ArchivedCONTRADICTIONS IN THE QURANLady Fatima,
Peace be to you as well,
Jesus never received a Gospel from God.. both the noble Qur'an and the Holy Bible speak of Him as the Logos of God.. the Word of God. this is highly significant.. and please let me show you why .. I hope you don't mind me quoting from another source, but it explains what I would love to tell you about.. please let me know your thoughts.
The word ‘Gospel’ in Greek implies a meaning of a great significance. At first it meant:: 'reward for the bearer of good news'. Then it developed to the meaning 'the good news'. Later the meaning of the word ‘Gospel’ became specified and limited : 'the good news that came to humanity by the coming of Jesus to redeem the human race'.Or said in another way ' the book that tells the story of Jesus Christ' i.e. the story that contains the facts about this good news and the life of Jesus that fulfilled this good news and brought it to practical life.
Thus, the word ‘good news’ in its origin did not mean a written book but it meant the good news it self , which was transferring orally. In the early days of Christianity the good news of the coming of Jesus was spread and transferred orally by the disciples and apostles. In this way the Bible was spread over all the Roman Empire.
In fact Jesus never wrote a Gospel or asked his disciples to do so. But he asked them to go to all humans to tell them about the Good News of Salvation. The apostle Paul says “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe.”(Hebrews 1:1-2)
He has spoken to us in the Logos of God and not only with a word. The apostle John says “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”(1 John 1:1).
This is the Good News that the disciples have spread in the places that they have preached in. The essence of this Good News is written down [by humans] and authorized by those who have heard this Good News. The great eagerness of the Christians in the first centuries for knowing the word and acts of God encouraged this. Therefore, some people wrote down what they felt to be important for themselves and for teaching those who want to embrace the new religion. Of course this was written besides the oral instructions which they received from their Master.
At that time Christian leaders began to feel the importance for verifying, authorizing and organizing these writings. They had to become an out line and reference for the Christian community, and should be protected from any manipulation or self-interest.
It was important to finish this task in the time of the apostles because they are the ones that have heard these teachings. Not only this, but also they were the ones who lived and practiced these teachings. This is actually the reason that some of the disciples - inspired by the Holy Spirit –have written the Good News, so now we have four stories about the life of the Messiah. These stories are what we call now ‘the Gospel’, four Gospels though that the Good News is One, four stories with one essence.
We have mentioned before that the word ‘Gospel’ meant originally ‘Good News’. It did not have the meaning of ' book' at all. Jesus Himself did not write any book and did not ask His disciples to do so. As inspiration in Christianity is not in words and letters, but an inspiration of a living person, from Jesus Himself, we can say that the disciples were inspired by Him. Then four of the apostles began to write the Good News and they wrote it in stories. So: the Good News reached us through four stories, which accord in one essence and in all details. The Good News is one, yet those who wrote it are four persons, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Matthew and John were two of Jesus’ disciples. Mark was a disciple of Peter and Luke was a disciple Paul. Mark and Luke wrote their 'gospel' under the supervision of the two disciples Peter and Paul.
Why four Gospels?
Shortly said, because each Gospel was sent and addressed to a different nation.
Matthew wrote to his own people, the Jews. This can be seen clearly in the way he focused on clarifying how all the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Mark wrote for the Romans, as he used to live among them. For this reason he focused on what the Romans considered being their example and concentrated on the greatness and the power of Jesus.
Luke choose to write to those who came from a Greek background. Therefore you see him focusing on the Greec mind and the ‘Will and Heart’ without these no man deserves to be human and through which God’s love has been revealed to the world. Therefore, some people call the Gospel of Luke ‘the Gospel of Mercy’.
Last but not least, John, who wrote his story after the spread of Christianity. He wrote it to clarify some things and answer back on some heresies that were threatening Christianity.
Now we can see that from the beginning of the church there was known only 'one Gospel' or 'one Good News' which was written in four stories or called ‘Gospels’. These stories were named after their writers with a strong attribution of historical documents that should not be doubted at all. The Gospel is 'one', but has four forms.
Also at our present time there are copies of ‘The Gospel’ in Greek that date back to the sixth century and till the twelfth century. What ever their date or places are, they all accord completely with the texts and copies that are available in our present time. No change can be found in them..
the source of the above quote is
http://www.mutenasserin.net/mutenasseri ... /4or1.html
My prayer as you read these words are that you will be willing to have an open heart and mind as we discuss together, and talk about these things which are the basics of our individual faiths. I look forward to talking to you more in the different forums.
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