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What will you say/do, if you are wrong about Jesus
page: 21share:
I've been a christian my whole life. im an 18 year old college student and alot of people have asked the same thing that you have. Personally i feel
like i have nothing to loose. if i die, and there is no God, well then i go in the dirt and end of story i will never even know. If i choose not to
believe in Jesus Christ and he is real and then end comes then im totally screwed because ive wasted my life when i could have had a meaningful
realtionship with someone and could have spent eternity in bliss. So my being a christian isn't really that big of loss for me. If it isnt real which
i obviously think that it is, then everything is fine, if it isnt well then who cares. i had a life where i felt there was something out there that
was bigger than me ,that cared, and that gave me hope, i dont see anything bad in that. i'm not saying people should be a christian because they are
afraid of hell just so you know
I live my life the best that i can. Im not some fundementalist, that tries to Bible pound people every chance i get. Yes i do believe my God is the only true God, but im not going to force people to believe it. I try my best to accept people for who they are and what they believe without trying to constantly convert them. To tell you the truth i have my own faults to deal with let alone try to pick everyone elses apart and then get into some huge debate that as much as you try not to you do end up taking it personal and then loose a good friend. So my advice to christians and all people of religious beliefs is to be convicted in what you believe, but remember to hate the sin and not the sinner, and above all show respect to others even when you think they may be wrong. There are hypocrites every where and i know i have been one myself at times. i lie, i swear, and i listen to rock music which we all know is the devil lol! The truth of it is is that everyone has something about them that is messed up and not perfect. Dont be frustrated when people dont believe what you do. in the end the truth will be shown and that's all that matters. i feel the best way to "convert" so to say is to show through your actions how your belief is the supreme. Dont judge others because being a christian or muslim etc...Doesnt give you the right to. If anything, i say serve those people that dont believe. Be their friends just like you would your fellow christians or others of your selected religion. not all the religions can be right but we will found out. so in the mean time lets not make it any crappier on this earth than it has to be .
ok that's my piece. Sorry so long. being a college student you are always have to write long papers. BAD HABIT!!
Melissa
I live my life the best that i can. Im not some fundementalist, that tries to Bible pound people every chance i get. Yes i do believe my God is the only true God, but im not going to force people to believe it. I try my best to accept people for who they are and what they believe without trying to constantly convert them. To tell you the truth i have my own faults to deal with let alone try to pick everyone elses apart and then get into some huge debate that as much as you try not to you do end up taking it personal and then loose a good friend. So my advice to christians and all people of religious beliefs is to be convicted in what you believe, but remember to hate the sin and not the sinner, and above all show respect to others even when you think they may be wrong. There are hypocrites every where and i know i have been one myself at times. i lie, i swear, and i listen to rock music which we all know is the devil lol! The truth of it is is that everyone has something about them that is messed up and not perfect. Dont be frustrated when people dont believe what you do. in the end the truth will be shown and that's all that matters. i feel the best way to "convert" so to say is to show through your actions how your belief is the supreme. Dont judge others because being a christian or muslim etc...Doesnt give you the right to. If anything, i say serve those people that dont believe. Be their friends just like you would your fellow christians or others of your selected religion. not all the religions can be right but we will found out. so in the mean time lets not make it any crappier on this earth than it has to be .
ok that's my piece. Sorry so long. being a college student you are always have to write long papers. BAD HABIT!!
Melissa
["Im just wondering why alot of people out there wont or dont take into consideration that Jesus is thier savior and the only way to the father and
unto heaven is through Jesus Christ?"]
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because people want to sin, that's it and that's all. They want gay marriage, drugs, sex, sin and with Jesus, they can't have that so they beleive it's not real.
"Not that there isn't enough proof Not that there isn't enough facts, it is the hardness of your heart"
you see?
We choose to keep Jesus out of our heart for our worldy things.
"The biggest thing satan can ever do is to make you not believe"
but then people say How can God lovingly send me to hell?
He does not send you to hell, because He loves you and wants you to beleive in Him, it even says "For God so loved the word that he gave his only son--" "for God so loved the WORLD"
he didnt say for God so love the christians... God so love the retards, he said the world. he gave his son, man. . .
I pretty much know Jesus btw.
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because people want to sin, that's it and that's all. They want gay marriage, drugs, sex, sin and with Jesus, they can't have that so they beleive it's not real.
"Not that there isn't enough proof Not that there isn't enough facts, it is the hardness of your heart"
you see?
We choose to keep Jesus out of our heart for our worldy things.
"The biggest thing satan can ever do is to make you not believe"
but then people say How can God lovingly send me to hell?
He does not send you to hell, because He loves you and wants you to beleive in Him, it even says "For God so loved the word that he gave his only son--" "for God so loved the WORLD"
he didnt say for God so love the christians... God so love the retards, he said the world. he gave his son, man. . .
I pretty much know Jesus btw.
i am prepared to pick up my cross and go with my lord and savior and follow him to what ever ends. i know i am a sinner but thats what makes me human.
if i didnt sin id be a lesser god. everyone does it.
The world is filled with misery, and for what? Just because some stupid bitch ate an apple and you told her not to?
_________________________________________________________
First off
She ate from the tree of knowledge and God told them not to, to PROTECT them, the only punishment He gave her was pain at childbirth.
And yes the world is full of sin HENCE why he sent his son to die for our sins, except Jesus and we spend eternity in heaven, it's so simple.
It seems you live a pretty decent life, as I read your post, but why do you not except the Lord? because you want the world, you want the things of this world and you want to go your way and you hear what other people say and you have all these doubts.
Okay if i died and went if front of god to be judged and he asked why i didn't accept jesus as my lord and savior, i would say because the reasoning
is flawed. i have been helped by many Non-christians that in my heart i know are good people, if there is a heaven they deserve to go their. I would
rather burn in your imaginary hell with alll these "good people" then sit in heaven with a bunch zealots(not that all christians are bad), and i
would also say" guess what You Messed up dude, about two-thirds of all the people in history are going to your helll, YOu could've done better",
"with a better message"." oh and earth sucks you messed that up to." "good idea letting the devil run around like that!"
As for other opnions of "what do you mean youd rather go to hell?" Yes i would, if it was true , which i believe it isn't, i believe i would find more logical people there. I mean come on Two-thirds of all the people that have lived would go there? your telling me that makes sense? what about people that never had a chance of even knowing christianity , people that were on the other side of the world. Most people are born into their religions, they practice what their parents practice. so how would only one being right make sense? Because for alot of people their really isn't a chose. Unless every person ever born had read the bible , which DIDN"T happen !
So to finish up, religion is a good thing, i dont' think abolishing it would help the world or people. People need the structure , they need to learn morals. Most religions do alot of good charity work in the world , offering food and shelter to the poor. And also the majority of people can't be trusted with Free time on their hands
As for other opnions of "what do you mean youd rather go to hell?" Yes i would, if it was true , which i believe it isn't, i believe i would find more logical people there. I mean come on Two-thirds of all the people that have lived would go there? your telling me that makes sense? what about people that never had a chance of even knowing christianity , people that were on the other side of the world. Most people are born into their religions, they practice what their parents practice. so how would only one being right make sense? Because for alot of people their really isn't a chose. Unless every person ever born had read the bible , which DIDN"T happen !
So to finish up, religion is a good thing, i dont' think abolishing it would help the world or people. People need the structure , they need to learn morals. Most religions do alot of good charity work in the world , offering food and shelter to the poor. And also the majority of people can't be trusted with Free time on their hands
Originally posted by believerinchrist
Im just wondering why alot of people out there wont or dont take into consideration that Jesus is thier savior and the only way to the father and unto heaven is through Jesus Christ?
Well, you asked, so I'm answering. I'm sure this will upset 52% of the voting populace, but oh well...
