""Judge not" - God of Judaists and Christians and Muhammad

The National Diet Bldg., Tokyo

God of Judaists and Christians and Muhammad

It is said that before Muhammad Arabs were worshiping various gods.

They also knew and worshiped the God of Judaists and the God of Christians.  But they also worshiped other gods.  Then, Muhammad arose, proclaiming that the only true god is the God of Judaists and Christians.  Muhammad requested Arabs to worship only the God of Judaists and Christians.

So, Muhammad must have though that he would be welcomed by Judaists and Christians.  But Judaists and Christians rejected him.

In response, Muhammad launched his own religion, though still worshiping the God of Judaists and Christians.

It may not be too late for Juadaists and Christians to admit Islam, though.


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Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

"shall he not much more clothe you" - Minds and Hearts, Not Products of Material

Tokyo

Minds and Hearts, Not Products of Material

The modern science cannot yet answer some simple questions: Of what is light or an electron made?

For example, we can answer that water is made of hydrogen and oxygen.  So, everything in this universe looks like being made of raw materials.  But of what is light or an electron made?

Scientists may say that light or an electron is a pure entity that  does not consist of nothing but itself.  But isn't there any more basic or subordinate substance that is the component of light or an electron?

Or the core of any atomic element is a proton consisting of three quarks.  But of what a quark is made of?

According to a theory, when this material universe was created, vacuum energy turned to material energy that generated time and space as well as light and other elemental particles such as electrons and quarks.  Then the raw material of everything in this universe is the vacuum energy.  But why and how did the energy change itself to material energy and further to time and space as well as elemental particles are mystery.

Put simply, the material world we live in is essentially made of the vacuum energy that does not belong to this material universe.  So, foundation of our material existence is so obscure and ambiguous.

It might suggest that work of our minds and consciousness are also based on obscure and ambiguous foundation.  However, the essence of our spiritual existence should come from the sphere outside this material universe like every substance in this universe is made of the vacuum energy that belongs to the space that existed before emergence of this material universe.

Accordingly, just like scientists believe the vacuum space out of this material space, we should believe that there is the spiritual space including Heaven and the hell.   Our spirit should come from there.
  
Anyway, believe or not our minds and hearts are not products of material in this universe.  It means we must admit existence of God more than existence of ourselves.



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Mat 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

"when his disciples heard of it" - Black Plague and Faith in God

Tokyo

Black Plague and Faith in God

There is a theory that 70 million Europeans immigrated into America for about a century before WWII.

The main reason is that Europeans had destroyed forests and woods in a large scale.  To promote civilization, they thought it was good and just to destroy woods and forests for centuries even before the start of the Industrial Revolution.  Even those living in woods were sometimes wrongly attacked and accused of being witches.   But for people to live, woods and forests were needed.  So, many Europeans left Europe for America where a great number of woods existed.

In Europe, after woods destroyed, fields of grass were generated.  Wolves and other wild animals were wiped away.  But rats and other small animals remained.   However black rats became the source of black plague.  Plague bacteria were transferred from black rats to fleas.  Fleas bit human beings who then fell in black plague.

With expansion of civilization, European forests were changed to fields of grass, which triggered an epidemic of black plague many times.

In Japan, woods and forests were not so drastically destroyed.  The traditional Japanese agricultural system based on paddy fields needed mountains behind paddy fields as various resources such as farmyard composts.  So, in Japan, black plague has never spread.

In the 14th century, black plague attacked China, killing half of its population.  Then plague bacteria were carried to Italy, leading to a great European black plague tragedy where one third of Europeans were killed by this pestilence.  Till the 18th century, black plague attacked Europe in a large scale several times.  This must be one of reasons for many Europeans immigrated into America.

In Europe, it seems that it was not churches but science that saved people from black plague.  So, faith in God must have been doomed to reduce before faith in science.  But Europeans who fled to American must have thanked to God for they became safe from black plague, so that their faith in God must have been strengthened in America.

Anyway, black plague must have had a grave influence on the Vatican.




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Mar 6:25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
Mar 6:26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
Mar 6:27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,

Mar 6:28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
Mar 6:29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
Mar 6:30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
Mar 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: 

"Bless them that curse you" - Useless 2000 Year Efforts

Tokyo

Useless 2000 Year Efforts

People take out natural resources, manufacture products, sell them to earn money, buy goods, and consume them.

However natural resources are limited.  Ultimately, the end of this cycle of economy will come.  What's more people use a great amount of energy running this economy cycle.  Discharged energy to the environment would contribute to global warning in synergy with CO2 emissions.

To keep development of human life and the level of living, people need excellent control of this economy cycle and effect of discharged energy and CO2.  So, computer and electronic engineering should be further advanced.  In the science and medical field, further advancement would be realized to make people live longer and get rid of various diseases.  But to avoid adverse effects of advanced medical science on human health, more development of medical science would be needed.

