Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff | Article
Source & Credit: Google Knol | Read here
By Zia H. Shah, MD | Upstate, NY
Jesus did not die on the cross. He was put on the cross, but survived. He was in coma when taken off the cross and was later able to escape as is evidenced from the empty tomb. My two billion Christian brethren and sisters need to find a new religion. May I suggest Islam, as Ahmadiyya Muslim Community understands it. It was an every day case of resuscitation and not the ever otherwise witnessed case of resurrection!
Watch a BBC Documentary on Jesus in Kashmir
This thirty minute documentary by BBC, examines what happened to Jesus Christ after he was put on the cross, based on Bible, historical and medical evidence:
Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DXCZFRsyl8
Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T340DUSq9SY
Part III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cy8M4VzU-Y
The evidence presented indeed establishes the Quranic claim, “Allah made the son of Mary and his mother a Sign, and gave them refuge on an elevated land of green valleys and springs of running water.” (Al Quran 23:51)
Timothy James McVeigh was convicted of crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to electric chair. A few days after his supposed execution, he was seen roaming the streets of Oklahoma. Did he resurrect or escape his punishment? This metaphor is to prepare the Christian reader to be able to understand the evidence that follows.
Jesus in India is an English version of Masih Hindustan mein, an Urdu treatise written by the holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835 – 1908). The Urdu treatise was published in 1899.
The main thesis expounded in the treatise is Jesus’ escape from an ignominious death on the Cross and his subsequent journey to India in quest of the lost tribes of Israel whom he had to gather into his fold as mentioned in the New Testament.
Abundant evidence has been furnished from Christian as well as Muslim Scriptures, old medical books and books of history, including ancient Buddhist records, to illustrate the theme.
Starting upon his journey from Jerusalem and passing from thence through Nasibus and Iran, Jesus is shown to have reached Afghanistan, where he met the Jews who had settled there after their deliverance from the bondage of Nebuchadnezzar.
From Afghanistan Jesus went to Kashmir, where some Israelite tribes had also settled. He made this place his home and here he died. His tomb has been traced and found in Khanyar Street, Srinagar. You can read the whole text online: http://www.alislam.org/library/books/jesus-in-india/index.html
Now let me introduce an author and a book by him that covers this topic.
"Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan was a Pakistani politician, diplomat, and international jurist, known particularly for his representation of Pakistan at the United Nations (UN).
The son of the leading attorney of his native city, Zafrulla Khan studied at Government College in Lahore and received his LL.B. from King's College, London University, in 1914. He practiced law in Sialkot and Lahore, became a member of the Punjab Legislative Council in 1926, and was a delegate in 1930, 1931, and 1932 to the Round Table Conferences on Indian reforms in London. In 1931–32 he was president of the All-India Muslim League (later the Muslim League), and he sat on the British viceroy's executive council as its Muslim member from 1935 to 1941. He led the Indian delegation to the League of Nations in 1939, and from 1941 to 1947 he served as a judge of the Federal Court of India.
Prior to the partition of India in 1947, Zafrulla Khan presented the Muslim League's view of the future boundaries of Pakistan to Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the man designated to decide the boundaries between India and Pakistan. Upon the independence of Pakistan, Zafrulla Khan became the new country's minister of foreign affairs and served concurrently as leader of Pakistan's delegation to the UN (1947–54). From 1954 to 1961 he served as a member of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. He again represented Pakistan at the UN in 1961–64 and served as president of the UN General Assembly in 1962–63. Returning to the International Court of Justice in 1964, he served as the court's president from 1970 to 1973.
He was knighted in 1935. He is the author of Islam: Its Meaning for Modern Man (1962) and wrote a translation of the Qur'an (1970)." [Encyclopedia Britannica]http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Deliverance-from-the-Cross-20080607MN.pdf
Many execerpts from Sir Zafrulla Khan's book are included in a discussion Forum on the same topic: http://www.religionforums.org/thread-2066-page-1.html
Also check out: http://tombofjesus.com/
I belong to Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and we have a very mundane (opposed to supernatural) understanding of Jesus Christ's life and death. He lived like a man like billions have before and since. So, if no archeological or other evidence was coming forth one should presume that Jeus died like any other man or prophet, like Moses, Aaron, Noah, Solomon, etc. etc.