So I die, I go to the podium, and God says "Hey, you, why didn't you believe in my son? Why aren't you a Christian"
To which I would reply thusly:
"I am a deeply spiritual person. Every day I take at least a few moments, sometimes hours, to reflect upon good, evil, my beliefs, and my God. I pray, but rarely do I ask anything in prayer. Rather, I pray to give thanks to whoever is out there, for providing me with so many blessings in life. I have done this every day since I was 12 years old, and am now 28. I firmly believe that God and I have a very good relationship going.
HOWEVER, I also believe that God is not nearly as petty as mankind. I think God is above such silly concerns as who belongs to what church, synagogue, or mosque. I don't think God gives a damn whether or not I'm Baptist, Buddhist, or Bahai... I know, in my heart, that I am a good person, and if there's a Heaven, I'm going there. If it's better incarnation, I'll get it, and if there's nothing at all, at least I brought a little goodness to the world while I was here.
I believe that God is so much bigger than any concept humans can have of him, that no one particular religion is "right". I am an amatuer theologian, and studied as many religions as I can find, as I find all the historic ways people have communed to be fascinating.
I have absolutely no problem with anyone worshiping however they wish, privately, and for the benefit of their own soul, or for those who come to them. I don't even have a problem with people convinced that their way is the only way, and only they are right. That just speaks that much louder as to the conviction of their beliefs, and more power to them.
What I have a HUGE problem with is when someone tries to impose their religion on someone who doesn't want it. For all their talk of "Love", "Mercy", "Acceptance", and "Not Judging Others", Christians are, without a doubt, the least tolerant, most bigoted, tyrannical little terrorists the world has ever faced. Christians have mercilessly slaughtered more people, and destroyed more cultures, than any other religion in Earth's history. And now that we live in a world where that's not tolerated any more, they try to control the lives of others, and impose their beliefs with laws in lieu of swords. They censor the airwaves. They corrupt the fair and just court system of due process. They even go so far as to impose their will on other peoples' physical bodies of flesh, and countries' bodies of government. They impede good science in the name of God, and impede reason and logic with blind faith.
And to top it off, it is not enough that they try to control every aspect of my life, they must also show up at my door, on the weekend, and waste my time trying to tell me about a book I have read and understood far more times than most Christians. For you see, I used to be a Christian, I used to even want to be a minister. And then I took a good hard look at the Christian community, and saw what a hypocritical bunch of horrible little black-hearted people they were, and realized that I could never be one, because I'd feel nothing but loathing for the majority of my congregation.
They used to murder people, now they murder our rights, and someday, our thoughts. And they do it all with a holier than though self-righteousness that can never be convinced otherwise. There ARE some good Christians out there. I've met them, spoken with them at great length, and even have some as my closest friends and confidants. They are the few, the hopelessly few followers of Jesus (note the difference) that actually practice what he preached.
But the vast majority of Christians are so filled with evil in their hearts that if the Messiah came down out of the sky today, he'd strike them down Old-Testament style, or at the very least, he'd pray for their souls.
And that, God, is why I am not a Christian. As for why I do not follow Jesus, it is because I do not feel that it is a requirement for getting into heaven. If anything, it might be a loophole, but not a requirement. I worship no man, even if he managed to convince a bunch of primates 2000 years ago that he was the son of God. I don't worship David Copperfield, and I've had far more evidence presented right before my very eyes, that he was a holy man. I don't worship The President, who has more power over the nations of Earth than Jesus ever had. I don't worship the Beatles, who were in their height, far more popular. If he was indeed the Son of God, then I will apologize for failing to provide the same respect due his son. But if, in fact, the man I'm speaking to is all-knowing, all-merciful, all-loving deity he's supposed to be, then he will know exactly why I was wrong, and will forgive me. He might even promote me to Metatron, and make me the new directory of God-to-Christian public relations so I can bring about a few long-overdue changes."
Originally posted by regnassem...except Jesus and we spend eternity in heaven, it's so simple.
I'll drink to that! :w:
Word to the wise. Though some mispellings are understandable, if you wish to make a convincing arguement, you really need to learn your homonyms, because you basically, in your last post, told Jesus and The Lord to go f--- themselves. And I don't think he'd like that...
Oh, and this is meant as good natured ribbing, not a flame. I understand that not everyone is from a native English speaking country and God-knows I make some hilarious mistakes in French and Spanish...
jesus calls himself a shepherd of the sheep....HERE IS A LITTLE STORY ABOUT A SHEEP......Once apon a time a good shepherd had a lamb who would always
wander off..so the good shepherd had to eventually break the little lambs legs and carry him on his shoulders, because he knew what would happen to a
plump, tender lamb out on his own...he carryed that little lamb for a long time, until he healed, and learned to stay in the
group................this was and is true love.....how so? should the shepherd have let the lamb take off???? what happens to fat nummy lambs out in
the field alone? the point is to teach the lamb the right path and then when he is older he walks in the right path....that is unless after the
instruction of a loving shepherd, the little lamb chooses to chance it on his own, then as he is being eaten alive, he curses the shepherd... this
happens all the time, sounds like the posts of some people i see....i find it very sad...now in the end whos fault is the death????? i would say the
little lamb was in charge of his own outcome..
P.S this last post is just in response to the people who say that when they meet the lord they have fightin words for their maker......on another note
i think you wont even be able to speak...but you might be able to slither or crawl out of the light and back into darkness,,,and sence you dont like
the light...then that wont be a problem.......i am trying to say that as nice as possible...but i truly believe heaven is for those who enjoy being
with christ now, not for those who spend their lives running from him....if jesus is not real...then you have nothing to be afraid of, it wont hurt
you to investigate the matter fully and with an open mind.......give it a shot, i did and now i truly believe
I think folk still fail to separate "God" from religion. Religion was created by men, not god. The old testament was full of bizzare strange
"humanistic " ideals and ideas. This is because men wrote it, as they interprated what "god" wanted. So "god" sends a man to speak to man, no
translation or interpratations needed he hoped. No good speaking to an arab in french. So this man "jesus" explains again what "god" really means.
And still the poeople were too thick to understand the sheer simplicity of what "jesus" taught, and they still thought "rules" were nessesary, and
they killed him. Then more men wrote their version of what "jesus/god" wanted, but they tainted it with their own interpratation again, hence gods
simple meaning became cruel, bizzare, convoluted religious crap, and fools beleived it not "hearing" or understanding and they went on crusades,
becoming murderous and evil because their mindswere filled with misunderstood crap. And they grew further and further from what "god" wanted.
Perhaps "god" himself will return, since jesus didnt work, and hell be really pissed off, and hell say " how damn thick did I make you lot" and
"holy crap, what was i on at the time?".
hopefully hell make himself known beyond the doubt or miscomprehension of any man, this time. last chance, I gave you the ability to learn and comprehend above any other creature, yet they are more pure than you.
be humble and be as little children, harboring no doubt or preconceptions, nor dishonesty or self dillusion.
"The message couldnt be simpler" .........Do AS You Would be done By.
Thats it, very easy, all else will take care of itself within that mindset.
No need for a bazilion laws, he gave us brains that work well.
No need to be holier than thou either, folk know wrong from right, kind from cruel, etc etc no need to preach to folk, nobody ask you to judge them, you are not your brothers keeper, he has brains of his/her own.
We all bleed red blood, we are NOT different from each other. Each of us wants to be loved, to be happy, to enjoy life no matter who we are. Each of us has the same fears, doubts, weakness, hopes, dreams and emotions.
Everyone hurts. Even the most evil of us was once a perfect child.
hopefully hell make himself known beyond the doubt or miscomprehension of any man, this time. last chance, I gave you the ability to learn and comprehend above any other creature, yet they are more pure than you.
be humble and be as little children, harboring no doubt or preconceptions, nor dishonesty or self dillusion.
"The message couldnt be simpler" .........Do AS You Would be done By.
Thats it, very easy, all else will take care of itself within that mindset.
No need for a bazilion laws, he gave us brains that work well.
