- Jesus (pbuh), during his lifetime
on earth, commands mankind to strictly and
uncompromisingly observe the religion of Moses
till the end of time (Matthew 5:18). He tells them
that observing the religion of Moses and selling
their belongings shall make them "prefect." (Luke
18:18-22).
- After the departure of Jesus,
Paul, according to his own admission "beyond
measure" severely persecuted countless
Christians, strove to "slaughter" them, and
also "wasted"
the church (Galatians 1:13-15, Acts 8:1-3, Acts
9:1-2, Acts 9:41, Acts 6:5, Acts 22:4,.. etc.). Paul
also looked on with satisfaction as the apostle
Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 22:20).
- Paul receives "visions"
and is saved (Acts 22:9, Acts 9:7...etc.)
- Paul is not sure exactly what he
saw in his visions. His visions also contained
"unspeakable words that it
is unlawful to utter." (2 Corinthians 12:1-5)
- Paul tells us that the person in
his visions was Jesus (pbuh). He declares that he
received his teachings of "Christianity" from these
visions and from no one else, not even the apostles
(Galatians 1:12). In other words, he has no need of
learning from the apostles. His visions are higher
in authority than anything they might have to say.
He then goes on to show everyone how the apostles of
Jesus are constantly in need of his guidance to
recognize the truth (e.g. Galatians 2:11-13)
- Paul claims that all things are
made lawful to him and he shall not follow anyone (1
Corinthians 6:12). He also claims that he shall do
whatever it takes to get people to follow him, no
matter what that might entail (1 Corinthians
9:20-22).
- The apostles differ with Paul
regarding the "truth" of the circumcision
ordained by God and other matters.(1 Corinthians
7:19, Galatians 2:7...etc.).
- The apostles, according to Paul,
did not walk "uprightly" according to the
"truth of the Gospel" and were lazy, misguided,
hypocrites (1 Corinthians 15:10, Galatians 2:14,
Galatians 2:13).
- Most of the books of the New
Testament are written by Paul himself. In them, Paul
himself gives an unblushing pronouncement of how he
was a vastly superior apostle of Jesus (pbuh) than
the apostles who accompanied Jesus (pbuh) during his
ministry and they all needed his guidance to see the
"truth" of Jesus' message and how Jesus (pbuh) and
the apostles eagerly appointed him the twelfth
apostle.
Summary:
If the apostles who lived, preached, ate, and drank with
Jesus for so many years are all, according to Paul,
lazy, misguided, hypocrites, who were not able to see
the "truth" of Jesus' message as clearly as himself, and
if Paul, who never met Jesus in the flesh but is the
author of the majority of our New Testament, is more
truly guided than all of the apostles combined because
of his claimed "visions" even though he never quotes
Jesus nor needs to learn from the apostles, but is,
according to his own gospel, more truly guided than all
of them despite all of this, then why did Jesus need to
preach the law of Moses to mankind at all?
Why did he himself observe it so strictly? According to
Paul, Jesus' only use is as a body to be hung on the
cross. Jesus (pbuh) felt it necessary to
command his followers to strictly and uncompromisingly
observe the law of Moses. He even felt it necessary to
live his life in strict observance of this law as a
supreme example for us. He never once explicitly
mentioned an original sin, an atonement, a crucifixion,
a redemption, or a nullification of the law of Moses.
However, no sooner does Jesus depart this earth than
Paul uses his claimed visions to completely nullify
everything Jesus ever taught and practiced. He does not
need to learn from the apostles, all he needs is his
visions. That is indeed why he almost never quotes Jesus
himself. He always resorts to his own philosophization
rather than quoting Jesus. Why then did Jesus not simply
come to earth right after Adam sinned, not
say a single word, quickly anger some enemies of God,
let them crucify him, and have it over with quickly?
Even if Jesus decided to wait hundreds of thousands of
years and only come 2000 years ago, then why preach a
law that is going to be thrown out the window in only a
couple of years? Why observe this law so devoutly
himself? Why command everyone to strictly observe this
law "till heaven and earth pass"? Why threaten
them that anyone who would forsake a single commandment
would be called "the least in the kingdom of heaven"?
