dear bohm...
you stated in post #2489: "if you by evidence mean eye-witness accounts only recorded in the bible which was written down long after the fact by people who were allready "christians" (or proto-christians), is that evidence then really stronger than that of the miracles the prophet muhammed has said to have carried out?"
...there IS no mention of mohammed performing any miracles, afaik...there is mention of a night journey where he is said to go on a miraculous trip from mecca to jerusalem. once there he assended into heaven from the temple mount and spoke to other prophets while riding a half mule half donkey with wings. first heaven he is met by adam who pays his respects to mohammed. second heaven JtB and Jesus who welcome him and pay their respects. third heavenjoseph pays him his respect. fourth and fifth heaven mohammed is greeted and paid respect. sixth heaven mohammed is greeted by moses who cries when mohammed leaves and mohammed asks him why he weeps and moses replies, "I weep because after me there has been sent (mohammed as a prophet) a young man, whose followers will enter paradise in greater numbers than my followers. seventh heaven abraham greets mohammed and proceeds to have more visions where he receives the command that muslims must pray 50 times a day. on his way back down moses tells him, "your followers cannot bear fifty prayers a day, and by allah, I have tested people before you, and I have tried my level best with bani israel. go back to your lord and ask for reduction to lessen your followers' burden." so mohammed got them reduced to 40 and again moses told him to go back and finally they were reduced to 5 daily prayers and moses still figured that was too much and moses then said that he would be ashamed to ask a further reduction and would surrender to allahs orders. later he described to his followers the way that the prophets looked. He was given 2 cups and was told by gabriel to drink (milk or wine)and mohammed chose and drank the milk over the wine and gabriel said, "you have chosen what is natural." (true religion ie. islam) and if you had chosen the wine your followers would have gone astray. when the people of quraysh heard these things they said, "By God, this is plainly absurd." (because it takes longer for most people to get to jerusalem) they then asked him to explain what jerusalem looked like and mohammed explained to them what it looked like and what their caravans looked like and some were convinced by this but his descriptions of jerusalem were not completely convincing as some of his followers abandoned thier islamic faith. 'ibn sa'd, vol 1, 248'...apparently this night journey was given to mohammed not to relay any thing relating to the faith but as a test..."Behold! we told thee that thy lord doth encompass mankind round about: we granted the vision which we showed thee, but as a trial for men, as also the cursed tree in the koran: we put terror into them, but only increases their inordinate transgression!" surah 17:60...later he advised that this was not a bodily journey because his wife aisha explained, "the apostle's body remained where it was but God removed his spirit by night."(ibn ishaq, 183)
dear Tammy...
you said: "Just to note... I only just recently got a Quran, and I am just starting to look at it. As far as I am concerned, Allah is the same God... just according to a different people and their understanding - although showing mercy and God favoring the merciful seems to be quite prevalent, at least in the beginning of the Quran, which is as far as I have read."
Allah is not according to other people, he is according to mohammed only(through, allegedly, the angel gabriel)...mohammed teaches that muslims are forgiven their sin depending on whether their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. which denies the biblical doctrine of Jesus Christ completely. mohammed denies substitution of any kind completely. the cross shows both the righteousness and love of God. the koran has no explaination as to how allah is righteous or merciful.
"then guard yourselves against a day when one shall not avail another nor sahll intercession be accepted for her, nor shall compensation be taken from her, nor shall anyone be helped." surah 2:48...then in total contradiction mohammed states..."those who sustain the throne and those around it sing glory and praise to their lord; believe in Him; and implore forgiveness for those who believe" our Lord! thy reach is over all things, in mercy and knowledge, forgive, then, those who turn in repentence, and follow thy path; and preserve them from penalty of the blazing fire!" (surah 40:7)..."the heavens are almost rent assunder from above them: and the angels celebrate the praises of their Lord, and pray for fogivenes for beings on earth; behold! verily God is He, the oft-forgiving, most merciful". (surah 42:5)
as the Lamb of God Jesus is called our passover lamb...nowhere in the koran is there any mention of the passover or any other feast that Jesus is said to "represent" so to speak. when OT prophets are mentioned they have little to "say" and without knowing the context of the story (from the bible) you would have no idea of what, if any "message" COULD be gleaned.
please...allow me to send you an extra copy of a book that I have called, "Jesus Christ or Mohammed?, The Bible or the Koran?" by F.S. Coplestone.
love michelle