Denison Forum – Hamas and Radical Islam: What Christians need to know

The war that Hamas began with Israel on the morning of October 7, 2023, has the potential to engulf the entire Middle East and beyond in conflict. America and the West have declared their unequivocal support for Israel; Iran is clearly resourcing its enemies, backed by Russia, who is backed by China.

This conflict comes at a time of unprecedented political turmoil in the US, where the public is less trusting of its leaders and elections than at any time in my lifetime. Political divisions are rife across most of the Western world as well, driven by escalating illegal immigration, economic pressures, the ongoing effects of the pandemic, and uncertainty over the economy, upcoming elections, and new technologies.

In such a chaotic time, it is essential that we understand the facts foundational to the war in Israel and their implications for the world.

I have studied, traveled to, and written on the Middle East for four decades. Out of this context, I have created this resource to help American Christians understand the factors at work in the current conflict and their larger geopolitical repercussions. Then we will outline a prayerful way believers can respond to a war that is military, political, cultural, and, most of all, spiritual.

A brief history of Islam

Let’s begin at the beginning. Islam was founded by Muhammad (AD 570–632) in the midst of religious pluralism, idolatry, and division among his Arab people in Mecca and the Arabian peninsula.

Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca. His father died before he was born; his mother died when he was six years of age. He was raised by his grandfather and then his uncle, Abu Bakr. At the age of forty, he had become a successful businessman when he began receiving a series of visions or “revelations” which became the Qur’an.

At the time, his people worshiped the seven planets, the moon, and the stars. Many venerated family household gods and various angels. Others were involved in fire worship contributed by the Magians from Persia. There was also a corrupt form of Judaism and heretical Christianity present.

Gabriel and Muhammad

According to Islam, Muhammad was visited by the angel Gabriel in the year 610 and told that God’s previous revelations to the Jews and to the Christians had been corrupted. As a result, God was revealing his word and will a third time through Muhammad.

Of the pantheon of gods worshiped in the day, Muhammad was “led” to choose the one known as “Allah” (Arabic for “the god”) as the only true God. He began preaching in Mecca, inviting the people to join him in his new faith, but most rejected his message.

In the year 622, Muhammad and his small band of followers migrated to a city called Yathrib, now renamed “Medina” (“city of the prophet”). There they established the first Islamic state. The Muslim calendar begins from the day of this migration (the hijira or “flight”).

Muhammad’s hatred of idols led him to place an immense emphasis on the unity and transcendence of God. At first, he believed that Jews and Christians would accept his message and had his followers kneel toward Jerusalem to pray. When they did not, he taught them to turn their backs on Jerusalem by bowing toward Mecca; this is their practice today.

Muhammad’s culture was characterized by tribal warfare, brutality, and promiscuity. He emphasized divine control and opposed religious liberty and separation of church and state. In his worldview, since Allah is Lord, he must be Lord of all. Thus Muhammad created a civilization, not merely a religion—a way of life for all people, governing personal autonomy and all morality. Islam attempts to provide the answers to every conceivable detail of belief and daily life.

Muhammad left no designated heirs. The “caliphs” (Arabic for “successors”) continued his movement, led first by Abu Bakr. Soon, however, divisions began to emerge. Most Muslims followed the caliphs and their successors; these are known as Sunnis today. But some believed that only the fourth caliph (Muhammad’s son-in-law) was the true successor of Muhammad and have supported his successors; they are the Shiites (“party of Ali”). Of Muslims, 85 percent are Sunnis; 15 percent are Shiites, living primarily in Iran but also in Iraq, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Lebanon.

The spread of Islam

Islam’s growth worldwide has been the fastest of any religion in history. Within a single decade, AD 622–632, Muhammad united the nomadic tribes of the Arabian peninsula into a single cohesive nation, gave them a monotheistic religion in place of their polytheistic, tribal faiths, organized a powerful society and state, and launched his worldwide movement.

Muhammad died in 632 and was succeeded by Abu Bakr. Under his reign and afterward, Islam continued to spread, promoted by extensive military campaigns. Within a century after the death of Muhammad, the Islamic empire stretched from Arabia west through North Africa, to Southern France and Spain, as well as north of Arabia through the Middle East and east throughout Central Asia, to the borders of China. In the process, Islamic expansion took in much of the oldest and strongest Christian territory.

The spread of Islam in western Europe was finally checked by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours (in France) in AD 732, exactly a century after the death of Muhammad. Spain was later reclaimed for Christianity, but a wide belt of territory from Morocco to Pakistan and Indonesia remained Muslim and has so to this day.

In the meantime, a series of Crusades were conducted from AD 1095 to 1291, making the Christian mission to Muslims immeasurably more difficult. Islam has dominated the Middle East for the last twelve centuries, threatening Europe during much of that time. Today it extends from the Atlantic to the Philippines. In Africa it is currently making tremendous advances.

Islam in America

There are an estimated 3.4 million Muslims in America. This is a “denomination” larger than either the Assemblies of God or the Episcopal Church in the US. In the next thirty years, Muslims are predicted to outnumber Jews to become the second-largest religion in our country.

While there is no unified Islamic movement in America, there is an increasing effort to evangelize the Muslim faith in our country. Saudi Arabia is leading the way in funding projects to promote Islam around the world.

Note also the growth of Black Muslims in the US, a movement that rejects Christianity as racist. This crusade began in 1931 among the Blacks in Harlem. One of the early leaders, Elijah Muhammad, preached a gospel of black superiority; his heir, Malcolm X, attempted to move the Black Muslims toward orthodox Islam. This movement is known today as The Nation of Islam and comprises a significant percentage of the total Muslim population in America.

