like other
present day religions, nor is it exclusive and
confined to the inhabitants of India. It is universal
and does not derive its authority from any single
person, no matter how holy or wise. It humbly
maintains that truth was complementary and not
exclusive and contradictory and as such it commands
allegiance to all ages. This true religion of the
Vedas never feared the advancement of science, nor was
it guilty of terrors of the Inquisition. It never shed
the blood of a Galileo, a Copernicus or a Bruno.
All the young and inquisitive minds of past and this
modern age are of the fervid impression that the
principles of physics, chemistry and of other
sciences, had their origination from their European
ancestors and that no other race were aware of these
before. It is certainly difficult to accredit these
sciences to the fallen state of India; nevertheless
this is where it all began.
The fixedness of the Sun, the motion of the earth, of
fixed and moving stars (the milky way), the planetary
systems, of the moons, of earthquakes and hurricanes
and many countless branches of sciences can be
incontrovertible be proven by the many branches of
Vedic philosophy. Even the discovery of the law of
gravitation of which many credited Sir Isaac Newton
becomes contradicted when many Vedic verses deal with
the law of gravitation, thousands of years earlier.
The one true religion frees us from the rancor of
false religions and attachments of the materialistic
world. In reality, we should not deprive ourselves of
the joy of what God has given us in His creation, but
we should not abuse, threaten, covet or be attached to
them. These dereliction, and attachments through
sentiments and emotions, bring us unhappiness, as all
things created are transient, even us.
Pain and misery are conclusively God's Divine justice.
If we do not know what is sinning, how can the world
become sinless? If we cannot eradicate sin, how can
suffering be eliminated?
Souls are independent, free at will to accept or
decline any religion. No parent, teacher, religious
order or government should enforce its ideals on any
child, student, followers or subjects respectively.
All religion must be taught so that everyone can
distinguish from what is right or wrong, true or false
without any prejudice.
"What, then, in all this, is the function of education
and of the school? They should help the young person
to grow up in such a spirit that these fundamental
principles should be to him as the air in which he
breathes." Albert Einstein
The emphasis of religious tolerance is a commanding
and transcending event, tied to all religious, social
and political bodies of all secular nations of the
world today. Thus subjection to such a comprising rule
becomes and remains only a temporary mainstay. It
creates an artificial peace among mankind on the
outside, while on the inside, it is tearing our
creation to threads with sudden sporadic and extremely
volatile events. This event recognizes the presence of
an immediate and serious problem, but to bury it under
tolerance is asking our children and future
generations to come to find a solution, if they can;
live with it the way we do or face the consequences of
its dark side.
The cowardice and bigotry that was inherited from our
forefathers must not continue to hide its ugly face
under the pretence of "religious tolerance" but must
be courageously attacked in the most rational way. It
is not difficult in this modern age whereby
educational institutions can instill a sense of pride
in having amicable and impartial discussions base on
all religions.
If there is a "truth" that can instill universal peace
and harmony among mankind it must be present somewhere
in one of these religions. Young minds must be
encouraged in this way to be more inquisitive and
prudent in arriving at this truth.
We are supposed to be of an educated nature, yet it is
difficult to teach critical thinking (reasoning)
without inevitably offending someone. Does this mean
we should altogether abandon intellectual reasoning
and let emotional and psychological pursuit of
religion continue its irrational course?
One has nothing to fear but everything to gain, from
the honest pursuit of truth. The desire for knowledge
can only be for mankind's long-range benefit. We must
be free and independent to question prevailing
doctrines since we are virtually inundated with it in
our schools, by our parents, by our cultures and
definitely so by the mass media.
"I believe in a religion based on universal principles
and embracing all that has been accepted as truth by
humanity and that will continue to be obeyed in the
ages to come. This is what I call religion; Eternal
Primitive religion (for it is above the hostility of
human beliefs).....That alone which is worthy to be
believed by all men and in all ages, I hold as
acceptable." Swami Dayanand
In conclusion, since we are born in conditions far
inferior to the Ancient Vedic age of pure monotheism,
the PATH to God in this age will be the rejection of
all dogmas which may lead to Atheism. The RIGHT PATH
begins with the teachings of the Last Reformer, since
his purpose of coming is the act of a Just God
demonstrating mercy and compassion for the human soul.
The studies of the Vedic systems of philosophy and the
Vedas through the practice of Yoga is the TRUE PATH
which will eventually lead to Emancipation.
The wisdom to love will prevail always within me.