No need to be holier than thou either, folk know wrong from right, kind from cruel, etc etc no need to preach to folk, nobody ask you to judge them, you are not your brothers keeper, he has brains of his/her own.
We all bleed red blood, we are NOT different from each other. Each of us wants to be loved, to be happy, to enjoy life no matter who we are. Each of us has the same fears, doubts, weakness, hopes, dreams and emotions.
Everyone hurts. Even the most evil of us was once a perfect child.
Christianity Given the fact that there has never been in the history of the Torah (Old Testament) the religion of God to be named after a Prophet
(i.e. Adaminity, Abrahamity, Mosanity, etc.), I hope to explain that Jesus did not preach the religion of Christianity, but a religion that gives all
Praise and Worship to The One God. One of the questions I asked myself as I took an objective (second) look at Christianity was; where did the word
Christianity come from and was the word ever mentioned to Jesus? Well, I did not find the word Christianity in the Bible, not even in a Bible
dictionary. Specifically, I did not find in the Bible where Jesus called himself a Christian. The word Christian was first mentioned by a pagan to
describe those who followed Jesus. It is mentioned one of three times in the New Testament by a pagan and Jew in Antioch about 43 AD, (Acts 11:26,
Acts 26:38 and 1 Peter 4:16) long after Jesus left this earth. To accept the words of pagans as having any value or association with divinity, Jesus
or God is contrary to the teachings of all Prophets.
Jesus prophesied that people would worship him uselessly and believe in doctrines made by men (Matthew 15:9). "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." This verse, Matthew 15:9, is further supported by these words of the Quran:
"And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say unto men: "Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?" He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower o fall that is hidden and unseen.
Never did I say to them aught except what You (Allah) did command me to say: �Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.� And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when You took me up, You were a Witness to all things. (This is a great admonition and warning to the Christians of the whole world)." (Al-Ma�idah 5:116-117)
I found that Biblical verses like John 5:30, John 12:49, John 14:28, Isaiah 42:8 and Acts 2:22 support the above mentioned verses of the Quran.
Before leaving the subject of Christianity, I should mention one small point of observation. If Christians are Christ-like, why are they not greeting each other with the words; Peace be with you (Salamu Alaikum), as Jesus did in Luke 24:36. As you may be aware, the greeting from one Muslim to another Muslim is Assalamu Alaikum; a Christ-like saying.
Various Holy Bibles
It is worth mentioning that the Bible references cited might not be exactly as the Bible you are using. There are MANY Bibles on the market that are used by different Christian sects and all of these sects say that their book, though different, is the word of God. Such Bibles are: The Revised Standard Version 1952 & 1971, New American Standard Bible, The Holy Bible; New International Version, the Living Bible, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures used by Jehovah Witnesses, Roman Catholic Version and the King James Version. A special note: I have not found in any of these Bibles where the "New Testament" calls itself the "New Testament," and nowhere does the "Old Testament" call itself the "Old? Testament." Also, the word "Bible" is unknown within the pages of the Bible.
In addition to the many different Christian sects and Bibles, I have learned that there are also different men, not Prophets, who founded these sects and are using various interpretations of the Bible and/or man-made doctrines as their creed.
I would like to share with you some thoughts that you may not have read or known about the Bible being the word of God. Briefly, let me mention that on September 8, 1957, the Jehovah�s witnesses in their "Awake" magazine carried this startling headline - 50,000 Errors in the Bible. If you ask a Jehovah�s witness about this headline, it may be said that today most of those errors have been eliminated. How many have been eliminated, 5,000? Even if 50 remain, would one attribute those errors to God?
Let me pose another question: if a "Holy" book contained conflicting verses would you still consider it to be Holy? Most likely you will say of course not. Let me share with you some conflicting verses both in the Old and New Testaments: II Samuel 8:4 (vs) II Samuel 8:9-10 II Kings 8:26 II Samuel 6:23 Genesis 6:3 John 5:37 John 5:31 I Chronicles 18:4 I Chronicles 18:9-10 II Chronicles 22:2 II Samuel 21:8 Genesis 9:29 John 14:9 John 8:14
Only two contradictions of the New Testament have been mentioned, but others will be referenced when the Trinity, Divinity of Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship of Jesus, Original Sin and Atonement are reviewed.
How could the "inspired words" of God get the genealogy of Jesus incorrect (See Matthew 1:6-16 where it states 26 forefathers up to Prophet David, and Luke 3:23-31 says 41 in number). Or for that matter, give a genealogy to Jesus who had NO father? See II Kings 19:1-37, now read Isaiah 37:1-38. Why is it that the words of these verse are identical? Yet they have been attributed to two different authors, one unknown and the other is Isaiah, who are centuries apart; and yet, the Christians have claimed these books to be inspired by God.
I looked up the word Easter in the Nelson Bible dictionary and learned that the word "Easter" (as mentioned in Acts 12:4) is a mistranslation of "pascha," the ordinary Greek word for "Passover." As, you know Passover is a Jewish celebration not a Christian holiday. I think human hands, all to human, had played havoc with the Bible.
From the brief points mentioned above, and the fact that Biblical scholars themselves have recognized the human nature and human composition of the Bible (Curt Kuhl, The Old Testament: Its Origin and Composition, PP 47, 51, 52), there should exist in the Christian�s mind some acceptance to the fact that maybe every word of the Bible is not God�s word.
As a side note to this subject, let me mention that some Christians believe that the Bible was dictated to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) by a Christian monk, and that is why some of the biblical accounts are in the Quran. After some research, I found that this could not have happened because there were no Arabic Bible in existence in the 6th century of the Christian era when Muhammad (SAW) lived and preached. Therefore, no Arab, not even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who was absolutely unlettered and unlearned, would have had the opportunity to examine the written text of the Bible in his own language.
The Gospels
If you read Luke 1:2-3, you will learn, as I did, that Luke (who was not one of the 12 disciples and never met Jesus) said that he himself was not an eyewitness, and the knowledge he gathered was from eyewitnesses, and not as words inspired by God. Incidentally, why does every "Gospel" begin with the introduction According to. Why "according to?" the reason for this is because not a single one of the gospels carries its original author�s autograph! Even the internal evidence of Matthew 9:9 proves that Matthew was not the author of the first Gospel which bears his name:
"And as Jesus passed forth thence, He (Jesus) saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He (Jesus) saith unto Him (Matthew), follow me (Jesus). And he (Matthew) arose, and followed Him (Jesus)." Without any stretch of the imagination, one can see that the He�s and the Him�s of the above narration do not refer to Jesus or Matthew as its author, but a third person writing what he saw or heard - a hearsay account and not words inspired by God.
It is worth noting, and well known throughout the religious world, that the choice of the present four "gospels" of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were imposed in the Council of Nicea 325 CE for political purposes under the auspices of the pagan Emperor Constantine, and not by Jesus. Constantine�s mind had not been enlightened either by study or by inspiration. He was a pagan, a tyrant and criminal who murdered his son, his wife and thousands of innocent individuals because of his lust for political power. Constantine ratified other decisions in the Nicene Creed such as the decision to call Christ "the Son of God, only begotten of the father." Literally, hundreds of gospels and religious writings were hidden from the people. Some of those writings were written by Jesus� disciples, and many of them were eyewitness accounts of Jesus� actions. The Nicea Council decided to destroy all gospels written in Hebrew, which resulted in the burning of nearly three hundred accounts. If these writings were not more authentic than the four present gospels, they were of equal authenticity. Some of them are still available such as the Gospel of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas which agree with the Quran. The Gospel of Barnabas, until now, is the only eyewitness account of the life and mission of Jesus. Even today, the whole of the Protestant word, Jehovah�s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and other sects and denominations condemn the Roman Catholic version of the Bible because it contains seven "extra" books. The Protestant have bravely expunged seven whole books from their word of God. A few of the outcasts are the Books of Judith, Tobnias, Baruch and Esther.
