Expert: Rev C.Brian Ross - 11/13/2009

Question
QUESTION: [10-11-2009 20:35:21] Ina: i think i take a glass off wine
[10-11-2009 20:35:45] Ina: and try to sleep becouse i am a bad sleeper
[10-11-2009 20:35:52] Proud2bMuslim: forbidden :O
[10-11-2009 20:36:05] Ina: I am Christian
[10-11-2009 20:36:15] Proud2bMuslim: i know
[10-11-2009 20:36:15] Ina: i can take wine
[10-11-2009 20:36:21] Proud2bMuslim: no
[10-11-2009 20:36:22] Ina: its nice
[10-11-2009 20:36:27] Ina: one glass
[10-11-2009 20:36:46] Proud2bMuslim: it is forbidden in christianity
[10-11-2009 20:36:56] Ina: no
[10-11-2009 20:37:05] Ina: Jesus make wine from water
[10-11-2009 20:37:26] Ina: its not forbidden to much is forbidden
[10-11-2009 20:37:36] Proud2bMuslim: oh no
[10-11-2009 20:38:24] Proud2bMuslim: (king James Version)(Ephesians)(Eph-5-18)(And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;)
[10-11-2009 20:38:39] Ina: Drunk is when you have to much
[10-11-2009 20:38:55] Ina: excess is to much
[10-11-2009 20:39:15] Ina: i never drink to much never ever
[10-11-2009 20:39:27] Proud2bMuslim: (king James Version)(Hosea)(Hos-4-11)(Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.)
[10-11-2009 20:39:28] Ina: maybe one time a mounth one glas
[10-11-2009 20:40:04] Ina: to much is forbidden
[10-11-2009 20:40:31] Proud2bMuslim: (king James Version)(Proverbs)(Prv-23-20)(Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:)
[10-11-2009 20:41:05] Ina: to much only to much
[10-11-2009 20:41:26] Ina: we have to take care off owr body like its a temple
[10-11-2009 20:41:28] Proud2bMuslim: (king James Version)(Genesis)(Gn-49-12)(His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.)
[10-11-2009 20:41:43] Ina: becouse he drink to much
[10-11-2009 20:41:53] Ina: one glas give no red eyes
[10-11-2009 20:42:08] Ina: are you a smooker???
[10-11-2009 20:42:32] Proud2bMuslim: (king James Version)(Isaiah)(Is-5-22)(Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:)
[10-11-2009 20:42:39] Proud2bMuslim: not a smoker
[10-11-2009 20:43:10] Proud2bMuslim: now i have to be away
[10-11-2009 20:43:20] Proud2bMuslim: ok?

I have some chats with this man he is very well educated he know the bible but he is a  strong religieus man. I am not so well educated and i cann not replay in a good way.He also told me about a mother who eat her child a story from the bible can you explaine to me so i can tell him about that story the right way?

bye Ina

ANSWER: Goedemorgen Ina!

Ik sprek maar een betje Nederlands - so I will answer your question in the English language!

I will confess that I am confused by the first (long!) part of what you have sent, and am unsure as to what you are asking.  However, in your final paragraph, you have asked a straightforward question that is easier to easier to answer.

I am unaware of any part of the Bible that tells us that a mother ate her own child.  The story to which this man may be referring is found in the Old Testament part of the Bible, in I Kings 3:16-28.  Two prostitutes lived in the same house, and each had given birth to a child.  Sadly, one child accidently died.  It's mother (who was, unintentionally, responsible for its death) exchanged the dead baby for the other woman's live one, while the other woman was asleep.

As you may well understand, the mother of the live child, when she woke, recognised that the dead child that lay beside her was not her own.  However, the other woman would not return the living child.  So, they went to king Solomon and asked him to decide between them.  the king, using the wisdom that he had received from God (I Kings 3:1-14) stated that the live child should be cut into two, and each woman given a half!  Naturally, the true mother of the child did not want to see her child killed and, immediately, asked the king to give the boy to the other woman (who appears to have been hapy with the king's decision!).  This proved, to the king, who the true mother was, and he instructed that the child be given to its real mother.

