There is a famous comedy sketch by Mitchell and Webb in which two Nazi soldiers, mid-battle, pause to notice the skull-and-crossbones insignia on their helmets. One turns to the other and asks the question that has apparently never occurred to them before: "Are we the baddies?" It is a devastatingly simple joke. But it captures … Continue reading Who Are the Baddies? Apostasy, Coercion, and the Mirror the Quran Holds Up to Today’s Islam
The Receding Horizon: God as the Outermost and the Innermost
There is a peculiar pattern in the history of human religiosity that tends to go unnoticed precisely because it unfolds so slowly. As humanity's knowledge expands—whether outward into the cosmos or inward into the architecture of the self—God does not become easier to locate. He recedes. Or rather, the horizon recedes, and we find that … Continue reading The Receding Horizon: God as the Outermost and the Innermost
The Failure of Asbāb al-Nuzūl (Cause of Revelation Hadith)
Sunni Muslims often argue that the Hadith is necessary for understanding the context of the Quranic verses. Within the classical Islamic sciences, this genre is known as asbab al-nuzul — literally "the occasions of revelation" or "the causes of descent." Its intended purpose is to document the specific historical circumstances, events, and questions that allegedly … Continue reading The Failure of Asbāb al-Nuzūl (Cause of Revelation Hadith)
Sunni Islam: A Death Cult Designed to Fail
In September 2023, two of the prominent Sunni Muslim voices on social media, Daniel Haqiqatjou and Jake Brancatella, had a debate on the Patrick Bet-David Podcast against two Christians, Robert Spencer and Brother Rachid, who was a Christian convert from Islam. According to Sunni Islam, the punishment for apostasy is death. Ibn ‘Abbas said: “The … Continue reading Sunni Islam: A Death Cult Designed to Fail
The Two Davids: How 1 Samuel 16 and 17 Tell Contradictory Stories
Most readers open the Bible assuming they are reading a single, continuous account written by a single hand. But this is not how the Hebrew Bible came to be. What we hold today is the end product of a long editorial process in which multiple older narratives—composed by different authors, in different eras, with different … Continue reading The Two Davids: How 1 Samuel 16 and 17 Tell Contradictory Stories
Who is ‘Uzair (Ezra) in 9:30?
Abstract This article proposes that the figure designated as ʿUzayr (عُزَيْر), commonly translated as Ezra, in Quran 9:30, is Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, one of the most authoritative sages of early rabbinic Judaism. Through linguistic analysis, examination of the Quranic context, and detailed study of rabbinic sources, this article demonstrates that Rabbi Eliezer's exceptional status—including … Continue reading Who is ‘Uzair (Ezra) in 9:30?
The Samarian: An Archetype for Samaria
One of the most frequently repeated objections to the Quran's account of the golden calf concerns a single word: al-Sāmirī (ٱلسَّامِرِىُّ), "the Samarian." Critics argue this constitutes a historical anachronism, since Samaria did not exist as a city until centuries after Moses. The objection appears straightforward: the Quran projects a later geographical identity backward into … Continue reading The Samarian: An Archetype for Samaria
David: The King Samuel Warned About
In Sunday schools, cartoons, and paintings, King David appears as the shepherd-poet who trusted God against impossible odds, the penitent sinner who wrote the Psalms, the golden thread connecting Abraham to Jesus. He is Israel's ideal king—divinely chosen, spiritually sensitive, capable of genuine repentance. But this depiction of David is at odds with what the … Continue reading David: The King Samuel Warned About
Why God Is Never Called “Just” in the Quran
One of the most striking features of the Quran's theology is not what it says, but what it refuses to say. The Quran repeatedly affirms that God never wrongs anyone—yet it never directly calls God "Just" using the Arabic roots ʿa-d-l (عدل) or q-s-ṭ (قسط). This is not a linguistic accident or oversight. It is … Continue reading Why God Is Never Called “Just” in the Quran
Josephus & Today’s Torah
Flavius Josephus (c. 37–100 CE) was a Jerusalem-born priest, aristocrat, and historian who lived at the crossroads of Jewish tradition and the Greco-Roman world. Educated in the laws, scriptures, and interpretive traditions of Judaism, and fluent in Greek culture and historiography, Josephus was uniquely positioned to act as a mediator between two civilizations often in … Continue reading Josephus & Today’s Torah
