A Comparative Glance At the Qur'an and the Gospel

Monotheism

The essential basis of the orders of the Holy Quran is Monotheism which is emphasized everywhere in the Holy Quran itself. The following verses are as examples:

1-Say: "He, God, is One ,..., And there is none like unto Him." (Al-Ikhlas, 1 and 4)

2-“And commanded thy Lord hath that thou shalt worship not (any one) but Him ...”(Al-Asra, 23) and many other verses.

The above mentioned basis has also been emphasized in the Gospel and other parts of the New Testament including:

1- " And this is eternal life, to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ (A.S) whom you have sent." (John 17:3)

2-"... And one of the scribes... came forward to question him, "which is the chief commandment of all?" Jesus (A.S) answered him, "The chief one is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord ... ."(Mark 12:29-30) .

3- "It is written , ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone'." (Luke 4:8)

4-" Now concernig food that has been dedicated to idols, we know that no idol really exsits, that there is no God but one. Even if there are so-called gods either in heaven or on earth, such as in-deed there are many gods and many lords, for us there is one God ... ." (The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians 8:5-7)

The Origins of Polytheism and Heterogenity with Monotheism

Despite the monotheistic definitions available in the Gospels, there are some heterogeneous words involved in polytheism in some Gospels that are as follows:

1-"... And we have believed and have grown certain that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:70) 2-" I and the Father are One... And understand that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father." ( John 10: 31 and 39) 3-" She responded, "Yes, Lord, I have faith that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come in to the world." (John 11:27) 4-"... Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?... Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me." (John 14:10-11) And such beliefs are numerous in the New Testament. This is the same issue of the Trinity and one of the basic principles of Christianity by which the masters of the Church are confused. In this contents, Gary wolff

says:" It must be said the uncomprehensive relations among the members of the Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit does not seem reasonable. This issue has always confused divine men (Illahiyon). According to the teachings of the Church God is one but in spite of this,the above ‘three persons’ are inseparable because the Trinity is inseparable, however, each part of the Trinity is independent."

William M. Miller, a christian scholar, says in this regard: "... These Gospels are not inconsistent with each other! but are complementary. They are like four photographs of one person taken from four different sides. I know that you are going to ask now, If God is One then how it is possible for Jesus (A.S) to be the Son of God? To answer this question, it must be said that these two issues are secrets, which their understanding dose not seem reasonable, of course, in our limited intelligence.

The rationalistic inability is obvious in the above issue and thus we should discuss the issue of the Trinity in another place. Here, we just refer to a Quranic verse in this regard: " O’ People of the Book! overstep not in your religion, and say not upon God except the Truth; Verily; Verily, the Messiah Jesus(A.S), son of Mary, is only an apostle of God and His Word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit (proceeding) from Him; Believe therefore in God, and His apostles, and say not (that there are) three (gods); Desist! It is good for you; Verily, Verily, God! (there is) only One God! Far be it from His (Absolute)-purity that there be for Him a son; His is whatever is in the Heavens and whatever is in the Earth; God is sufficient as a Protector.(An-Nisa, 171)

The Jesus (A.S)'s Nativity according to the Holy Quran

A part of Surah Maryam describes the Jesus (A.S)'s Nativity as follows:

"And mention in the Book (Quran) about Mary (also) when she withdrew herself from her family (in the house) eastward, then she took a veil (coverherself) from them; then sent We unto Our Spirit, then he (the Spirit)

appeared unto her a man sound (in form). Said she: " Verily I fly for refuge in The Beneficent (God) from thee, (be gone from me) if thou art God-fearing." Said he:" I am only a messenger (Angel) of thy Lord: so that I give to thee a son purified". Said she: " How can there be unto me a son while hath not touched me (any) man and nor was I unchaste!" Said he: " So shall it be; thy Lord sayeth, It is easy for Me, and that We will make him a sign (miracle)(of Ours) unto the people and a Mercy from Us; It is a matter (already) decreed." So she conceived him and retired with him (away from her people) to a remote place. And the threos (of child birth) forced her to betake herself unto the trunk of a palm-tree. She said: " Oh! Had I died ere this, and had been lost in oblivion totally forgotten! " Then (a voice) called out unto her from beneath her; "Grieve not thou, verily thy Lord hath caused from beneath thee (to follow) a stream!" And shake towards thee the trunk of the palm-tree, it will drop on thee dates fresh (and) ripe. Then eat and drink and refresh the eye. Then if thon seest any man say: 'Verily I have vowed unto the Beneficent (God) a fast so never shall I speak today unto any man." And she came with him unto her people carrying him (with her). Said they: " O' Mary! Indeed thou hath come with an unusual thing!."

" O' sister of Aaron! thy father was not a bad man, nor was thy mother an unchaste woman!" But she pointed out him. They said:" How can we speak unto one who is (yet) a child in the cradle." He (Jesus miraculously) said: " Verily I am a servant of God; He hath given me a book and made me a Prophet!" (Maryam,16-30).

