One of the most frequently repeated objections to the Quran's account of the golden calf concerns a single word: al-Sāmirī (ٱلسَّامِرِىُّ), "the Samarian." Critics argue this constitutes a historical anachronism, since Samaria did not exist as a city until centuries after Moses. The objection appears straightforward: the Quran projects a later geographical identity backward into … Continue reading The Samarian: An Archetype for Samaria
Why God Is Never Called “Just” in the Quran
One of the most striking features of the Quran's theology is not what it says, but what it refuses to say. The Quran repeatedly affirms that God never wrongs anyone—yet it never directly calls God "Just" using the Arabic roots ʿa-d-l (عدل) or q-s-ṭ (قسط). This is not a linguistic accident or oversight. It is … Continue reading Why God Is Never Called “Just” in the Quran
Humble Beginnings
The great irony of the Abrahamic traditions is that their founders began not as kings of vast realms or leaders of tremendous nations, but as figures so marginal that the world around them scarcely took notice. Empires recorded tax quotas, harvest failures, caravan routes, and court intrigues with obsessive regularity; they built monuments to victories … Continue reading Humble Beginnings
The Uraeus and Moses: When Symbols Collide
Long before Moses ever stood in the halls of Egypt, the kings of the Nile crowned themselves with a symbol found on the brow of every pharaoh: the Uraeus, a stylized cobra, hood flared, poised to strike. For more than two millennia, the Egyptians believed this serpent was not mere ornament but a living emblem … Continue reading The Uraeus and Moses: When Symbols Collide
Jesus’ Body Was Crucified & There is no Second Coming
In mainstream Sunni theology, Jesus (ʿĪsā) was neither killed nor crucified but was raised alive to God, where he continues to live in a state unique among all prophets. Sunnis generally hold that God made someone else resemble Jesus externally, and that this substitute was crucified in his place. They derive this "substitution theory" from … Continue reading Jesus’ Body Was Crucified & There is no Second Coming
Sunni Apologists Continue to Perpetuate the Very Deception Their Tradition Claims to Protect Against
The Unchanging Nature of Human Behavior One of the most important insights in historical study is that human nature doesn't change—only the environment does. The ancients were not a different species; they possessed the same cognitive capacity, emotional impulses, biases, temptations, ambitions, and insecurities as people today. Whether we examine Babylonian school tablets, Roman letters, … Continue reading Sunni Apologists Continue to Perpetuate the Very Deception Their Tradition Claims to Protect Against
The Slow Birth of Islam: How Syriac Christians Watched a Religion Take Shape
When the armies of Islam emerged from Arabia in the seventh century, the first Christians they encountered were not the Greek-speaking Byzantines of Constantinople nor the Latin Christians of Rome, but the Syriac-speaking Christian communities of the Middle East. These Christians—centered in Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Persia—spoke Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic closely related to … Continue reading The Slow Birth of Islam: How Syriac Christians Watched a Religion Take Shape
Syriac Polemics Against Islam: Muhammad Had No Miracles Aside from Quran
Around the year 781 CE, Patriarch Timothy (727–823 CE) recorded what is now known as the Apology, a transcript of his theological debate with the Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785 CE). This text captures a moment in the history of the Christian–Muslim encounter that should unsettle every modern defender of the miracle legends later invented … Continue reading Syriac Polemics Against Islam: Muhammad Had No Miracles Aside from Quran
Notes: Envisioninig Islam: Syriac Christians and Early Muslim World
The following are my notes from the book "Envisioning Islam: Syriac Christians and the Early Muslim World" by Michael Philip Penn. But when Muslims first encountered Christians they did not meet Greek-speaking Christians from Constantinople, nor did they meet Latin-speaking Christians from the western Mediterranean. Rather, they first encountered Christians from northern Mesopotamia who spoke … Continue reading Notes: Envisioninig Islam: Syriac Christians and Early Muslim World
The Earliest Mentions of Muhammad from Syriac Sources
Long before medieval Christian polemicists wrote about “Mahomet,” and centuries before European historians tried to reconstruct early Islam, a different group recorded the rise of Muhammad and his followers in real time: Syriac-speaking Christians of the Near East. These communities lived not in Rome or Constantinople, but in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia—the very lands conquered … Continue reading The Earliest Mentions of Muhammad from Syriac Sources
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