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I saw the eclipse of the moon last Sunday. It was beautiful.

You're welcome. You are entitled to your opinion.

Hello again, Yes, as a Teacher Affiliate of the APA, I am aware of the research in this field. A complete reading of the article indicates that this understanding of religious belief is no different than the inferences made on the homosexuality-related research. It is a philosophical discussion based on a combination of perceptually-based theoretical interpretations of research and conjecture. I am aware of the argument you put forth in a previous post to the thread Belief And The Limits of Human Intelligence In Islam. From an Islamic perspective, your if-then statement is an opinion. It is no different than the if-then research statements of neuroscientists, who study the brain and suggest that their findings support a conclusion. It is assumed that you are equating your if-then statement - regarding time and change - with the laws of physics. With the understanding that these laws are static - and not dynamic - the video, provided again below, is the Islamic answer to your query. The intent is to answer your query, not satisfy it. As stated in a previous post of mine, in Islam the Lord is beyond human intellect. Intellect itself, as with time and space, is a creation of the Lord. I understand that may be hard to accept.

Peace and blessings of the Lord be upon you as well, sister Tunisia.

Thank you Tunisia. I appreciate your response. Edit: I'm not sure why your integrated quotation of my post didn't appear in my quotation of your response above. Those interested may refer to it on page 56 of this thread.

Hi again, As with the video, in my opinion, I think my post – in its entirety – speaks for itself. For reference, I have quoted it above. From your post quoted above – and Gods Servant's affirmation of it (in a different post not quoted above) – it seems that Christianity subjects God’s nature to human intellectual judgment. As a result, in our case, His character can be judged by His creation. In Islam, God’s Nature – including His Wisdom and Will – are beyond the comprehension of His creation. His creation does not have the ability to judge anything He does. As I mentioned in my post above with an illustration, He can do anything He wants and still be Just. In Islam, human intellect and subsequent judgments of wrong and right are limited. I can agree to disagree with you on your narrative of the nature of the Lord. I really appreciate this discussion. Thank you.

Hi God’s Servant, Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate it.

Hi Tunisia, My understanding from both your and brother Tanker's replies is that the Blood of Christ does not save everyone. My sin of disbelief is not cleansed by the Blood of Christ. In relation to this, I am a flagrant sinner and God is Just and Holy. If I don't believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, it is highly likely that I will be deprived of His Mercy and punished. The replies that I have received also seems to imply that there are other sins aside from disbelief that are most likely to require punishment due to God's Holiness and Justness. For clarification: Does this apply to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior also? In light of the above, it's as I mentioned in a previous post: The doctrine you have propounded in relation to Christianity isn't that dissimilar to Islam in this aspect. There are warnings of possible punishments due to committing sins, some of them severe. In Islam, the Lord can arbitrarily do whatever He wants and He will still be Just. He can remediate a situation to where the victim of a crime/wrongdoing will be compensated in such a way that the victim will happily and willfully forgive and forget the related transgression. He can also forgive and forget - at His discretion - any transgression made against Him. The Lord is so merciful; All a person needs to do to get forgiveness is feel sincere remorse in his/her heart - and the Lord will not hesitate. And, similarly to the doctrine of Christianity you mentioned, He can also exact punishment for certain sins if He see fit. The crux of the matter, as I see it, is as follows: Your premise is that Allah is not the Most Merciful if He does not forgive shirk. However, you have also made explicitly clear that the Christian doctrine of mercy doesn't include a disbeliever like me. In addition to that, there are almost definite punishments of other sins for going against God's Holiness. As you stated, "Consequences have to be answered for". In both cases there are consequences for wrongdoing. In Islam, however, it's much easier to be forgiven.

Although this is an old story, I thought I'd share it with everyone. It seems funny. However, at the same time I feel bad for everyone involved. Article published on Monday, 08 October 2007 [at] http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/10/08/40103.html A 50-year-old Saudi woman asked for divorce after her husband lifted her face veil while she was sleeping, local press reported. For 30 years, the wife said she never showed her face to her husband in conformity with the tradition of her native village near the south western Saudi city of Khamis Mushayt. "After all these years, he tries to commit such a big mistake," the wife told Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh, after she left the house in total disbelief. She said the husband apologized and promised never to do it again. This is not the first case of husbands who have not seen their wives' faces in decades. In the past Al Arabiya has reported the case of Ali al-Qahtani, whose wife had been wearing the face veil for the entire ten years of their marrage. When he tried to take it off, she threatened to leave and only decided to stay after he swore never to try again. Hassan Al-Atibi threatened to marry another woman if his wife didn't show him her face. The woman nominated one of her friends who doesn't observe this tradition as a possible new wife for him, saying this would be better than her showing her face. And neither the husband or children of Om Rabea al-Gahdaray, 70, have ever seen her face. Al-Gahdaray says it is a family tradition, also followed by mother and sisters, which her husband accepted and never tried to change. When asked how she could have kids without her husband ever seeing her face, she replied: "Marriage is about love, not faces." The practice of always remaining veiled, even in front of your husband, is not an Islamic practice but a very old tradition practiced by a minority of people in Gulf countries.

