Some say that Jesus was divine because he did miracles. Many Unitarians and all Muslims emphasize that Jesus did miracles, but by the will of God and not because he himself had any divine qualities. We repeat Acts 2:22 :.
„Jesus of Nazareth, the man, shown by God among you with deeds and miracles and signs, which God did through you among you, as you know yourself.“ (italics mine)
In agreement with the Bible and the Holy Quran, Muslims also say that the miracles of Jesus were accomplished through the power of God. In the Holy Quan God states:.
If Allah will say: “O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My grace against you and against your mother; how I strengthened you with holy inspiration – you spoke to people both in the cradle and in the age of man; and how I taught you Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and Gospel; and how you made what looked like birds with my permission from clay, you then breathed in (breath), and with my permission it became (real) birds; and how with my permission you healed the blind and the leper; and how you raised the dead with my permission. ” (Quran 5: 110)
The Islamic view is that miracles are God-given signs of prophecy, but do not indicate divinity. Hadith (narrative of the sayings, deeds, appearance and tactical features of Muhammad) tell of the many miracles of Muhammad, with a greater historical authenticity than can be found in the biblical manuscripts. While hadith science is considered a miracle and record holder of historical accuracy, the Bible cannot even meet the basic standards of historical accuracy. * For example, most of the books in the Bible (even the Gospels) are unknown, the time in which they were written down little determined, and the source of the information is unclear. These topics will be discussed in detail later, but as an example of a little problem let’s look at the story of Judas‘ betrayal of Jesus to the high priests. Who was the author and why should we believe him? Was he present at the betrayal? If not, where did he get his information from? And if he had been present, why didn’t he warn Jesus, isn’t he an ally of crime? Then what kind of gospel writer is he? isn’t he an ally of crime? Then what kind of gospel writer is he? isn’t he an ally of crime? Then what kind of gospel writer is he?
Sounds stupid? Might be. But again, isn’t it more stupid to trust in redemption based on gospels and letters of unknown origin and by unknown authors? The Jesus Seminar is perhaps one of the most objective and serious attempts by an ecumenical council of Christian scholars to determine the authenticity of Jesus‘ reported actions and sayings. But it is part of their method to choose! Two thousand years after Jesus ‚posting, nearly two hundred scholars form a collective Christian opinion on the authenticity of Jesus‘ quotes and historical accounts by throwing colored balls. For example, regarding the reported words of Jesus, the definition of the sphere colors is as follows:
Red – Jesus said it or something very similar. Rosa – Jesus maybe something like that, although the words have suffered from translation. Gray – these are not his words, but the ideas correspond to his own ideas. Black – Jesus did not say this, these words represent the Christian community or a later view. [1]
Other Christian committees have tried to authentically speak Bible texts using similar methods. The editors of the United Bible Societies‘ The Greek New Testament: Second Edition have chosen an alphabetical classification.
With the help of the letters A, B, C and D enclosed in brackets {} at the beginning of each text variation, the Committee tried to indicate the relative level of security that it achieved based on internal considerations as well as external evidence. The letter A indicates that the text should really be safe, while B indicates that there is some doubt. The letter C means that there are considerable doubts about the text, while D shows that there are significant doubts about the text. [2]
Bruce M. Metzger describes that he uses a similar methodology in his A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. „Indeed,“ he writes, „there are also choices among the {D} where none of the variations call themselves the original, and therefore the one that sounded the least unsatisfactory was ultimately printed.“ [3]
So, give us that not a warm, sure feeling that the Bible can be trusted to save humanity?
But I digress. The point is that these classification systems may be the best possible that show the limits of biblical accounts; but what a sad comment it is! Compared to the perfectly sophisticated system of hadith authentication, these color balls and ABCD classification systems are somewhat deficient, to say the least.
Historical reporting is important because when someone hears a story – even if it’s a credible one – the first question is usually, „Where did you hear that?“ Every kind of historical source identification includes the identification and certification of the sources. The Holy Quran and many hadith traditions meet the highest demands for confirmation of authenticity; but the majority of the Bible verses do not! *
How does this relate to our topic? Very easily. The miracles that Muhammad performed were no less numerous or impressive than those of Jesus, and they were made clear by an unassailable historical record that outshines everything else from that time. Just as the miracles of Moses, Elias and Muhammad do not prove the divinity of these prophets, the miracles of Jesus do not.
Let ’s look at a few examples:.
1. Jesus fed thousands with a little fish and loaves of bread. But Elisha fed a hundred people with twenty loaves of barley bread and a few ears of grain (2 Kings 4:44); granted a widow an abundant flow of oil from a pitcher that she could use to pay off her debts, save her sons from serfdom, and make a living (2 Kings 4: 1-7); and he had a handful of flour and a little oil multiplied so that he, a widow and her son could eat them for many days: „The flour in the pot should not be consumed, and the oil jug should not lack anything …“ (1 Kings 17: 10-16). So how did Elisha do it? The historical account of Muhammad, when he fed the masses on one occasion with a handful of dates, on another with a jug of milk and enough meat for a small celebration, is at least as miraculous. The same applies to his donation of water to the masses (1,500 people on one occasion) from a single bowl of water. Nevertheless, the Muslims do not claim that Muhammad is divine.
2. Jesus healed leprosy. Elisa Naaman also healed (2 Kings 5: 7-14). In Matthew 10: 8, he commanded the disciples to do the same service. How did you do it?
3. Jesus healed a blind man. Elisha not only struck his enemies with blindness, but also restored blind eyesight through prayer (2 Kings 6: 17-20). Muhammad is also reported to have cured blindness with prayer.
4. Jesus raised the dead. Once again, Elisha strikes him by raising two children from death (1 Kings 17:22 and 2 Kings 4:34). In addition, the disciples were ordered to raise the dead in (Matthew 10: 8). So again, how did you do it?
5. Jesus walked on the water. If he had been living in Moses‘ time, it would not have been necessary.
6. Jesus cast out devils. His disciples did the same (Matthew 10: 8). So did the sons of the Pharisees (Matthew 12:27 and Luke 11:19). So for this matter, the headstrong followers that the report says Jesus will disregard (see Matthew 7:22) – maintain a confusing view considering how many priests and ministers do such performances, even if they are real.
So if we are looking for evidence of the divinity of Jesus, we are forced to go beyond miracles.
Copyright © 2007 Laurence B. Brown; with his consent.
The above excerpt comes from Dr. Brown’s forthcoming book MisGod´ed, which will soon be published along with its sequel to God´ed. Both books can be found on Dr. Browns website can be viewed :. www.LevelTruth.com. Dr. Brown can be contacted at: BrownL38@yahoo.com
Footnotes:
* For more in-depth studies, the reader is referred to: Hadith Literature: Its Origins, Development and Special Features, by Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi (Islamic Texts Society, London, 1993), and Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature, by Muhammad Mustafa Azami (American Trust Publications, Indianapolis, 1977).
[1] Funk, Robert Walter. 1996. Honest to Jesus, Jesus for a New Millennium. Polebridge Press. P.8.
[2] Aland, Kurt, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger & Allen Wikgren (Editors). 1968. The Greek New Testament. Second edition. United Bible Societies. S. x-xi.
[3] Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. Introduction, p. 14.
* While Hadith was preserved word for word. Quote: „There are more differences among our [biblical] manuscripts than words in the New Testament.“ – Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus. P. 10.
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/brauchen-wunder-gttlichkeit