Whatever our conditions are, is due to the past
inclinations of the souls, and that is definitely the
Divine Justice of Supreme Being. It is His will, mercy
and compassion that all souls are enlightened to
conquer their weaknesses and rise to a superior
condition through the wisdom of the one true path, the
Vedic religion.”
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“Finding
the Truth
There are thousands of "beliefs", political, religious
or philosophical doctrines and all of them are in
contrast with each other. Of course not all of them
can be true. Yet their supporters claim that theirs is
the only true doctrine. In my opinion truth is
infinite and therefore no person, group or religion
can claim to possess it. There is no book that can
contain the infinite truth. All doctrines and
ideologies posses a part of the truth. Things are not
black and white. They come in different shades and
colors. The light of the sun shines on all things, yet
each thing reflects that light with a different
wavelength and that is why you see the variety of
colors in this world. The light is one, yet it
manifests itself in millions of colors.
Truth is also one, yet each person understands it
differently. We see the truth in different ways, each
sees a facet of it. Who can decry the facet that
someone holds true and dear to his heart? The Truth is
one and only, but because each person’s mental
capacity, social and cultural background is different,
that same Truth for each person has a different
flavor. The variety is not in the Truth itself but in
its containers.
The absolute Truth is unattainable. It is too big for
us humans with our limited mental capacity to grasp.
All we can aspire is to see and understand one or few
aspects of the Truth. Think of the truth as this
Earth. We are all in contact with it and experience
it. But while we are standing on its surface our
experience of it is limited. Since the Earth is made
of mountains, plateaus, oceans, forests, deserts, and
many more features, each one of us can only see what
is around him. No one can claim to have the only true
view of the Earth from his or her vantage point. No
matter where we are and no matter how vast are the
horizons before us we cannot see the entire Earth.
That is exactly how we can see the truth. We see only
part of it. And what we see depends on the social,
cultural and religious ground on which we are
standing.
People see the same reality from different angles.
What they see is different, but they are just seeing
different facets of the same reality. This
realization, that my truth and yours are not
different, will enrich our understanding instead of
becoming points of contention. Once we become aware of
our limitations, we stop having "blind faith" about
anything. We know that our understanding is limited
and it is subject to change. So we learn to think
laterally, become open to other possibilities, doubt
and question. Though we may think we have found the
truth, we know that the truth has other hidden facets
that we have not seen yet. By having an open mind,
listening to other theories, we learn more. The more
we know, the more we find how little we know. This is
the essence of freethinking. This is how philosophers
think. It is much different from the thinking of a
religious person who believes all truth can be
contained in few pages of a book, and that is all
there is to it, and nothing more.
Just as there is truth in everything, there is also
falsehood in everything. There is nothing that can be
defined as absolutely wrong, just as there is nothing
that can be defined as absolutely true. In every black
there is an element of whiteness and in every white
there is a component of lackness. The method to arrive
at the truth is through critical analysis of different
ideas. Truth will sparkle when different ideas clash.
If you and I never talk, you will never know my point
of view and I will not know yours.
I do not believe that any religion is true. They are
all man made. And just as any other man made
philosophy and school of thought, every religion is
partially true and partially wrong. The proportion may
vary from religion to religion. But since the absolute
truth is unattainable and what we can understand is
relative and subject to our cultural biases and
personal predispositions, what you think is true may
seem untrue to me and vice versa.
So what shall we do? If we never talk, we’ll never
learn each other’s points of view and the gap between
us grows deeper. Some matters are of taste and should
be left to the individual. For example, do you believe
in reincarnation or you don’t? Do you believe in the
survival of the soul after the death or you don’t? Do
you believe in the existence of God or you don’t?
These are personal beliefs. Whether we agree on them
or not, it does not change anything. We may disagree
on these personal issues and still live and work
together in the same society in peace and harmony.
But what if our beliefs infringe the rights of the
others? What if I believe in a god as the owner of
this universe that has ordered me to kill anyone who
fails to recognize him? What if I believe that my god
wants me to beat my wife if she is not obedient to me,
or kill my daughter if I suspect lewdness on her part,
or subdue and humiliate my neighbor if his religion is
not the right one?
You obviously cannot sit idle and "respect" my belief.
You have two choices, you either arm yourself and try
to kill me before I kill you or you try to educate me
and make me see that what I believe is morally and
rationally wrong.
In my opinion, since we all have different beliefs, if
we opt the first rout and start killing each other
very few of us will remain in this world. Islam
advocates Jihad, it encourages you to fight and kill
the unbelievers until everyone’s religion is Islam.
