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Paganistic Doctrines
Jesus Christ was not the founder of Modern Christianity.
The present doctrines of Modern Christianity was based partly on paganistic doctrines of the time and partly on the doctrines of St. Paul which became prevalent years after the episode of Jesus Christ's alleged crucifixion. For instance, Paul says :
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go unto perfection ; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith forward God. (Hebrews 6:1)
CRUCI-FICTION OF THE CROSS
The holy Qur'an questions the veraeity of the stories as narrated in the New Testament concerning the Cruci-fiction, and Resurrection of Jesus. The Holy Qur'an asserts that Jesus was neither killed or crucified but raised unto God, thus clearing this great prophet of God from a blasphemous charge of having died an accursed death in a manner of a thief or a robber :
And for their saying, 'We did slay the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah' ; whereas they slew him not, nor did they crucify him but the matter was made dubious for them ; and those who differ therein are certainly in a state of doubt about it ; they have no certain knowledge thereof, but only pursue a conjecture, and they certainly did not kill him, but Allah raised him to Himself. And Allah is Mighty, Wise . (Holy Qur'an 4: 157-158)
Jesus being a great prophet could not have died on cross because according to the Bible :
His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God ) ; that thy land be not defied, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 21:23)
He had prayed to God in great agony to save him :
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me ; nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. (Mark 14:36)
And he went a little father, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Mathew 26:39)
Saying Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine ,be done. (Luke 22:42)
And his prayer was heard :
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared. (Hebrews 5:7)
Another doctrine of Modern Christianity, is the doctrine of Atonement which is based on the doctrine of Original sin. Islam condemns that dogma of the Original sin which is part of the Christian doctrine of Salvation and regards children as pure and sinless at birth. Sin, it says, is not inherited ;it is something which every man acquires for himself by doing what he should not do and not by doing what he should do.
Rationally considered, it would also be the height of injustice to condemn the entire human race for the sins committed thousands of years ago by the first parents. Sin is a wilful transgression of the laws of God or the laws of right and wrong. The responsibility or blame for it must lie only on the person committing it, and not on his children. The theological dictum of St. Augustine , "that all unbaptised infants are doomed to burn eternally in the fire of hell" shows how hard-hearted a man can become in believing in the dogma of the inherited sin.
The very basis of the doctrine of the Atonement that is the belief in the Original Sin could be found to be wrong on the authority of Jesus Christ as well as of reason, therefore, the superstructure of dogma built on it must also be false. But let us consider the Christian scheme of Salvation.
The second part of the Christian scheme of Salvation is that God's justice requires that a price must be paid for original and other sins of men and that it would be a denial of His justice, if God were to pardon a sinner without punishment. This view shows complete ignorance of the nature of God. God is not a mere judge or king. He is, as Qur'an describes Him, "Master of the Day of Judgment" , He is not only Just, but also Merciful and forgiving. If He find some real good in a man or sees that he is sincerely repentance and has a genuine urge to conquer the evil within him, then He may forgive his sins and failings altogether and this can by no stretch of imagination be described as violation of justice. After all, the only right motive for punishment is to check evil and reform the offender.
To punish a person , even after he has repented and reformed himself, is a sign of vengeance and not of justice. It must be borne in mind that by committing a sin, a man harm not God, but himself. If God prescribes a law and a way and demands obedience, it is not for His own benefit, but for the benefit of mankind. If he punishes a man for his fault and sins, it is not for His own satisfaction, as the Christian dogma states, but to check evil and purify the sinner. Those who have the persistent urge to do good and the sincerely repentant will find God ever-ready to forgive them of their sins without demanding any compensation from them, or from any other persons on their behalf.
The third part of the Christian scheme of Salvation is that Jesus paid the penalty for the original and other sins of men by his death on the cross of Calvary, and that Salvation cannot be had without belief in the saving power of his blood as it is recorded in the First Epistle of St. Peter :
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (I Peter 1: 18-19)
This dogma is a denial not only of the Mercy of God, but also His Justice. To demand the price of blood in order to forgive the sins of men is to show a complete lack of mercy and to punish an innocent man for the sins of others, whether the former is willing or not, is to show a total disregard of justice. We fail to see how the suffering and death of one man can wipe the sins of others. It sounds something like the physician breaking his own head to cure the headache of his patient.
