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Religious perspectives on Jesus

AI Overview

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Non-trinitarian Christian groups—such as Unitarianism and Jehovah’s Witnesses—are doctrinally closest to Islam because they reject the Trinity and view Jesus as a prophet or created being rather than God. [1]

Non-Trinitarian Groups (Doctrinal Closeness)

  • Unitarianism: Teaches an absolute strict monotheism and views Jesus as human rather than divine, aligning closely with the Islamic concept of Tawhid (the oneness of God). [1]
  • Jehovah’s Witnesses: Reject the Trinity and consider Jesus to be the Son of God but distinct and subordinate to Almighty God (Jehovah), which parallels the Islamic view of Jesus as a major prophet (Isa) rather than part of a triune Godhead. [1]

Early Historical Sects

  • Ebionites and Nazarenes: Early Jewish-Christian sects from the first centuries CE viewed Jesus as a purely human prophet chosen by God and strictly practiced Jewish law, closely mirroring the strict monotheism and prophetic view of Jesus found in Islam. [1, 2]

Traditional and Cultural Similarities

  • Oriental Orthodoxy (Coptic and Ethiopian Tewahedo): While fully trinitarian, some scholars and observers note that these ancient churches share external cultural, visual, and societal practices with Islam—such as modest dress for women, dietary restrictions, specific prayer postures, and strict fasting traditions. [1]
  • Protestantism: Historically, reformers pointed out minor structural commonalities like the removal of religious images and statues from places of worship and the rejection of monasticism, though core theology regarding Christ remains vastly different. [1]

Contents

Religious perspectives on Jesus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The religious perspectives on Jesus vary among world religions.[1] Jesus‘ teachings and the retelling of his life story have significantly influenced the course of human history, and have directly or indirectly affected the lives of billions of people, including non-Christians.[1][2][3] He is considered by many to be one of the most influential persons to have ever lived, finding a significant place in numerous cultural contexts.[4]

In Christianity, Jesus is the Messiah (Christ) foretold in the Old Testament and the Son of God. Christians believe that through his death and resurrection, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.[5] These beliefs emphasize that as the willing Lamb of God, Jesus chose to suffer in Calvary as a sign of his full obedience to the will of his Father, as an “agent and servant of God”.[6][7] Christians view Jesus as a role model, whose God-focused life believers are encouraged to imitate.

In Islam, Jesus (commonly transliterated as Isa) is the Messiah and one of God’s highest-ranked and most-beloved prophets. Islam considers Jesus to be neither the incarnation nor the Son of God. He is referred to as the son of Mary in the Qu’ran. Islamic texts emphasize a strict affirmation of monotheism (tawhid) and forbid the association of partners with God, which would be idolatry (shirk).

In the Druze faith, Jesus is considered one of God’s important prophets and the Messiah.[8][9]

The Baháʼí Faith considers Jesus to be one of many manifestations of God, who are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world. Baháʼís reject the idea that divinity was contained with a single human body.

Apart from his own disciples and followers, the Jews of Jesus’ day generally rejected him as the Messiah, as do the great majority of Jews today. Mainstream Jewish scholars argue that Jesus neither fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah.

Other world religions such as Buddhism have no particular view on Jesus, and have but a minor intersection with Christianity.

For non-religious perspectives on Jesus, see historical Jesus.

Christianity

Main article: Jesus in Christianity

See also: Ministry of Jesus, Parables of Jesus, Miracles of Jesus, and Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament

Christian views of Jesus are based on the teachings and beliefs as outlined in the Canonical gospels, New Testament letters, the Christian creeds, as well as specific denominational teachings. These documents outline the key beliefs held by Christians about Jesus, including his divinity, humanity, and earthly life, and that he is the Christ and the Son of God.[10]

Although Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to summarize the key beliefs shared among major denominations, as stated in their catechetical or confessional texts.[11] Generally speaking, adhering to the Christian faith requires a belief that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah or Christ. Jesus refers to himself as the Son of God in the New Testament.[12]

Christians consider Jesus to be the Messiah (Christ) and believe that through his death and resurrection, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.[5] These teachings emphasize that as the willing Lamb of God, Jesus chose to suffer in Calvary as a sign of his full obedience to the will of his Father, as an “agent and servant of God”.[6][7] The choice Jesus made thus counter-positions him as a new man of morality and obedience, in contrast to Adam‘s disobedience.[13]

The five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension.[14][15][16] These are usually bracketed by two other episodes: his Nativity at the beginning and the sending of the Paraclete at the end.[14][16] The gospel accounts of the teachings of Jesus are often presented in terms of specific categories involving his “works and words”, e.g. his ministry, parables and miracles.[17][18] The words of Jesus include several sermons, in addition to parables that appear throughout the narrative of the Synoptic Gospels (the gospel of John includes no parables).

