Zwemer Center

Genesis 3: Bible Storying for Muslims

Genesis 3: Bible Storying for Muslims: Dr. Cashin Lecture

Dr. David Cashin delivered a series of lectures on chronological Bible Storying for Muslims during a CIU course. Here, Cashin presents the second lesson on chronological bible storying of Genesis 3 with Muslims.

Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. David Cashin Lecture: 

The following is lesson 5 in chronological bible storying for Muslims. Today, we wanna look at our second passage that we will be studying as we move through the Scriptures with our Muslim friends. So this is really study number 2 from the Bible that we want to do in our chronological Bible story. And we’re gonna be looking at Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 to 13. I would encourage you if you want, you can put this on pause just for a minute and take a minute or 2 to read through that passage.

It should be very familiar to you. I’m not going to read all of it. That would take a lot of time and I really just wanna be going through some of the high points here and pointing out specific verses, that you should be paying attention to. So take a moment if you will, put this on pause, read through Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 to 13, and then, start this up again and you can have a look at my interpretation of this passage as specifically applied to the kinds of questions that our Muslim friends will have. Really the story of Genesis chapter 3 is the story of broken 1st of all, the broken relationship of humankind, that is men and women to God, and then secondly the broken relationships of men and women as their own fellowship is broken down, as the bonds of trust and of obedience that are necessary to a good relationship, are destroyed.

Let’s take a look at the temptation of Satan as it’s found in the first, 5 or 6 verses of Genesis, chapter 3. First of all, in verse 1, Satan questions what God has said. He he says quite quite bluntly, has God said such and such? As if somehow humankind has not fully understood God’s purpose. And, then in verse 4, he lies to them, saying, oh, no.

No. No. You shall surely not die. But what will happen if you eat of this fruit? Well first of all, you’ll be like God, I.

1. You’ll have power. Now remember that one of the key elements of the stories of creation, power, and destiny is first of all they explain where we came from and our purpose for being and then it explains how we obtain power or success in this life and then ultimately what our destiny is. Now what Satan does here in chapter 3 of Genesis is first of all to cause human beings to get a different focus for power. In the faith that the Bible teaches, power flows out of right relationship.

When people put the power itself first, that becomes manipulative religion. And in many ways, I see Satan’s temptation here as the beginning of all folk religious ideas, I e power doesn’t flow out of your relationship to God. Power flows out of your being able to do special rituals and practices that will empower you and enable you to be successful in this life. And so basically Satan is saying to Adam and Eve, you can be like God. You can have power apart from relationship to God.

And he also talks about this hidden knowledge. You will know good and evil. You see somehow you’ve missed out on something. You’ve missed out on some secret stuff that God has kept hidden from you, but you can know good and evil if you’ll eat of this fruit, disobey God, and, seek if seek for this new knowledge. By the way, you’ll notice that all other religions are shot through with ideas of obtaining occult knowledge, secret stuff, special rituals, manipulative religion by which you can obtain power.

And, and this is the core of all folk religious ideas. It’s laying aside the reality of intimate relationship with God in favor of secret rituals and knowledge relating to the spirit world, relating to power beings through which we become empowered and are successful in life apart from relationship with God. And Islam has shot through with this this idea. Sufism is very much built on the idea of a cult special knowledge by which you become powerful and are able to control your circumstances apart really from relationship to God. Well what happens when we break the bonds of trust that are foundational to relationships?

Well, first of all, Eve is tempted by the beauty of the suggestions as human beings always are tempted by the occult. Witness the fascination in our own culture with the occult today, whether it be the vampire Buffy the Vampire Slayer or whether it be, these various witch or occultish type programs. They’re very very because they don’t involve relationship. They involve power and manipulation apart from the accountability that comes through relationship. And so Eve takes these suggestions.

She takes of the fruit and she gives to her husband. Generally speaking, we don’t know where this is leading us like the fellow in the picture here who perhaps has some sense of where this temptation is leading him. Adam and Eve didn’t realize what they were getting into. As they disobey, they create distrust of God. Most importantly because the trust relationship is broken down now.

They’ve questioned what God has done. They’ve questioned the efficacy and the rightness of it, and they have rebelled specifically against his, rules for them. Actually just a single rule. And secondly, their mutual encouragement to disobey sows the seeds of distrust between people as well, and we’ll see that played out as we come to the next part of Genesis chapter 3. So So the consequence is what?

Broken relationships. That’s the whole point of the Bible. Broken relationship with God, broken relationship with each other. We see that first and foremost in the area of shame in verse 7. They desire to cover their actions and cover their nakedness.

By the way, Muslims really understand and are spoken to by this point particularly. Westerners will tend to focus on a verse that comes later that indicates guilt, because we have a guilt based culture, in the West. But in fact, the Bible teaches both shame and guilt, and Muslims come from a culture that’s much more shame based. They’re much more a cue, have much more acumen or understanding for this aspect that shame and the desire to cover up your actions, becomes a real expression of the reality of sin and broken relationships. So don’t hop over verse 7.

It’s very important to talk about this whole area of shame. Secondly, there’s separation in verse 8 as they hide from God in the forest. Why are you hiding? God has to come and say, where are you? What happens when we break relationships?

Well, that shame causes us to run away, to hide, to break off our relationship. And then finally, fear in verse 10. They fear the consequences of their actions. They’re afraid, they say, when God speaks to them because they were naked, and of course God goes right to the point of saying, why are you fearful? Why are you full of shame? Genesis 3

Have you eaten of that fruit that I told you not to eat? And so in verse 11, they have to face the guilt as well, and this is where westerners will tend to focus on verse 11 and the reality of guilt for the sin that they’ve accomplished. But God, causes them to face up to their actions, both their guilt and their shame, confronts them about what they have done, and notice immediately that they play the blame game. Verse 12. Adam, what have you done?

Oh, it’s the woman. She’s the one who made me do it. And Eve, what have you done? Well, it was the serpent the are broken. So the vertical relationship with God is broken.

The horizontal relationship between humans is also broken. These are the consequences of sin and we see it in the world all around us. And this is a point at which many Muslims will be able to relate fully. We’re not talking about original sin here because Muslims as well as even our own Western culture seem to think that original sins means that we’re all as bad as we can possibly be, you know, which is a misunderstanding of the Calvinistic idea of total depravity. As John Stott once put it, and I think he put it very well, the original sin of man has nothing to do with us being as bad as we can possibly be, but that none of us are as good as we should be, and when we fail, as we all do, it breaks relationships. Genesis 3

And one of the great questions that the rest of the Bible really is about is how do we reconcile to each other and how do we reconcile to God. Well, God makes a promise of restoration. But before we get to that promise of restoration, let’s also talk about this area of the law because Muslims think that God has created us for testing to, see if we will keep his laws and be acceptable to him. Well, we like to argue at this point that the law was not meant to restore relationships. The law is only a litmus test of the relationship.

It cannot restore us. And so we’ll often say if God created us just to keep the law, well how many laws did he give to Adam? Well, just one. Was he able to keep it? No.

And when he broke it, was he able to avoid the consequences despite all of the other good things he might have done in walking with God? According to Muslim tradition, he walked with God for 380 years before the fall. How is it that all those other good things that he might have done were not able to outweigh even this one sin? Well it’s simple. Sin breaks relationship, and when the relationship is broken you just can’t come back with a pot of flowers like a husband who’s offended his wife and say, see honey, I brought you flowers.

Now, aren’t you gonna accept me again? Well, frankly, something has to be done about the broken relationship. Adam was not able to keep that one law and he could not avoid the consequences of breaking it. Something else has to be done in order to restore us to right relationship to God. And that’s why you find the promise in verse 15 that an offspring, a seed of the woman, would come who would bruise the serpent’s head, someone who would crush Satan’s, actions in leading humankind into sin.

And we always wanna finish with that because beginning at verse 15 of chapter 3, we begin to see God’s promise of redemption, his promise of a restored relationship with himself. And really, that’s what redemption is about. It’s about God restoring us to right relationship with himself and he promises here in verse 15 that he will some send someone who will crush Satan’s head, who will defeat what Satan has done in terms of separating humankind from relationship with God. So these are the main points that you will be covering in Genesis chapter 3 as you study with your Muslim friends, and, it will be very interesting to hear what kind of questions they raise at this point. And again, remember you can get in touch with me at my email dcashindcashindcidot edu and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have or you can also call me at 803 807-5326.

