40 Words that Separate....Spanned

There are 40 words that separate Islam and Christianity.  Only 40 words that divide two of the most popular religions in the world.  What exactly are those words?  They are words that are found in the Quran. Words that allegedly Muhammad spoke and people remembered him saying it. The people of the Quran so well thought of the sayings of Muhammad, that they cataloged it a book.  This book is they compiled is full of his many other recitations and was prized so highly that they committed  them to memory.  The 40 words that separate Christianity and Islam is found in this one Ayat:

Sura 4, Ayat 157

“That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-“

Upon first glance by any reader of this Ayat, that has any factual knowledge of the death of Jesus, the Christ, on face value would understand that this Ayat  is a blatant contradiction of the Biblical record.  The key phrase that keeps getting stressed upon is “….but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them,…” All sorts of interpretations by Muslims attempting to assert or explain this contradiction of the Biblical record of the crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ has been offered. 

For example, one such explanation states that Jesus was switched with someone else that was worthy to die on the cross.  This was surmised by Muslim evangelists from the phrase, “…it was made to appear to them…”.  By reason of this summarizing, many candidates were proposed by Muslims as to who died in Christ stead on the cross, such as the Roman prisoner Barabbas or Judas Iscariot or one of the Guards that came to arrest Jesus.  
Instead of getting involved with the impossibilities and improbabilities why it could not have been any of those men, which countless knowledgeable Christians have refuted.   I rather look to what the Ayat actually says in the context of who Muhammad allegedly said it to, when he said it and where he said it and who was he talking about, instead of what Muslims and Christians have over the centuries surmised it to what they think Muhammad said.  The only way to do this intelligently is to research when it was allegedly spoken. From there we can see whether the intent of Muhammad’s Ayat was to denounce the crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ.

The first question to ask is who was allegedly Muhammad speaking to when he said the Ayat? We already know that Muhammad  allegedly said this Ayat when he was alive in the earlier part his ministry in Medina, in 7^th century Arabia.  The next logical question to ask is who were the “They” in the Ayat?  He was obviously allegedly speaking about someone’s claim of killing and crucifying Christ. Was it the people of Medina?  Upon investigation the city of Medina was made up of 3 religious communities; The Jewish community, the Nestorian Christian community and the newly developing Muslim community.  Muhammad became an arbiter between the contending Jewish and Christian communities which were debating about Jesus, the Christ.  Jews, that have not embraced Christianity, have since the inception of  Christianity have denied Jesus ever being the promised Christ. One of their arguments against Jesus being the promised Christ, revealed in this Ayat, was that they claimed to have killed Jesus, the Christ.  This is indicated in the first two words of the Ayat under discussion.  Evidently, the Christ that the Jewish community of Medina believed in was a character, a personality, that could not be killed or would allow himself to be killed at the least by them. On the other hand, the Christian community of Medina claimed that Jesus did die on the cross, but did so of his own free will.  Think about this for a second, the Jewish community in Medina admitted to being responsible of killing Christ on the cross, a position  that the Jewish community in Jerusalem did not deny nor did openly confessed, conversely, the Christians were stating that Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross, that Jesus laid his life down of his own free will, that nobody killed him.  The Jews were using this argument to refute the idea that Jesus was their Messiah and King. The Messiah that they were looking forward to, they unwittingly had put to death. In this hotly contended debate between Nestorian Christian community and the Jewish Community, Muhammad was brought in to resolve the matter since he was neither Jew or Christian.  Muhammad by this time had built a reputation of being fair and honest when negotiating between disagreeable parties. This was well known to the people of the city of Medina and was the reason they wanted him to be the arbiter.

