Philosophy Now Forum

This is an interesting topic which I have been relying on to justify why all Abrahamic religions believers must enter into a covenant [divine contract] with God and thereby to comply with all the terms in that covenant [contract].

Most Abrahamic believers are ignorant they are in a contract [covenant] with God to comply 'fully' with the terms of the covenant.
I believe it is because the term 'covenant' is not obvious enough to convey the concept of a "binding agreement" they have with God.
Just in the secular courts, 'ignorance is no defense' on Judgment Day.

Covenant Theology (also known as covenantalism, federal theology, or federalism) is a biblical theology, a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall structure of the Bible.

God's covenantal relationship with God's creation is not made automatically or out of necessity. Rather, God chooses to establish the connection as a covenant, wherein the terms of the relationship are set down by God alone according to God's own will.

The covenant of grace became the basis for all future covenants that God made with mankind such as with Noah (Genesis 6, 9), with Abraham (Genesis 12, 15, 17), with Moses (Exodus 19–24), with David (2 Samuel 7), and finally in the New Covenant founded and fulfilled in Christ.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_theology

Christian_views_on_the_Old_Covenant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian ... d_Covenant

Islam
The same principles of Covenant also applies to all Muslims who must enter into a covenant [divine contract] with Allah. There are many verses in the Quran referring to the imperative covenant.

• Q7:172 And ˹remember˺ when your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their descendants and had them testify regarding themselves. ˹Allah asked,˺ “Am I not your Lord?” They replied, “Yes, You are! We testify.” ˹He cautioned,˺ “Now you have no right to say on Judgment Day, ‘We were not aware of this.’
  
  [Q13:20-23] Those who fulfil the covenant [biʿahdi] with God, and break not the compact {agreement} [l-mīthāqa];
  who join what God has bidden to be joined; and dread their Lord and fear the evil reckoning;
  who remain patient, craving their Lord's countenance; and perform the prayer; and
  expend [in alms] of what We have provided them secretly and openly; and
  ward off evil with good
  —these shall have the recompense of the [eternal) abode, Gardens of Eden which they shall enter. (XIII, 20-23)

The principles of the Covenant [divine contract] are;
1. The offer via grace by God
2. The acceptance [explicit or implied] by believers
3. Consideration: the surrender on one's life to the Will of God
4. Terms of the covenant: only in the Gospels [Christianity] or Quran [Islam]

The significant point is the terms of the covenant must be confined only in the Gospels [Christianity] or Quran [Islam]; it cannot be from all over the place.
The OT, Acts, Epistles of Christianity and the Ahadith of Islam are merely Appendixes to the covenant acting as guides.

Execution of the Contract
The obligation of each party to the covenant is;
all believers must comply with the terms of the covenant [contract] to the best of the ability and subject to the omniscient God's decision of Judgment Day. Ignorance is No Defense on Judgment Day.
God's promise is his obligation to provide eternal life to qualified-believers upon Judgment Day.

Thus if the terms of the covenant include:
1. 'Don't kill non-believers, period!' then believers who kill humans has sinned and is subject to God's decision to forgive.

2. 'Kill non-believers upon the slightest threat to the religion', then the believers must kill non-believers where they will be rewarded with eternal life with 10 fold the ordinary rewards in paradise.
Those who do not kill upon this condition of the terms of agreement would have sinned and may risk their passport to go to paradise if God decide so.

The covenant [divine contract] is the most fundamental grounds of the Abrahamic religion because to qualify as a believer, he must first enter in a covenant/contract with God [presented with Grace on his terms].

Discuss??
Views??

Notes:

The Law of Christ [within Mathew 5-7] = the terms of the Covenant or Divine Contract.

Believing the New Covenant to be a new dispensation, George R. Law has proposed that the Law of Christ is recorded in Matthew 5–7.[29]
He suggests that Matthew's record of the Sermon on the Mount is structured similar to the literary form of an ancient Near Eastern covenant treaty.
Law's theory is built on the work of Viktor Korošec, Donald J. Wiseman, and George E. Mendenhall.

This new covenant form, like other variations of the covenant form throughout ancient history, can be identified by its combination of ancient covenant elements.
If this record in Matthew can be identified as the record of the promised New Covenant, then its contents can also be identified as the formal presentation of the Law of Christ (and includes Christ's new Ten Commandments).

When you had posted, you have been plagiarizing. You had wanted to learn, your groundwork might have helped. Had you researched, would you were to find the truth. Data dumping is your posting, then I see the errors and mistakes. When data dump, you only have an opinion. When you learn philosophy, you will know the truth. I am betting, you will one day find the truth. I can point it out to you but only you can find the truth.

puto wrote: ↑Wed Jan 15, 2025 9:50 am When you had posted, you have been plagiarizing. You had wanted to learn, your groundwork might have helped. Had you researched, would you were to find the truth. Data dumping is your posting, then I see the errors and mistakes. When data dump, you only have an opinion. When you learn philosophy, you will know the truth. I am betting, you will one day find the truth. I can point it out to you but only you can find the truth.

What kind of shit are you talking about.

I ended the OP with
"Discuss??
Views??"