That’s 803 area code and then 80753 26. Blessings on you as you continue in this work.

Genesis 1-2: Bible Storying for Muslims

Genesis 1-2: Bible Storying for Muslims: Dr. Cashin Lecture 3

Dr. David Cashin delivered a series of lectures on chronological Bible Storying for Muslims during a CIU course. Here, Cashin presents the first lesson on chronological bible storying of Genesis 1-2 with Muslims.

Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. David Cashin Lecture 3: 

This is lesson 3 on chronological Bible storying. I’m gonna begin by doing a PowerPoint presentation on how you do lesson, 1 really from the Bible story looking at Genesis 12. It’s always important to begin at the start of scripture in explaining the story of creation, and of power and of destiny, which this, story from the scriptures tells us or teaches us about what it means to be a human being and why we’re here on planet Earth and what is our purpose and what is our destiny. There’s really one main point that we wanna make in these first two chapters of Genesis and that is to answer the question what does it mean that we’re made in the image of God? And, the basic answer to that question is that we are made like God for the purpose of intimate relationship now I’ll grant you there are some Muslims, particularly Western converts to Islam, who think that they can have a personal relationship with God through Islam, but that’s really because they’re continuing to live in the Judeo Christian heritage in which they were raised.

That is to say they have a thin veneer of Islam over a largely Judeo Christian worldview. But over time, they will eventually be trained by the more orthodox Muslims in an understanding that the Allah of Islam is not someone that you can know, not someone that you can experience. He is only someone to whom you must submit. But, I’m getting a little ahead of the story. I just want you to be thinking about this as the basic point, in your first lesson from chronological bible story.

Now, you’ll recall that in lesson 1 we talked about 2 verses from the Quran verse, chapter 10 verse 94 and chapter 10 verse 64. Let’s remind ourselves of what these verses tell us. Verse 10, chapter 10 verse 94 teaches Muslims that they should study the Bible. And you remember that we invite Muslims to study the Bible by pointing this verse out to them in the Quran and saying, since the Quran tells you to study the Bible, would you like to study the Bible with me? We also pointed out that, Muslims will almost automatically respond by saying no, I can’t study the Bible because it’s been corrupted.

It’s been changed. It’s no longer God’s word, and our response to that is in the same chapter of the Quran, chapter 10, verse 64, to point out that that scripture or that particular passage says, no change can there be in the words of Allah, and we often will use the ontological argument that what kind of an Allah cannot protect his own holy word. Such an Allah would be unworthy of worship And further, the Quran itself states the opposite. And all of this is merely an apologetic to say to our Muslim friend, again, would you like to study the Bible with me? Would you like to look at what God’s word has to say?

And our hope is that they will then take this bridge and walk across it and begin to study the word of God. So, let’s begin now with the first passage that we’ll be looking at and I’m gonna be suggesting 3 passages, 2 from Genesis chapter 1 and then one passage from Genesis chapter 2 as the basis of your study, this first chronological bible story in Genesis. So we’re gonna begin by looking at Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 to 5. And, let’s read that, together. I’ll read out loud as you read along with me.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light day and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Amen. Now, you should read this with your Muslim friend and then ask a couple of questions of this particular text. Question number 1 is, what is the relationship of God to the creation?

Well, it says that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. That God, in a very real sense, was present there in the midst of this creation that he was making. Now this may seem like a minor point but for Muslims, there is not any sense, excuse me, of the imminence of God in his creation. God is wholly other. God is wholly transcendent.

He is over and above and outside of his creation. He is not present in any way in his creation. Now, the sad thing is that the Quran does not really record a story of creation like this. It it has fragmentary elements of tending to focus more on God’s creation of man and particularly of his ordering of the angel Iblis to do prostration before Adam, which is kind of a strange story and we may talk about this a little bit later on. But the actual story of the creation itself is really nowhere recorded in the Quran.

It’s only alluded to. And as a result of that, Muslims really don’t have, that clear of a picture from the Quran of what the process of creation was. Frankly, what they do have is almost entirely borrowed from the Judeo Christian tradition. But not having this specific text they don’t have this sense of God, in any way imminent in his creation. He is wholly other.

The creation is is made in the Muslim’s mind as something utterly separate from Allah and having no direct connection in any way to him. Whereas in the biblical picture, God is somehow present. He is imminent in his creation. He hovers over the water in the person of his spirit. Another interesting thing is what is God’s appraisal of this creation?

And, you know the biblical appraisal is that it’s good, that God is pleased with his creation. Now, at this point, there is great similarity to the Islamic viewpoint. For Muslims, creation is also a good creation. It’s not a bad creation. It’s something that God has made and it’s therefore good and it’s meant to be enjoyed in that sense.

And so, we have some similarities here. The creation shows forth the glory of God. A third question that you might ask is how do you look at the world? Is it something positive or negative? And explain why.

I don’t have any anticipated answer at this point, but it’s interesting to see how your Muslim friend will look at this creation. Generally speaking, they will look at it as a positive thing, and they will have good things to say about it. Although you will run into Muslims who have been through deep suffering, maybe who have been refugees, who will say this world is a place of testing. This is a place where Allah puts us to the test, and hopefully we will pass that test. Well, the Christian faith really doesn’t look at the world as a testing ground per se, but really a place for intimate relationship with God, and you may be able to make that point as we move on in our study.

Now, final question is why are you here on this planet? This is a very critical question to ask Muslims. There are many Muslims who will say, I don’t know. There are some who will say, I’m here to be tested. There are some who will say, well, I’m here to accomplish something.

I have some kind of a mission. Perhaps I’m here to make a profit. I’ve heard this from businessmen that are Muslim. They’ll often say, well, God put me here to make a profit and to do my best in the work that I do. Now you will meet particularly religious Muslims who will give an answer here which is fully in line with the biblical answer and they’ll say, I’m here to worship God and, applaud the goodness of all that he has given.

I’m here to be grateful and in fact, these are Quranic themes that, humankind is called to be grateful, is called to worship, and to turn to God in adoration and thanksgiving for all the good things that he has given. And again, this is a point of connection between us. And so this first study, in Genesis chapter 1 is really just intended to show some of our commonalities, but also to point out the mystery of god’s imminence in creation, as well as what our point is on being here. We then move on in the text to Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 to 28 which details the creation of humankind, Adam and Eve and the scripture says this, then God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth, and subdue it. Amen. Now, let’s take a look at some questions for this particular text.

1st and foremost is the question, what does it mean that humankind is made in the image of God? Now, here in the West, particularly when you’re dealing with Western converts to Islam, that phrase is pretty much, accepted, with some questioning. And amongst orthodox Muslims in other countries, the questioning is more severe because the word image in Islam is a very negative word. It implies idolatry. It implies, connecting God in some way with his creation.

And connecting God with the creation is actually shirk, the worst sin in Islam. God is wholly other. He is not connected to his creation. And so you see, ultimately, what Islam gets at is the idea that there is no imminence of God in his creation. Any kind of imminence that is seeing God in the creation, is akin to idolatry of some sort. Genesis

And yet, this phrase in the image of God does imply something that, the Quran at least allows some sense of this that humankind is special. Humankind is other and different and set apart in some special way, to be, God’s vice regent on earth. And so even though Muslims kind of shudder at the word image, they’re still in some senses, because the Quran borrows its ideas completely from the Judeo Christian heritage, there’s some sense of the specialness of humankind. That they have some kind of special aspect in terms of, well, we can’t really say relationship with God because there’s no relationship and yet there’s some kind of a connection. What’s the nature of that connection?

And this is a point that really is quite mysterious for Muslims. They really don’t have a good answer to this. The mysterious story in the Quran about God telling Iblis and the other angels to fall down and do obeisance, literally worship of the image of Adam. And, Muslims have a hard time explaining what does this mean. Usually this story is used as kind of a explanation for the rise of Satan. Genesis

Satan refused to worship the image and therefore became an enemy of human beings and decided that he would be the tester to try to get them to go to hell. That was his basic purpose, in trying to wreck what God had made. And there are certain elements of this that are are perhaps akin to, Christian and Jewish viewpoints on the rise of Satan and his jealousy the human race and desire to destroy them, but the ultimate meaning of image of God is not explained by the story. Why the image? Why the obeisance?

