Islam - Determinism
The war against God, Jesus, the Gospel and the Cross has been going from the very infancy of the Church and the scriptures are clear that others would come against the Cross and Specifically the Deity of Jesus.
Islam and Unconditional Predestination
Surah 9:51
Say: "Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector": and on Allah let the Believers put their trust.
Surah 7:179
Many are the Jinns and men we have made for Hell: They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle,- nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning).
Surah 3:145
Nor can a soul die except by Allah’s leave, the term being fixed as by writing. If any do desire a reward in this life, We shall give it to him; and if any do desire a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give it to him. And swiftly shall We reward those that (serve us with) gratitude.
Surah 6:17
"If Allah touch thee with affliction, none can remove it but He; if He touch thee with happiness, He hath power over all things.
Surah 16:53
And ye have no good thing but is from Allah. and moreover, when ye are touched by distress, unto Him ye cry with groans;
Surah 64:11
No kind of calamity can occur, except by the leave of Allah. and if any one believes in Allah, Allah guides his heart (aright): for Allah knows all things.
Surah 7:178
Whom Allah doth guide, he is on the right path: whom He rejects from His guidance, such are the persons who perish.
Surah 48:14
To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: He forgives whom He wills, and He punishes whom He wills: but Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Surah 16:18
"He is the irresistible, (watching) from above over His worshippers; and He is the Wise, acquainted with all things."
Surah 5:22-23
“No misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree before we bring it into existence: That is truly easy for Allah. In order that ye may not despair over matters that pass you by, nor exult over favours bestowed upon you. For Allah loveth not any vainglorious boaster”
Now lets compare how nearly exact the teachings of Islam are to the writings of John Calvin and the doctrine of Unconditional Predestination.
John Calvin [a.d. 1509-1564]
[Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.21.5]
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.v.xxii.html
“By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which He determined with Himself whatever He wished to happen with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestined to life or to death.”
[Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.23.1]
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.v.xxiv.html
“There could be no election without its opposite reprobation.”
[Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.23.3}
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.v.xxiv.html
“Should all the sons of Adam come to dispute and contend with their Creator, because by his eternal providence they were before their birth doomed to perpetual destruction”
[Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.23.6]
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.v.xxiv.html
“Now, since the arrangement of all things is in the hand of God, since to Him belongs the disposal of life and death, He arranges all things by His sovereign counsel, in such a way that individuals are born, who are doomed from the womb to certain death, and are to glorify Him by their destruction.”
We can now compare the teachings from Islam with quotes from leading Calvinist’s and see how very similar they are to those of Islam as well..
"Even the fall of Adam, and through him the fall of the race, was not by chance or accident, but was so ordained in the secret councils of God." Lorraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination p. 234]
“All things that happen in all the world at any time and in all history—whether inorganic matter, vegetation, animal, man or angels (both good and evil ones-- come to pass because God ordained them, Even sin- the fall of the devil from heaven, the fall of Adam, and every evil thought, word, and deed in all of history.” Edwin Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, 1999]
"It is even biblical to say that God has foreordained sin.” Edwin Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism
"God fore-ordains everything which comes to pass....God initiates all things, regulates all things" Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Baker Book House, 1984), 240]
"Every Bible-believing Christian must conclude at least that God in some sense desired that man would fall into sin. " and "I am not accusing God of sinning; I am suggesting that He created sin. There is a difference.” R.C. Sproul, Jr., Almighty Over All, 1999
It is not the LORD God Almighty that leads men to destruction, but rather it is the work of Satan the great deceiver working in the hearts of rebellious men and man’s unwillingness to receive the Gospel.
This could be one of the enemy’s greatest works by deceiving men to teach that it is God who created them for only such a purpose, rather than Satan himself who is blinding them both.
These teachings within Islam and those teachings of Calvin and Unconditional Predestination are not the Gospel (Euaggellion), but rather evil counterfeits.
• G2098 – euaggelion - yü-än-ge'-lē-on - εὐαγγέλιον
1. a reward for good tidings
2. good tidings
a. the glad tidings of the kingdom of God soon to be set up, and subsequently also of Jesus the Messiah, the founder of this kingdom. After the death of Christ, the term comprises also the preaching of (concerning) Jesus Christ as having suffered death on the cross to procure eternal salvation for the men in the kingdom of God, but as restored to life and exalted to the right hand of God in heaven, thence to return in majesty to consummate the kingdom of God
b. the glad tidings of salvation through Christ
c. the proclamation of the grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ
d. the gospel
e. as the messianic rank of Jesus was proved by his words, his deeds, and his death, the narrative of the sayings, deeds, and death of Jesus Christ came to be called the gospel or glad tidings
II Corinthians 4:3-4
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The scriptures are clear and the LORD God Almighty does not lie.
I Timothy 2:1-4
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
II Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Ezekiel 18:23
Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?
Ezekiel 18:32
For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”
Ezekiel 33:11
Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’