What would Jesus say about Islam?

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This would not be Paul’s first appearance before the movement’s leaders. As he mentions in his letter to the Galatians, he initially met the apostles on a visit to the holy city three years after his conversion, around 40 C.E., when he came face-to-face with Peter and James. The two leaders were apparently thrilled that “the one who had been persecuting us is now proclaiming the message of faith he once tried to destroy” (Galatians 1:23). They glorified God because of Paul and sent him on his way to preach the message of Jesus in the regions of Syria and Cilicia, giving him as his companion and keeper a Jewish convert and close confidant of James named Barnabas. Paul’s second trip to Jerusalem took place about a decade later, sometime around 50 C.E., and was far less cordial than the first. He had been summoned to appear before a meeting of the Apostolic Council to defend his self-designated role as missionary to the gentiles (Paul insists he was not summoned to Jerusalem but went of his own accord because Jesus told him to). With his companion Barnabas and an uncircumcised Greek convert named Titus by his side, Paul stood before James, Peter, John, and the elders of the Jerusalem assembly to strongly defend the message he had been proclaiming to the gentiles. Luke, writing about this meeting some forty or fifty years later, paints a picture of perfect harmony between Paul and the council’s members, with Peter himself standing up for Paul and taking his side. According to Luke, James, in his capacity as leader of the Jerusalem assembly and head of the Apostolic Council, blessed Paul’s teachings, decreeing that thenceforth gentiles would be welcomed into the community without having to follow the Law of Moses, so long as they “abstain from things polluted by idols, from prostitution, from [eating] things that have been strangled, and from blood” (Acts 15:1–21). Luke’s description of the meeting is an obvious ploy to legitimate Paul’s ministry by stamping it with the approval of none other than “the brother of the Lord.” However, Paul’s own account of the Apostolic Council, written in a letter to the Galatians not long after it had taken place, paints a completely different picture of what happened in Jerusalem. Paul claims that he was ambushed at the Apostolic Council by a group of “false believers” (those still accepting the primacy of the Temple and Torah) who had been secretly spying on him and his ministry. Although Paul reveals little detail about the meeting, he cannot mask his rage at the treatment he says he received at the hands of “the supposedly acknowledged leaders” of the church: James, Peter, and John. Paul says he “refused to submit to them, not even for a minute,” as neither they, nor their opinion of his ministry, made any difference to him whatsoever (Galatians 2:1–10). Whatever took place during the Apostolic Council, it appears that the meeting concluded with a promise by James, the leader of the Jerusalem assembly, not to compel Paul’s gentile followers to be circumcised.
 
Yet what happened soon afterward indicates that he and James were far from reconciled: almost immediately after Paul left Jerusalem, James began sending his own missionaries to Paul’s congregations in Galatia, Corinth, Philippi, and most other places where Paul had built a following, in order to correct Paul’s unorthodox teachings about Jesus. Paul was incensed by these delegations, which he viewed, correctly, as a threat to his authority. Almost all of Paul’s epistles in the New Testament were written after the Apostolic Council and are addressed to congregations that had been visited by these representatives from Jerusalem (Paul’s first letter, to the Thessalonians, was written between 48 and 50 C.E.; his last letter, to the Romans, was written around 56 C.E.). That is why these letters devote so much space to defending Paul’s status as an apostle, touting his direct connection to Jesus, and railing against the leaders in Jerusalem who, “disguising themselves as apostles of Christ,” are, in Paul’s view, actually servants of Satan who have bewitched Paul’s followers (Corinthians 11:13–15). Nevertheless, James’s delegations seem to have had an impact, for Paul repeatedly lambastes his congregations for abandoning him: “I am amazed at how quickly you have deserted the one who called you” (Galatians 1:6). He implores his followers not to listen to these delegations, or to anyone else for that matter, but only to him: “If anyone else preaches a gospel contrary to the gospel you received [from me], let him be damned” (Galatians 1:9). Even if that gospel comes “from an angel in heaven,” Paul writes, his congregations should ignore it (Galatians 1:8). Instead, they should obey Paul and only Paul: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Feeling bitter and no longer tethered to the authority of James and the apostles in Jerusalem (“Whatever they are makes no difference to me”), Paul spent the next few years freely expounding his doctrine of Jesus as Christ. Whether James and the apostles in Jerusalem were fully aware of Paul’s activities during this period is debatable. After all, Paul was writing his letters in Greek, a language neither James nor the apostles could read. Moreover, Barnabas, James’s sole link to Paul, had abandoned him soon after the Apostolic Council for reasons that are unclear (though it bears mentioning that Barnabas was a Levite and as such would probably have been a strict observer of Jewish law). Regardless, by the year 57 C.E., the rumors about Paul’s teachings could no longer be ignored. And so, once again, he is summoned to Jerusalem to answer for himself. This time, James confronts Paul directly, telling him that it has come to his attention that Paul has been teaching believers “to forsake Moses” and “not circumcise their children or observe the customs [of the law]” (Acts 21:21). Paul does not respond to the accusation, though this is exactly what he has been teaching. He has even gone so far as to say that those who let themselves be circumcised will have “cut themselves off from Christ” (Galatians 5:2–4).
 