The idea of substitutionary or vicarious sacrifice is illogical and unjust. The fact is that the shedding of blood is not necessary for redemption. What is necessary to wash away sin is not blood, but repentance, remorse, persistent struggle against evil inclinations, determination to carry out the will of God, as revealed to us through the prophets, and doing good to God's creatures.
The Christian scheme of Salvation is not only morally and rationally unsound, it also has no support of the words of Jesus. Jesus may be said to have suffered for the sins of men in the sense that, in order take them out of darkness into light, he incurred the wrath of the evil-doers and was tortured by them. But that Jesus did not come to die voluntarily and spontaneously for the sins of men is clear from his prayer to God :
Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee: take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt. (Mark 14 : 36)
He had come to rescue men from sin by his teachings and the example of his godly life and not by deliberately dying for them on the cross and offering his blood as a propitiation for their sins. When a man asked him :
Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (Mathew 19 : 16-17)
"Keep the commandments", that according to Jesus, was the way of eternal life. Salvation could be gained by believing in God, eschewing evil and doing good and not by faith in Jesus as the redeemer.
Islam rejects the dogma of Atonement. It declares that the forgiveness of sins cannot be obtained by the suffering and death of any other person, human or divine, but by the grace of God and our sincere efforts to fight against evil and do good. Islam refutes the Christian doctrines of Atonement in many verse of the Holy Qur'an. For example :
God burdens not any soul beyond its capacity. It shall have the reward it earns, and it shall get the punishment it incurs. Our Lord, do not punish us, if we forget or fall into error, and our Lord, lay not on us responsibility as Thou didst lay upon those before us. Our Lord, burden us not with what we have not the strength to bear ; and efface our sins and grant us forgiveness and have mercy on us ; Thou art our Master ; so help us against the disbelieving people. (Holy Qur'an 2: 286)
The verse constitute a powerful refutation of the doctrine of Atonement. It embodies two important principles:
1. That the commandments of God are always given with due regard for man's capacities and his natural limitations.
2. That moral purification in this world does not necessarily signify complete freedom from all kinds of failing and shortcomings. All that man is expected to do is to sincerely strive for good and avoid sin to the best of his power and the rest will be forgiven him by the Merciful God. So no Atonement is needed.
In another verse:
How will it be with them when We will gather them together on the Day about which there is no doubt : and when every soul shall be paid in full what is has earned, and they shall not be wronged ? (Holy Qur'an 3: 25)
This verse constitute an emphatic contradiction of the doctrine that he blood of any person, and not one's own good works, can bring about salvation.
To Islam, every man is responsible for his own sins. The Holy Qur'an says :
Say, 'Shall I seek a lord other than Allah while He is the Lord of all things?' And no soul earns evil but only against itself ; nor does any bearer of burden bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord will be your return, and He will inform you of that wherein you used to differ. (Holy Qur'an 6: 164)
That no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another. (Holy Qur'an 53 : 38)
He who follows the right way follows it only for the good of his own soul : and he who goes astray, goes astray only to his own loss. and no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of anther. And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger. (Holy Qur'an 17:15)
The above verses show that every man shall carry his own cross and bear his own burden. These verses, therefore, contain emphatically draw attention to the fact that everyone has to carry his own cross and to account for his own actions. Nobody's vicarious sacrifice can do one any good. Punishment is not something that comes from outside but it takes its birth with man himself. In fact, the punishments and rewards of Haven and Hell will only be so many embodiments and representations of the deeds good or bad, of man done by him in this life. Thus, in this life, man is the architect of his own destiny and in the next he will be, so to say, his own rewarder or punihser.
Islam does not burden any soul beyond its capacity.
But as to those who believe and do good works- and We charge not any soul beyond its capacity -these are inmates of Heaven : they shall abide therein. (Holy Qur'an 7: 42)
The clause, "We charge not any soul beyond its capacity" ,contradicts the Christian dogma that sin being ingrained in human nature, it is beyond the power of man to get rid of it.
In Islam, God is Just and also Merciful and Forgiving so that if a man repents, God will forgive him of his sins.