It might be useful if, on the next occasion you are speaking with this man, you ask him to tell you exactly where in the Bible he read the story of a mother eating her child.  I would certainly be interested to know!

I hope that this has helped you a little bit.

Zegens

C.Brian Ross (Rev)

PS  Please feel free to re-submit your first question, on alcohol.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi
i read the answer of the priest
 the text he asked about is in kings2 chapter6 no 29
(king James Version)(2 Kings)(2Kgs-6-29)(So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.)
many thanks
waiting for the answer

Please can you explain this becouse i can not imagine a mother eat her son.
I need to explaine to the Muslimman i chat with about religion.
Thanks alot
bye Ina




ANSWER: Goedeavind, Ina.

You are quite right - I had completely forgotten about this very sad episode.  Please accept my apology for having been in such a hurry to provide you with an answer!

However, we must note the context of the verse - that is, the 'big picture' in which it is found. The situation, as we discover in v.25, is that "... there was a great famine in Samaria; and, indeed, they [the Syrians, v.24] besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty sheke;s of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver."  This shows the lengths to which anyone might go in a situation of starvation, such as there would be in a famine - especially in a city that was being besieged by a powerful and hostile army.  Five shekels of silver, by the way, was as much as a labourer could hope to earn in a full month, and both of the items mentioned were 'unclean' to Jewish people!

The fact that these women were prepared to eat their own children shows just how terrible the situation was.  Their act, and planned act, are not recorded as having been commended by YHWH (the LORD) but are, in fact, the fulfilment of a warning that YHWH gave His people.  In Deuteronomy 28:52-53 we read, "They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which YHWH your God has given you. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom YHWH your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you."  If we read the whole of the history of Israel (the northern kingdom), we see that such awful things were the result of disobedience to, and rejection of, God's law - the abandonment of the covenant that He had made with their forefathers.

The Bible is very clear about the consequences of our sin and while, in the modern world, such an action as cooking one's own child for food is viewed, rightly, as too terrible to contemplate, this situation took place at a time when, in neighbouring cultures, children were sacrificed!  It does show how far it is possible to go from God's perfect will for us, and we are reminded that He has granted us free will, but that we are then held responsible for our actions.

I hope that this helps you further.

I have also, I think, managed to work out the first part of your question.  It would appear that your Muslim correspondent is telling you that you should not drink the very small quantity of wine that you freely admit to taking.   He is taking verses out of context.  The Christian faith does NOT forbid the drinking of alcohol.  However, it does, as you have rightly pointed out, condemn drunkenness.  He does not seem to understand the difference!  Even as someone who does not drink any alcohol, I have no objection to those who take a glass of wine with their meal!  In Jesus' day, wine was drunk by everyone, because the quality of water was not always what we expect to come from our tap today!

As a Muslim, it is almost certainly the case that your correspondent does not understand the concept of forgiveness by Allah (which is just the Arabic language word for 'God') that is available to all who have placed their trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation.  His 'salvation' is worked out by his own deeds.  If he does more good things in life than bad things, then he goes to paradise when he dies.  If his bad deeds outweigh his good deeds, then he goes to hell.  However, he can never be sure as to what actually constitutes a good, or a bad, deed in God's eyes; and he can never be sure that his good deeds are more than his bad deeds.  For the Christian, the perfect life of Jesus, and His willing sacrifice of Himself on the cross, paid the penalty for the sins of all mankind - but we have to come to Him in faith in order to appropriate that salvation for ourselves.