Christians not only attach theological significance to the works of Jesus, but also to his name. Devotions to the Holy Name of Jesus go back to the earliest days of Christianity.[19][20] These devotions and feasts exist both in Eastern and Western Christianity.[20]

Incarnation

Further information: Incarnation (Christianity)

Most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and the Son of God. While there has been theological debate over the nature of Jesus, trinitarian Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, thus “true God and true man,” i.e. fully divine and fully human. Jesus, having become fully human in all respects, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, yet He did not sin. As fully God, He defeated death and rose to life again. According to the New Testament, God the Father raised Him from the dead.[21] He ascended to heaven, to be seated at the “right hand of God,”[22] and he will return again for the Last Judgment and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.[23]

Islam

Main article: Jesus in Islam

See also: Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam

In Islam, Jesus (Isa) is considered to be a messenger of God (Allah) and the Messiah (al-Masih) who was sent to guide the Descendants of Israel (Bani Isra’il) with a new scripture, the Gospel (Injil).[24][25]

The Quran mentions Jesus by name 25 times—more often than Muhammad[26]—and emphasises that Jesus was a mortal human who, like all other prophets, had been divinely chosen to spread God’s message.[27] Unlike Christian writings, the Quran does not describe Jesus as the son of God, but as one of four major human messengers (out of many prophets) sent by God throughout history to guide mankind.[28] Jesus is said to have lived a life of piety and generosity, and abstained from eating flesh of swine.

Muslims also believe that Jesus received a Gospel from God, called the Injil. However, Muslims hold that Jesus’ original message was lost or altered and that the Christian New Testament does not accurately represent God’s original message to mankind.[29]

Despite major differences, the Quran and New Testament overlap in other aspects of Jesus’ life; both Muslims and Christians believe that Jesus was miraculously born without a human biological father by the will of God, and that his mother, Mary (Maryam in Arabic), is among the most saintly, pious, chaste and virtuous women ever.[30] The Quran also specifies that Jesus was able to perform miracles—though only by the will of God—including being able to raise the dead, restore sight to the blind and cure lepers.[31] One miracle attributed to Jesus in the Quran, but not in the New Testament, is his being able to speak at only a few days old, to defend his mother from accusations of adultery.[32] It also says that Jesus was a ‘word’ from God, since he was predicted to come in the Old Testament.

Most Muslims believe that he was neither killed nor crucified, but that God made it appear so to his enemies. With the noteworthy exception of Ahmadi Muslims who believe that Jesus was indeed put on the cross, survived the crucifixion and was not lifted bodily to the heaven, the majority of Muslims believe that Jesus ascended bodily to heaven and is alive. Some Muslim scholars maintain that Jesus was indeed put up on the cross, but did not die on it; rather, he revived and then ascended bodily to heaven. Others say that it was actually Judas Iscariot who was mistakenly crucified by the Romans. Regardless, Muslims believe that Jesus is alive in heaven and will return to the world in the flesh to defeat the Antichrist, once the world has become filled with sin, deception and injustice, and then live out the rest of his natural life.[24]

Islam rejects the Trinitarian Christian view that Jesus was God incarnate or the son of God, that he was ever crucified or resurrected or that he ever atoned for the sins of mankind. The Quran says that Jesus himself, when asked by God if he said that people shall regard him and Mary as gods, will deny this.[Quran 5:116]

Judaism

Main article: Judaism’s view of Jesus

Judaism rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of a Trinity, or a mediator to God. Judaism also holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that he had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, there were no more prophets after Malachi, who lived centuries before Jesus and delivered his prophesies about 420 BC.[33]

According to Conservative Judaism, Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah have “crossed the line out of the Jewish community”.[34] Reform Judaism, the modern progressive movement, states “For us in the Jewish community anyone who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate“.[35]

Jesus in Jewish writings

See also: Jesus in the Talmud

The Babylonian Talmud includes stories of Yeshu יֵשׁוּ; the vast majority of contemporary historians disregard these as sources about the historical Jesus.[36] Contemporary Talmud scholars hold similar views, as well as considering the stories to be commentary about the relationship between Judaism and Christians or other sectarians.[37][38]

The Mishneh Torah, a 12th century authoritative work of Jewish law, states in Hilkhot Melakhim 11:10–11 that Jesus misled most of the world to worship other gods but that his ultimate purpose is to “prepare the entire world to serve God together”.

