What is Christianity?

However much our opinions and interpretations may differ, my heart will remain full of love for you and for all your brothers, the learned monks in every monastery of Egypt, which is kept safe by God's leave and then by the faith, love and affection of its people; for my feelings towards you have been shaped by the words of God Most High:

You will surely find the most hostile of people towards those who believe to be the Jews and those who associate partners with God; and you will surely find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe to be those who say, "We are Christians." That is because among them are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant. (7)

And now, what is Christianity?

(7) Al-Ma'ida: 81.

Christianity: named after the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him). It is also called al-Nasraniyya, after the town of Nazareth in Palestine, the home of Jesus (peace be upon him), the Messenger of God and His Word, sent as a prophet and messenger to the Children of Israel. He was charged with the message when he reached the age of thirty, and his mission lasted three years, three months and three days, according to al-Shahrastani (8).

We saw in the previous chapter how the Jews altered the law of Moses to serve their aims and their desires, and how their materialist thinking took them so far as to deny the foundations of religion, the resurrection and the immortality of the soul, which left its mark on their religious and moral life. Jesus (peace be upon him) was sent to them when desires and lusts had overwhelmed them and corruption had spread through their belief and their morals, until they had taken their own whims as their god. Jesus's call to them was as the Holy Qur'an defined it:

And the Messiah said: "O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord." (9)

"God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path." (10)

The Qur'an speaks of Jesus in many verses: of his birth, his mission, and the Jews' hostility to his call and their war against it, especially in Surat Al Imran, Al-Ma'ida and Maryam. Together these form the complete life story of Jesus (peace be upon him): his lineage, his birth, his mission and his end. They also make clear the roots of the doctrinal and theological questions and problems that came to surround the person of Jesus and his mission. I shall present these texts in the order of the suras of the Qur'an, without interfering in the course of that order, and afterwards we will draw the necessary conclusions.

(8) See Al-Milal wa al-Nihal (Religions and Sects) 1/201.

(9) Al-Ma'ida: 72.

(10) Al Imran: 51.

The Qur'an speaks of Jesus (peace be upon him) in twelve of its suras, as follows:

• Surat al-Baqara:

We gave Moses the Book, and after him We sent messengers in succession, and We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. (Al-Baqara 2:87)

Say: "We believe in God and in what has been sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus, and in what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we submit." (Al-Baqara 2:136)

Those messengers: We have favoured some of them above others. Among them are those to whom God spoke, and some He raised in rank. And We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Had God willed, those who came after them would not have fought one another after the clear proofs had come to them; but they differed, and among them were some who believed and some who disbelieved. Had God willed, they would not have fought one another; but God does whatever He wills. (Al-Baqara 2:253)

God chose Adam and Noah, the family of Abraham and the family of Imran above all the worlds, descendants one of another; and God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. When the wife of Imran said: "My Lord, I have vowed to You what is in my womb, dedicated to Your service, so accept it from me; You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." And when she gave birth to her, she said: "My Lord, I have given birth to a female," and God knew best what she had borne, and the male is not like the female, "and I have named her Mary, and I commit her and her offspring to Your protection from Satan the accursed." So her Lord accepted her with a goodly acceptance and made her grow in goodly growth, and placed her in the care of Zechariah. Whenever Zechariah went in to her in the sanctuary, he found provision with her. He said: "O Mary, where does this come to you from?" She said: "It is from God; God provides for whom He wills without reckoning." There and then Zechariah called upon his Lord, saying: "My Lord, grant me from Yourself goodly offspring; You are the Hearer of prayer." Then the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: "God gives you glad tidings of John, who will confirm a Word from God, noble, chaste, and a prophet from among the righteous." He said: "My Lord, how shall I have a son when old age has overtaken me and my wife is barren?" He said: "Thus it is: God does what He wills." He said: "My Lord, give me a sign." He said: "Your sign is that you will not speak to people

for three days except by gestures. And remember your Lord much, and glorify Him in the evening and the morning." And when the angels said: "O Mary, God has chosen you and purified you, and chosen you above the women of all the worlds. O Mary, be devoutly obedient to your Lord, and prostrate and bow with those who bow." That is from the tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you; you were not with them when they cast their pens to decide which of them should have charge of Mary, nor were you with them when they disputed. When the angels said: "O Mary, God gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honoured in this world and the Hereafter and one of those brought near. He will speak to people in the cradle and in maturity, and he will be one of the righteous." She said: "My Lord, how shall I have a child when no man has touched me?" He said: "Thus it is: God creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it 'Be', and it is. And He will teach him the Book and wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel, and make him a messenger to the Children of Israel: 'I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I make for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God's leave; and I heal the blind from birth and the leper, and I bring the dead to life by God's leave; and I tell you what you eat and what you store up in your houses. Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are believers. And I come confirming the Torah that was before me, and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you;

and I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear God and obey me. God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path.'" And when Jesus sensed disbelief among them, he said: "Who will be my helpers in the cause of God?" The disciples said: "We are God's helpers. We believe in God; bear witness that we are Muslims (submitted to Him). Our Lord, we believe in what You have sent down and we follow the messenger, so write us down among those who bear witness." And they plotted, and God plotted, and God is the best of plotters. When God said: "O Jesus, I will take you to Myself and raise you up to Me, and purify you of those who disbelieve, and place those who follow you above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you in what you used to differ about. As for those who disbelieve, I will punish them with a severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers. And as for those who believe and do righteous deeds, He will pay them their reward in full; and God does not love the wrongdoers." This is what We recite to you of the signs and the wise Reminder. The likeness of Jesus in God's sight is as the likeness of Adam: He created him from dust, then said to him "Be", and he was. The truth is from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters. And whoever disputes with you about him after the knowledge that has come to you, say: "Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then let us pray earnestly

and lay God's curse upon those who lie." This is indeed the true account; there is no god but God, and God is the Mighty, the Wise. And if they turn away, God knows well those who work corruption. (Al Imran 3:33-63)

Say: "We believe in God and in what has been sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we submit." (Al Imran 3:84)

• Al-Nisa:

And for their disbelief, and their uttering against Mary a monstrous slander, and their saying: "We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God." They did not kill him and they did not crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them. Those who differ about it are in doubt concerning it; they have no knowledge of it, only the following of conjecture, and they certainly did not kill him. Rather, God raised him up to Himself, and God is Mighty, Wise. And there is none of the People of the Book but will surely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them. (Al-Nisa 4:156-159)

We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him, and We revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms; and messengers We have told you of before, and messengers We have not told you of; and to Moses God spoke directly; messengers bearing glad tidings and warning, so that people would have no argument against God after the messengers. And God is Mighty, Wise. (Al-Nisa 4:163-165)

O People of the Book, do not go to extremes in your religion, and say nothing about God but the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His Word which He conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and do not say "Three". Desist; it is better for you. God is only One God; glory be to Him, far above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian. The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God, nor would the angels who are brought near. Whoever disdains His worship and is arrogant, He will gather them all to Himself. As for those who believe and do righteous deeds, He will pay them their reward in full and give them more out of His bounty; and as for those who disdain and are arrogant, He will punish them with a painful punishment, and they will find for themselves, besides God, no protector and no helper. (Al-Nisa 4:171-173)

They have certainly disbelieved who say that God is the Messiah, son of Mary. Say: "Who then could avail anything against God if He willed to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother, and everyone on earth altogether?" To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. He creates what He wills, and God has power over all things. (Al-Ma'ida 5:17)

And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah that was before him; and We gave him the Gospel, in which is guidance and light, confirming the Torah that was before it, and as guidance and an admonition for the God-fearing. (Al-Ma'ida 5:46)

They have certainly disbelieved who say that God is the Messiah, son of Mary, whereas the Messiah said: "O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever associates partners with God, God has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire, and the wrongdoers will have no helpers. They have certainly disbelieved who say that God is the third of three, when there is no god but One God. If they do not desist from what they say, a painful punishment will surely afflict those of them who disbelieve. Will they not then turn to God in repentance and ask His forgiveness? And God is Forgiving, Merciful. The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger; messengers had passed away before him; and his mother was a woman of truth.