Is he not going to die for everyone's sins and then come
back in exclusive visions to Paul and command him to
nullify the law of Moses? Is he not going to come back
in visions to Paul and command him to tell everyone that
"a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the
law."? Why not preach such a doctrine himself
while he is still among his apostles instead of waiting
to first mention it to Paul in a vision after his death?
These apostles that Paul looked down
upon as lazy misguided hypocrites are the selfsame
apostles who had accompanied Jesus (pbuh) during his
lifetime, who taught all of mankind (including Paul
himself) the teachings of Jesus (pbuh), and who endured
the persecution of many (including Paul himself) to
convey this message without compromise, as Jesus had
directly taught it to them. The Pauline Church (the
Roman Catholic church which later gave birth to other
churches such as the Protestant church) was to later go
on and officially adopt the doctrine of the Trinity
a couple of centuries after the departure of Jesus, to
severely condemn, persecute, and kill any Christians who
did not convert to their own personal brand of
Christianity, to have presided over the death of
millions of Christians who did not adopt this belief. To
have presided over the destruction of many hundreds of
"unacceptable" gospels (some sources claim thousands)
some of which were written by the apostles themselves,
and to have issued death warrants for all those found
concealing them... and on and on.
Even with all of this, the Gospel of
Barnabas (see chapter seven)
has managed to escape this campaign of destruction of
the Gospels and is available today. It confirms all that
we have said and what the Qur'an has been saying for
centuries. It also presents Barnabas' response to Paul's
claims and his account of what truly happened at the
cross and how Jesus (pbuh) was not forsaken
by God to the Jews, but was raised by God, and Judas the
traitor was made to look like Jesus (pbuh) and was taken
in his place. Barnabas, of course, accompanied Jesus
(pbuh) and was an eye-witness to his mission. Paul was
not.
Getting back to our story... Paul had
a falling out with the apostles and decided that
"Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing,
but the keeping of the commandments of God" 1
Corinthians 7:19. Even though circumcision was held in
an even higher regard than the Sabbath
itself in the law of Moses and the
"commandments of God," still, Paul taught that it is
possible to keep the commandments even if, contrary to
the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, this foremost
commandment of circumcision was abandoned.
In the end, Paul decided that all
the commandments of God through Moses (pbuh)
which Jesus (pbuh) had kept faithfully till the
crucifixion and which the apostles had also kept were
all worthless decaying and ready to vanish away and
faith was all that was required, thereby completely
nullifying everything his "Lord" Jesus had taught and
practiced during his lifetime.
"Therefore we conclude that a man
is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
Romans 3:28
He decided that the laws of Moses (pbuh)
(e.g. "thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill,
...etc.") which Jesus (pbuh) had taught the faithful
during his lifetime were a "curse" upon them and no
longer necessary,
"Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law."
Galatians 3:13
He then went about explaining the
"true" meanings of the teachings of Jesus and Paul's
preachings are what are now known as "Christianity."
Paul himself readily admits that he
was both willing and able to recruit new converts by
any means at his disposal:
"And unto the Jews I became as a
Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under
the law(Gentiles), as under the law, that I might gain
them that are under the law"
1 Corinthians 9:20
and "...I am made all things to all
men, that I might by all means
save some"
1 Corinthians 9:22
and "...all things are lawful for
me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."
1 Corinthians 6:12
We have already seen how Paul also
openly admits that his teachings were not obtained from
the apostles of Jesus, but from a vision of Jesus denied
the apostles: Galatians 1:12 "For I neither received
it of man, neither
was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
So, not only are the apostles of Jesus, according to
Paul, lazy, misguided, hypocrites, but everything they
ever learned from Jesus is in Paul's estimation
unnecessary. What they have learned from Jesus from
direct contact with him is only useful in as far as it
conforms to his "visions." In other words, they have
need to learn from him and not vice-versa.
