Jesus or Muhammad: Who is
God's True Seal of Prophethood
Revisited
This is a
continuation of my initial rebuttal to Shamouns article,
the rebuttal can be found at this link:
Now since
the release of the rebuttal, Shamoun has been trying to save
face and bring up whatever responses he can. Shamoun is trying
to save face that he didnt contradict himself four times. For the benefit of the
reader, in this brief continuation I will only show you where Shamoun
did indeed contradict himself.
Contradiction
# 1: Shamouns first contradiction is in the title of his
article:
Jesus or Muhammad: Who is God's True Seal of Prophethood
By this
title, Shamoun shows that he believes Jesus is the final
prophet of God, notice how he says who is the true SEAL of prophet hood, obviously Shamoun doesnt believe thats Muhammad, he believes its
Jesus. So hence in his title Shamoun shows he believes Jesus
is the seal of prophet hood, the final prophet of God.
This all
contradicts Shamouns own words and Bible when he states
and posts:
Third, Menj is wrong in claiming that Paul was the only one
who claimed to be a messenger, since the NT is replete with examples of messengers
and prophets that came after the Lord Jesus Christ:
"Therefore I (Jesus) am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers.
Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue
from town to town." Matthew 23:34
"During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit
predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This
happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, each according to his ability,
decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their
gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul." Acts 11:27-30
"In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas,
Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and
Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them
off." Acts 13:1-3
"But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their
clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:" Acts 14:4
"Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and
strengthen the brothers." Acts 15:32
"Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the
evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. After
we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus
came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own
hands and feet with it and said, The Holy Spirit says, "In this way the
Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the
Gentiles." When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to
go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I
am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord
Jesus." Acts 21:8-13
"Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have
been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in
Christ before I was." Romans 16:7
"And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second
prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of
healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking
in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do
all work miracles?" 1 Corinthians 12:28-29
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the
third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the
Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same
time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen
asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he
appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with
God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." Ephesians
2:19-20
"which was not made known to men in other generations
as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets."
Ephesians 3:5
"But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it ... It
was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers." Ephesians 4:7, 11
These verses should put to rest Menj's false
assertions that Paul was the only one that claimed to be a messenger, since there were
many apostles and messengers. If anything, these citations only further prove that
Muhammad was a false prophet since he falsely assumed that there were no other prophets
and messengers between him and the Lord Jesus.
So you now
see Shamouns very own Bible stating there are prophets
after Jesus, and Shamoun is trying to prove that! So hence
this is an obvious contradiction on Shamouns part. When
you state that Jesus is the seal of prophet hood then this means Jesus is the last prophet
and that there are no more after him. Shamoun cannot deny
this, the only option he has is to correct what he said.
Contradiction
# 2: Shamouns second contradiction is when he states:
Jesus claims to be God's final spokesperson for mankind.
So here Shamoun claims that Jesus is the final spokesperson of God, question
to the readers, who is the spokesperson of God? The prophets are the spokespersons of God,
and Shamoun here claims Jesus is the final spokesperson of God
meaning there would be no prophets after him.
This
statement contradicts Shamouns statements in which he
claims:
Third, Menj is wrong in claiming that Paul was the only one
who claimed to be a messenger, since the NT is replete with examples of messengers
and prophets that came after the Lord Jesus Christ:
"Therefore I (Jesus) am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers.
Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue
from town to town." Matthew 23:34
"During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit
predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This
happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, each according to his ability,
decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their
gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul." Acts 11:27-30
"In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas,
Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and
Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them
off." Acts 13:1-3
"But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their
clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:" Acts 14:4
"Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and
strengthen the brothers." Acts 15:32
"Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the
evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. After
we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus
came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own
hands and feet with it and said, The Holy Spirit says, "In this way the
Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the
Gentiles." When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to
go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I
am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord
Jesus." Acts 21:8-13
"Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have
been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in
Christ before I was." Romans 16:7
"And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second
prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of
healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking
in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do
all work miracles?" 1 Corinthians 12:28-29
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the
third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the
Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same
time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen
asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he
appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with
God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." Ephesians
2:19-20
"which was not made known to men in other generations
as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets."
Ephesians 3:5
"But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it ... It
was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers." Ephesians 4:7, 11
These verses should put to rest Menj's false
assertions that Paul was the only one that claimed to be a messenger, since there were
many apostles and messengers. If anything, these citations only further prove that
Muhammad was a false prophet since he falsely assumed that there were no other prophets
and messengers between him and the Lord Jesus.
Question
to the reader, are not the prophets sent after Jesus spokespersons of God? The answer is
yes they are, so hence Shamoun is wrong when he claimed Jesus
is the final spokesperson of God, and contradicted his previous claims in which he said
there are prophets after Jesus meaning there were spokespersons of God after Jesus.
Contradiction
# 3: Shamoun contradicts himself when he goes on to state:
Any prophet after Christ must speak in Jesus' name, confirming the message preached by
Christ as recorded within the pages of the New Testament
Note now Shamoun states there will be prophets after Jesus. This contradicts
these two statements by Shamoun:
Jesus or Muhammad: Who is God's True Seal of Prophethood.
And
Jesus claims to be God's final spokesperson for mankind.
So
question to the reader, if Jesus is the seal of prophet hood and final spokesperson of God
as Shamoun stated, then how are there prophets after Jesus?!
This is an obvious contradiction in plain site for all to see.
Shamoun claims Jesus is
the seal of prophet hood meaning he is the last prophet, he then claims there are prophets
after Jesus. Shamoun also claims Jesus is the final
spokesperson of God meaning he is the last prophet and messenger of God, he contradicts
himself by claiming there are prophets of God after Jesus.
Question
to the reader:
If Jesus
is the seal of prophet hood, can there be prophets after Jesus?
If Jesus
is the final spokesperson of God, can there be prophets and messengers after Jesus?
The
obvious answer to both questions is NO, so hence Shamoun
contradicted himself when he went on to state that there are prophets after Jesus.
Shamoun may make an
excuse by saying its different, he will state that prophets
after Jesus came to teach about Jesus. This doesnt help him out, because Christians
constantly claim that the prophets in the OT spoke about Jesus, his death and
resurrection, so there is no difference.
Another
reason why this pathetic response wont work is because:
1-
According to Shamoun Jesus is God
2-
Prophets who come
after Jesus preach about Jesus.
3-
These prophets speak
in the name of Jesus who is God.
4-
Since these prophets
are speaking in the name of Jesus, and preaching him about him and believing he is God,
this then makes them SPOKESPERSONS OF GOD.
Now note what Shamoun said:
Jesus claims to be God's final spokesperson for mankind.
So hence
even if we take his silly response, it still doesnt solve anything. The prophets who
preached in Jesus name and about Jesus believed he is God,
hence they are spokespersons of God! Shamoun stated Jesus is
the final spokesperson of God, so Shamoun has a major problem
here. So this weak response of prophets being sent after Jesus is something different wont
work.
So these
are three explicit contradictions on the part of Shamoun,
there are some more, but they basically go around the same issue. Shamoun
must go back and correct his article, or keep it and get exposed as a very inconsistent
man. The choice is up to him.