Wednesday, March 11, 2009

THE DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.



Sura al-Nisa 157 says:

They said, "Indeed we have killed Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, the Ambassador of God; actually they did not kill nor crucify him, he appeared only so to them. Truly the people who quarreled about Jesus, the murderers of Christ were doubtful about whom they had killed."

This Quranic verse, is very often used by Muslim preachers, and he(Hamran Ambrie) had often used it himself formerly, to reject the fact that Jesus Christ really died on the cross.

Previously, he had thought that it is impossible for the favorite of God,who became his prophet, to die on the cross without any protection. Moreover, as the Christians called him the Son of God, it is impossible that God the Father had not given him his protection at all.

After being convinced that the truth of the Bible was supported by the Quran as he had been inspired by Sura al-Maida 68 and others, he considered the subject about "The Death of Jesus at the Cross" studied again and researched fairly, in accordance with what was written in the Quran, as well as in the Bible:

1.) According to the Quran, we read about an event where "someone had been crucified and died," but the identity of the person who died was not confirmed. The Quran teachers deny that it was Jesus Christ who died. They say that the person who died on the cross was Judas.

2.) The Quran says the jews were indeed convinced that they had actually "killed Jesus."

Now he(Hamran Ambrie) had to look for better and more convincing information about who had actually been crucified and died; Jesus or another. In order to get this information, we had to find a proof of objective historical documents. This can be found in the Bible, which is an open documentation that can be used as a source for true historical information.

The story of the death of Jesus Christ at the cross can be studied in the four books of the New Testament, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The testimonies of these writers are based on the actual events which three of them had witnessed themselves.

If we accept the condition of the law that two or three eyewitnesses for a certain event are enough to confirm that this event is true according to the law (Deuteronomy 17:6-7), then the testimonies of three of these four writers who had witnesses the crucifixion and the death of Jesus, are true, legal and believable compared with the testimony of Muhammad or the Quran, which was written six centuries after the event, as an unconvincing supposition, because the writer did not witness it himself.

Another testimony can be added: when Jesus was pronounced dead by the commander of the guard, Joseph of Arimathea entered into the presence of Pontius Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. The request was granted (Mark 15:42-46). Suppose the body which was taken down from the cross was not the body of Jesus, surely Joseph of Arimathea would reject and deny its genuineness.

Suppose the person who was crucified was not Jesus. It was impossible that he would utter such loving words which revealed his true character: "Father, Forgive them! They do not know what they are doing,"and, "It is completed." All this proves that the man who was crucified was none other than Jesus Christ himself.

Thus he(Hamran Ambrie) come to the convincing conclusion that the man who "was crucified and died"as related in Sura al-Nisa 157, was undoubtedly Jesus himself, not any other person such as Judas. The true testimony of the four writers of the gospel is quite convincing, legal and true.

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