A brief theology

What beliefs do Muslims hold in common?

A good way to understand any world religion is to ask these five questions of it:

• What is its view of ultimate authority, God or the gods?
• How does it view humanity?
• What is its central focus?
• How does it understand salvation?
• How does it view eternity?

View of God

Unlike many world religions, Islam’s view of God can be stated very succinctly: “Your God is One God: there is no God but He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful” (2:163).^[1] The Qur’an makes clear its rejection of the Trinity: “Say not ‘Trinity’: desist: it will be better for you: for God is one God: glory be to Him” (4:171).

The Qur’an also explicitly rejects the divinity of Jesus: “They do blaspheme who say: ‘God is Christ the son of Mary’” (5:72); “They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One God” (5:73); “Christ the son of Mary, was no more than an apostle” (5:75).

Muslims believe that God has sent 313 prophets to humanity, and they are required to memorize the twenty-five most important. Of these, the most significant were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. Muslims believe that Jesus was born of a virgin (3:47; 19:20) and that he lived a sinless life and ascended to heaven without passing through death. They reject the atonement and the doctrine of salvation through faith in Christ.

View of humanity

Human beings live completely under the sovereignty of God: “Those whom God willeth to guide, He openeth their breast to Islam; those whom He willeth to leave straying, He maketh their breast close and constricted” (6:125). “God wills it” is a common expression in Islam. In fact, “Islam” means “submission” or “surrender.”

Central focus

The Qur’an is the final revelation of God for Muslims and the central focus of their faith and lives. All of life must be submitted to its revelation and laws. According to Muslim teaching, the Qur’an was given by divine miracle through Muhammad when the prophet was illiterate: “It is He who sent down to thee (step by step) in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it” (3:3).

In addition to the Qur’an, the Hadith (a collection of the “sayings” of Muhammad) and the Sunna (the record of the personal customs of Muhammad and his community) give guidance for Muslim life. But the Qur’an is the only divine revelation.

Concept of salvation

Salvation is achieved by submission to Allah: “So believe in God and His Apostle; and if ye believe and do right, ye have a reward without measure” (3:179). The “five pillars” express the essentials of Muslim life and practice:

• The “witness” (“shahadah”): La ilaha illal lah Muhammadur rasulul lah—”There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is Allah’s messenger.” Every Muslim must declare this aloud at least once in his life very slowly, with deep meaning and full commitment; most Muslims repeat it many times each day.
• Prayer (“salah”) with directed motions, five times a day, facing toward Mecca, the holy city.
• Almsgiving (“zakah”), approximately 2.5 percent of all one’s income and permanent annual worth, to the poor. This is an act of worship.
• Fasting (“sawm”), especially during the month of Ramadan, which commemorates the giving of the Qur’an. From dawn to sunset every day of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, a Muslim refrains from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual relations.
• Pilgrimage (“hajj“) to Mecca at least once from every believer who is physically and financially able to make the journey.
• In addition, jihad (“holy war”) can be declared the unequivocal religious duty of the Muslim man, as the will of God. Many Muslims believe that dying as a martyr in a declared holy war is a guaranteed path to paradise.

Note that strict morality is a hallmark of Muslims. Most obey strong prohibitions against drinking wine, eating pork, gambling, and practicing usury. They invoke the name of Allah at the slaughter of all animals. They also require a specific dress code: men must be covered from navel to knees; women must cover their entire bodies except for their face and hands, with women above the age of puberty required to cover their faces while going out and meeting strangers. Pure silk and gold are not allowed for men; men cannot wear women’s clothes, and women cannot wear men’s garments; the symbolic dress of other religions is not allowed.

View of heaven

Muslims believe that there will be a final day of judgment, the consummation of history, and the assigning of heaven and hell to all persons on the basis of their acceptance or rejection of the message of God and their accompanying good works. Allah is depicted as weighing good and bad works on a delicate scale of balance which is accurate even to the weight of a grain of mustard seed (7:5–8; 21:47; 23:103–5).

Islam and Christianity

How do Muslims relate to the Christian faith?

Because Islam began in the Middle East subsequent to Christianity, it has always had some reference to Christianity. Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an, maintains this reference to Christianity, speaking specifically of Jesus and the Christian religion.

Relating the faiths

Islam is completely independent of Christianity in faith and philosophy. There is almost no direct quotation in the Qur’an from either Testament. All we know for certain is that Muhammad was aware of Jews and Christians and knew something of their history. Tragically, the “Christianity” Muhammad encountered was heretical and gave him an erroneous picture of Christ and his followers.

Muhammad claimed to be a biological heir of Abraham through Ishmael. Through this tie, Muhammad saw himself as the establisher of the true religion of the one God in Arabia. He maintained that the religion Abraham bequeathed to the Arabs became corrupt. He claimed to receive direct revelation from God identical in content with the original revelations to Abraham, Moses, and Jesus and thus claimed to be in direct succession with the Old and New Testament prophets.

Muslims have historically tolerated Christians and Jews as “people of the Book” in that they have a revelation related, though inferior, to that of Muslims. Nevertheless, various regulations are imposed on Christians in Muslim lands. One of the most difficult is the law against a Christian’s converting a Muslim, accompanied by an absolute prohibition against the Muslim’s accepting Christianity.

In addition, recent persecution of Christians has made tensions much greater between the two faiths.

Sharing the gospel with Muslims

How can Christians best share their faith with Muslims?

First, seek common ground.

Both faiths believe in one God and see Jesus as holy. Muslims believe that they worship the God of Abraham and Jesus. They deny the divinity of Christ and thus do not worship our Lord. But we share the belief that there is one God of the universe.