However, as long as this economy cycle and development of science and technology are driven by people having no or little respect for God, there must occur inevitable tragedy that is not only global warming but also other effects of abuse of advanced science.

So, what is needed is to judge the limit of material prosperity and power of advanced science and technology and to respect God, the creator of every material in this universe.  It is so, since God must have set some conditions or hidden natural laws that should be activated to destroy the mankind when greed and arrogance of the mankind driven by the advanced science and technology violate some holy conditions.

As the Son of God, Christ Jesus, appeared 2000 years ago, the level of material prosperity needed for the mankind must be the level of 2000 years ago.  In this context, all the efforts and the material advancement the mankind has made in these 2000 years must become useless eventually.




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Luk 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

"Woe unto you that are full!" - Hebrews and Japanese

The Tokyo Station

Hebrews and Japanese

Why from the beginning did God choose Hebrews as a special tribe?  It is important, because for this reason God sent His Son, Christ Jesus, to Hebrews.

Anyway it is interesting that although the mankind appeared about 200,000 years ago in Africa, the history of Hebrews is just 4000 years.

Genetic studies on Jews show that most Jews worldwide bear a common genetic heritage which originates in the Middle East, and that they bear their strongest resemblance to the peoples of the Fertile Crescent. The genetic composition of different Jewish groups shows that Jews share a common genetic pool dating back 4,000 years, as a marker of their common ancestral origin. Despite their long-term separation, Jewish communities maintained commonalities in culture, tradition, and language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#Origins 

So, why did not God choose any other tribes as special tribes for 166,000 years since the emergence of the mankind?

In Japan, the Later Stone Age is believed to have started 35,000 years ago.  Since then, there seems to be continuation of existence of people.  So, the Japanese include many descendants of ancestors who lived in the Japanese Archipelago more than 30,000 years ago.   And since there were no big waves of immigration to the Japanese Archipelago from the Asian continent and the Southeast Pacific to replace residents though the history, old and unique traits of the original Japanese must be secured even to date.

Specifically, although a little more than 50%  of the Japanese today share some DNA patters with Chinese and Koreans, 30% of the Japanese have unique DNA patterns that cannot be seen in Korea and China where people were mixed and replaced more dynamically than in Japan.

But God chose Hebrews having lived near the center of the world between Asia, Europe and Africa as a special tribe in stead of Japanese having lived in the Far East from Jerusalem.

So, we must think about why were Hebrews chosen by God?



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Luk 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

"and leap for joy" - End of the World and Our Value

Around the National Diet Bldg., Tokyo

End of the World and Our Value

Recently no media, no scholars, no journalists, etc. mention much about the end of the world, since the 21st century already began and is continuing.

But it is true that Christ Jesus mentioned the end of the world.

Luk 21:7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
Luk 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
Luk 21:9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
Luk 21:10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
Luk 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luk 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
Luk 21:13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

So, the focus is on behaviors of believers rather than tragic end of the world.

Koran also mentions the end of the world.

Chapter 21:
Al-Anbiya — The Prophets:
Revealed at Makkah: 7 sections; 112 verses
English Translation of the Holy Quran by Maulana Muhammad Ali
21:38 And they say: When will this threat come to pass, if you are truthful?
21:39 If those who disbelieve but knew the time when they will not be able to ward off the fire from their faces, nor from their backs, and they will not be helped!
21:40 Nay, it will come to them all of a sudden and confound them, so they will not have the power to avert it, nor will they be respited.
21:41 And messengers before thee were indeed mocked, so there befell those of them who scoffed, that whereat they scoffed.
21:42 Say: Who guards you by night and by day from the Beneficent? Nay, they turn away at the mention of their Lord.
21:43 Or, have they gods who can defend them against Us? They cannot help themselves, nor can they be defended from Us.
http://www.aaiil.org/text/hq/trans/ch21.shtml

So, the focus is rather on anger at those who don't believe God and the end of the world.

For any human beings, the end of his/her life is more important than the end of the world in general terms, although if the end of the world should come near, everybody would be influenced.

In the past, our ancestors died without seeing the current state of the world.  But what should matter to them must be just how much they loved and believed what God wanted them to love and believe.

Nonetheless, the concept of the end of the world makes us reflect on what we have done and are doing with what significance to our existence.  We might be just doing everything so stupidly and meaninglessly.  Then, what is the value of our existence on the earth and in the universe.

The future history textbook used by some extraterrestrial intelligence might read that the mankind lived and died out without any contribution to the physical universe and the spiritual space.


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Luk 6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

"Blessed be ye poor" - Historicity of Abraham and Moses

The Ueno Park, Tokyo

Historicity of Abraham and Moses

How much can we trust the Old Testament in terms of correctness of its historical descriptions?