After reviewing their respective arguments Muhammad allegedly said the 40 word ayat that was presented earlier in this article and was preserved in the Quran.  Muhammad allegedly and simply stated the fact that the Jews did not literally and physically kill Christ. They only requested that Jesus be killed.  The actual physical killing of Jesus was performed by the pagan Roman military, not the Jews. Even though Pilate, the Roman authority at the time, wanted not to be associated with the crucifixion of Jesus,  he granted the Jews request to crucify Jesus on the cross for the crime of blasphemy and claiming to be a king anyway, placing the Roman military captain under their direction.  Israel was under the dominion of pagan Rome and as citizens of the Roman empire, they were not allow to carry out capital punishment against their own people who they had accused according to their own laws worthy of death.  Jesus was accused by the Jewish religious authority of committing blasphemy and sedition against the Emperor of Rome by claiming to be a king. However, somehow Jesus survived the crucifixion and was still alive.   The part on how Jesus survived the crucifixion is what all three communities in Medina at the time were not certain about.  They did not have what we have today in the terms of technology and preservation of archaic writings.  They did not have access artifacts to substantiate their arguments.  Today we do and have the evidence that substantiate what was reported in the Biblical record is factual. The one thing that was clear at the time Muhammad allegedly spoke Sura 4, Ayat 157 is that the Jews did not kill the Christ, nor did that crucify him. It only appeared  to the Jews that Jesus was crucified because somehow he survived the ordeal. No body was certain at that time, in the city of Medina,  how Jesus survived it and this is where the conjectures were made from both the Jewish community side and the Nestorian Christian side. The reason  is clear why Muhammad said what he allegedly said in Sura 4, Ayat 157 in the 7^th century in the city of Medina.  He stated the ayat to bring to rest the confrontation between the Jews and the Nestorian Christians in Medina.   He  was not successful in accomplishing that peace between the two communities. What happened afterward was that the Jews began to oppose both Christian and Muslim communities in Medina.  Muhammad offered the Christian community protection from their Jewish detractors and both Muslim and Christian communities agreed to a compact.  Eventually the Muslims converted everyone to Islam in Medina who stayed in Medina.  The same thing happened in the smaller communities surrounding Medina.  The community of Najran is a prime example of this. See this word press article: Covenants of the Prophet at  http://covenantsoftheprophet.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/the-covenant-of-the-prophet-muhammad-with-the-christians-of-najran/. 

It is clear that Muhammad used the schism between the Jews and Christians to increase his Muslim community wherever he went and found Jews and Christians arguing about the death of Jesus. The problem with the Muslim community growth today is that in the United States of America many Jews have re-embraced Christianity and with the Christian community in America have opposed Islam.

The American Islamic response to this has been to discredit the Bible, discredit the idea that Jesus is the Christ (which is the opposite of what the Quran calls Jesus: Messiah), teach erroneously that Jesus did not die on the cross  and God and claim the un-provable argument of scriptural tampering is a legit probability.  If you have noticed I have used the word “allegedly” in respect to the quotations of Muhammad in the Quran frequently in this article.  The reason for this is that I discovered, in my personal research, that the written version of the Quran came 100 years after Muhammad’s death and was based upon what people remembered him saying about various issues. Here is the problem I have with that: No one who submitted an Ayat to be included into the Quran was alive 100 years earlier to hear Muhammad actually speak those words. They all got it from someone else who claimed to remember what was said allegedly by Muhammad and they got heard it from someone else. They all never heard Muhammad say those words.  This means that the Quran is entirely a second or even a third hand witness report that is not verified by any other witnesses. In other words, it is completely hearsay from beginning to end. The worst thing was that the 4 appointed teachers and reciters of the Quran died or was killed because they would not surrender their written copies of what they directly heard Muhammad speak from his very lips.  When the rulers of the Islamic world in the 8^th,   century, Abdul Bakr  and Uthman were able to get a hold of those written copies, Uthman in particular had them all destroyed!   Think about it, the words of the original and authentic Quran destroyed and in its place a book claiming to be the words of Muhammad.  This is why I used the word allegedly in this article in respect of the quotations of  the recitations of  Muhammad written in the Quran because there is no proof that he actually said it. 
So my question is this: Even with the fact that Jesus' crucifixion was not refuted by the Quran in Sura 1 and Ayat 157, coupled with today when we have even more proof that Jesus did in fact die on the cross and rose from the dead.  Is Sura 4, Ayat 157 subject to abrogation?  Yes it is. Because something better and more accurate has arisen to take its place: The accurate replication of the Biblical record;  A Biblical record that accurately records the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ in detail by verifiable first hand and second hand eyewitnesses.  So what? The veracity of first hand and second hand eyewitnesses is the fact that they either heard Jesus speak the words they reported themselves or received the report from someone else who was alive at the time that Jesus said those words.   This oral transmission of the Gospel accounts were written down within the first 100 years after Jesus's  passion. That quality of reporting you can’t get any better than being there yourself. This quality of reporting is lacking in the Quran and therefore subject to being abrogated by the Bible. For Muhammad allegedly said in Sura 2, Ayat 106:

“None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things?

It very clear, that the Biblical record concerning Jesus’s death is better than the revelation in Sura 4 ayat 157, because it is based upon a better quality of witnesses and upon the accuracy of its replication. So according the Quran the Biblical record abrogates the Ayat and is to be believed over and above the Ayat under discussion. The Bible is the revelation that preceded the Quran and to which Muhammad said it was preserved by pious and honest men. (Sura 80, Ayats 13-16) It is the revelation that Allah protects and watches over (Sura 5, Ayat 48).    With that understanding the  Ayat  under discussion is abrogated  by the Bible because the Bible does not cause God’s revelations to be forgotten and it is better than what the Quran presents.  This also refutes the argument that the Bible has been tampered with. How? Because if the Torah and the Gospel were revelations sent down by Allah and Allah  watches over and protects them, then how can they be tampered with?  They can not be tampered with.  Furthermore, this argument puts on display the ineptitude of Allah to defend his revelations, if any Muslim dares to embrace it as a logical argument. Most intelligent Muslims don't bother with the illogical defense, in fact they avoid it at all costs.