They both used to eat food. See how We make the signs clear to them, then see how they are turned away. Say: "Do you worship, besides God, that which has no power to harm or benefit you? And God is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." Say: "O People of the Book, do not go to extremes in your religion beyond the truth, and do not follow the desires of a people who went astray before, and led many astray, and strayed from the right way." Those of the Children of Israel who disbelieved were cursed by the tongue of David and of Jesus son of Mary; that was because they disobeyed and used to transgress. (Al-Ma'ida 5:72-78)

On the day when God will gather the messengers and say: "What response did you receive?" they will say: "We have no knowledge; You alone are the Knower of the unseen." When God will say: "O Jesus son of Mary, remember My favour upon you and upon your mother, when I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit, so that you spoke to people in the cradle and in maturity; and when I taught you the Book and wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel; and when you made out of clay the likeness of a bird by My leave, and breathed into it and it became a bird by My leave; and you healed the blind from birth and the leper by My leave; and when you brought forth the dead by My leave; and when I held back the Children of Israel from you when you came to them with the clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved said: 'This is nothing but plain sorcery.' And when I inspired the disciples: 'Believe in Me and in My messenger.' They said: 'We believe; bear witness

that we are Muslims (submitted to You).'" When the disciples said: "O Jesus son of Mary, is your Lord able to send down to us a table spread with food from heaven?" he said: "Fear God, if you are believers." They said: "We wish to eat from it, and to have our hearts reassured, and to know that you have told us the truth, and to be among its witnesses." Jesus son of Mary said: "O God, our Lord, send down to us a table spread with food from heaven, to be a festival for us, for the first of us and the last of us, and a sign from You; and provide for us, for You are the best of providers." God said: "I will send it down to you; but whoever of you disbelieves after that, I will punish him with a punishment with which I have not punished anyone in all the worlds." And when God will say: "O Jesus son of Mary, did you say to people, 'Take me and my mother as two gods besides God'?" he will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right to say. Had I said it, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my self, and I do not know what is in Yours; You alone are the Knower of the unseen. I said to them nothing but what You commanded me: 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.' And I was a witness over them as long as I remained among them; and when You took me to Yourself, You were the Watcher over them, and You are Witness over all things. If You punish them, they are Your servants; and if You forgive them, You are the Mighty, the Wise." God will say: "This is the day when their truthfulness will benefit the truthful. Theirs are gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding

therein forever. God is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him; that is the great triumph." To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, and He has power over all things. (Al-Ma'ida 5:109-120)

• Al-An'am:

That was Our argument which We gave Abraham against his people. We raise in rank whom We will; your Lord is Wise, Knowing. And We gave him Isaac and Jacob; each of them We guided. And Noah We guided before, and of his descendants David and Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron; thus do We reward those who do good. And Zechariah, John, Jesus and Elias; each was among the righteous. (Al-An'am 6:83-85)

• Al-Tawba:

The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of God," and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of God." That is the saying of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before. May God fight them! How they are turned away! They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords besides God, and also the Messiah, son of Mary, though they were commanded only to worship One God; there is no god but He. Glory be to Him above what they associate with Him. (Al-Tawba 9:30-31)

And mention in the Book Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the east, and placed a screen between herself and them. Then We sent to her Our Spirit, and he appeared to her as a man in perfect form. She said: "I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, if you fear God." He said: "I am only a messenger of your Lord, to grant you a pure boy." She said: "How shall I have a boy when no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?" He said: "Thus it is. Your Lord has said: 'It is easy for Me; and We will make him a sign to people and a mercy from Us.' And it was a matter decreed." So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place. And the pains of labour drove her to the trunk of the palm tree. She said: "Would that I had died before this and been a thing forgotten, utterly forgotten." Then he called to her from beneath her: "Do not grieve; your Lord has placed a stream beneath you. And shake towards you the trunk of the palm tree; it will let fall upon you fresh, ripe dates. So eat and drink and be comforted. And if you see any human being, say: 'I have vowed a fast to the Most Merciful, so I will not speak to any person today.'" Then she brought him to her people, carrying him. They said: "O Mary, you have brought a monstrous thing. O sister of Aaron, your father was not a bad man, nor was your mother unchaste." So she pointed to him. They said: "How can we speak to one who is a child in the cradle?"