Even Jesus the Nazarene who thought he would be the Messiah and was killed by the court, was already prophesied by Daniel. So that it was said, “And the outlaws of your nation shall rise up to set forth a (prophetic) vision, and they will stumble.”[39] There is a greater obstacle than this: All the prophets spoke that the Messiah would redeem Israel, and save them, and gather their banished ones, and strengthen their commandments. This caused Israel to perish by the sword, and to scatter their remnant, and to humiliate them, and to change the Torah, and to mislead most of the world into worshiping gods other than God.

However, the thoughts of the Creator of the world – there is no power in man to attain them, because our ways are not His ways, nor our thoughts His thoughts. And all these words of Jesus the Nazarene, and of the Ishmaelite who stood after Him – their purpose is but to pave the way for the Messiah, the King, and to prepare the entire world to serve the Lord together; As it is said, “For then I will turn to the nations (giving them) a pure language, to call all of them in the name of the Lord, and together serve Him of one accord”.[40][41]

Samaritanism

At the time of Jesus, the Samaritans constituted a significant Israelite religious community whose worship was centred on Mount Gerizim and whose Pentateuch, priesthood, and traditions were distinct from those of the Jews. They remained a substantial population in Roman and Byzantine Palestine into late antiquity, developing an extensive religious and literary culture before revolts and Byzantine repression contributed to their demographic decline. The Samaritan Tolidah refers polemically to Jesus as the son of Joseph the Carpenter and “Mary the adulteress,” (ישוע בן מרים בן יוסף נגארה בן הנאפת) and places his death under Tiberius and Pontius Pilate during the tenure of High Priest Yahunatan, whose term is listed as twenty-seven years.[42]

Theosophy and Anthroposophy

Jesus in Theosophy is considered one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, belonging to the human members of the so-called White Brotherhood, who incarnate from time to time on Earth to favor the spiritual evolution of humanity.[43]

He is distinguished from the Christ entity, who instead means the divine spark “indwelling” each individual human consciousness.[44] In Blavatsky‘s opinion, the “Jesus God” is a myth concocted two centuries after the real Hebrew Jesus died; the man Jesus of Nazareth was a spiritual reformer, rather named Chrestos («a good man»);[45] he was only a vehicle, while the “Christ” is the cosmic entity of the Logos, who unites with him at baptism and abandons him shortly before the crucifixion,[46] allowing him to ascend through the hierarchy of initiations.[47]

Wooden sculpture in the Goetheanum in Dornach, by Rudolf Steiner, depicting Jesus Christ as the “representative of humanity”, placed in the center as a mediator between the two opposing principles of evil: Lucifer (top left), and Ahriman (bottom).[48]

The real Christ of every Christian is the Vach, the “mystical Voice,” while the man Jeshu was but a mortal like any of us, an adept more by his inherent purity and ignorance of real Evil, than by what he had learned with his initiated Rabbis and the already (at that period) fast degenerating Egyptian Hierophants and priests.

— Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence, n. 111, Quezon City, Theosophical Publishing House, 1993, p. 377

According to theosophists as Alice Bailey, in particular, there are three spiritual «departments» subordinate to the Lord of the World (Sanat Kumara), the second of which, corresponding to the ray of love, is directed by Maitreya (a figure borrowed from Buddhism), known in the West precisely as the Christ.[49] They said that Maitreya had previously incarnated as Krishna, a figure from Hinduism.[46]

Jesus is also a recognized master in Anthroposophy, distinct from Christ too, but this latter is not simply the head of a department: he is, instead, the supreme spirit of the Sun,[50] and the highest of the Elohim.[51]

He chose to incarnate in a human life (Jesus of Nazareth, during the years of his ministry) becoming the “new Adam“, who through his death and resurrection gave the gift not of a doctrine but of his “body”, capable of restoring the formative forces of physical bodies for all people, not just for his followers, by infusing his Christ-impulse into the spiritual atmosphere of the Earth.[52]

According to Rudolf Steiner, there were two different Jesus children involved in the Incarnation of the Christ: one child descended from Solomon, as described in the Gospel of Matthew, the other child from Nathan, as described in the Gospel of Luke.[53][54] The first was joined by the wise spirit of Zarathustra, and the second by the compassionate astral body of Buddha, so that they could unite in the adult Jesus, before giving way to the coming of the Christ Spirit at the moment of baptism.[55]

The so-called Jesus Christ thus became a central balancing force mediating the two opposing polarities of evil, namely the fanatical mysticism of Lucifer, and the cold materialism of Ahriman:[56] corresponding to the moments of diastole and systole (expansion and contraction) in Goethe’s conception.[57] Steiner also criticized the current of Jesuitism, based on the subjugation of the will to the human figure of Jesus, proposing instead Spiritual Science as a path of thought, to understand the profound meaning of divine Christ, including reincarnation and karma.[58]