Concerning Jesus� teachings of the Gospel (Injeel), the Gospel writers frequently mentioned Jesus preaching the Gospel: Matthew 9:35, Mark 8:35, and Luke 20:1. The word "gospel" is recurrently used in the Bible. However, in the New Testament Greek edition the word Evangeline is used in place of the word gospel, which is translated to mean good news. My question was: what Gospel did Jesus preach? Of the 27 books of the New Testament, only a small fraction can be accepted as the words of Jesus, and only of the 27 books are known to be attributed as the Gospel of Jesus. The remaining 23 were supposedly written by Paul. Muslims do believe that Jesus was given God�s "Good News." However, they do not recognized the present four Gospels as the utterances of Jesus.
The earliest Gospel is that of Mark�s which was written about 60-75 AD. Mark was the son of Barnabas�s sister. Matthew was a tax collector, a minor official who did not travel around with Jesus. Luke�s Gospel was written much later, and in fact, drawn from the same sources as Mark�s and
Matthew�s. Luke was Paul�s physician, and like Paul, never met Jesus. By the way, did you know that the names Marks and Luke were not included in the 12 appointed disciples of Jesus as mentioned in Matthew 10:2-4?
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; the first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
John�s Gospel is from a different source, and was written in about 100 AD. He (John) should not be confused with John, the disciple, who was beheaded by Agrippa I in the year 44 CE long before this gospel was written. It should be accepted as a reliable account of the life of Jesus, and whether it should be included in the scriptures. Christians, as I once did, boast about the Gospels according to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke and according to John. However, if we think about it, there is not a single Gospel according to Jesus himself. According to the preface of the KJV (King James Version) new open Bible study edition, the word "Gospel" was added (see below) to the original titles, "According to John, according to Matthew, according to Luke and according to Mark."
The permission to call "According to" writings the Gospel was not given by Jesus nor by any other divine guidance. These writings; Matthew, Luke, Mark and John, were never originally to be the Gospel. Therefore, Mark 1:1 can not be a true statement that his writing is the gospel of Jesus.
It should be mentioned that Muslims must believe in all Divine scriptures in their original form, their Prophets and making no distinction between them: The Suhuf (Abraham); Torah (Moses); Psalms (David); Gospel - or the Injeel (Jesus); and the Quran (Muhammad). It is clearly stated in the Quran 3:3 that Allah sent down the Torah and the Gospel. However, none of these scriptures remains in its original form now, except the Quran, which was sent for all mankind everywhere and for all times.
In addition to other reasons why the Quran was sent to mankind, as mentioned in 18:4-5 it was sent to warn the Christians of a terrible punishment from God if they cease not in saying:
"Allah has begotten a son."
Muslims sincerely believe that everything Jesus (May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) preached was from God; the Gospel (Injeel): The "good news" and the guidance of God for the Children of Israel. There is no place mentioned in the present four Gospels that Jesus wrote a single word of his Gospel, nor is it mentioned that Jesus instructed anyone to do so. What passes off, as the "Gospels" today are the works of third party human hands. The Quran 2:79 says:
"And woe to those who write the book with their own hands and they say: "This is from Allah (God)." To traffic with it for a miserable price! So woe to them for what their hands do write, and woe to them for what they earn thereby!"
Jesus As the Son of God
Is Jesus the Son of God? Matthew 3:17 could be used by some Christians to support the divine Sonship of Jesus. If Matthew 3:17, "And Lo a voice for heaven, saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased," is used to support divine Sonship, then there should be no other verse that contradicts or gives equal divine Sonship to another person or persons in the Old or New Testament. However, many references were found in the Old and New Testaments that mentioned someone other than Jesus as having a divine Sonship to God. See Exodus 4:22: "Israel is my son, even my firstborn." II Samuel 7:14 and I Chronicles 22:10: "...and he shall be my son (Solomon)." Jeremiah 31:9: "...and Ephraim is my firstborn." Also, Psalm 2:7.
The word "Son" must not be accepted literally because God addresses many of his chosen servants as son and sons. The Jews have also claimed Ezra to be the Son of God. The New Testament Greek words used for "son" (pias and paida, which mean servant or son in the sense of servant) are translated as son in reference to Jesus and as servant in reference to others in some translations of the Bible.
Further, the term "Father" as used by Jesus corresponds more closely to the term Rabb, i.e. One who nourishes and sustains, so that in Jesus� doctrine, God is "Father" � Nourisher and Sustainer � of all men. The New Testament also interprets "son of God" to be mystical: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14). This mystical suggestion is further supported with Jesus being called the only begotten Son of God.
In Psalm 2:7, the Lord said to David: "...Thou art my son: this day have I begotten thee."
Does this mean that God had two sons? Jesus also said that God is not only his Father but also your Father (Matthew 5:45, 48). Luke 3:38 says: "...Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the Son of God."
Who is mentioned in Hebrews 7:3 as like unto the Son of God? It is
Melchisedec, King of Salem, as mentioned in Hebrews 7:1. He (Melchisedec) is more unique than Jesus or Adam. Why is he not preferred to be the Son of God? Moreover, Adam did not have a mother or father, but was the first human being created by God and in the likeness of God to exist in the Garden of Eden and on earth. Wouldn�t this give more rights to Adam to be called the Son of God in its truest meaning?
I would like to share with you an obvious contradiction between John 3:16, Luke 10:25-28 and Matthew 19:16-17. John 3:16 reads: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten, Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Now let�s read Luke 10:25-28: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, what is written in the law? How readest Thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and Thou shalt live.
These verses tell us that the inheritance of eternal life is for anyone who believes and worships no other God, but the One True God. Luke 10:25-28 agrees with Matthew 19:16-17 which says; "And behold, one came and said to him (Jesus), Good teacher, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? So he (Jesus) said to him, �Why do you call me good? � No one is good but One that is, God. But if you want to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments."
There is no commandment that says to worship Jesus, but there that tells us to worship God alone.
In Luke 4:41, Jesus refused to be called the Son of God by demons. Do you think that Jesus would rebuke the demons, or anyone else for that matter, for telling the truth? Unquestionably, no! Jesus rebuked the demons because they were saying something false by calling him the Son of God. Also, if the demons knew that Jesus was the Christ, for Jesus to shut them up because they called him the Christ is a contradiction to Jesus� mission. In Luke 9:20 & 21, Jesus said unto his disciples: "But who say ye that I am? Peter answered saying, "The Christ of God, and Jesus straightly charged them and commanded them to tell no man that thing."
Furthermore, verses like John 3:2, John 6:14, John 7:40, Matthew 21:11, Luke 7:16 and 24:19 confirm that Jesus accepted the title of teacher, Prophet and called himself the son of man in Matthew 8:20, 12:40, 17:9 & 12, 26:24, Luke 9:26, 22:48, 22:69, and 24:7. The most conclusive verse that says Jesus is the son (servant) of man is Mark 14:26 where Jesus is mentioning the Day of Reckoning. Jesus specifically said we would see the son of man, not the Son of God, sitting in the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
The act of begetting is a physical act and such act is against God�s nature. The Qur�an 19:35 says: "It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter He only says to it "Be," and it is." (Maryam 19:35)
The teachings of Jesus as the Son of God were not preached by Jesus nor accepted by Jesus, but were taught by Paul as supported in Acts 9:20: "And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God."
Did Jesus ever claim to be God or say, "Here am I, your God, worship me"? The answer is no. For there is no single, unequivocal statement in the Bible whereby Jesus himself declares, "I am God, therefore worship me." Virtually all of the more than two thousand verses of the epistles of Paul are his own fabrications to include Romans 9:5 that says, depending upon which Bible you read: "...Christ came, who is overall, the eternally blessed God."
Christians should know that Paul himself mentions his own gospel, not Jesus, in his epistle to the Romans when he says in Romans 2:16: "In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." In face, the Pauline epistle to the Romans serves as the foundation of today�s Christianity.