There may have been a more urgent reason for Paul to want to go to Rome. After the embarrassing spectacle at the Temple, in which he was forced to renounce everything he had been preaching for two decades, Paul wanted to get as far as he could from Jerusalem and the ever-tightening noose of control placed around his neck by James and the apostles. Besides, Rome seemed the perfect place for Paul. This was the Imperial City, the seat of the Roman Empire. Surely the Hellenistic Jews who had chosen to make Caesar’s home their own would be receptive to Paul’s unorthodox teachings about Jesus Christ. Rome already had a small but growing contingent of Christians who lived alongside a fairly sizable Jewish population. A decade before Paul’s arrival, conflicts between the two communities had led the emperor Claudius to expel both groups from the city. By the time Paul arrived some time in the early sixties, however, both populations were once again flourishing. The city seemed ripe for Paul’s message. Although Paul was officially under house arrest in Rome, it appears he was able to continue his preaching without much interference from the authorities. Yet by all accounts, Paul had little success in converting Rome’s Jews to his side. The Jewish population was not just unreceptive to his unique interpretation of the messiah, they were openly hostile to it. Even the gentile converts did not appear overly welcoming toward Paul. That may be because Paul was not the only “apostle” preaching Jesus in the imperial city. Peter, the first of the Twelve, was also in Rome. Peter had come to Rome a few years before Paul and likely at James’s command to help establish an enduring community of Greek-speaking Jewish believers in the heart of the Roman Empire, a community that would be under the influence of the Jerusalem assembly and taught in accordance with the Jerusalem doctrine: in short, an anti-Pauline community. It is difficult to know just how successful Peter had become in his task before Paul arrived. But according to Acts, the Hellenists in Rome reacted so negatively to Paul’s preaching that he decided to cut himself off once and for all from his fellow Jews “who listen but never understand … who look but never perceive.” Paul vowed from that moment on to preach to none but the gentiles, “for they will listen” (Acts 28:26–29). No record exists of these final years in the lives of Peter and Paul, the two men who would become the most important figures of Christianity. Strangely, Luke ends his account of Paul’s life with his arrival in Rome and he does not mention that Peter was in the city, too. Stranger still, Luke does not bother to record the most significant aspect of the two men’s years together in the Imperial City. For in the year 66 C.E., the same year that Jerusalem erupted in revolt, the emperor Nero, reacting to a sudden surge of Christian persecution in Rome, seized Peter and Paul and executed them both for espousing what he assumed was the same faith. He was wrong.
 
Amazing how much output you can conjure in a few minutes when you put your mind to it. 🤔

Clearly cut and paste from somewhere.

However, I thought I requested a “simplified explanation” of the difference between Jesus’ view of “Church” via the Greek translation and our modern view. From there I asked for a brief synopsis of why Paul helped create something Christ would not have.

So you bypassed the first request and dumped a verbal heap on Paul.

Sorry, Paul knew exactly what he was doing and so did Jesus by choosing Paul to be a very effective evangelist. The Church recognizes St. Paul for what he did. That may not mean much to you, but Benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity comes into play here. You seem to be advocating for a hermeneutic of suspicion, if not downright rupture. That simply disregards completely that Christ founded the Church and provided the Holy Spirit as its infallible guide.
 
Of course it’s from a book I read called " Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth ". It’s a historical approach about the time period and the historical Jesus. However I just admit it has made me somewhat question things. I love history is all.
 