If this man wishes to do nothing but criticise you, I would stop all correspondence with him.  You do not need him to be constantly 'putting you down'!  If he keeps contacting you, you might ask him if he would be willing to be married to a girl who was only one (1) year old?  His answer would be interesting.  Last year, Saudi-Arabian marriage officiant Dr. Ahmad al-Mu’bi told Lebanese television viewers that it’s permissible for girls as young as 1 to marry — as long as sex is postponed. Al-Mu’bi’s remarkable comments also included an explanation that "there is no minimal age for entering marriage." "You can have a marriage contract even with a 1-year-old girl, not to mention a girl of 9, 7 or 8," he said. "But is the girl ready for sex or not?" What is the appropriate age for sex for the first time? This varies according to environment and tradition," al-Mu’bi said in an interview with LBC-TV." (Fox News, Wednesday, June 25, 2008).  Muhammad broke even the rule of the Qur'an, that a man could have up to four wives, by being married to sixteen - including Ayisha, who was only eight or nine years old when Muhammad took her to his bed. According to Hadith (the recorded sayings of Muhammad), she was still playing with her dolls. This facet of Muhammad's sexual appetite is particularly distressing to Westerners.

I do hope that all of this is understandable by you, since I appreciate that English is not your mother-tongue.

Blessings

C.Brian Ross (Rev)



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: First of all,no mother in history did that she she killed to eat her son out of starvation. Wine is forbidden in christianity and we do not believe that Jesus made wine. we are sure by God permission, to enter paradiseas we say God is One ,not 2 or three (trinity) . Jesus didn t say that I came to pay for the penalty of mankind , if there is pz tell me using the bible. Parents sometimes decide that their daughter will marry that boy or her cousin ,when they are old ,but she can refuse that marriage.  No age for marriage as long as she is ready to be a wife.Lady Aisha loved her husband ,the prophet, and if he was compelled her to have sex with him by force , she would have hated him but she was jealous for her beloved husband.
[15:58:46] Proud2bMuslim: playing with doll doesn t mean she is young as we sometimes play with things that are suitable for the young but we use them.
[15:59:29] Proud2bMuslim: the prophet was not lust as what David did with the wife of Oria
[15:59:47] Proud2bMuslim: he did nothing wrong sexually
[16:00:37] Proud2bMuslim: Amessage to the priest that you should be ready to answer my questions with meekness and fear

Answer
Hello, again, Ina

As I have already suggested, the best thing that you can do is to block this man from your chat-room, or wherever you are dialogueing with him.  It is obvious that he is simply out to undermine your own faith in the crucified, and risen, Lord Jesus.  

I could write loads on the Christian doctine of the Trinity; on Christians NOT having been forbidden to drink wine (but not to be drunkards); on the doctrine of the Atonement (Jesus having died for your sins, and mine - and even for those of 'proud2bMuslim'!)  However, until God the Holy Spirit opens his eyes, and softens his heart, he will not accept anything that either you or I say.

He comes across as a very arrogant person!  How does he know the history of every person who has ever lived?  Why should I (a minister, rather than a priest) come before him with meekness and fear?  First of all, he obviously is ignorant of the correct meaning of the word 'meekness'; secondly, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (I John 4:18).  This means that the perfect love that Father God has for me, in and through the living Lord Jesus, casts out any fear of man.

With regard to the actions of the man Muhammad, I refer you to http://www.bible.ca/islam/islam-myths-muhammad-sinless-4-wives.htm and similar sites.

Please, FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, cut off all further contact with this person, other than praying that the Lord Isa (Jesus) will reveal Himself to him, and bring him to the assurance of full salvation, through His sinless sacrifice at Calvary.

Blessings

C.Brian Ross (Rev)

Some additional thoughts, for your own benefit!  The situation in which the ladies in Samaria ate the child of one of them, is not recorded as havng been approved by God.  It is recorded to showhow bad the situation was.  

If you do come across another Muslim correspondent who challenges you on this issue, you might raise the subject of the so-called 'honour killings' that still take place today.  A Muslim father may consider it his duty to murder his daughter if she should fall in love with a man of whom he does not approve - especially if the man is not a Muslim.  There is a court-case going on, at the moment, in England in which a father is accused of having murdered his daughter in these circumstanes.  This is not the deperation recorded in the Old Testament; this is ideological killing!

I hope that this will be of some use to you.

Blessings

C.Brian Ross (Rev)