What had happen' was.....: Nov 13, 2009

I just saw a tweet concerning the link at the bottom of this post. Apparently it is a blog looking at Mormonism from an Islamic point of view. I found quite a few issues with article that really needs to be responded too.

1. The author of the post wrote:

Millions around the world attribute their religion based on a faith in Jesus Christ. Christian churches the world over claim to preach his message, the gospel, and proclaim that good news that he died was buried and rose again from the dead. Millions the world over don’t realize it was the Apostle Paul who came up with the concept of today’s modern Christianity.

I want to see documentation that proves that Paul came up with the concept of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.This is a standard mistaken belief many Muslims believe. I will present the evidence for why we know that Paul did not come up with Christianity at the end of this post.

2. Another passage in the article reads:

As a student of history I know that Jesus didn’t form a church that he was never Christian and never taught what the basis of Christianity is today, being that of the atonement for man’s sins on the cross. That was all Paul. In fact, it is believed that Jesus was a radical Essence, the known Jewish group that practiced baptisms. John the Baptist was also part of this group. In fact it is believed that Jesus had been a disciple of John.
At either rate, most of what the LDS Church says about Jesus is true and accurate, but the story of Jesus’ life as found in Islam is radically different than the story as told in Christianity.

It was not all Paul. Paul did not take credit, but stood shoulder to shoulder with Peter, James, and John, the Gospels and the Book of Acts. Baptism was not unique to the Essenes but was practiced among all of the Jews of Jesus' time. There is no evidence that either John the Baptist or Jesus were Essenes. The Jesus presented by the LDS Church, founded by Joseph Smith, is very different than classical Christianity. For example, there is a teaching that Jesus was Lucifer's spirit brother. You can't find that in the Bible. This is just the tip of a large iceberg. I would not recommend Mormon theology for any understanding of what Christians believe. They use many of the same words but redefine the concepts.

3. The article then puts the summarizing of what Muslims believe about Jesus by Yahiya Emerick which can be found on the web site www.whyislam.org. Here is Emerick's word in black and my responses will be in blue.

His Origin
Jesus lived about 2,000 years ago in ancient Palestine when the Roman Empire was at its zenith. He was not conceived in the usual way, but was implanted in the womb of a young woman named Mary. God simply commanded, “Be” and he was. In this sense, he was “a word” of God and a special sign for humanity. In fact, he was the last in a long line of religious guides sent to the Jews.

I have heard this from many Islamic apologetists. The problem is that the Bible does not say this. Look at John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

It says that Jesus is the Word not "a word".

Mary, The Blessed
Mary was a righteous woman. Her mother dedicated her to God’s service even before she was born. As a child, she lived a life marked by health and righteousness, which others pointed to in admiration. She was raised by the wise Zechariah, who instilled in her, a beautiful sense of faith in God. When she had become a young woman, Mary sought to purify herself further before her Lord. Knowing that the hustle of life in the towns was distracting, she withdrew from her people to a sanctuary in the East. There she could meditate in seclusion and peace. Suddenly, on a day that seemed no different from the rest, an angel of God visited her, disguised in the likeness of a human. Afraid of so strange a sight, Mary prayed for protection, but the strange being reassured her and declared that he was a messenger from the Lord to announce the glad-tidings of a faultless son. Mary, astounded, asked how this was possible seeing that no man had ever touched her. But the angel replied, “Your Lord says, it is easy for Me …”. But when she felt the little child within her, she fled her sanctuary out of fear of what her family would do or say when they heard the news. Mary, however, was not to face hardship. When in her despair she cried out to God for oblivion, a voice soothed her and she found shade and a cool spring. Under a date-palm in the warmth of late summer, she made her dwelling and there bore the child unlike any other in human history.
Shortly thereafter, Mary returned to her community carrying the child who was to be called Messiah, Jesus, and son of Mary. When her people saw her with the baby in her arms they couldn’t believe their eyes, let alone accept her word. They refused to believe when she told of an angel who came and told her she was chosen above all other women to carry this burden. They accused her of infidelity and implied that she had ruined the family name. Mary, being overwhelmed, simply motioned towards the child meekly.

Many Christians are surprised to find that one of the tenets of Islam is to respect Mary. Most of this information presented about her, including the story given about Jesus speaking from the crib are from gnostic sources from the 2nd century and are rejected by most Christians as non-scriptural!