But every so often religious zeal and legend elevates man to the status of God.
Now imagine if some one was condemned to death by law and is awaiting his punishment, and then he suddenly disappears. What would FBI be doing with all those who have information about the fugitive? Imagine how far would people go to save themselves from the wrath of FBI?
Compound this with the fact that Old Testament (Torah) said that whoever dies on the Cross is a false prophet. Under these two pressures, secular and spiritual, we have a perfect making for the legend of his divinity and incarnation and him dying on the cross, as he escaped from his tomb, where he was lying in coma.
The fact of the matter is that he survived his ordeal on the cross. Generally it takes days and not hours for a person to die. Additionally Jesus' legs were not broken when he was taken off the cross. Read a small booklet Christianity a journey from fact to fiction: http://www.alislam.org/library/books/christianity_facts_to_fiction/index.html
All agnostics and Atheists, help me out here to make Jesus human, that will decrease the gulf between you and the main body of Christians, and we will all live in greater peace and enlightenment.
After you watch the half hour movie and then read the book Jesus in India mentioned above, and if you really get intrigued then also get the following checked out:
Jesus in India – King of Wisdom
This is a book and a documentary movie by Paul Davids. The film was chosen by the Sundance Channel for a national U.S. television broadcast as its Christmas documentary for 2008, with a prime time airing December 22nd and a repeat broadcast the day after Christmas and on the day of New Year’s Eve. Additionally, the International Television Division
of NBC Universal offers the film for broadcasts around the world.
To read the foreword of the book go to: http://www.reviewofreligions.org/download/RR201001.pdf
Time to go Unitarian. President Thomas Jefferson wanted you to!
Read original Knol here: Jesus did not die on the cross
hahaha, yeh nice, you forgot the bit where the soldiers stabbed jesus in the side, and he bled out, blood an plasma seperated, which means he was dead
ReplyDeleteScott: you need a lesson in science, as the most, 'the world is five thousand years old,' wackos do, that blood does not 'gush' out of dead men. When the water and blood had 'gushed' out, it meant the heart was pumping, pumping, and pumping.... If he was dead, the blood should have, at best, seeped out... Comprende..
ReplyDeleteIn which version of Scripture does it say the blood gushed out?
ReplyDeleteYour lack of grace is also very apparent. I am doing some reading on Ahmadiyya and converts are claiming how incredibly kind you all are. "Wackos" is hardly kind and gives lie to all those stories.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete"In which version of Scripture does it say the blood gushed out?"
John 19:34 says "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water."
The word 'gushed forth has been replaced with other versions i.e. 'came forth', 'sudden flow', etc.
The previous version had used the words 'gushed forth' that was the correct translation of:
καὶ εὐθὺς ἐξῆλθεν αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ
As I asked - which version. I have looked up both the King James version (1611) and Wycliff (1380's) and neither of them use the terminology "gushed out". Which version previous to Wycliff are you talking of that used the term "gushed forth"?
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting on a reply to my question regarding the KJV and Tyndale's use of came forth in John 19:34.
ReplyDeleteThe greek word "euthus" (from 4-5 lexicons checked) always connoted "immediately, wihhout delay, with force" so it is not al all inconsistent to describe the blood and water that "came out forthright" as "gushed out." The key linguistic point being that as soon as the soldier pierced the side of Jesus with his spear tip, the blood and water that came out did so immediately as under pressure. This would lend credence toi the argument that Jesus' heart was still pumping which produced the pressure that caused the blood and water to come out forcefully. As has been previously stated, a dead body has no blood pressure and so a wound -- especially in the side between the ribs where there are NO major vessels or arteries, would result in a slow seepage, adn then certainly not immediately with force as indicated by the greek word "euthus." -- M.A.GHAFFAR
ReplyDeleteSorry, I didn't know that the original language wasn't enough. To the best of my knowledge Bible wasn't written in the English language originally.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, here are parallels to 'gush forth' when translated to ordinary English.
http://bible.cc/john/19-34.htm
<< John 19:34 >>
New International Version (©1984):
Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
New Living Translation (©2007:
One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
English Standard Version (©2001):
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
New American Standard Bible (©1995):
But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
International Standard Version (©2008):
Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water immediately came out.
GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995):
However, one of the soldiers stabbed Jesus' side with his spear, and blood and water immediately came out.
King James Bible:
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
American King James Version:
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and immediately came there out blood and water.
American Standard Version:
howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water.
Bible in Basic English:
But one of the men made a wound in his side with a spear, and straight away there came out blood and water.
Douay-Rheims Bible:
But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water.
Darby Bible Translation:
but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.
English Revised Version:
howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water.
Webster's Bible Translation:
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came out blood and water.
Weymouth New Testament:
One of the soldiers, however, made a thrust at His side with a lance, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
World English Bible:
However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Young's Literal Translation:
but one of the soldiers with a spear did pierce his side, and immediately there came forth blood and water;
In response to the common belief that, because the Bible states that "blood and water' came out thus "proving" Jesus (pbuh) was already dead, what is being assumed is that the blood and water were the separated components of the blood platelets from the serum. The problem with this is that such separation takes anywhere from 24-72 hours or longer depending on the outside temperature. (During WWII on the Russian front, blood transfusions were done using the blood from soldiers dead for 3 or more days because the blood had not yet separated into its comoponent parts.) The "blood and water" described as coming out of the side of Jesus (pbuh) is therefore the result of non-separated blood along with water or other fluids in the chest cavity resulting from the traumas Jesus suffered during the entire ordeal of the crucifixion.
ReplyDeleteWhat is significant about the post-crucifixion details, medically-speaking, can be appreciated from an understanding of modern day ER / trauma care. When a person comes in and they appear dead (DOA) standard ER procedure is to check for signs of nerve response via pain stimulation with a pointed object to see if they react. This is exactly what the Roman soldier was doing when he poked Jesus in the side with his spear. Everyone know the ribs are extremely sensitive, and the best place to stick sonmebody to see if they respond. Because the penalty was death for allowing a crucified man to remain alive on the cross (and thereby possibly escape with help from his friends/family), the roman soldier was doing CYA by sticking Jesus in the side. When Jesus did not respond, the soldier assumed he was dead. Getting back to modern ER care, when someone comes in who seems dead, after the nerve response test (and now pupil dilation test, et al.) the next procedure is to intubate the chest cavity to allow the venting of any internal pressure caused by trauma which might be constricting heart & lung function. Once internal cavity pressure is alleviated, vital signs such of heartbeat and breathing often become evident where before the victim appeared to be dead. There are numerous accounts even today of peoplem pronounced dead and sent to the morgue who later revived. For a loss of consciousness to be mistaken for death in the 1st century is hardly surprising. The term "wake" which for nearly 2,000 years has been held before the actual interment of a (supposed) dead body at a cemetery comes from "awakening" which is what family and friends hoped wouold happen to their loved one who appeared dead. Well into the 1500s and prior, cups were often made with lead, which alcohol leaches out of the cup and into the drink, thus inducing lead poisoning -- a symptom of which is a coma-like state. Another term from the 1500s and before is "dead ringer" which now means to resemble someone else, often somebody thought to be dead. It comes from the practice of placing a string or rope inside the coffin leading up to a bell at the top of the grave where some poor soul had to sit waiting in case the person recently buried was not in fact dead and they could yank on the string, which was often tied to the hand so if the person in side the coffin woke up and started to move, the bell six feet above them would ring; hence, the term "dead ringer."
-- M.A. Ghaffar