The Jesus (A.S)'s Nativity according to the New Testament

"The birth of Jesus (A.S) came about this way : when His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. But as Joseph, her finance, was fair-minded and did not want to disgrace her publicly, he planned to breakwith her secretly. But while he was considering this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David , be not afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to call Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."All this took place in fulfilment of what the Lord had said through the prophet, " Behold ! The virgin will be with child and shall bear a son, and they will name Him Immanuel," which means, God with us." (Matt. 1:18-35)

Luke narrates the birth of Jesus (A.S) as follows:

"... In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth, a town of Galilee, to a virgin named Mary, who was engaged to Joseph, adescendant of David. The angel, as he approached her, said," Greetings, favoured one.The Lord is with you." But she was troubled at his message and reflected what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Have no fear, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And lo, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son and you will call Him Jesus. He shall be great and will be called son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of His father David. He will be king over the house of Jacob for ever; there will be no end to His kingdom." Mary asked the angel, " How will this be, since I have no husband?" The angel answered her," The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore that holy offspring will be called the son of God." (Luke 1:26-36)

The Common Points Regarding the Jesus (A.S)’s Nativity

As it is apparent by comparing the Holy Quran and the Gospel we see common points between them that some of them are as follows:

1- The appearance of the Angel Gabriel before Maryam and giving her good tidings about conceiving Jesus(A.S) 2- The virgin Mary 3- Mary's fear while seeing the Angel 4- Jesus(A.S), a fatherless child

But the disagreements among them are as follows:

1- Mary s' engagement to Joseph 2- calling Jesus (A.S) as the son of God

The Holy Quran has referred to the above disagreements. The Qurun documentarily rejects existence of any husband for Mary and calling Jesus (A.S) as the son of God is one of the main differences between the Quran and the Gospels which has been repeatedly rejected by the Quran that says Jesua (A.S) is only a servant of God and also His prophet. It is now better to refer to some parts of the Gospel of “Barnabas” which has a great similarity with the word of the Holy Quran: " In these last year a virgin called Mary, of the lineage of David, of the tribe of Judah, was visited by the angel Gabriel from God.

This virgin, living in all holiness without any offence, being blameless, and abiding in prayer with fastings, being one day alone, there entered into her champer the angel Gabriel, and he saluted her, saying: “God be with thee, O Mary.” The virgin was affrighted at the appearance of the angel; but the angel comforted her, saying "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God, who hath chosen thee to be mother of a prophet, whom he will send to the people of Israel in order that they may walk in his laws with truth of heart.” The virgin Answered0:” Now how shall I bring forth sons, seeing I know not a man? “ The angel answered: “O Mary, God who made man without a man is able to generate in thee man without a man,because with him nothing is impossible.” Mary answered:” I know that God is almighty, therefore his will be done.” The angel answereed:” Now be conceived in thee the prophet, whom thou shalt name Jesus ...”. (The Gospel of Barnabas 1:1-9) " Mary having known the will of God, fearing the people, lest they should take offence at her being great with child, and should stone her as guilty of fornication, chose a companion of her own linege, a man by name called Joseph, of blameless life ... ." (The Gospel of Barnabas 2:1)

According to the above mentioned Gospel, there is not obvious disagreement beween this Gospel and the Holy Quran, and we do not see here any sign of two disagreements stated before; because firstly, the Gospel of Barnabas does not say that Jesus (A.S) is the son of God. And secondly, it ponits out that Mary's engagement with Joseph was after(and not before) her pregnancy.

The Prophetic Mission of Jesus (A.S)

The Holy Quran says : "And (appoint him) an Apostle to the children of Israel (and who will declare) that now I have come unto you with a sign from your Lord ... ." ( AL-e-Imran , 49) and or " He (Jesus miraculously) said :' Verily I am a servant of God; He hath given me a book (Evangel) and made me a prophet! " (Maryam, 30). The prophethood of Jesus (A.S) has been referred in many verses of the Holy Quran. Jesus (A.S) has also been referred in the Gospel with the same title as follows : " ... for the works which My father has given me to accomplish - the activities in which I am engaged - these are my evidence that the father has sent me . And the father who sent Me has Himself testified on My behalf; only His voice you never yet heard, neither have you seen His form, nor do you even have His message living within you, because you do not believe the One whom He sent." (John 5:36-38)

" ... Jesus (A.S) replied, 'This is God's work, that you believe in Him whom He sent." (Of course, there are also other verses regarding the Jesus (A.S)'s prophethood that we just mention their addresses in the Gospel of John as follows: "6:29; 7:17,29,34; 8:32,43; 9:4; 16:5").

The unity among God and Jesus has been repeatedly emphasized in different parts of the Gospel which refers to the belief of the trinity that is one of the basic principles of Christianity. Some of these verses are as follows:

"... I and the Father are One..." (John 10:30)

"... Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I give to you all, I do not speak just from Myself; the Father who dwells in Me carries on His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me ... ." (John 14:10-11).

Now, the masters of the Church are responsible for finding the solution for the issue of the Jesus (A.S)s' prophethood and unity and also the issue of the Trinity. Perhaps they answer: " By the man's weak intelligence, it is much certain that the above issues do not seem reasonable for him."