We both emphasize personal morality. The difference is that Christians have a relationship with God based on his grace, while Muslims believe they must earn Allah’s acceptance. No Muslim can be sure that he or she will go to heaven. In Christ we have the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of eternal life with God.

Second, understand Islam’s view of Jesus.

As we have seen, Islam denies the divinity of Christ. Muhammad proclaimed that there is no God but God; thus Jesus cannot be divine. He was God’s messenger, not his Son.

Islam denies the crucifixion. According to Muslim theology, when Jewish leaders approached Jesus with the intent of crucifying him, God took him up to heaven to deliver him out of their hands; then he cast the likeness of Jesus on someone else, who was crucified by mistake in his place. Islam ignores the sin nature which requires atonement and therefore the need for Jesus’ death for us.

Third, understand Islam’s view of the Qur’an.

The Muslim believes that the Qur’an has existed from all eternity with God in the Arabic language. In every particular it is the utterance of God himself with no human element at all. The Qur’an is seen in purely verbal, propositional terms. Additionally, the Qur’an does not reveal Allah to us but only his will. He remains hidden from all men.

By contrast, Christianity has always seen the Bible as God’s self-revelation of himself to us, mediated through the instrumentality of human personality. Christ is the central focus of our faith (cf. John 20:30–31).

Fourth, emphasize the difference between grace and works.

While the Muslim believes that Allah can be merciful, he also accepts that he is responsible for his own salvation by faith and works. He does not believe that he can know his final destiny before his judgment before Allah. Christianity offers grace, full pardon for sin, and salvation today.

Finally, demonstrate God’s love in yours.

Pray for Muslims, by name if possible. Build relationships based on unconditional friendship. Look for ways to affirm and include them. Seek opportunities to share what the living Lord Jesus has done in your life. Then invite the person to have the assurance of heaven through Christ.

(For more on sharing your faith with Muslims, see “AMORE: Loving Muslims” and “The seduction of a single story” by Shane Bennett.)

Radical Islam

“Radical Islam,” that movement which led to 9/11 and the global war on terror and has incited the current war in the Middle East, can be differentiated from the rest of the Muslim world in two respects:

• Radical Muslims argue that America and the West are the aggressors in this conflict and that 9/11 and other attacks are merely their response in defense of Islam.
• Radical Muslims believe that there are no innocents in this conflict, that all citizens of Israel and the West are perpetrators and participants in this supposed attack on Islam.

To be clear, these are decidedly minority views in the larger Muslim world. Gallup documents that only 7 percent of Muslims think the 9/11 attacks are “completely” justified and could be considered radicalized. This percentage is not uniform across the world—it would be much higher in Yemen and Somalia, for example, and much lower in the US.

These assertions are critical in that they explain how radical Muslims like ISIS and Hamas can defend their horrific actions. The Qur’an explicitly states that violence is permitted only in self-defense:

• “Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loveth not transgressors” (2:190).
• “If they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith” (2:191).
• “Fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and Faith in God; but if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression” (2:193).

The Qur’an also defends innocent people from aggression: “Nor take life—which God has made sacred—except for just cause” (17:33).

But for reasons we will explore in this section, Hamas and its associates do not believe they apply to Jews and citizens of Western democracies.

From Wahhabi Islam to al Qaeda

Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab was an eighteenth-century reformer (born in 1703 in what is today Saudi Arabia) who formed the creed upon which Saudi Arabia was founded. Wahhabism is the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia today. It is an extremely fundamentalistic version of Islam, demanding absolute allegiance to Sharia (holy law) in every dimension of life and resisting all Western and foreign influence.

Wahhabism has been instrumental in supporting the radical Islamic movement of this generation. The Saudi royal family has spent more than $75 billion exporting this form of Islam to the world.

Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian who championed fundamentalist Islam to his country. Outraged by the sinful aspects of Western culture he observed in his travels and opposed to such influence in Egypt, he fought vehemently against Western forces in his country. He was executed by the Egyptian government in 1966. His writings were very influential in the evolution of Osama bin Laden and his beliefs.

The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, has been crucial to the movements that contribute to radical Islam. Their credo: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”

These movements have for generations been concerned with the growing Western (infidel) influence they see in the Arab world. But the creation of Israel in 1948 and America’s continued support for that nation have been especially significant in the rise of radical Islam versus the West.

Muslims believe that Islam is the true religion of Abraham and Moses and that the Jewish people follow a corrupted religion. They are also convinced that the Palestinians are the rightful owners of the Holy Land. As a result, radical Muslims dream of the day when they can “push Israel into the sea.”

America’s involvement in Arab politics over the generations has been problematic. For instance, we helped to depose the Iranian leader Mossadeq in 1953 when it served our purposes, then supported the Shah until public opinion turned against him and allowed his fall in 1979. They see our first Gulf War as protecting our oil interests, and they resist our continued engagement with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and other moderate governments.

Al Qaeda (Arabic for “the camp”) was one response to the West. This was a loosely configured band of radical fighters, birthed in the battle against the Soviet Union for Afghanistan (1978–88). Osama bin Laden, the son of a very wealthy Saudi family, sought to mobilize assistance for the mujahedeen (“those engaged in the struggle”) fighting the Soviets. He raised financial resources and encouraged Muslims around the world to join the battle. When the Soviets were expelled, the victorious “freedom fighters” became the Taliban (roughly translated “students”), the governing authority in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden then offered his assistance to the Saudis when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. They rejected his offer and eventually exiled him to Sudan; from there he emigrated to Pakistan, from where he and his associates launched the 9/11 attacks. He was killed by American forces on May 2, 2011. Al Qaeda forces are still active in Somalia and northwest Africa, northwest Syria, and Afghanistan today.

