What is the fastest growing world religion? What do they believe? What are the implications of their beliefs?
Major Religions of the World
Christian – 2,038,905,000 – 32% (dropping)Roman Catholics – 1,076,951,000
Protestants – 349,792,000
Orthodox – 217,522,000
Anglicans – 81,663,000
Other – 537,135,000
Muslims – 1,226,403,000 – 21% (growing)
Hindus – 828,130,000 – 13% (stable)
Chinese folk religionists – 389,543,000 – 6%
Buddhists – 364,014,000 – 6% (stable)
Sikhs – 23,821,000 – < 1%
Jews – 14,535,000 – < 1%
http://www.30-days.net/muslims/statistics/islam-growth
Please note that according to this chart Catholics are lumped in with Christians. I'm sorry but I do not believe most Catholics are actually Christian.
I know a lot about Catholicism because my dad was raised Catholic and half of my family is Catholic. I know they believe many, many heresies. For the most part, they think of Mary to highly, and they have statues in their churches. God said do not make a graven image of anything. Also they confess to priests and the priest "forgives" them when the truth is that only God alone can forgive sins.
The main reason Catholics may not be saved however is that they believe salvation is primarily by works and not faith.
Therefore that leaves a very, very small percentage of the world that is actually Christian. Our percentage is more realistically about 10% and Muslims are at 21%, another site said 23%, so Muslims make up about one fourth of the world.
We do not see this much in America because we are still primarily a "Christian" nation, or so we say we are. But the rest of the world is being taken over by the Muslim religion. It is estimated that in a decade even England will be primarily Muslim.
"According to statistics from the U.N., Islam is now the worlds second largest religion after Christianity. The U.N. statistics state that the Islam annual growth rate of Islam is around 6.40% compared to 1.46% during the same time period for Christianity. Also according to these statistics, one in five people on the planet are Muslim."
http://www.30-days.net/muslims/statistics/islam-growth/
So Islam is growing 5 times faster then Christianity! Why is this? One reason is that the average Muslim family has about 6 kids. And how many kids does the average Christian family have? One and a half, lol not that you can have a half. But they are multiplying like crazy! In the end times some predict that there will be a one world religion, and it is looking very much like that religion will be Islam.
More crazy statistics....
"Islam in Europe since 1989 increased 142.35%" Wow!
"Islam in Australia and Oceania / Pacific since 1989 increased 257.01%" Well good thing I'm going to Australia then. lol. :) However what can one person do to stop or even slow down such drastically rapid growth?! Like the quote says, "I am someone. I can't do everything but I can do something." Yes? Amen. :)
Now what do Muslims believe? Is Jesus the Son of God according to the Qur'an?
The following article is entitled "What do Muslims believe about Jesus?" I will analyze this article.
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/onlinediscipleship/understandingislam/What_do_Muslims_believe_about_Jesus.aspx
The article states, "Although the Qur'an speaks highly of Christ and presents miraculous aspects of His life.... it also categorically denies two of the central teachings of the New Testament--His deity and His crucifixion--and radically misinterprets what they mean."
1 John 2 says, "Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also."
Also 1 John 4 says, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."
Jesus was both FULLY man and FULLY God. He was God in the flesh. He was God's son, and he was also GOD. This passage in 1 John basically says, ANY PERSON OR RELIGION THAT DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT JESUS WAS/IS GOD IS FALSE.
The Qur'an also denies that Jesus died on the cross. What are the implications of this? The reason it denies that is because then what would be the point, according to them, to do good deeds? See the main tenant of their faith is that a person is saved by what they do, not by grace. Therefore they cannot acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for all man kind. Any other religion finds it impossible to acknowledge that Jesus came to save humanity because to the human mind it just seems TO easy. And I KNOW it does. That is why is it GOOD news.
Ironically, Paul says in 1 Cor. 1, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." It is. It totally seems like foolishness. Why would anyone believe that the creator of the universe, the all powerful God who controls all the planets and galaxies, would make himself a baby and be vulnerable and weak and then allow himself to be brutally executed by the people he created?! It all seems completely crazy, if you really think about it. Why would he do all that?! Because HE LOVES US! That's why.
"FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE SENT HIS ONE AND ONLY SON...."
The Muslim concept of God is very much like the Jewish concept was/is. In the Old Testament, God was certainly one to be afraid of. He opened the earth to swallow people when they disobeyed him! He sent fire from heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Either you followed his way or you would be severely punished. Look at the plagues he sent on Egypt when Pharaoh would not let God's people go. That is not a God you would want to mess with! lol
Then Jesus came, and he changed EVERYTHING. The old covenant was replaced with the new covenant. We are no longer under the law with God's wrath boiling over us. lol. We are now under grace. Anyone who believes in Christ is covered in his blood. This means that when God looks at Christians he sees Christ, NOT US OR ANY OF OUR SINS, past, present and future. Now that is GOOD news!
Paul says in Col. 3, "For you died, and your life is now HIDDEN with Christ in God."
This means that we are not ourselves anymore. We are not what we used to be, once we believe in the power and blood of Jesus. He are COMPLETELY new! Paul says, "Behold the old has gone, the new has come!" And God no longer sees us, he sees Christ IN US.
If Muslims don't believe Jesus died for us, what do they believe?
"As a performer of exceptional miracles, he (Jesus) was rescued by God from an untimely end, was raised up to heaven, and (according to certain traditions) will come back to earth again.... He is not the Saviour of the world, and is certainly not God, or "the Son of God"."
They believe Jesus was swept up to heaven probably much the same way Elijah was swept up in chariots of fire. Perhaps you have heard the story. Elijah, the prophet, never died. Elisha who followed him saw Elijah get taken up to heaven in chariots of fire. Here is a depiction of what it may have looked like. :)
Perhaps Muslims get this story mixed up with Jesus. lol :)
And again they deny the divinity of Jesus. If Jesus was not God then he could not save us. Therefore, their religion is false and NOT the truth.
What does Wikipedia say on the topic....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam
"The belief in Jesus (and all other messengers of God) is required in Islam, and a requirement of being a Muslim." Interesting. But again, he is only a prophet in their belief, no more.
Muslims believe, "To aid in his ministry to the Jewish people, Jesus was given the ability to perform miracles (such as healing the blind, bringing dead people back to life, etc.), all by the permission of God rather than of his own power."
Was Jesus healing just from God's permission or did God empower Him? What does Jesus say?
In Luke 4 Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind."
At this time no one on earth HAD the Spirit of the Lord. That came later at Pentecost in Acts. Therefore, Jesus was the ONLY ONE on earth who had God's spirit. Why? Becuase HE WAS GOD.
Also Jesus is quoting an old testament verse here. In quoting it He was basically declaring to the Pharisees and religions leaders in the room, "You know the one you were waiting for? The Messiah? I AM HIM? I am GOD in the flesh?"
Jesus followed this by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” I love how BOLD He was. He didn't hide anyting. He didn't beat around the bush. He was QUITE direct.
And how did the people listening to all this respond? They, "took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way." They couldn't touch him. Why? Because HE WAS GOD. But they didn't want to believe it. They refused to believe it, much to their misfortune. They thought it was blasphemy for, what they thought, just a normal every day man declare that he was God.
In John 10 Jesus said, "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” He was referring to those who are saved. Once we are saved we are always saved, contrary to another misconception in the church today. Also he says, "I and the Father ARE ONE." If he is ONE with the Father, how could he only be a prophet?
Because He was not JUST a prophet. He was not JUST a teacher. He WAS and IS GOD.
"Islam rejects the Trinitarian Christian view that Jesus was God incarnate or the son of God, that he was ever crucified or resurrected, or that he ever atoned for the sins of mankind."
And that is why it is wrong. Case closed. lol :)
May God open our eyes more and more to HIS truth.
Grace and peace be with you! :) And thank you for reading! :)
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