Al-Injil: The Christian Gospel
I invite you to join me on a journey through the basic teachings of Bible-based Christianity. I will provide answers to questions about following Jesus that a person with an Islamic background might want to ask.
What is of First Importance?
One of the authors of the New Testament was Paul, who was an apostle. Paul was appointed by God to explain the gospel to non-Jewish nations, those living in counties we know today as Turkey, Greece and Italy.
In a letter to the Christian church in the Grecian city of Corinth, the apostle Paul emphasized the key elements of the gospel in this way, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures….” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
Who is Jesus Christ, and why was his death of “first importance”? These questions and many more will be explored.
Many Muslims are confused by the violence associated with Islam, as they believe that Islam is a religion of peace. But there is only one way to peace, and that is through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is also known as Isa Al-Masih. And eternal life in paradise is only possible through faith in Jesus, it cannot be earned through good works. This message of good news that Jesus taught is known as “the gospel”, al-injil, al-injeel or al-ingil. This is the message that followers of Jesus, who are known as Christians, believe.
You are welcome to explore some of the basic teachings of Bible-based Christianity on these pages. You will find answers to questions about following Jesus that a person with an Islamic background might want to ask.
The Bible is the book that Christians study to find out about Jesus and his Kingdom that is to come. You will find links on this site to free Bibles that can be downloaded to your mobile phone, or can be read online using your phone or computer.
Who is Jesus?
Every man, woman and child on Earth is a “sinner”. That means that we all sin, it is part of our human nature to sin. We are all descended from the first human beings, Adam and Eve, and share their nature. Though created perfect, this couple chose to disobey God and became sinners. To sin means to fall short of God’s standard of conduct. It means that we have a tendency to lie, steal, murder and especially to resist God’s authority and disobey him. The result of our rebellion is that when we die we would forever be cut off, separated from God. But God had a plan to do away with these dire consequences.
What Is The Bible?
The Bible is a collection of writings by many authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible, though one book, consists of 66 books. The books of the Bible were written at different times over a 1500 year period, from about 1400 BC to 100 AD.
Thirty-nine of these books are in the first section of the Bible known as the Old Testament, and twenty-seven are in the New Testament.
The New Testament consists of four books known as the Gospels (known to Muslims as the Injil or Injeel or Ingil), plus other writings that help us to understand more about the gospel and what happened in the days and years after the death on the cross and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Digital Bible Resources
It is good to have a physical Bible. You can page through the chapters, or just open the Bible and start reading. You can underline or highlight passages that are special to you. But there are times when it is more convenient (or safer) to read the Bible on your computer or cellphone screen. Here is a list of digital Bible resources. For some resources, you need to be connected to the internet to read the Bible; others resources allow you to do a download so that afterwards you can read the Bible offline.
The Biblehub website allows you to read from many different versions of the Bible, in many different languages. The site includes concordances and commentaries.
A concordance is a method of finding the chapters and verses in the Bible where the word or phrase that you specified can be found.
A commentary is a discussion by an expert theologian as to the meaning of a verse or topic of the Bible.
Biblegateway.com is another online Bible available in many languages. The site also has links to Bible apps for iPhones and Android that can be downloaded free.
Youversion.com provides a free Bible app for a variety of devices and operating systems. The app can be downloaded from various stores. It provides access to online Bibles. If you have an Android phone, you can also download a Bible that you can read offline. First sign-up (register) for the Bible app, then choose a version to download, for example the New International Version (NIV). Some versions have an audio option so that you can listen to the Bible and also read it.
MySword provides Bibles that you can read offline on your Android device. MySword Bibles are available in many different languages and in many different English versions.
Olivetree.com provides a Bible that you can read offline.