I guess I'm posting this here hoping that Dr. Bart Ehrman (to whom I hold high respect) would stumble upon it and perhaps answer it.
The following quotes are from the interview between Terry Gross on Fresh Air of NPR and Dr. Ehrman as they discuss his book God's Problem.
Somewhere mid point in the interview Terry Gross asks the following:
"Well; that leads me to another question. Did you ever consider a different religion or a different type of Christianity that wasn't about an interventive God who you communicated with directly and who you petitioned for things through prayer.... Do you know what I mean?"
Dr. Bart Ehrman answers with the following:
"Yeah; yeah I certainly did consider other religions and have thought a lot about other religions and you know; a lot of religions actually deal with suffering better than; in my opinion, traditional Christianity does. I think it's very hard for me to imagine myself becoming enthusiastic about joining any particular religion because I think all religions have fundamental problems with them. I have a lot of friends who point out to me that Buddhism for example is a religion that handles suffering in a very different way from the way that the Christian religion deals with suffering; and I have no doubt that that's absolutely true. But, I think in my head; what I imagine is that there's either a God or there's not a God; and that's just the way I'm kinda hard-wired I think. And my conclusion has been; if there's a God, he certainly is not the God of the Christian tradition who is all powerful and over this world and intervening in this world periodically to help people. I think if there is a God, God is so far beyond anything that we can imagine that we literally cannot imagine him."
My emphasis is on the very last paragraph "I think if there is a God, God is so far beyond anything that we can imagine that we literally cannot imagine him."
My question to Dr. Bart Ehrman is "Are you aware of the fact that the statement in red absolutely defines the God of Islam; Allah?"
In Surah 112 (Al Ikhlaas), Allah orders the prophet Muhammad (pbu) and orders us to tell those who ask:
"قل هو الله أحد . الله الصمد . لم يلد ولم يولد . ولم يكن له كفواً أحد "
Translation:
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only! Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him.
In the light of this surah, Dr. Ehrman's statement (I highlighted the identical statements in red) is very much parallel to the following statement. Dr. Bart Ehrman might as well have said:
"I think if there is a God, He is the God of Islam; Allah"
I pray that Allah guides Dr. Bart Ehrman to Islam; although I do have my own theory as to why in Allah's wisdom, He is not opening Dr. Ehrman's heart to Islam... And this; may be another different thread.
.
The following quotes are from the interview between Terry Gross on Fresh Air of NPR and Dr. Ehrman as they discuss his book God's Problem.
Somewhere mid point in the interview Terry Gross asks the following:
"Well; that leads me to another question. Did you ever consider a different religion or a different type of Christianity that wasn't about an interventive God who you communicated with directly and who you petitioned for things through prayer.... Do you know what I mean?"
Dr. Bart Ehrman answers with the following:
"Yeah; yeah I certainly did consider other religions and have thought a lot about other religions and you know; a lot of religions actually deal with suffering better than; in my opinion, traditional Christianity does. I think it's very hard for me to imagine myself becoming enthusiastic about joining any particular religion because I think all religions have fundamental problems with them. I have a lot of friends who point out to me that Buddhism for example is a religion that handles suffering in a very different way from the way that the Christian religion deals with suffering; and I have no doubt that that's absolutely true. But, I think in my head; what I imagine is that there's either a God or there's not a God; and that's just the way I'm kinda hard-wired I think. And my conclusion has been; if there's a God, he certainly is not the God of the Christian tradition who is all powerful and over this world and intervening in this world periodically to help people. I think if there is a God, God is so far beyond anything that we can imagine that we literally cannot imagine him."
My emphasis is on the very last paragraph "I think if there is a God, God is so far beyond anything that we can imagine that we literally cannot imagine him."
My question to Dr. Bart Ehrman is "Are you aware of the fact that the statement in red absolutely defines the God of Islam; Allah?"
In Surah 112 (Al Ikhlaas), Allah orders the prophet Muhammad (pbu) and orders us to tell those who ask:
"قل هو الله أحد . الله الصمد . لم يلد ولم يولد . ولم يكن له كفواً أحد "
Translation:
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only! Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him.
In the light of this surah, Dr. Ehrman's statement (I highlighted the identical statements in red) is very much parallel to the following statement. Dr. Bart Ehrman might as well have said:
"I think if there is a God, He is the God of Islam; Allah"
I pray that Allah guides Dr. Bart Ehrman to Islam; although I do have my own theory as to why in Allah's wisdom, He is not opening Dr. Ehrman's heart to Islam... And this; may be another different thread.
.
