Posted on 11/11/2004 1:18:36 PM PST by Nachum
...hmmm...now where have I heard something about white raisins, lately?
The islamo-nuts will find him and kill him too.
There is not talking with there murderers...
I don't think so...
And I am waiting for the book...
72 virgins? no no, you misunderstood, you get 72 white raisins, I am sorry that they are hot as hell!
I've always said that the reason why their will be no reforms in Islam is because of their belief that the Koran is straight from God and therefore ANY challenge to its "teachings" is sacrilegious. In other words, fanaticism as far as the eyes can see...
"His work recalls that of German Biblical scholars of the 19th century, who changed Christians' understanding of their scriptures by uncovering their multi-layered history."
I hope it doesn't. The 19th century Higher Criticism movement among German scholars was as intellectually bogus as they come. It's been exposed; there are no "multiple layers".
She flashed through my mind as I read it as well.
The Nabataeans were an Arabic people who lived on the eastern borders of the Jews. They spoke Aramaic and they were allies of the Romans.
Their religion was apparently a mixture of Arab paganism with tinges of Judaism and Christian influences as well.
If the Koran shows as heavy an Aramaic influence as this guy suggests, it makes it pretty likely that the Koran is just cobbled-together fragments of eclectic Nabataean religious texts.
Just as many Jewish texts are written in a blend of Aramaic and Hebrew using Aramaic script, the Koran could be a blend of Arabic and Aramaic in Arabic script.
This would explain the thousands of words and phrases in the Koran that are obscure and that have provoked endless commentary.
It would also explain why the Koran is so disorganized and shuffled. It is the least coherent, in terms of narrative structure, of any major Near Eastern text.
Islam is today's repository of totalitarianism. Communism is pretty much dead as an ideology. Socialism is alive and well, but currently isn't engaged in totalitarianism.
Only Islam is currently executing people for publishing ideas.
(There are...)
The absolute prohibition of criticism by Islam has deprived it of any vibrancy.
But of course there is a good reason Islam prohibits criticism. The Prophet must have known Islam could not withstand careful examination.
"Here is the truth...but it must never be examined in the light of day...it must be spread by the sword...and once accepted, a person can leave it only under penalty of death."
Yeah, Mohammed had much confidence in the natural durability of his truth. What kind of truth is it that is afraid of the light of day?
Uh...you mean...they know that you're the author?
On the Net: Answering Islam, A Christian-Muslim Dialog and Apologetic.
http://answering-islam.org.uk/index.html
See my tagline for link to The Life of Muhammad. A biography of the 'prophet' published in 1913.
I pray that Daniel Pipes has a bodyguard.
Terrorist in Hell: "I blew myself up for what, 72 raisins? Aaarrgghhh!"
You must have been reading the Koran. Althought maybe it has something to do with either Ketchup or with naturepathic home remedies. Of course in the good old days they just got drunk. (wink, wink, Mrs. Kerry)
Thanks for posting this. We have to dissiminate the information about the Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran especially next year when an English translation appears.
Here is an academic book review:
Christoph Luxenberg (ps.) Die syro-aramaeische Lesart des Koran; Ein Beitrag zur Entschlüsselung der Qur'ansprache.
http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/Vol6No1/HV6N1PRPhenixHorn.html
Sorry, I can not spell dissiminate =>disseminate
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