Thus, it is the Christians whose efforts will be wasted in this life as they think they were acquiring good by their works when they attribute partners to God, as stated in Chapter 18:103-106 of the Qur�an: "Say: Shall we tell you of those who lost most in respect of their deeds? Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works?" they are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the fact of their having to meet Him (in the Hereafter): vain will be their works, nor shall We, on the Day of judgment, give them any weight. That is their reward, Hell; because they rejected Faith, and took My Signs and My Messengers by way of jest. (Al-Kahf 18:103-106)
Indeed, it is so strange and ironic, knowing that none of Paul�s epistle to the Romans, more than 430 verses, were ever formulated by Jesus. Paul should have made direct reference to the pristine teachings of Jesus, if only the former claim for apostleship by divine inspiration was indeed true. Instead, large parts of his epistles� Biblical quotations (notably those in the Epistle to the Romans) were taken from the Old Testament � Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. His epistles were, indeed a product of tedious efforts, but that does not make Paul far better than any of the other men who authored the Bible, nor does it make him a Prophet.
Other practices that were adopted under Paul included the following: the Roman sun-day as the Christian Sabbath; the traditional birthday of the Sun-god as the birthday of Jesus; the emblem of the sun-god (the cross of light) to be the emblem of Christians; and, the incorporation of all the ceremonies which were performed at the Sun-god�s birthday celebrations.
As I come to a close concerning the position of Christ, I would like to ask my Christian reader bow down and pray earnestly to God and ask Him to invoke His curse on you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters if what you believe about Christ (Christ is God, Son of God or part of a trinity of God) are false. Likewise, I have learned that if you asked a Muslim to earnestly pray to God to invoke His curse on him, his wife, his sons, and his daughters if what he is saying about Christ (Prophet, Messenger of God, A Word from God) are false, the Muslims are firm in their faith knowing that Christ is not God, nor the Son of God and nor part of a trinity of God. This exercise of asking God to invoke His curse on you and your family may sound a bit cruel, but it would prove two points: (1) you would know that you are on the wrong path; and, (2) it would put you on the right path.
The Crucifixion and Atonement
A very significant event in the Christian doctrine is the Crucifixion of Jesus. Before talking about the many controversies surrounding the
Crucifixion, it should be mentioned that it was a gospel of Paul�s which professed the Crucifixion/Resurrection of Jesus (II Timothy 2:8): "Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel."
In addition, the gospel of the resurrection in Mark 16:9-20 was already removed from the text by gospel writers in the 1952 edition of the Revised Standard Version and then, for some reasons, restored in the 1971 edition. In many Bibles, if not removed, it is printed in small print or between two brackets and with commentary (See the Revised Standard Version, New American Bible and New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures).
The traditional biblical account of Jesus� Crucifixion is that he was arrested and crucified by the orders and plans of the chief priest and Jewish elders. This account was denied in the 1960�s by the highest Catholic Christian authority, the Pope. He issued a statement in which he said the Jews had nothing to do with Jesus� Crucifixion. Did any one of the disciples or the writers of the Gospel see the Crucifixion or the Resurrection? No! In Mark 14:50, it says the disciples forsook Jesus and fled. Even Peter forsook Jesus after the cock crowed three times as Jesus foretold: (Matthew 26:75) And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
The most likely persons whom may have witnessed this moment in Jesus� life were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, the mother of Zebedee�s children and other women (Matthew 27:55-56). However, there is no statement or account in the Gospels from those women as to what they saw or heard.
The disciple(s) found the sepulchre where Jesus was laid down, empty, and made the conclusion that he was resurrected because the disciples and other witnesses saw him alive after the alleged Crucifixion. Nobody saw the moment he was resurrected. Jesus himself stated that he did not die on the cross in Luke 24:36-41, as explained in the following paragraphs.
Early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went to the sepulchre, which was empty. She saw somebody standing who looked like a gardener. She recognized him after a conversation to be Jesus and wanted to touch him. Jesus said (John 20:17): "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father..."
Now read Luke 24:36-41: "And as they (disciples) thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are you troubled? And why so thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me end see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of boiled fish and of a honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them."
Does a spiritual or dead body have a need to eat food? Jesus eating of food was to prove to the disciples that he was not a spirit, but rather, he was still alive and not dead.
Jesus being alive and not dead is further supported in his own prophecy (Matthew 12:40): "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale�s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Did Jesus fulfill this miracle? Christians would say "yes," because Jesus died and rose three days later according to Luke 24:36 and Matthew 20:19, to name a few verses. However, in line with the miracle of Jonah and according to the Bible, Jesus only spent one day and two nights in the sepulchre, and not three days and three nights as he prophesied.
Jesus was put in the sepulchre just before sunset on Friday (Good Friday) and was found missing before sunrise on Sunday (Easter). If we were to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the time frame a bit, one may say that Jesus spent three days in the earth, but there is no way and I repeat, no way, that Jesus spent three nights in the earth. We must not forget that the Gospels are explicit in telling us that it was "before sunrise" on Sunday morning that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty.
Consequently, there are some inconsistencies as to whether Jesus fulfilled his own prophecy. Whether he was actually crucified, or if the day (Good Friday) of his alleged Crucifixion is wrong. Another significant point to mention is that Jonah was alive in the belly of the whale. The Christians says, Jesus was dead in the belly of the earth/tomb, and this contradicts Jesus� own prophecy. Jesus said (Luke 11:30): "As Jonah was...so shall the Son of man be."
If Jonah was alive, so was Jesus.
One critical event that took place before the alleged Crucifixion was the prayer of Jesus to God for help. Luke 22:42: "Saying Father if thou be willing, remove this cup (of death) from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done."
Jesus� prayer not to die on the cross was accepted by God according to Luke 22:43 and Hebrews 5:7. Therefore, if all of Jesus� prayer were accepted by God, including not to die on the cross, how could he have died on the cross?
In Matthew 27:46, it states that while Jesus was on the cross, he said: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?).
If Jesus said these words, it represents a blatant declaration of disbelief according to all theological authorities. This is a great insult as such words could only come from an unbeliever in God. Further, it is incredible that such words should come from a Prophet of God, because God never breaks His promise and His Prophets never complained against His promise, especially when the Prophet�s mission is understood. It could be said that whoever relates that this statement was said by a Prophet (Jesus), is a disbeliever.
Muslims believe, as the Qur�an states, Jesus was not crucified. It was the intention of his enemies to put him to death on the cross, but Allah saved him from their plot. Qur�an 4:157: "That they (Jews) said boasting, "We killed Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah, but they (Jews) killed him not, nor crucified him..." (An Nisa 4:157)
Jesus prophesied that people would worship him uselessly and believe in doctrines made by men (Matthew 15:9). "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." This verse, Matthew 15:9, is further supported by these words of the Quran:
"And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say unto men: "Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?" He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower o fall that is hidden and unseen.
Never did I say to them aught except what You (Allah) did command me to say: �Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.� And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when You took me up, You were a Witness to all things. (This is a great admonition and warning to the Christians of the whole world)." (Al-Ma�idah 5:116-117)
I found that Biblical verses like John 5:30, John 12:49, John 14:28, Isaiah 42:8 and Acts 2:22 support the above mentioned verses of the Quran.
Before leaving the subject of Christianity, I should mention one small point of observation. If Christians are Christ-like, why are they not greeting each other with the words; Peace be with you (Salamu Alaikum), as Jesus did in Luke 24:36. As you may be aware, the greeting from one Muslim to another Muslim is Assalamu Alaikum; a Christ-like saying.
Various Holy Bibles
It is worth mentioning that the Bible references cited might not be exactly as the Bible you are using. There are MANY Bibles on the market that are used by different Christian sects and all of these sects say that their book, though different, is the word of God. Such Bibles are: The Revised Standard Version 1952 & 1971, New American Standard Bible, The Holy Bible; New International Version, the Living Bible, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures used by Jehovah Witnesses, Roman Catholic Version and the King James Version. A special note: I have not found in any of these Bibles where the "New Testament" calls itself the "New Testament," and nowhere does the "Old Testament" call itself the "Old? Testament." Also, the word "Bible" is unknown within the pages of the Bible.
