Dear Ayman and Twaha,
Thanks for advice but I have once or twice visited this websites and what they discuss about the death of Jesus Christ is not convincing at all to anyone who understands simple English. For instance Abu, when I use the if clause in any sentence, I use it for a particular purpose of showing conditionality. For example
"if I went to Mecca last year would I have seen you?
If you die you will rise again
If Nairobi is in the East of Nakuru the Nakuru is West of Nairobi
Thanks for advice but I have once or twice visited this websites and what they discuss about the death of Jesus Christ is not convincing at all to anyone who understands simple English. For instance Abu, when I use the if clause in any sentence, I use it for a particular purpose of showing conditionality. For example
"if I went to Mecca last year would I have seen you?
If you die you will rise again
If Nairobi is in the East of Nakuru the Nakuru is West of Nairobi
In the sentences above, the if clause is used as an apodosis that is to say it is the main clause of a conditional sentence. In the first sentence, the subject I of the sentence did not go to Mecca last year and therefore s/he did not see the subject you. In the second sentence, a fact is being put across, that is to say in case the subject you dies, she he will rise again. The same applies to the third sentence. Now concerning what you Muslims believe that Jesus Christ did not die on the cross, I would like to pin point Historical facts here;The Holy Quran acknowledges:-
1 that there was a man called Jesus Christ the Messiah the Son of Mary. Who else in this world goes by the title of his mother?
2. the fact that there was a punishment by death on the cross meted on criminals in the Roma empire.
3.On a particular day this same guy called Jesus was arrested by the authorities and sentenced do death by being crucified-although it gives a wishful thinking here that the person crucified was not Jesus but another fictitious person-this Islamic thought is backed by any evidence whatsoever. Jesus Christ came to earth for the sole purpose of dying on the cross a lamb of sacrifice. The issue of sacrifices permeates the traditions and religious practices of almost all religions including human sacrifice. I refer to Dr. Ben Malik Jamil on http://www.thegrace.com/about.html who says
"The Great Sacrifice" that was mentioned by the Koran in (The Rangers 37:109), quoting the Torah, and telling the story of Abraham, when he was about to offer his son as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, but God stopped him and gave him a lamb to redeem his son; was but a symbol of the redemptive work of Christ on Calvary. Here, we see the Koran calling it "the Great Sacrifice", because that lamb was not an ordinary lamb, similar to the other lambs that were offered daily;
"The Great Sacrifice" that was mentioned by the Koran in (The Rangers 37:109), quoting the Torah, and telling the story of Abraham, when he was about to offer his son as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, but God stopped him and gave him a lamb to redeem his son; was but a symbol of the redemptive work of Christ on Calvary. Here, we see the Koran calling it "the Great Sacrifice", because that lamb was not an ordinary lamb, similar to the other lambs that were offered daily;
NB- It is this doctrine and practise of sacrifice that we Christians believe in the death of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice. If you do not believe that Jesus died on the cross,you are not the first to do so and you may continue to believe so but the evidence to the fact of His death is so heavily pointing to the fact that Jesus died on the Cross as the following passage in Isaiah 53 says please read it all and give me one person in the History of Mankind who fits the description of this prophecy. Jesus Christ died on the cross for me. I believe this so much.
The Suffering Servant
53 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender [a]shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should [b]be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of [c]sorrows and acquainted with [d]grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender [a]shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should [b]be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of [c]sorrows and acquainted with [d]grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our [e]griefs He Himself bore,
And our [f]sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
[g]Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was [h]pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our [i]well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To [j]fall on Him.
And our [f]sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
[g]Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was [h]pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our [i]well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To [j]fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the [k]living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the [k]living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
Now there is a verse in the Quran that many Muslims have debated that indicates that Jesus Christ actually died while you say that He did not die. These are examples of such discussions
Verses from the Holy Quran relating to the Second Advent of Jesus Son of Mary
pbuh)">:
And there is none Of the people of the Scriptures (Jews and Christians) But must believe in him (i.e. Jesus as an messenger of God and as a human being) before his death. And on the Day of Judgment He will be a witness against them. (The Holy Quran, An-Nisa, 4:159)
And Jesus shall be a Sign for the coming of the Hour of Judgment: therefore have no doubt about the Hour, but follow ye Me: this is a Straight Way. (Quran, Az-Zukhuruf, 43:61)
So I will again say with the Apostle Paul in 1 Corithians 15 12ff that
12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified [f]against God that He raised [g]Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
The above excerpt is emphatic of the fact that Jesus Died and rose again. It does not doubt the death and the ressurection of Jesus. Please Abu and Twaha let us respect each other by rendering to scripture what it deserves instead of twisting it to suit our own selfish idiosyncratic ends.
Paul
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