The Miracles of Jesus (A.S)

In this regard, the Holy Quran says : "Out of clay will I make for you like the figure of a bird, and I will breathe into it, and it shall become a flying bird by God's permission; and I shall heal the blind and the leper and will raise the dead to life by God's permission." (Al-e-Imran, 49).

Like the Holy Quran, the four Gospels have also mentioned the miracles of Jesus (A.S)for many times that are almost the same as the Quran. The folliwing verses of the Gospels will elucidate Jesus (A.S)'s miracles: "... When He had come down from the hill, great crowds followed Him. And a leper came up and knelt before Him... Reaching out His hand He touched him saying, ‘I am willing. Be cleansed’. And instantly his leprosy was cleansed." ( Matt.8)

"... While Jesus was walking away, two blind men followed Him, crying out, 'Son of David, pity us!' Then when He had entered the house, the blind men came up to Him and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?' They answered Him, ‘Yes, Lord." He then touched their eyes and said, ‘According to the measure of your faith it shall be to you.' And their eyes were opened. "( Matt. 9) "... Jesus replied to them, "Go and report John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and... ." (Matt. 11) The main contradiction between the Quran and the Gospel is that according to the Quran Jesus's miracle is due to God's permission, but, it is said in the Gospel that Jesus's miracle refers to His own power. So, it is much certain that the Quran lays too much strees on monotheism but the second seems to emphasize polytheism.

Jesus (A.S) as Kalimat Allah (the Word of Allah)

The word of Allah is the title attributed to Jesus (A.S) by the Holy Quran in several verses that some are as follows:

"... Verily, Allah giveth thee the glad tidings of a Word from Him; whose name shall be Messiah, Jesus, son of Maryam ... ." (Al-e-Imran, 45) "... Verily, Allah giveth thee the glad tidings of (a son) Yahya (John)(who shall be) the confimer of a word from Allah ... ." (Al-e-Imran, 39) "... Verily, Verily, the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God and His Word ... ."(An- Nisa, 171)

In this regard, we read the following verses in the Gospel of John:

" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This is the one who was in the beginning with God. Through Him every thing came into being and without Him nothing that exsits came into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men...And the Word became man and lived for a time among us, and we viewed His glory- such glory as the only-begotten Son receives from His Father- abounding in grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, ‘This was the One of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because He was before me.

' For from His abundance all of us have received more and more grace; for while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." In this contents, there is a similarity between the Holy Quran and the Gospel because both of them have regarded Jesus (A.S) as the Word of Allah and have referred to John's testimony about Jesus's legitimacy. But the contradiction between the two texts relates to the monotheistic aspects as the Quran knows Allah the unique power in the universe while the Gospel believes that Jesus is parallel to God and His son. In order to prove the Jesus's greatness and holiness the Holy Quran has allocated different verses to Jesus (A.S) and abiut 175 Quranic verses including 3163 words equal to %41 of the whole words of the Quran. But the secret of the Quran in calling Jesus the word of Allah itself is a discussion which needs to be commented, and in this regard the commentators have stated their opinions as the following is one of them:

" The Word refers to Jesus, the son of Maryam. He has been referred by the Word to remember that He is an unusual creature and so deserves only to be attributed as the Word although all creatures are indeed the word of God.”

The Disciples of Jesus (A.S)

A group of people have been called "The Disciple" by the Holy Quran. As it is obvious from the contents of the Quranic verses, they were specific and directly instructed Jesus (A.S)’s students as if they accompanied Him while traveling or at home:

"... The Disciples said ‘We are the helpers towards God! We believe in God!" (Al-e-Imran, 52)

"... And when I, revealed unto the disciples, ‘Believe in Me and Mine Apostle (Jesus)' said they, We believe,... ." (Al-Maidah, 111)

"... As said Jesus, Son of Mary unto (his) disciples: ‘Who (among you) will be my helpers unto (the work) of God?' said the disciples (of Jesus):

‘We are the helpers (in the cause) of God!" (As-Saff, 14)

The Gospels have also mentioned the diciples in different verses for many times. The following verse is an example:

"... Calling His 12 disciples to Him He gave them power over depraved spirits to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every malady. Now these are the names of the 12 disciples: first, Simon, called peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. These 12 Jesus sent out with the charge: ‘Do not go to the Gentiles ... And as you go, preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick; raise the dead; cleanse lepers;expel demons ... ." (Matt. 10:1-9)

Jesus (A.S)'s Confirmation of Legitimacy of The Torah

In this regard, the Holy Quran says: "And We caused to follow in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the law (The Torah) which wasbefore him, and We gave him the Evangel... ." (Al-Maidah, 46)

The same meaning can be found in the Gospel for example, "... Do not suppose that I came to annul the Law (The Torah) or the prophets. I did not come to abolish but to complete them; for I assure you, while heaven and earth endure not one iota or one projection of a letter will be dropped from the Law until all is a accomplished. Whoever, therefore, abolishes the least significant of these commands and so teaches the people, he shall be of least significance ... ." (Matt. 5:17-20)

"... But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest part of a letter of the Law (The Torah) to become invalid... ." (Luke 16:17)

"...For if you believed Moses you would believe Me, since he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My teachings?" (John 5:46)