AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE, CHARACTER, AND TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST
ACCORDING TO THE KORAN AND ORTHODOX TRADITION
BY
SAMUEL M. ZWEMER
D.D., F.R.G.S.
AUTHOR OF "THE MOSLEM DOCTRINE OF GOD", "ARABIA, THE CRADLE OF ISLAM", "ISLAM; A CHALLENGE TO FAITH", ETC.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
OLIPHANT, ANDERSON & FERRIER
1912
| CHAPTER | |
| INTRODUCTION | |
| I. | HIS NAMES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE Importance of names in the Orient — The name ‘Isa — Its use in the Koran — El Messih — The Word of God — Spirit from God — The title of Prophet — Qualifications of a prophet — The apostles and their special titles — The derivation of the word ‘Isa — of Messih — The homelessness of Jesus — Why is He called the Word of God? — Two other epithets. |
| II. | THE KORAN ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE, DEATH, AND TRANSLATION Three difficulties at the outset because of the character of the Koran, its contradictions and its lack of chronological order — The Annunciation of Jesus — His birth — His miracles — His mission and message — His death, which is both affirmed and denied — His character as an apostle and prophet, including denial of His deity — The meagreness of the Koran account supplemented by tradition — Its authority among Moslems — Sources of Moslem tradition on the Christ — Their reliability. |
| III. | JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO TRADITION,
FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY A translation of Eth-Thalabi's account, which is based on early traditions — The birth of Jesus — Gabriel as the messenger — Mary the sister of Aaron — Jesus speaks from the cradle — The departure of Mary and Jesus to Egypt — Jesus amazes His teacher at school — On the form and figure of Jesus — Concerning the signs and wonders wrought by His hand in His youth — The blind man and the lame man — The marriage of the ruler's son — Jesus and his playmates — He provides food miraculously — He raises a boy from the dead — Dyes garments various colours from one vat — Concerning the return of Mary and Jesus after the death of Herod — His precocity — His prayer for the sick. |
| IV. | JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO TRADITION,
FROM HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY TO HIS SECOND COMING The story of Jesus' disciples — Their names and their call — The special characteristics of Jesus and His miracles — How He created birds from clay — His miracles of healing — The raising of Lazarus — Of the widow's son — The daughter of the toll-gatherer — The raising of Shem, Noah's son — Of Ezra — His knowledge of secrets — His walking on the water — Other traditions concerning Jesus Christ — The story of the loaf — The sending down of the table — Different versions of the story — How Jesus was taken to heaven — The attempt to kill Jesus — The crucifixion of another in His stead — The Last Supper — The disciples asleep in the garden — The binding of Jesus — The death of Jesus, but not on the cross — The story of Mary Magdalene — The disciples are scattered to preach the Gospel — The ascension of Jesus — His return — His grave at Medina — A later account of the trial of Jesus. |
| V. | THE PERSON AND CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST Where the Koran falls short in its Christology — This negative as well as affirmative — Christ's deity and sonship denied — He is a mere man — The pre-existence of Mohammed affirmed; that of Jesus denied — Why Islam denies the Atonement — Modern antagonism in Egypt to Christian doctrine — Some puzzling questions put by Moslems — Seyyid Ameer ‘Ali on the divinity of Christ — What Moslems admit and believe as regards the dignity and purity of Jesus — His titles of honour — His sinlessness — A remarkable tradition — Christ as the healer and worker of miracles — He is a living prophet and can intercede — Jesus Christ announced the coming of Mohammed — Other alleged prophecies in regard to Islam. |
| VI. | HIS TEACHING Meagreness of our sources — No direct quotations from the New Testament — Four references to its teaching — To whom did Jesus Christ come as a teacher — The Gospel according to Moslems — Its corruption by the apostles, especially Paul — The story of Habib the carpenter — Later tradition on the teaching of Jesus — Certain of His sayings — Jesus Christ according to the poets — The parable of the Publican and the Pharisee — The gentleness of Jesus — Words of Jesus which are attributed to Mohammed — The Lord's Prayer — Conclusion. |
| VII. | JESUS CHRIST SUPPLANTED BY MOHAMMED Jesus Christ eclipsed — Mohammed in the foreground; Jesus Christ in the background — This distinguishes Islam from all other religions — In what sense is Mohammed the Moslem Christ — His two hundred and one titles of honour — Prayer for Mohammed — The later biographies of Mohammed a caricature of the Christ — Testimony of René Basset and Dr. Koelle — Mohammed's journey to heaven — How Mohammed resembled Jesus in his birth, his life, his miracles, his death — Isaiah's prophecy of Mohammed — Mohammed the supplanter — Christmas, or the birthday of Mohammed; Friday or Sunday — The name Messiah as applied to Mohammed in current literature, in the Gospel of Barnabas — Islam anti-Christian — Islam in no sense a preparation for Christianity — Christ the centre of our religion — What Moslems think of Him. |
| VIII. | HOW TO PREACH CHRIST TO MOSLEMS WHO KNOW JESUS Why we should do it — The Moslem world needs Jesus Christ — Testimony of Dr. James S. Dennis — Difficulties do not remove responsibility — Islam itself a witness to their need of the Christ — The fact of the Christ a point of vital contact with Moslems — We must become Moslems to the Moslem — The nearest way to the Moslem heart — The message of the Cross — What think ye of the Christ — The strength of Islam overestimated — Back to Mohammed and away from tradition — The revival of Islam — What Christianity will gain by preaching to Moslems — A stronger grip on the fundamentals — A theology based on experience — A conviction that Unitarianism is not Christianity — The Nicene Creed. |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY |
Books by Samuel Zwemer
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