Amazing Facts About the Bible with Former Christian: Dr. Jerald Dirks

Is the Bible truly God’s Word?

Has the Bible changed and altered over time?

Is the Bible full of contradictions and discrepancies?

Was the bible corrupted as Muslims claim?

Introduction [start time 00:00]
About Me [start time 03:12]
About the Methodist Church
Is Bible the word of God? [start time 04:54]
Different Bibles & Number of books
Was Moses the author of a part of the Bible? [start time 09:18]
The three parts of the old testament [start time 12:15]
Who are the Authors of the new testeament?22:57 Blind Faith [start time 16:18]
Woe to those that wrote the Bible!
Additions to the Bible
What to do now? [start time 27:37]
Use New Revised Standard Version Bible for study as it goes back to the earliest manuscripts. And use ‘The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary’.
Conclusion [start time 28:58]

Dr Jerald Dirks is the guest on this episode of the deen show, Dr. Dirks is a former minister (deacon) of the United Methodist Church and revert to Islam.

He holds a Master’s degree in Divinity from Harvard University and a Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Denver.

Author of “The Cross and the Crescent: An Interfaith Dialogue between Christianity and Islam” (2001), and “Abraham: The Friend of God” (2002).

He has published over 60 articles in the field of clinical psychology, and over 150 articles on Arabian horses.

Muslims in American History:A Forgotten Legacy

A lecture by Dr. Jerald F. Dirks. Following are some key points from the lecture:

• There were Muslim expeditions to America much before Columbus. 4 such instances are mentioned by the speaker. There is also evidence that Muslim languages had impact on some native American languages.
• There were Muslims with Columbus also. There were at least one Muslim and three Moriscos. Moriscos were people who outwardly converted to Christianity from Islam to avoid persecution during Spain Inquisition.
• Expeditions sent after Columbus also had Muslims playing important role in expeditions.
• Later Muslims were brought to America as slaves from Africa. About 20 to 30 percent of the slaves were Muslims.
  • Slaves continued to practice Islam. One Hafiz slave wrote entire Quran from memory which is still preserved.
  • Average age of the slaves doing hard labor was 15 years only. There were slaves which were doing supervision or were kept at home, they had a chance to live longer.
  • Slaves were kept in very bad condition during the journey that brought them across Atlantic. In one instance, 30 % of them died on the way.
• Muslims fought for American independence against British empire.

The purpose of the lecture is to bring home that its perfectly okay being Muslim and American at the same time and Muslims have a long history in America.

Islamic Trajectories in Early Christianity

A lecture by Dr. Jerald F. Dirks where he explores the early history of Christianity and the Islamic concepts that existed in Christianity of that time. The key ideas explored in detail are:

1. Jesus (pbuh) was sent only for the children of Israel.
2. Jesus Christ (pbuh) was not crucified.
3. Jesus (pbuh) was a Prophet of Allah. He wasn’t God.

There were three positions in early Christians regarding divinity of Jesus (pbuh).

• Jesus is God.
• Jesus is God and Man at the same time. (Contemporary Christianity believes in this)
• Jesus is Man and a Prophet.
  • Adoptionism, sometimes called dynamic monarchianism, is a minority Christian belief that believe Jesus was adopted as God’s son (Son of God) at his baptism.