Originally Posted by Dave";p=&quot

Lord help us!

Doc, calling Mohamed a prophet would be a lie, not a show of respect, unless that person actually believed that he was a prophet.

Calling Jesus God would be the equivalent of the respect that you are asking of Christians. I'll look forward to all Muslims calling Jesus God, out of respect of course.

Christians are not encouraged to lie, that would be sin. We are commanded to tell the truth, which is foundational for genuine love (1 Corinthians 13:6).

Can Muslims lie?
http://www.answering-islam.org/Index/L/lying.html

Amen, kaka.

What does Amen mean?
http://www.christiancourier.com/ques...enQuestion.htm

You got half right. The Catholic deification of Mary is rooted in the Babylonian false gods, one of which is Isis.

Jesus was the first, all others, like Tammuz, are false christs. This is a summery of what the Bible teaches..

"The pagan cults of Greece and Rome were part of what are commonly called the mystery religions. By Pauls time they had dominated the near eastern world for thousands of years and indirectly would dominate much of western culture through the middle ages and, even untill today.

The mystery religions had many forms and variations, but a common source. In his vision on the island of Patmos John was shown "the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters," on whose "forehead a name was written, a mystery, 'Babylon the great, the mother of all harlots and the abominations of the earth'" (Rev. 17:1,5). Here the Lord pictures His judgment of the world religion. At the end of the Tribulation the true church will have been raptured (1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 3:10) and the world will begin to establish a religion of it's own that will be truly universal. It will be the composite of all the worlds false religions, which will "give their power and authority to the beast, "the Antichrist" (Rev. 17:13). The final form of that all-powerful, universal religion will represent the completion of the mystery religions that historically originated in ancient Babylon.

In its organized form false religion began with the tower of Babel, from which Babylon derives it's name. Cain was the first false worshiper, and many individuals after him followed his example. But organized pagan religion began with the descendent's of Ham, one of Noah's three sons, who decided to erect a great monument that would "reach into heaven" and make themselves a great name (Gen. 10:9-10; 11:4). Under the leadership of the proud and apostate Nimrod they planned to storm heaven and unify their power and prestige in a great worldwide system of worship. That was man's first counterfeit religion, from which every other false religion in one way or another has sprung.

God's judgment frustrated their primary purpose of making a grand demonstration of humanistic unity. By confusing "their language, that they may not understand one another's speech," and scattering "them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth" (Gen. 11:7- the Lord halted the building of the tower and fractured their solidarity. But those people took with them the seeds of that false, idolatrous religion, seeds that they and their descendants have been planting throughout the world ever since. The ideas and forms were altered, adapted, and sometimes made more sophisticated, but the basic system remained, and remains, unchanged. That is why Babel, or Babylon, is called "the mother of all harlots and of the abominations of the earth" (Rev. 17:5). She was the pro generator of all false religions.

From various ancient sources, it seems that Nimrod's wife. Semiramis (the first), apparently was high priestess of the Babel religion and the founder of all mystery religions. After the tower was destroyed and the multiplicity of languages developed, she was worshiped as a goddess under many different names. She became Ishtar of Syria, Astarte of Phoenicia, Isis of Egypt, Aphrodite of Greece, and Venus of Rome--in each case the deity of sexual love and fertility. Her son, Tammuz, also came to be deified under various names and was the consort of Ishtar and and god of the underworld.

According to the cult of Ishtar, Tammuz was conceived by a sunbeam, a counterfeit version of Jesus' virgin birth. Tammuz corresponded to Baal in Phoenicia, Orisis in Egypt, Eros in Greece, and Cupid in Rome. In every case, the worship of these gods and goddesses was associated with sexual immorality. The celebration of Lent has no basis in scripture, but rather developed from the pagan celebration of Semiramis's mourning for forty days over the death of Tammuz (cf. Ezek. 8:14) before his alleged resurrection--another of Satan's mythical counterfeits.

The mystery religions originated the idea of baptismal regeneration, being born again merely through the rite of water baptism, and the practice of mutilation and flagellation to atone for sins or gain spiritual favor. They also began the custom of pilgrimages, which many religions follow today, and the paying of penance for forgiveness of sins for oneself and for others. (JMNTC)


God bless

Originally Posted by apotropoxy";p=&quot

Some Jews thought Jesus was a god, too. Apotheosis was common in those times and in those places. Mary's deification came later. Christians pay unknowing respect to Mithras and Isis when they pray to Jesus and Mary. Everyone who uses the word Amen at the end of their prayers (ancient Hebrew) may well be sending their thoughts to Amen-Ra, the great Egyptian creator-sun god.

Everyone who uses the word Amen at the end of their prayers (ancient Hebrew) may well be sending their thoughts to Amen-Ra, the great Egyptian creator-sun god.

Originally Posted by apotropoxy";p=&quot Quote: Quote: Everyone who uses the word Amen at the end of their prayers (ancient Hebrew) may well be sending their thoughts to Amen-Ra, the great Egyptian creator-sun god. Let's see what wikipedia has to say Quote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen In Judaism, it is taught that the word Amen is an acronym for A[l] (or El), Me[lech], N[e'eman] meaning "Lord (or God), King, [who is] Trustworthy." It is related to the Hebrew word emuna or "faith" with the same linguistic root, implying that one is affirming with, and of, "the faith" of Judaism (and its belief in Monotheism).

Originally Posted by apotropoxy";p=&quot

I do not dispute these Hebrew etymologies. This may be what they were taught and it well may be true. But I wonder at what may be a deeper source. We know that this Bronze Age tribe probably wandered out of Sumeria and carved out some land for themselves in regions of the western Mediterranean. Tradition also holds that the Hebrews were held "captive" by the world's then-super power Egypt. We also know that that tribe didn't read or write for some time after that. I think it is fair to assume that, if the "Chosen People" were indeed held captive by the Egyptians for more than a few generations, they would have incorporated some of the language of the dominant culture. If this is the case then I think it's fair to question the language as it would have been influenced by Egypt. AMEN may have been reduced to an acronym out of necessity.
Your citation is silent on this question and I am not a scholar of ancient languages. Perhaps you can point us to an answer?