PREFACE

MY dear Friends -- Of one thing I am certain, the promised coming of Our Lord Jesus is imminent....and with it the end of this world.

"Behold I am coming soon.  My reward is with me and I will give to everyone according to what he has done? (Rev 22:12).  That reward, however, can only be won as Paul puts it, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved."  God wishes all, Yes, every one of us to be saved, as Peter writes, The Lord is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish...."

God gives us all the opportunity to know him to be saved and not perish, yet we seek after materialism and eager for money wander from faith and pierce ourselves with many griefs, forgetting that we brought nothing into the world and can take nothing out of it.  Many of us with our little learning feel there is no need for God and that science explains all.  To them I address my first letter.

When I was in Bombay I met a couple who were missionaries in North India.  After two (2) years they had converted a bare five (5) persons, yet they were not discouraged for they knew that over every sinner brought to repentance there was great joy in Heaven.  This inspires me to seek to bring Jesus to the 400 million Muslims in the world today who are missing the joys of knowing Jesus and so earning Salvation.  In the hope that I may touch some, and they may get to know Jesus as the Son of God, I direct my second letter.

Bless you all.

Lionel Luckhoo

AN OPEN LETTER.....GOD AND SCIENCE

My dear Friends,

My earlier open letters to boys, girls and adults have been well received in many parts of the world.  It encourages me to write again.  The later Archbishop of the West Indies shortly before he died wrote to me saying "Whatever you do, keep on writing booklets especially for the young."  Recently a science student came and spoke to me.  He said his science teacher told him, "God did not make our stars and planets, they broke off from the sun."  The wiseacre teacher did not go on to say who made the sun.  Then a colleague of mine who is very sceptical said to me, "If there is God, why does He not show Himself and all mankind will believe."  My short reply to this is, God shows Himself to all mankind every second of every day, yet man will not see Him.  Man is so blinded by his own importance, his cleverness  that he forgets, "The wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight"  (1 Cor. 3:19).

I hope this little booklet on science and God will encourage you to appreciate God's presence.

GOD EVERYWHERE

As I am writing this, I am on the lawn with a garden all around me.  The grass is green.  The trees at this moment are in flower, gorgeous colours heliotrope with a tinge of deep purple.  The garden is in a blaze of colour.  Where did all of this come from?  Who is responsible?  Tropical birds are all around me -- their colour, shape and size are all a joy to behold.  Where did they come from?  What is their origin?

Around me too there are some tiny flies, hardly discernible to the naked eye yet full of life, darting here and there.  Where did they come from?

As I look around I can see God in everything and everywhere.  For me there can be no life, no colour, without God, but since I seek to appeal to those who doubt, those who deny, let us proceed further, can you explain any of these things without acknowledging God?  Can science explain them without falling back on to the Creator?

ME AND YOU

Let me look at my own body.  You look at yours.  By what means do we see?  Well, of course we use our eyes to see, but let us examine those eyes and not take sight for granted.

Our eyes are fully automatic; they focus themselves; they are like a camera, a motion picture camera, not merely taking pictures in colour but taking instant three dimensional pictures and all without any laboratory equipment for development.  I can look up into the heavens miles up, and the next instant look down at an ant a few inches away, and I can do so without any discomfort as the accommodation is effortless and immediate.  Now, who made this wonder camera?  Did it just happen?  Even now as I write the visual impressions of the words I am writing are being changed at the back of my eyes to electrical impulses which are then carried to the brain and the grey matter weighing a bare 3 lbs. immediately stores the information for use at the appropriate time, comparing new material with old which I previously stored.  Can science explain these miracles?  Or is not all science completely subservient to God's will?

THE BRAIN

This wonder computer we call our brain has 10 billion nerve cells and each cell connects with 25000 others.  Who devised these cells and these connections?  While in Germany I visited the home of Ludwig Van Beethoven, and the story his admirers love to tell is that Beethoven was stone deaf when he composed his 9th symphony.  He never heard a single note, he never heard the thunderous applause at the initial concert, yet he possessed the creative imagination to produce this master-piece.

Pause, all of you science teachers, science students, men of letters and unlettered, you all have this gift of a brain, but who gave it to you?  Did this just happen or is it a blessing from God Almighty?  Yes, you Mr. Unbeliever who questions God's existence, God's presence and God's ability -- Your brain is a living computer so complex that the most extravagant sophisticated computers, when compared are mere toys.  And what is more, you can never use up your brain in a lifetime; as the memory and learning capacity are estimated to be many, many more times than anything we are capable of using.  Yes, thanks be to the Creator who provided us with a brain which picks up messages from the five senses and triggers speed and actions, we can acquire knowledge and store it in our memory, but so often we get carried away with our alleged genius and begin to question God -- to say He is incompatible with science and ask, "If you are there God, show yourself to us!:  We are presumptuous; God is tolerant and loving.

As I write a fly has alighted on my ear.  I don't see it.  I feel it.  Yes, you see our nervous system is a massive communications network that receives and/or acts on millions of sensations a second through electrochemical impulses.  It reaches every square millimetre of skin, every muscle, blood vessel, bone and organ.  Who devised our nervous system?  Did it just happen?  Or do we go back to God who made all things?  Yet, I have hardly begun to explore the wonders of our body, quite apart from the wonders of nature and the things around us.

BONES

I am looking now at the bones of my legs which are stretched out in front of me.  We all have a structural frame of bones weighing about 20 lbs., yet they are strong as iron girders -- superbly rigged and balanced to other muscles and to shield vital organs.  My shin bone for example can support two tons pressure-wise and up to 20,000 lbs. per square inch.  Who is responsible my friends?  Did this all just happen?  Or do you begin to perceive that we owe it all to God, and as we look at ourselves, we see God through God's handiwork.

EAR

As I write I am listening to scores of different sounds, the buzz of the flies, and chirping of the cricket, the song of the birds.  Each is distinctive yet I can discern each sound, all because God gave you and he gave me some 24,000 tiny hairs in my ear which act as the strings of a piano, and the sounds around are picked up and translated with such definition that while I am concentrating on writing, I can still hear the sounds around me.

Again I ask -- whose authority and almighty power were utilized that mankind could have such sensitive means of catching sounds and have them translated, so that at the one and the same time we could appreciate the several sounds around us.

ORGANS

I have been writing and making observations about the things which are apparent, but I also know that within me and within you we have organs working by day and by night.  Take the liver, for example.  It is a complicated and versatile chemical laboratory with some 500 functions, such as storage and release of blood, vitamins, minerals and nutrients, manufacturing hundreds of enzymes to promote chemical conversions, etc.

Then there is the heart.  The heart beats and does so without any conscious effort on our part.  Yet it is pumping some 1500 gallons daily.  It stops beating and we die.  Who is responsible, we keep asking?  Let me quote Isaac Newton perhaps the greatest scientist who ever lived.  He was asked similar questions to the ones I am asking.  Who?  Who?  He answered, "The only answer which satisfies all of these questions is the answer -- God,"  When Einstein promulgated his famous formula E - mc^2 where E is the energy in ergs, M the mass in grams and C the velocity of Light in centimeters per second, a colleague rushed up and proclaimed, you have shown that mass can be created by man, God is unnecessary "Einstein looked at him intently and remarked Yes, but who created the energy?"

Up to now I have been speaking about the human body which is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor 6:19) and the Bible tells us that Jesus Himself said (John 14: 23) "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."  Jesus says He and His father will make their homes within the body of all believers who love Jesus.  What a magnificent thought that we are invited to host Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit!  And this the greatest honour given mankind, we eschew.

THE SUN

Now let us look around us.  There is the sun which shines on the righteous and unrighteous.  The sun is a great power plant which together with the solar system revolves around the center of our galaxy at the speed of 130 miles per second.  If we were to mark off one square yard of the sun, we would find it gives off 70,000 horse power of energy continually.  A fantastic release of power.

Now our galaxy is a great aggregate of stars comprising some 100 billion stars, averaging as large as the sun.  If you do not believe, check it in your Encyclopedia.  The universe consists of many, many galaxies, indeed it is estimated that there are trillions of galaxies.  I repeat our galaxy alone is made up of 100 billion stars, and there are trillions of galaxies, can you imagine how much is one billion?  Well, let me illustrate, if you were to count from 1 to 250 in one minute, it would take you 100 years to count up to 100 billion.  What a lot of stars, and says the Bible, God knows each by name.  Let me refer you to Isaiah 40:26 "Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens, who created all these:  He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls each by name." Isn't that beautiful?  Let me repeat it again: "Left up your eyes and look to the heavens, who created all these?  He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls each by name."  God, the God of all mankind knows the name of each of the trillions of stars.

So back to the sun.  Who is responsible for the sun?  Who is responsible for the enormous power as demonstrated by radiation of the stars.  With radiation there is a loss of matter.  The sun, for example, loses 42 million tons of mass a second to produce the radiation it does.  Who?  Who made all of this possible?  You can guess if you wish to guess.  I know -- the answer is God! There is also an interesting addendum, if as the scientists agree the sun is losing this amount of matter second by second...If the sun is running down then it must have had a beginning.  It could not have always existed, for if 4 million tons of mass were added to the sun each second for an infinite period of past time, you would have an infinite mass and our sun would have filled all space.  This is impossible.  Therefore the sun had a beginning.

THE BOOK

Apart from reason and the natural feeling to ascribe all these phenomena to God, there is a Book, a Holy Book called the Bible.  It is a precious book.  It is God breathed, and this Book is the living Word of God.  Now this Book provides the authority for saying:  There is One God, Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus came on to earth and died that our sins  may be washed clean and that all who believe in Him should have Everlasting Life.

The Bible is made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament.  In the Old Testament the first record was made during the days of David about 1000 B.C. and comprises some 39 books.  These ancient Scrolls in which the writings were faithfully copied and written thereon were all in existence hundreds and hundreds of years before the birth of Christ.  The writers were God inspired.  Now it is that Old Testament which records:

(a)

The coming of Jesus 483 years after a certain event, and did come to pass.

(b)

The village of His birth was named.  The family line in which He would be born, was given.  The Old Testament did much more than this, having proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God, the Holy Ones inspired by God foretold the very day, the month and the time of His death.  Further the manner of His death was described in great detail.

The last Book of the Old Testament to be written was the Book of Malachi which was written 400 years before the birth of Christ.  Even the most diabolical disbelievers all concede that the entire Old Testament was completed long before Jesus Christ was born, hence all these events connected with His birth and Life and death could only be explained if one accepted that the Old Testament was and is the inspired word of God and God Himself revealed ahead of time events which would happen, and which did happen.

We lose sight of the fact that when the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written there were people of that day and age who would check on the Old Testament which would conform or deny the details which had been set out in the New Testament.  Instead all was confirmed.

HIS TEACHINGS

Jesus did live on earth.  This is a fact of history, and what was if that He taught to the people of Galilee, Samaria and Judea?  He preached Love.  Always was Love to the forefront.  "Love your neighbour as yourself."  "Love ye one another even as I have loved you."  In the three years of His Ministry this man who was no doctor healed the sick and the maimed.  He was no psychiatrist, yet He healed the minds of the disturbed, the waves obeyed Him and even the dead came back to Life.

Read the Gospels, read the Gospel of St. John and in it there are the basics of life and living.  Jesus was no warrior, yet 2000 years later millions serve under His banner.  He was no song writer, yet countless songs are written of Him.  He was no author, yet countless books are written about Him.  Truly this was no mere mortal.

During the bare three years of His teachings.  He foretold His death,  He foretold His resurrection and He foretold His coming again.  What was the reason you may ask for His coming on Earth?  He came to suffer and to bear our Sins.  He came to give His life not just for His friends, but also for His enemies.  He came to offer Himself as a sacrifice, to the end that all who believe in Him should not perish but have Life Everlasting.  He came to atone for the Sins of all mankind that we, one day, could inherit Eternal Life.

He was the only perfect man.  He lived no lies.  He was pure.  He was understanding and kind.  He ate and drank with Sinners and when a woman caught in adultery was brought before Him, the judicial verdict was that she should be stoned, but Jesus quietly said to her accusers...."Let him without sin cast the first stone." and they all slunk away.  Then Jesus turned to the woman and said, "Where are your accusers?"  They had gone.  So He said to her, "Go your way and sin no more."

Read the Gospels 1000 times, and on the 1001st time you will find something new and beautiful which you had previously missed.  Read of the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and the mockery of His trial; read of His crucifixion and see whether any man ever suffered as He did.  Yet forget not that at any stage when He was spat upon, reviled, mocked and scourged so that His body bled and the crown of thorns bored deeply into His forehead; at any time He could have called His angels to destroy the forces of Pilate and wipe out His false accusers, the Sadducees and Pharisees and the High Priests.  Yet from His lips came not angry words of revenge, but those immortal words -- "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

THE END? NO!

Was this to be the end?  Here was a good man, now without friends and followers -- crucified.  His disciples in complete disarray.  Maybe if He were just a man, history would give Him a few lines and then with time His memory would grow dim.

But is this what happened?  No!  The disciples who had fled and denied Him came together again.  They defied the powers of might Rome.  They preached His resurrection.  His what?  His resurrection?  Yes.  For He did come from His grave.  He lived with them.  He walked.  He talked.  He ate with them.  He remained forty days on Earth before being taken to Heaven.  He was seen by all.  They touched Him.  He was seen by Peter and by more than 500 on one occasion.

Finally, before He went away, before His ascension, He admonished them to go to the ends of the world and preach the Good News that He would return when there will be no longer pain and distress and sorrow and all who accepted Him as Christ as the Son of God would enjoy Life everlasting.

Now, if you were to come across a Book and it was proved that this book was written one-hundred years ago, let's say 1880, and if that book accurately foretold what would happen in 1980 in great detail, would you not accept that that book is special;

AN OPEN LETTER.....GOD AND SCIENCE

it is inspired, further suppose that book referred to places of the day such as England, the States, Iran and so on, and if the book pronounced correctly as to what would happen to these countries and mentioned even particularized details, like Iran breaching all the rules and holding hostages, would you not place reliance on that Book; if written in 1880 and telling us what will happen in 1980?  There are no such books save one.  The Bible.  It is the only book of all alleged Holy and Prophetic books.  It foretold what would happen (a) To places well-known at the time of writing and (b)  The coming, the birth and death of the Messiah -- God's only begotten Son.  We have already adverted to some aspects of the birth of Jesus and we shall give other examples, but for the present let us turn our attention to Places, to countries, to cities.

TYRE

In Ezekiel Chapter 26 written 590 B.C. four distinct prophecies and recorded (a) The city of Tyre would be made flat, this came to pass, it was devastated and became absolutely flat, by Alexander the great. (b) It is to become a place for the spreading of nets.  At the time of prophecy no one could foresee that an industrial center would subsequently become a "Fishing center."  It did so become. (c) "Its stones and timber are to be laid in the sea."  Yes, this is what did happen.  The site was cleared and the debris disposed of in the sea.  (d) "The city will never be rebuilt."  Indeed the city was destroyed and was never rebuilt.  Despite its excellent location, an abundant supply of fresh water and valuable land, Tyre was never rebuilt.  It remained as the Bible told it would be for all times.

SAMARIA

Let us look at Samaria (Micah 1:6) written in 750 B.C.  It was foretold that "Samaria would be completely destroyed and become a heap of rubble."  It came to pass.  "Vineyards, says the Bible are to occupy its site."  This came true.  "Its stones shall be poured down the sides of the hills into the valley, and its foundation is to be dug up."  The city was destroyed and became a heap of stones and ruins.  Gradually the hill was cleared and the foundation stones taken to the edge of the hill and rolled down into the valley.  The Old Testament said this would happen and hundreds of years after, this did happen.

JERICHO

On and on we can go citing Gaza and Ashkelon (Zeph. 2:4 written 680 B.C.) as cities where the prophecies accurately came to pass.  But the city and prophecies which intrigue me concern Jericho (Joshua 6:26 written in 1451 B.C.)

Four predictions are made: - (a) Jericho shall be rebuilt (b) It shall be rebuilt by one  an (c) The builder's eldest son shall die when the work on the city begins (d) The builder's youngest son shall die when the work is completed.

All of these predictions came true Jericho was destroyed by Joshua 500 years after prophecy; King Ahab engaged Hiel to rebuild Jericho.  His eldest son Abiram died when the work commenced and Segub his youngest son died when the work was completed.

PALESTINE

The one prophecy that historians are citing today as being incredible and true relates to Palestine.  Lev. 26: 31/33 written 1491 B.C. and Ezek. 36: 33/35 make the following predictions.  (a) "Palestine shall become waste."  It happened! (b) "Sanctuaries and land will become desolate."  It happened!  (c) Enemies shall inhabit the land and the Jews shall be scattered.  It happened!  The Muslims took over the land (d) A sword shall go out after the Jews."  Do you remember the massacre by Hitler?  (e) "The Jews shall return to Palestine the cities shall be rebuilt and its land shall be tilled."  This last named prophecy has occurred in this our lifetime.

Moab, Ammon, Edon, Babylon are others which we can cite.  Surprised?  Why should we be surprised/  The Bible is God's word and God's word is alive, vibrant and TRUE.  Yes, God's Word is True and Perfect.

CHRIST

Now may we go back to the Christ of Prophecy.  Micah 5:2 told us of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem hundreds of years before His birth.