The great apostle of Jesus (pbuh),
Barnabas (the defender and benefactor of Paul), in the
opening statements of his Gospel has the following to
say about Paul among others:
"True Gospel of Jesus, called
Messiah, a new prophet sent by God to the world
according to the description of Barnabas his apostle.
Barnabas, apostle of Jesus the Nazarene, called Messiah,
to all them that dwell upon the earth desire peace and
consolation. Truly beloved, the great and wonderful God
has in these past days visited us by His apostle Jesus
(the) Messiah in great mercy of teaching and miracles,
by reason whereof many, being deceived by Satan, under
pretense of piety, are preaching most impious doctrine,
calling Jesus the Son of God, repudiating the
circumcision ordained by God forever, and permitting
every unclean meat: among whom also Paul has been
deceived, whereof I speak not without grief: for which
cause I am writing the truth which I have seen
and heard, in the fellowship that I have had with
Jesus, in order that you may be saved, and not be
deceived by Satan and perish in judgment of God.
Therefore, beware of everyone that preaches to you a new
doctrine contrary to that which I write, that you may be
saved eternally. The great God be with you and guard you
from Satan and from every evil. Amen."
Paul himself admits that there were
those who were preaching a different Gospel than his own
and were gaining converts. He does not name his
adversaries, but we can read about his most noble
adversaries in two places wherein Paul uses what Prof.
Brandon calls "very remarkable terms" to describe them.
The first is
"I marvel that ye are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of
Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but
there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the
gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which
we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we
said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let
him be accursed."
Galatians 1:6-9
The second is "But I fear, lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh
preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or
if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not
received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted,
ye might well bear with him. For I suppose I was not a
whit behind the very chiefest apostles. But though I be
rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been
thoroughly made manifest among you in all things."
2 Corinthians 11:3-6
These opponents of Paul were clearly
preaching "another Gospel"
and "another Jesus," they were also obviously
operating among Paul's own target group and converting
his converts. All of this even though their teachings
did not exhibit the "simplicity" that Paul
preached but required their followers to work
for their salvation. However, Paul displays amazing
restraint when referring to them by not lambasting them
with the vehemence of speech which he is so capable nor
questioning their authority. Rather, he gives a clue to
their identity with the words: "...For I suppose I
was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles"
and "we, or an angel from heaven," and "unto
another gospel: Which is not another."
As we have seen in previous chapters,
Christian scholars today agree that the very first
Christians, including the apostles of Jesus (pbuh) were
all Unitarians who followed the religion of Moses, and
that the Trinity was not introduced until
around the beginning of the second century. These
Unitarians enjoyed a large following and spread
throughout much of North Africa among other places.
During this period, any Roman or Greek gentile who
wanted to enter into Christianity pretty much was
allowed to choose which "Christianity" he wanted. The
one preached by Barnabas and the apostles which involved
a strict and disciplined law of Moses
(pbuh), or the much more simplistic "New covenant"
of Paul which only required "faith in Jesus" and which
was later made more appealing to them by the Pauline
Church by incorporating a "Trinity" and other changes
into it so that it would more closely resemble the Roman
and Greek established beliefs of multiple Gods and
father-Gods and son-Gods and Demi-Gods and Goddesses
...etc. Toland says in his book
The Nazarenes: "...amongst the Gentiles, so
inveterate was the hatred of the Jews that their
observing of anything, however reasonable or necessary,
was sufficient motive for a Gentile convert to reject
it." (From: Jesus, Prophet of Islam) If Paul wanted
to convert these people, he would need to compromise, he
would need to make Christianity a little more appealing
to them, which he, and his church, did.
One of these first Unitarian
Christians was a man by the name of Irenaeus
(130-200 AD). Mr. Muhammad Ata' Ur Rahim tells us in his
book "Jesus, Prophet of Islam" that he was one of the
first Christians to be killed because of their adherence
to the unity of God. He is quoted as saying the
following regarding the unending attempts to tamper with
the Bible: "In order to amaze the simple and such as
are ignorant of the Scriptures of Truth, they obtrude
upon them an inexpressible multitude of apocryphal and
spurious scriptures of their own devising" (the
Gospels in our possession today).
