Religion & Society

 I recently saw “The Eternals”, one of the latest Hollywood blockbusters in the cinema. The movie is part of the “Marvel Universe” series, with that title itself suggesting something supernatural. Expecting an entertaining challenge to my faith, I was not disappointed, though I came away somewhat disturbed. The basic plot has elements that resonate with Christian viewers. It features a god-figure, Arishem, sovereign creator of good and evil. Arishem has created the Eternals as his agents to combat the Deviants, forces for evil. But the Eternals are deceived by Arishem, not realising that they are implementing his ultimate plan to destroy the earth as part of a re-creation process. Read on here ...

An inaccurate reference to ‘Biblical corruption’ has sparked a storm of protest in Malaysia’s Parliament. The dispute erupted after comments by Muslim MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi Nik Salleh during a debate about increasing fines for drink-driving offenders. Nik Zawawi asserted that religions other than Islam forbade their followers from drinking alcohol. A Christian Member of Parliament, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, corrected him, adding that Christians are allowed to consume alcohol, but not to the point of intoxication and debauchery. Nik Zawawi replied curtly that Datuk Ngeh should check his facts as the original Bible, before it was changed, forbade any consumption of alcohol, adding that he had read about Christianity in documents written by Christians. Christian apologists who engage with Muslim critics of the Bible and Christianity are very familiar with the common claim by Muslim polemicists that today’s Bible has been changed. According to this claim, Jesus received an original Gospel which...

I was interviewed by the staff of the Zwemer Centre for Muslim Studies (USA) about the Qur'an.  The interview is available here .