He said: "I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and made me a prophet, and made me blessed wherever I may be, and enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving as long as I live, and made me dutiful to my mother, and has not made me arrogant or wretched. Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised alive." That is Jesus son of Mary: a statement of the truth about which they dispute. It is not for God to take a son; glory be to Him! When He decrees a matter, He only says to it "Be", and it is. "And God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path." (Maryam 19:16-36)

• Al-Ahzab:

And when We took from the prophets their covenant, and from you, and from Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus son of Mary; We took from them a solemn covenant, that He might question the truthful about their truthfulness; and He has prepared for the disbelievers a painful punishment. (Al-Ahzab 33:7-8)

• Al-Shura:

He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah, and what We have revealed to you, and what We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses and Jesus: "Establish the religion and do not be divided in it." Grievous to the idolaters is that to which you call them. God chooses for Himself whom He wills, and guides to Himself whoever turns to Him. (Al-Shura 42:13)

• Al-Zukhruf:

And when Jesus came with the clear proofs, he said: "I have come to you with wisdom, and to make clear to you some of that about which you differ; so fear God and obey me. God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is a straight path." (Al-Zukhruf 43:63-64)

• Al-Hadid:

And We sent Noah and Abraham, and placed in their descendants prophethood and the Book; among them are some who are guided, but many of them are transgressors. Then We sent Our messengers following in their footsteps, and We sent Jesus son of Mary after them and gave him the Gospel, and We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy. And monasticism they invented; We did not prescribe it for them, except in seeking God's good pleasure, yet they did not observe it as it should be observed. So We gave those of them who believed their reward, but many of them are transgressors. (Al-Hadid 57:26-27)

• Al-Saff:

And when Jesus son of Mary said: "O Children of Israel, I am the messenger of God to you, confirming the Torah that was before me, and bringing glad tidings of a messenger who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad." But when he came to them with the clear proofs, they said: "This is plain sorcery." (Al-Saff 61:6)

O you who believe, be God's helpers, as Jesus son of Mary said to the disciples: "Who will be my helpers in the cause of God?" The disciples said: "We are God's helpers." So a party of the Children of Israel believed and a party disbelieved; and We strengthened those who believed against their enemy, and they became the victors. (Al-Saff 61:14)

These are all the verses that draw for us a complete picture of Jesus (peace be upon him). From the plain sense of these verses, and keeping away from allegorical interpretation, we can establish the following points:

• Jesus (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of God to the Children of Israel; his book is the Gospel, and he confirms the Torah that was before him.

• His birth without a father and his speaking in the cradle were heralding signs of his prophethood; and the miracles he brought, raising the dead, healing the blind from birth and the leper, and telling of the unseen, were the work of God and by His leave. All of them are signs that support one another and point to a single goal: to show the truth of his claim to be a messenger.

• Jesus, though a messenger with a prominent place among the prophets and messengers, is no more than a human being like all other human beings and a servant of God like all His servants; he has no power over anything from God, for himself or for anyone else. These meanings form a main thread running through all the verses that speak of his life, verses which stress this human lineage of Jesus by calling him, on most of the occasions on which they speak of him, "son of Mary".

• The lineage of Jesus (peace be upon him) goes back to Abraham (peace be upon him) through his mother Mary the Virgin, daughter of Imran, who was known among her people for her purity, chastity, faith, piety and noble descent. Like any pure and chaste young woman, she was frightened by the angel's tidings of a son to be born to her without a father, so much so that she wished for death, had it not been for her faith and her trust that God would not abandon her.

• Jesus (peace be upon him) is like the rest of the messengers and prophets: their religion is one and their message is one in its foundations, namely Islam. The difference between them lies only in some practical rulings, and each of them continues the call of the other and confirms the messengers and books that came before him.

• Jesus (peace be upon him) was the last of the messengers from the Children of Israel, but he gave glad tidings of a messenger to come after him whose name is Ahmad.

• The claim that some human beings are sons of God is an ancient saying that seeped into the beliefs of the Jews from the beliefs of the pagans; their saying "Ezra is the son of God" was taken from these pagan beliefs.

• The Israelites were of three kinds with regard to Jesus (peace be upon him) and his miracles:

One kind believed in him as a servant of God and a messenger from Him to them, to whom the Gospel was sent down, confirming the Torah and correcting the Jews' alterations in belief and conduct. At the head of these believers were the disciples. This kind regarded the miracles Jesus brought as proof of his truthfulness and as God's support for him in his claim.

Another kind disbelieved in him, called his claim a lie, and regarded his miracles as a form of sorcery, charlatanry and conjuring.

And another kind deviated concerning him and his signs and claimed divinity for him: he is a god, or the son of a god, or the third of three; and they took his miracles and his birth as proof of their claim.