Say, 'O My servants who have sinned against their souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah, surely, Allah forgives all sins. Verily, He is Most Forgiving. Ever Merciful :
And turn to your Lord, and submit yourself to Him, before there comes unto you the punishment : for then you shall not be helped ;
And follow the best Teaching that has been revealed to you from your Lord, before the punishment comes upon you suddenly, while you perceive not. (Holy Qur'an 39: 53-55)
Theses verses hold out a message of hope and good cheer to the sinners. It encourages optimism and kills despair and despondency. It denounces and condemns pessimism because pessimism lies at the root of most sins and failures in life. Again and again the Qur'an give a promise of Divine mercy and forgiveness than which, there could be no greater message of solace and comfort for the grieved and the heavy-laden.
Will they not turn to Allah and ask His forgiveness, while Allah is Most Forgiving and Merciful (Holy Qur'an 5:74)
In this verse, Qur'an reminds us that no vicarious sacrifice is needed for the salvation of man. God Himself can forgive all sins. Only a true penitent and contrite heart is required to attract His forgiveness.
Islam promises salvation which in the Islamic religion, means the eternal felicity which is nearness to God and the development of the good in oneself to all those who are obedient to God and do good to others.
Nay, whoever submits himself completely to Allah and he is the doer of good, shall have his reward from his Lord. No fear shall come upon such, neither shall they grieve. (Holy Qur'an 2 :112)
We have inquired into some of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and the Islamic views on them. Our examination had led us to the conclusion that the dogmas of the Trinity, the Divinity of Jesus , the Divine Son-ship, the Original sin and the Atonement are rejected by Islam and they are neither rational nor in conformity with the teachings of Jesus. These dogmas took shape long after Jesus, as a result of pagan influence. They show that Christianity has departed considerably from the religion of Jesus.
Islam, as preached by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) about six hundred years after Jesus, is the revival and restatement of the religion of Jesus and of all other Prophets. It is a simple and rational religion, having no mind-baffling dogmas, no mysteries or mythology. It recognises no mediator between God and man. Its appeal is to human reason and conscience.
Dr. Laura Veccia Vaglieri, the famous Italian Orientalist has this to say in her book on Islam.
The Arabian Prophet, with a voice which was inspired by a deep communion with his Maker, preached the purest monotheism to the worshippers of fetish and the followers of a corrupt Christianity and Judaism. He put himself in open conflict with those regressive tendencies of mankind which lead to the association of other being with the creator.
In order to lead men to a belief in one God, he did not delude them with happenings which deviate from the normal course of nature- the so-called miracles ; nor did he compel them to keep quiet by using celestial threats which only undermine man's ability to think. Rather, he simply invited them, without asking them to leave the realm of reality, to consider the universe and its laws. Being confident of the resultant belief in the one and indispensable God, he simply let men read in the book of life Muhammad Abduh and Ameer Ali both state that Muhammad was content to appeal to the intimate conscience of the individual and to the intuitive judgment of man (An Interpretation of Islam, Dr. Laura Veccia Vaglieri , pp 30-31)
After quoting some relevant verses from the Holy Qur'an, the learned author continues :
Thanks to Islam, paganism in its various forms was defeated . . . . . .The spirit of man was liberated from the prejudice, man's will was set free from the ties which had kept it bound to the will of other man or other so-called hidden powers. Priests, false guardians of mysteries, brokers of salvation, all those who pretended to be mediators between God and man and consequently believed that they had authority over other people's wills, fell from their pedestals. Man became the servant of God alone and towards other men he had only the obligation of one free man towards other free men. While previously men had suffered from the injustices of social differences. Islam proclaimed equality among human beings. (An Interpretation of Islam, Dr. Laura Veccia Vaglieri , pp 33-34)
The interesting question is after reading the Qur'an the modern Christian doctrines, what is the course of the present fundamental difference between Islamic doctrines and Christianity doctrines ?
The fact is that Jesus and his disciples were strangers to the modern Christian doctrines as these doctrines were invented by St. Paul and early Roman Pagan Christians. St. Paul was a Jew, who had been bitterly hostile to Jesus all his life and who, after the event of crucifixion had not the honour of living in the company of the disciples. He only met them occasionally. He, however, appeared one day before them, saying that Jesus had appeared to him in vision and that he had become a believer in him. But in spite of this belief, he came into very little personal contact with the disciples to the end of his life.