When the Pauline Church gained power
and influence in Rome these Unitarian Christians were
officially condemned, persecuted and killed. An attempt
was made to totally obliterate them and their books by
forcing them to accept the Trinity or else
to be killed as heretics and by burning their Gospels.
Over a million of these Unitarian Christians were then
put to death because of their refusal to compromise
their belief. In spite of this, their beliefs have
survived even to this day. When Islam came with the call
to one God and the belief in Jesus (pbuh) and his
miracles, these Unitarian Christians were among the
first people to recognize the word of God and accept
Islam.
So thorough has Paul and his church
been in totally eradicating all of the teachings of
Jesus (pbuh) and his first apostles that very little has
survived. Not even Jesus' (pbuh) preferred method of
greeting his followers. From ancient times, the prophets
of God including Moses, Joseph, David,
Jesus, the angels of God and many others including God
himself have made it their custom to greet the believers
with the words "Peace be with you." This can be seen in
such verses as Genesis 43:23, Judges 6:23, 1 Samuel
25:6, Numbers 6:26, 1 Samuel 1:17, Luke 24:36, John
20:19, John 20:26, and especially Luke 10:5:
"And into whatsoever house ye
enter, first say, Peace be to this house"
to name a few.
Can anyone guess what Muhammad (pbuh)
taught his followers to say when greeting each other or
departing from each other? You guessed it! "Assalam
alaikum" or "Peace be unto you." Have you ever met a
Christian who greets other Christians with the words of
Jesus (pbuh): "Peace be unto you"?
So, what do the scholars have to say
about Paul?:
Heinz Zahrnt calls Paul "the
corrupter of the Gospel of Jesus." From "The Jesus
Report," Johannes Lehman, p. 126.
Werde describes him as "The second
founder of Christianity." He further says that due
to Paul: "...the discontinuity between the historical
Jesus and the Christ of the Church became so great that
any unity between them is scarcely recognizable"
"The Jesus Report," Johannes Lehman,
p. 127.
Schonfield wrote: "The Pauline
heresy became the foundation of the Christian orthodoxy
and the legitimate Church was disowned as heretical."
"The Jesus Report," Johannes Lehman,
p. 128.
Mr. Michael H. Hart, in his book
"The 100, a Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in
History," places Muhammad (pbuh) in first place,
next comes Paul, and Jesus (pbuh) after Paul. Like most
other western scholars besides himself, he recognizes
Paul as being more deserving of credit for
"Christianity" than "Christ" himself.
Grolier's encyclopedia has the
following to say under the heading "Christianity":
"After Jesus was crucified, his followers, strengthened
by the conviction that he had risen from the dead and
that they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit,
formed the first Christian community in Jerusalem. By
the middle of the 1st century, missionaries were
spreading the new religion among the peoples of Egypt,
Syria, Anatolia, Greece, and Italy. Chief among these
was Saint Paul, who laid the foundations of Christian
theology and played a key role in the transformation of
Christianity from a Jewish sect to a world religion. The
original Christians, being Jews, observed the dietary
and ritualistic laws of the Torah and required
non-Jewish converts to do the same. Paul and others
favored eliminating obligation, thus making Christianity
more attractive to Gentiles."
Dr. Arnold Meyer says: "If by
Christianity we understand faith in Christ as the
heavenly Son of God, who did not belong to earthly
humanity, but who lived in the divine likeness and
glory, who came down from heaven to earth, who entered
humanity and took upon himself a human form through a
virgin, that he might make propitiation for
men's sins by his own blood upon the cross,
who was then awakened from death and raised to the right
hand of God, as the Lord of his own people, who believe
in him, who hears their prayers, guards and leads them,
who will come again with the clouds of heaven to judge
the world, who will cast down all the foes of God, and
will bring his own people with him unto the home of
heavenly light so that they may become like His
glorified body - if this is Christianity, then such
Christianity was founded by St. Paul and not by our
Lord"
Dr. Arnold Meyer, Professor of
Theology, Zurich University, Jesus or Paul, p.
