CHRISTIANITY through the lens of CHRISTIAN & MUSLIM SCHOLARS Part One

“It would seem very much as if this Gospel of Paul and other early Christians was markedly different from “the Good News” that Jesus preached during his ministry. Indeed many theologians believe that Paul and other early Christian preachers were the true founder of Christianity, in that it was they rather than Jesus himself who constructed a religion around his person.”

Humphrey Carpenter, the author of “Jesus” [1]

In Muslims eyes, the original teachings of Jesus Christ preached by his disciples and the Nazarene Community of Jerusalem were gradually replaced by a new religion of Paul. (The Pauline Christianity). Paul and his Churches seemed to be convinced that after Faith in Jesus Christ as having shed on the cross-his redeeming blood for the sins of mankind (which Jesus never taught) nothing further is required to attain Salvation. They argued that whoever believes in Jesus Christ as his savior, is sufficient to attain Salvation. Paul says in “Galatians”[2], a letter sometimes known as the Christian declaration of independence from the Law of the Old Testament:

“We become right with God not by doing what the laws command, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” (2:16, NLT)

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul says:

“For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. They won’t go along with God’s way. For Christ has accomplished the whole purpose of the law. All who believe in him are made right with God.” (10:3-4, NLT)

In Galatians 2:21, he says:

“So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me… if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.” (NLT)

Now that faith in Christ has come, Paul adds:

“We no longer need the law as our guardian.” (Galatians 3:25, NLT)

Further he said:

“If you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.” (Galatians 5:4, NLT)

John H. Sailhamer, Professor of Hebrew Scriptures at Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon in his “NIV Compact Bible Commentary”, making his comments on Paul’s teachings states that:

“After 14 years of continuous ministry, Paul later returned to Jerusalem and, at that time was privately examined by the leaders of the Church there. The issue centered on the place of Mosaic Law in the preaching of the Gospel…Paul held stringently to the view that Gentiles were not to be made subject to the stipulations of the Mosaic Law…In Paul’s teaching, Salvation is not dependent on keeping the Mosaic Law.”[3]

Martin Luther (1483-1546 C.E), the founder and greatest leader of the Protestant movement who followed the teachings of Paul also believed that man is saved by faith in Christ alone. (Luther Doctrine of Justification by Faith). Observance of the Law of God or rules of a religious order could not save us, says Luther [4]. Thus, he insisted that good works - such as prayer and fasting - could never redeem sinful man. Only through faith in Christ can believers hope to lead a truly Christian life and win salvation after death.[5] “In Commentary on Galatians”, Luther says:

“Indeed, the Law could only bring accusation and terror, because it showed us the measure of our inadequacy. Instead of bringing the message of hope, the Law revealed ‘the wrath of God, sin, death and damnation in the sight of God.”[6]

This is the reason why Luther rejected the New Testament Book of James as authentic, because St. James teachings to uphold the Law contradicted his thought. “The Catholic Herald”, August 8, 1999 admits:

“…Many do not know that Luther also removed the books of James, Hebrews, Jude and Revelation. These were reinstated by the Lutherans in the following century.”

Pope John Paul II, the head of The Roman Catholic Church, the largest of all Christian denominations that succumb to Pauline thought states that:

“Christianity is a religion of Salvation. The salvation in question is that of the Cross and the Resurrection …Contained within the Cross and the Resurrection is the certainty that God saves men, that he saves him through Christ, through His Cross and His Resurrection.” [7]

Josh McDowell, the great Christian evangelist of our time declares:

“After extensive research, however, I discovered that Christianity is not a religion of men and women working their way to God through “good works”. Nor is it obedience to a pattern of religious ritual. Rather, it is a relationship with a living God, through His Son Jesus Christ.” [8]

In Muslims opinion, Paul’s and his Churches view of the Law (al-Shari‘ah) are difficult to understand. They seemed unaware of the teachings of Jesus and James on the importance of the Law. It is as if they hated what had been revealed by God and reiterated by the Prophets of Israel right down to Jesus Christ. No wonder that Paul even dares to announce in his letter to Galatians that those who follow the Law of Moses are under a curse!

“But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all these commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” (3:10, NLT)

[1] Carpenter, Humphrey, Jesus (Oxford University Press), 1996, 90

[2] Written in 49 C.E, from Antioch. According to Paul, the Galatians should see themselves as free from the Law—free, that is, to serve Christ and be transformed by the Holy Spirit. (New Living Translation of the Holy Bible, 666)

[3] Sailhamer, John H, NIV Compact Bible Commentary (Zondervan Publishing House), 1994, 545

[4] A History of God, 277

[5] Simon, Edith, The Reformation (Time - Life International), 1975, 174

[6] A History of God, 277

[7] Crossing The Threshold of Hope, 70, 65

[8] Jesus: A Biblical Defense of His Deity (Here’s Life Publishers), 1990, 9