The Argument to End All Arguments The debate over child marriage and the Quran often begins with 65:4, a verse concerning divorce. But that is the wrong place to start. Before asking what happens when a marriage ends, we must first establish who is eligible to enter one. Consider a simple analogy. Suppose one law … Continue reading Child Marriage and the Quran: Why 4:6 Must Come Before 65:4
Does Quran 9:29 Command Muslims to Impose Jizya on Jews and Christians?
In a recent debate on the morality of the Quran, the Christian Apologist, GodLogic (Avery), built his case on one verse: 9:29. His argument ran as follows. Sura 9 begins with declaring war on the pagan Arabs, then at verse 29 turns on the Jews and Christians. They are fought for disbelief alone, with no … Continue reading Does Quran 9:29 Command Muslims to Impose Jizya on Jews and Christians?
The Tower and the Gallows: Haman, Pharaoh, and the Archetype Behind a Name
Two men are given the same kind of assignment: build something tall. The first is told by his master to fire bricks of clay and raise a tower so high that its owner can climb up and look at the God of Moses. The second is told by his wife and his friends to put … Continue reading The Tower and the Gallows: Haman, Pharaoh, and the Archetype Behind a Name
A Response to “The Orthodox Muslim”: God Does Not Share His Throne
A post has been making the rounds. It reads: Muhammed is The Son of Man who will sit at the right hand of God with him on his throne. Muhammed is The Son of Man who will separate the sheep from the goats. He is the beloved who holds the keys of paradise. Muhammed is … Continue reading A Response to “The Orthodox Muslim”: God Does Not Share His Throne
A Calf That Lowed & Egyptian and Mesopotamian Mythology
The Quran's account of the golden calf includes a subtle detail that the Book of Exodus omits. The calf, we are told, was a body that made the sound of a calf. It is easy to read past this as a piece of narrative color, a miraculous flourish. It is anything but. To an audience … Continue reading A Calf That Lowed & Egyptian and Mesopotamian Mythology
The Offer Lot Already Knew Would Be Refused
When Lot stands at his door and offers his daughters to the crowd pressing toward his guests, most readers wince. Taken at face value, it reads as a father bartering his children to a mob. But the Quran does not leave the episode at face value. Read alongside the way scripture elsewhere shows the wise … Continue reading The Offer Lot Already Knew Would Be Refused
Made to Be Killed: How the Crusades Turned Murder into Atonement
In the theology that launched the Crusades, the Muslim was not, first of all, an enemy to be defeated or a rival to be converted. He was something stranger and more useful than that. He was raw material for another man's salvation. The preachers who summoned Europe to holy war taught that a Christian could … Continue reading Made to Be Killed: How the Crusades Turned Murder into Atonement
Jesus’ Universal Operating System for Living Under Any Legal System
When Jesus told his followers to sit at the feet of the scribes and Pharisees, to observe everything they taught but not to follow their example (Matthew 23:2–3), he was issuing an instruction of remarkable subtlety. He was not critiquing the content of Jewish law, nor was he calling for its reform or abolition. He … Continue reading Jesus’ Universal Operating System for Living Under Any Legal System
Two Kinds of Law
Not every law in the Quran is the same. Some are universal—meant for all people, in every place, for all time. Be just and never biased. Do not commit murder. Do not steal. You could drop these commands into any century and any country, and they would hold without a word of adjustment. Others are … Continue reading Two Kinds of Law
Counting the Sacred Text: A History of Numerical Verification in Scripture Preservation
In most languages, the word for "scribe" evokes an image of someone who writes. In Hebrew, the word is sofer (סוֹפֵר), and it means, at its root, s-p-r (ס-פ-ר), one who counts. That etymology is not incidental. It encodes a technology of preservation that is among the most durable and sophisticated ever devised for protecting … Continue reading Counting the Sacred Text: A History of Numerical Verification in Scripture Preservation