He, however, wrote certain writings in which he set forth his own views about the mission of Christ. These writings gradually obtained currency among the Christians. Those were trying times for the Christians. The seemingly fate of Jesus, had a sad appearance to all. He had been hung on the cross against his wish and his prayers had apparently been rejected. All hopes of his disciples had been frustrated. He had, according to some, expired on cross crying in despair:
Elo, Eloi , lama sabachthani ? My Lord, My Lord, why hast thou forsaken me. (Mathew 27:46)
The Jews, on the other hand, said exultantly that Jesus was as accursed man and an imposter, and they quoted scriptures in support of their assertion.
He is accursed of God, that hangeth on a tree. (Deuteronomy 21:23)
The object of their plots to have him crucified was that they might show him to be an imposter according to the word of God. Hence, the disciples of Jesus were on the horns of a dilemma. An admission of his death on the cross involved a belief in his having become accursed. Paul, hit upon a device by advancing the theory that Jesus had indeed been put to death and subjected to curse, but that he was himself innocent and that he had borne the curse for other's sins. Hence, death on the cross was not an infamy but a meritorious dead.
Thus, the Christian people had at least something to say in reply to the Jews. This theory , however, which was originally adopted to meet the attacks of the Jews, gradually developed into the doctrine of Atonement as now preached by the Christian missionaries all over the world.
In short, it was neither Jesus nor his disciples who taught this doctrine. It was taught by St. Paul, hence the question has often occurred to thoughtful Christians, whether the present form of Christianity is the religion of Jesus or Paul. Only recently, a German scholar, Dr. Arnold Meyer, Professor of Theology, University of Zurich has written a book of the subject. It has also been translated into English and is called "JESUS OR PAUL" Therein the learned Professor proves conclusively that the Godhead of Jesus and the Atonement are doctrines which owe their origin to the ingenuity of Paul and of which both Jesus and his disciples were totally ignorant.
The Christian world looks upon Jesus as their saviour. It is he through whom they expect to attain their salvation. The Jews through their enmity and hatred held him to be accursed and represented him as one that had been condemned to the endless tortures of hell. The Christians, too, out of a desire to attain an easy salvation, admitted that he was really accursed and had actually died on the cross. Thus, both friends and foes combined to show that he had met a baneful end. May God send His blessings and peace on the Holy Prophet of Islam who rescued him from this pit of darkness and proved that he was a true apostle of God and a faithful servant of his Divine Master.
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) exonerated only Jesus, but also his mother by clearing her of the heinous charge which the Jews brought against her, so that even to this day, when Christians find themselves unable to prove from the Gospels the purity of the character of Jesus, they refer to the testimony which the Holy Qur'an bears to his own righteousness and to the chastity of his mother.
Thus, Paul who was a learned Jew deviated from the teachings of Jesus. He set up the framework of a new religion, which was adorned and decorated by the Christian priests of later ages. Speaking of Atonement, the learned author of " THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION AND THE CHURCH" admits that the doctrine of Atonement as now believed in by the Christian church, was not definitely and distinctly formulated until the Twelfth Century and that "the Twelfth Century constitutes an epoch in the history of this doctrine".
There was no mention of Atonement either in the Torah or in the Talmud. the learned authors of the Jewish Encyclopedia, a work consisting of twelve large volumes and compiled by more that 400 Jewish scholars, say under the word 'Atonement', that according to the Jewish Law, the element of Atonement are Divine mercy, repentance, reparation of wrong, prayer, fasting and charity.
The custom of offering sacrifices was also very prevalent, so that it became a saying among them, "There is no Atonement except with blood". Paul who was also fully conversant with the Jewish religious literature, set this saying before them (vide Hebrews 9: 22), and having perverted some other figurative sentences of the Jewish scriptures, based a new religion on the supposed atonement of the blood of Jesus. St. Paul since his appearance became the leading moulder of Modern Christianity.
The Christians have abandoned the religious of Jesus Christ. What is most essential for the dignity of man and social progress is, freedom of thought, the very freedom which the churches have striven through centuries of religious wars and persecutions to destroy. The progress that Europe and America have made in the fields of science, democratic institutions and social welfare has not been due to Christianity, but rather as consequence of becoming free from the strange-hold of the Christian Churches.