And so, you’ll get a lot of confusion from your Muslim friend as you talk about this particular point. Well, frankly, the image of God, you can say, is explained in Genesis chapter 2 verses 19 to 22. And what do we see there? Well, this is what it says. Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all of the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.

He brought them to the man so that he could name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air, and all beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Now, amen. What is this essentially teaching? Well, it’s teaching about relationship at two levels. It’s teaching about humankind’s relationship with God and then humankind’s relationship with each other. In other words, we’re created in in the image of God for the purpose of intimate relationship with God, and you see that illustrated here.

Adam walks in the garden with God. Adam names the animal. Adam is involved in a relationship with God, but he’s not complete in that relationship. He needs, more than just the vertical relationship with God. He needs the horizontal relationship with another similar and yet complementary human being, and so God creates woman and you have then the, horizontal relationship, that human beings were made for.

We were made for each other and we were made for relationship with God. That’s really what the image of God means. That we are complex creatures just as God is complex, and in our complexity, we are able to relate to one another. Now, you’ll notice that I’m really introducing the idea of trinity in the Godhead at this point, which I think is essential, for Muslims to understand. To get at this, we need to ask 2 questions.

How does this story explain Genesis chapter 1 and its story of the creation of humankind? Well, it’s basically showing that human beings are made for relationship with God and for relationship with each other. So how does this story help us to understand the image of God? Well, simply by showing us what relationship is about. And I often, at this point, explain to my Muslim friends that God is not only other than what we can understand, there are some aspects of him that are understandable and one of the most important is that he has relationship within his very being.

He is a complex God who is made for or who is is creating us for the purpose of relationship with himself. This gets back to that whole purpose question. Why are we here? Are we here for testing? Well, testing is part of life, but that’s not really why we’re here.

Are we here to make a profit? Well, yes we are meant to be vice regents and to serve God on the earth and to be successful in the work that we do, but that’s not really why we’re here. We’re here for the purpose of intimate relationship with God. And at this point, I often introduce the question of the law of God because Muslims, when they think about testing and when they think about purpose here on earth, will often say, well we’re here to follow God’s laws. My reaction to that is two things.

First of all, law is not relationship. Law can govern aspects of relationship, but law is not the relationship. Furthermore, how many laws did God give to Adam and Eve? Well, most good Muslims should be able to answer this question. Just one. Genesis

Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and in Muslim traditional literature, you have that story retold. So human beings are sent to earth to keep the law and hopefully if their good deeds outweigh their bad, then they’ll be acceptable to God if they pass the test, so to speak. Well my reaction is to say, well look, Adam had only one law. My question is, could he keep it? The answer is no, he couldn’t.

And once he had broken it, was he able to avoid the consequences of breaking that law? The answer again is no, he wasn’t. He was cast out of the garden along with his wife and they were never allowed to return. So it would seem that no matter how long Adam had walked with God in proper relationship before this sin, that one sin was able to wipe out whatever good deeds he may have done before then, so that he was removed from the garden. And we point out to our Muslim friends at this point, the removal from the garden is not a question of keeping the law or not keeping the law.

It’s a question of broken relationship. Once you have been disobedient to God, you have broken the intimate relationship that you were created for, that you were intended for. And it doesn’t matter how many laws you have, even one law is enough to break the relationship. And how is it for us, good Muslims, have a 130 laws that they need to follow every single day. They call them fard i’ayn, fard, dash, I, dash, a y n.

Fard i’ayn. That is the rules that every Muslim needs to keep every single day of his or her life. If Adam and Eve couldn’t keep one law, how are we supposed to keep a 100 and 30 laws? How is it possible for us to get back into relationship with God if the only way is through keeping the law? Well, frankly, the law cannot restore relationship.Genesis

The law can only show me my sin, can only show me why my relationship with God is broken, but it cannot restore that relationship. Very important points to make as we go through these scriptures. Let me just finish, this lesson with a story from Kazan Russia to show you how this kind of a discussion can take place. When I was, in Kazan, I was teaching on the subject, of Muslim evangelism in a Bible school there and one of my students was injured in an automobile accident. And so we went to visit him in the hospital to pray for him.

And in the hospital room, there was another fellow, Muslim, young man, who had been injured in an industrial accident and his mother and sister and fiance were in the hospital room with him at the time that we came to visit our brother and to pray for him. As soon as I was through sharing from the word and praying for our brother, we anointed him with oil and so forth, the Muslim mother tugged on my shirt sleeve and said, would you pray for my son? And I said, well, of course. I’d love to pray for your son. And so, we turned around and we began to share from the word and and prepare to to anoint the boy with with oil and and pray for him.

And the woman suddenly stopped us and said, you know, I know that you Westerners don’t believe in demons, but she said, you can’t tell me demons don’t exist. I’ve seen them with my own two eyes. And I said, really? Tell me what happened? And she said, well, when my son was injured, we were far out in the countryside. Genesis

He, what, they weren’t able to bring him to the hospital right away. They brought him into our home and he had to stay overnight while we tried to arrange transport the next day to the hospital. And during the night he was in great agony and pain. His leg had been crushed and, she said, I saw the demons going in and out of his leg in the middle of the night and I was terrified. And I didn’t know what to do so I cried out in the traditional Muslim fashion.

I prayed the Fatiha. Now, the Fatiha is the first surah of the Quran. It’s considered a very holy, passage and it has magical powers. It’s believed that if you pray this prayer, God will send special protection or special deliverance from the demonic. And so, she prayed the fatiha and she said, nothing happened.

And she said, I prayed the fatiha several more times and the demons just continued to attack my son’s leg. Finally, she said, in desperation, I cried out in my mother tongue which was the Tatar language and, I prayed God save my son. Instantly, she said, the demons vanished. Now, why did that happen? She said.

How would you answer a question like that? Why is it that the fatiha didn’t work but her heart’s cry did? Well, my explanation was to say, this is explained in the holy books, in the tovrat, in the in the Torah of Moses, I said. And I took her right to Genesis chapter 12, and we read there the passage about creation of Adam and Eve in the image of God. And I said, what do you think it means that you’re created in the image of God?

Well, she had no idea. I said, well, you were made like God. God is complex as you are complex. You are created for the purpose of intimate relationship with God. Now, the problem is when you prayed the Fatiha, you were doing manipulative magic.

You were trying to manipulate God through using a holy language in Arabic hoping that if you prayed that prayer correctly, you could get him to do what you wanted him to do. And I said, manipulation is acid on relationship. God will not be manipulated by holy words or holy language. But when you cried out from your heart in your mother tongue, I said, that was supplication, not manipulation. You supplicated God.

You appealed to relationship with him and he responded to that and drove the demons away. So I said to her, would you like to study the Bible and find out how you can have an intimate personal relationship with God? And her immediate response was, of course, and that family began a Bible study with members of our Bible school there and eventually they came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, consider this. Muslims desperately long for, an intimate relationship with God. Genesis

All Islamic prayer is formulaic. There is no relationship with God in Islam and God will not be manipulated. So as you share with your Muslim friend, remember to pray for them. Always pray for your Muslim friend because when you pray conversationally, you illustrate the nature of relationship that you have with God that a Muslim cannot have. All of their prayers are formulaic, but God will not be manipulated.

So would you like to study the Bible with me and find out how to have a personal relationship with God? That’s the question you should be asking your Muslim friends. And when you get a yes answer, begin with Genesis 12. Blessings on you.

Hospitality: Bible Storying for Muslims

Hospitality: Bible Storying for Muslims: Dr. Cashin Lecture 2

Dr. David Cashin delivered a series of lectures on chronological Bible Storying for Muslims during a CIU course. Here, Cashin continues with introductory material with a focus on hospitality in the home to begin this process of a bible study with Muslims.

Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. David Cashin Lecture 2: 

This is lesson 2 in chronological Bible story. And this second lesson doesn’t really have to do with the process of Bible storying per se, but the importance of having a hospitable home. My suggestion is that you invite your Muslim friend to come and visit in your home, and to study the word with you there. Unfortunately, hospitality is a lost art in the Western world. However, it is a biblical mandate.

