Part 1- Elia and the false prophets:
One of the kings of the Children of Israel, called Ahab, married a woman from the idolaters. God in the Torah prohibited them from marrying the idolatresses; therefore this idolatress had control over her husband: King Ahab, and caused him to serve her idol: the Baal or Baalim. He commanded his people to worship Baal. The worship of Baalim then prevailed among people.

Then there was only one prophet of God: Prophet Elia (or Elijah); while the prophets of Baal (: the religious leaders inviting people to worship this idol) were about 450.

See the story of this "challenge in prayer" in the First Book of Kings: chapter 18:

21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, "How long halt you between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."
22 Then said Elijah to the people, "I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men."
23 "Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:"
24 And call you on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answers by fire, let him be God." And all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."
25 And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under."
26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us." But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, "Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he is sleeping, and must be awaked."
28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them……….
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word."
37 "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their heart back again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, "The LORD, He is the God; the LORD, he is the God."
40 And Elijah said to them, "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape." And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, "Get up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain."………
45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain…. "
http://quranandhebrewbible.t35.com/english2.htm#intended_to_kill_Prophet_Elia_Elijah

Part 2- Prophet Mohammed and the Christians of Najran:
Once a delegate of the Christians of Najran came to the city of Medina where Prophet Mohammed where; in order to question or inquire about the new prophet: Mohammed.
They wrangled with the believers, and most of their wrangling was about Jesus Christ. They said he was without father, then he should be the son of God. They were answered that Jesus in this respect is like Adam whom God created without father and mother.
They went on in their dispute for few days; then these ayat 3: 59-61 weres revealed:

The explanation:
(To God, the likeness of Jesus is as the likeness of Adam, whom He created from earth, then said to him: "Be!" and he was [as God willed.]

[What We have told you, Mohammed, about Jesus] is the truth from your Lord; so have no doubt [about that.]

Whoso [of them] wrangles with you [Mohammed] concerning the [matter of Jesus], now after you have been [fully] acquainted [concerning that],

say [to them]: "Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves:

then let us supplicate [God] invoking the curse of God on those [among us] that are liars.")

When these ayat of the Quran were revealed, the Christian delegate discussed the matter among themselves: would they accept the challenge with Mohammed, or not; and they were afraid lest his prayer against them might be accepted,

or in case he was not a true prophet, and they were correct in their belief about the Trinity, that Jesus was God Himself, and that the Christ was the son of God; then they had to challenge with him, and in such case God might answer their prayer against him and prove they were correct and truthful in their doctrine.

They reached to an agreement among themselves: if Mohammed is truthful and he is a true prophet of God, then he will be confident in himself and in his Lord and he believes surely that he is a prophet of God –– then he will bring with him, in this contest, his nearest family members, but if he was a liar, then he would bring some of the rest of believers and exclude his family members; because he would then fear lest God's wrath should be against them.

Then when they went to the contest, they saw Prophet Mohammed bring his daughter Fatima Zahra, his cousin Ali: the husband of his daughter (:his son in law, as European call him) and his grandsons: Hassan and Hussein.

Therefore, they were afraid from challenging him in praying God, and they retreated without accepting the challenge.

Some of them returned to the Medina city and converted, because of being certain then that Prophet Mohammed was truthful.

eanassir
http://quranandhebrewbible.t35.com

Conservative Anglican leaders pledged Sunday to stay in the worldwide Anglican Communion, but they also announced plans to form a separate council of bishops to counter a movement within mainstream Anglicanism that they say promotes immoral behaviour. Their intentions were announced on the final day of the week-long Globan Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem, convened largely in response to growing acceptance of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions in North American churches. "We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it," conference members said in their final statement. But they also said some Anglican leaders are trying to rewrite the Bible along liberal lines. In its statement, the group, which says it represents 35 million Anglicans, accused churches in the West of proclaiming "a false gospel [that] undermines the authority of God's word" and promotes a "variety of sexual preferences and immoral behaviour." Canadian Cheryl Chang, a delegate at the meeting, said the Jerusalem Declaration is an important way to preserve church traditions. "This sets out the fundamental, essential beliefs of Anglicanism that we have had since the beginning of the church," she said. "This is not about gay marriage. Gay marriage is nothing more than a symptom of the bigger problem that this conference is concerned with, and that is, how are we going to view the Bible and how are we going to view our relationship with one another in the church," Chang said. Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia, one of the organizers of the conference, blamed the rift in the 77-million-member church on a decision by the U.S. Episcopal Church five years ago to consecrate its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson. Jensen told the Sydney Morning Herald that Anglicans "are in a battle for ideas between the liberal wing who want to export their ideas to the rest of us and the biblical Anglicans." The declaration did not mention the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams by name, but said the Anglican leadership had done nothing to discipline the Episcopal Church for its stand on gay clergy or the Anglican Church of Canada for blessing same-sex marriages. Although the conservatives, a coalition mainly of African Anglican churches and orthodox U.S. Episcopalians, said their movement does not represent a complete split in the church, they appeared set to challenge the authority of Williams. "While acknowledging the nature of Canterbury as an historic see, we do not accept that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury," they said.

Manchester United have put Germany's Euro 2008 winger Bastian Schweinsteiger at the top of their hit-list to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to pounce for the Bayern Munich star if Real Madrid win the titanic tussle for Portuguese ace Ronaldo - and a £12million offer is in the pipeline.

Schweinsteiger, 24, has the kind of experience and top-class pedigree that United will need if they lose Ronaldo to his "dream club," and contact has already been made at the highest level.

The powerful German is in the last year of his contract with Bayern and looks sure to quit despite the pleas of new coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Schweinsteiger, who was also on Chelsea's radar under Avram Grant's management and is still interesting the Londoners, would be able to move relatively cheaply.

If he lets his contract run down he could go for nothing next summer.

The fiery right-winger, sent off in his first game at the Euros but set to start against Spain tonight, is also refusing to sign anything while the United option is alive.

Sources in Schweinsteiger's camp say there has been contact with United, who will set the wheels in motion if Ronaldo waves goodbye to Old Trafford.

The German fancies a move to either England or Spain. German pal Michael Ballack has told him all about the Premier League - and how he can double his £35,000-a-week wages.

"England does have a good appeal," said Schweinsteiger. "It is now one of the world's best leagues and I have heard all about it from Michael, Jens Lehmann and Thomas Hitzlsperger who have all played there.

"I have always wanted to play in England so we will see if it happens this year."

Fergie has looked far and wide for potential replacements for Ronaldo, checking out Lionel Messi at Barcelona and also weighing up a move for Wigan's Luis Antonio Valencia.

But Schweinsteiger ticks most boxes and things could start moving quickly once Ronaldo comes back from holiday to face the music with Ferguson.

United fear he will go but they will not make it easy.

Real Madrid are talking in terms of a £63.7million bid - a figure based on their theory that he has a sell-on clause of around 80million euros.

Real have dangled the possibility of adding a Bernabeu star to the mix in a player-plus-cash deal but United are not remotely interested in that option.

thepeople.co.uk