THE CROSS IN THE GOSPEL AND IN THE KORAN

In chpter one of his first letter to the Corinthians, verses 22 to 24, Paul, the apostle, said: "For the Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom, but we prech Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and wisdom of God." If we consider the words of the apostles generally we see that the Gospel which they preached from the dawn of Christianity and which people recieved nd accpeted by which they were saved, was the joyful news which Paul summarized in these words in 1 Cor. 15:1-4. Even so, with the passing of some five hundred years after Paul nd the spreading of the Gospel in all the world, there were those who objected to this truth s to the saying to the Christians, "You are mistaken in your religion." Maybe these objectors took their ideas from heretics-Jews converted to Christianity, whose fathers were neighbours to those who believed tht Christ would (did) not die. We are very indebted to John, one of the writers of the Gospel, who mentions, this matter when he recorded for us the saying of the Pharisees in their dispute with Christ, in John 12:34 states: "We heared from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Mn must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?'" According to Iskander Jadeed in his book intitled "THE CROSS", page 10, that this heresy was widespread among the Christians of the rabian Peninsula, saying that Christ was able to transform from one image (form) to another, and when His enemies came to arrest Him He cast His likeness on to another man, who was crucified insted of Him, but Christ was lifted up to the One who sent Him, scorning His enemies.
Now my friend remember that the passage in the QURAN about the last dys of Christ is in greement with this story and opposed to the Jewish version. It says, Surat an Nisa 157-158, "Their saying, (that is the Jews) 'We slew the Messiah, Jesus the Son of Mry, Allah's Messenger', they slew Him not, nor crufified Him, but it appeared so unto them, and lo! Those who disagree concerning it, are in doubt therefore, they have no knowledge thereof, save pursuit of a conjecture, they slew Mhim not for certain, but llah took Him up to Himself."

Clearly we understand from the version of the heretics who clung to Christianity, that the Cross, in their estimtion, was not n historical event, or a doctrine of redemtion, but a symbol or a sign, as the str which guided the Magi to the cradle of the Child in Bethlehem, or as the apperance of dove in which the Holy Spirit appeared, coming to Christ at His bptism in Jordan. But the hevy cross on which Christ was hanged, which is the altr of redemtion, where the Lamp of God was sacrified to take away the sin of the world, was of no importance to them! They rejected the truth which Paul proclaimed to the nations in Galatians 3:13-14, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us;for it is written 'Cursed be everyone who hangs on tree, that Christ Jesus the blessing of Abrham might received the promise of the Spirit through faith'" (to be continued)