122
As we can see, this information is not
new. It has been well recognized and documented for
centuries now. Even centuries ago, it was well known
that most of what was claimed by the church could not be
verified through the Bible. Thus, a shift was made from
obtaining ones inspiration from the Bible to obtaining
it from the "Bride of Jesus," the
Church. Fra Fulgentio, for instance, was once
reprimanded by the Pope in a letter saying "Preaching
of the Scriptures is a suspicious thing. He who keeps
close to the Scriptures will ruin the Catholic faith."
In his next letter he was more explicit: "...which is
a book if anyone keeps close to will quite destroy the
Catholic faith." Tetradymus, John Toland
(From: Jesus a Prophet of Islam)
As we have just seen, all of this
started with one lone man, with Paul. It stands to
reason that one would wish to study the life, beliefs,
and teachings of this man in order to verify if the
claims he made were indeed true. Paul claims that he was
a prophet of God and/or Jesus. We find this for example
in Galatians:
"For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ … But when it pleased God, who separated me
from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his grace, To
reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the
heathen"
Galatians 1:12-16
Thus, if Paul tells us in the books of
the Bible that he is a prophet, then he can be only one
of two kinds of prophet; either a true prophet or a
false prophet. Thus, we must take Paul to trial and have
the court decide for us what sort of prophet he is.
Due to the magnitude of that which is
at stake in this trial, it would be highly unjust to
allow personal prejudices to cloud the outcome of the
proceedings. For this reason, justice demands that the
judge be one who's integrity and truthfulness can be
readily and unhesitantly accepted by all. For this
reason, our judge and jury in this matter shall consist
of only two individuals: God Almighty and Jesus Christ.
Further, only one single exhibit shall be brought into
evidence, namely, the Bible. Let us then clear our minds
and hearts of all prejudices and let only God and Jesus
tell us what to accept and what to reject. Are we
agreed? Then let us begin.
Let us start the proceedings with the
words of God. He says:
"When a prophet speaketh in the
name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to
pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD hath not
spoken, [but] the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:
thou shalt not be afraid of him."
Deuteronomy 18:22
Now let us move on and obtain the
witness of Jesus (pbuh):
"For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs
and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they
shall deceive the very elect."
Matthew 24:24
Jesus (pbuh) continues …
"Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even
so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a
corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree
cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the
fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity."
Matthew 7:15-23
Now that the base criteria have been
laid out by God and then His elect messenger Jesus
Christ (pbuh), let us now bring into evidence the words
of Paul in the Bible and allow them to speak for
themselves. In order to do this we shall break up the
criteria set forth by God and Jesus above into seven
points. They are:
- A false prophet's prophesies do
not come true.
- False Christs and false prophets
can show great signs and wonders that can deceive
the very elect.
- False prophets bring forth evil
fruits.
- A false prophet would claim that
it is enough to say to Jesus Lord to be righteous.
- A false prophet would prophesy in
Jesus' name.
- A false prophet can cast out
devils and do wonderful works.
- A false prophet would be turned
away and cursed by Jesus.
Regarding the first criteria, we bring
into evidence the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians
4:16-18 regarding his prophesy of the second coming
of Jesus. Paul says:
"For the Lord (Jesus) himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and]
remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words."
1 Thessalonians 4:15-16
Paul in this prophesy was in effect
telling his followers that Jesus would be descending
from heaven any second now. Paul and his followers would
then be taken up into the air and meet Jesus in the
clouds. He was telling them that this shall happen while
they are still alive and breathing. Did this come to
pass? No! It was a false prophesy. Two
thousand years have passed since and not only has he and
those he was speaking to turned to dust, but countless
generations of their followers too have passed away and
we still await his prophesy to come true.
Let us now study the second criteria.
