The Jesus Trilogy documentary series, is an excellent resource to use with your non-believing friend whom you want to introduce to the Christian faith and the historical grounding upon which it stands. This documentary series was produced in the Middle East, giving it an authentic background as to the origins of the Christian faith.

Each of the documentaries is interwoven with thought-provoking questions such as: Who is God?; what is God like?; what does God do?; etc., which challenges the viewer to take an interactive journey that leads to the answers that only the Christian worldview can provide.

The DVD set includes three documentaries covering different aspects of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection:

The Jesus Accounts — This documentary explores the historical accuracy and reliability of the New Testament accounts of the life of Jesus by examining the ancient evidence available to experts today. It is an illuminating program for believers as well as those seeking to understand whether the Scriptures’ teaching about Jesus is reliable. (30 minutes)

Jesus: Dead and Buried? — Two thousand years ago Christians said Jesus had been crucified as the “Lamb of God” and that he had risen again “from the dead.” But how can we know if what they said is true? Luke Waldock travels to Jerusalem and sifts through the evidence to find answers. (47 minutes)

Jesus: Son of God? — For centuries Christians have been declaring that Jesus is the Son of God. When did all this begin? How could men and women, who believed in one God, think that God had a Son? Luke Waldock sets out on a journey to discover when, where, and how this vital Christian belief originated. (33 minutes)

The Jesus Trilogy DVD can be ordered at:

Vision Video—here Cost: $14.95USD
(The DVD version has a language option for: English, Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, Turkish, Urdu.)

The Jesus Trilogy can also be found on Youtube, here. The Youtube version is only in English at the time of this writing. If your friend is an Arabic, Farsi, etc., speaker, I would suggest that you order the DVD set that has the language options.

The following is the trailer for the segment,The Jesus Accounts:

Has anyone ever challenged you with the question, “can God make a rock to heavy for him to lift?”, and before you can answer, they say, “see, God isn’t all-powerful/omnipotent as you, as a Christian, contend.” A number of refutations have been posited in dealing with this question, several of which are given in the videos below, which will help to equip the Christian case-maker in addressing this challenge.

Along with the refutations found in the videos, I would like to highlight the refutation of C. S. Lewis, which can be found in his book, The Problem of Pain. In the second chapter of the book, Divine Omnipotence, Lewis defines omnipotence, and helps the reader to understand how omnipotence is applied to ‘all agents,’ including God. Following in the thought and understanding of Thomas Aquinas, “Nothing which implies contradiction falls under the omnipotence of God,” [1] Lewis explains how possible and impossible, as well as self-contradiction, are to be understood when addressing this challenge:

 
I will conclude with another insightful statement on the topic, by dear C. S. Lewis:

 
References
[1] Thomas Aquinas, Summ. Theol., IA Q XXV, Art 4
[2] C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, Chapter 2, Divine Omnipotence, 1940-1996
[3] C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed, 1961-1996

Can God Make a Rock so Big He Can’t Lift It?-Sean McDowell

Can God Make a Stone So Heavy He Can’t Lift It?-William Lane Craig

As I followed the live Covid-19 country-by-country update chart on a daily basis, and continued to see the rise in the number of cases and the deaths that followed, it was a stark reminder that each death was that of a family member or friend whose loved ones were now mourning. Although over 165,000 persons die each day, which comes to 60 million deaths a year, I had not experienced a live global cases/death chart before. The chart made the experiences of those who are suffering and the reality of ultimate destiny real and tangible in a way I hadn’t known before. I couldn’t help thinking of the ripple effect that was taking place in the lives of the loved ones who were still here. My prayer was for both those who passed and those who remained, that through the suffering, pain and loss they would be drawn to the saving knowledge of Jesus’ redemptive and comforting power, so they would not “grieve like people who have no hope,” but would rest in the “full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ.” (1 Thess. 4:13; Col. 2:2)

In praying and thinking more about this time in world history, I felt led to immerse myself in a study of what has been referred to as “the problem of evil and suffering.” Even though I was familiar with the Christian theodicy in answering the ‘problem’, I felt I needed a deeper understanding of the answers that the Christian worldview provides. The need was two fold: to be personally strengthened in trusting in God’s plan for the world; and being knowledgeable, confident and ready to “give an answer” with clarity and compassion to people who were either hurting or simply trying to process the why’s and wherefore’s of the situation. As I still correspond with and meet people during this time, I have found that people are asking ‘why’? and are searching for the answer. I’ve also found that even if the person doesn’t voice it, with a little prodding via a question or two, the ‘why’ question will surface quickly. (See my previous article, “God’s Megaphone to Rouse a Deaf World-C. S. Lewis”.)