Meaning it is open for discussion on the topic I introduced.
Someone may have some interests in saying something, i.e. agree, disagree or something to add to the topic. From what is posted, me and others may want to give their views.

If you have nothing to say on the said topic, just f/o.

The Law of Christ [within Mathew 5-7] = the terms of the Covenant or Divine Contract.

Believing the New Covenant to be a new dispensation, George R. Law has proposed that the Law of Christ is recorded in Matthew 5–7.[29]
He suggests that Matthew's record of the Sermon on the Mount is structured similar to the literary form of an ancient Near Eastern covenant treaty.
Law's theory is built on the work of Viktor Korošec, Donald J. Wiseman, and George E. Mendenhall.

This new covenant form, like other variations of the covenant form throughout ancient history, can be identified by its combination of ancient covenant elements.
If this record in Matthew can be identified as the record of the promised New Covenant, then its contents can also be identified as the formal presentation of the Law of Christ (and includes Christ's new Ten Commandments).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian ... ationalism

invaders at the witches' picnic...

coven ants...

-Imp

Belinda wrote: "A contract" you claim, with Allah. But there is no quid pro quo with Allah who is the epitome of mercy . A Muslim submits to Allah whom he trusts as the epitome of goodness.
As with any religion it's people that make the religion divisive.

Yes, a "contract" [covenant] with Allah; to qualify as a Muslim, the believer must enter into a binding agreement ["contract"/covenant] with Allah and to comply fully with the terms stipulated in the Quran [only] to receive eternal life in paradise as promised within the contract.
The total submission to Allah is the necessary 'consideration' element of the contract.

I have studied and researched the Quran full time for 3 years, so, I am very familiar with the imperativeness and centrality of the covenant in Islam.

Here are some related notes:

Abundance of Covenantal Language and Commentary
An initial clue to the importance of the covenant to Islam is that the Qur’an is replete with discussions and allusions to covenantal ideas.
The first and most substantial modern study of the concept of covenant in the Qur’an is a dissertation by Robert Darnell.
In the abstract of his dissertation, Darnell states that “more than 700 verses of the Qur’an were found related to the covenant idea.”
With respect to specific terminology, Lumbard notes that “words pertaining to the covenant occur over 100 times.”
These statistics indicate an abundance of covenantal language.

There are two Arabic words that are of primary importance for understanding the covenants in the Qur’an.
The first, ‘ahd, occurs 29 times, and the second, mithaq, occurs 25 times.
-Anderson

The Covenant to be 'contracted' is offered from God with grace: A believer must declare the shahada to affect the agreement as binding [covenant/divine-contract].

• [Q: 7:172] And (remember) when thy Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: Yea, verily. We testify. (That was) lest ye should say at the Day of Resurrection: Lo! of this we were unaware
  
  [Q13:20-23] Those who fulfil the covenant [biʿahdi] with God, and break not the compact {agreement} [l-mīthāqa];
  who join what God has bidden to be joined; and dread their Lord and fear the evil reckoning;
  who remain patient, craving their Lord's countenance; and perform the prayer; and
  expend [in alms] of what We have provided them secretly and openly; and
  ward off evil with good
  —these shall have the recompense of the [eternal) abode, Gardens of Eden which they shall enter.

There is Mutual conditions and responsibility of reciprocity between God and believers [quid pro quo]:

“But every covenant, inasmuch as it is a covenant, puts both parties under obligations.”
Toshihiko Izutsu, Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur’an (Kingston, ON: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002), 88,

Quran 2:40 “Children of Israel, remember My blessing wherewith I blessed you, and fulfil My covenant and I shall fulfil your covenant; and have awe of Me” (Q 2:40).

“This is God’s promise: God never breaks his promise, but most people do not know” (Q 30:6);

“We make it Our duty to help the believers” (Q 30:47);

“They have sworn . . . that He will not raise the dead to life. But He will—it is his binding promise (Q 16:38);

“Say to them, ‘Have you received a promise from God—for God never breaks His promise?’” (Q 2:80).

On the basis of such passages, Frederick Denny argues that, “It would be easy to multiply examples of how the Qur’anic covenant concept entails mutual conditions and responsibility.”
-Anderson

Although 2:40 mentioned "Children of Israel" i.e. the Jews, the principle is the same for Muslims and Islam, i.e. as God said, "I shall fulfil your covenant" so it is "quid pro quo"

Allah is supposedly omnipotence, will Allah break his obligations as promised in the contract?
Allah is omni-whatever, His omni-justness and omni-fairness will ensure Allah will exercise his contractual obligations as promised, i.e. comply - go to heaven with eternal life, non-compliance - go to Hell and be burned eternally.

My point:
Whenever you discuss Islam, it is critical you are mindful [in the spirit of critical thinking] of the above, i.e. a Muslim is one who had entered into a "contract" [covenant, mithaq, ahd] with Allah to comply fully [with the greatest fear of God {taqwa}] with the terms of the agreement to gain eternal life in paradise as promised. There is a risk of going to hell if the Muslim did not comply with the "contracted" terms.

Every act [good or evil from a non-believer perspective] a Muslim claimed to be done in the name of the religion and God is in compliant with God's word, for no Muslim would dare to do otherwise to avoid going to Hell.
The above is a very fair, rational and reasonable point.