1.2.4.1 Who can forgive
sins?
Islam teaches that a Muslim is rewarded for every single
hardship he endures patiently during his lifetime and that
each hardship endured patiently is used by God Almighty to
erase a previous sin by this individual. Even something so
simple as a pin prick is counted to this end. How much
greater the reward for a man who endured paralysis. His
reward may very likely be the forgiveness of all of his
sins. If Christianity believes that forgiving sins is a sign
of divinity then what are we to say about the many millions
of people in the Christian clergy who over the last 2000
years have publicly accepted people's "confessions" and
"forgiven" their sins? Are they all the offspring of God and
part of the Trinity? Do they call God on the telephone and
ask His permission to forgive each individual or do they
have "the power to forgive sins"?
In "The Five Gospels," written by 24 Christian scholars
from some of the most prominent US and Canadian Universities
around today, we read on page 44:
"Stories of Jesus curing a paralytic are found in all
four narrative gospels, The Johannine version (John 5:1-9)
differs substantially...The controversy interrupts the story
of the cure- which reads smoothly if one omits vv. 5b-10
(Mark 2)- and it is absent in the parallel of
John...Scholars usually conclude, on the basis of this
evidence, that Mark has inserted the dispute into what was
originally a simple healing story...If the words are to be
attributed to Jesus, v. 10 may represent a bold new claim on
Jesus' part that gives the authority to forgive sins to all
human beings...The early church was in the process of
claiming for itself the right to forgive sins and so would
have been inclined to claim that it's authorization came
directly from Jesus."
However, even if we were for a moment to disregard all of
the evidence, then we will find that to insist on following
Mark 2:1-12 blindly shall result in utter and complete
nullification of one of the founding beliefs of
Christianity. For the proof of this, please read section
5.16.
We have already spoken in section 1.2.3.2 about the term
"Son of God" and it's true meaning as understood by the
people of that time. What we want is a claim by Jesus
himself where he says "Worship me" just as God Almighty says
for instance in Isaiah 66:23
"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to
another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh
come to worship before me, saith the LORD."
I simply want to know where Jesus (pbuh) does the
same.
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