In addition to the many different Christian sects and Bibles, I have learned that there are also different men, not Prophets, who founded these sects and are using various interpretations of the Bible and/or man-made doctrines as their creed.
I would like to share with you some thoughts that you may not have read or known about the Bible being the word of God. Briefly, let me mention that on September 8, 1957, the Jehovah�s witnesses in their "Awake" magazine carried this startling headline - 50,000 Errors in the Bible. If you ask a Jehovah�s witness about this headline, it may be said that today most of those errors have been eliminated. How many have been eliminated, 5,000? Even if 50 remain, would one attribute those errors to God?
Let me pose another question: if a "Holy" book contained conflicting verses would you still consider it to be Holy? Most likely you will say of course not. Let me share with you some conflicting verses both in the Old and New Testaments: II Samuel 8:4 (vs) II Samuel 8:9-10 II Kings 8:26 II Samuel 6:23 Genesis 6:3 John 5:37 John 5:31 I Chronicles 18:4 I Chronicles 18:9-10 II Chronicles 22:2 II Samuel 21:8 Genesis 9:29 John 14:9 John 8:14
Only two contradictions of the New Testament have been mentioned, but others will be referenced when the Trinity, Divinity of Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship of Jesus, Original Sin and Atonement are reviewed.
How could the "inspired words" of God get the genealogy of Jesus incorrect (See Matthew 1:6-16 where it states 26 forefathers up to Prophet David, and Luke 3:23-31 says 41 in number). Or for that matter, give a genealogy to Jesus who had NO father? See II Kings 19:1-37, now read Isaiah 37:1-38. Why is it that the words of these verse are identical? Yet they have been attributed to two different authors, one unknown and the other is Isaiah, who are centuries apart; and yet, the Christians have claimed these books to be inspired by God.
I looked up the word Easter in the Nelson Bible dictionary and learned that the word "Easter" (as mentioned in Acts 12:4) is a mistranslation of "pascha," the ordinary Greek word for "Passover." As, you know Passover is a Jewish celebration not a Christian holiday. I think human hands, all to human, had played havoc with the Bible.
From the brief points mentioned above, and the fact that Biblical scholars themselves have recognized the human nature and human composition of the Bible (Curt Kuhl, The Old Testament: Its Origin and Composition, PP 47, 51, 52), there should exist in the Christian�s mind some acceptance to the fact that maybe every word of the Bible is not God�s word.
As a side note to this subject, let me mention that some Christians believe that the Bible was dictated to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) by a Christian monk, and that is why some of the biblical accounts are in the Quran. After some research, I found that this could not have happened because there were no Arabic Bible in existence in the 6th century of the Christian era when Muhammad (SAW) lived and preached. Therefore, no Arab, not even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who was absolutely unlettered and unlearned, would have had the opportunity to examine the written text of the Bible in his own language.
The Gospels
If you read Luke 1:2-3, you will learn, as I did, that Luke (who was not one of the 12 disciples and never met Jesus) said that he himself was not an eyewitness, and the knowledge he gathered was from eyewitnesses, and not as words inspired by God. Incidentally, why does every "Gospel" begin with the introduction According to. Why "according to?" the reason for this is because not a single one of the gospels carries its original author�s autograph! Even the internal evidence of Matthew 9:9 proves that Matthew was not the author of the first Gospel which bears his name:
"And as Jesus passed forth thence, He (Jesus) saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He (Jesus) saith unto Him (Matthew), follow me (Jesus). And he (Matthew) arose, and followed Him (Jesus)." Without any stretch of the imagination, one can see that the He�s and the Him�s of the above narration do not refer to Jesus or Matthew as its author, but a third person writing what he saw or heard - a hearsay account and not words inspired by God.
It is worth noting, and well known throughout the religious world, that the choice of the present four "gospels" of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were imposed in the Council of Nicea 325 CE for political purposes under the auspices of the pagan Emperor Constantine, and not by Jesus. Constantine�s mind had not been enlightened either by study or by inspiration. He was a pagan, a tyrant and criminal who murdered his son, his wife and thousands of innocent individuals because of his lust for political power. Constantine ratified other decisions in the Nicene Creed such as the decision to call Christ "the Son of God, only begotten of the father." Literally, hundreds of gospels and religious writings were hidden from the people. Some of those writings were written by Jesus� disciples, and many of them were eyewitness accounts of Jesus� actions. The Nicea Council decided to destroy all gospels written in Hebrew, which resulted in the burning of nearly three hundred accounts. If these writings were not more authentic than the four present gospels, they were of equal authenticity. Some of them are still available such as the Gospel of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas which agree with the Quran. The Gospel of Barnabas, until now, is the only eyewitness account of the life and mission of Jesus. Even today, the whole of the Protestant word, Jehovah�s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and other sects and denominations condemn the Roman Catholic version of the Bible because it contains seven "extra" books. The Protestant have bravely expunged seven whole books from their word of God. A few of the outcasts are the Books of Judith, Tobnias, Baruch and Esther.
Concerning Jesus� teachings of the Gospel (Injeel), the Gospel writers frequently mentioned Jesus preaching the Gospel: Matthew 9:35, Mark 8:35, and Luke 20:1. The word "gospel" is recurrently used in the Bible. However, in the New Testament Greek edition the word Evangeline is used in place of the word gospel, which is translated to mean good news. My question was: what Gospel did Jesus preach? Of the 27 books of the New Testament, only a small fraction can be accepted as the words of Jesus, and only of the 27 books are known to be attributed as the Gospel of Jesus. The remaining 23 were supposedly written by Paul. Muslims do believe that Jesus was given God�s "Good News." However, they do not recognized the present four Gospels as the utterances of Jesus.
The earliest Gospel is that of Mark�s which was written about 60-75 AD. Mark was the son of Barnabas�s sister. Matthew was a tax collector, a minor official who did not travel around with Jesus. Luke�s Gospel was written much later, and in fact, drawn from the same sources as Mark�s and
Matthew�s. Luke was Paul�s physician, and like Paul, never met Jesus. By the way, did you know that the names Marks and Luke were not included in the 12 appointed disciples of Jesus as mentioned in Matthew 10:2-4?
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; the first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
John�s Gospel is from a different source, and was written in about 100 AD. He (John) should not be confused with John, the disciple, who was beheaded by Agrippa I in the year 44 CE long before this gospel was written. It should be accepted as a reliable account of the life of Jesus, and whether it should be included in the scriptures. Christians, as I once did, boast about the Gospels according to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke and according to John. However, if we think about it, there is not a single Gospel according to Jesus himself. According to the preface of the KJV (King James Version) new open Bible study edition, the word "Gospel" was added (see below) to the original titles, "According to John, according to Matthew, according to Luke and according to Mark."
The permission to call "According to" writings the Gospel was not given by Jesus nor by any other divine guidance. These writings; Matthew, Luke, Mark and John, were never originally to be the Gospel. Therefore, Mark 1:1 can not be a true statement that his writing is the gospel of Jesus.
It should be mentioned that Muslims must believe in all Divine scriptures in their original form, their Prophets and making no distinction between them: The Suhuf (Abraham); Torah (Moses); Psalms (David); Gospel - or the Injeel (Jesus); and the Quran (Muhammad). It is clearly stated in the Quran 3:3 that Allah sent down the Torah and the Gospel. However, none of these scriptures remains in its original form now, except the Quran, which was sent for all mankind everywhere and for all times.
In addition to other reasons why the Quran was sent to mankind, as mentioned in 18:4-5 it was sent to warn the Christians of a terrible punishment from God if they cease not in saying:
"Allah has begotten a son."