Baháʼí Faith

Main article: Jesus in the Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God, who are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization.[59] In Baháʼí belief, the Manifestations have always been sent by God, and always will, as part of the single progressive religion from God bringing more teachings through time to help humanity progress.[60] The Manifestations of God are taught to be “one and the same”, and in their relationship to one another have both the station of unity and the station of distinction.[59] In this way each Manifestation of God manifested the Word of God and taught the same religion, with modifications for the particular audience’s needs and culture. Bahá’u’lláh wrote that since each Manifestation of God has the same divine attributes, they can be seen as the spiritual “return” of all the previous Manifestations of God.[59] In this way, Baháʼís believe that Bahá’u’lláh is, in both respects, the return of Jesus.

Druze

The Druze maqam of Al-masih (Jesus) in As-Suwayda Governorate

In the Druze faith, Jesus is considered one of God’s important prophets and the Messiah,[61][62] being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history.[63][64] The Druze venerate Jesus “the son of Joseph and Mary” and his four disciples, who wrote the Gospels.[65] In the Druze tradition, Jesus is known under three titles: the True Messiah (al-Masih al-Haq), the Messiah of all Nations (Masih al-Umam), and the Messiah of Sinners. This is due, respectively, to the belief that Jesus delivered the true Gospel message, the belief that he was the Saviour of all nations, and the belief that he offers forgiveness.[66]

According to the Druze manuscripts Jesus is the Greatest Imam and the incarnation of Ultimate Reason (Akl) on earth and the first cosmic principle (Hadd),[65] and regards Jesus and Hamza ibn Ali as the incarnations of one of the five great celestial powers, who form part of their system.[67] Druze believe that Hamza ibn Ali was a reincarnation of Jesus,[68] and that Hamza ibn Ali is the true Messiah, who directed the deeds of the messiah Jesus “the son of Joseph and Mary”, but when Jesus “the son of Joseph and Mary” strayed from the path of the true Messiah, Hamza filled the hearts of the Jews with hatred for him – and for that reason, they crucified him, according to the Druze manuscripts.[65][69] Despite this, Hamza ibn Ali took him down from the cross and allowed him to return to his family, in order to prepare men for the preaching of his religion.[65]

In an epistle ascribed to one of the founders of Druzism, Baha al-Din al-Muqtana,[70] probably written sometime between AD 1027 and AD 1042, accused the Jews of crucifying Jesus.[71]

Other

Traditionally, Buddhists as a group take no particular view on Jesus, and Buddhism and Christianity have but a minor intersection. However, some scholars have noted similarities between the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha and Jesus. These similarities might be attributed to Buddhist missionaries sent as early as Emperor Ashoka around 250 BC in many of the Greek Seleucid kingdoms that existed then and then later became the same regions in which Christianity began.[72]

Jesus was seen as the saviour and bringer of gnosis by various Gnostic sects, such as the quasi-extinct Manichaeism.

The Vietnamese syncretic religion Cao Dai locates Jesus in the celestial Council of Great Spirits that directs the universe.[73]

In the Ahmadiyya Islamic view, Jesus survived the crucifixion and later travelled to India, where he lived as a prophet (and died) under the name of Yuz Asaf.

According to The Urantia Book, Jesus was one of numerous sons of God named Michael of Nebadon, who took on earthly incarnation.[74]

In Raëlism, Jesus and several other religious figures are considered prophets sent by an extraterrestrial race called the Elohim.[75]

The Religious Science movement considers Jesus to be a teacher of “Science of Mind”.[75][76]

The Lacandon people of Central America acknowledge Äkyantho’, the god of foreigners. He has a son named Hesuklistos (Jesus Christ) who is supposed to be the god of the foreigners. They recognize that Hesuklistos is a god but do not feel he is worthy of worship as he is a minor god.[77]

Hinduism has no established set of beliefs and no universal or common view of Jesus. However, a lot of Hindus, including religious and political leaders, tend to variously consider Jesus as either a Āchārya, Sadhu or Avatar.[78][79][80] Some Hare Krishnas also claim that Jesus Christ is an exemplary Hare Krishna devotee, and was predicted and prophesied in the Bhavishya Purana.[81]