The Islamic State

The terrorist group known as ISIS or the Islamic State began operations in 1999 as a jihadist group in Iraq calling itself “The Organization of Monotheism and Jihad.” Composed of Sunni extremists, its founder was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and merged his group with al Qaeda in October 2004. Al-Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike in 2006 and succeeded by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. Later that year, the group merged with other factions to form the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).

After Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was killed in an air strike in 2010, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was elected by a Shura council (religious assembly) in Nineveh to succeed him. When civil war unfolded in Syria two years later, al-Baghdadi sent fighters there and added “al-Sham” (Syria) to his group, then known as ISIS. After refusing demands to withdraw from Syria by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al Qaeda, his group broke from al Qaeda in early 2014.

On June 9, 2014, ISIS fighters seized Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq. Two days later it took control of Tikrit. It continued expanding its territory until it controlled land the size of Great Britain or the state of Indiana. On June 29, 2014, al-Baghdadi announced that the lands he controlled in Iraq and Syria were part of the “Islamic State” and that he was its “caliph,” or leader. In July, the group seized control of Syria’s largest oil field and captured others afterward.

By December 2017, it had lost 95 percent of its territory, including Mosul and Raqqa, its nominal capital in Syria. A US-backed coalition of Syrian Kurds and Arabs known as the Syrian Democratic Forces eventually captured key ISIS positions. Al-Baghdadi was killed in a US raid on October 26, 2019. However, ISIS loyalists and affiliated networks continue recruiting efforts and financial operations in Syria and other nations.

Hamas

Israel is surrounded by potential enemies—the Muslim Brotherhood to the south, Hamas to the west, and Hezbollah to the north. Of the three, Hamas has been most difficult in recent years even before launching the current war against Israel.

The primary areas of Palestinian occupation in Israel are called the “West Bank” and the “Gaza Strip.” The former covers 2,177 square miles, an area slightly smaller than the state of Delaware. Its name is derived from its location on the western bank of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea; its population exceeds three million people. The latter is an area 25 miles long and 4 to 7.5 miles wide, with a population of 2.1 million people.

The West Bank is governed by Fatah, an acronym for “Palestinian National Liberation Movement.” The political party was founded in 1959 by Yasser Arafat, who led the group until his death in 2004.

The Gaza Strip is governed by Hamas (“fervor”), which is an acronym (spelled backward) for “Islamic Resistance Movement.” The group’s origins go back to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who began his movement in the late 1960s as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1973, he established the “Islamic Center” to coordinate the Brotherhood’s activities in Gaza and founded Hamas as their political arm in 1987. It published its official charter in 1988, calling for the destruction of Israel and raising “the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”

For much of the group’s history, the military wing of Hamas called the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade has sponsored terrorism against Israel. It has repeatedly launched rocket attacks at Israeli towns and sponsored a series of suicide bombers before Israel constructed a “security fence” around its borders. The Brigade claims more than a thousand members and is believed to have killed more than five hundred people. Hamas has also engaged in social and political work, funding healthcare clinics, orphanages, sports leagues, mosques, and schools.

The group operated as an opposition party in the Gaza until winning parliamentary elections in 2006. Since that time it has been at odds with Fatah, which still governs the West Bank, so that the Palestinian people have had no unified government or advocate.

Hamas shocked Israel and the world with the strength of its assault on October 7, 2023. However, it clearly seeks to expand this conflict to include other jihadist groups in the current war against Israel.

Hezbollah

“Hezbollah” (“Party of God”) was founded in Lebanon by Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah in 1982, heir to the former coalition of militant groups known as Islamic Jihad. Since its beginnings it has been sponsored by Iran and Syria.

Hassan Nasrallah is the group’s senior political leader. Najib Miqati, the current prime minister who was previously elected to this post in 2005 and from 2011 to 2014, was chosen by Hezbollah for this role. His election represented the first time the organization had been involved formally in the government of Lebanon.

The organization is a major provider of social services, hospitals, schools, and agricultural services for Shias living in Lebanon. Its militant wing has been defined by the United States as a terrorist organization.

The year after its founding, the group launched a truck bombing on the US Marine barracks in Beirut, killing more than two hundred soldiers. In 1992, they bombed the Israeli embassy in Argentina, killing twenty-nine, and bombed a Jewish community center in 1994, killing ninety-five people. Periodic border skirmishes and shelling escalated into a full-scale war with Israel in the summer of 2006. A United Nations-brokered peace ended the conflict, but tensions in the region remain high.

When I was last in Israel, I met many officials who assumed that another war with Lebanon is inevitable.

The role of Iran

Iran is considered the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The country was the seat of the Persian Empire, once the largest the world had ever seen, and its leaders seek to restore that empire through a “Shiite crescent” that extends westward through Syria to Lebanon. The revolution of 1979 brought an Islamic theocracy to power run by the country’s clergy and is led today by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Central to their worldview is the return of the divinely inspired Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Hujjah (commonly called the “Mahdi,” meaning “the guided one”). (These Shiite Muslims are often called “Twelvers” as a result.) This figure is believed to have been hidden by Allah in AD 872 and transported to a transcendent realm in AD 934 (this event is called the “occultation”). They expect his return shortly before the Day of Judgment to lead the forces of righteousness against the forces of evil. This apocalyptic war will establish Islam and peace around the world, in their view.