Muslims sincerely believe that everything Jesus (May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) preached was from God; the Gospel (Injeel): The "good news" and the guidance of God for the Children of Israel. There is no place mentioned in the present four Gospels that Jesus wrote a single word of his Gospel, nor is it mentioned that Jesus instructed anyone to do so. What passes off, as the "Gospels" today are the works of third party human hands. The Quran 2:79 says:
"And woe to those who write the book with their own hands and they say: "This is from Allah (God)." To traffic with it for a miserable price! So woe to them for what their hands do write, and woe to them for what they earn thereby!"
Jesus As the Son of God
Is Jesus the Son of God? Matthew 3:17 could be used by some Christians to support the divine Sonship of Jesus. If Matthew 3:17, "And Lo a voice for heaven, saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased," is used to support divine Sonship, then there should be no other verse that contradicts or gives equal divine Sonship to another person or persons in the Old or New Testament. However, many references were found in the Old and New Testaments that mentioned someone other than Jesus as having a divine Sonship to God. See Exodus 4:22: "Israel is my son, even my firstborn." II Samuel 7:14 and I Chronicles 22:10: "...and he shall be my son (Solomon)." Jeremiah 31:9: "...and Ephraim is my firstborn." Also, Psalm 2:7.
The word "Son" must not be accepted literally because God addresses many of his chosen servants as son and sons. The Jews have also claimed Ezra to be the Son of God. The New Testament Greek words used for "son" (pias and paida, which mean servant or son in the sense of servant) are translated as son in reference to Jesus and as servant in reference to others in some translations of the Bible.
Further, the term "Father" as used by Jesus corresponds more closely to the term Rabb, i.e. One who nourishes and sustains, so that in Jesus� doctrine, God is "Father" � Nourisher and Sustainer � of all men. The New Testament also interprets "son of God" to be mystical: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14). This mystical suggestion is further supported with Jesus being called the only begotten Son of God.
In Psalm 2:7, the Lord said to David: "...Thou art my son: this day have I begotten thee."
Does this mean that God had two sons? Jesus also said that God is not only his Father but also your Father (Matthew 5:45, 48). Luke 3:38 says: "...Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the Son of God."
Who is mentioned in Hebrews 7:3 as like unto the Son of God? It is
Melchisedec, King of Salem, as mentioned in Hebrews 7:1. He (Melchisedec) is more unique than Jesus or Adam. Why is he not preferred to be the Son of God? Moreover, Adam did not have a mother or father, but was the first human being created by God and in the likeness of God to exist in the Garden of Eden and on earth. Wouldn�t this give more rights to Adam to be called the Son of God in its truest meaning?
I would like to share with you an obvious contradiction between John 3:16, Luke 10:25-28 and Matthew 19:16-17. John 3:16 reads: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten, Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Now let�s read Luke 10:25-28: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, what is written in the law? How readest Thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and Thou shalt live.
These verses tell us that the inheritance of eternal life is for anyone who believes and worships no other God, but the One True God. Luke 10:25-28 agrees with Matthew 19:16-17 which says; "And behold, one came and said to him (Jesus), Good teacher, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? So he (Jesus) said to him, �Why do you call me good? � No one is good but One that is, God. But if you want to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments."
There is no commandment that says to worship Jesus, but there that tells us to worship God alone.
In Luke 4:41, Jesus refused to be called the Son of God by demons. Do you think that Jesus would rebuke the demons, or anyone else for that matter, for telling the truth? Unquestionably, no! Jesus rebuked the demons because they were saying something false by calling him the Son of God. Also, if the demons knew that Jesus was the Christ, for Jesus to shut them up because they called him the Christ is a contradiction to Jesus� mission. In Luke 9:20 & 21, Jesus said unto his disciples: "But who say ye that I am? Peter answered saying, "The Christ of God, and Jesus straightly charged them and commanded them to tell no man that thing."
Furthermore, verses like John 3:2, John 6:14, John 7:40, Matthew 21:11, Luke 7:16 and 24:19 confirm that Jesus accepted the title of teacher, Prophet and called himself the son of man in Matthew 8:20, 12:40, 17:9 & 12, 26:24, Luke 9:26, 22:48, 22:69, and 24:7. The most conclusive verse that says Jesus is the son (servant) of man is Mark 14:26 where Jesus is mentioning the Day of Reckoning. Jesus specifically said we would see the son of man, not the Son of God, sitting in the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
The act of begetting is a physical act and such act is against God�s nature. The Qur�an 19:35 says: "It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter He only says to it "Be," and it is." (Maryam 19:35)
The teachings of Jesus as the Son of God were not preached by Jesus nor accepted by Jesus, but were taught by Paul as supported in Acts 9:20: "And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God."
Did Jesus ever claim to be God or say, "Here am I, your God, worship me"? The answer is no. For there is no single, unequivocal statement in the Bible whereby Jesus himself declares, "I am God, therefore worship me." Virtually all of the more than two thousand verses of the epistles of Paul are his own fabrications to include Romans 9:5 that says, depending upon which Bible you read: "...Christ came, who is overall, the eternally blessed God."
Christians should know that Paul himself mentions his own gospel, not Jesus, in his epistle to the Romans when he says in Romans 2:16: "In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." In face, the Pauline epistle to the Romans serves as the foundation of today�s Christianity.
Thus, it is the Christians whose efforts will be wasted in this life as they think they were acquiring good by their works when they attribute partners to God, as stated in Chapter 18:103-106 of the Qur�an: "Say: Shall we tell you of those who lost most in respect of their deeds? Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works?" they are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the fact of their having to meet Him (in the Hereafter): vain will be their works, nor shall We, on the Day of judgment, give them any weight. That is their reward, Hell; because they rejected Faith, and took My Signs and My Messengers by way of jest. (Al-Kahf 18:103-106)
Indeed, it is so strange and ironic, knowing that none of Paul�s epistle to the Romans, more than 430 verses, were ever formulated by Jesus. Paul should have made direct reference to the pristine teachings of Jesus, if only the former claim for apostleship by divine inspiration was indeed true. Instead, large parts of his epistles� Biblical quotations (notably those in the Epistle to the Romans) were taken from the Old Testament � Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. His epistles were, indeed a product of tedious efforts, but that does not make Paul far better than any of the other men who authored the Bible, nor does it make him a Prophet.
Other practices that were adopted under Paul included the following: the Roman sun-day as the Christian Sabbath; the traditional birthday of the Sun-god as the birthday of Jesus; the emblem of the sun-god (the cross of light) to be the emblem of Christians; and, the incorporation of all the ceremonies which were performed at the Sun-god�s birthday celebrations.
As I come to a close concerning the position of Christ, I would like to ask my Christian reader bow down and pray earnestly to God and ask Him to invoke His curse on you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters if what you believe about Christ (Christ is God, Son of God or part of a trinity of God) are false. Likewise, I have learned that if you asked a Muslim to earnestly pray to God to invoke His curse on him, his wife, his sons, and his daughters if what he is saying about Christ (Prophet, Messenger of God, A Word from God) are false, the Muslims are firm in their faith knowing that Christ is not God, nor the Son of God and nor part of a trinity of God. This exercise of asking God to invoke His curse on you and your family may sound a bit cruel, but it would prove two points: (1) you would know that you are on the wrong path; and, (2) it would put you on the right path.
The Crucifixion and Atonement
A very significant event in the Christian doctrine is the Crucifixion of Jesus. Before talking about the many controversies surrounding the
Crucifixion, it should be mentioned that it was a gospel of Paul�s which professed the Crucifixion/Resurrection of Jesus (II Timothy 2:8): "Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel."
In addition, the gospel of the resurrection in Mark 16:9-20 was already removed from the text by gospel writers in the 1952 edition of the Revised Standard Version and then, for some reasons, restored in the 1971 edition. In many Bibles, if not removed, it is printed in small print or between two brackets and with commentary (See the Revised Standard Version, New American Bible and New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures).
