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Historical Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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→The Historical Jesus: Added a similar section on John the Baptist - highlighting that secular scholarship also considers him along with Jesus to have preached that the apocalypse was at hand - not matching the Qur'anic version.
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(→The Historical Jesus: Added a small section to strengthen the point on Jesus's Ethical teachings and their apocalyptic context, Academic references provided.) |
(→The Historical Jesus: Added a similar section on John the Baptist - highlighting that secular scholarship also considers him along with Jesus to have preached that the apocalypse was at hand - not matching the Qur'anic version.) |
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It states that Jesus preached the Gospel (Injeel) but suggests it has been corrupted, and though what these means exactly is debated (''see: [[:en:Qur'an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Corruption_of_Previous_Scriptures|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars: Corruption of Previous Scriptures]]'' and ''[[Corruption of Previous Scriptures]])'', however the current mainstream Sunni view is that the Christian Scripture (known as the New Testament which contains 4 'gospels'), does not reflect Jesus's original Islamic teachings.<ref>[https://islamqa.info/en/answers/47516/what-do-muslims-think-about-the-gospels What Do Muslims Think about the Gospels?] IslamQA. 2023. </ref> | It states that Jesus preached the Gospel (Injeel) but suggests it has been corrupted, and though what these means exactly is debated (''see: [[:en:Qur'an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Corruption_of_Previous_Scriptures|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars: Corruption of Previous Scriptures]]'' and ''[[Corruption of Previous Scriptures]])'', however the current mainstream Sunni view is that the Christian Scripture (known as the New Testament which contains 4 'gospels'), does not reflect Jesus's original Islamic teachings.<ref>[https://islamqa.info/en/answers/47516/what-do-muslims-think-about-the-gospels What Do Muslims Think about the Gospels?] IslamQA. 2023. </ref> | ||
While Muslims reject the Christian view of Jesus based on theological grounds, secular scholarship has also long sought to reconstruct the historical Jesus through critical methods rather than faith-based one's, of which the results differ greatly from the Qur'anic portrayal. | While Muslims reject the Christian view of Jesus based on theological grounds, secular biblical scholarship (separate to Islamic studies) has also long sought to reconstruct the historical Jesus through critical methods rather than faith-based one's, of which the results differ greatly from the Qur'anic portrayal. | ||
'''Imminent Apocalyptic Preacher''' | '''Imminent Apocalyptic Preacher''' | ||
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''Before moving on to a consideration of the specific criteria that historians use with the Gospel traditions, let me stress again here, in conclusion, my simple point about our rules of thumb. The earliest sources that we have consistently ascribe an apocalyptic message to Jesus. This message begins to be muted by the end of the first century (e.g., in Luke), until it virtually disappears (e.g., in John), and begins, then, to be explicitly rejected and spurned (e.g., in Thomas). It appears that when the end never did arrive, Christians had to take stock of the fact that Jesus said it would and changed his message accordingly. You can hardly blame them.''</ref> We can therefore see the the earliest sources of Jesus and his followers do not align with the Qur'anic portrayal, who of course could not have preached this given Allah would know it was not the end of the world. | ''Before moving on to a consideration of the specific criteria that historians use with the Gospel traditions, let me stress again here, in conclusion, my simple point about our rules of thumb. The earliest sources that we have consistently ascribe an apocalyptic message to Jesus. This message begins to be muted by the end of the first century (e.g., in Luke), until it virtually disappears (e.g., in John), and begins, then, to be explicitly rejected and spurned (e.g., in Thomas). It appears that when the end never did arrive, Christians had to take stock of the fact that Jesus said it would and changed his message accordingly. You can hardly blame them.''</ref> We can therefore see the the earliest sources of Jesus and his followers do not align with the Qur'anic portrayal, who of course could not have preached this given Allah would know it was not the end of the world. | ||
==== The historical John the Baptist ==== | |||
John the Baptist whom Jesus closely preached with and is mentioned many times in the New Testament, is incidentally mentioned in the Quran. Unlike the Islamic John however, along with Jesus, he was also considered to have been an imminent apocalyptic preacher by academics. As Sanders (1993)<ref>Sanders, E.. The Historical Figure of Jesus (p. 203). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. | |||
''..entirely by studying the individual sayings. Only they can give us any of the nuances of Jesus’ thought, but the best evidence in favour of the view that Jesus expected that God would very soon intervene in history is the context of the movement that began with John the Baptist (ch. 7 above). John expected the judgement to come soon. Jesus started his career by being baptized by John. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, his followers thought that within their lifetimes he would return to establish his kingdom. After his conversion, Paul was of the very same view.''</ref> and Ehrman (2001) note: | |||
{{Quote|Ehrman, Bart D.. Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (p. 138). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.|John the Baptist appears to have preached a message of coming destruction and salvation. Mark portrays him as a prophet in the wilderness, proclaiming the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah that God would again bring his people from the wilderness into the Promised Land (Mark 1:2–8). When this happened the first time, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, it meant destruction for the nations already inhabiting the land. In preparation for this imminent event, John baptized those who repented of their sins, that is, those who were ready to enter into this coming Kingdom. The Q source gives further information, for here John preaches a clear message of apocalyptic judgment to the crowds that have come out to see him: “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance.… Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:7–9). Judgment is imminent: the ax is at the root of the tree. And it will not be a pretty sight.}} | |||
We have seen that in the earliest sources of his life, John the Baptist was an apocalyptic preacher who focused on repentance in preparation for the coming judgment of God, and baptized Jesus early on.<ref>Ehrman, Bart D.. Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (p. 184). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. | |||
''We have already seen that there is overwhelming evidence that Jesus was baptized by and became a follower of John the Baptist. The baptism itself is described in our earliest narrative, Mark, followed by the other Synoptics; it is alluded to independently by John (Mark 1:9–11; Matt. 3:13–17; Luke 3:21–22; John 1:29–34). The Q source gives a lengthy account of John’s apocalyptic preaching, evidently at the very outset of its account of Jesus’ teaching (see Luke 3:7–18; Matt. 3:7–12).'' | |||
</ref> Jesus, who initially associated with and followed John before starting his own ministry,<ref>Sanders, E.. The Historical Figure of Jesus (p. 110). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. | |||
''In view of this, it is most unlikely that the gospels or earlier Christians invented the fact that Jesus started out under John. Since they wanted Jesus to stand out as superior to the Baptist, they would not have made up the story that Jesus had been his follower. Therefore, we conclude, John really did baptize Jesus. This, in turn, implies that Jesus agreed with John’s message: it was time to repent in view of the coming wrath and redemption.''</ref> spoke of him positively throughout his life. Despite differences in emphasis—John's fiery call to repentance and Jesus’ message of hope and the coming restoration—both shared the belief in an imminent divine judgment and the importance of preparing for it.<ref>Ehrman, Bart D.. Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (p. 185). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.</ref> | |||
== Regarding the Traditional Historical Account of the Quran's Origins == | == Regarding the Traditional Historical Account of the Quran's Origins == | ||