Many Shias voice and write prayers to the Mahdi regularly. Many also believe that the current era represents the final period of history ahead of the Mahdi’s reappearance.

The world is currently divided between the “will of the essence of transcendence” led by “the people and the leadership of Iran” and the “arrogant powers.” In their view, the existence of Israel is the “greatest barrier” to the Mahdi’s reappearance. As a result, Iran’s clergy state that the “Jewish state will be destroyed before Mahdi’s arrival.” Some even believe that this conflict will take place after a world war. And some view Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as this necessary precursor.

These theological and geopolitical viewpoints help explain Iran’s role in the current war against Israel and its desire to see this conflict widened across the region. It should also inform our view of Iran’s quest for nuclear power (and perhaps nuclear weapons). And Americans should note that Iran also considers the US to be complicit in this conflict through our support for Israel; Ayatollah Khamenei has stated that Iran is in a permanent war with the “American mafia regime.”

A prayerful response

Let’s end with some good news: a very hopeful spiritual movement is sweeping the Muslim world. Multitudes of Muslims are meeting Jesus in dreams and visions, and many are turning to him as their Lord. Among them are Muslims previously committed to a radical ideology that wages war against Israel and Christians.

It is incumbent upon us to pray daily for this spiritual awakening to continue and escalate. Ask your pastor and church to join you. God’s word is clear: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

My grandfather risked his life to defend America in World War I. My father nearly died on a South Pacific island defending our nation in World War II.

Now you and I are engaged in a spiritual battle of global significance.

Will history find us faithful?

^[1] All references are from Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Qur’an: Text, Translation and Commentary (Elmhurst, New York: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc., 2005).

Denison Forum

Source: Hamas and Radical Islam: What Christians need to know

Source: The quiet riot against insanity in America is gaining strength – American Thinker

There were two frustrating aspects of megachurch pastor Andy Stanley’s recent advocacy of theistic evolution.

The first, as already documented on these pages, was that Stanley’s position is at odds with the biblical story of creation, which he, as a pastor, is charged to defend. While the Northpoint Church Community head tried his hardest to synchronize Genesis with Darwin, the plain reading of Scripture doesn’t allow such a harmonization to take place.

The second frustrating aspect, which will be the focus of this article, is that those who preemptively disavow the creation account so as not to be seen in conflict with “the science,” are, ironically, not keeping up with the “the science” themselves as it pertains to evolutionary claims.

Far from discrediting theism, the latest scientific literature continues to drive a stake through the heart of Darwin’s original hypothesis.

This new evidence comes by way of an international journal called Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, which is a peer-reviewed publication established in 1950. It seeks to offer “informative and critical reviews of recent advances in different aspects of biophysics and molecular biology.”

We’re not talking about Internet randos posting on Wikipedia.

The journal published a paper not too long ago with this title: “Neo-Darwinism Must Mutate to Survive.” It was penned by one scholar at the University of Missouri-Columbia and another at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The authors waste no time in getting to their main idea:

“Darwinian evolution is a 19th century descriptive concept that itself has evolved. Selection by survival of the fittest was a captivating idea. Microevolution was biologically and empirically verified by discovery of mutations.

“There has been limited progress to the modern synthesis. The central focus of this perspective is to provide evidence to document that selection based on survival of the fittest is insufficient for other than microevolution.”

As a reminder, “microevolution” concerns the variation that exists within a particular species. It could be the result of environmental factors, like impacts on a local climate, or it could be man-made, as is the case with animal breeding.

The point is that this variation takes place within a specific group. Microevolution does not account for an entirely new species. Fish classifications are numerous, for instance, but they remain fish; they don’t mutate into frogs, crocodiles, or birds.

With that background, why do Olen Brown, who holds a Ph.D. in microbiology, and David Hullender, who is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, assert that “selection based on survival of the fittest is insufficient for other than microevolution?”

In short, it’s mathematically preposterous to infer macroevolutionary developments from microevolutionary observations.

They write that macroevolution has “shown to be probabilistically highly implausible (on the order of 10-50) when based on selection by survival of the fittest.”

Now, if you’re like me and still have no idea how you passed your high school precalculus class, you see a number like 10-50 and your brain shuts off in protest. Yet unlike my high school days, there are currently online tutorials that put the concept of negative exponents in layman’s terms.

You can see for yourself how many zeroes are to the right of the decimal point when calculating ten to the power of negative 50 as a possible outcome; basically, it’s a prospect that we non-mathematicians would call a … ridiculously absurd likelihood.

Brown and Hullender are distinguished university employees, so their conclusion is more academic sounding. But if you read the following paragraph carefully, you certainly get that ridiculously absurd likelihood vibe:

“Any overall mechanistic explanation of the origin and evolution of life ultimately must satisfy two challenges: the transition from non-life to life, and the blossoming of life forms that is so extreme as to appear outrageous.

“Evolution of a few flowers on a hillside is reasonably explained by mutation and selection; it stretches logic to explain the millions of extremely diverse species seen currently and in the fossil record.”

The duo note that such “probability assessment has largely been overlooked” for the simple fact that “evolution is generally accepted as scientifically established.”

The consensus attitude is, “It happened, we are here, so the probability is one.”

Expressed differently, today’s scientific community has assumed Darwinian evolution to be true because they are philosophically hostile to a theistic alternative.

Outspoken atheists like Richard Dawkins, for example, are so intent on making sense of “intelligent design” apart from God that they have been reduced to spit-balling guesses about space aliens or multiverse phenomena as potential answers to our fundamental questions about life’s origin.

This atheistic pre-commitment is less about science and more about absolving themselves (in their minds, at least) of accountability to a Holy God who requires our obedience.