According to the Christian priests, salvation from Hell depended not so much upon the manner of life people led, or the good deeds they performed as upon the faith they had in the words of the Christian minister who chanced to be preaching. In the state of ignorance then prevailing among the people, this faith was hardly to be distinguished from supernatural fear. From the Pope, "the Holy Man" to the local preacher everyone was to be regarded with awe and often with terror. On these lines, the Christian Church for centuries kept the laity in subjection. For what end?
The history, when dispassionately studied, shows clearly that the Church as an organisation failed to use its tremendous influence on the side of justice, honour, love and compassion. Instead, the hierarchy of Rome devoted itself consistently to worldly affairs until the pope became one of the leading political powers of Europe; and the main object of Roman Catholic communities, from the large and opulent monastery to the humble cell of the village priest, was to maintain the supremacy of Papacy, which claimed that no potentate has ever claimed before; Universal dominion over the minds and bodies of mankind.
This pursuit of worldly power maintained by the suppression of all who questioned even the least of the Church's actions, was soon linked with an even greater crime against mankind-the attitude that Christianity adopted towards the spread of science, that is, towards the attempt by inquisitive men to explain natural phenomena.
Until the seventeenth century, man of genuine research had either to recant what they knew about truth and submit to Christianity or be prepared to be tortured to dearth or imprisoned as the instances of Bruno, Galileo and a host of others reveal. The diabolical instruments of torture invented by the Spanish inquisition and heresy-hunters all over the Christian world have no parallel in the history of mankind !
In no instance did the Christian Church encourage the pursuit of knowledge, save only when some knowledge seemed to support its own pretension. Therefore, at best, the influence of the Church was static. at the period of the Reformation, the priests were offering the people the same "spiritual" food they had been concocting at the time of Constantine.
The reformation was the result of these faults and follies on the part of the Church. It was partly a political movement and partly a revolt by those who, awakened by their conscience and fresh development were dissatisfied with the monstrous growth of abuses sanctioned by Rome The reaction against Rome was , however, of little benefit to mankind at large, since it produced the long and dreadful religious warfare that so split Europe that any potentate with some personal end to serve could, by taking the name of Protestant or Catholic, obtain a large following of the fanatical, the ignorant or the self-seeking mass of people.
The renaissance as the ultimate analysis was severe setback to the temporal power of the degenerate church and as the church wielded political power at that time, it reacted with all the vigour and venom at its command. Consequently, the leaders of the Renaissance became the sworn enemies of the Church. This enmity towards Christianity which culminated into hatred and antagonism against all revealed religions, with the results that today, the majority of the population in Europe and America is either agnostic or atheist or existentialist !!
Moreover, Jesus did not formulate any articles of faith. The attitude of the Christian teachers is that you must not question the teachings of the Church but to have faith in the God of the Church and the teachings are more of mysteries to my mind. The Christian beliefs formulated by St. Paul are unreasonable and repugnant to the conscience of man and as such cannot expect any reasonable allegiance from the advanced nations of the world as it is a religion of primitive people.
The whole of modern Christian doctrines was not formulated by Jesus, but by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, where he based his exposition on the heathen practices of his day.
when a young man is confronted with basic problems relating to reconciling of his every day affairs with the claims of religion; here one comes across the first weakness of Christianity. Christianity is a dualism which regards the world as sinful and seeks to turn its back to the reality of the life projecting its hope into a future world. As a result of this, it creates a Sunday attitude towards religion which has no place in the rest of the secular week.
Therefore, Christianity based on the dogma formulated by the Christian Fathers, ceases to exist in the land of culture and advancement. These Fathers have treated man as as child. They have fed men with many a credulity ; but when the child matures to intelligence and judgment, he begins to query things in the light of reason and culture. That is why education is alienating the human mind from the Church. Religion and the civilization of many of those nations is nothing but superstition, gambling, drinking and communism.
a few of the people from the developing world who have either seen the Western world from a distance or through coloured lens, owing to the pre-conceived notions and an acute sense of insecurity, have been taken in by the artificial achievement and glamour of the Western Civilisation. Some of them have been so overwhelmingly impressed by the West, that they look upon it as the apogee of man's creative achievements and they erroneously conclude that these achievements are due to Christian Civilisation. Whereas, as a matter of fact, Christianity has proved as irreconcilable enemy of human advancement. It crushed science as long as it had the powers to do so and it would do the same today, if the Modern World allowed it. The Modern progress in the West should not be taken as a consequence of man's faith in the church dogma as the West made no progress as long as it was in the grip of Christianity.
