Hi
The fact that Jesus didn’t die on the cross, doesn’t lessen the importance of what Jesus taught one iota.
Some may think that Jesus removed from “Son of God / God”, would have no role to play and no attraction left for the believers? I would like to reflect on this aspect and would say this is not correct.
If Adam, Krishna, Abraham, Buddha, Zoroaster, Moses, David, Solomon, Socrates, Muhammad etc. , all humans , perfect men in their own merit, they attracted and won hearts of much of the world without claiming divinity, godhead, or association with God for themselves; and only through their character, morality, politeness, wisdom , they successfully did it. All these respected and most loved religious leaders of the world were brothers in belief in one God.
Why cannot then Jesus do so – whom the Christians consider “Perfect Man”. Has he lost the charisma?
Do they find any discrepancy in his being a prefect man that they need yet to add another feather to him and make him son of God or God?
Surely there is no such need. In fact they have over burdened Jesus and under the weight of this mythical additional burden his own human personality has been concealed from the eye of the people. Remove these burdens and myths woven around him so that his pristine personality glows and enlightens the whole world with his brilliant light. Let his true personality and message of peace reach the corners of the world so profoundly needed by the humanity? There is no mystery, nothing to hide.
Let the superstitions and myths die so that Jesus lives in the hearts of the people.
Mirza Tahir Ahmad has reflected on Jesus’ role, attraction and gravitational pull as under:-
For almost two thousand years, it is not the legends woven around the reality of Jesus Christ that has kept Christianity together and has helped it to survive the challenges of reason and ever growing enlightenment borne out of scientific progress, nor is its survival due to the mystic belief of Trinity. What has held the truth and essence of Christianity together is the beauty of the person and the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is the divine conduct and not the divine person of Jesus that has been so beautiful to adhere to. It was the suffering, patience and perseverance for the sake of noble ideals and his bold upright rejection of all despotic attempts to make him change his principles that is the real backbone of Christianity. It is still as beautiful and as loveable today as it was ever before. It has influenced so powerfully the Christian minds and hearts that they remain bonded to Jesus and would much rather shut their eyes to logical discrepancies than to break away from him.
His real greatness lies in the fact that he transcended and conquered the forces of darkness that had conspired to vanquish him despite being a frail human being and no more than a human being. That victory of Jesus is something to be shared with pride by the children of Adam. As we see it from the Muslim vantage point, he is one of the most noble progeny of Adam who taught humanity by his example of perseverance in the face of extreme suffering and pain. Not to surrender but to remain steadfast in the teeth of extreme trial was the noblest achievement of Jesus. It was his life of suffering and pain that redeemed humanity and made him conquer death. If he had accepted death voluntarily, it would have been tantamount to an attempt to escape his state of suffering. How can one conceive this to be an act of bravery. Even the act of those who commit suicide, under extreme pressure, is taken to be a mere act of cowardice. To share suffering in life is far better than to escape suffering through death. Hence the concept of the supreme sacrifice of Jesus by accepting death for the sake of humanity is hollow sentimality with no substance in it.
The greatness of Jesus, we again insist, lay in his supreme sacrifice during his lifetime. All his life, he defied the temptations to give in and exchange a life of suffering with that of ease and comfort. Day in, day out he confronted death but refused to give in and lived for the sake of the sinful to bring them to life. He conquered death not by surrendering himself to death, but by refusing to bow down to it. He defeated it roundly and emerged from its clutches where a lesser man would have perished. Thus he proved his truth and the truth of his word beyond a shadow of doubt. That is how we see Jesus and that is why we love him so. His voice was the voice of God and not the voice of his own ambitions. He said what he was commissioned to say, neither more nor less than what God had told him to say. He worshipped God throughout his life and worshipped Him alone and never did he require any mortal to bow before himself or before his mother or the Holy Ghost. This is the reality of Jesus to which we invite the Christians of all denomination and faiths to return.
Christians of all denominations – return to real Jesus
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/christianity_facts_to_fiction/index.htm
I love Jesus,Mary and Muhammad
I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim
Tags: Christ, christianity, Christians, Denominations, God, godhead, Jesus, Jesus didn't die on the cross, Jesus needs no additional feather, Jesus' Charisma, perfect man, religion, son of God, without divinity
July 2, 2008 at 2:15 am |
While the “swoon theory” (that Christ did not die on the Cross, but instead passed out and was revived later in the tomb) has been given various degrees of scholarly credibility at different times in modern history, a careful scrutiny of the theory reveals its flaws. First, the nature of the beating Jesus received before being nailed to the cross would have been enough by itself to send him into shock. The whip — braided leather thongs interwoven with metal balls and laced with sharp pieces of bone — wielded by the Roman soldiers would have most likely broken and cut the skin, penetrating to the bone. Jesus was in such critical condition, it appears likely that he collapsed while carrying his crossbar to Calvary — forcing the governor’s soldiers to recruit Simon to carry it for him (Mat. 27:32; cf. Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26). Roman soldiers were quite good at what they did, and failure to properly prosecute a crucifixion rendered their own lives forfeit. We can therefore be fairly certain that they were correct in their assessment of Jesus’ death (John 19:33). In fact, one of the soldiers “pierced his side with a spear” (v34) in order to ensure the accuracy of this judgment.