Then Mal. 3:l said "Behold I shall send my messenger and he will prepare the way before."  This referred to John the Baptist the forerunner of Jesus.  Then in Zech. 9:9 we find an unusual prophecy -- who can explain it other than saying this was god's Word....The prophecy concerning Jesus was put this way: -- "Rejoice gladly behold the King....riding upon a colt, foal of an ass."  Jesus in His triumphal entry to Jerusalem as a ruler came riding on a colt, the foal of an ass.  then Zech. 13:6 asks "What are these wounds in thine hands?  I was wounded in the house of my friend."  Christ you readily recall was betrayed by His friend Judas and His hands nailed to the cross.

CONCLUSIONS

1.  My friends let us review what we have been talking about.  I have sought to attract your attention that our body presents a series of incredible miracles.  Every member reveals the creation by the Almighty.

2.  All around us the flowers, the birds the beauty, the colour, reveal the inscrutable workings of God Almighty.  Science cannot explain them -- Only God can.

3.  The Bible is precious, the prophecies of Towns and Cities are incredibly accurate.  The prophecies of Jesus unerringly pointed to His coming.  When He did come He fulfilled the several prophecies in His birth, His life on earth and His death.  Let us examine some other prophecies set out in the Old Testament concerning Christ which came to pass in the New Testament....

4.  "Give me my price....so they weighed out 30 pieces of silver"  (Zech. 11:12)  This was the betrayal price, it foretold exactly 30 pieces of silver not 31 or 29, but 30.  And in the New Testament this was the price paid to Judas, exactly 30 pieces -- and even the Devil could not make it more or less.

5.  "And I took the 30 pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord"  (Zech. 11:13)  This is specific; Judas you will recall cast down the 30 pieces of silver and hanged himself.  The chief priest took the money and bought a field of the potter to bury strangers in it.  What an amazing prophecy?  A coincidence?  Impossible!

6.  "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth" (Isa. 53:7)  Though innocent Jesus made no defense for Himself.  You will recall Pilate kept inducing Jesus to speak and defend Himself.  He did not, and this was foretold.

7.  "They pierced my hands and feet: (Ps. 22:16)  This is a reference to His crucifixion.  These are only some of the references in the Old Testament written centuries before, all coming to pass hundreds of years later to fulfill Christ in Prophecy.

Let me at this point quote my two favourite verses in the beautiful living Bible, the Word of God.

(a)  This living word of God foretells the second coming of Jesus Rev. 21:3, 4 "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.  They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God, He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Jesus is coming my friends.  He wishes all of us to have everlasting life.  He gives each of us that opportunity.  We have freedom of choice.  I could write and write and you are free to disregard my puny efforts and say, I do not believe.  But please do not lightly let slip an opportunity for life everlasting.  This life on earth is temporary.  The life everlasting is to come.  Anyone who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact proved perhaps more abundantly than any other fact in the world.

(b)  John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that all who believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

This my dear friends is your opportunity to accept Jesus, to confess with your lips that He is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.  In this way by this belief or acceptance, you too can have your name inscribed in the Kingdom of God, ready to share in the Glory which is coming.

THE MAKER

Let us return to our subject God and Science, let us start from first principles.  Everything must have a maker.  A table cannot make itself and in like form the Universe cannot create itself.  Did the sea make itself?  The sky make itself?  Some scientists say that the spontaneous explosion of certain gases was responsible for life, but how did the gases get there?  Who made them?  Is there anything science can discover about the structure of matter or of history of the stars which can throw any light on its creation, without a creator?  No other part of the solar system has been discovered in which life like our own would be possible.  So we revert to the original question:  Is man an accident?  Is the Universe an accident?  Did it just happen?  Is my presence and your presence alive today a question of chance?

The story is told of Sir Isaac Newton, who built a mechanical solar system, an elaborate model which worked.  An Atheist friend who called on him and saw this magnificent structure in action turned with admiration and asked Newton:  "Who made it?"  "Nobody," was the reply.  His friend somewhat irate said:  "Don't be silly someone must have made it."  "Yes, you are right," said Newton.  "Someone must have made it, yet you do not believe that someone must have made our Solar System and that that someone is God."

CHANCE

What do you  say about this Mr. Atheist?  Do you think that it all happened by chance?  Edward Conklin writes:  "The probability of a dictionary resulting from an explosion of a printing works."  Let me put it in a little stronger -- for all life to be an accident would be comparable to an explosion of a printing works wherein all the letters were blown sky high, but so fell by chance that they formed the entire Oxford Dictionary as well as the entire works of Shakespeare, and the music of the Masters.  The chances of this happening can be so equated to the chances of man's creation being an accident.

FINITE MINDS

Mr. Atheist I know you will say:  "But if God made these things around us, nature and man, then who made God?"  Let me suggest an answer.  You will agree our minds are finite and this God of whom we are speaking is infinite.  Our limited finite puny minds cannot grapple with the comprehension of that which was there before time began.  If we knew the answer then we would ourselves be God.  Maybe the short answer is best, that no-one made God.  God was there before creation....and this is what the Bible says, God was not created -- but God created.  St. John writes:  "In the beginning the word was", that is in the beginning God was, he does not say he came to be or was created.  You see Mr. Atheist, God created things and the things which He created belong to time, since they have a beginning.  Let us put this simply, -- At the moment God put forth His power to create, time began.  So that when God created the earth, time began.  The Bible says:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  John 1:1.  In summary, from when time began God was already present.

EVOLUTION

Disbelievers are fond of citing Julian Huxley who wrote "Evolution has no place for the supernatural."  Today scientists debunk this concept.

Let me quote from the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Junior Edition 1979 at p.388 "Evolution does not tell us to do away with God....it shows that life has a plan which is infinitely beautiful.  Evolution and Religion do not contradict each other, they are two different ways of looking a at the same thing:  man's relation to life as a whole and to the world in which he lives."

"Today there are scientists who do not accept the basic principles of evolution," (again Encyclopedia Britannica).  "The evidence is very imperfect and often interrupted by gaps.  Of the vital processes which brought about the changes we are yet ignorant".

