Searching Below the Surface – Looking into unexpected Islamic ideas.

Defining Covenant Marriage

• The Beholder’s Definition of Marriage
• Is Marriage a Covenant or Contract? Society’s dilemma
• A Snapshot in Defining a Covenant Marriage
• Relational Characteristics of a Covenant
• Searching Below the Surface – Looking into unexpected Islamic ideas.
• En Route to Defining a Covenant Marriage – Countering Contract
• Essence of the Covenant Matrix

In reading, Searching Below the Surface: A Deeper Look at Covenant and Contract, one expects simple answers to complex issues. However, exploring a much-needed contrast between how the God of the Bible functions in a covenant manner and the Islamic Allah in a contractual way will take the reader into a Scripture dig. The foundations help one to understand marriage as an outcome of these beliefs, leading each of us to discover why biblical marriage is covenantal, not contractual – like Islam.

This book exposes the undergirding ideas beneath our spiritual and religious systems. Below Christian and Islamic religious structures and paths hide ancient networks that need raising to the surface so that a better worldview comprehension can occur. Especially in how differing creation accounts in the Bible and Quran uphold theological understandings. In what ways does the oneness of Yahweh and the Absolute Oneness of Allah influence their narratives? Each area explored hints further meaning to the whole story.

The many aspects explored about Yahweh or Allah today may not give us a complete picture of what hides beneath a religious structure or mode of thinking. As in any ancient dig, time and patience provide a fuller description. Likewise, the many artifacts discovered without a systematic blueprint may conceal a fuller understanding. In this writing, items uncovered will link to either a systematic covenant or contract blueprint. As we search and meticulously expose the substructure, a complete picture will show the difference between a covenant God called Yahweh and a deity prone to contract called Allah. Searching Below the Surface digs up the bedrock of why the Bible presents a covenant model and Islam a contract one. The underpinnings in each perspective reflect the essence of either Yahweh or Allah’s nature to guide our exploration.

As we journey intellectually into the Bible and Quran, we will appreciate how Christianity and Islam pursue divergent paths concerning life. We will see a different viewpoint based on the nature of deity’s oneness, what God says about man, and how he interacts and offers deliverance for humanity. These things influence a follower’s identity and relationships. Any archeologist takes much time collecting and classifying the artifacts discovered to categorize the evidence. Theological archeology looks at how the Bible and Quran formulate a collective identity. With much patient analysis, the items gathered from both sides will create a classification.

The biblical source extensively draws, defines, and legitimizes a covenant identity. On the other hand, the Islamic source often ignores the biblical context to rearrange, redefine, and re-legitimize a contract parameter regarding marriage. These textual digs will explore the distinctions and inferences that eventually show marriage as either covenantal or contractual. As in any archaeological dig, the study of the area requires much patient evaluation. An archaeologist finds apparent and everyday objects but provides a fuller picture when comparing the finds with other objects and periods. Likewise, we discover a covenant or contract identity when contrasting the Bible and the Quran. We hope to show that Yahweh, a covenant God, and Allah, a contract one, eventually affect people’s views of marriage.