Now, we have to realize that it is Paul himself and his
church after him who are telling us of his claimed
miracles, however, we shall accept them at face value
and take their word for it. In Acts 27, Paul is claimed
to have been saved by an angel from a drowning ship. In
Acts 28, Paul is claimed to have cured many of
dysentery. Further acts of healing are claimed in Acts
19. Because of these claimed miracles, many people were
claimed to have believed in him. As we have seen in the
previous pages, it only took roughly three centuries for
Paul's teachings to take firm hold of the very elect and
divert them from the original message of Jesus, from his
original teachings, from the observance of the Mosaic
law, and from the continuation of the observance of this
law in the synagogues and Temple of the Jews just as the
very first apostles had done (Acts 2:46).
The third criteria draws our attention
to Paul's words:
"To declare, [I say], at this time
his righteousness: that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where [is]
boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works?
Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that
a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the
law."
Romans 3:26-28
So Paul succeeded in overthrowing the
Mosaic law. He completely nullified the law which God,
Moses, and Jesus all upheld and commanded
their followers to observe till the end of time (see
Duet. 6:17-18, Duet. 11:1, Matt. 15:1-15, Matt. 5:17-20,
Matt. 19:16-21, etc.)
Indeed, Isaiah 42:21 presents a
prophesy that requires the coming prophet to magnify the
law of Moses, not destroy it.
In other words, God says:
"Ye shall not add unto the word
which I command you, neither shall ye diminish [ought]
from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD
your God which I command you."
Deuteronomy 4:2
And Jesus says:
"For verily I say unto you, Till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be Fulfilled. Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments,
and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in
the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
[them], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven."
Matthew 5:18-19
But now Paul comes along and says:
"Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law"
Galatians 3:13,
and "Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
Romans 3:28
Let us move on to the fourth criteria.
Paul says:
"For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord (Jesus) shall be saved."
Romans 10:12-13
The fifth criteria requires that he
prophesy in Jesus' name. And once again, Paul says:
"For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ."
Galatians 1:12
So according to Paul, everything he
taught was by direct revelation from Jesus.
The sixth criteria requires that Paul
cast out devils and do wonderful works. This he claims
to have done in Acts 19:11-12.
The seventh criteria draws our
attention to Paul's words
"I am a Pharisee, the son of a
Pharisee"
Acts 23:6
A fact which Paul very proudly repeats
on more than one occasion. To which Jesus (pbuh)
responds:
"Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to
make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him
twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."
Matthew 23:15.
So Jesus (pbuh) labeled the Pharisees
"children of Hell."
Further, as we already know, Jesus did
indeed "never know" Paul. In fact, Paul new so little of
Jesus that he only quoted Jesus directly once
throughout his whole ministry (1 Corinthians 11:26).
Only a few of Jesus' actual teachings are ever mentioned
in Paul's Epistles, and even then they are not
attributed to Jesus. They were most likely popular
homilies which had been circulated in the community and
thus indirectly found their way into his Epistles.
Indeed, Daniel 7:25 describes the very
greatest of all false Christs as follows:
"And he shall speak [great] words
against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of
the most High, and think to change times and laws: and
they shall be given into his hand until a time and times
and the dividing of time."
Now, although Paul is not
this final False Messiah, and although no Muslim shall
ever attempt to make such a claim, still, it is
interesting to note the great degree of similarity he
exhibits with that most evil of all false prophets. For
example, THE False Messiah shall change times and
laws, and so too did Paul nullify the Law. THE
False Messiah shall speak great words against God, and
so too does Paul. For example, the Bible says:
"The law of the LORD [is] Perfect,
converting the soul: …The statutes of the LORD [are]
right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD
[is] pure, enlightening the eyes."
Psalm 19:7-8
And "Therefore thou shalt love the
LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and
his judgments, and his commandments, always."
Deuteronomy 11:1
And "For verily I (Jesus) say unto
you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called
the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall
do and teach [them], the same shall be called great in
the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 5:18-19
However, Paul says in Romans 7:6 that
the law is dead He further says in Galatians 3:13 that
the law is a curse. In Galatians 3:10 he claims that
those who labor under the law of God are under a curse.
And he claims in Hebrews 8:13 that Gods covenant
is old, decaying, and ready to vanish away.