If you look at I’ve listed a number of scripture passages here that talk about the importance of hospitality. 1st Peter 4:9 says, be hospitable to one another without complaint. Hebrews 13:2 says, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this, some have entertained angels without knowing it. Acts 16:15, where we read the following. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.

And she prevailed upon us. You’ll find many other references, to this. If you look at Acts chapter 2 and the whole idea of the believers having everything in common, that included their homes. And by the way, did you realize that there were no church buildings before around 280 AD? That is to say, for the first 250 years of Christianity, there were no church buildings. hospitality

Christians met in homes, primarily. And that was really a means of escaping persecution. And by the way, since our Muslim friends who come to faith in Jesus will be persecuted, and will not be, an immediate and easy target, for Islamic persecution. But before we get to that issue of how we’re gonna be involved with helping our Muslim friends, I wanna ask you a question. The question is this.

Who owns your home? The answer to this question is easy for most people. They think they own their homes. Well, actually, that isn’t true. In most cases, the bank owns their homes.

They occupy the house on a trust that they will eventually pay back to the bank their loans. For the Christian, however, there is a deeper issue. Jesus said in Luke 14:33, so therefore no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. The primary possession of every Christian is their home. So what does God intend by this radical statement? hospitality

Well, I have 3 main points. 1st, our homes are not our own. I drove past my old how home on 47 Farview Way in Amherst, Massachusetts this past Christmas. Hadn’t been there in 20 years. New people that I do not know live there now.

I can visualize every room in that house, but I cannot go there anymore. I suppose that the people who live there now believe that the house belongs to them. But the fact is we are just passing through our homes. They do not, have not, nor ever will belong to us in any permanent sense. Your home does not belong to you.

It is given to you as a trust. Okay? God wants us to understand that first. Secondly, he wants you to understand that if you are a Christian, your home belongs to Christ who has consecrated it to the purpose of ministry. The home is meant as a place not only for the raising of godly of a godly family, but as a place to minister to outsiders.

The New Testament time churches met in homes. There were no church buildings as I said, earlier during the first really the first 300 years of the Christian faith. Throughout history in times of persecution, the church has met secretly in homes. The basis of the rapid church growth in China today is home based fellowships. By By the way, when is the last time you entered entertained a person in your home?

And specifically, when’s the last time you had a non Christian in your home? The concept of hospitality has virtually died in the United States. In spite of time saving devices such as dishwashers and microwaves, we do not seem to have time to cook meals, let alone invite a stranger for dinner. Our lives reflect speed, stress, and self focus. What needs to change in your lifestyle to be able to really, illustrate through your life the Christian principle of hospitality.

3rd thing that I think God wants to say to us is this, you can change. It is possible to learn to be hospitable in much the same way we learned how to pray or to read the Bible as an aspect of the Christian life. It is a habit which must be cultivated. For married couples, I would suggest the following simple steps. Number 1, make a goal to invite someone into your home every month.

Ensure beforehand that you are agreed upon person’s dates and times before you invite. Nothing is more uncomfortable than coming into a home where husband and wife are in conflict over the guest. And by the way, if you invite your Muslim friend to study the Bible, this might be the first person you’d have in your home. Secondly, and if you need a little breaking in before you start working with a Muslim, begin with members of your church, perhaps on Sunday afternoons after church, as a means to get to know people better. After 6 months, branch out and try inviting people in your neighborhood.hospitality

I am convinced that if you continue consistently, you’ll begin to see ministry opportunities develop. My wife and I have been doing that with our neighbors and, we’ve led a couple of our neighbors to Christ. And, now we have one lady that meets my wife every week for bible study in our home. And she’s in the hospital right now. Now.

So we’re involved in trying to take care of her and, look out for her husband as well. Ministry opportunities multiply when you use your home as a base of ministry. You can invite a Muslim into your home and invite them to study the Bible. And by the way, this is particularly an opportunity for older couples. If you’re an empty nester, what do you think you got all the rooms in that house for? 

Think about the opportunities that God is giving you. Well, I’m gonna stop at this point and, encourage you if you have any questions or, issues that you’d like to discuss with me, you have my email address and my phone number. I’d love to talk to you more about how to use your home as a place of hospitality Blessings on you.

Bible Storying for Muslims Introduction

Chronological Bible Storying for Muslims: Dr. David Cashin Lecture 1

Dr. David Cashin delivered a series of lectures on chronological Bible Storying for Muslims during a CIU course. Here, Cashin presents the introductory means and methods for beginning this Bible study with Muslims.

Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. David Cashin Lecture 1: 

Hi. And welcome to lesson 1 in chronological Bible storying for Muslims. We’re at an age when Muslims are responding to the gospel of Jesus Christ as never before. We’ve made the statement that more Muslims have come to faith in Jesus Jesus in the previous 30 years than in the previous 1500 years combined. And so it’s an exciting moment in world history where the gospel is spreading, amongst a group of people who used to be known as the most resistant to the gospel.

God’s doing an amazing thing. And so this first lesson, really is how to initiate a Bible storying with a Muslim. The title of our discussion today is starting a Bible study in a mosque. And, certainly, you can do this. I’m gonna describe this from the perspective of someone going into a mosque, but it’s also quite possible for you to go and and talk to someone on the street or a Muslim that you’ve met in, various contexts.

And, we’re finding that when people are making a direct effort to invite Muslims to study the Bible, that a significant percentage of the time Muslims are saying yes to this invitation. So I’m gonna read through this, little article. It’s just 2 pages, and I’m gonna highlight a few things as we go along and give you an opportunity to think through, what’s involved here. And then, of course, at the end, you’ll be seeing my email address. And, I’m very happy to dialogue with you either by email or by phone, in giving you further information about how to get started.

Now the premise of this article may seem absurd at the start. Why in the world would Muslims in a mosque ever agree to study the Bible? What could possibly be gained by such an effort? Well, let me explain to you how I start Bible studies in mosques, and perhaps you’ll begin to see the point. I go to mosque to find my Muslim friends, some of whom are searching for God.

And this is really getting at the point of what is my goal. Not every mosque has agreed to study the Bible with me, but there have been people in almost every mosque that I’ve gone into who have individually said, yes. I would like to study the Bible with you. So part of my point here is to say, let’s go looking for the man or woman of peace. And I believe that in every mosque and in every, Islamic context, you’re going to find people like that.

Now when I go into a mosque, I show great respect. I take off my shoes and, I would ask to speak with the spiritual leadership of the mosque. When I’m in a mosque, I’m not looking for, individuals. I’m really looking to talk to all the leaders. But if you meet a Muslim on street, you can follow the same kind of pattern and you don’t have to be looking for the leaders necessarily.

After we’ve sat for a while in the mosque and exchanged some pleasantries, perhaps had a cup of tea, I take out my quote on and I ask in the group the in the group the following question. I have found a very interesting verse in the Quran. It is found in chapter 10 verse 94. And, this is something you should pay significant attention to. If you don’t have a Quran, buy yourself 1. Bible Storying

I would suggest getting the Yusuf Ali translation, and you’ll find if you look up under chapter 10, verse 94, this particular verse. And it says, if you are in doubt as to what we have revealed to you, then ask those who’ve been reading the book from before you. Now what this verse says is that Muslims should consult the other holy books which were revealed before the Quran. Would you like to study the holy books with me? Now that is the key invitation, and I’m gonna make that invitation several times during my time together with these Muslim friends.

Now, the fun thing about this first invitation is I know almost inevitably what the response is going to be. It’s very predictable. The Muslim will say something like this. No, I cannot study those other books because they’ve been changed, or they might say they’ve been corrupted, or they aren’t the original books. Now, so you have to prepare for that kind of a response, and here’s what I do.

I usually express some kind of astonishment, and I say, well, that seems to deny what the Quran itself says. Take a look in the same words of Allah. If God can’t protect his own holy word, then he’s impotent and unworthy of worship. God’s word can never be changed because God himself is the protector of his word. Is there anyone stronger than Allah who could change his word?

Now, please forget Josh McDowell at this point. Josh McDowell at this point. Muslims are much more impressed with arguments based on the nature of God than with human historiographical arguments about the reliability of scripture. You may get into these later, but at this point, please resist the temptation to get embroiled in disputes about old manuscripts and that kind of thing. Muslims have never asked that question about the Quran.