See also

References

  1.  The Blackwell Companion to Jesus edited by Delbert Burkett 2010 ISBN 1-4051-9362-X page 1 
  2.  The Cambridge companion to Jesus edited by Markus N. A. Bockmuehl 2001 ISBN 0-521-79678-4 pages 156-157
  3.  The historical Christ and the Jesus of faith by C. Stephen Evans 1996, Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-826397-X page v
  4.  Bauckham, Richard (2011). Jesus: A Very Short Introduction. United States: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0199575275.
  5.  Oxford Companion to the Bible p.649
  6.  The Christology of Anselm of Canterbury by Dániel Deme 2004 ISBN 0-7546-3779-4 pages 199-200
  7.  The Christology of the New Testament by Oscar Cullmann 1959 ISBN 0-664-24351-7 page 79
  8.  Hitti, Philip K. (1928). The Origins of the Druze People and Religion: With Extracts from Their Sacred Writings. Library of Alexandria. p. 37. ISBN 9781465546623.
  9.  Dana, Nissim (2008). The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status. Michigan University press. p. 17. ISBN 9781903900369.
  10.  Schreiner, Thomas R. (2008). New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ. Baker Academic. pp. 23–37. ISBN 978-0-8010-2680-5.
  11.  Jackson, Gregory L. (1993). Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant: a doctrinal comparison. Christian News. pp. 11–17. ISBN 978-0-615-16635-3.
  12.  One teacher: Jesus’ teaching role in Matthew’s gospel by John Yueh-Han Yieh 2004 ISBN 3-11-018151-7 pages 240-241
  13.  Systematic Theology, Volume 2 by Wolfhart Pannenberg 2004 0567084663 ISBN pages 297-303
  14.  Essays in New Testament interpretation by Charles Francis Digby Moule 1982 ISBN 0-521-23783-1 page 63
  15.  The Melody of Faith: Theology in an Orthodox Key by Vigen Guroian 2010 ISBN 0-8028-6496-1 page 28
  16.  Scripture in tradition by John Breck 2001 ISBN 0-88141-226-0 page 12
  17.  The Bible Knowledge Commentary by John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck 1983 ISBN 0-88207-812-7 page 100
  18.  The words and works of Jesus Christ by J. Dwight Pentecost 2000 ISBN 978-0-310-30940-6 page 212
  19.  Outlines of dogmatic theology, Volume 2 by Sylvester Hunter 2010 ISBN 1-146-98633-5 page 443
  20.  Jesus: the complete guide by Leslie Houlden 2006 ISBN 0-8264-8011-X page 426
  21.  Acts 2:24, Romans 10:9, 1Cor 15:15, Acts 2:31–32, 3:15, 3:26, 4:10, 5:30, 10:40–41, 13:30, 13:34, 13:37, 17:30–31, 1Cor 6:14, 2Cor 4:14, Gal 1:1, Eph 1:20, Col 2:12, 1Thess 1:10, Heb 13:20, 1Pet 1:3, 1:21
  22.  Mark 16:19, Luke 22:69, Acts 2:33, 5:31, 7:55–56, Romans 8:34, Eph 1:20, Col 3:1, Hebrews 1:3, 1:13, 10:12, 12:2, 1Peter 3:22
  23.  cf. John 14:1–3, Acts 1:10–11, Luke 21:27, Revelation 1:7
  24.  Glassé, Cyril (2008). Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 270–271. ISBN 978-0-7425-6296-7.
  25.  Esposito, John L. (2003). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-19-975726-8.
  26.  Aboul-Enein, Youssef H. (2010). Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat. Naval Institute Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-61251-015-6.
  27.  Fasching, Darrell J.; deChant, Dell (2001). Comparative Religious Ethics: A Narrative Approach. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 241, 274–275. ISBN 978-0-631-20125-0.
  28.  Annemarie Schimmel (1975). Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill:University of North Carolina Press. p. 202.
  29.  Paget, James C. (2001). “Quests for the historical Jesus”. In Bockmuehl, Markus N. A. (ed.). Cambridge companion to Jesus. Cambridge University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-521-79678-1.
  30.  Esposito, John. What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam. New York: University Press, 2002. P31.
  31.  Morgan, Diane (2010). Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice. ABC-CLIO. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-0-313-36025-1.
  32.  Quran 19:27-33
  33.  Simmons, Shraga, “Why Jews Do not Believe in Jesus“, Retrieved April 15, 2007; “Why Jews Do not Believe in Jesus“, Ohr Samayach — Ask the Rabbi, Retrieved April 15, 2007; “Why do not Jews believe that Jesus was the Messiah? Archived 2020-05-08 at the Wayback Machine“, AskMoses.com, Retrieved April 15, 2007
  34.  Waxman, Jonathan (2006). “Messianic Jews Are Not Jews”. United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Archived from the original on January 9, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2008. Judaism has held that the Mashiach will come and usher in a new era; not that he will proclaim his arrival, die and wait centuries to finish his task. To continue to assert that Jesus was the Mashiach goes against the belief that the Mashiach will transform the world when he does come, not merely hint at a future transformation at some undefined time to come… Judaism rejects the claim that a new covenant was created with Jesus and asserts instead that the chain of Tradition reaching back to Moshe continues to make valid claims on our lives, and serve as more than mere window dressing.
  35.  Contemporary American Reform Responsa, #68, “Question 18.3.4: Reform’s Position On…What is unacceptable practice?“, faqs.org. Retrieved April 15, 2007.
  36.  Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition)
  37.  Daniel Boyarin, Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999
  38.  Jeffrey Rubenstein Rabbinic Stories (The Classics of Western Spirituality) New York: The Paulist Press, 2002
  39.  Dan. 11:14
  40.  Zeph. 3:9
  41.  “Book 14, Hilchot Malachim, 11:10-11”. mechon-mamre.org (in Hebrew). M.Mamre. 9 April 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
  42.  Marom, Roy. “Continued Pasts: Samaritan Tolidah Extensions and Self-Reflections on History.” Texts as Living Objects: Dhayls and Knowledge Transmission in the Islamic World, edited by Sacha Alsancakli and Philip Bockholt, Brill, 2026, pp. 223–49 (pp. 229-230).
  43.  Campbell 1980, p. 54.
  44.  Campbell 1980, p. 3.
  45.  From the greek χρηστδςό Κύριος («the Lord is good»), as St. Peter said in 1st Epistle, II, 3 (“Jesus Christ”. Theosophy World.)