Both of the last two kinds, those who called him a liar and those who deviated, built their position on conjecture and desire. The one who called him a liar was inconsistent, for he distinguished between Jesus and the earlier messengers in what a miracle proves. The one who deviated was likewise arbitrary in distinguishing between Jesus and the earlier messengers in what a miracle proves, for he gave Jesus a special status, resting on no evidence, that set him above the earlier messengers who had been supported by miracles of the same kind as those with which Jesus was supported. Turning a staff into a serpent is no less miraculous than raising the dead or healing the sick.

• The disciples asked Jesus (peace be upon him) that God send down to them a table of food from heaven, as a sign by which their faith and their certainty in Jesus and his message would increase. God answered Jesus's prayer for this table and made it a festival for him and his followers.

• Jesus (peace be upon him), as a messenger, made lawful some of what had been forbidden to the Children of Israel; but the verses do not state explicitly whether what he made lawful had been forbidden by God or forbidden by the Jews themselves.

• Jesus was neither killed nor crucified; rather, God raised him up, and his life on earth ended in a way the Qur'an does not disclose.

This is the life of Jesus and his portrait as the Qur'an has drawn it. If, from the other side, we look at the Gospels by the same standard by which we looked at the verses, that is, the direct and plain meaning of the text, without our intervening by commentary or allegorical interpretation, we would find that in substance those texts do not differ from the Qur'an on the questions concerning the humanity of Jesus (peace be upon him) and his mission, except on the question of the crucifixion and the killing; and that there is nothing in them that explicitly indicates the divinity of Jesus, except by a kind of forcing and arbitrariness in the use of certain words, interpreting them suggestively and taking them in one of their possible meanings. Let us take some examples of this from the Gospels:

The Gospel of Matthew: Jesus says to Iblis, when he asked Jesus to bow down to him and he would give him the kingdom and the glory:

"Go away, Satan, for it is written: You shall bow down to the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you worship." (11)

And he says:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish but to fulfil." (12)

Then he affirms his prophethood and his mission, saying:

"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the One who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward." (13)

"And when he came to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said: Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this? And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house. And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." (14)

"And behold, one came up and said to him: Good Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life? And he said to him: Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, and that is God..." (15)

Indeed, his own people knew him only as a prophet:

"And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred, saying: Who is this? And the crowds said: This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth

(11) Chapter 4:10.

(12) Chapter 5:17.

(13) Chapter 10:40-41.

(14) Chapter 13:54-58.

(15) Chapter 19:16-17.

"And in the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, he went to it and found nothing on it but leaves only, and he said to it: May no fruit ever come from you again. And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying: How did the fig tree wither at once? And Jesus answered and said to them: Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (17)

Then he forbids them to associate others with God:

"And call no one on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Nor be called teachers, for you have one Teacher, the Messiah." (18)

And Jesus prays to God, in whose hand are life and death:

"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples: Sit here while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them: My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here and keep watch with me. And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying: My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as You will... Again, a second time, he went away and prayed, saying: My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done. And again he came and found them sleeping... So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed a third time, saying the same words. Then he came to his disciples and said to them: Sleep now and take your rest; behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners..." (19)

And the taunting casts down every claim to the divinity of Jesus, or even to his kingship:

"... If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross... He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let God deliver him now, if He wants him, for he said, I am the Son of God. And the thieves who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way... Jesus cried out with a loud voice: My God, my God, why

(16) Chapter 21:10-11.

(17) Chapter 21:18-22.

(18) Chapter 23:9-10.

(19) Chapter 26:26-45.

have You forsaken me?... and he yielded up the spirit." (20)

The Gospel of Matthew: here we read that his mission was particular to the Children of Israel:

"And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, saying: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed. But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying: Send her away, for she is crying out after us. He answered and said: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (21)

"These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them: Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (22)

The Gospel of Luke:

"And as he was praying in a certain place, when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. And he said to them: When you pray, say: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven so on earth. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (23)

"And he was casting out a demon... When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds marvelled. But some of them said: He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons; while others, to test him, sought from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste... But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." (24)

"As he was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed! But he said: Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it." (25)

"That very day two of them [that is, of his disciples] were going... and they were talking about all these things that had happened... Jesus himself drew near and walked

(23) Chapter 11:1-4. (24) Chapter 11:14-20. (25) Chapter 11:27-28.

