TIME LINES OF CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM:
How Much Time Do We Have Left for the United States of
America ?
By William J. Skinner
Ancient books
and documents contain some surprising information. Scholars in languages,
archeology, history of war, religion, and other areas have studied these old
sources for many years. Recently I read several books and viewed some
college level and advanced lectures on early Christianity and early
Islam. For over 40 years I have read about Biblical archeology and
history.[1]
This article
is an attempt to boil these topics down to the essentials, to get everyone up
to speed, because I have become convinced now more than ever that we in the USA
could lose everything if certain newly laid plans of Islamic leaders are
carried out as the Muslim Brotherhood has desired for several decades.
Anyone who
says Islam is a religion of peace is ignorant of the facts of life and
death. Islam started as a deceitful massacre of Jews (the “Reds”)
and a tribe of Arabs (the “Blacks”) at the first hijra under the
leadership of Mohammad to Medina. Those Blacks who helped the
multiple-year takeover of Medina were the next to be disposed of by Mohammad
who consolidated his gains with the property of the Jews and other opponents
and their successors.
The
expansion of land and people under the control of Islam is the purpose of
Islam. Preaching love to these people does no good because their system
teaches them to take generations needed to achieve their goals. Islam
teaches to take the easy way and lie, but stay away in enclaves until the
Muslims can overwhelm the current occupants of a village, town, county or
state.
The Islam
ideology grows because some future disturbed or disgruntled grandson or great,
great grandson will learn he has not followed the plan and then try to carry it
out. Some call this “self-radicalization.” This and other techniques and
strategies have kept alive the sinister flame of Mohammad since 618 CE. A
small (139 pages) reference for more details about the hijra is
perpetuated can be found in Modern Day Trojan Horse: The Islamic Doctrine of
Immigration, accepting Freedom or Imposing Islam? by Sam Solomon and E Al
Maqdisi[2]
We can see
that in the Sudan and Nigeria, for instance, during that past 20 years, the
Islamists are organized primarily at the culture level of tribes (if they want
to have more children for the next few battles, they go kidnap 300 school girls
and rape them) and they want us to all to experience the 600 CE lifestyle under
their leadership. Never mind that the president of the Sudan was indicted
for war crimes by the World Court but still enjoys unrestricted travel to and from
other countries.
In the
United States we are witnessing the first president who promised to transform
the country into something other than what it was at the founding and other
than what it was in 2008. A growing number of Americans suspect that we are
witnessing a political ideology in the Obama Administration that is directed to
support more than equal treatment for Islam than it does for Western or Eastern
religions. But our Congress seems powerless to do anything about this
favoritism.
Many groups
have compiled lists of dozens of official acts of the Obama Administration that
somehow benefit the advance of Islam while making it more difficult for the
American defense forces to stop ISIL or to stop other related tyrannical
Islamo-facists in their quest for power. The U.S. is allowing or actively
importing immigrant refuges, some of which have backgrounds that cannot be
vetted.
Lawyers for
the U.S. Justice Department are lying to a Federal Judge about actions taken by
the current Administration to waive deportation and grant work permits.
All of the above concerns are troublesome, but another major change is
occurring under our noses. The Muslim population is growing by leaps and
bounds with the support of the taxpayers.
Muslims men
are obtaining various welfare payments to help them maintain four wives and
they are producing lots of children. For many years I have been active in
civic and political associations. A Muslim man followed me as president
of one civic association. We became friendly. He told me that one
day Muslim will have produced more votes that the regular Americans and Muslims
would take over all elected positions. The longer I live, the more this
prediction looks like it might come true.
Pew Research[3] says:
The world’s
Muslim population is expected to increase by about 35% in the next 20 years,
rising from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.2 billion by 2030, according to new
population projections by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion &
Public Life.
Either way,
these factors make a conquest more probable than just possible.