The recognised Science News Letter, in 1965 etc., stated.  "The fight is among scientists over just how did man evolve, when he did so and what he looked like."  Indeed one scientist, Dr. T. Talimisian, a physiologist for the Atomic Energy Commission said:  "Scientists who go on teaching that evolution is a fact of life are great con men and the story they are telling is the greatest hoax ever."

For myself Mr. Atheist I accept creation and not evolution.  Many Christians feel that creation does not come into conflict with evolution and there are tomes written on the Christian concept of evolution.  Yet this does not effect the content of my arguments as if all creatures developed from others and others from others, the stage must be reached as to who created the first cell.  Yet my personal convictions are all for the Biblical acceptance of creation and not evolution.  To set out my views and background knowledge for such belief would take a number of booklets, so let me briefly give two examples at random which influence my personal views.

THE REVIEW TEXT IN BIOLOGY:  Has been reporting on efforts by German Scientist August Weisman to establish a breed of tailless mice by simply cutting off their tails before allowing them to mate.  He repeated this procedure for 20 successive generations.  The last generation had tails just as long as any of their ancestors.  The repeated removal of the tails did not affect, as we have learned in evolution, the product after 20 generations.  Similar experiments over years to breed different animals and insects all failed.

Again the theory of evolution of a living cell from non-living matter is just a refined version of the old theory of spontaneous generation, which today has been discredited.  Take a bit of meat and put it in a jar uncovered.  Maggots will soon appear from eggs deposited by flies.  Sterilize the jar and seal it off and no maggots will appear to the meat placed there under.  Today science is over-throwing the very theory which we all once learned in school.  Today evolution is being debunked.  The Bible and Creation I accept unequivocally.  Science can explain many things, but only God can provide the answer to creation, we serve created things rather than the Creator. (Rom 1:25).

PRAYER

Finally let me ask all of you who doubt, who deny, or in a state where you are dubious of what to accept....carry out a little exercise for me.  Please, I do appeal to you, with an open heart devoid of prejudices or preconceived convictions do this little thing: -- PRAY!  Yes, pray that your unbelief may be enlightened by God's grace.  Go ahead, pray....pray if you are not afraid of becoming a deist -- pray, carry out this exercise and I know, just know, that you will thereafter accept God and even as Paul the unbeliever became the greatest advocate for Christ, you too will become His friend and His advocate.

The Communists say Prayer is, and indeed all Religion is, an Opiate, to soothe you and give you a sense of well-being.  Let us Mr. Atheist agree with them, but what they fail to tell the world is that Religion of Christ Works.  Please Mr. Atheist give it a chance to work, will you?  I have in my lifetime seen believers when under pressures and distress....call out "Oh my God help me."  Don't leave it until the end Mr. Atheist.  Do it now and make your own life more meaningful.

How do I end my letter to you Mr. Atheist?  May I be permitted to tell you a personal story?  My first child died shortly after birth.  It was a grave blow to me, and when my next child was to be delivered I insisted in going to the deliver room.  There I saw a child born -- lifeless, almost inanimate admixture of flesh around a skeletal structure.  The child as born had no independent life.  Then for the first time I truly appreciated God and His gift to mankind.  Mr. Atheist I ask you, who else could breathe life into that child?  I prayed as I have never done before.  It took a while before my little girl cried, then I knew that God had given the baby that spark of life to live independently of her mother.  To witness the birth of any child is to appreciate God's wonderful gift of life to mankind.  This incident will always live with me.  Today my daughter is alive as you are alive Mr. Atheist, and all because God in His infinite love so willed. it.  Yet we are ingrates.  We think we know all the answers.  Our little knowledge becomes dangerous.  We regard ourselves as Man Almighty.  Yes, Mr. Atheist this be your failing, but it is also mine.

GOODBYE!

As I say goodbye to you, I pray that that which reason cannot bridge, Faith may span.  Long ago when the disciples were bewildered and afraid, there He stood before them, the crucified yet risen Christ.  He was no illusion.  Today, He the Divine Redeemer now holds out His hands.  From His presence emanates love; His outstretched hands, pleadingly say:  "Come unto me!" He calls you Mr. Atheist He calls me.  We have one thing in common, we are both sinners.  Will you Mr. Atheist do as Thomas the doubting one did, will you fall at His feet in true repentance in living faith, in glad submission and say -- "My Lord and My God!"  You have freedom of will no one can twist your arm and only you can answer the basic questions.  "Is there a God?  Did Jesus the Son of God die for Me?  I can but hope and pray they will be in the affirmative that you will accept Him and let Him enter into your life.  You will become a new creation, the old things will be of the past, you will be taking a significant leap from darkness to light.  Do this and enjoy the Peace which passeth all understanding -- for you will then enjoy Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Your brother in Christ,

Lionel Luckhoo

To the 400 million followers of the Religion of Islam

DEAR MUSLIM FRIENDS

An open letter which shows that the Quran admits the deity of Jesus..

AN OPEN LETTER TO MY MUSLIM FRIENDS

My dear Friends,

I have been seeking to study the Islamic Religion which today has a large following throughout the world.  I am a Christian.  I accept Jesus as my Lord, confess Him with my lips, and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead.  My Holy Bible tells, that those who so believe will enjoy everlasting life when Jesus returns.

Many of my friends are Muslims, followers of the prophet Muhammad; friends who I admire and love.  So I set out to read your Book, the Quran, to identify wherein there are basic differences in belief.  I found that there are differences and that the one  major difference concerns Jesus.

We Christians regard Jesus as the Son of God, we regard Him as being Divine.  He was crucified, dead and buried, yet He rose from the dead on the third day to dwell and live with the people for forty days after His resurrection.  He was seen by thousands, and on one occasion by more than five hundred.  Islam on the other hand proclaims Jesus is NOT God; Jesus is NOT the Son of God; Jesus is NOT divine; Jesus is merely a prophet.

