by jimwalton » Wed Nov 19, 2014 3:20 pm
Muslims only believe the Torah, the Psalms, and the Gospels, (if even those in reality). The Ten Commandments are not in the Qur'an, but the other events you mentioned are:
The plagues of Egypt: Sura 7.133-136
Noah: Sura 7.59-64
The parting of the Red Sea: Sura 26.64
Everything the Bible records in the books of history as God's work in history the Muslims do not recognize. So also God's acts in history to bring about man's salvation.
Muslims say that the God of the Bible is Allah. Christians would NEVER say that. As I mentioned, there are vast differences between them according to the Bible and the Qur'an:
YHWH is knowable (Jn. 17.3). Humans can come into a personal relationship with God. Allah is unknowable. He is so transcendent, so exalted, that no man can ever personally know Allah. He is distant, far off, and abstract. While Allah has personal qualities, no Muslim would refer to him as personal.
YHWH is a personal being with intellect, emotion, and will. Allah is not to be understood as a person. This would lower him to the level of man.
YHWH is a spirit (Jn. 4.24). Allah is not a spirit. That would demean him. He is neither a person nor a spirit.
YHWH is one God in three persons. The Qur'an explicitly denies the trinity. God is not a Father, and Jesus is not the Son of God. Neither is the Holy Spirit God.
YHWH is limited by his own immutable and unalterable nature. Thus God cannot do anything and everything. For instance, in Titus 1.2 we read that God cannot lie. In 2 Tim. 2.13 we read that God cannot act in a way that would contradict his nature. Allah is not limited by anything, not even by his own nature. He can do anything, any place, any time, with no limitations.
Because YHWH is limited, he is completely consistent and trustworthy. Because Allah is not limited, he is totally capricious and untrustworthy. He is not bound by his nature or his word.
The love of YHWH is his chief attribute (Jn. 3.16). The transcendence of Allah is his chief attribute. Neither does he have feelings towards man. That would reduce him to being a mere man.
YHWH enters history and acts to bring about man’s salvation. Allah does not personally enter into human history and act as a historical agent. He always deals with the world through his word, prophets, and angels. He does not personally come down to deal with man.
The Bible gives us both positive and negative attributes of YHWH (love, judgment, mercy, punishment, etc.). The Qur'an never tells us in a positive sense what Allah is like in terms of his nature or essence. The so-called 99 attributes of Allah are all negative in form, telling us what Allah is not, but never telling us what he is.
The grace of YHWH provides free salvation for man through a Savior who acts as an intercessor between God and man (1 Tim. 2.5). In the Qur'an there is no concept of the grace of Allah. There is no savior or intercessor.