As we can see from the above, both God
and Jesus condemn Paul and his teachings in no uncertain
terms. They themselves bear witness against him and his
innovations which they totally reject and which shall be
brought to witness against him on the Day of Judgment.
Who better and more unbiased a judge shall we bring to
witness against Paul and his innovations that Jesus
Christ and God Himself?
Many Christian evangelists who follow
the theology of Paul would dearly love to provide
salvation for their neighbors. So much so that they can
not understand how their neighbors can not see the clear
and obvious love God holds for them such that He would
actually sacrifice His only begotten son for them. In
order to make this clear for their neighbors, they draw
many analogies. For example, a Christian gentleman from
Canada once sent our local Islamic center a six-page
pamphlet titled "God our Heavenly Father," with the goal
of demonstrating the love of God to us. His efforts were
sincerely appreciated and his message was accepted in
the spirit it was sent. However, far from proving his
point, this pamphlet only served to thoroughly confuse
the issue.
The pamphlet contained a short
fictitious story about an Arab man named "Akbar" who was
very moral and upright. One day, his son committed a
serious crime that deserved capital punishment. The
authorities found evidence linking this crime to this
man's house. When the authorities came, the father
falsely admitted to the crime in order to spare his son.
The pamphlet concluded that just as the father's love
for his son made him sacrifice himself, in a similar
manner, God Almighty's love for mankind drove him to
sacrifice Jesus(pbuh).
Now, maybe it is just us, however, at
the end of the story we were expecting the parallel to
be that God Almighty "the Father" would now sacrifice
Himself in order that Jesus "the Son" would not have to
die, just as the "Arab" father had sacrificed himself to
save his son. Although we appreciated the consideration,
still, we could not see the similarity between the two
stories.
When a person is good and upright,
that person may be willing to sacrifice themselves for
the greater good or for a loved one. For example, if a
mother sees her son in danger of being run over by a
car, she may very likely run in front of the car in
order to save her baby. If she raised the neighbor's
child with her own and grew very attached to that child,
then she might also be willing to sacrifice herself for
the neighbor's child too. She might throw herself in
front of the car for the neighbor's child as well.
However, have you ever heard of a mother who, when she
saw a car about to hit the neighbor's child, threw
HER SON in front of the car so that the
impact of her son's infant body smashing into the car's
windshield would cause it to swerve away from the
neighbor's child?
As the Bible says "prove all
things, hold fast that which is good." 1
Thessalonians 5:21. "And thou shalt love the Lord thy
God ... with all thy mind ... : this is the first
commandment." Mark 12:30
I would like nothing more than to
present much more supporting evidence of these matters,
however, by God's will this sampling shall be
sufficient. For a much more detailed historical account
of the above issues, collected from the writings of the
church itself, I recommend the books:
- "Jesus, Prophet of Islam" by
Muhammad `Ata ur-Rahim, and
- "Blood on the cross,"
by Ahmed Thomson.
If you can not find these books at
your local library then you may obtain a copy at one of
the addresses listed at the back of this book.
For a book that is claimed to have
remained 100% the inspired word of God, the sheer number
of contradicting narrations boggles the mind (see
chapter two). These matters have been well known and
documented by conservative Christian scholars for a long
time now. It is the masses who don't know this. The
information is out there for anyone who will simply look
for it. The historical inconsistencies and scriptural
contradictions are well recognized in this century and
countless books have been written about them. However,
their studies have always stopped short of the final
step. People have generally believed that there is no
way to retrieve the original teachings of Jesus (pbuh)
after such extensive and continuous revision of the text
of the Bible by the Church over so many centuries as
well as the Pauline Church's massive campaign of
destruction of all gospels not conforming to their
personal beliefs. But where human intellect has failed,
God has intervened. The Qur'an has been sent down by the
same One who sent the original Gospel down upon Jesus (pbuh).
It contains the original, unchanged teachings of God. I
invite all readers to study the Qur'an just as we have
studied the Bible, and to make up their minds if our
claims bear merit.
|