  46.  Poller 2018, p. 85.
  47.  Initiation is a Theosophical concept according to which there are seven levels of spiritual development through which living beings on Earth can progress. Master Jesus is said to have passed the fourth level of initiation, achieving enlightenment and thus the opportunity to become a member of the Spiritual Hierarchy (Benjamin Creme, Maitreya’s Mission, Amsterdam Share International Foundation, 1986, page 195).
  48.  Richard Leviton (1994). The Imagination of Pentecost: Rudolf Steiner and Contemporary Spirituality. SteinerBooks. p. 226.
  49.  Alice A. Bailey (1922). “The three departments”. Initiation, Human and Solar. Chapter 5.
  50.  Steiner, Rudolf (1913). “Christ and the Spiritual World – The Search for the Holy Grail (GA 149)”. Leipzig: The Rudolf Steiner Archive.
  51.  Steiner, Rudolf (1909). “Spiritual Hierarchies (GA 110)”. Düsseldorf: The Rudolf Steiner Archive.
  52.  Günther Dellbrügger (December 2006). “The resurrection body as “phantom” body” (PDF). The Cristian Community Perspectives. in Resurrection of the Body: 9–12.
  53.  Steiner, Rudolf (1984). McDermott, Robert (ed.). The essential Steiner: basic writings of Rudolf Steiner (1st ed.). San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-065345-0.
  54.  Johnson, Marshall D. (1969). Black, Matthew (ed.). The Purpose of the Biblical Genealogies with Special Reference to the Setting of the Genealogies of Jesus. London: Cambridge University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-521-07317-2.
  55.  Steiner, Rudolf (1911). “From Jesus to Christ (GA 131)”. Karlsruhe: The Rudolf Steiner Archive.
  56.  Steiner, Rudolf (1915). “Christ In Relation To Lucifer and Ahriman (GA 159)”. Translated by Mollenhauer, Peter. Linz: The Rudolf Steiner Archive.
  57.  Caroline Chanter (2021). A Life with Colour. Rudolf Steiner Press. ISBN 978-1-85584-595-4.
  58.  Steiner, Rudolf (1911). “Jesuit and Rosicrucian Training (GA 131)”. Karlsruhe: The Rudolf Steiner Archive.
  59.  Cole, Juan (1982). “The Concept of Manifestation in the Baháʼí Writings”. Études Baháʼí Studies. monograph 9: 1–38 – via Bahá’í Library Online.
  60.  Smith, Peter (2000). “Progressive revelation”. A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá’í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 276–277. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
  61.  Hitti, Philip K. (1928). The Origins of the Druze People and Religion: With Extracts from Their Sacred Writings. Library of Alexandria. p. 37. ISBN 9781465546623.
  62.  Dana, Nissim (2008). The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status. Michigan University press. p. 17. ISBN 9781903900369.
  63.  Hitti, Philip K. (1928). The Origins of the Druze People and Religion: With Extracts from Their Sacred Writings. Library of Alexandria. p. 37. ISBN 9781465546623.
  64.  Dana, Nissim (2008). The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status. Michigan University press. p. 17. ISBN 9781903900369.
  65.  Dana, Nissim (2008). The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status. Michigan University press. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-903900-36-9.
  66.  Swayd, Samy (2019). The A to Z of the Druzes. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 88. ISBN 9780810870024. Jesus is known in the Druze tradition as the “True Messiah” (al-Masih al-Haq), for he delivered what Druzes view as the true message. He is also referred to as the “Messiah of the Nations” (Masih al-Umam) because he was sent to the world as “Masih of Sins” because he is the one who forgives.
  67.  Crone, Patricia (2013). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Princeton University Press. p. 139. ISBN 9780691134840.
  68.  S. Sorenson, David (2008). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Routledge. p. 239. ISBN 9780429975042. They further believe that Hamza ibn Ali was a reincarnation of many prophets, including Christ, Plato, Aristotle.
  69.  Massignon, Louis (2019). The Passion of Al-Hallaj, Mystic and Martyr of Islam, Volume 1: The Life of Al-Hallaj. Princeton University Press. p. 594. ISBN 9780691610832.
  70.  Nettler, Ronald (2014). Muslim-Jewish Encounters. Routledge. p. 140. ISBN 9781134408542. …One example of Druze anti—Jewish bias is contained in an epistle ascribed to one of the founders of Druzism, Baha al-Din
  71.  L. Rogan, Eugene (2011). The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948. Cambridge University Press. p. 73. ISBN 9780521794763.
  72.  Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times” by Jerry H.Bentley (Oxford University Press, 1993) ISBN 0-19-507639-7
  73.  Blagov, Serguei A. (2001). “5: Caodaist Hierarchy and Ritials [sic]”. Caodaism: Vietnamese Traditionalism and Its Leap Into Modernity. Nova Publishers. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-59033-150-7. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  74.  House, Wayne (2000). Charts of Cults, Sects and Religious Movements. Zondervan. p. 262. ISBN 9780310385516.
  75.  Hutson, Steven (2006). What They Never Taught You in Sunday School: A Fresh Look at Following Jesus. City Boy Enterprises. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-59886-300-0.
  76.  Ankerberg, John; Weldon, John. “What Does Religious Science Teach About Jesus?” (PDF). Ankerberg Theological Research Institute. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  77.  McGee, Jon (2002) “Watching Lacandon Maya Lives,” Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
  78.  “A Hindu’s Jesus | Reform Magazine”. 26 September 2016.
  79.  Wallace, J. Warner (2017-12-04). “Who Is Jesus, According to Other Religions? | Cold Case Christianity”. coldcasechristianity.com. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  80.  Rishi Das, Shaunaka (24 March 2009). “BBC – Religions – Hinduism: Jesus in Hinduism”. http://www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018.
  81.  Dāsa, Maitreya Ṛṣi (2021-01-13). “What do the Hare Krishnas think about Jesus Christ?”. Krishna devotees London. Retrieved 2023-12-03.