Hebrew Bible/Old Testament 

An educated reading of the biblical text requires knowledge of when it was written, by whom, and for what purpose. For example, many academics would agree that the Pentateuch was in existence some time shortly after the 6th century BCE, but they disagree about when it was written. Proposed dates vary from the 15th century BCE to the 6th century BCE. One popular hypothesis points to the reign of Josiah (7th century BCE). In this hypothesis, the events of, for example, Exodus would have happened centuries before they were finally edited. This topic is expanded upon in dating the Bible. 

An important point to keep in mind is the documentary hypothesis, which using the biblical evidence itself, claims to demonstrate that our current version was based on older written sources that were lost. Although it has been modified heavily over the years, most scholars accept some form of this hypothesis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_the_Bible#Overview_of_academic_views

The Old Testament tells that Abraham's family came out of Ur of Mesopotamia about 2000 BC and Moses led Hebrews out of Egypt about 1300 BC.  What about historicity of them?　

In the early and middle 20th century, leading archaeologists such as William F. Albright, and biblical scholars such as Albrecht Alt, believed that the patriarchs and matriarchs were either real individuals or believable composites of people who lived in the "patriarchal age", the 2nd millennium BCE...

By the beginning of the 21st century, archaeologists had given up hope of recovering any context that would make Abraham, Isaac or Jacob credible historical figures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham#Historicity_and_origins

The scholarly consensus is that the figure of Moses is legendary, and not historical. Although a "Moses-like figure" may have existed somewhere in the southern Transjordan in the mid-13th century BC.[32] Certainly no Egyptian sources mention Moses or the events of Exodus-Deuteronomy, nor has any archaeological evidence been discovered in Egypt or the Sinai wilderness to support the story in which he is the central figure.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#Historicity  

Can stories, records or information passed down by word of mouth of tribe members for centuries or more before the birth of Christ Jesus be genuine and correct? 　

In the case of the Records of the Grand Historian,  known as the Shǐjì, of China written around 94 BC by the Han dynasty official Sima Qian, it covered a 2500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor till the time it was written.  Its description about a kingdom that existed between 1600 BC to 1000 BC was found authentic.

However, according to Joseph Needham, who wrote in 1954 on Sima Qian accounts of the kings of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1050 BC):
It was commonly maintained that Ssuma Chhien [Sima Qian] could not have adequate historical materials for his account of what had happened more than a thousand years earlier. One may judge of the astonishment of many, therefore, when it appeared that no less than twenty-three of the thirty rulers' name were to be clearly found on the indisputably genuine Anyang bones. It must be, therefore, that Ssuma Chhien [Sima Qian] did have fairly reliable materials at his disposal—a fact which underlines once more the deep historical-mindedness of the Chinese—and that the Shang dynasty is perfectly acceptable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_of_the_Grand_Historian#Reliability_and_accuracy 

Generally speaking, in old communities where a writing system was not used, there were some people with great memory ability.  For example, one of old women of the Ainu tribe of Japan who lived 100 years ago could recite long stories whose written volume was worth 70 notebooks or about 15,000 pages, although the Ainu tribe did not use letters unlike Japanese in the main land. 

Especially, when there was strong motivation related to religion of a tribe, some tribe members would correctly store memory of old stories of the tribe.  Hebrews are well known for their religion-centric governance of their own.  Chinese are, even from ancient times, well known for their respect of their ancestors.

Ancient people had great ability of memory beyond our imagination.  Critical matters to their identity and religion must have been transmitted by word of month generation after generation.

We must believe existence of Abraham 4000 years ago and Moses 3300 years ago, since Christ Jesus and Mohammed did not deny their historical existence.



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Luk 6:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
Luk 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

"Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John" - Love and Desire

Tokyo Bay

Love and Desire

The Buddha taught to abandon all the desire and even hope for betterment of life in this world, since every action, except ascetic training, in this world will result in evil.

But even when a man is practicing ascetic training, Satan would come to interfere and try to have the man abandon the training by arousing his worldly desire, according to Buddhism.

Christ Jesus taught to love God with all of the heart and the power of a man, since God is almighty and He is the lord and the heavenly father of everyone.

But when a man is trying to love God with all of the heart and the power, Satan would come to distract a man from love to God by showing money, wealth, and worldly riches that would satisfy his worldly desire, according to the Bible.

So, the issue is human desire.  And the matter is that Satan is accompanying human desire.  Therefore, if a man can luckily live while satisfying fully his desire, he would be a prey to Satan eventually.

We should be afraid of Satan to the degree that we would gladly abandon our desire.  Or we should be afraid of punishment by God to the degree that we would forget our desire.

However, believers who are happy to love God with all of their hearts and power must be out of the range of Satan's curse.



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Mar 6:17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.
Mar 6:18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.