Mathematical implausibility aside, proponents of Darwinian evolution are running up against another obstacle.

Charles Darwin’s theory, remember, is built on a model of transitionary phases, wherein lower lifeforms evolve into higher, more advanced ones through the method of natural selection and survival of the fittest. This process, we’re told, has taken place through incremental intervals spanning millions of years, eventually producing the most superior organism to date: humans.

This theory, it turns out, makes a big assumption: That these transitionary phases improve an organism’s chance of survival.

This assumption, however, is unwarranted, as Brown and Hullender maintain:

“[S]urvival of the fittest is illogical when proposed as adequate for selecting the origination of all complex, major, new body-types and metabolic functions because the multiple changes in multiple genomes that are required have intermediate stages without advantage; selection would not reasonably occur, and disadvantage or death would logically prevail.”

To paraphrase: What advantage does a half-evolved eye offer for survival? Or how about a three-quarters evolved lung? Or a two-thirds evolved genitalia? How do mammals even reproduce without fully functioning sex organs?

This is what Brown and Hullender are getting at when they assert that “survival of the fittest,” contrary to popular acceptance, is a death warrant to its recipient because the “evolved” organism is left physically vulnerable during these “intermediate stages.”

It’s as if creatures were first created in a mature, completed state.

Where have we read that before?

Any guesses, Andy Stanley?

The authors of “Neo-Darwinism Must Mutate to Survive” follow up with this bold statement:

“It is our perspective that the burden is too great for survival of the fittest to select evolutionary changes that accomplish all evolutionary novelty. Thus, evolution lacks a sufficient mechanism for multifactorial selections because a process that looks forward, is nonrandom, deterministic, or occurs by an unknown biological process, is required.”

Those words “nonrandom” and “deterministic” are important.

In context, they mean that our vastly fine-tuned universe cannot be explained rationally by a materialistic worldview that is premised on random, “non-purposeful” acts.

In Romans 1:20 the Apostle Paul states that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made,” leaving us all “without excuse.”

Looks like modern-day science is reluctantly catching up.

Hopefully, American pastors will do the same.

Originally published at the Standing for Freedom Center. 

By Jason Mattera, Op-ed contributor| Monday, May 22, 2023

Source: Dear pastors: It’s OK to defend the creation account | Voice

For many Americans, Memorial Day represents the start of summer — the promise of warm, sunny days, evenings illuminated by fireflies, barbecues in the backyard, and trips to the beach.

But Memorial Day is not actually about any of that. It is a day to remember how the men and women of our Armed Forces have answered the call to give their lives to defend the people and the country they love. They have entered into the service willingly, knowing that the price of freedom is extraordinarily high.

The history of this national observance goes back to the Civil War. Following the war, people from both the North and South decorated graves with flags and flowers on what came to be known as “Decoration Day,” to honor the loved ones they had lost.

Now, we call the day “Memorial Day” to remember all of the men and women lost in all the wars this country has fought—more than one million people. Their sacrifices have guaranteed the freedoms that we enjoy today but often take for granted.

So let us reflect on two important lessons we can learn from these heroes:

1. There Are Things Worth Fighting For

Last year, I had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington. As I looked at the memorial, a sculpture of the iconic image of soldiers raising the American flag at Iwo Jima, I was awed, once again of the brave actions of these men. In the hell of war, they persevered.

Today, many of us are fighting our own kinds of battles. We are battling illnesses, the loss of loved ones, and addictions. We are battling financial hardship and mental health issues. We are battling brokenness within our families and within ourselves. Many of us feel alone, overwhelmed by our struggle. We are tempted to surrender.

But I want to encourage you to keep fighting.

The men and women we remember on Memorial Day braved the enemy’s fire because they were fighting for a cause greater than themselves. In fact, if you ask them, many of our service members today will tell you they were inspired to enlist after 9/11, much in the same way the World War II generation did after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They enlisted because they loved their families and their country, and they counted it worthy to sacrifice their lives to protect them. For many of them, their faith compelled them to oppose evil and injustice and stand up for what was right.

Whatever you are battling, remember this: there are things worth fighting for.

2. The Power of Self-Sacrifice 

Throughout history, men and women of our nation’s Armed Forces have laid down their lives for us, and they continue to do so every day. The selfless actions of these men and women remind me of Jesus’ words to his disciples during the Last Supper: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13 ESV)

Now, more than ever is time for us to love and serve each other self-sacrificially. I am not saying that we should put our lives needlessly in danger for the sole purpose of a heroic deed. But if it’s within our means and ability, we should be ready to help those who are in need and bring comfort to those who are suffering.

John Bunyan, the author of the classic book Pilgrim’s Progress, once wrote, “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”

The truth is, we will never be able to repay the men and women who have given their lives to protect our freedom. Their valiant sacrifices, and the sacrifices of their family members, are priceless. Yet while we may never be able to repay them, we can honor them by remembering them.

The Bible says to “give honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:7). However we choose to celebrate this Memorial Day, let’s remember to honor the brave men and women who have fought and died for our freedom. May their patriotism and their love for God and country inspire us to do something selfless for those around us.

Dr. Jack Graham is the pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in America. He is also a noted author, and his PowerPoint Ministries broadcasts are available in 92 countries and are heard daily in more than 740 cities.

https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/memorial-day-what-our-heroes-teach-us-about-how-fight-our-battles

Source: Memorial Day – What Our Heroes Teach Us About How to Fight Our Battles  | CBN News

I am the Editor of the Daily Devotions, News and Information WEB site and I would like to please get your help saving our family home!