Sources

Further reading

Slade, Darren M. (January 2014). “Arabia Haeresium Ferax (Arabia Bearer of Heresies): Schismatic Christianity’s Potential Influence on Muhammad and the Qur’an” (PDF). American Theological Inquiry. 7 (1): 43–53. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.

source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_perspectives_on_Jesus

Jesus in India (book)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Book cover of 2003 English edition
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Jesus in India (Urdu: مسیح ہندوستان میں; Masīh Hindustān Meiń) is a treatise written by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1889. The treatise, which was then published as a book, puts forward the view that Jesus survived crucifixion, left Judea and migrated eastward in order to continue his mission to the ‘Lost Tribes of Israel‘, traveling through Persia and Afghanistan and eventually dying a natural and honourable death in Kashmir at an old age. The book also makes references to several lost Jewish tribes.[1][2] Ghulam Ahmad applied textual analysis of both the Gospels and Islamic sources – the Quran and hadith – and also drew upon medical and historical material, including what he claimed were ancient Buddhist records, to argue his case. Some modern scholars such as Norbert Klatt (1988) have rejected Ghulam Ahmad’s use of these latter sources as misreadings of material unrelated to Jesus.[3]

Background

The book was completed in 1899 and was partly serialised in the Review of Religions in 1902–1903. It was published in book form shortly after Ghulam Ahmad’s death in 1908.[1] The first complete English translation was published in 1944.[1]