With this background I seek to write to you and ask you to listen to my arguments and contentions with an open mind, and I pray God that I am able to convince you that JESUS IS DIVINE FROM YOUR VERY OWN QURAN.

Now, let us commence with Muhammad whose writings you treat in the Quran as coming from God.  Who was Muhammad?  He was born in Mecca in 570 A.D.  He had a human father.  He had a human mother called Amina and a foster mother Halima.  Muhammad never claimed to be divine.  Apart from declaring that there is one God, his sole claim is that he is "A prophet who came in the fullest blaze of history with no learning to put to shame the wisdom of the learned!: (Quran C 18)

At 40 years of age he received a call to stand forth and proclaim the bounty of God.  He sought after truth, and at a cave at the side of Mount Hiraa three miles from Mecca, he used to retire for peaceful contemplation.  At 25 he was married to Khadija, a noble lade of great wealth and she assisted him in his meditations.

"Revelations," says the Quran, "Came to Muhammad, Messages came as an inspiration, and on different occasions and in different places he recited the, and they were recorded by the pen."  In this way the Quran was written.  As you knew each chapter is called a sura (S) which means a step, and each verse is called an ayat which means a sign.  The text translations and commentary referred to in this letter are by A. Yusuf Ali, whose version I am advised is accepted in the whole Muslim world.  All quotations herein are given with their references taken from the Quran.

My friends, if anyone were to open the Quran at random he would see many many names and places referred to which are in the Holy Bible, starting, for example, with --

S. 11. 26-29:

"God created for you all things that are on earth."

And we find the story of Adam and Eve --

S. ll. 32-36:

"Oh Adam dwell thou and thy wife in the garden and eat of the bountiful things there but approach not this tree or ye run into harm and transgression.  Then did Satan make them slip from the garden and get them out."

Indeed in the Quran we read of the story of Moses, the story of Abraham, and of other Biblical characters.  Well, you may say, this is fine, but let us come down to the basic difference and show us how one arrives at the acceptance of the Christian point of view from the Quran.

THE BASIC DIFFERENCE

Let me repeat there is one vital basic difference, the Quran refers to Jesus as a righteous prophet, an Apostle to Israel, but in the Quran Muhammad declares Jesus was not God, not the Son of God, and that He was only an Apostle.  In other words the religion of Islam says:

This Jesus lived.  This Jesus was good.

This Jesus was truthful.  This Jesus was righteous.

BUT THIS JESUS WAS NOT DIVINE.

Now Jesus had Himself said "I am Christ (Jn. 4: 25) If He were not the Christ then He was a deceiver and a liar.  Yet the Quran itself rightly proclaims His rectitude and virtues.  Can you on this simple ground accept the Quran's statement that He was not divine?  Let us continue our examination of the Quran, what else did Muhammad say of Jesus.  In the Quran S.V. 113 states of Jesus: --

"By my leave thou healest those born blind and lepers, and by my leave thou bringest forth the dead."

In summary from Islam proclaims Jesus was a wonderful prophet, a healer and one who brought the dead back to life.  No such acts or powers are ascribed in the Quran to your Prophet Muhammad.  So the Quran itself ascribes greater power to Jesus than to Muhammad.  Now arises the question....From the Quran could any reasonable person deduce that Jesus is DIVINE?  I claim Yes!!!  And I further aver, to arrive at any other conclusion would be most unreasonable.

Let us examine this contention in two ways:

1.

What factors should be present to convince anyone that Jesus is DIVINE?

2.

Are those factors present in your Book the Quran?  If these factors are present, then surely you must accept that Jesus is divine, for the proof is taken from your own Authority.

THE FOUR FACTORS

Now, let us examine the first question, what factors should be present?  Well, I would expect --

(a)

There should be a prophecy or expectation which His coming fulfills.

(b)

His coming or birth ought to be supernatural, extraordinary, an incredible miracle which could only be explained if He were the Son of God.

(c)

His life should be highlighted with miracles and His teachings should withstand the passage of time.

(d)

Finally, Jesus Himself should conquer death.

Now, how are these four requirements met when we examine the Quran?  Let us take the first one, does His coming fulfill any earlier pronouncements?  The Bible is replete with references to the coming of Jesus, the time, the place of His birth, etc.  And these were foretold hundreds of years before His coming, but let us forget about this and confine our attention to your Book, the Quran.

In S.V. 49

Muhammad reflecting God's dictation writes: "And in their footsteps we sent Jesus the Son of Mary, confirming the law that had come before Him; we sent Him the gospel; therein was guidance and light and confirmation of the law that had come before Him; a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God.

What does this passage mean?  It means what it says, that Jesus came to confirm the law, the pronouncements laid down before He came.   The law as laid down by the prophets, that is to say the prophecies were to be confirmed by the birth of Jesus.

Now having read what the Quran says, let us look at its counterpart in the Bible.  Did Jesus Himself not say in Mat. 5:17 -- "Think not that I am come to destroy the law of the prophets.  I am not come to destroy but to fulfill."  And in Luke 24:44 Jesus again said, "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Laws of Moses...."  In like manner the Quran is saying Jesus is sent to fulfill, to confirm the Law or pronouncements laid down before He came, that is to confirm the prophecies.  So this first requirement is satisfied viz. there should be prophecy which His coming fulfills, and the Quran is saying the coming of Jesus was foretold, and His coming was to confirm the Law.

SUPERNATURAL

(b)  The second factor we would expect if Jesus were Divine is that His coming should be supernatural.  His coming should be supernatural that it should be an incredible miracle which could only explained if Jesus were the Son of God.  This is, in my view, the crucial test of Divinity.  If the Quran satisfies this requirement, then the Quran will be asserting that Jesus is the Messiah.

For a child to be conceived, the laws of nature are to be observed.  There must be the union of a man and a woman.  In all history, throughout all ages only one birth makes the claim of a virgin birth, only in one birth has this claim been substantiated and that is in the birth of Jesus.

