Comparative Theology · Textual History & Manuscripts
Historical Jesus Scholarship (Q Source & the Synoptic Problem)
In short
- 1.Historians describe Jesus (PBUH) as a Jewish prophet warning that God's kingdom was near — not announcing that he was God.
- 2.The earliest layer of his sayings has no death-for-sins story and no claim that God became a man.
- 3.The very high picture of Jesus (PBUH) in John appears late (around 90-110 CE), long after he had gone.
The claim being examined
The view that the canonical Gospels record Jesus (PBUH) proclaiming his own divinity in his own words.
The Islamic position
The earliest recoverable layer of Jesus (PBUH) material has no , no , and no passion .
Analysis
Most scholars hold that Matthew and Luke both used Mark, plus a shared collection of sayings they call Q. Line them up in the order they were written and you can watch the picture of Jesus (PBUH) grow: Mark has a prophet chosen by God, Matthew and Luke add birth stories, and John — written last — opens with a Jesus (PBUH) who existed before the world. A picture that grows over decades looks like a tradition being developed, not one message revealed once and kept.
From the Qur'an
مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلَّا مَآ أَمَرْتَنِى بِهِۦٓ أَنِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ رَبِّى وَرَبَّكُمْ ۚ
mā qul'tu lahum illā mā amartanī bihi ani uʿ'budū l-laha rabbī warabbakum
I said not to them except what You commanded me — to worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.
From the Bible
τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός
Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
Read it in their Bibleἵνα γινώσκωσιν σὲ τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν
That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Read it in their BibleSources
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