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1.2.3.21 But he must be God, he was lifted
up
A Christian gentleman from Canada once quoted John
3:14-15 in an attempt to prove that Jesus (pbuh) died and
was resurrected. The actual words are:
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.."
If we are to conclude that the act of God raising someone
up is a sign that that person is a god or God Himself then
we need to wonder how we shall then interpret the fact that
God also raised Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) and Enoch (Genesis
5:24) neither of which, according to the Bible and the
consensus of the Christian scholars, died natural deaths but
were instead "raised up" or "taken" by God because of their
piety, uprightness, and their "walking with God."
Further, anyone who would simply read the above verses
carefully will notice that they never mention either a
"crucifixion" or a "resurrection." They also do not mention
an "original sin" or an "atonement." They do not even
mention a "Son of God." So, what do they say? They say
exactly what Muslims say: That Jesus (pbuh) was not forsaken
by God to the Jews, but was raised by God!
"And because of their saying (in boast): We killed the
Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah, but they
killed him not, nor crucified him, but a similitude of that
was shown to them, and those who differ therein are full of
doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, except the
following of conjecture. For surely; they killed him not.
But Allah raised him up unto Himself, and Allah is
All-Powerful, All-Wise"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Nissa(4):157-158.
This is what the "Gospel of Barnabas" says too. If you
were to read the Gospel of Barnabas (see chapter 7), you
would find that when Jesus (pbuh) was allegedly crucified,
all of the faithful were weeping in the streets and they
began to have serious doubts about his truthfulness and his
true prophethood. They said "Jesus told us that he would
not die until just before the end of time. Now he has been
crucified by his enemies. Was he a liar?" (by the way,
Muslims also believe that Jesus, pbuh, will return to earth
just before the end of time and will guide mankind to the
final message of God. The message of Islam). The same Gospel
then goes on to describe how Jesus (pbuh) returned a few
days later with four angels to the house of his mother Mary
(pbuh) and was seen by the apostles. He described how God
had saved him from the hands of the Jews, and had made it so
that Judas resembled him and was taken in his place. He told
them that those who believe in him must believe that
everything he had preached to them was true. If they
believed that he was raised by God and not forsaken to the
Jews to be crucified, then they would have eternal life.
Is this not what the verses say? Please read sections
5.10, 5.16
and chapter 7.
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