Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 97
97 the person become weary of each other. In short, this individual becomes an heir to all the attributes of the Devil and thus becomes accursed like the Devil. The true significance of the word accursed, as described above, is extremely foul and can never apply to any righteous person who entertains God's love. It is amazing that the Christians did not then realize, and still refuse to accept, the true significance of this term before attributing it to a righteous prophet like Jesus. It is possible that the implications of this term may have been overlooked when modern day Christianity was invented by the Romans. Otherwise it was impossible for them to have used such a filthy word for a righteous man like Jesus. Can one believe that Jesus' heart was ever really estranged from God? That he had denied God, that he hated and disbelieved Him and had become His enemy? Conversely, can one believe that God had ever rejected Jesus and withdrawn His guidance from him? The Bible itself provides answers to these implications and totally rejects them. It thus follows that Jesus had never rejected God nor had God rejected him. Consequently, he was never accursed and under these conditions, it is absolutely impossible that he could die an accursed death. It is a pity that the Jews and Christians continue to uphold this view in spite of the fact that the true significance of this concept, and its absurdity thereof, has been fully exposed. An additional Biblical testimonies which denies Jesus' death on the cross is contained in Matthew: 92 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. A careful consideration of these verses indicates that Jesus clearly stated that the Jewish practice of killing of prophets had ceased with the death of prophet Zechariah; after him, the Jews would have no power to kill any other prophet. This is a great prophecy which clearly points out that Jesus was not killed as the result of crucifixion at the behest of Jews; he was rather saved from death on the Cross, dying ultimately a natural death. If Jesus were also to be killed by the Jews like Zechariah, he would have hinted at that possibility in these verses. The Christians may argue that the Jews also killed Jesus but his death by the Jews was not considered a sin because his death was for the atonement of mankind's sins. This contention is hardly tenable, as Jesus himself according to John’s Gospel, denies it where Jesus is reported to have said that the Jews have been guilty of a great sin for having resolved to kill Jesus. 93 Likewise, the Bible contains other references where the Jews have been pronounced guilty of their crimes against Jesus and hence were liable to be punished by God. Another Biblical statement, attributed to Jesus, denies his alleged death on the cross and his subsequent ascension to heavens: 94 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. This verse clearly shows that after surviving his ordeal on the cross, Jesus was to go to Galilee and not to heaven. Jesus' words: After I am risen do not mean his resurrection after his death. His choice of such words before his crucifixion was probably intended to prophesy the eventual