And, therefore, you raising those kinds of issues from their point of view indicates the weakness of your text. So my argument is based on the nature of God himself and what the Quran says. Some Muslims may say, well, you know, this is really only talking about the Quran. Well, that’s not true. And frankly, there are many other places in the Quran where it talks about the word of God and it lists all these other holy books.

So when the Quran says the word of God cannot be changed, it’s talking about all the words of God. And that includes the 3 major books that Muslims confess from the Judeo Judeo Christian heritage. That is the Torah, the Torah of Moses, the Zabur, the Psalms of David, and the Injeel or the gospel of Jesus. Let me just give you an example of how this might happen for you. I went into a radical Saudi funded mosque in Kazan, Russia and had this discussion with the Imams there.

And they, decided, to consider whether they would study the Bible storying with me and, they were positive to the idea, even though it was a radical mosque. But the most interesting thing happened as I was exiting the mosque for an older gentleman pulled me aside and whispered, did you know that there are verses that have been changed in the Quran? You’d heard this whole discussion about changing of the word of God. And, in fact, the only holy book according to the Quran that has had changes made in it is in the Quran itself. And I smiled and said to him briefly, yes.

I had found what I’d come to look for, a Muslim who was seeking the truth. And I invited this man to study the Bible storying with me privately and he agreed and later came to faith, not through me, but through the others who’ve continued to follow-up with him. You may eventually be thrown out of the mosque. In fact, you will be thrown out of the mosque eventually. But in the meantime, you may find many who are seeking the truth.

Once they’ve agreed to study the Bible, where do you begin? Well, you start by storing right through the Bible beginning with the story of Adam and Eve. And the remainder of this CD, is going to be explanations of how you lead Muslims chronologically through the Bible storying starting with, Adam and Eve. And Muslims know the story of Adam and Eve, but they don’t know the main point. What does it mean that Adam and Eve are created in the image of God?

Well, chapter 2 explains it. Adam walks with God in the garden. He names the animals. He is vice regent with God and friend of God. He is involved in an intimate personal relationship with God.

A Muslim cannot have a personal relationship with God. A Muslim cannot experience God. By the way, I’m quoting the great Muslim scholars when I say this. Ismail Farooqi said this very thing in 19 97 to a conference of Westerner Westerners who were converts to Islam. Now why did he say that to a group of Western converts to Islam? Bible Storying

Well, simply because they were still being influenced by their Judeo Christian heritage that teaches you that you can have an intimate relationship with God. And so Ismail Farooqi needed to set them straight. One of my friends who was at that conference realized at that moment, that’s why all my prayers are formulaic. So Muslims desperately need this message of relationship, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God. Do you feel that this is stepping in over your head?

Well, of course, it is. But you will not learn unless you take the first step. This is how Jesus trained his disciples. So I’m gonna invite you here, to begin the first step before you go on to the next step in this series. Because if you don’t put it into practice, that first step, you’re not likely going to take that second step.

Now, by way of conclusion, let me share some other verses in the Quran if you feel you need, more or can use them in your first discussion. Quran 4136 says, oh, ye who believe, believe in Allah and his messenger and the scripture which he has sent to his messenger and the scripture which he sent to those before him. Any who denies Allah, his angels, his books, his messengers, and the day of judgment has gone astray, far, far astray. This shows that Muslims must believe in the other holy books. Quran 2136 and 5, 5727 say, say ye, say ye, we believe in Allah and the revelation given to us, and Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the descendants, children of Jacob, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to all the prophets from their Lord. Bible Storying

This passage shows also shows that Muslims must believe in the message of all the previous holy books. 5727¢ says, we sent after them Jesus, the son of Mary, and bestowed on him the gospel. This passage emphasizes that the gospel specifically must be believed in. 2 other passages, Quran 634 115, it’s verse 115 of chapter 6 says, there are there is none that can alter the words of Allah and none can change his word. Again, this shows that God’s word cannot be changed according to the Quran.

By the way, notice my purpose is not to get people to study, the Quran. I’m using the Quran only as a bridge to get them to study the Bible. By the way, you could use the same approach with a Muslim you meet in the supermarket. And by the way, you’ll find that Muslims, especially those wearing clear religious clothing, are easy to approach. Do not be afraid of them, but go out and Where there you can have the same question for them as you where there you can have the same question for them as you walk them through the next step.

I also promise to pray for you. Step out in faith and you will be surprised what doors God will open for you. This will be the greatest adventure of your life. And remember the goal, we wanna get them into studying the Bible storying and seeing what it says about the salvation God has prepared through Jesus Christ. Again, here at the bottom, you can see my email, dcashinciu.edu, and my phone number in the 803 area code 807-5326.

If you have any further questions about this, give me a buzz or send me an email and we’ll dialogue. Log. God bless you as you take this step of faith.

Folk Muslims: Jesus Respond? Dr. Warren Larson Lecture

Folk Muslims comprise a significant part of the Islamic world. This lecture focuses on engaging with Muslims, particularly folk Muslims, through the lens of Christian faith. Warren Larson proposes that understanding and compassion are key to effective evangelism with folk Muslims. He suggests modeling Jesus’ approach with the Samaritan woman, emphasizing humility, identifying felt needs, and addressing sin without condemning Muslims and their folk practices. Dr. Warren Larson’s lecture on how Jesus would respond to a Folk Muslim was given during a CIU course on folk Islam. He presents how Jesus interacted with the Samaritan Women in John 4:1-24 and the implication with Folk Muslims. Additionally, Psalm 23 for sharing the gospel with Muslims.

Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. Warren Larson Lecture: How Would Jesus Respond to a Folk Muslims?

This is the last lecture. It’s number 40. And it is, you know, what would Jesus say to a folk Muslim? How would he respond to a folk Muslim? I was, thinking over the last few days of writing an article, of what would Jesus say to an angry Muslim, an enraged Muslim.

I got the idea from from, Betty Woodbury, my mentor and friend and colleague from Fuller Seminary. And, in a matter of fact, this comes the idea came from him as well on the folk Muslims, if I remember right. But I thought we would close with this. I have to confess that this is, this has not been this is not a perfect course. Nothing’s perfect, but I I say again that it is my favorite course because it’s it’s just so relevant.

It’s just so real, isn’t it? And, I trust it’s been a blessing, but I was, wanting to talk to you just in the end here what Jesus would say to a folk Muslim. Now, of course, we’ve been talking about, you know, biblical answers all along, but we’re gonna 0 in on a specific passage here, and the passage is John 4:1 through 24. That is the Samaritan woman. And, it, you know, it’s you could make application broader than just a folk Muslim.

I mean, she’s not, you know, demonic, demon possessed and stuff like that, but some of her some of her thinking and traditions and stuff like that are pretty, I think, relevant to popular Islam. Notice that what he does, first of all, is that he he is humble enough to accept hospitality. And he says to her, will you give me a drink? Now Jesus didn’t need to ask that woman, did he, for a for a drink, But he does. I mean, after all, he created the heavens and the earth and, sustains them, maintains them, but he’s humble enough to ask for hospitality and show.

So, in other words, showing the love of Christ and acceptance of Christ and Muslim friends is the most important thing we can do. I think in the back of, Dudley Woodbury and some of the research that he has done written in Christianity some, you know, just a few short years ago, this is really the thing that has been most helpful in winning Muslims to Christ, not, you know, specifically for Muslims, but any Muslims. It’s been the love and acceptance of, that Christians have shown, friend making friends and loving their Muslim their Muslims’ friends, not looking at them as as, enemies. And, secondly, he would look for felt need. What felt need?

He says he would have given you living water. Wow. We’ve been talking about, haven’t we, all along? The felt needs of folk Muslims, all of the felt needs they have because of their fears and, concerns and, you know, desire for protection and help and strength and encouragement and hope, and she he says to her, you know, if you’ve asked him, he would have given you living water. That woman definitely definitely had some great felt needs or she wouldn’t have been there all on her lonesome in the 4th chapter of of John.