Vincent S. Bocchieri

First and Foremost Please Pray that the Court System and the Attorneys for the Mortgage company will listen to reason and dismiss the 15 year old Foreclosure case against our Home!

Our Front Porch during a previous Presidential Election 😉

Second we need funds to keep paying our attorneys Please Donate to save our home!

We have lived in Hawaii at this house since 2007 and look forward to staying here for a very long time.

Our Fundraising Goal is $30,000

We are currently at $5000 (Total updated weekly)

We have until June of this year, our Trial is set for the second week in July

With your Prayers and Support this will be possible

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

God Bless You!

With Gratitude;

Vince B.

Incredible as it may seem, less than one year ago, not a single state offered universal school choice to its citizens. That was then, this is now. Today, four states (Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, and Utah) have universal school choice laws on the books, with several more considering bills that would vastly expand education freedom.

Although there are many factors that have led to the school choice movement gaining more momentum than ever before, one should not discount the behavior of public school leaders and teacher union officials during the pandemic in moving public opinion decidedly in favor of school choice.

According to recent polling, school choice is more popular than ever before. And, more significantly, school choice is one of the rare issues that receives widespread support from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents as well as across racial, socioeconomic, and even generational lines.

This month marks the three-year anniversary of the widespread shutdown of public schools throughout the country, under the guise of the pandemic. Of course, as most Americans witnessed with bewilderment, while most public schools refused to offer in-person learning throughout the duration of the pandemic, the overwhelming majority of private and charter schools remained open for in-person learning over the same period.

On top of this, as government-run schools refused to offer in-person learning and opted for inferior remote learning, droves of parents were absolutely shocked at the radical curriculum that the public schools were pushing on their children. From critical race theory to explicit sexual content, parents finally got a first-hand account of what public schools are up to these days.

Moreover, as the months went by and the public schools kept moving the reopening goalposts, parents became infuriated that their children were falling behind academically as well as becoming increasingly isolated, depressed, and dysfunctional after months of being stuck at home in front of a screen for eight hours per day.

Needless to say, most parents were at their wits end with the education industrial complex, which exists to serve adults, specifically teacher unions and public education bureaucrats, not students.

So, as would be expected, a major exodus from public schools began. While parents were pulling their children from failing public schools, they chose to enroll their kids in private, parochial, and charter schools. This trend was exacerbated when public schools refused to drop mask mandates and required vaccinations, even though the evidence showed that both of these policies were misguided at best and downright harmful to most children.

Yet, even as the writing was on the wall, public school officials and their partners in crime ignored the pleas by parents to address, or at least consider, their valid concerns. In fact, for the most part, these unaccountable bureaucrats doubled down on their position, berating parents for having the audacity to question their omnipotence over the education system.

In one classic example, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe said during a debate, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

Glenn Youngkin, McAuliffe’s opponent, took the inverse position, saying, “What we’ve seen over the course of this last 20 months is our school systems refusing to engage with parents. In fact, in Fairfax County this past week, we watched parents so upset because there was such sexually explicit material in the library they had never seen, it was shocking. And in fact, you vetoed the bill that would have informed parents that they were there. You believe school systems should tell children what to do. I believe parents should be in charge of their kids’ education.”

In many ways, this was a tipping point. The eyes of the nation were cast on Virginia in 2021 because it became ground zero in the battle for parental rights and school choice, in general.

Fortunately, Youngkin defeated McAuliffe in a landslide. However, this race was a microcosm for the bitter battles that were to follow. After Youngkin’s unexpected victory, more and more Republican governors began to embrace school choice. On the other hand, more and more Democratic governors began to take the opposite stance and became full-fledged enemies of the increasingly popular school choice renaissance.

And so, this is where things stand today. Among the general population, school choice is a commonsense policy that places parents, not education bureaucrats, in charge of their children’s education. As we continue to see, education choice is being embraced in red states, which are offering parents education savings accounts so that they can choose whichever school their child should attend. Yet, most blue states remain obstinate, reluctant to heed the wishes of the parents who prodigiously advocate for more school choice.

Eventually, I expect that freedom will win the day. It will likely be a long, drawn-out fight, but if the current trend continues, the left’s monopoly on education could be on the verge of extinction sooner rather than later.

By The Heartland Institute

Source: The School Choice Juggernaut Marches On – RedState

By Matt Kane

Source: Trump Is Leader of Republican Party… and America – American Thinker

Source: And Just Like That, Natural Immunity is No Longer a Conspiracy Theory – American Thinker

American surfing icon Bethany Hamilton has vowed to boycott the World Surf League’s (WSL) professional tour over a rule change that allows biological males who identify as women to compete against female surfers.

Hamilton, who lost her arm to a shark attack when she was 13, survived and has been surfing competitively for 15 years.

She took to Instagram over the weekend to express her views after the WSL announced it would comply with the policies of the International Surfing Association (ISA) when it comes to transgender surfers.

The ISA policy states that “Athletes born men can compete in female divisions if they maintain a testosterone level less than five nmol/L (nanomoles per litre) for 12 months.”

“Is a hormone level an honest and accurate depiction that someone indeed is a male or female? Is it as simple as this?” Hamilton asked in her Instagram video.

She also asked several other questions:

“How is this rule playing out in other sports like swimming, running and MMA? Have any of the current surfers in the World Surf League been asked what their thoughts and opinions are on this new rule before it was passed or announced? Should there be a conversation with the 17 women and all of the men on tour on tour prior to a rule change such as this?”

She continued: “Who is pushing for this huge change? Does this better the sport of surfing? Is this better for the women in surfing? If so, how?”

