subject: The Holy Books: the Torah, the Gospel, the Qur'an: Main Thesis [print this page] The Holy Books: Torah, Gospel, Qur'an: Main Thesis
The principle thesis of the three holy books of the major three religions in the worldis founded on the Promise of God. God, according to these books, has sent mankind His message throughout time.
From the creation of man and until this very moment man has received the same message of God advocating the same principles.
Man is charged with the responsibility of the message. He is given the choice between belief and disbelief in this message.
He is given the right to accept or reject the message, and to obey or disobey the message of God. Man is given a life time to do so.
Then man, on doomsday, is brought up to stand for judgment in front God.
Those who have chosen to believe in God and performed good deeds in their earthly life shall be rewarded with eternal felicity in paradise.
Those who have chosen to reject the message of God and disbelieve in His signs shall be judged according to their disbelief and shall be chastised in hell fire eternally.
The message is clear and let people of understanding and feeling take heed.
All of this is founded entirely on the Promise of God displayed in the messages, whether verbal or written. Of the written message we have ample example in David's Psalms, the Torah (the Law), the Gospel (or the Evangel and the Qur'an.
In the Qur'an we have direct reference to the Promise of God comprising the divine message, the responsibility of Man and the consequences of Man's own choice and deeds in his, or her, earthly life.
The Qur'an informs us:
God promised to the believers, men and women, gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide, and blessed dwellings in the paradise gardens, and a greater acceptance from God. That is the supreme triumph.' 9: 72
God promised the hypocrites, both men and women, and the disbelievers the fire of hell for their eternal abode. It will suffice them, and God curses them, and theirs is lasting torment.' 9: 68
Verily God will not fail in His promise but most of mankind do not know.'' 30: 6
The promise of God is the truth, and whose word can be truer than the word of God.' 4: 122
Likewise, the divine message of the Torah proclaims the Law of God in terms of a Promise.
Here God promises those who believe in Him and obey Him His favour and great lasting rewards.
Moses is instructed to proclaim the Alliance, or Covenant of God to the Children of Israel:
If you keep my laws and are careful to obey my commands, I will send the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees will produce their fruitI will give peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep without fearI will look favorably upon you and multiply your people and fulfill my covenant with you' Levit. 26: 3-4, 6, 9
The new covenant is administered in terms of commands offered to the Israelites. Deuteronomy informs us of the "Call to obey the Lord's Commands":
"Today the Eternal your God has commanded you to obey all these laws and regulations. You must commit yourselves to them without reservation. You have declared today that the Eternal is your God. You have promised to obey his laws, commands, and regulations by walking in his ways and doing everything he tells you."' Deuteronomy 26: 16-17
The choice of obedience is given in the following verses:
"If you fully obey the Eternal your God by keeping all the commands I am giving you today, the Eternal your God will exalt you above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Eternal your God:
You will be blessed in your towns and in the country. You will be blessed with many children and productive fields The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack youThe Eternal will give an abundance of good things."' Deut. 28: 1-4, 7, 11
B. The second option of the choice: Disobedience
The Israelites were given the responsibility to accept the Promise of God, with all the bad consequences to be administered by God, and the freedom of choice of rejecting the divine commands and not obeying the Law with the consequences there from:
However, if you do not listen to me or obey my commands, and if you break my covenant by rejecting my laws and treating my regulations with contempt, I will punish you. You will suffer from sudden terrors, with wasting diseases, and burning fevers, causing your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away
I will turn against you, and you will be defeated by all your enemies. They will rule over you, and you will run even yield no crops, and your trees will bear no fruit.'
when no one is chasing you And if, in spite of this, you still disobey me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your arrogant spirit by making the skies above as unyielding as iron and the earth beneath hard as bronze. All your work will be for nothing, for your land will Levit. 26: 14-20
Following the repentance of the Israelites they were given a second option.
The second choice of disobedience is offered to the Israelites in terms the divine Promise and of freedom of choice and its consequences of disobedience:
" But if you refuse to listen to the Eternal your God and do not obey all the commands and laws I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you: You will be cursed in your towns and in the country.
You will be cursed with baskets empty of fruitYou will be cursed with few children and barren fieldsYou will be cursed wherever you go, both in coming and in going
The Eternal will strike you with wasting diseaseThe Eternal will cause you to be defeated by your enemies
The Eternal will exile you and the king you crowned to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors
If you refuse to listen to the Eternal your God and to obey the commands and laws he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed."' Deut. 28: 15-17, 19-20, 25, 36, 45
In the Gospel
In the following verses we have a global vision of belief in terms of the responsibility of the individual choice and the subsequent consequences that follow resulting from men's actions:
All these responsibilities and its consequences are presented in terms of a Promise:
"All right," he said. "I, the Son of Man, am the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one.
The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angles. Just as the weeds are separated out and burned, so it will be at the end of
the world. I, the Son of Man, will send my angels, and they will remove from my kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil, and they will throw them into the furnace and burn them.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the godly will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom.
Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!"' Mat. 13: 37-43
The Evangel offers, in these terms, a concrete reality of the consequences of man's choice and actions.
It predicts an end of the world, a final judgment and punishment and reward according to one's own actions.
These verses express clearly the notion of the choice given to everyone. It is founded only on a promise.
Finally, all religions as seen above are founded on the Promise of the Divine to man. No proof is offered. No evidence is provided. But man must take heed.
The Holy Books: the Torah, the Gospel, the Qur'an: Main Thesis