Once again let us not look at the Bible which is the Christian Authority, the Word on which the Christian leans, let us look at these extracts taken from the Quran.  The Quran first speaks of the Mother of Mary, when the baby Mary was born. Mary's mother said: --

S. 111.36

"Oh my Lord!  Behold: I am delivered of a female child! And God knows best....I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to thy protection from the Evil One, the Rejected."

37--

"Right graciously did her Lord accept her (Mary): He made her grow in purity and beauty to the care of Zakariya was she assigned.  Every time that he entered her chamber to see her he found her supplied with sustenance.  He said, "Oh Mary!  Whence comes this to you?"  She said, "From God; for God provides sustenance to whom He pleases without measure."

The Quran is here giving details of Mary the Mother of Jesus which is not found in the Bible.

The Quran next identifies the young Mary in this manner, and all of these quotations are taken directly from the Quran.  This is what the Quran says of how Mary conceived the baby Jesus: --

S.111.42 -

The angels said: "O Mary!  God hath chosen thee and purified thee, chosen thee above the women of all nations."  Mary then is chosen and purified.  the Quran continues:

S.111.43 -

"O Mary! Worship thy Lord devoutly; prostrate thyself and bow down in prayer with those who bow down."  And now comes that vital and far reaching declaration in the Quran.

S.111.45 -

Behold! The angel said, "O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from him; His name shall be Christ Jesus the Son of Mary held in honour in this world and the hereafter and of the company of those nearest to God.  He shall speak to the people in childhood and maturity and He shall be (of the company) of the Righteous."  Mary's reply (again from the Quran) is: -

S.111.47 -

She said, "Oh my Lord, how shall I have a son when no man has touched me?"  The angel replied, "Even so: God createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a Plan, He but said to it, 'Be,' and it is!"

Followers of Islam can never explain away these clear unequivocal statements written by their Prophet.  Muhammad was declaring that Jesus was being born without a human father.  This alone proves His Deity!  This alone proves He is the Son of God!!

SUMMARY

Now what the Quran has said beyond question is that (a) Mary was a virgin (b) the angels brought the glad tidings to Mary of the coming birth of Jesus (c) Mary asks how could this be when no man had touched her (d) the answer:  God created what He willeth (e) Mary conceives (f) Jesus is born, all according to the writing in your Book called the Quran, and His name said the angels to Mary will be Christ Jesus

(g)     Jesus was born of the will of God.  Jesus had no human father.  Is He not then the Son of God?  Put another way, whom would you say is His father based on your Quran?  Surely the answer is GOD:  My Muslim friends is this not clear and incapable of any other construction?

It is interesting to note that there is no prophecy of the birth of Muhammad or Moses or any of the prophets, and no one, however, holy and chaste, could claim that he or she was born without a father.  Yet, what Muhammad wrote in the Quran was foretold 740 years before by Isaiah (7:14) who wrote, "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel."  Indeed in the Quran (Al Imran v. 45) Jesus is referred to as "The greatest above all in this world and in the world to come.

Who can deny the miraculous birth of Jesus?  Who can deny that it was supernatural?  Yes, you the followers of Islam must readily agree with good reason that Jesus had no human father, for this is what your Quran says.  Why then do you doubt that Jesus was the Son of God?  If God willeth that Jesus should be so born, who are we, you and I to doubt that Jesus is divine?  My friends on the basis of your own Authority the Quran, you must accept Jesus as the Son of God.

CHRIST JESUS

Especial attention must be paid to the words used by the angels to Mary and recorded in the Quran...."His name will be Christ Jesus."  In Greek, Christ means the anointed one; it is the translation of the Hebrew, 'Messiah'.  Now Messiah in Jewish theology refers to the divinely appointed deliverer.  The angels by transmitting this message from God to Mary were placing the primatur or seal of approval on the Divinity of Jesus.  Again I pause to remind you that this quoted passage is taken directly from the Quran.  If you accept the Quran, this you must accept, that the Angels from God said His name will be Christ Jesus.

All of this fits in beautifully with the Bible, for according to the Synoptic Gospels the Messiahship of Jesus was expressly proclaimed by Angels at His birth (Luke 2:11) and Peter at Caesarea Philippi also explicitly confessed Jesus as the Christ (Mark 8:29); and (Matthew 16:16).

The point I make my Brothers, is that one cannot approbate and reprobate.  Your Authority, your Quran, says God through His Angels called the Baby Jesus....Christ!  This from the almighty is a testament of the Deity of Jesus.  What the Angels were saying is this:  His name is the Messiah Jesus; how then can you still maintain the stand that Jesus is NOT   Divine?  The second requirement His supernatural birth is thereby satisfied.

MIRACLES

And now for the third requirement.  Factor (c) that His life should be fraught with miracles and His teachings should withstand the passage of time.  Let us take the second half of the proposition first.  It is nearly two thousand years since Jesus died.  When He died His disciples were in disarray; they had fled.  He was betrayed, denied and deserted yet His teachings, are today stronger than at any time.  Yes, two thousand years had gone by and millions of books are written seeking to explain and bring His teachings to all mankind in addition to the millions and millions of the copies of the Bible circulated in all languages.  For two thousand years His teachings have been the light of the world and His Word continues to endure forever.  Although Jesus never led an army, today there are one thousand million Christians  marching under His banner of Love.  Truly His teachings have withstood the passage of time.  As for miracles, the Bible records His many miracles, but since in the Letter the authority on which I rely is your Quran and not the Bible, let us look at the Quran S.111.49, and see what it says about miracles.

The Quran says: --

"God will appoint Jesus an Apostle to the children of Israel with this message:

I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were the figure of a bird and breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God's leave; And I heal those born blind and the lepers, and I quicken the dead by God's leave."

Yusuf Ali in his editorial commentary in the Quran writes, "The miracle of the clay birds is found in some of the apocryphal Gospels, those of curing the blind and the lepers and raising the dead are in the canonical Gospels."