Although my study led me to a number of excellent resources, my primary resource was the book by Dr. Clay Jones, Why Does God Allow Evil?—Compelling Answers for Life’s Toughest Questions. Professor and author Sean McDowell states, “If you are looking for one book to make sense of the problem of evil, this book is for you.” I wholeheartedly agree and highly recommend this book as a vital equipping resource. (Visit Dr. Clay Jones website, here)

In his book, Jones makes a persuasive case of the need for Christians to be equipped, both personally and evangelistically to “answer the hard questions” of evil, suffering and death:

I found the following excerpts from Dr. Jones book to be helpful and instructive, both personally and preparatory in “giving an answer during these times of pandemic to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Pet. 3:15) These quotations are focused on “natural evil” such as what we are now experiencing with COVID-19 and are only a glimpse into this rich and robust resource that is available in Kindle format on Amazon.com here.

Excerpts from the book, Why Does God Allow Evil?—Compelling Answers for Life’s Most Compelling Questions, by Dr. Clay Jones

As you peruse the table of contents from the book, the breadth and depth of this book will become evident. It’s a great time to “love the Lord our God with all our mind.” (Matt. 22:37)

Why Does God Allow Evil?—Compelling Answers for Life’s Toughest Questions—by Dr. Clay Jones
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: In Search of Answers About God and Evil
1. Why Do We Suffer for Adam’s Sin?
2. Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
3. Are There No Good People?
4. What Is the Destiny of the Unevangelized?
5. How Can Eternal Punishment Be Fair?
6. Is Free Will Worth It?
7. Wasn’t There Another Way?
8. Will We Have Free Will in Heaven?
9. Will Eternity Be Boring?
10. How Does Eternity Relate to Our Suffering Now?
11. How Does Suffering Relate to Our Eternal Occupation?
Epilogue: The Short Answer on Why God Allows Evil
Appendix: Satan’s Rebellion and God’s Response
Notes

“I have read a number of books on the problem of evil, but this is one of the very best yet produced. Professor Clay Jones fearlessly and deftly addresses all the hard questions head-on with rational responses to them. There is no ducking of issues. Moreover, Jones skillfully weaves theology, biblical studies, and philosophy into a coherent, well-integrated book that is suited for both the scholar and the layperson. I highly recommend it.” J.P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University; author of The Soul: How We Know It’s Real and Why It Matters

Why Does God Allow the Coronavirus? A Live Conversation with Dr. Clay Jones and Sean McDowell

Where is God in a Coronavirus World?-John Lennox and Michael Ramsden-rzim.org

Suffering and Evil: The Logical Problem-Pt. 1—Dr. William Lane Craig videos—here

Suffering and Evil: The Probability Version-Pt. 2—Dr. William Lane Craig videos—here

Equipping Resources

Why Would God Allow Diseases and Other Natural Evils-RZIM PODCAST-Vince & Jo Vitale, here
The Problemless Problem of Evil-PODCAST-Alan Shlemon-str.org, here
IF GOD, WHY SUFFERING? THOUGHTS ON THEODICY-by Jonathan McLatchie, here
We Can Find Peace During Pandemic-by Clay Jones, here
God’s Megaphone to Rouse a Deaf World-C. S. Lewis-by Lane, here

I have noticed a marked change in people since the COVID-19 virus has appeared on the world stage. People are scared, confused, disoriented, despairing, uncertain, which has resulted in a an unsettling and rearranging of their worldview—the world has changed in a drastic way and has touched each person in a personal way through the disruption of their daily routines, loss of their job resulting in financial uncertainty, etc. Many people are searching for answers and how to make sense of it all, which is where we as God’s ambassadors come in. The Christian worldview is the ONLY worldview that addresses life’s most pressing questions of what it means to be human, purpose and meaning of life, ultimate destiny, and the problem of evil and pain. Whether in times of prosperity or in times of “famines and pestilence”, the Gospel remains “the Way the Truth and the Life”, a light that shines even brighter in the midst of the darkness of troubling times (John 14:6; John 1:5; Matt. 5:15).

