The Myth of Crucifixion
Last, but not the least, is the matter of the alleged
crucifixion of Prophet
Isa (AS), regarding
which there is a
crucial disagreement between the Islamic belief and the account of the four
Canonical Gospels. According to the latter, the supreme Jewish authority in
Roman Palestine — the Sanhedrin — convicted Jesus of blasphemy and insisted for
death sentence, which was carried out by the Roman governor Pilate Pontius by
way of crucifixion. Afterwards, on the third day, the dead body of Jesus Christ
was miraculously resurrected and revived; the Christ then met with his
disciples, and, after giving them some instructions, ascended into the heaven.
On the other hand, the Holy Qur’an strongly rejects the
idea of Prophet Isa (AS) having been crucified, and — according to the
authentic Prophetic traditions or Hadith — he was saved from such an accursed
and humiliating death by direct Divine intervention and raised up alive into
the heavens. It has also been unequivocally explained to us by Prophet Muhammad
(SAW) that Prophet Isa (AS) will reappear on earth to live out the rest of his
life, and then he will die like any other mortal.
The only void left in this Islamic tradition, however,
concerns the “when” and “where” of the ascension of Prophet Isa (AS),
and the question
regarding “who” actually
got crucified in his place. This vacuum can be satisfactorily filled
with the help of the narration in the “Gospel of Barnabas” according to which,
when the traitor Judas Iscariot came ahead of the Roman soldiers and entered
the garden where Prophet Jesus Christ was hiding, God the Almighty caused his
face and voice to be changed so that he looked and talked exactly like Jesus,
while in the meantime the prophet himself was raised up into the heavens.
Thus it was the traitor who was crucified, while Prophet Jesus Christ was miraculously saved by direct Divine intervention. It may be pointed out here that, unlike Barnabas who was a close disciple and companion of Prophet Jesus, none of the writers of the four so-called authentic gospels — i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John — ever met with the prophet himself. These gospels were written between 70 C.E and 115 C.E. but their earliest available manuscripts date back to the fourth century C.E, making their authenticity rather dubious.
A number of different gospels were in circulation throughout the early period of Christianity, the manuscripts of which were freely altered and amended by the copyists in order to suit the doctrines of their particular sect. The four gospels that are included in the New Testament were accepted as genuine by the Church — and the rest were rejected as apocryphal, and their possession prohibited — not on the basis of merit, but only because these four books were in conformity with the official Church dogma.
The Gospel of Barnabas was among the books that were banned in 325 C.E by the Nicean Council; it was forbidden by the Decree of the Western Churches in 382 C.E; it was again banned by Pope Innocent in 465 C.E, and then by the Glasian Decree in 496 C.E.
To this day, Christian authorities refuse to accept the Gospel of Barnabas as authentic, despite striking similarities between this Gospel and the documents discovered in 1947 in the caves of Qumran, popularly called the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is because the Gospel of Barnabas proclaims absolute Divine Unity, criticizes the pagan innovations of St. Paul, declares the truth about the myth of Crucifixion, and, above all, contains unambiguous prophecies regarding the advent of Prophet Mohammad (SAW), all of which is enough to destroy the very foundations of the Christian faith as it exists today.
However, any unbiased comparative study of the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Gospel of Barnabas is bound to reveal that this gospel is the correct and genuine account of the life and teachings of Prophet Isa (AS), not withstanding the flimsy objections being raised by the Christians.
Thus it was the traitor who was crucified, while Prophet Jesus Christ was miraculously saved by direct Divine intervention. It may be pointed out here that, unlike Barnabas who was a close disciple and companion of Prophet Jesus, none of the writers of the four so-called authentic gospels — i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John — ever met with the prophet himself. These gospels were written between 70 C.E and 115 C.E. but their earliest available manuscripts date back to the fourth century C.E, making their authenticity rather dubious.
A number of different gospels were in circulation throughout the early period of Christianity, the manuscripts of which were freely altered and amended by the copyists in order to suit the doctrines of their particular sect. The four gospels that are included in the New Testament were accepted as genuine by the Church — and the rest were rejected as apocryphal, and their possession prohibited — not on the basis of merit, but only because these four books were in conformity with the official Church dogma.
The Gospel of Barnabas was among the books that were banned in 325 C.E by the Nicean Council; it was forbidden by the Decree of the Western Churches in 382 C.E; it was again banned by Pope Innocent in 465 C.E, and then by the Glasian Decree in 496 C.E.
To this day, Christian authorities refuse to accept the Gospel of Barnabas as authentic, despite striking similarities between this Gospel and the documents discovered in 1947 in the caves of Qumran, popularly called the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is because the Gospel of Barnabas proclaims absolute Divine Unity, criticizes the pagan innovations of St. Paul, declares the truth about the myth of Crucifixion, and, above all, contains unambiguous prophecies regarding the advent of Prophet Mohammad (SAW), all of which is enough to destroy the very foundations of the Christian faith as it exists today.
However, any unbiased comparative study of the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Gospel of Barnabas is bound to reveal that this gospel is the correct and genuine account of the life and teachings of Prophet Isa (AS), not withstanding the flimsy objections being raised by the Christians.
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