The Timeline
Background
Christianity
The Christian
Church started slowly in about 30 to 34 CE (for Common Era for nonbelievers) or
AD (Anno. Domini) upon the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth,
son of Joseph and Mary, of the New Testament. Jesus started his ministry
of about three years duration with John the Baptist in the area of Galilee at
the age of about 30. Jesus did not leave writings.
Biblical
scholars say that Saul of Tarsus, an educated Jew and prosecutor of Christians,
became converted as a Jesus follower during a trip to round up Jesus adherents
for prosecution. Saul had a vision and discussion with Jesus and was
diverted to Damascus to restore his sight. This event happened about two years
after the resurrection of Jesus. Saul became Paul the Apostle and later
wrote the first book of what is now the New Testament, epistle to the First
Thessalonians, in 50 CE. For later writings see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_epistles.
Paul wrote many letters in the New Testament and there
are other documents attributed to Paul or his small group. All the works that
eventually became incorporated into the New Testament are believed to have been
written no later than around 150 AD, and a small minority of scholars would date
them to no later than 70 AD, 80 AD, or at 96 AD [footnotes omitted.] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament.
Christians also relied on the Old Testament Torah, the
Prophets and other early writings of the Jews attributed to Moses that predated
the New Testament. Prof. Bart D. Ehrman of the University of North
Carolina says that Christianity was both missionary and exclusivistic.
That is, early Christians promoted Christianity and they believed this was the
only true religion. But there were several competing theologies that
occupied leaders of different Christian churches in separate places.
Christianity
struggled under several theological banners for about 367 years until Bishop
Athanasius of Alexandria put forth a letter setting forth a list of the books
found acceptable for the cannon of the New Testament.
The history
of the early Christian Church was not written until Eusebius, the Bishop of
Caesarea, described many events in ten small books, now combined in a modern
English translation, Eusebius The Church History[4]
by Paul L. Maier, covering the period from the crucifixion and
resurrection up to 324 CE. Maier describes the Christian relationship
with the Roman Empire and other detractors, and writes about “internal attacks
by renegade religionists who tried to seduce the saints through arcane
distortions of doctrine or coral them into schismatic groups that foreshadowed
contemporary cults.” Maier at 9.
Islam
Islam
started small and grew fast. Mohammad (spellings vary) was born about 570
CE and died in 632 CE. The beginning of the movement to Medina from
Mecca, called the hijra, was in 618 CE.
Uthman ibn
Affan ordered the writing of a standard version of the Qu’ran book for
Islam in 650 to 656 CE. This was done because pockets of Islamic
settlements relied on different parts of the writings. Mohammad claimed
that the angel Gabriel appeared to him in visions over many years and the
Qu’ran was made up of these various writings and assembled in different
orders. Some of these writings were made before, during and after the hijra.
During the
second Caliphate, Umar I, between 633 and 643 CE, conquered the Levant, Eqypt,
Cyrenka, Tripoliania, Ferran, and Eastern Anatolia. In a few more years,
Islam became the dominant political power in Spain, Italy, Gaul, the Greek
coasts and islands. Christians served in the Muslim navy to defeat the
Byzantine navy in the Battle of Masts in 655 CE. The Islamic State
expanded using war power and fear. This kind of expansion continued
until the turn of the millennium when the Christian Pope began recruiting
fighters to counteract the Muslim gains.
Islam was both missionary and exclusivistic.
They promoted Islam and they believed Allah was the only true God.
In the chapter on Lessons from Muhammad’s Migration
Migration[5], Solomon and Maqdisi described how
“migration is ultimately a conquest and not a migration,” writing:
To understand the point of ‘conquest’ as opposed to
‘migration’ please refer to: “The Islamisation of Britian and what must be
done to prevent it by Colin Dye (Pilcrow Press Report September 2007). This
report gives practical example of how Muslims have implemented the principles
of tamkeen and I’dad in the conquest of the U.K. with gradual
progression towards the establishment of an Islamic supremacy, while the host
society has remained unaware and all the time thinking that requests have only
been for a few religious and cultural needs. In a democratic society the types
of requests are seen as valid and legitimate and are ultimately granted.”