Definitely felt some great needs, and Jesus addresses them. We too must think of the felt needs of Muslims in our talking, in our preaching, in our witnessing, trying to figure out, you know, understand their culture. You can’t do this, of course, through a 2 week, visit, but you do it through a lifetime of living with people and, learning their ways. We lived in Pakistan for 23 years in the same town, so we did learn, quite a bit about them. We learned more as time went on, but it wasn’t easy.

Even, you know, some things we missed, and, really, I should have seen that we that we didn’t see. One let’s see. One passage, I think, is is pretty powerful and is Psalm 23 for Muslims. The, woman who helped, you know, give the final copy on these PowerPoints said this this here really spoke to her. It’s Psalm 23 for Muslims.

You know, Psalm 23 is so precious to us, isn’t it? When my father was killed, as I mentioned, you know, a couple of lectures ago, This is a psalm, Psalm 23. It was very comforting for me. All that night when I got the news, this is the psalm that kept going over and over in my head. Even though do I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, no fear nor evil.

I was, you know, 25 years old, and I lost my dad. But just just imagine if I hadn’t had that song. I mean, it’s so precious to us. But here is, Psalm 23 for Muslims. I have no shepherd.

I am in desperate need. I have no one to feed me in green pastures. I find no rest. I have no one to lead me to quiet waters. I have no one to restore my anxious and despairing soul.

I have no one to guide me in right ways. See, there are so many, that are wanting to guide them in wrong ways, deceptive ways, evil ways, manipulative ways. They need the truth, and Jesus is the truth. I don’t know where to turn. See, they, oftentimes oftentimes, they don’t have where anywhere to turn.

They’re like sheep without a shepherd in every sense of the term. Remember Jesus looking at the crowds and saying they were helpless and harassed? When I think of folk Muslims, this is really what I think of, helpless and harassed. And it’s not just a matter of economics, but that’s part of it. 60% of the world’s poor are Muslims.

Most of the refugees in the world are Muslims. When we think of Muslims, oftentimes, we think of angry Muslims, you know, shouting their slogans, burning down this and that and the other thing, or even killing an ambassador, which hasn’t happened for decades. We don’t don’t get the, you know, we don’t realize how desperate they are for a shepherd. As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, evil surrounds me. You see, so terrified of death they are.

I’m terribly afraid, and that’s true. Muslims, when they face death, are terribly afraid for no one is there to comfort me. All that, they can think of is the, the judgment and and whereas for us, yes, the judgment, but we have the the consolation, the hope that we’ll see god and that we’ll be with him forever. I have no feast prepared for me. I’m so I’m overwhelmed by my enemies.

No one anoints my wounds to heal them. My cup is empty. All the days of my life are filled with uncertainty and disappointments, and I have no home for eternity. Will I dwell in the house of evil forever? Sometimes I have shared a poem that was written by a poet poetess in Pakistan who talks about the plight of women and it will it break your heart, but that’s really the situation, isn’t it?

And then he would create spiritual hunger, but he would not major major on theological debate. We have, workers and, some of them do some pretty remarkable things. They’re public debates, but I don’t think that that’s the method really whereby most Muslims come to Christ. No. He would create spiritual hunger, but he would not major on debate.

The water that I give them will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life. He really creates hunger, and his ability to to meet that. You know, it has some value. I’ve learned things from polemicists, but I don’t think it’s an effective way to win wisems to Christ. Everybody knows that.

He would address the sin issue. Yeah. We can, know the bible and we can use it confidently as authoritative, divinely inspired word of God, particularly in dealing with sin. Sin, unpopular subject as it is. Nevertheless, the more you live with Muslims, the more you realize that they struggle with the same issues we do, sexual sin and, you know, not realizing that the thoughts in your mind, according to Jesus, are really, if you harbor them, are as sinful as the actions itself.

So, knowing the culture and dealing with the topic of sin and particular sins of that culture, which oftentimes, as I mentioned, have to do with moral issues. I’m talking men with men, women with women to address these sensitive issues. Deceit is very much done in common, telling lies and selfishness and all of these kind of things, we need to address the sin issue. Of course, sometimes we of course, we don’t know as well as Jesus did, where he pinpointed the the sin in that woman’s life, but we can figure these things out if we are observant and we know the culture. He would use the traditions to communicate truth.

Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Is it possible that we would also know enough Islam, not only the Quran, but know something of the traditions among Muslims to communicate. Is it possible If we think that, you know, it’s all satanically inspired and, demonic and the whole thing, then we’re going to just write it off and, demonize Muslims and denigrate Muhammad. But if we realize that there are bridges there that can be used for the furtherance of the gospel, then we will use them for for the communication of of of Christ and we can do this. And I think, and and Zramer would Samuel Zramer would back this up.

He felt the Quran could be used as a bridge. I have Christian friends. In fact, I just read something this morning. They every chance they get, would would say that, you know, the God of Allah of Islam is not the same as God of Christianity, God of the Bible. Now that’s true to an extent, but but in the sense that, we’re talking about the same person, it is not true.

And, to to make those kind of declarations, I mean, you know, people who love black and white and and all of those kind of things, would would love to say things like that. But in many ways, we can start with some understanding that they have of Allah, knowing that Christians also use that term. Allah is not the Christian not the, the Muslim God. He’s the name, the name that Muslims use for God, and so, we can use some of these get, you know, talking about Muslims, to with Muslims and use bridges rather than break down every possible bridge possible. So then, also, he would clearly and boldly reveal who he is.

Who is he? He’s the messiah. He’s the savior of the world, and, he he did reveal this, didn’t he? In the Quran, it it talks of Christ as Al Masih, Jesus, the son of Miriam, Al Masih. So that in itself is a bridge.

And Muslims, don’t just need to see him in his prophethood, but they need to see him in all of his glory, all of his majesty, and they need to be drawn to the savior. We pray. We hope and we pray, that this will happen. You know, Muslims can challenge us. They can, they’ll ask tough questions, and not always in a, you know, in a, loving mood.

How are we going to respond? How are we going to respond to them? Well, we need to respond with confidence, and we cannot be afraid. We cannot be afraid. And sometimes, even if we don’t know the answer, we will, need to say, well, look.

I I don’t really know the answer to that, but I’ll come back. May god help us. And, I pray, hope, and pray that this course, will be used in your life for the glory of God and that God will use it to give you a greater understanding of himself, of the need of Muslims, and of the need, their their need for the gospel.

Divination in Folk Islam: Dr. Warren Larson Lecture

Divination in Folk Islam with Dr. Warren Larson. In this lecture, Warren Larson shares some of the practices associated with divination, particularly within folk Islam across the Muslim world. He also shares a biblical perspective on the concept of divination and how to share the gospel with those practicing it.

Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. Warren Larson Lecture: Divination in Folk Islam.

Zeroing in now on, in lecture 39, rituals and practices, 0ing in on divination, which is the title here. Divination in the Bible is condemned and I wanted to just read a few passages of scripture here if I can find them in a hurry. One is, Ezekiel. You have to admire these old testament prophets, don’t you? Not just the major ones that we call a major Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and, Isaiah, but the minor ones too because they preached bold messages, you know, courage, phenomenal courage.

They preached against these kinds of things. This thinking here of Ezekiel, the great prophet, Ezekiel 13 and verse 7, he says, the Lord has, he said, these prophets, the Lord has not sent them. He says in verse 6, just a little before we said before their versions are false, said their division’s a lie. They say the Lord declares when the Lord has not sent them, yet they expect their words to be fulfilled. Have you not seen a false vision, false visions, and uttered a lying divinations when you say the Lord declares?

Well, interesting. Then then turning the page over to 13/23, Actually, backing up a little bit, to 18. This is what the sovereign lord says. Woe to the women who sue so magic charms on all their wrists and make veils. What does that sound like?

You know, Islam didn’t get you know, Islam this is just animism through and through, isn’t it? Sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils, of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? You profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps. And then verse 20.

Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says, I’m against your magic charms, with which you ensnare people like birds, and I’ll tear them from your hands. Then really at the end, 23, therefore, you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. Wow. You know, this is, really something, isn’t it? And, you know, over and over again, the scripture speaks against this.

This is the context. And, I wanted to mention Deuteronomy 1810 through 12. This, by the way, some of you will know that this is, one of the passages that Muslims claim to be about Muhammad because they say in verse 17 of this chapter, the lord said to me, you know, I’ll raise up for you a prophet like you from among their brothers. And then verse 20, but a prophet let’s see. Well, I should actually read verse 15.