"be not, as the hypocrites" - God as a Matter of Course

Tokyo

God as a Matter of Course

Pascal (1623-62) presented a theory to encourage belief in God:

Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas they stand to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager

However Satan is stronger in persuading people to forget about God, since there is no need to believe in God in order to acquire wealth and realize material happiness in this world.  And, material happiness is real as it can be seen, while God is not real as people cannot see Him.  Satan teaches people not to respect what cannot be real in this world.

However, can anybody want all the others to stop believing in God?  Then only liars, thieves, murders, swindlers, violent guys, and all the other criminals occupy this world, since justice and righteousness cannot be possible without belief in God.  

If you don't believe in God and everybody doesn't believe in God, there will be no absolute authority that encourages justice and righteousness among people.  And without justice and righteousness supported by absolute authority, this world would be controlled only by evil and bad guys.  Then, there would be no survival and progress of the human society.

Modern wealth is produced by modern technology that is based on modern science.  People have no doubt about validity of various theories of modern science such as electromagnetism that has helped development of electric engineering.  But who created electromagnetism from the beginning?  Did it happen to be created in the universe by chance?  Or doesn't our intelligence tell that it was created by some highly intellectual existence such as God?

Put simply, if a man doesn't believe in God while knowing a possibility of existence of God, he will surely go insane or mad finally, since he has no absolute authority to respect as a matter of course.


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Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

"deliver us from evil" - Miracles on Mankind with Celestial Bodies

The Tokyo Station

Miracles on Mankind with Celestial Bodies

God performed some great miracles in an astronomical scale on the earth to secure existence, survival, evolution, and development of the human species:

The first case was about the creation of the moon, 4.5 billion years ago, suitable for intellectual and spiritual development of the human species.  

The giant-impact hypothesis suggests that the Moon formed out of the debris left over from a collision between Earth and an astronomical body the size of Mars, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, in the Hadean eon; about 20 to 100 million years after the solar system coalesced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant-impact_hypothesis

(https://www.astroarts.co.jp/news/2000/02/23moonimpact/index-j.shtml)

Accordingly, the moon was formed in a manner that it would, later or when the mankind fully evolved, come to look from the earth in the same size as that of the sun while the diameter of the moon is 400 times smaller than that of the sun.  So, the mankind has seen the two celestial bodies in the sky of the similar size.  It had great influence on human culture and, especially, on its spiritual development.  The bright and hot sun and the cool and subordinate moon.

In reality, every myth created by any tribe on the earth has reference to the moon and the sun.  So, although knowing not modern astronomy, ancient people developed their intellectual ability through creation of their myths based on inspiration caused by the sun and the moon.

Today, we also know that light travels from the earth to the moon almost one second, which might be another miracle caused by God.

The second case is the salvation of ancestral mammals for the human species from dangerous dominance of dinosaurs about 66 million years ago, although ancestral species had survived already a crisis of extinction for four times till then.

In the past 500 million years there have been five generally accepted major mass extinctions that on average extinguished half of all species...The last such mass extinction led to the demise of the dinosaurs and coincided with a large meteorite impact; this is the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (also known as the K–T or K–Pg extinction event), which occurred 66 million years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_event#Biospheric_effects    

It is generally believed that mammals started to evolve due to the extinction of the dinosaurs.  So, without this meteorite impact 66 million years ago, the human species, as part of mammals, could not have evolved as it did.  Moreover, it was good timing to realize the global configuration of the continents suitable for evolution and deployment of the human species on the earth, according to the continental drift theory.  For example, the Himalayas started to be formed 45 million years ago.



(This Dynamic Earth: the Story of Plate Tectonics by W. Jacquelyne Kious and Robert I. Tilling)

If the meteorite impact had occurred far before 66 million years ago, the dinosaurs might not have been completely wiped away or the human species might have been confined in only Africa or separated between Africa and South America due to different configuration of the continents on the earth.  But retrospectively, the meteorite impact occurred just in the timing that allowed the emergence of the human species in Africa and later its global deployment due to the continental arrangement on the earth as indicated by the continental drift theory.

And God had Judaists establish their country in Palestine, the center of the earth or the connecting point between Africa, Europe, and Asia.  God also sent Christ Jesus to Palestine the connecting point between Africa, Europe, and Asia for convenience of deployment of His teaching.  Therefore, we may believe that God caused the meteorite impact 66 million years ago so as to later set Jerusalem at the center of the world.

Put simply, God used twice, 4.5 billion years ago and 66 million years ago, a big celestial body to prepare favorable conditions for evolution and deployment of the human species on the earth that critically started three million years ago and development of Christianity that critically started 2000 years ago.

However, it might suggest that God might also use another celestial body to terminate the human species if we do not follow God as He wishes.


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Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

"as we forgive our debtors" - Careless and Irresponsible Christians

Tokyo

Careless and Irresponsible Christians

Christ Jesus never said to use his image on the cross as a symbol of Christianity.