Also in my research, I found that Muhammad was pointing to Christianity in the earlier days of his ministry. Not away from it as some Muslims in the United States have asserted.   What cause him to change?  I ask this because when Muhammad and his followers had swept  over the  Arabian peninsula  and  turned Arabia from a pagan idol worshiping country, into to Monolithic worshiping  country,  establishing the belief of only one God. He was pro-Christian in his early days but what caused the change? For there are writings in the Quran that instruct Muslims to war against anyone from other religions to the point of death or to the point of making those non-Muslims which they were in conflict with convert to Islam.  This was not so in the beginning, up to the time that  Muhammad and his teachings  reached  Western Christianity.  Muhammad supported Nestorian Christians and opposed Jews and Pagans holding the belief that he was preaching the same message Jesus and all the other prophets before him had preached. In fact, a Nestorian Christian Elder told Muhammad that he was called to be a preacher of God, after he received the alleged call to preach from the voice in the Cave. When the Western Christian world  heard his message, they deemed him as a heretic and a false prophet.  It was this rejection of his theology and his position as a prophet of God by the western Christian theological community is when he changed.   What proof I have of this?  Just ask any Muslim theologian this question. Did Muslims always prayed toward Mecca?  You may be surprised at the direction Muslims originally prayed in.  They prayed in the direction of Jerusalem. This was discovered when they found the foundation of an old Mosque in the vicinity of  Jerusalem with its head pointed toward Jerusalem. Why was the original Mosques  pointed in the direction of Jerusalem?  Because Muhammad did not see himself as the founder of a new religion, he saw himself as the continuation of the existing Christian faith.  The apostolic revelation he had, he believed was the natural progression from the other two monolithic faiths: Judaism and Christianity.  The change of direction when he was only two years in Medina, was Muhammad’s way of saying to western Christianity, Since you don’t believe I am who I say I am nor my message, therefore, I will take away the Arabian believing world from you forever until you recognize me as a prophet.  It has been that way ever since.

Did Jesus say that he was the Son of God?

One of the many arguments that many people insist on promoting is that Jesus never said he was the Son of God.  So what is the big deal if  he did or he didn’t say that he was the Son of God?  The significance of whether Jesus said he was the Son of God or not is that if he did say he was, then by his own testimony he admitted to be divine and thereby made himself equal to God. If he did not say that he was the Son of God, then many people’s faith has been misplaced in something that is not simply true. 

Many believers in Christ, can tell of a number of places in the Gospels that Jesus inferred directly or indirectly that he was the Son of God. Also that Jesus testified to being the Son of God deliberately so that there was no mistaking what he meant. To find this to be so, all anyone has to do is to read the reaction to whoever he declared that he was the Son of God to. When he said it to those who were willing to believe or did believed that he was the Son of God, they acknowledged Jesus as such and worshiped him. To which Jesus did nothing to prevent people from worshiping him and believing that he was the Son of God, in fact he took it to mean that people honored him and God, his father when they chose to believe. When he said that he was the Son of God, directly or indirectly to those who were not willing to believe his testimony, they thought it was their legal right to have him killed for committing blasphemy.  

Here are a few examples from both sides of Jesus’ declaration that he was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God:

A.   Examples of when Jesus told those willing to believe or did believe that was the Son of God.

1. John 9:35-38: Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” He answered and said, “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?”  And Jesus said unto him, “Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshipped him.

2. Matthew 14:22-33: And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.  And when he sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when evening was come, he was alone.  But the ship was not in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves; for the wind  was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, “Be of good cheer; It is I; Be not afraid.” And Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me to come unto thee on the water. And he said, “Come.” And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying,”Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”  And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.  Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, “Of a truth, thou are the Son of God.”

3.John 4:20-26: “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus saith unto her, “Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him  must worship him in spirit and in truth.” The woman saith unto him, “I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” Jesus saith unto her,”I that speak unto thee am he.

4. John 1:44-49: Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip findeth  Nathanael and saith unto him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the Law , and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said unto him, “Can anything good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip saith unto him, ”Come and see.”  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, “Behold and Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”  Nathanael saith unto him, “Whence knowest thou me?” Jesus answered and said unto him, “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” Nathanael answered  and  saith unto him, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”

  

5.  Mark 8:27-29: And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto to them, “Whom do men say that I am?” And they answered, ”John, the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.”  And he saith unto them, “But whom say ye that I am?”  And Peter answereth and saith unton him, “Thou art the Christ.”

