Jesus' Execution - Atheism 101

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The Execution of Jesus

The Bible

Acts 10:39 We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree,

Galations 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

Deuteronomy 21:23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Acts 7:52Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him--

The Qur'ân
The Crucifixion of Jesus in View of Muslim Theology
by Dr. Christine Schirrmacher

The Qur'ân deals with the crucifixion of Jesus only in a single verse. Because of its ambigiousness this verse is the starting-point of all discussion about the crucifixion. Sura 4,157-158 reads:

"... and they (the Jews) have said, 'Verily we have slain Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle of God'. But they slew him not, neither crucified him, but it seemed to them as if (or: he seemed to them to be crucified). They did not kill him with certainty. No, God took him up unto himself".

http://www.beliefnet.com/boards/message_list.asp?pageID=3&discussionID=189122&messages_per_page=4

The Jews had the POWER to EXECUTE people as made CLEAR by the New Testament. In Acts 6, Stephen was STONED. And most Christians fail to remember what Paul had to say in regards to the crucifixion.

1 Thessalonians 14-15 "For you, brothers, become followers of the Churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the JEWS: Who both KILLED THE LORD JESUS, and the their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they PLEASE NOT GOD, and are contrary to all men."

Bashr Ahmad states:

..."for their saying we have killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, they killed him not nor did they cause his death on the cross... 4:157

The words 'We did kill the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah,' (4:157) are spoken ironically and tauntingly, meaning, "we have killed Jesus who posed as the Messiah and a Messenger of God." The argument of the Jews was that because Jesus died on the cross, he could not be a true Prophet according to Jewish Law. The inference was based on their sacred scriptures; for, according to the Bible, he who is hanged is accursed of God, and a false Prophet shall meet with destruction. Says the Bible: "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; for who that is hanged is accursed of God that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance " (Deut. 21:23). Again: "My hand shall be upon false prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies " (Ezekial 13:9). Again: "Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in My name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; by sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed" (Jet. 14:16).

On the strength of such verses of the Bible the Jews claimed that, as Jesus had been crucified and met with destruction, he could not be a true Prophet of God, but was a false claimant and an accursed one.

Before moving on to your other questions, I feel that I should mention that the Bible also contains at least two instances of prophets being taken up to Heaven by God before they died. If you look at the Old Testament, II Kings 2:11-12 tells us: " . . . and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried . . . And he saw him no more . . . ". Also, Genesis 5:24 tells us that Enoch "was taken" by God. That this means up into Heaven is confirmed in the New Testament (Hebrews 11:5), where it says: "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God translated him . . . that he had pleased God". It is interesting to note that the reason Enoch did not "see death" was that "he had pleased God", which directly contradicts the popular Christian myth that all men, including the prophets, were condemned sinners until Jesus, peace be upon him, paid the ransom for their sins. (It is also interesting to note that (St.) Paul, the author of Hebrews, is referring back to Genesis 5:24 when he makes this statement. However, his version of the verse is quite different than Genesis 5:24! It seems that the version of Genesis which he was using back then was rather flawed, since it does not contain anything that really supports his claim. Mistakes like this by the New Testament authors are quite common, since they usually relied upon the Septuagint (i.e. the Greek translation of the Old Testament) instead of the Hebrew Old Testament.) But anyway . . . the main points that should be considered here are two: 1) being taken up into Heaven before death does not imply any sort of "Divinity", since neither Elijah, Enoch nor Muhammad are considered "Divine"; and 2) even though God may state His reason for doing such a thing, i.e. Enoch pleased Him, or to save Jesus from the Jews, the overall wisdom behind it may still seem strange to us. However, the meaning of Islam is "submission to Almighty God", and realizing that Almighty God is the most wise is part of our faith - so we know that if knowing something would benefit us, God would have revealed it. By the way, I mentioned Muhammad, peace be upon him, along with Elijah and Enoch above, because he too was taken up to Heaven. However, he was the only one to come back to earth afterwards - which is a unique blessing for him and his followers.

he himself is supposed to be an equal member of the Holy Trinity (see Acts 2:33, 7:55-56, Romans 8:34, Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 10:12 and 12:12). Notice that the verses say the right hand of "God", not "the Father", which makes it rather difficult to interpret in a Trinitarian way (at least if one wants to remain a monotheist).

For example, in Luke 11:20, Jesus says: " . . . I with the finger of God cast out devils"; and in John 5:30, Jesus says: "I can of my own self do nothing". Additionally, Mark 6:5-6 tells us that Jesus, peace be upon him, went to a certain village and "he could do no miracle" there. Another good proof of this is what Jesus, peace be upon him, says immediate before raising Lazarus from the dead: " . . . Father, I thank You that You have heard me. And I know that You always hear me, but because of the people standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent me." (John 11:41-42). This verse makes it clear that Jesus, peace be upon him, wanted the people to know that it was God that was doing the miracle not Jesus himself.

God spoke similarly in other passages (Qur'an 5:117; 4:155-161). God cursed the Jews for various things. Among them was "their speaking against Mary a tremendous calumny" (Qur'an 4:156), and their claiming that she was a fornicator. They are also condemned for their claim "We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, God's messenger" (Qur'an 4:157). God said: "They slew him not nor crucified him, hut it appeared so to them" (Qur'an 4:157).

In the Qur'an (4:147) God has made it clear that He has raised up Christ alive and saved him from death, and that they will believe in him before he dies. This is confirmed by God's saying, "and I am purifying you from those who have disbelieved" (Qur'an 3:55); had he died there would have been no difference between him and others.

God says: "They certainly did not kill him, but God raised him up to Himself" (Qur'an 5:157-158).

Swifty, your statement that Jesus was crucified seems to be contradicted by the Qur'aanic passage "nor crucified him not."

You are referring to 1) the New Testament scripture in which Jesus said, "I and my Father are One". And you're referencing 2) the concept of the Trinity.