He did not specify how the Christian ritual should perform, although he delivered instructions on how to pray to God.  He did not teach the most important creed of the Christian church: the Trinity.

Christ Jesus never told to respect and worship Him as God Himself.  Or He did not announce that He was God Himself.  But the Christian church established its religion based on the creed that Christ Jesus was God.  Were Christians at the time when this creed was officially adopted around the fifth century confident that Christ Jesus and God should be pleased to hear the creed?

The point at issue is not as to whether or not Christ Jesus was God but whether or not Christ Jesus and God are rejoiced to hear Christians saying that Christ Jesus is God.  And, what countermeasures would God take if He is not pleased.  It is so, because it is careless and irresponsible for human beings to define God by calling Christ Jesus God.  Men should only accept the definition of God by God but should not make out of definition of God without keeping their standing.

My theory is that in response to the groundless creed of the Vatican that Christ Jesus was God, God gave Islam to Arabs and other tribes, since European Christians who carelessly and irresponsibly established the creed and the Trinity might do any grave harm to Arabs and other tribes.

In this context, in order to get rid of Islamic threats now Westerners are facing, the Vatican should abrogate its creed regrading Christ Jesus as God and the Trinity.  And the, God might stop excessively supporting Islam or take tough stance with dangerous Muslims.


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Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

"shake off the dust under your feet" - A 1991 Islamic Assassination

Tokyo

A 1991 Islamic Assassination

Once an Islamic leader of Iran ordered to assassinate an author who wrote a novel related to Islam.  He also ordered assassination of translators of the novel to different languages:

The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters. The title refers to the satanic verses, a group of Quranic verses that allow intercessory prayers to be made to three Pagan Meccan goddesses: Allāt, Uzza, and Manāt.[1] The part of the story that deals with the "satanic verses" was based on accounts from the historians al-Waqidi and al-Tabari. 

The outrage among Muslims resulted in a fatwā calling for Rushdie's death issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran, on 14 February 1989. The result was several failed assassination attempts on Rushdie, who was placed under police protection, and attacks on several connected individuals such as translator Hitoshi Igarashi (leading, in Igarashi's case, to death). 

The book was banned in the Republic of India as hate speech directed towards a specific religious group.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses  

Hitoshi Igarashi was a Japanese associate professor who translated The Satanic Verses into Japanese.  He was killed by somebody, most likely a foreign Muslim, in the University of Tsukuba, north of Tokyo, in 1991.

Igarashi was born in 1947.[1] He completed his doctoral programme in Islamic art at the University of Tokyo in 1976, and was research fellow at the Royal Academy of Iran until the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

After Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989, calling for the death of "the author of the Satanic Verses book, which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Qur'an" and in March 1991 (3 months before Igarashi's death) issued a further fatwa and multimillion-dollar bounty for the death of "any of those involved in its publication who are aware of its content".[5] He was stabbed repeatedly in the face and arms by an unknown assailant and died. His body was found on 12 July 1991 in his office at the University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. 

In 2006, the case was closed without having determined any individual suspects. Kenneth M. Pollack alleged in The Persian Puzzle that the attack was a covert operation by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In 2010, Bungeishunjū reported a rumor circulating among the Japanese immigration authority that a young and wealthy Bangladeshi committed the murder then flew back to his home country the next day, before it was discovered. According to the unverified rumor, the Japanese government has refrained from applying for the extradition of the suspect from Bangladesh due to fears of inflaming anger over the Satanic Verses controversy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitoshi_Igarashi

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Igarashi started to study in a postgraduate course and became a successful educator.

And the Japanese version of The Satanic Verses is still sold in Amazon and kept in many public libraries in Japan.  (https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%82%AA%E9%AD%94%E3%81%AE%E8%A9%A9-%E4%B8%8A-%E3%82%B5%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A5%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3/dp/4787790013)

As for the contents of the novel, it looks like a result of a kind of mental confusion of the author in the situation between India and Britain:

The work is an "albeit surreal, record of its own author's continuing identity crisis."[2] Ally said that the book reveals the author ultimately as "the victim of nineteenth-century British colonialism."  Rushdie himself spoke confirming this interpretation of his book, saying that it was not about Islam, "but about migration, metamorphosis, divided selves, love, death, London and Bombay."[2] He has also said "It's a novel which happened to contain a castigation of Western materialism. The tone is comic."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses  

The problem is that when Rushdie born in Bombay, then British India, into a Muslim family struggled to build his identity against Western materialism, he had to happen to undervalue Islam that could not defeat Western Civilization.



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Mar 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

"Stretch forth thy hand" - The Son of God vs. God

The Tokyo Station

The Son of God vs. God

The Gospels do not introduce Christ Jesus' saying that He is God.  But, there are many sentences where the word, the Son of God, is used:

Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 

Matthew 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Matthew 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 

Matthew 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. 

Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

Matthew 26:63 But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 

Matthew 27:40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 

Matthew 27:43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 

Matthew 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 

Mark 3:11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. 

Mark 5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 

Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. 

Luke 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 

Luke 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 

Luke 4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 

Luke 4:41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. 

Luke 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. 

Luke 22:70 Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. 

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 

John 1:34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 

John 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. 

John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 

John 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 

John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 

John 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 

John 11:4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. 

John 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. 

John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

So, it is clear that the Gospels were written based on the belief that Christ Jesus was the Son of God.  Usually, the only son of a king will become king someday.  But as long as he is called son, he is not king.

In addition, there is a big or an infinite gap between God and any other men and things.  The gap between God, infinite and more, and the Son of God, finite even if so great, cannot be neglected.  So, how stupid it is to call anybody or anything but God God.

What is more, the mankind must show the highest respect to God.  Calling anybody or anything that is not God God is a big lack of respect for God.

Accordingly, we must not call Christ Jesus God, although for the tiny existence of the mankind Christ Jesus looks so great as if infinite like God, for example, just like Mars looks like Sirius for mankind on the earth though the former is much smaller than the latter.

So, we had better review the Vatican creed of the Trinity, since it was about 1500 years ago that this creed was officially introduced.

In 325, the Council of Nicaea adopted the Nicene Creed which described Christ as "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father"...By the end of the 4th century, under the leadership of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus (the Cappadocian Fathers), the doctrine had reached substantially its current form.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity#History

Anyway, the adoption of the Trinity by the Vatican must cause Islam to emerge with approval of God.  

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Luk 6:10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

"what are they among so many?" - Stop Thinking that Christ is God

Tsukiji Food Wholesale Market, Tokyo

Stop Thinking that Christ is God

If God became a man and appeared before you, could you identify Him as God?

Christ Jesus appeared before at least 12 men and spent 24 hours a day per  for at least one year with them, traveling, talking, and eating with them.  But they did not realize that Christ Jesus was God, according to the Gospels.

Those followers of Christ Jesus eventually concluded that He was a Messiah or a Christ, while Christ Jesus suggested that He was the Son of God.  And, it was almost half a century later after the Crucifixion of Christ Jesus that John wrote his version of the Gospel with his belief that Christ Jesus was God.

When we read the words of Christ Jesus in the Gospels, can we believe that Christ Jesus is God?  Are those theachings of Christ Jesus only possible by God?  Or can we think that the miracles performed by Christ Jesus proved that He was God?

For example, if God became a foolish man and appeared as such before us for some holy purpose, for example, to teach that fools following God are wiser than clever men of this world can we identify the man as God?  In this case, as God completely disguises himself as God, we cannot find it out that the foolish man is God.

So, if God had intended that He became the Messiah, the Christ, or the Son of God, men could only identify him as such but no as God, since God is almighty.  But Satan might find it out that Christ Jesus was God in essence.  And Satan might secretly teach some followers of Christ Jesus, though decades later after the Crucifixion, that Christ Jesus was God in essence.  And, one of those followers of Christ Jesus might start to write his version of the Gospel based on Satan's indication that Christ Jesus was God.

However, as a result of the Vatican's adoption of a creed that Christ Jesus was God, some serious troubles must have occurred in Christianity.  Most of people who heard this Christian creed must have been confused and came to have doubt and disbelief in God at the bottoms of their hearts, since it looked so absurd that God was killed by Roman soldiers.

Satan challenged God by telling that Christ Jesus was God to some Christian leaders.  And, due to effects of this plot of Satan, the Vatican and Christian churches have not been able to fully save people in these 1900 years.  As a countermeasure, however, God gave Islam to the mankind, a religion that denies the Christian creed that Christ Jesus is God.

So, we have to stop saying and thinking that Christ is God.



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Joh 6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,
Joh 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
Joh 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

"power over unclean spirits" - After these 2500 Years

Tokyo

After these 2500 Years

The direct root of today's major schools of philosophy and religions started 2500 years ago.

Around 500 BC (Origins of contemporary philosophy and religion):
The Greek philosopher Socrates was born c. 470/469 B.C., in Athens.  The Buddha died in 543 BC.  The first five books – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, book of Numbers and Deuteronomy – of the Old Testament reached their present form in the Persian period (538–332 BC).  The Chinese philosopher Confucius died in 479 BC.  The Greek philosopher Socrates was born c. 470/469 B.C., in Athens.

Around AD 1 (Start of the holy bimillennium):
And then 2000 years ago, God sent Christ Jesus to Israelites whose religion faced a crisis.  Since then, the world history evolved distinctly through each era of 500 years.