6. Mathew 16:14-18: When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”  And they said, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”  He saith unto them, “But whom say ye that I am?”  And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  And Jesus answered  and said unto him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, that thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The point is, whether he told them directly or indirectly, in private or in front of others, Jesus told those who were willing to believe him that he was the Son of God.  Furthermore Jesus did not refuse the worship of his adherents for he also said,

John 5:23: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.  He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

B. Here now are some examples of when Jesus testified that he was the Son of God to those who were not willing to believe him.

1 John 8:47-59: “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, say we not well that art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” Jesus answered,  “I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and you dishonour me.  And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you,  If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” Then said the Jews unto him, “Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest,  If a may keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? And the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?” Jesus answered, “If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced  to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”  Then said the Jews unto him, “Thou are not yet fifty years old,  and hast thou see Abraham?” Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.” Then took up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

2. John 10:27-36: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them to me, is greater thatn all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.  I and my Father are one.” Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?” The Jews answered him, saying, “For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”  Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, Ye are gods’? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, ‘Thou blasphemest’; because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’”

3. Matthew 26:62-65: And the high priest arose, and said unto him, “Answereth thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee?” But Jesus held his peace.  And the high priest answered and said unto him, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.”  Jesus saith unto him, “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you,  hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”  Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, “He hat spoken blasphemy; what futher need have we for witnesses? Behold,  now ye have heard his blasphemy.”

4. John 19:4-7: Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, “Behold, I bring him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him.” Then Jesus came forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe.  And Pilate saith unto them, “Behold, the man!” When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him.” Pilate saith unto them, “Take him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

5. Matthew 27:37-40: And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, “Thou that destroyeth the temple, and buldest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

6. Matthew 27:41-43: Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let  him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

            The point is, that whether or not he told them directly or indirectly, they all heard Jesus declare that he was the Son of God and by his own testimony accused him of the crime of blasphemy, which is according to the Law of Moses punishable by death. For it is written:

Leviticus 24:16: And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well as the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.

            By Jesus proclaiming and testifying  to be the Son of God, the people who heard him that were not willing to believe him, believed that he was committing the crime of blasphemy. Yet other people who also heard him believed his testimony because they also believed that God send the Christ, the Messiah and he would be God’s son.  When Jesus gave them the evidence to be believe that he was the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, the Son of the living God, some believed and some refused to believe the evidence.   They regarded Jesus as a man born out of wedlock, whose real father was a Samaritan and that he was possessed by a devil.  So when Jesus declared that their God was in fact his father, they believed he was committing blasphemy and they had a legal responsibility and recourse to kill him.  They just could not do so according to the prescription of  the Law of Moses.  The problem was they could not exact capital punishment upon Jesus for the crime of blasphemy because their Roman rulers  would not allow it without first hearing the offender’s plea. When the Governor of Judea, Pontcus Pilate,  heard that the  charge against Jesus was that he testified that he was the Son of God,  he knew he had a real  problem.  The Romans had only one man who they deemed divine, that man was Caesar their Emperor.  Therefore, anyone that proclaimed himself a God, or a son of God or divine and a king was considered a threat to Caesar and had to be executed under Roman Law.  

While Pilate was conducting a private inquiry about the charges against Jesus with Jesus, he testified to Pilate that he was indeed a king, but he was not a king of this world.  That he was a King of truth.  After Pilate heard that testimony, he reasoned that this testimony of Jesus is not worthy of the capital punishment of execution that the Jews desired, so he sought to let Jesus go free.  When the high priests and other religious leaders heard that Pilate was going to set him free, the Jews told Pilate that he was not a friend of Caesar, if he let Jesus live as a Messiah, and as their king.  This made Pilate more afraid and so the Jews were given authority to kill Jesus by Pilate.

 The method of punishment of a man for the crime of calling himself a king of the Jews was crucifixion.  The Jews did not care how Jesus died, they just wanted Jesus to die, in accordance with what they perceived was the directive in the Law.   They had no reason to suspect that Jesus was actually who he said he was. The Jewish religious leadership where given authority, again by Pilate, to command the Roman guards to guard the sealed tomb so that Jesus’s disciples  could not secretly steal the body of Jesus and proclaim that Jesus rose from the dead. 

After Jesus rose from the dead, the Jewish religious leadership paid  the Roman guards  to spread the story that the disciples were successful in stealing the body of Jesus.  The only problem with this lie was that Jesus, for being someone that was so openly and brutally crucified and buried in a sealed tomb, kept appearing everywhere after his death and burial to those who was willing to believe in him as the Christ, the Messiah and the Son of God, just as he is doing in various parts of the world today.

            So did Jesus say that he was the Son of God?  Yes he did. He said it to those who were willing to believe him and to those who were not willing to believe him.  The question remains are you willing to now believe in him now that you have the evidence that Jesus did say that he was the Son of God?

John 1:12+13: But as many as received him, who believed in his name, to  them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to those that believe on his name: which  were born, not of blood, not after the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.