It opposed new ways of human progress and persecuted those who sought after truth. Christianity is incompatible with modern ideas of democracy and equality of man. Many of the so-called Christian states practise racial pride and even the South African Apatheid is stated by the Dutch Reformed Church as directly derived from the Biblical revelation. The doctrine of Atonement that Adam fell a prey to sin and punished the whole human race : because of this, mean that God's judgment cannot be satisfied by any repentant set of men. Therefore, He decided that His son should die for the sake of human beings. For this reason God caused His son to die on the cross and then raised him the third day and took him into Heaven. this doctrine of representative suffering or vicarious suffering is repugnant to my sense of reasoning.
The Christian faith deals only with the spiritual side of life and offers no solution to the material side. For instance, it offers no solution to industrial relations, family life, nor does it advocate any economic doctrine. Its doctrines paralysed the intellect and it is based on mysteries and miracles. Its adherents must not question the teachings of the church but must accept the faith. In prayer, the Christians beg God through Jesus Christ to grant them worldly favours.
Belief in the Trinity or other modern doctrines of the Christians is impossible for me.
The modern dilemma of Christianity is patent and stems from a creed which down the centuries has so insisted God in Jesus Christ, that it is in danger, as is now evident, of being unable to apprehend the existence of God without him. Far too many Christians do not know God in any other way than through Jesus. Take away the deity of Jesus and their faith in God is imperilled or destroyed. The New Testament is not entirely to be blamed for this. The major fault lies with those who have pampered to the ignorance and superstition of the people in giving them a God created in the image of man. Yet, Jesus and his own disciples differently taught , could love and worship God without recourse to incarnation.
I have often asked my Christian friends. Is it not enough if you believe in the One God, Lord of all creature and accept Jesus as his Messianic Messenger? But it seemed that the Messiahship of Jesus in their view, had only to do with the Jews and meant nothing in their experience. Many were not even aware that Christ was simply a Greek translation of the Hebrew title "Messiah" (the Anointed One) and supposed that it had to do with the heavenly nature of the Second Person of the Trinity.
It took me a long time to appreciate that when we talked of God, we were not speaking the same language and that there was serious problem of communication. Finally, it dawned on me, and I have in honesty to say this, that Christianity was still much too close to the paganism over which it had scored a technical victory to be happy with a faith in God as a transcendent Being. There has never been in the Church a complete conversion from heathenism. We might be living in the New Millennium , but the Gentile fetish remained for a human embodiment of deity. God had still to be grasped through a physical kinship with man and his earthly concern and there yet lingered the sense of the efficacy of the substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice of a choice victim. As a consequence, where there has been emancipation from this ancient heritage, this has tended to produce not a pure religion but natural reaction to atheism.
But what is now in the New Testament can only be. utilised constructively when we are uninhabited by a religious compulsion to assume that the records about Jesus were divinely inspired. We must hold that they rate no higher that what can be established as to their reliability. They do not pass the test very well, though they certainly incorporate a good deal which is of the utmost value. The authors had to write up their subject with rather meagre resources of documentation and living recollection. This was because of the Jewish revolt against Rome in A. D. 66, which resulted in the devastation of Palestine and Jerusalem and largely extinguished access to further information. Actually we are better placed now then they were. When the Gospels were composed, legends, special pleading, new environment of Christianity after the war and a changed view of the nature of Jesus, gave them a flavour of which we have to be fully conscious when we enlist their essential aid in the quest for the historical Jesus.
Already it is evident that no modern Christian scholar of any repute any longer consider Jesus to be divine in any other sense than as a man who best expressed what what God wanted to be in his own time. Jesus is, therefore, a man of his time who is a highly placed and respected Prophet of God, nothing more or less.
(ICRA)