1 to 500 (Rise of Christianity): 
Christianity expanded from Palestine to the whole Roman Empire's territory and beyond.  Great reformation of Europe was going on in the post-Roman Empire Europe.

500 to 1000 (Former Middle Ages and the rise of Islam):
The Vatican and Christian churches expanded to hold hegemony in Europe.  However, due to flaws in Christian doctrines, God gave Islam to Arabs and other tribes, leading to establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate and the Abbasid Caliphate.

1000 to 1500 (Latter Middle Ages and split of the Islamic world): The Vatican's power culminated  so as to launch the crusaders against Muslims that were prevailing in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean.  But soon worldly powers of European emperors and kings took advantage while Catholic churches became tainted.  The Islamic world lost its integrity and the Islamic hegemony shifted from the Abbasid Caliphate to Seljuk, the Timur Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

1500 to 2000 (Industrial revolution to modern technology): 
The Vatican started to built St. Peter's Basilica while Luther launched Protestantism against the Vatican authority. Columbus sailed the Atlantic to reach America, and Europeans started to colonize Africa and Asia. Modern typography invented by Gutenberg paved the way for great intellectual development in Europe.  Following scientific development symbolized by Newton, etc., the Industrial Revolution started in England and then in Europe, the US, and Japan.  Then modern capitalism and commercialism prevailed over great wars such as WWI, WWII, and the Cold War.  Meanwhile Christianity has lost its binding influence on Westerners while modern science has been advancing with Einstein and many successive followers with support of advanced technology.  Friction between Westerners and Muslims has been intensified.

Now, the world seems to reach the limit in which integrity and soundness of humanity are secured by the effect of various schools of philosophy and religions that have emerged in these 2500 years while modern economy and technology are expanding in a boundless manner.

In this context, the mankind is facing a crisis like an ape holding advanced weapons without knowing how to control them.  So, God should interfere with the mankind again like He send Christ Jesus 2000 years ago.


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Mar 6:7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
Mar 6:8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:

"thy Father which seeth in secret" - No Fathers on the Earth

Tokyo

No Fathers on the Earth

There is interesting teaching by Christ Jesus:

Mat 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Mat 23:10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
Mat 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

A person who has no father must be poor.  A person who is never called a master is also poor.  These persons must feel sorry when they see others calling their fathers or being called masters.  In order not to make them unhappy, everybody must not call anybody his or her father or must not be called a master.

And those who can take such care are really great, since they can mind and save poor people without their fathers and merits for which to be called masters.

Christ Jesus was the greatest since he truly cared about the poorest people without their fathers and merits for which to be called masters.

In addition, the Gospels do not present scenes where Christ Jesus mentioned His father on the earth.


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Mat 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

"he could there do no mighty work" - The Essenes and Christ Jesus

Tokyo

The Essenes and Christ Jesus

There was a scholar who clearly claimed existence of a tie between Christ Jesus and Qumran:

Jesus the Man: New Interpretations from the Dead Sea Scrolls is a book written by the Australian biblical scholar and theologian Barbara Thiering. It was first published by Doubleday in 1992 with the title, Jesus & The Riddle of The Dead Sea Scrolls: Unlocking The Secrets of His Life Story.... 

The central thesis of the book is that "Jesus was the leader of a radical faction of Essene priests. He was not of virgin birth. He did not die on the Cross. He married Mary Magdalene, fathered a family, and later divorced. He died sometime after AD 64".[2] From the New Testament gospels and Dead Sea Scrolls, Thiering constructs a new history of early Christianity which she contends was hidden in pesher coding. Thiering finds that the biography of Jesus hidden in the New Testament shows him to have been born in Qumran, an Essene community beside the Dead Sea, in March, 7 BC.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_the_Man

Almost all the scholars rejected her theory.  She indeed lacked a necessary level of respect for Christ Jesus, but all of her theory cannot be denied, especially, in terms of the connection of Christ Jesus with an Essene community.

The Gospels have a strong focus on John the Baptist but completely neglect the Essenes.  But if Qumran had been a place where resurrected Christ Jesus went and hid, His connection to the Essenes whose base was in Qumran should have been naturally hidden even in the Gospels that might have been written after the human and physical death of resurrected Christ Jesus.

The relation ship between Qumran and Christ Jesus must be a key to understanding reality of the life of Christ Jesus.



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Mar 6:5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
Mar 6:6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

"A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country" - In 2000 Years, No Judaists, Christians, and Muslims

Tokyo

In 2000 Years, No Judaists, Christians, and Muslims

Judaists have failed or already failed 2000 years ago, because they lacked the consciousness that they should have put more emphasis on observing the teaching of God than observing Jewish laws and rules, so that God sent Christ Jesus to Palestine, Jerusalem, and the world.

Christians have failed or already failed around 600, because they adopted an ideology that it was more important to think that Christ Jesus was God than to observer the teaching of God and Christ Jesus, so that God gave Islam to Arabs and other tribes.