Religions are All the Same
A primary question this topic should confront head on is
the argument that all religions are the same. Christianity fits the definition
of a religion, but Islam is different because it has multiple goals. Down
deep can one answer the question, “Are Allah and Jesus the Same God?”
This is a question that is raised again and again by some
of the reference books appended to this article. The debate is sometimes
like the debate about how many angels can fit on the head of a pin.
My reading has convinced me that Allah is much different
than Jesus. My conclusion is to have faith in Jesus. Muslims may
argue immediately by pointing out a counter argument that the calligraphy on
the Dome of the Rock[6] states: “God has no Son” among
other things[7] The sameness argument continues
that if a Christian cannot read the language of the Muslims, they cannot
possibly understand Islam.
The same God argument recently appeared in the Wall
Street Journal in 2016 in an article by Stephen Prothero, professor of
religion at Boston University. He summarized:
“Islam and Christianity both affirm that there is one
God, creator and judge, who speaks through prophets, whose words are written
down in scripture.
Everyone is not on the same page. Malaysia is one
of the largest Muslim countries. The Islamisation of Mayalsia started 42 years
after the death of Mohammad.[9] The Wall Street
Journal reported[10] in 2013 that “worries
over the religious freedoms of minorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia are
growing after Malaysia’s appeals court ruled … that a Roman Catholic
publication can’t use the term ‘Allah’ to refer to the Christian God, despite
the widespread use among Malay-speaking Christians.”
The three-judge panel ruled “to allow the Herald
newspaper to use the word “Allah” would have been unconstitutional, said Haniff
Khatri Abdulla, one of the lawyers of the six Islamic State Councils that
oppose the use of the word by non-Muslims.”
Summary of Time Lines
Christianity was founded first. Jesus worked with
12 disciples, 70 special followers and 500 others to spread his messages for
about three years. Jesus was crucified on a cross by the Romans after
instigation by some of the Jews in Jerusalem.
Paul directed his attention to the gentiles around the Mediterranean
Sea. The New Testament was written by many people who were said to be inspired
by the Holy Spirit. Christianity is a religion of faith, hope, and love.
When asked by a lawyer, the Jesus summarized the greatest
commandments this way:
Matthew
22:35-40 New International Version (NIV)[11]
35 One of them, an expert in the
law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the
greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’[a]
38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And
the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments.”
Footnotes: Matthew 22:37
Deut. 6:5 Matthew 22:39
Lev. 19:18
Holy Bible, New International
Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Christianity does not advocate killing wars against
others to expand the faith, but it does accept the duty and responsibility to
protect vulnerable people from cruelty and acts of terror.
Islam was
founded about 300 years after the New Testament contents was settled. Mohammad
fought battles against other countries to subdue tribes and cities to control
more territory and make slaves for Islam. Mohammad died in 632 CE
and was succeeded by several Califs, some who died killing off one
another. Thus, Islam is a system of political power that uses
terror and fear to grow. Islam is not what Americans and other Westerners
think of as a religion. Establishing Shariah Law will wipe out citizens’
right under the U.S. Constitution and leave all questions for Islamic courts of
so-called experts.
These two competing organizations each have founders,
doctrines and books, but they have wholly different purposes.
Both are missionary and exclusivistic. But look
again at the timelines. What else happened in the 300 year gap?
"Christians and Jews in the First Six Centuries" is the title of a chapter written by James H. Charlesworth, now a professor at Princeton, in a composite review by nine authors. It describes how the early Christians and Jews were together on many issues and how and why they moved apart in their religious practices. Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: A Parallel History of their Origins and Early Development, 2nd Ed. ISBN: 978-1-935335-52-8. (2011) Biblical Archeology Society.
Was Islam patterned on Christianity with a left-hand
twist? Does history tell the truth?
