Is The Bible Gods Word? by Ahmed Deedat

The Christian propagandist is very fond of quoting the following verse as proof that his Bible is the Word of God.

"All scripture IS given by inspiration of God, and ISIS profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16 — AV by Scofield)

Note the "IS’s" in capitals. Rev. Scofield is telling us silently that they do not occur in the original Greek. "THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE," translated by a committee representing the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church, the Congregational Church, the Baptist Union, the Presbyterian Church of England, etc., etc., and the BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY has produced the closest translation of the original Greek which deserves to be reproduced here:

"EVERY INSPIRED SCRIPTURE HAS ITS USE FOR TEACHING THE TRUTH AND REFUTING ERROR, OR FOR REFORMATION OF MANNERS AND DISCIPLINE IN RIGHT LIVING." (2 Timothy 3:16)

The Roman Catholics in their "Douay" Version, are also more faithful to the text than the Protestants in their Authorised Version (AV). They say: "ALL SCRIPTURE, INSPIRED OF GOD, IS PROFITABLE TO TEACH, TO REPROVE, TO CORRECT . . ." We will not quibble with words. Muslims and Christians are agreed that whatever emanates from God, whether through in inspiration or by revelation, must serve one of four purposes:- 1. It must either teach us DOCTRINE; 2. REPROVE us for our error; 3. Offer us CORRECTION; 4. Guide us into RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I have been asking learned men of Christianity for the past forty years, whether they can supply a FIFTH "peg" to hang the Word of God on. They have failed signally. That does not mean that I have improved upon their performance. Let us examine the "Holy Bible" with these objective tests.

The very first book of the Bible — Genesis — provides us with many beautiful examples. Open chapter 38 and read. We are given here the history1 of Judah, the father of the Jewish race, from whom we derive the names "judea" and "Judaism." This patriarch of the Jews got married and God granted him three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. When the first-born was big enough, Judah had him married to a lady called Tamar. "BUT ER, JUDAH'S FIRST-BORN WAS WICKED IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD; AND THE LORD SLEW HIM.'' (Genesis 38:7). Under what heading, from the above four principles of Timothy will you place this sad news? The second — "REPROVE" is the answer. Er was wicked so God killed him. A lesson for all, God will destroy us for our wickedness. REPROOF! Continuing with this Jewish history, according to their custom, if a brother died and left no offspring, it was the duty of the other brother to give "seed" to his sisters-in-law so that the deceased's name might be perpetuated. Judah, in honour of this custom, orders his second son Onan to do his duty. But Jealousy enters his heart. It will be his seed but the name will be his brother's! So at the critical moment "HE SPILLED IT ON THE GROUND . . . AND THE THING HE DID DISPLEASED THE LORD: WHEREFORE HE SLEW HIM ALSO." (Genesis 38:9-10). Again, where does this slaying fit into Timothy's tests? "REPROOF!" is the answer again. No prizes are offered for these easy answers. They are so basic. Do wrong and bear the consequence! Onan is forgotten in the "Book of God," but Christian sexologists have immortalized him by referring to "coitus interruptus," as Onanism2 in their "Books of Sex." Now Judah tells his daughter-in-law, Tamar, to return to her father's house until his third son Shelah attains manhood, when she will be brought back so that he can do his duty.1. You remember Dr. Kenneth Cragg in his "Call of the Minaret" and his "HISTORY." See full quotation on page one. This is that "history." 2. "ONANISM:" Now immortalized in the Oxford Dictionary.

Shelah grows up and is, perhaps, married to another woman. But Judah had not fulfilled his obligation to Tamar. Deep in his heart he is terrified. He has already lost two sons on account of this "witch," — "LEST PERADVENTURE HE (Shelah) DIE ALSO, AS HIS BRETHERN DID." (Genesis 38:11). So Judah conveniently forgets his promise. The aggrieved young lady resolves to take revenge on her father-in-law for depriving her of her "seed" right. Tamar learned that Judah is going to Timnath to sheer his sheep. She plans to get even with him on the way. She forestalls him, and goes and sits in an open place en route to Timnath. When Judah sees her, he thinks she is a harlot because she has covered her face. He comes up to her and proposes — "ALLOW ME TO COME IN UNTO THEE; AND SHE SAID WHAT WILT THOU GIVE ME, THAT THOU MAYEST COME IN UNTO ME?" He promises that he would send her a goat kid from his flock. What guarantee could she have that he would send it? What guarantee did she require, Judah queried. "His ring, his bracelet and his staff" is the ready answer. The old man hands these possessions to her, and "CAME IN UNTO HER, AND SHE CONCEIVED BY HIM." (Genesis 38:16-18).