The Miracles
Now the child was the product of a miracle and consequently, miraculous things began to happen. In defense of his mother and of the truth, the infant Jesus spoke saying, “I am a servant of God. He has given me Scripture and has made me a Prophet. He has blessed me wherever I may be and has made prayer and charity my duty as long as I live.” This put the detractors to rest.
Throughout his youth, Jesus remained dutiful to his mother and developed quickly in intelligence, wisdom, and piety. He dumfounded the learned and was greatly admired by those around him who appreciated his talents. He claimed to be a sign of God and a Messenger to the Israelites.
His people had strayed from the spirit of truth and placed their trust in legalism, thereby burying their sense of mercy beneath dusty scrolls and rituals. Finally, when he came of age, Jesus began to travel and preach throughout the land of Palestine about a return to the truth of the old revelations and a rejection of all that man had added. In his task he was supported by the spirit of truth, the angel Gabriel.

Gabriel only appears in the Gospels to announce Jesus' birth. What did Jesus claim? In John 14: 5-7

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

This is a bold claim. Jesus said that there is no salvation apart from himself. Sounds a lot like what Paul said.

The Gospel, His Message
He taught that love and mercy overcome hate and anger and that only a true and sincere faith in the Creator and obedience to His will can bring a person salvation in this life as well as in the next. To reinforce his message, which was called “Injeel” (Good News), God granted him the performance of miracles. He healed the sick, uplifted the distressed and revived the dead. All these things he did with the permission of God, never taking credit for them himself.
He led a simple and pious life. Soon he attracted an inner-circle of devoted followers who listened to his teachings with fervor and humility. These disciples, among them Peter, Barnabas, and John helped him carry the message of Divine Love to the people. They helped him in his mission.

What is the Gospel? What is the Good news that Jesus taught? Here is how the early church summarized it, in 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

A Test Of Wills
But no righteous man of God is without trial and tribulation. As the message of Jesus began to gain wider acceptance, a small clique of hypocrites and evil men began to plot against him. They were the priests and leaders of the Jews whose position and wealth depended upon their place as the sole interpreters of religion to the masses. They pursued him and his followers and eventually captured him. Though they abused him, he never renounced his faith in the one God. So in their anger they plotted to crucify him on a Roman cross. But Jesus slipped from their grip at the last moment, and all the while they thought they had succeeded. They were sure they had killed him but God answered Jesus’ prayer and saved him from their schemes. Confusion overtook the mob and they might have killed the man who betrayed Jesus instead. In any case, Jesus escaped from their grasp. Then God removed Jesus from this world into another dimension, to a place with Him, not to return until a later time.
With their teacher gone, the devoted followers of Jesus tried to maintain the purity and simplicity of his teachings. But they were soon besieged and overtaken by a flood of Roman and Greek influences, which eventually so buried and distorted the message of Jesus that only a little of its truth now remains. Strange doctrines of Jesus being a man-god, of God dying, of saint worship and of God being made up of different parts came into vogue and were accepted by many of those who took the name “Christians” centuries after Jesus.

And here is one of the worst problem with the Mormon conception of Jesus. You can argue about the empty tomb and the Resurrection, but you cannot deny the crucifixion as a historical event. Virtually all historians will concede and agree that Jesus really existed and we really crucified. To deny is to deny history. I have done numerous posts regarding the charge that Roman and Greek influences shaped what we know of Jesus....and the charge does not hold up.

Conclusion
The only records that have come down to us concerning Jesus are some sketchy biographical material, poorly researched and compiled, which can in no way be representative of the full and accurate Message of Jesus, the Son of Mary. The time of the final and incorruptible Message was not yet at hand. It would be left to the last prophet of God, Muhammad (peace be upon him), to clarify the truth from man’s additions and deletions.
Jesus taught the same eternal message that was taught by all the Messengers of God, from Adam, on through Noah, Abraham, Moses and ending with the mission of God’s last Guidepost to humanity, Muhammad (peace be on them all), whose coming was foretold by Jesus himself.
Every nation and every people, from the Aztecs to the Greeks, have received a Prophet or a Messenger from God. Jesus was the last of a series of Messengers sent to the Israelites, but they consistently strayed from the path of surrender to God. Each of the many Messengers spoke a different language and followed varied customs. Yet the core faith taught by each was the same: surrender your imperfect and fickle will to the perfect will of the Power that is greater than you. You will then find the peace and freedom that only the Creator of all things can provide. Then you must do what is right and good to your fellow creatures. This way of life is called Islam (surrender to God and find peace).

Christians believe that God has called all men and women to repentance.

"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." - Acts 17:29-31

And Jesus is the sin offering for all of humanity. This is the good news - the Gospel.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for[a] the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2:2

For more on Mormonism and how it differs from Christianity, please check out my blog because it has links to other articles and posts concerning Mormonism and here is a debate on how Christians and muslims understand who Jesus is - Jesus in the Bible and Qur'an.

Jesus Christ « A Muslim's Investigation Blog