My answer to the question in the title of this article is
Americans have as little as 30 years if we do nothing and as many as thousands
of years if they become educated and follow established moral and governmental
principles as the Founders did in the middle of the 18th century.
Keeping a Republic where personal rights matter requires better educated
voters than we have on June 8, 2016 when this article was posted here.
[On March
31, 2017, the Wall Street Journal at
A2 reported on the Congressional Budget Office annual report on long term
federal spending. CBO said the federal
debt has doubled since 2008 to about 77 percent of gross domestic product and
this would reach 150 percent of GDP in 2047 – thirty years from now. This means this financial factor will culminate
at about the same time as the growth of the world Muslim population and the
growth of the number of Muslims in the United States reaches the voting factor. Turning back ruinous spending will require
the current government to clamp down on spending starting soon.]
Another
small book that gives points of view on this subject.
The Next Nightmare: How Political Correctness Will Destroy
America by Peter Feaman, Dunham Books, 2012, Amazon.com
Other Books on Muslim Terrorism Read By William J. Skinner
Winter 2003- Summer 2004 Year
Terror in the Name of God,
Jessica Stern, Harper Collins, 2003
Persecution,
David Limbaugh, Regnery, 2003
Ghost
Wars, Steve Coll, Penguin Press, 2004
Holy
War, Peter Bergan, Free Press, 2001
American
Jihad, Steven Emerson, Free Press, 2002
American
Dynasty, Kevin Phillips, Viking, 2004
The
Islamic Threat, John Esposito, Oxford, 1999
Unholy
War: Terrorism in the Name of Islam, John Esposito, Oxford, 2002
What’s
Right With Islam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, Harper, SF 2004
Preachers
of Hate, Kenneth Timmerman, Crown Forum, 2003
9/11
Commission Report, 2004
Fall
2004 to Winter 2005
Intelligence
Matters: The CIA, Bob Graham, Random House, 2004
Against All Enemies:
Inside America’s War On Terror, Richard Clarke, Free Press 2004
Shadow War: The Untold Story
of How Bush is Winning the War on Terror, Richard Miniter, Regnery
Publishing, Inc. 2004
The Islamic Invasion:
Confronting the World’s Fastest Growing Religion, Robert Morey, Harvest
House Publishers, 1992
Islam &
Christianity: The Koran vs. The Bible, A comparison of the Christian
Scriptures with the Teachings of Muhammad, Diane S. Dew, 2001, http://dianedew.com/islam.htm
Countdown to Crisis: The
Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran, Kenneth R. Timmerman, Crown Forum,
2005
Who Is This Allah, G.J. O.
Moshay, Dorchester House Publications, 1994
Islam in the Crucible: Can It
Pass The Test?, Riccoldo da Montecroce & Martin Luther, Trans. By
Thomas C. Pfotenhauer, Lutheran News, Inc., 2002
Is the Father of Jesus the
God of Muhammad? Timothy George, Ph.D., founding dean of Beeson Divinity
School at Samford University and an executive editor at Christianity Today,
Zondervan, 2002
The World of Byzantium,
Prof. Kenneth W. Harl, Tulane University, 24 lectures, The Teaching Company,
2001
The Life and Religion of
Mohammed: The Prophet of Arabia, Rev. J. L. Menezes, Roman Catholic Books,
originally published 1912 (no copyright notice in this edition)
More Than A Prophet: An
Insider’s Response to Muslim Beliefs About Jesus & Christianity, Emir
Fethi Caner and Ergun Mehmet Caner, Kregel Publications, 2003
The Quranic Treasures,
Khurram Murad, The Islamic Foundation, 1997
What Every Christian Should
Know About ISLAM, Ruqaiyyah Maris Maqsood, The Islamic Foundation, 2002
Fall
and Winter 2006
Blood from Stones: The Secret
Financial Network of Terror, Douglas Farah, Broadway Books, 2004
The Truth About Muhammad:
Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion, Robert Spencer, Regnery, 2006
Religion of Peace?