Before we seek the heading from Timothy 3:16, under which to categorize this filthy, dirty story from the "Book of God," I am tempted to ask, as you would be tempted to ask: what is the moral (?) lesson that our children will learn from Tamar's sweet revenge? Of course we do tell our children, fables, not really for their entertainment value, but that through them some moral may be imparted." The Fox and the Grapes,'' "The Wolf and the Lamb,'' "The Dog and his Shadow," etc. However simple or silly the story, a moral is aimed at.

Dr. Vernon Jones, an American psychologist of repute, carried out experiments on groups of schoolchildren to whom certain stories had been told. The heroes of the stories were the same in the case of the different groups of children, but the heroes behaved contradictorily to each group. To one group "St. George," slaving the dragon emerged a very brave figure, but to another group, fleeing in terror and seeking shelter in his mother's lap. "THESE STORIES MADE CERTAIN SLIGHT BUT PERMANENT CHANGES IN CHARACTER, EVEN IN THE NARROW CLASSROOM SITUATION,'' concluded Dr. Jones.

How much more permanent damage the rapes and murders, incests and beastialities of the "Holy Bible" has done to the children of Christendom, can be measured from reports in our daily newspapers. If such is the source of Western morality, it is no little wonder, then, that Methodists and Roman Catholics have already solemnized marriages between HOMOSEXUALS in their "Houses of God." And 8000 "gays" (an euphemistic term for sodomites) parade their "wares" in London's Hyde Park in July 1979, to the acclaim of the news and TV media. 1

You must get that "Holy Bible" and read the whole chapter 38 of Genesis. Mark in "red" the words and phrases deserving this adornment. We had reached verse 18 in our moral (?) lesson — "AND SHE CONCEIVED BY HIM." 1. Ever since then, the major cities of the Western World; be it London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Paris etc hold annual gay parades (Mardi Gras), with now, public turnouts bringing in children as spectators. Australia prides itself in having Sydney being declared the gay capital of the world.

Three months later, as things were bound to turn out, news reached Judah that his daughter-in-law, Tamar, had played the "harlot" and that she was with "CHILD BY WHOREDOM AND JUDAH SAID, BRING HER FORTH, AND LET HER BE BURNT." (Genesis 38:24). Judah had deliberately spurned her as a "witch" and now he sadistically wants to burn her. But this wiley Jewess was one up on the old man. She sent the "ring," the "bracelet," and the "staff'' with a servant, beseeching her father-in-law to find the culprit responsible for her pregnancy. Judah was in a fix. He confessed that his daughter-in-law was more "RIGHTEOUS" than himself, and "HE KNEW HER AGAIN NO MORE." (verse 26). It is quite an experience to compare the choice of language in which the different Versions describe the same incident. The Jehovah's Witnesses in their "New World Translation" translate the last quotation as — "HE HAD NO FURTHER INTERCOURSE WITH HER AFTER THAT." 1 This is not the last we will hear about in the "Book of God" of this Tamar whom the Gospel writers have immortalized in their "Genealogy of their Lord." 1. The Jehovah's Witness Version is more explicit in its choice of words. It does not hesitate to call a spade a spade! Compare Ezekiel 23 with any other Version, and see the difference.