The traditional biblical account of Jesus� Crucifixion is that he was arrested and crucified by the orders and plans of the chief priest and Jewish elders. This account was denied in the 1960�s by the highest Catholic Christian authority, the Pope. He issued a statement in which he said the Jews had nothing to do with Jesus� Crucifixion. Did any one of the disciples or the writers of the Gospel see the Crucifixion or the Resurrection? No! In Mark 14:50, it says the disciples forsook Jesus and fled. Even Peter forsook Jesus after the cock crowed three times as Jesus foretold: (Matthew 26:75) And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
The most likely persons whom may have witnessed this moment in Jesus� life were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, the mother of Zebedee�s children and other women (Matthew 27:55-56). However, there is no statement or account in the Gospels from those women as to what they saw or heard.
The disciple(s) found the sepulchre where Jesus was laid down, empty, and made the conclusion that he was resurrected because the disciples and other witnesses saw him alive after the alleged Crucifixion. Nobody saw the moment he was resurrected. Jesus himself stated that he did not die on the cross in Luke 24:36-41, as explained in the following paragraphs.
Early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went to the sepulchre, which was empty. She saw somebody standing who looked like a gardener. She recognized him after a conversation to be Jesus and wanted to touch him. Jesus said (John 20:17): "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father..."
Now read Luke 24:36-41: "And as they (disciples) thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are you troubled? And why so thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me end see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of boiled fish and of a honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them."
Does a spiritual or dead body have a need to eat food? Jesus eating of food was to prove to the disciples that he was not a spirit, but rather, he was still alive and not dead.
Jesus being alive and not dead is further supported in his own prophecy (Matthew 12:40): "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale�s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Did Jesus fulfill this miracle? Christians would say "yes," because Jesus died and rose three days later according to Luke 24:36 and Matthew 20:19, to name a few verses. However, in line with the miracle of Jonah and according to the Bible, Jesus only spent one day and two nights in the sepulchre, and not three days and three nights as he prophesied.
Jesus was put in the sepulchre just before sunset on Friday (Good Friday) and was found missing before sunrise on Sunday (Easter). If we were to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the time frame a bit, one may say that Jesus spent three days in the earth, but there is no way and I repeat, no way, that Jesus spent three nights in the earth. We must not forget that the Gospels are explicit in telling us that it was "before sunrise" on Sunday morning that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty.
Consequently, there are some inconsistencies as to whether Jesus fulfilled his own prophecy. Whether he was actually crucified, or if the day (Good Friday) of his alleged Crucifixion is wrong. Another significant point to mention is that Jonah was alive in the belly of the whale. The Christians says, Jesus was dead in the belly of the earth/tomb, and this contradicts Jesus� own prophecy. Jesus said (Luke 11:30): "As Jonah was...so shall the Son of man be."
If Jonah was alive, so was Jesus.
One critical event that took place before the alleged Crucifixion was the prayer of Jesus to God for help. Luke 22:42: "Saying Father if thou be willing, remove this cup (of death) from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done."
Jesus� prayer not to die on the cross was accepted by God according to Luke 22:43 and Hebrews 5:7. Therefore, if all of Jesus� prayer were accepted by God, including not to die on the cross, how could he have died on the cross?
In Matthew 27:46, it states that while Jesus was on the cross, he said: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?).
If Jesus said these words, it represents a blatant declaration of disbelief according to all theological authorities. This is a great insult as such words could only come from an unbeliever in God. Further, it is incredible that such words should come from a Prophet of God, because God never breaks His promise and His Prophets never complained against His promise, especially when the Prophet�s mission is understood. It could be said that whoever relates that this statement was said by a Prophet (Jesus), is a disbeliever.
Muslims believe, as the Qur�an states, Jesus was not crucified. It was the intention of his enemies to put him to death on the cross, but Allah saved him from their plot. Qur�an 4:157: "That they (Jews) said boasting, "We killed Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah, but they (Jews) killed him not, nor crucified him..." (An Nisa 4:157)
holy cow man!!!! that was a super long post...you are very confused i am sorry to say....i dont even know realy where your going...in the nicest way i
say to you, if you seek truth ...truly...jesus will proove faithful...forget all the shortcomings of humans. your just running in
circles...relax...listen..breath...last note my savior Jesus WAS crucified ,dead and burried and he is alive and well today...it was his blood that
was the ultimate sacrifice soo we can get there man.....i dont give a hoot what allah said
P.S dang it i forgott 1 thing..jesus said "my god my god why has thou forsaken me" because he was our scapegoat (look that up in jewish tradition)
he took on your sin and experienced true death, the seperation of soul and god (momentarily)... he was the ultimate sacrifice..just so you and i could
be with him...like john said" behold the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world"...post small issues then i can or others can tackle 1 at a
time
"ever knee shall bow, every tounge confess that I am God"
verse from the Bible... that includes Satans knee will bow and tounge confess God is God. what makes u think u wont bow if Satan himself will?
verse from the Bible... that includes Satans knee will bow and tounge confess God is God. what makes u think u wont bow if Satan himself will?
Originally posted by Kai-Raega
I would ask for a refund.
Say, how much does a lost childhood cost anyway?
Awww honey, it's ok... Only you can change your life... Sorry to hear about that btw, things can only get better, and you can only learn and grow from wrong doings... Try to take it in a positive light...
as to the question....
If I am wrong about Jesus, I will be bowing down before him kissing his feet and telling him how sorry I am.... But i'm not sure if he would actually accept my apology ....
Models for living a spiritual life and being kind are good - and Jesus was a wonderful example. There is documentation that he did exist, it is no
lie. What is untrue - or exaggerated - was that he had some kind of special powers for example, walking on water. These are metaphors to help us
understand the life of Jesus Christ and his messages. People take the Bible literally. Like there is a all powerful man in the sky and heaven is up
in the air. Jesus was just a regular man seeking the truth. He was in touch with his spirituality - he was in touch with the Divine energy source
known as God to some, Buddah to others..... There has been documentation recently found to prove Jesus was just a regularman - he even stated that we
are all God's children and he was nothing out of the ordinary. There is also the question to whether he was married to Mary Magdalene, since during
the time when he lived, it would have been extremely strange to not be married - it seems possible that he was. Unfortunately, the church has used
Jesus to create their version about what happened during the time he lived - the Bible. The Bible is man's creation, not God's. In reality, the
first people worshiped the Goddess. Women and Mother Nature were held in the hightest regard. When men figured out that they had something to do with
creation, they turned a matriorchal system into a patriarchal system for the POWER. The church used the Bible, among other strict rules and
regulations to scare people and turn them from paganistic nature worshippers to Christians. They did this to strengthen the church and again...POWER.
So many have died for religion and it is horrible. We are free to worship whoever and whatever leads us to being the best person we can and to be in
touch with our Spiritual selves. Whether that is Buddah, Allah, Mohamud the other prophet.....we should respect each other's beliefs....they all lead
to the same place - truth and happiness and being good and kind....aka heaven.
Whether Jesus lived or not shouldn't change the fact that we all have that power inside of us, if only we choose to find it.
Whether Jesus lived or not shouldn't change the fact that we all have that power inside of us, if only we choose to find it.
listen either Jesus was god or he was crazy...if he died claiming to be god and was not, then that would make him crazy...he was not a good man, he
was and is THE GOD MAN...people who say jesus was a good guy,but deny that he was god usually dont accept anything he said and so that would mean you
dont think he was a good man you think he was a liar..............all that speculation on christ being married and all that jazz...check your
sources...because there is more manuscript evedence for the new testament than for any other ancient body of literature....are you afraid to believe
in miracles (walking on water)? havent you ever seen a miracle? like i said before in another post....normalicy blinds our eternal eyesight just
because its comforatable doent mean its not a miracle.....birth,eyesight,the universe...this message board amazing things are all around......relax
...look
also what documentation are you refering to ...that jesus was a regular man???? maybee the fact that he was.....he became just a regular guy for you
and me......he realy bled and he realy did amazing things...but unlike us he was without sin...he was the spotless lamb
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