I am excited to have just discovered Dr. Peter Hammond, “the Founder and Director of Frontline Fellowship and the Founder and Chairman of Africa Christian Action. Over the last 21 years, Peter has been dedicated to assisting persecuted Christians and to working for Reformation and revival in Africa.” His work in Sudan in confronting Muslim aggression has earned him death threats, and this latest article, The Challenge of Islam According to the Reformers, won’t make him any Muslim friends. Below, I discuss the article, but check out his other books, which include
1. Martin Luther on Islam
- “two regimes, that of the Pope and that of the Turk, are … antichrist.”
- Luther observed from 1 John 2:18-22 and 1 John 4:1-3, “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2:22, that the Mohammadans deny both the Fatherhood of God and the Deity of Christ – hence they are liars. They testify against the truth of God’s Word.
- the Muslim Turks want “to eradicate the Christians.”
Before I read up on it, I thought that Luther’s labeling of the Papacy as “antichrist” was just vindictiveness, but in actuality, the reformers had and still have convincing documentation that the Catholic Church, especially the papacy, is antichrist. The fact that he and other reformers also recognized that Islam is antichrist is meaningful.
2. Jonathan Edwards on Islam
- Jonathan Edwards, the first President of Princeton University, wrote in his “A History of the Work of Redemption.” “The two great works of the devil which he … wrought against the Kingdom of Christ are … his Anti-Christian (Romish or Papal) and Mahometan (Muslim or Islamic) kingdoms”
3. The Westminster Assembly’s “Larger Catechism” (1643)
- It’s “Directory for the Public Worship of God” instructs congregations to “pray for … the deliverance of the distressed Churches abroad from the tyranny of the antiChristian faction, and from the cruel oppression and blasphemies of the [Muslim] Turk.”
4. Calvin On Islam
- In his Institutes (Book 2, chapter 6:4), Calvin writes: “So today the Turks, although they proclaim at the top of their lungs that the Creator of Heaven and earth is God, still, while repudiating Christ, substitute an idol in the place of the true God.”
- John Calvin in a sermon on Deuteronomy 18:15 maintained that Muhammad was one of “the two horns of antichrist.”
- In his commentaries on Daniel 7:7-18, Calvin put forward the theory that the Muslim Turks were the little horn that sprang up from the beast.
- Commenting on Daniel 11:37, Calvin wrote that Muhammad “allowed to men the brutal liberty of chastising their wives and thus he corrupted that conjugal love and fidelity which binds the husband to the wife … Mohamet allowed full scope to various lusts – by permitting a man to have a number of wives … Mohamet invented a new form of religion.” (Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Daniel – John Calvin).
5. My Observations on Islam
5.1 Islam denies the son
John 8:38-48
39They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, 40but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41You are doing what your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father–even God.” 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
5.2 Sons of Abraham, YES, Sons of God, NO
Many make the mistake of thinking that the God of Israel, Christianity, and Islam are the same God because they all claim Abraham as their ancestor. The Pharisees made this mistake, which Jesus corrected. Those who seek to kill Jesus or those who follow him are Followers of Satan, not God.
5.3 THE Antichrist, MAYBE, AN Atichrist, YES.
The scripture that Luther used in calling Islam “antichrist” is certainly applicable to Islam. 1 John 4:1-3 claims that any ideology or person that denies the Messiahood and substitutionary death of Christ for our sins is ANTI-Christ. However, THE antichrist is a supposed historical person in the future who will be part of the end-times scenario painted in the scriptures. Will Islam or the Catholic church, or the EU, be part of that? Maybe.
5.4 Islam is evil, Muslims are NOT
Not all Muslims are terrorists bent on world conquest. However, many are captives to Islam, which is a pernicious evil ideology that, rather than bringing “abundant life” brings oppression, captivity, fear, and violence. Mohammed was an evil man, and his ideology is the worst of racism, abusive religion, and fascism all rolled into one. It has killed more people than Naziism, the Inquisition, and the Crusades combined, and rivals the murderous atheistic Communist and Socialist evils we’ve seen. Today, it is the number one ideology behind murder. It has almost nothing in its defense except the moderate Muslims who fail to follow it’s horrible dictates.
Now I admit, it is hard to come by an estimate of how many people Islam has killed in its bloody history. If you can find it, let me know. But they’ve killed 1.5 Million in Aremenia, and 100,000 in Darfur so far, to name just a couple of modern Islamic jihads.