The final argument against the swoon theory relies on the response of the apostles to the post-resurrection appearances of Christ. Had he only swooned, and somehow revived in the cool air of the tomb, he would have been in terrible shape. Given the severity of the beating as noted above, he would have needed weeks, perhaps even months, to recover. Surely a man in this state would not inspired the disciples, frightened and scattered after Jesus’ capture, to preach his resurrection with a boldness and courage that often endangered their own lives!
From http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/resurrection-of-christ.htm
July 2, 2008 at 10:46 am |
Thank you Justin for your comments on my post and while I receive it with an open mind, I cannot agree with it with reasons; please don’t mind.
I quote from your argument:
“The final argument against the swoon theory relies on the response of the apostles to the post-resurrection appearances of Christ. Had he only swooned, and somehow revived in the cool air of the tomb, he would have been in terrible shape.”
The myth of Jesus dieing a cursed death on cross does not fit into the context of the events, in my opinion. It does not withstand the forceful argument of the PromisedMessiah 1835-1908 as he analysed the circumstances of resurrection, and I quote from him:
Therefore, when it is proved that he (JesusYeshuaIssa) was neither accursed, nor did he go to hell for three days, nor did he suffer death the other part of the scheme, namely, that he went to heaven, is proved to be wrong. On this point the Bible has more evidence which I proceed to state below. There is the statement of Jesus: ‘But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee’ (Matthew: chapter 26, verse 32). This verse clearly shows that Jesus, after he had come out of the tomb, went to Galilee and not to heaven.
Jesus’ words ‘After I am risen’ do not mean his rising up alive after he was dead; rather, as in the eyes of the Jews and the common people he had died on the Cross, he used words beforehand consistent with what they were to think of him in the future, and indeed, the man who was placed on the Cross, in whose hands and feet nails had been driven till he had fainted from pain, had become as good as dead; if such a man was saved from such a calamity and if he recovered his senses it would not be an exaggeration on his part to say that he had come to life again.
There is no doubt that after so much suffering, Jesus’ escape from death was a miracle; it was no ordinary event. But to think that he had died is wrong. It is true that in the books of the New Testament words of this kind occur, but this is a mistake of the writers of those books, just as they had committed mistakes in recording several other historical events.
Commentators who have made researches into these books admit that the books of the New Testament have two parts: (1) the spiritual instruction received by the disciples from Jesus (peace be on him) which is the essence of the teachings of the Gospel; (2) historical events — like the genealogy of Jesus; his arrest and his being beaten; the existence in his time of a miraculous pond, etc. These, the writers recorded by themselves; they were not revealed; rather, they were set down in accordance with the writer’s own ideas. In some places there are undue exaggerations, as where it is stated that if all the miracles and works of Jesus were recorded in books, the earth would not be able to accommodate these books. How exaggerated is this statement!
Apart from this, it is not against usages of speech to describe the great calamity which had befallen Jesus as death. When a man, having passed through a life and death experience, is ultimately saved from it, the common speech of all peoples expresses the idea by the idiomatic expression — ‘he was given a new life’, and no people to whatever country they may belong would demur at expressing that idea in t his way.
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/jesus-in-india/ch1.html
Would you kindly see his argument?
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim
July 4, 2008 at 4:33 pm |
Islam will provide no shelter for you as a sinner. Have you ever told a lie, stolen something, or looked with lust? Then you would be guilty. See http://www.livingwaters.com/good to take the “Good Test”. Perhaps you could ever write a blog post about this test and what you think.
July 5, 2008 at 12:00 am |
Hi
I admit, even witout writing this test, that I am a sinner. My question is who prepared this test and similiar other tests I have seen? Did Jesus prepare this test for the sinners? I don’t think he prepared it for me or you. If you are not a sinner; I congratulate you, I am not jealous of you. Now what should a sinner like me should do or an innocent person like you should do? Kindly quote from Quran, OTBible or NTBible separately in this connection. The cure from sin is very important, I do agree with you.
Please don’t mind.
I love Moses, Jesus, Mary and Muhammad.
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim