Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · 4. Atonement
Jesus taught people to seek forgiveness directly
In short
- 1.The Lord's Prayer teaches a direct petition: 'Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors' [Matthew 6:12].
- 2.'If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you' [Matthew 6:14] — conditional on repentance and mercy, not on blood.
- 3.The prodigal son is forgiven by a father who simply runs to meet him [Luke 15:20-24]; no sacrifice is offered.
- 4.The tax collector who says 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner' goes home justified [Luke 18:13-14].
- 5.None of these teachings mentions the cross.
The claim being examined
If the cross is the only channel of forgiveness, Jesus (PBUH)' own teaching should point people toward it.
The Islamic position
Islam notes that the Jesus (PBUH) of the Gospels teaches people to ask God for forgiveness directly and to forgive each other — the Islamic pattern exactly.
Analysis
These passages are not marginal; they are among the best-known material in the Gospels, and they consistently present forgiveness as God's free response to humility and repentance. The parable of the prodigal son in particular has no atoning mechanism in it at all. It is difficult to reconcile a in which forgiveness is impossible without a death with a teacher who repeatedly told people that God forgives those who ask.
From the Qur'an
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ تَوْبَةًۭ نَّصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِى ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّبِىَّ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ ۖ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَـٰنِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū tūbū ilā l-lahi tawbatan naṣūḥan ʿasā rabbukum an yukaffira ʿankum sayyiātikum wayud'khilakum jannātin tajrī min taḥtihā l-anhāru yawma lā yukh'zī l-lahu l-nabiya wa-alladhīna āmanū maʿahu nūruhum yasʿā bayna aydīhim wabi-aymānihim yaqūlūna rabbanā atmim lanā nūranā wa-igh'fir lanā innaka ʿalā kulli shayin qadīrun
O you who believe, repent to God with sincere repentance.
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٰبِينَ وَيُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ
inna l-laha yuḥibbu l-tawābīna wayuḥibbu l-mutaṭahirīna
Indeed God loves those who repent and those who purify themselves.
From the Bible
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Read it in their BibleFrom the Sunnah
By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you did not sin God would replace you with a people who would sin and then seek His forgiveness, and He would forgive them.
Sources
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