Content of the book

The treatise suggests that Jesus, having survived crucifixion, discreetly left Roman jurisdiction for the East, starting his journey from Jerusalem and passing through Nisibis and Persia, eventually reaching Afghanistan where he met the Israelite tribes who had settled there after their escape from the bonds of Nebuchadnezzar centuries before. From here he travelled to Kashmir where some Israelite tribes had also settled and lived there until his death at an old age.[4]

Other authors have suggested that the resemblance between Buddhist and Christian teachings and between the lives of Jesus and Buddha as recorded in their respective scriptures indicate that Buddhist teachings must have reached Palestine and been incorporated by Jesus into his own teaching, or that he must have travelled to India pre-crucifixion.[5] Ghulam Ahmad, however, asserts that Jesus reached India only after the crucifixion and that Buddhists later reproduced elements of the Gospels in their scriptures. He argues that Jesus also preached to Buddhist monks, some of whom were originally Jews, who accepted him as a manifestation of the Buddha, the ‘promised teacher’, and mingled his teachings with Buddha’s.

Jesus in India also contains claims on the whereabouts of the Lost Tribes of Israel, suggesting that these tribes were scattered throughout Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Tibet.[6] It also provides a list of tribes of these regions seeking to trace their Israelite roots.[dubious – discuss]

Alleged discovery

Ahmadiyya literature states that one of Ghulam Ahmad’s disciples, Khalifa Nur Din (or Noor al-Din) of Jalalpur Jattan, District Gujrat, Pakistan spoke to him about a tomb in Srinagar that was said to be the tomb of a prophet named Yuz Asaf. Ghulam Ahmad instructed him to do some further research into the matter. Nur Din went to Srinagar and stayed there for about four months. He collected information and also obtained the signatures of 556 inhabitants who attested that, according to their traditions, the remains of Jesus Christ lay in the Roza Bal.[7] He also brought back a sketch of the Roza Bal. Thereafter, Ghulam Ahmad decided to send one of his followers, Maulvi Abdullah, to Kashmir to investigate this tomb. Maulvi Abdullah arrived in Kashmir, conducted his investigations, and wrote back to Ghulam Ahmad about his findings. Ghulam Ahmad then published a poster that contained Maulvi Abdullah’s letter, as well as Maulvi Abdullah’s sketch of the Roza Bal.

Ghulam Ahmad began studying the local traditions of the people of Kashmir, both oral and written, and discovered that these traditions, as mentioned in the letter from Maulvi Abdullah, referred to the Roza Bal as the tomb of Nabi Isa (Prophet Jesus). According to this information, the Muslims in that locality did not believe Jesus to be in heaven, as was taught by the orthodox clergy. The Ahmadiyya publication, Review of Religions, recorded this belief in its October, 1909 edition.[8]

Modern reception

The claims of the book regarding a journey of Jesus to India are rejected or ignored by most scholars. The documents used by Ahmad were reviewed by the German indologist Günter Grönbold in Jesus in Indien. Das Ende einer Legende (Munich, 1985), with Grönbold concluding that Ahmad had misidentified material from the Barlaam and Josaphat texts relating to a Christianized version of the life of Siddhartha Gautama, not of Jesus.[9] Another German scholar Norbert Klatt in Lebte Jesus in Indien? (1988) examined the same Muslim and Christian source texts and came to the same conclusions as Grönbold.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1.  The publisher’s note (page v) at the beginning of the book states: “Written in 1899, and partly serialized in Review of Religions in 1902 and 1903, the book itself was posthumously published on 20 November 1908.” Jesus in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1 July 2003) ISBN 1853727237
  2.  J. Gordon Melton The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena 2007 p377
  3.  Klatt, Lebte Jesus in Indien? Göttingen : Wallstein-Verlag, 1988
  4.  “Jesus in India”. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  5.  “The Tomb of Jesus Website”. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  6.  “JESUS in INDIA” (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2005. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  7.  “The Tomb of Jesus Website”. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  8.  “The Tomb of Jesus Christ Website” (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  9.  Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (spuria): Einführung 2009 3110210991 “…Jahrhunderts, in dem auf die Barlaam-Parabel vom König und seinem weisen Ratgeber (Kitāb Bilawhar wa Būdāsf, übers. … Ghulām Ahmad aber scheint ganz selbständig eine Manipulation von Yūdāsafzu Yūzāsaf vorgenommen zu haben, und sie ist für ihn höchst wichtig: Das Grab in Srinagar … 99 101 sein Buch überarbeitet104, Grönbold und Klatt sogar ins Literaturverzeichnis aufgenommen, 156 “

Tomb of jesus in Kashmir

External links

source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_India_(book)

Categories: Christianity, Jesus In Islam, Jesus Son Of Mary

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