So you get your sources on Christianity from a professed non Christian.
 
I recently converted from Islam and I want to become catholic. Jesus would wonder why they didn’t pay attention because the answer that leads to him in in the Quran. Even the devil couldn’t deny that. It’s interesting ,Jesus revealed himself to me while I was reading the Quran. He converted me , no one else did. He led me to the chapters where I could know him. In the Quran there are revelations about Jesus, Mary and the Bible which I believe are clues left by God to lead those who truly seek him out of Islam. If those revelations are not from God, let’s just say even the devil couldn’t deny God but stuck to his mission to mislead God’s creature. The best explanation of the Trinity i found is in the Quran. In the Quran Jesus and Mary are put on a higher pedestal than Mohamed. God calls Jesus in the Quran “ the word of God”, “ the spirit of God” and Christ and is mentioned far many more times than Mohammed. Mary is the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran and had a chapter (19) to her name and another one dedicated to her family. Jesus has created life out of mud , healed and resurrected people from the dead. I fell on my knees and gave my life to Christ. He is coming back , and when he does , I will be ready because he chose me, he gave me another chance. I know that Jesus will still forgive Muslims especially those who blindly believed because of ignorance. I love you Jesus.
 
BornInMarch said:
It may be easy to say “Well the Muslims are just wrong”, but they can just as easily retort “No, we’re right. You’re the ones who are wrong”. From there it will go around in a circle until Jesus personally tells us which one is right. If you say “Jesus did tell us. In the bible he told us Christians are right”, then a Muslim can reply just as easily “In the Koran Jesus told us that Muslims are right”.

You need to understand that people who disagree with you hold their convictions just as surely as you hold yours, and that they consider you just as wrong as you consider them.

Hence, it depends. If you ask a Christian and a Muslim you’ll get two different answers to the question and both will be able to point to their holy scriptures and claim that Jesus supports their view.

It’s good that you think your view is right (nobody holds a view because they think it’s wrong) but you need to answer why you’re sure of that.
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from another thread but i believe it applies:
the major problem as i see it is that only one belief system is true. either the Koran or Bible is true, not both.

the Koran states an impostor died on the cross and not Jesus. the Bible declares Jesus died. the Koran states christians were deceived to believe such claims

the Koran states Jesus is just another prophet. the Bible declares Jesus is God

the Koran states Allah had no children. the Bible declares Jesus is the son of God

the Koran states gabriel was the messenger and not God. The Bible declares the Holy Spirit is God

the Koran indicates man is good and not evil. the Bible declares man is a sinner and needs salvation

the Koran has no records of any miracles; it is the miracle. the Bible records numerous miracles

you can’t believe both are true. one is false and one is true. you can’t debate these statements you have to choose which you believe and follow your conscience.
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He’s got a doctorate of New Testament studies.

Not to mention what he says in the book go completely against Islam’s beliefs of Jesus as well.
 
Kouramyriam said:
I recently converted from Islam and I want to become catholic. Jesus would wonder why they didn’t pay attention because the answer that leads to him in in the Quran. Even the devil couldn’t deny that. It’s interesting ,Jesus revealed himself to me while I was reading the Quran. He converted me , no one else did. He led me to the chapters where I could know him. In the Quran there are revelations about Jesus, Mary and the Bible which I believe are clues left by God to lead those who truly seek him out of Islam. If those revelations are not from God, let’s just say even the devil couldn’t deny God but stuck to his mission to mislead God’s creature. The best explanation of the Trinity i found is in the Quran. In the Quran Jesus and Mary are put on a higher pedestal than Mohamed. God calls Jesus in the Quran “ the word of God”, “ the spirit of God” and Christ and is mentioned far many more times than Mohammed. Mary is the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran and had a chapter (19) to her name and another one dedicated to her family. Jesus has created life out of mud , healed and resurrected people from the dead. I fell on my knees and gave my life to Christ. He is coming back , and when he does , I will be ready because he chose me, he gave me another chance. I know that Jesus will still forgive Muslims especially those who blindly believed because of ignorance. I love you Jesus.
Click to expand...
Such an excellent post!

We also have Jesus saying in Matt 24:26; “Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth”
I think this is the only reference to Muhammed.
 
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