I think the video, as a whole, speaks for itself. That's my opinion. I agree to disagree with you on this.

It was posted using my laptop. I just noticed that I can't see it on my phone. I'll try posting it here using my phone. [VIDEO] [/VIDEO] It seems like I can only get the link to work from my phone. It won't embed. The link will lead you to the video.

Hi Donald, The following was obtained from the website of the American Psychological Association [at] http://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation.aspx: Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality: Answers to Your Questions For a Better Understanding What causes a person to have a particular sexual orientation? "There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation."

The following is an exegesis of the verse in question. It is by Mufti Muhammad Shafi. For a brief biography, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Shafi_Deobandi Ma’ariful Quran pp. 227 – 229. See http://www.maarifulquran.net/index.php/maarifulquran-english-pdf/210-maariful-quran-english-pdf-vol-1 “Surely, those who believed in Allah, and those who became Jewish, and Christians, and the Sabeans -- whosoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day, and does good deeds -- for them, with their Lord, is their reward, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.” (Surah 2, Verse 62) The previous verse spoke of how the israelites drew upon themselves the wrath of Allah through their habitual insolence and disobedience. Now, this account may lead the listeners, or the Jews themselves, to suppose that, in view of such transgression, their Taubah (repentance), if they agree to offer it, would not be acceptable to Allah. In order to dispel such a misgiving, the present verse lays down a general principle: no matter how a man has been behaving earlier, so long as he submits himself fully to the commandments of Allah in his beliefs and in his deeds both, he is acceptable to Allah, and will get his reward. It is obvious enough that after the revelation of the Holy Qur'an, which is the last message of Allah, perfect obedience to Allah can only mean accepting Islam and following the Last Prophet Muhammad. The verse, in effect, assures everyone that once a man has accepted Islam, all his former transgressions, whether in the matter of beliefs or in that of deeds, will be forgiven, and he will become worthy of receiving the rewards of the other world. Let us note, in passing, that nothing is definitely known as to the beliefs and the practices of the Sabeans, and different opinions have been expressed on the subject. (Most probably they used to worship the stars). One might also ask why the verse mentions the Muslims, for if it is an invitation to Islam, there is no need to extend the invitation to those who have already accepted Islam. But if we keep in mind the richly concentrated style of the Holy Qur'an, and try to look beyond the literal sense of the words into the implications and suggestions contained in the verse, we would find that the inclusion of the Muslim factor has added a new dimension to the meaning. It is as if a king should, in a similar situation, say that his laws are impartially applicable to all his subjects, and that whosoever obeys them shall receive his reward for obedience irrespective of whether he has earlier been a friend or a foe. Obviously, the friend has always been loyal and obedient, and the warning and the promise have really been addressed to the foe. But the suggestion contained in such a formulation is that the favours of the king do not proceed from any personal attachment to the friends, but depend on the quality of obedience and loyalty, and hence the foes too will become worthy of his favours if they acquire the necessary quality. This is the raison d'etre of mentioning the Muslims along with the non-Muslims in this verse, which should never be taken to imply that salvation can be attained without accepting Islam. We had better dispel another misunderstanding which is likely to arise from the wordings of the present verse -- and, which is actually being promoted by certain 'modernizers'. The verse mentions only two articles of faith of the Islamic creed -- faith in Allah and faith in the Day of Judgment. This should not be taken to mean that in order to attain salvation it is enough to have faith only in Allah and in the Day of Judgment. For, the Holy Qur’an repeatedly declares that he who does not believe in the prophets, in angels and in the Books of Allah is not a Muslim. Faith in Allah is the first article in the Islamic creed, while faith in the Day of Judgment is the last. By mentioning only these two, the verse intends to say in a succinct manner that it is necessary to have faith in all the articles of the creed, from the first to the last. Moreover, it is through the prophets and the Books of Allah alone that man can acquire any knowledge of the essence and the attributes of Allah and of what is to happen on the Day of Judgment, while the Books of Allah are revealed to the prophets through an angel. So, it is not possible to have faith in Allah and the Day of Judgment until and unless one has faith in the angels, in the Books of Allah and in the prophets.

Thanks for your reply Tanker. I understand now. Prior to this, my understanding was that the Blood of Christ would save a person from the punishment of all sins. Now I realize that there are conditions to this salvation. Although God can forgive anything, there is a considerable possibility that wrongdoing/sins will be punished. The biggest sin/wrongdoing seems to be infidelity/being separated from God. This issue isn't that dissimilar with Islam. Watch the video. [VIDEO] [/VIDEO]