Truth About The Crucifixion — Page 181
written in April 1899. This book saw the light of day in 1903 when it was serialised in the journal Review of Religions (both Urdu and English editions). The English version was captioned An Important Discovery regarding Jesus Christ. The book Jesus in India was not published until six months after the death of the Promised Messiah. Today European scholars are obliged to take serious note of the discoveries recorded in this book. It must be remembered that the first ever reference to Ascension is in the closing verses of Mark. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1969) an article on Mark terms it as "spurious ending". Because of the new light which the ancient manuscripts throw on the subject and researches of Biblical scholars, these verses pertaining to ascension have been expunged from the concluding portion of the texts of Luke and Mark in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. However, there are footnotes indicating that “some manuscripts inserted these verses". (ii) Apart from the four Gospels, we may also refer to the following earliestdocuments in Edessan Christianity, namely: (a) The Gospel of Thomas. This contains 114 sayings of Jesus Christ. A Coptic translation of these has been found in the Egyptian village Nag Hammadi, in an ancient graveyard. (b) The Odes of Solomon, This Solomon is not King Solomon but the author of 42 songs composed in Syriac. These are hymns celebrated among the early Christians of Edessa and sung by them at their congregations. In some of these Jesus Christ himself addresses the World. Skarin states: If you have wondered, as I used to, what writings of Jesus would have been like had he left a written message, you should rejoice as I have rejoiced in the 173