Now, Muslims have failed, because some of them are supporting terror on people who criticize Muhammad and other Islamic leaders, which is an act to lessen energy and passion to respect and revere God, but God seems to have no intention to send other prophets or saints to the mankind.

Probably, Judaists, Christians, and Muslims should not respect anything but God.  They should forget every teaching of their own religions but directly stick to fear, respect, and love of God.

Every religious rule should be forgotten, because they must concentrate their energy and passion on fear, respect, and love of God.  They have to directly face to God but not to their own religions.

From a historic point of view, those who directly have fear, respect, and love of God will be the mainstream while those who stick to calling themselves Judaists, Christians, or Muslims will become a minority.  It is so, since God requests a strong tie between Him and the mankind, so that He must want any man to have fear, respect, and love of Him without any intermediums such as religion.

At least, 2000 years later, there would be no Judaists, Christians, and Muslims on the earth but only followers of God.



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Mar 6:4 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

"his disciples follow him" - Ethical Ten Commandments

Tokyo

Ethical Ten Commandments

God gave Hebrews the Ten Commandments:

The Ten Commandments 

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy Honour thy father and thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
Thou shalt not covet (neighbour's house)
Thou shalt not covet (neighbour's wife)
Thou shalt not covet (neighbour's servants, animals, or anything else)
Ye shall erect these stones which I command thee upon Mount Gerizim

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments

But Israelites seemed not to fully observe these Commandments.  So, God sent Christ Jesus to Israelites and other peoples to remind them of the Ten Commnadments.

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
— Matthew 19:16-19   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments

But Israelites and other peoples seemed not to fully observe the teaching by Christ Jesus.  So, God gave Islam to other peoples.

The Qur'an includes a version of the Ten Commandments in sura Al-An'am 6:151:
"Say: "Come, I will rehearse what Allah hath (really) prohibited you from": Join not anything with Him; be good to your parents; kill not your children on a plea of want;- We provide sustenance for you and for them;- come not nigh to indecent deeds. Whether open or secret; take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom. And come not nigh to the orphan's property, except to improve it, until he attain the age of full strength; give measure and weight with (full) justice;- no burden do We place on any soul, but that which it can bear;- whenever ye speak, speak justly, even if a near relative is concerned; and fulfill the Covenant of Allah. thus doth He command you, that ye may remember."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments

But Muslims seem not to fully observe this version of the Ten Commandments.  So, God might make the Last Judgment.

There are many religions and philosophical teachings such as Buddhism, Confucianism, some schools of the Greek Philosophy taught by Socrates, etc. that encourage practice of ethic.  But, Judaism is outstanding in presenting a moral code in such a simple and strong manner.  It is also unique in that it claims that God ordered men to observe the commandments highly related to ethic.

If God really requested human beings to follow those ethical Commandments while the human beings have not met this request after God gave the three religions to the mankind, what terrible thing would occur to the mankind?

However, today nobody seems to seriously worry about God's request and possible consequences of men's failure to meet it.  It looks like the mankind insults God.  It is very terrible, since we cannot defend ourselves if God should definitely punish us.



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Mar 6:1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
Mar 6:2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

"Who touched my clothes?" - A Miracle Whose Probability is almost Zero

Tokyo and Tokyo Bay

A Miracle Whose Probability is almost Zero

If there was no sun in this universe, there would be no earth, no mankind, and none of you.

But the sun is just one of the fixed stars of 300 billion in our galaxy that is just one of 300 billion galaxies in the whole universe.

The probability of the existence of our sun is less than 1/10^23 or 0.00000000000000000000001.

In addition, it is thought that the total number of all the species that have ever lived on the earth is 20 million. So, the human species is one of 20000000 (2 x 10^7) species.

Accordingly, the probability of the existence of the mankind is less than 1/10^31 or 0.000000000000000000000000000001.

If you have a bet with anybody on something that can be possible only at a probability of 0.0000000000000000000000000001%, you would surely have a gamble on that it would never happen.  But, the mankind exists at a probability less than 0.0000000000000000000000000001%.

In reality, we, the mankind, exist at 100% of probability.  It is a miracle.  But can we believe that it is God that allowed this miracle to occur?  Or should we stick to an idea that we, the mankind, just happened to come to exist by chance or accident?

Anyway, if we believe that God created this universe, the sun, and the mankind riding out a probability less than 0.0000000000000000000000000001%, we may expect that God might allow another miracle for us whose probability is less than 0.0000000000000000000000000001%.

If we don't believe in God, we would simply not expect anything whose probability is less than 0.0000000000000000000000000001% to happen.

From a rational point of view, we had better believe in God.



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Mar 5:27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
Mar 5:28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
Mar 5:29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
Mar 5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?