Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 30
30 have been used as a basis for translations to other languages. Christian theologians concede that they cannot determine if the fragments of Greek and Latin translations, that form the basis of the current New Testament, were literal or paraphrase translations from the original Hebrew (Aramic) text, the language of Judea which Jesus and his disciples spoke. 23 This is borne out by the fact that Jesus uttered the Hebrew words Eli lama sabachthani 24 under extreme duress on the cross. The date of actual writing and authorship of the four gospels of the New Testament are also disputed (25). The best that Christian historians can claim is that the Gospels were originally written between 65-90 A. D. i. e. about 35-60 years after Christ's departure from Judea. 26 As indicated above, this date is considered extremely conservative by other scholars. In any case, the fact remains that the books were written after Jesus' departure from Judea; thus Jesus never approved of their text. The books only contained the authors' view of events that were conveyed to them decades later by word of mouth. Similarly, doubts have been raised about the authenticity of the gospel authors and whether or not if any of them had actually spent any time with Jesus. 27 Based on their latest research, the best that Christian theologians claim is that only two of the four gospel authors had seen Jesus. 28 Going by their best evidence, half of the New Testament is based on hearsay or second or third hand accounts narrated to the authors. The personal inclinations of the narrators and authors must have had some effect on the recording of these events. Moreover, the New Testament was compiled in its present form in 325 A. D. by the Council of Niece which was organized by the Romans up to which time the Gospels were not canonized. 29 Of the hundreds of gospels (by conservative estimate) presented to the Council, only four were accepted by some dubious criterion. All remaining gospels were publicly destroyed by the Romans and their possession was declared illegal. 30 Why these four gospels were accepted while some others written by the apostles were ignored is an open question. Notable among the gospels written by Jesus' immediate disciples which were held in high esteem by the early Christians, but rejected by the Council were those of Barnabas, Thomas, James and Hermas. These Gospels are mentioned in many church writings and hence their existence cannot be denied. Copies of such gospels have since been discovered at Nag Hamadi in Egypt and are becoming available to the general public. These gospels deny the current Christian concept of Jesus' death on the cross and his supposed resurrection and ascension. A detailed review of the compilation of the current New Testament is reported elsewhere. 31, 32, 33 The compilation of the New Testament by the Romans was a political move and was totally devoid of any religious considerations for the Christians of that time. The massive proliferation of pagan customs in modern day Christianity is ample proof of the fact that the original Christian teachings have been modified. Another point to consider is that Jesus was allegedly crucified at the age of around 32 years. 34 For the sake of discussion, if Jesus is considered as God's son from the Christian perspective, it is extremely strange that the New Testament does not continually record his teachings and actions from his birth till his supposed crucifixion. If Jesus were God's son,