Hamilton gave her life to Jesus Christ at age 5, she told BGEA in a 2011 interview. As a young girl growing up in Hawaii, she was surrounded by a family who loved Jesus and loved surfing. She followed in their footsteps faithwise, and entered her first competition at age 8.

She has credited Christ for getting her through the shark attack.

“It was Jesus Christ who gave me peace when I was attacked,” she told BGEA. “I just kept remembering, ‘The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:6-8).

In her Instagram video, she said she strives to love all of mankind, no matter what their differences. But as a professional athlete who has been competing in the WSL events for the last 15-plus years, she is concerned by this new rule change.

She decided to go public in order to “stand up and speak up” for those who feel threatened to express their views.

“I think many of the girls who are on tour are not in support of this new rule, and they fear being ostracized if they speak up,” she said.

“I personally won’t be competing in or supporting the World Surf League if this rule remains,” Hamilton said.

She argued instead that a new division should be created solely for transgender athletes in order to protect the female division.

Franklin Graham expressed his support for Hamilton on Facebook today.

“Who makes these rules anyway? It’s tragic. I don’t understand why all women don’t stand up in revolt! Pray for Bethany and other brave young women like her who are trying to defend what even common sense tells you is right. Thank you for taking a stand Bethany—I hope they will decide to change this new rule.”

Judge Phil Ginn, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Fox News Digital via email on Monday morning, “Bethany Hamilton captured our hearts and minds many years ago as the nation watched her triumph over her serious injuries and subsequent inherent fears to get back on her surfboard and learn to excel again in the sport she obviously loves.

“Casting aside the moral issues for a moment, no one who is thinking right can come to the conclusion that creating an obvious advantage for one group over another in sports or any other venue is a good idea. Yet that is exactly what we are now being told by our own government that needs to be done.”

Trent Talbot, CEO of Brave Books in Texas, which recently published Hamilton’s children’s book, told Fox News Digital on Sunday, “What an act of bravery. I stand with Bethany Hamilton and her choice to not participate in the World Surf League if they allow men to compete in the women’s division.”

Source: Standing For Christ And Common Sense: Surfer Bethany Hamilton to Boycott WSL Tour Due to New Transgender Rule | Harbingers Daily

A new study conducted by researchers at Ohio University finds that nonreligious individuals tend to stereotype and hold a bias against Christians working in scientific fields because they believe religion and science are in conflict.

The research, published in the Public Understanding of Science journal, analyzed two separate studies to examine the perceptions of incompatibility between Christianity and science in the United States and how it influences nonreligious individuals’ stereotypes of Christians in the field.

The first study, with a sample size of 365, found that the 214 nonreligious participants were more likely than the 151 Christian participants to perceive Christianity and science as incompatible. The second study featured 799 respondents — 520 Christians and 279 nonreligious participants.

“[M]anipulating perceived Christianity-science compatibility reduced negative perceptions of Christians’ scientific ability and general intellect among nonreligious participants,” the abstract states.

While nonreligious respondents perceived Christians as less intelligent, Christian respondents were more likely to perceive Christians as more intelligent and scientific than nonreligious participants.

In comments to PsyPost, study author Cameron Mackey, a doctoral candidate at Ohio University, noted that there has been “countless debates over the teaching of evolution in schools and whether Intelligent Design has a place in the classroom.”

“Our research demonstrates that perceiving conflict between religion and science can have detrimental effects not only on Christians’ performance and interest in science (as prior research has shown), but also on nonreligious people’s stereotypes about Christians,” Mackey said. “That is, because nonreligious individuals are more likely to believe that Christianity and science can’t work together, they are more likely to stereotype Christians as uninterested in or incompetent at science.”

Mackey added that many prominent atheists like Sam Harris and Steven Prinker opposed Francis Collins, an Evangelical Christian who served as the head of the National Institutes of Health until his retirement last year.

“We were interested in the consequences of this belief in religion-science conflict for nonreligious people’s attitudes toward religious people (in this case, Christians),” Mackey stated. “That is, we wanted to know whether the belief that Christianity and science conflict with each other explains why nonreligious people stereotype Christians as incompetent in science.”

Perry Enever, the founder of Canterbury Christianity and Science Interactive, told Premier Christian News that stereotypes are set up to be disproven.

“I think if you can relate to someone and get to know them, they can get to know you,” he was quoted as saying. “There are all kinds of questions and stereotypes and wrong ideas that people have, and Christians can do the same things as well, sometimes.”

“The Christians in this were presuming that actually the atheists were less intelligent and less into science. So I think there’s a lesson for us as well, to avoid that stereotyping and getting to know the people that are asking the questions.”

Earlier this month, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., opened the new exhibit “Scripture and Science: Our Universe, Ourselves, Our Place.” The exhibition highlights the dynamic relationship between science and religion throughout history.

Attending the exhibit’s grand opening, retired NASA astronaut Jeff Williams told The Christian Post that science doesn’t “contradict” Christianity. The Christian astronaut said that because of the perception that science and the Bible conflict, he dedicated much time to studying the religious beliefs of early scientists.

“Many of the scientists in the age of science — who we all read about in our textbooks about the laws of physics and chemistry — were believers first,” Williams said. “They were theologians first. People like Kepler and Newton and Faraday and Maxwell, and many others. They were driven by their faith and their understanding of their calling before God to fulfill that calling.”

He contends that the “Bible supports and informs science with the elements of the mathematical order of God’s Creation” and “God has equipped us to explore and extract that order and utilize it for the glory of God and the good of mankind.”

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor

Source: Christian scientists viewed as less intelligent, study shows | U.S. News