This is the barbaric way to handle the differences.
The winner is not necessarily the one who is right but
the one who has the might. Hitler and Muhammad both
believed in violence as a legitimate mean to impose
their philosophy. The result, in both cases was
catastrophic.
Faith blinds. As a believer I am incapable to see my
errors. If I am only talking with my peers who also
believe in what I believe they strengthen my faith and
if our faith is wrong we are both confirmed in our
ignorance. We will sit in our synagogues, churches or
mosques and say how good we are and how evil you are;
how much god loves us and how much he hates you and so
on. This is the way we have done so far and it wasn’t
a picnic. Now imagine we who have so much hate, have
also atomic and biological bombs. Pakistan has atomic
bomb, and Iraq has biological weapons. Of course if
they use their arsenals against the West or Israel,
they will be wiped out. But they are fanatics. They
are the suicide bombers. They cannot think straight.
They believe that they will go to Paradise whether
they kill of they are killed.
Obviously there is a lot at stake. We cannot just sit
and let a catastrophe of unimaginable proportion
happen. The destruction of our country, and our
neighboring countries is painful and sad, yet it is
nothing with what is going to befall us, if we do not
stop this madness.
I suggest, let us take the other rout. Let us discuss
and make each other see where we are wrong. I believe
in what I believe and you have faith in yours. I am
not able to see the errors of my faith and you are not
able to see yours. Let us find out the truth. You show
my errors, and let me show yours. I won’t be offended
if you tell me where I am wrong. But please don’t take
it personally when I point out your errors. You and I
should talk and let our ideas clash, let us debate,
let us find the truth, but let us be friends and love
each other like brothers and sisters.
What would you do if you find out that your son or
someone you love has joined a very dangerous cult?
Would you sit idle and let him harm himself and others
because of his beliefs? Would you hate him, punish him
or kill him for it? If you are a wise person you will
educate yourself about that cult and try to help him
see the dangerous road that he is taking.
We humans are brothers and sisters to each other. This
is the first and foremost truth that we all must be
aware of. Once this feeling of love and oneness is
established among all the members of humanity, we
should sit and talk to each other; listen and learn
from each other. We have to point out to the errors of
each other and not be offended if our own errors are
singled out.
Love of your brother and sister in humanity comes
first. Your beliefs, ideas, doctrines and religion,
come next. Only with this spirit of empathy, care and
understanding, you should sit with your Baha'i,
Jewish, Christian or Communist brothers and show them
their errors. Only when you love them more than your
religion you are not offended if they too criticize
the errors of your beliefs.
I am a humanist. I love all humanity. For me, a Jew, a
Baha'i, a Muslim, an Iranian, an Iraqi, an American, a
black, a white or a Chinese are all the same. I hate
no one. I love every human being, irrespective of his
or her color, race, nationality or religion. But that
does not mean that I approve of what they do, say or
believe. I feel it is my duty to show them their
errors if those errors harm others. And I would accept
with gratitude and humility if they helped me see
mine.
I know that there is something good in every religion.
But as a whole religions have done more harm than
good. Religion is the most powerful force of disunity
among humankind. All religions, without any exception,
are based on false premises. We cannot build our
prosperity on false and shaky foundations. Truth, and
nothing but truth will set us free. And to find the
truth, we have to talk and expose the fallacies of our
beliefs. I do not disagree with religion as a personal
bliss. The belief in a deity that looks over our
shoulders, takes care of us and comes to our aid when
we need him is uplifting and very therapeutic. The
faith in a personal god, gives many people a sense of
peace. It helps many overcome their weaknesses. It is
a crutch that they can lean on. The psychological
benefit of believing, for many millions of people is
incalculable. To deprive people of believing in a
personal god is not fair. People must wean themselves
from religions, whenever THEY are ready. They will
toss aside this crutch only when THEY feel that they
can walk with their own feet, see with their own eyes
and understand with their own rational thinking. We
should not force people out of religion. We should let
them mature on their own just as we would let a
chicken to hatch in the egg until it is ready to break
its shell and emerge from it on its own. But when our
belief becomes the cause of disunity and an excuse to
kill, maim and hate others, we should not remain
silent. We have to make reason prevail. We have to
stop those who perpetrate crimes against humanity in
the name of their god. No mater how strong is their
belief and how numerous is their numbers; we have to
put a halt at their insanity. If something is wrong,
it does not become right just because the majority
believes it.”
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