(20) Chapter 27:29-50. (21) Chapter 15:21-24. (22) Chapter 10:5-7.

with them, but their eyes were kept from recognising him. And he said to them: What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk, and why are you sad? Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him: Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? And he said to them: What things? And they said to him: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was to redeem Israel..." (24)

The Gospel of John:

"Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me..." (25)

"When the people saw the sign that Jesus had done, they said: This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world." (26)

"Then they said to him: What must we do, to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered: That you believe in him whom He has sent." (27)

"And I do nothing on my own authority, but speak these things as my Father taught me. And He who sent me is with me; the Father has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him." (28)

"But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that he heard from God." (29)

"And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do." (30)

"Jesus said to her: Mary. She turned and said to him: Teacher. Jesus said to her: Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and say

(28) Chapter 8:28-29.

(29) Chapter 8:40.

(30) Chapter 17:3-4.

(24) Chapter 24:12-21.

(25) Chapter 5:45-46.

(26) Chapter 6:14.

(27) Chapter 6:28.

to them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her." (31)

Reviewing these texts, we can establish that there is no essential disagreement on two matters:

First: the nature of Jesus (peace be upon him).

As to his nature, he is a human being and a messenger, whom God supported with miracles to confirm his claim, like all the messengers. And if the Qur'an most often called him "son of Mary", to stress his human lineage and to point to his birth without a father, as we have said, then the Gospels, in calling him "the Son of Man", affirm, by sound religious logic, the very meaning the Qur'an intended. As for calling him "the Son of God", this is a figurative relationship signifying nurture, obedience and loyalty, and in no way a real relationship. The proof is that Jesus himself, as in the texts we have cited and many others besides, used to address his followers in the name of his Father and their Father who is in heaven. So by this relationship Jesus has no special status, nor any sign that distinguishes his nature from that of other human beings (34).

(31) Chapter 20:16-18.

(34) Dr. Charles Guignebert, in his book Al-Masihiyya: Nash'atuha wa Tatawwuruha (Christianity: Its Origin and Development), discusses this question at length and concludes that: "The firm result of the scholars' studies is that Jesus never claimed to be the awaited Messiah, and never called himself the Son of God... Nor does any text of the Gospels allow us to apply the expression 'Son of God' to Jesus; that is a language which began to be used only by Christians influenced by Greek culture. It is the language used by Saint Paul, as it was used by the author of the fourth Gospel, and both found in it deep meanings, sufficiently clear to them" (p. 39). And: "We believe it probable that Jesus thought of himself as 'the servant of God' and presented himself to people in that capacity. The Hebrew word 'servant' is often translated into Greek by a word meaning both 'servant' and 'child', and the development of the word 'child' into the word 'son' is no difficult matter; but the concept of 'Son of God' sprang from the Greek world of thought" (p. 39, note 11). Then he says: "At one period the matter became confused for some believers who did not know Aramaic well, for the expression 'son of man' in that language means simply 'a human being' or 'a man'. It seemed to these believers that this expression, which they also met in the collection of sayings known as the 'Logia', must contain a deep mystery... and so they decided that 'Son of Man' was a special Christian synonym for the word 'Messiah'. Analysis of the texts confirms the error of those who took this view in interpreting the expression" (p. 40).

I say, nevertheless: even if we take these words at face value, according to the texts of the Gospels, they do not, by their context, their shared usage and the way in which they are used, establish the claim of Jesus's divinity or any distinction in his human nature. The author.

The second matter: the specific address of Jesus's mission to the Children of Israel

Jesus (peace be upon him) defined that specific address himself, just as he defined it for his pupils and disciples. As for the texts in all the Gospels in which Jesus speaks to his disciples and which point clearly to his having been charged with announcing a universal and final message for a messenger to come after him, I have chosen not to cite them, because their interpretation is open to dispute (35).

On the evidence of these texts, and from a reading of the four Gospels, we can support, to some extent, the view of Charles Guignebert, who says that Jesus (peace be upon him) "did not bring a new religion, nor even any new rites of worship; he brought only a unique personal conception of piety within the framework of the Jewish religion, a religion whose beliefs, law and rites he never claimed to wish to change" (36).

(35) See Matthew, chapters 24 and 25; Mark, chapter 13; Luke, chapters 12-21; John, chapters 5-15. (36) Al-Masihiyya: Nash'atuha wa Tatawwuruha (Christianity: Its Origin and Development), p. 48.