Islam’s War Against The World, Gregory M. Spencer, World Ahead Publishing,
2006
Spring
and Summer 2007
Feaman, Peter, Wake Up,
America!, Woodmont Publishers, Inc., 2007
Answering Islam: Countering
Terror with Truth, Nadira, Wahlid Phares, James White & Robert Reymond,
Coral Ridge Ministries, 2007
Fall
and Winter 2007
The Fight for Jerusalem:
Radical Islam, The West, and the Future of the Holy City, Dore Gold,
Regenry Publishing, Inc. 2007
The Enemy at Home: The
Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, Dinesh D’Souza, Doubleday, 2007
Honor Killing, Kenneth R.
Timmerman, Middle-East Data Project, Inc, 2007
Winter
2009
The Mystery of Islam: A
Christian Perspective, Gene Little, Crown of Life Ministries, 2003, 332 pp
The Founders on Religion: A
Book of Quotations, James H. Hutson, Ed., Princeton Univ, Press, 2005,
244 pp
Winter
2012-2013
St. Peter’s Bones, Kenneth R.
Timmerman, Caseopia Press, 2011, 266 pp and annex
ISBN: 978-0-9797229-1-2
Spring
2015
Shariah: The Threat to
America – An Exercise in Competitive Analysis, Report of Team B II, Center for
Security Policy, 2010, ISBN 978-0-9822947, 351 pp
The Secure Freedom Strategy:
A Plan for Victory Over the Global Jihad Movement, The Tiger Team, Center for
Security Policy, January 16, 2015, www.securefreedom.org. In March 2015 this was
available on www.amazon.com
Refugee Resettlement and the
Hijra to America. Ann Corcoran, Center for Security Policy, March 30,
2015, 78 pages, this is available on www.amazon.com
[1]
Biblical Archeology Review, Biblical Archeology Society, Washington, D.C.
[2]
ANM Publishers, Charlottesville, VA, ISBN: 978—0-9794929-5-2, 2009
[3]
http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/the-future-of-the-global-muslim-population/
[4]
Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. 1999, ISBN 0-8254-3328-2
[5]
Footnote 2, Ibid, p. 73
[6]
The Dome of the Rock is a shrine
located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was initially
completed in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik during the
Second Fitna. The Dome of the Rock is now one of the oldest works of Islamic
architecture. It has been called "Jerusalem's most recognizable
landmark," and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with two nearby
Temple Mount structures, the Western Wall, and the "Resurrection
Rotunda" in the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Its architecture and
mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces. The
octagonal plan of the structure may also have been influenced by the Byzantine
Church of the Seat of Mary built between 451 and 458 on the road between
Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
http://www.bing.com/search?q=dome+of+the+rock&form=PRUSEN&pc=EUPP_UE07&mkt=en-us&refig=a7f35ebd7a524ff5b78cd272e749269f&pq=doe+of+the+rock&sc=8-15&sp=-1&qs=n&sk=&cvid=a7f35ebd7a524ff5b78cd272e749269f
[7] The
inscriptions on the Dome - with a great amount of repetition - are quotations
from the Quran that attest to the unity and supremacy of Allah and repeatedly
attack the concept of the Trinity of Christianity.
These inscriptions are seven hundred and thirty four feet
long in all, amongst the lengthiest inscriptions in the world. In fact it acts
as an important item of propaganda - both politically and theologically - for
the newly formed Arab/Muhammadan polity. It declares the supremacy of 'Islam'
over that of its rival Christianity. http://inthenameofallah.org/Dome%20of%20the%20Rock.html
[8]
WSJ, January 8, 2016, p A9
[9]
ANM Publishers, Charlottesville, VA, ISBN: 978—0-9794929-5-2, 2009 at p 86.
[10]
WSJ, October 15, 2013, p A13
[11]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22:35-40&version=NIV
Revised March 29, 2017 and April 5, 2017