DEATH CONQUERED

Finally we come to the aspect that Jesus if Divine should be able to conquer death.

The Bible provides ample evidence of those who saw Him after His resurrection.  Peter and more than five hundred at one time, but we are confining our attention to the Quran.  The contention that is being considered in this.

The Muslims claim that Jesus is not the Son of God and was not Divine.  Yet, how does this conclusion square with irrefutable pronouncements in the Quran itself of the Law which was fulfilled by the coming of Jesus PLUS His miraculous and divine birth in which the Quran asserts that Jesus had no father but God's will was responsible for His birth PLUS  we have three years of teaching by Jesus which from a tiny area now covers the world, PLUS the miracles Jesus performed during these three years on earth, all showing beyond doubt that truly no one was like Him for HE WAS AND IS THE SON OF GOD.

Now we come to the fourth factor, what does the Quran say about Jesus' resurrection.  Let us look at S. IV. 157 - This is the passage often referred to in support of the contention that Christ was not crucified.  But does it say so?  No!  Let us see what it says: --

"We killed Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, the Apostle of God, But they killed him not nor crucified him but so it was made to appear to them, and those who DIFFER THEREIN ARE FULL OF DOUBTS WITH NO CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE but only conjecture to follow, for a surety they killed him not.  NAY GOD RAISED HIM UP UNTO HIMSELF; AND GOD IS EXALTED IN POWER WISE."

Let us examine this passage sentence by sentence.  "They (Jews) said we killed Jesus but they did not kill or crucify Him, but so it was made to appear to them."  In other words they thought they had killed or crucified Jesus.  "And those who differ therein are full of doubts."  That is, those who did not share this view of killing Him are themselves full of doubts with only conjecture to follow.  Then comes the statement, "For of a surety they killed him not."

Of course, they did not kill Jesus finally and for all times.  In one sense yes, they killed Him physically, but that was not the be-all and end-all for here in the Quran comes the punch line, the line which one can, with good reason, advance in support of the resurrection and not against the resurrection as has been urged.

S. IV. 158 -- "NAY GOD RAISED HIM UP UNTO HIMSELF."  What else could this mean but that man could not destroy Jesus but God resurrected Jesus?  Is this not a straightforward interpretation?  In the Bible Luke 24:25 Jesus said:  "The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day."  Then again Acts 2:32 Peter said, "God has raised up this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact."  Of a truth GOD RAISED HIM UP UNTO HIMSELF as the Quran states.  What is of importance and enlightenment, however, is the continuation of S. 158 that is S. 159 in the Quran.

S.159

And there is none of the People of the Book.  But must believe in Him before His death, and on the Day of Judgement He will be a witness against them"

Surely this in the context of the general scheme of the preceding suras means that Jesus was put to physical death, that God raised Him up, and that on judgment day He will be a witness against them.

CONCLUSIONS

The conclusions I have asked you to draw are all from your own Quran, my friends.  I do so without relying on the Bible.  There are scores of passages in the Bible which point to the Divinity of Jesus.  I have omitted this.  Indeed so often Jesus Himself declared, "I am the Christ."  Since he could not be a good, a righteous man and a liar at the same time, His own assertion and testimony must bear considerable weight.

This, my dear friends, is a short limited letter, I am not a theologian nor one versed in Islam.  No effort is made herein to denigrate the writings of Muhammad, the vital point at issue is the Divinity of Jesus and I affirm that from the Quran itself the case for the Divinity of Jesus is established, established beyond reasonable doubt to satisfy even the most fastidious.

Why do I write this letter?  Because my friends, my dear friends, 'the time is running out, the prophecies of the Old Testament have been fulfilled in the New, because Jesus promised to return and return He will, and I feel that this return is imminent, and except you accept Him as the Son of God I fear, indeed He my Master and my Lord said, "You cannot enjoy eternal life."

My readers, my friends, I implore you to get a copy of the Holy Bible and read in particular the New Testament.  Read it carefully and slowly and I pray God that you will open the doorway of your hearts to Jesus who is knocking and calling that He may enter your life and transform you, make you a new creation as He has done to so many of us sinners, that you may enjoy that peace and joy which passeth all understanding wherein when Jesus touches your hearts, you will become dearer to Him, heaven will become nearer, and God's Word will become clearer.

Surely this in the context of the general scheme of the preceding suras means that Jesus was put to physical death, that God raised Him up, and that on judgment day He will be a witness against them.

CONCLUSIONS

The conclusions I have asked you to draw are all from your own Quran, my friends.  I do so without relying on the Bible.  There are scores of passages in the Bible which point to the Divinity of Jesus.  I have omitted this.  Indeed so often Jesus Himself declared, "I am the Christ."  Since he could not be a good, a righteous man and a liar at the same time, His own assertion and testimony must bear considerable weight.

This, my dear friends, is a short limited letter, I am not a theologian nor one versed in Islam.  No effort is made herein to denigrate the writings of Muhammad, the vital point at issue is the Divinity of Jesus and I affirm that from the Quran itself the case for the Divinity of Jesus is established, established beyond reasonable doubt to satisfy even the most fastidious.

Why do I write this letter?  Because my friends, my dear friends, 'the time is running out, the prophecies of the Old Testament have been fulfilled in the New, because Jesus promised to return and return He will, and I feel that this return is imminent, and except you accept Him as the Son of God I fear, indeed He my Master and my Lord said, "You cannot enjoy eternal life."

My readers, my friends, I implore you to get a copy of the Holy Bible and read in particular the New Testament.  Read it carefully and slowly and I pray God that you will open the doorway of your hearts to Jesus who is knocking and calling that He may enter your life and transform you, make you a new creation as He has done to so many of us sinners, that you may enjoy that peace and joy which passeth all understanding wherein when Jesus touches your hearts, you will become dearer to Him, heaven will become nearer, and God's Word will become clearer.

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