I do not want to bore you with details, but the end verses of Genesis 38 deal with a duel in Tamar's womb: about the twins struggling for ascendancy. The Jews were very meticulous about recording their "first borns." The first born got the lion's share of their father's patrimony. Who are the lucky winners in this prenatal race? There are four in this unique contest. They are "PHAREZ and ZARAH of TAMAR by JUDAH.'' How? You will see presently. But first, let us have the moral. What is the moral in this episode? You remember Er and Onan: how God destroyed them for their several sins? And the lessons we have learnt in each case was "REPROOF'' Under what category of Timothy will you place the incest of Judah, and his illegitimate progeny? All these characters are honoured in the "Book of God" for their bastardy. They become the great grandfathers and great grandmothers of the "only begotten son of God'(?) See Matthew 1:3. In every Version of the Bible, the Christians have varied the spelling of these characters' names from those obtained in the Old Testament (Genesis chapter 38) with those contained in the New Testament (Matthew chapter 1) to put the reader off the scent. From PHAREZ in the "Old" to PARES in the "New,'' and ZARAH to ZARA and TAMAR to THAMAR, But what about the moral? God blesses Judah for his incestuous crime! So if you do "evil" (Er), God will slay you; if you spill "seed" (Onan), God will kill you, but a daughter-in-law (Lamat) who vengefully and guilefully collect her father-in-law's (Judah's) "seed" is rewarded. Under what category will the Christians place this "honour" in the "Book of God?" Where does it fit? Is it Your ...

1. DOCTRINE?

2. REPROOF?

3. CORRECTION? or 4. INSTRUCTION INTO RIGHTEOUSNESS?

Ask him who comes and knocks at your door — that professional preacher, that hot-gospeller, that Bible-thumper. Here, he deserves a prize if he can grant an explanation for the correct answer. There is none born who can justify this filth, this pornography under any of the above headings. But a heading has to be given. It can only be recorded under — "PORNOGRAPHY!"

George Bernard Shaw said that "THE MOST DANGEROUS BOOK (the Bible) ON EARTH, KEEP IT UNDER LOCK AND KEY." Keep the Bible out of your children's reach. But who will follow his advice? He was not a "B.A., 1 1 a "reborn" Christian.

According to the high moral scruples of the Christian rulers of South African, who have banned the book, "Lady Chatterley's Lover,'' because of a "tetragrammaton" — a four-letter word, they would most assuredly have placed a ban on the "Holy Bible" if it had been a Hindu religious Book, or a Muslim religious Book. But they are utterly helpless against their own "Holy Book," their "SALVATION" depends upon it!

1. "B.A." short for "born again" it is a new sickness. It destroyed the "SUICIDE CULT" of Rev. Jim Jones, in Jonestown, Guyana.

Read Genesis 19, verses 30 to the end and mark again in "red" the words and phrases deserving this honour. Do not hesitate and procrastinate. Your "coloured" Bible will become a priceless heirloom for your children. I agree with Shaw, to keep the Bible "under lock and key,'' but we need this weapon to meet the Christian challenge. The Prophet of Islam said that "WAR IS STRATEGY,'' and strategy demands that we use the weapons of our enemy. It is not what we like and what we do not like. It is what we are forced to use against the "ONE BOOK" (Bible) professors, who are knocking at our doors with "the Bible says this" and "the Bible says that." They want us to exchange our Holy Qur'an for their "Holy Bible." Show them the holes in the "holiness" which they have not yet seen. At times these zombies pretend to see the filth for the first time. They have been programmed with selected verses for their propagation.

To continue: the "history" has it that, night after night, the daughters of Lot seduce their drunken father with the noble (?) motive of preserving their father's "seed." "Seed" figures very prominently in this "Holy Book": forty seven times in the little booklet of Genesis alone! Out of this another incestuous relationship come the "Ammonites" and the "Moabites," for whom the God of Israel was supposed to have had a special compassion. Later on in the Bible we learn that the Jews are ordered by the same compassionate God to slaughter the Philistines mercilessly — men, women and children. Even trees and animals are not to be spared, but the Amonites and the Moabites are not to be "distressed" or "meddled" with because they are the seed of Lot! (Deuteronomy 2:19)

No decent reader can read the seduction of Lot to his mother, sister or daughter, not even to his fiancee if she is a chaste and moral woman. Yet you will come across perverted people who will gorge this filth. Tastes can be cultivated! Read again and mark Ezekiel 23. You will know what colour to choose. The "whoredoms" of the two sisters, Aholah and Aholibah. The sexual details here puts to shame even the unexpurgated edition of many banned books. Ask your "born again" Christian visitors, under what category will they classify all this lewdness? Such filth certainly has no place in any "Book of God." Al-Haj A.D. Ajijola in his book — "The Myth of the Cross" gives a masterly expose of the fallacy of the Bible as well as of the crucifixion, in short, of the whole of Christianity. No student of comparative religion can afford to be without this publication and "THE BIBLE: Word of God or Word of Man?" mentioned earlier on.