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. And then verse 18, I’ll raise up for them a prophet like from you from among their brothers. Muslims have said they’ve often said and they they argue this, that this is about Muhammad. But I I say to them, look, if you look at the passage carefully, this is about Moses because, you know, he was one of their brothers, one of the Jews, and it’s not about Mohammed. And so look at the passage carefully.

But what I wanted to point out was that this is the very passage that, talks about, the detestable practices of magic and divination, and it talks about the spirit of divination. In verse 9, you know, you when you enter the land, your god lord your god give gives you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices the son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist who consults the dead? Anyone who does these things is detestable to the lord, and because of these detestable practices of the lord God will drive out those nations. So in other words, god really in other words, he drove them out and, of course, the Israelites came in because of their detestable practices.

Now, it seems that the Jews learned their lesson, from the, you know, the fact that they learned their lesson on some of these things, but Muslims have not learned their lesson and they are very much into this kind of stuff. Now, what forms of divination are there? Well, various and sundry forms. There are, of course, dreams, interpreting dreams as a form of divination. I wanted to make a note here, a point that I’m not against Muslims having dreams.

They do have dreams. They do have dreams and they have dreams of Jesus, so we need to pray that they would have dreams of Jesus and not Muhammad or not their peer, their saint, their, some other person because they will be led astray through those dreams. That said, of course, we recognize that, Satan can use dreams, and we don’t because we have the scriptures, we don’t need to rely on dreams. We you know, I had dreams, dreams last night. I don’t put any stock in them.

Muslims do put stock in their dreams, but we we need to pray that God would give them dreams of Jesus that would draw them to the light and not draw them away from the light. In other words, they’re sometimes Muslims will have dreams saying, you know, don’t have anything to do with with this. Well, we need to, pray that they will have dreams of Jesus, that God, who is more powerful than Satan, would, break through and give them, if he’s gonna have dreams, have dreams of Jesus and then get them into the word so that they would stand firm. But they have you know, there is the, then there’s the casting of lots. There’s arrows.

There’s water, some things like that, consulting the dead, which is necromancer, and, the astrology. I think of this term, teraphim, and, the use of it in scripture remembering Rachel, Jacob’s wife, the beautiful one, that she never you know, took her a long time to get rid of this kind of stuff. Jacob was negligent himself, and he didn’t seem to deal with this kind of thing. He didn’t seem to spend a whole lot of time with his family in the first place till god really got after him and and, finally, when his daughter, Dinah, was raped, then he finally got serious. But I I was thinking of something before that where when, you know, they they run for their lives and there’s Rachel, she has stolen her father’s gods.

Why? Because she thinks that there’s power and blessing through this tariff. I mean, she hides them in the saddlebag and gives the excuse and it works, this lie that she’s having a period and so she doesn’t have to move, But goodness sakes, almost like Jacob’s faith has no influence on her. Leah, on the other hand, through her suffering perhaps, seems to have grown in her understanding, and, she seems to be far more spiritual than Rachel. I don’t know, how that went out afterwards, but finally, when David’s family get into more trouble, 2 of his sons kill off a whole village.

Jacob finally realizes how serious things are, and so, he, gets out of that and he says, okay. We have to get rid of all of these and so he buries them. Wow. I mean, you talk about serious stuff. Now divination in Islam, childbirth, finding out what this baby is going to be, a boy or a girl.

Of course now I suppose with the increase in ultrasound, you don’t have the same, but oftentimes they’ve used this pendulum. Here’s a picture of a pendulum and, swinging back and forth over a black and a white thread. So then when it stops, if it stops over the black thread, what would it be? You guessed it. A girl, and over the white thread, a boy.

Another one is, I guess, the sieve method where half of the sieve is is covered with charcoal and the other is not. And then using the sieve, the the the the, pendulum there again, the the black is the girl and the white is the boy. I mean, it’s it’s prejudice, isn’t it, against baby girls? In Uzbekistan, it’s the, I’m sorry, not Uzbekistan, but the unseen world is used to diagnose diseases. Marriage, as we’ve said before, numerical value of of a name.

You see, the letters equal have numeric value. Cutting the Quran is not cutting it up with a knife, but it is, a term that’s used for determining, getting guidance. And, Ishta Cara, So, someone who’s wondering what to do in a certain situation goes to a practitioner and, gives the, you know, the the need, the request for guidance and, should I marry this girl or should I not? Should I buy the truck or should I not? Should I do this or do that?

Well, then the the practitioner says, well, let’s cut the Quran. So he opens the book at random, takes his hand across the passage, and it says I was just looking at Surah 24 in verse 16. And why did you not, when you heard it say, it is not right of us to speak thus? So I what did the guy say? He would say, don’t do it.

Well, sort of a flimsy way, but, I mean, I suppose if, if he really wants to go for it, he would go and find another sheikh, you know, because sooner or later, it’s gonna you’re gonna do what you want to do, I suppose. But it it it you know, it’s it’s called cutting the crown. I I know of Christians who have done the same. You know, should I what should I do? And then they open the bible that way and read a verse and sort of get find out God’s will.

It’s sort of a dangerous way to to do it. I suppose God can intervene and, but, certainly, it’s done in in Islam. And then looking at the heavens, you know, the waning and the waxing of the moon, the waning moon, meaning one thing and the, you know, the waxing moon means another. So you looking at the moon, stargazing, these are some of the things that are done. In, Afghanistan, actually, the Turkmens look at the water.

They predict certain things by looking at the ripples of the water in a basin. Child in the Sudan. This is a practitioner. Rafiki uses child as a medium of divination. In other words, some way or another way they would use this child as a way of divining the future, finding out what’s gonna happen.

Others would use coffee or tea, looking at the leaves and to know the future, which was we’re probably more acquainted with. Then there is the sand gazing. The Falata of the Sudan look at the sand. That’s what they do. And bones.

Looking at the bones in Kazakhstan, the shaman reads the cracks in the bones and it looks at the sheep sheep’s shoulder. And so various and sundry ways, divination is in Islam is done. Omens, a black, butterfly would mean one thing, obviously, an evil omen, and dogs howling in a central place, would make some people think of death or, you know, superstition. You don’t say you don’t mention death, or you never mention, any type of disease because that can bring bad luck. In the Emirates, what you do to bring a to break a curse is you urinate on the curse package and, which is a wand of folded paper, you know, a bound paper, that so has been put under the put on the mattress, and you broke it by defiling it.

See, these are Phil Parshall talks about those kind of things. Divination in Islam, continuing this topic. Astrology is, of course, reading the stars. There’s just one type of of, divination. A sick person, so, the Hodeje consults the stars.

He writes 3 copies of the prayer dissolved, and it put and puts it in the hat, drinks the water. Through the astrology, you find out when’s the best plant time to plant and with a special prayer. Now not a prayer in the sense that we think of it and, you we’ve already talked about the name change, Would it would it be that easy? Alchemy is sort of a strange old science. It was not really a science, but, zikr meaning, you know, going over god’s names, vows, curses, blessings including knot tying.

Remember, the Iranian man became, he somebody became a kleptomaniac, in other words. He’s stealing everything. And, so the diagnosis is he you know, he must have been cursed by a jinn. So one way or another, that curse might must be broken. You know, it’s in in one way, it’s an easy way to, to, get over things, isn’t it?

I mean, in other words, to not take the blame for what you have done. And then, of course, knot tying, we’ve talked about that as well, and, we could give other examples, but that’s enough.

Magic in Folk Islam: Dr. Warren Larson Lecture

Magic in Folk Islam with Dr. Warren Larson. In this lecture Larson presents the magic of Folk Islam, its reality in the Bible, the magic in the Qur’an and Hadith, and how it manifests.

Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. Warren Larson Lecture: Magic in Folk Islam.

Lecture 38, rights and practices and magic. So in, some sense, you know, we’re talking about magic all the way through, because that’s what it is. It’s magical stuff. Magic and sorcery and those kind of things, there is some repetition here, but I don’t apologize for that because, we’re just coming at things from a different angle as I see it, whether we’re looking at the beings or the objects or, the rituals, whatever we are doing. But, again, referring to Zweimer and animism effective animism, influence of animism on Islam or another, source here is Bromeli who edited you can find this stuff in the, you know, in the references at the end of the class notes, the Magic Magician International Standard Bible Encyclopedia as well.

Wanted to make some reference, first of all, to the, the bible. We I’ve noted before that, the last unit, which missiological implications in the class notes we’re not doing. The reason we’re not doing is is because it’s strictly scripture, that whole section, but we’re looking at scripture all the way through. And, and in this at this time, we wanted to make just a brief reference of some old testament stuff and new testament stuff, and there are so many passages. I you know, the the the Bible is it’s not full of it, but it’s full of references to to what was going on.

In other words, going on amongst the Jews and, often there are prohibitions in the old testament against adopting the, the, divination and sorcery of the neighbors, those around. For instance, look at Leviticus 19 and verse 26. Do not eat blood meat with blood in it, and do not practice divination or sorcery. Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip the edges of your beard. Now this kind of stuff, you know, cutting your hair in a certain way, must have had something to do with this.

And then verse 31 of that same chapter, do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. And then, 2nd Kings 9 and verse, well, 22. Jehu here is talking. How can there be peace, Jehu replies replied, as long as all the idolatry and witch craft of your mother, Jezebel. You know, Jezebel was not just a someone who murdered, but she was very much into this kind of stuff.

And then Isaiah 57 verse 3, just choice verses here. You know, you can trace this. I think sometimes we miss it because we’re not, you know, we’re not used to this and we read these things. We we somehow don’t see the the extent to which, these practices were going on. It says 57, verse 3, Isaiah preaches against it.

He says: but you come here, you sons of the sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes. Wow. Now, the book of mysteries compiled about the 6th or 7th century AD, Aramaic incantation bowls from the Jews in Babylon. See the bowls factor. So, understanding the words demons, phantoms, wild goat, demonic beings, as we’ve talked about Lilith, the demoness of the night, and there are other verses here, lots of them where Isaiah, you know, is is preaching against it.

Let me just mention, one verse here, Isaiah 34 verse 14. He says desert creatures meet with hyenas hyenas, and wild ghosts will beat, bleat to each other. There, the night creatures will also repose and find for themselves places of rest. Now, I don’t wanna get into the too much into the biblical, position because that’s not the purpose of the course, but the New Testament, too, makes several references to sorcery, and, Revelation is, is mentions it all the time. I mean, this is one of the things that that makes God so mad is the propensity to sorcery, for instance, Revelation 21:8.

We’ve looked at this before, but the cowardly, unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, all and, I mean, we can see that, but then it says all those who practice magic arts. Okay. And then 2215 as well, which is really you’re getting close to the end of the book here, aren’t you? Very close. And it says that, again, it talks about the those who practice magic arts.

Wow. You know? It’s all part of it. You know? There’s not just immorality and murder and stuff like that.

But, thinking too of the fact and what a what a shame it is when you think about it that, Jesus was accused. Or accused of what? Well, they made all kinds of accusations against him, and some of them were terrible. You know, verse 22 of chapter 3 in Mark, and the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, he is possessed by Beelzebub, by the prince of demons. He’s driving out demons.

Now what what worse thing could they have said? They’re accusing our Lord of demon possession. This is terrible. Beelzebub was the prince of the demons, and Jesus is accused of this. I mean, this is the worst thing that that people could have said about him, and they did it face to face.

In John 8 and 48, the Jews answered him, Aren’t we right in saying you are a Samaritan and demon possessed? I’m not possessed by demons, Jesus said Jesus, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me, I’ll say. And then verse 52, the Jews said, now we know who you are demon possessed. Abraham died, and so did the prophets. Yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death.

Who do you think you are? That’s a terrible, accusation, isn’t it? And when, remember that when Jesus is before, Herod, You know, Herod is a wicked a wicked guy, and he he he he he gets worse and worse, and as he disobeys the Lord and, then at the end, Jesus won’t even talk to him because he has sort of, you know, he’s, I guess, hardened his heart so much. But in Mark, I guess, 6 in verses 14 through 16, when Herod heard this, he he said: John, the man I beheaded has been raised from the dead. For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested.

But, you know, Herod is hoping to see some magic. When his his worldview must have been, you know, much been very much full of this, the world view of of his day. This is what he’s into, and you have all of this kind of stuff too, verse after verse in the New Testament as well. And it grieves us, doesn’t it, that Jesus was accused of these things? Now let’s talk about Islam.

Let’s talk about the Islamic roots. And, we’ve noted that it is condemned, But then we also have seen time and time again that it still thrives. It still flourishes despite the the the seeming condemnation. Samuel Zweimer says this. In no monotheistic religion are magic and sorcery so firmly entrenched as Islam.

Well, you know, he’s talking several monotheistic religions here. In the case of this religion based on the teaching of the Quran, you see, so, Zwemer is is really backing up what what you would we’ve been saying all along. In the practice of the prophet, the book itself has magical power superstitions obtained in Arabia before Islam perpetuated by it. No orthodox Muslim doubts it. In other words, that’s see, that’s how they, spelled Muslim before, you know, a 100 years ago, Muslim.

And, I think they some do still today. It’s not just African, but, men are able to call forth the power of demons and jinn by means of magic, wizards, wizards, and witches. Boy, Zweimer hit it on the nail, didn’t he, on the head? He really, spoke clearly and, decisively on on, the Islam and and the the the prevalence of magic. Magic, what is it?

It’s a form in some cases, a pretended form of religious deviance. What I mean by that is that there’s so much deceit and fake stuff. Through supernatural powers, things are done in ways that are not normally sanctioned by by religion. So you have white black magic. What black magic?

White magic, of course, is good. Black magic is when you do harm. Magic is coercive. Often, it’s manipulative and it could be, as we’ve noted before, it could be protective, something you do to protect, but it also could be something you do, taking the offensive. And, witch or witchcraft is, the word for witch witchcraft in Arabic is sehr.

It is the the innate spiritual power like the evil eye, and we’ve showed these. This this is a great picture here. This thing presumably run hung around the neck to protect against the evil eye, something like, you know, this Starbucks that, I showed you before even in Turkey. You know, Turkey, despite its the fact that it’s a secular country, is very much into this stuff. What is a sorcerer?

Well, we’re on page 38 of the class notes. A specialist who has learned from the master, practitioner. And it’s a craft to controlling or using supernatural powers for personal or in the interest of the clientele. It is certainly antisocial. I have, taken out some stuff out of the class notes here in reference to, well, in particular, magic sorcery among the Seung Hai Seung Hai in, in, I guess, it’s Nejair, Paul Stoller and Cheryl Oakes in Sorcery’s Shadow, published by the University of Chicago.

This guy is an anthropologist, Paul Stoller, and I read that book years ago. He was quite I was quite surprised at some of the things he did. He actually learned, from some sorcerer in Niger where he was doing his anthropology. He thought, you know, the best thing to do if you wanna get into this was to become 1, so he did and he, you know, didn’t seem to be too much harm until he ran into someone, sorcerer, who had more power than he did and then he almost lost his life and he got out of there. Obviously, a non Christian, a secular guy and, would you know, I mean, no Christian should get involved in that kind of stuff because we know we know from the Bible that it’s prohibited and there is great danger in it.

He did do some he did do some amazing things. I mean, he he had the power. He learned the power and, obviously, Satan was using him. He it was a craft that he learned, but what a dangerous thing to be fooling around with. God help us not to get mixed up in anything.

Here are some definitions and, of sorcery distinctions, magic and miracles. We know that, early Christians were accused of magic by the pagans. In fact, that’s one of the things that they accused them of, and I think often, why they, were persecuted for because of false you know, people isn’t it funny that people, they practice things themselves and then they accuse others of the very things that they’re guilty of and, look at them through their own eyes. Oftentimes, Christians have been accused, demonized because of the wickedness and the practices of the people that are accusing them. So, what is divination?

Divination is an attempt to understand, interpret the messages from, the gods or, you know, through spiritual powers. Sorcery is mostly about influencing people and events for personal reasons and some of those definitions I get out of the International Study Standard Bible of Education, I guess, that’s what it stands for, ISBE. And then you have VUDU, which is more African based, protective rights, sorcery based, and, you know, in West Indies and so on.