I have found that the unsettling of many people’s worldview has brought about an increased openness to entering into spiritual conversations. I will highlight two such examples that I have personally experienced:

I work part-time for a transport company in which I have opportunities to engage in spiritual conversations with my co-workers throughout the day. Some are open to such conversations, others are not. However, in light of the COVID-19 event, those who before said that they weren’t interested, have begun to ask deeper life-issue questions, which in turn has led to deeper worldview conversations.

One such conversation began with a formerly ‘don’t waste your time’ colleague who asked me, “What do you think is happening? Do you think God has something to do with this?” [This was in a group of 8 people.] I replied, “Oh I see, now you want to talk about God,” which brought a few nervous laughs from the others. I then asked, “Are you saying that God’s to blame for this situation?” He replied, “No, but doesn’t the Bible say something about God’s judgments falling on people who don’t follow Him?” I said, “Yes, that has been the case at times throughout history, but more often than not, God allows life-changing events to occur to wake people up so as to get their attention and realign their priorities. God is love, and as such, He is a relational God who wants people to enter into a personal relationship with Him as He knows that that is the only way people will experience true peace and happiness. As C. S. Lewis once said, “God cannot give us a peace and happiness apart from Himself; there is no such thing, it does not exist.” I went on to say that sadly most people are too distracted to even think about God or the deeper issues of life, such as the origin of life, life’s meaning and purpose, and ultimate destiny, etc. I ended by saying, “I can think of no better answer than that of C. S. Lewis, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” [I have found that committing quotes to memory (such as the C. S. Lewis quotes) is very helpful when addressing peoples questions and inquiries.]

This was followed by a long, quiet, and reflective pause by all those present. The fellow sitting behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Thank you for sharing that.” I have had a number of deeper conversations since that time which have been very rewarding. As a side note, I began to greet my colleagues when arriving for work in the morning with, “God is good all the time, all the time God is good.” (This is the theme of the movie series, “God is NOT Dead.” If you haven’t seen this series, I highly recommend it.) Now several of them greet me in the same way in the morning, which in itself is a major step of progress considering the atmosphere of the workplace.

Another exchange I had was with a cashier at No Frills. She was obviously stressed as her countenance was quite somber. Cashiers at super markets are very much on the “front lines” of the fight that we are now engaged in and I can’t help but admire them for being there so that the rest of us can still buy the essentials we need to carry on in our daily lives. They certainly need our encouragement and prayers. As she handed me the receipt, I said, “This is for you” and handed her a tract entitled, “Someone Cares For You.” This excellent tract from Crossway Publishers begins with:

 
She paused, opened the tract, and read for a few seconds. As she looked up she smiled and said, “Thank you so much!” This type of reaction mirrors that of almost every person I share a tract with. People are looking for a hope they can put their trust in and a peace that transcends circumstances. I have found tracts to be an essential evangelism tool that God uses to not only spread the truth of the Gospel message, but also act as an encouraging “lifter of spirits” to those who are stressed and downhearted. Tracts are also a great conversation starter. About half of those I offer a tract too will ask me, “oh, what is this about?”, a question that opens the door to share the truth and love of Christ with them. As Billy Graham so rightly said, “Nothing surpasses a tract for sowing the seed of the Good News.” Joey Hancock of the American Tract Society said, “Fifty-three percent of all who come to Christ worldwide come through the use of printed gospel literature. If we really care about the eternal salvation of those around us, how could we not carry tracts everywhere we go?” The ‘prince of preachers,’ Charles Spurgeon stated, “When preaching and private talk are not available, you need to have a tract ready…a touching gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. Let each one of us, if we have done nothing for Christ, begin to do something now. The distribution of tracts is the first thing. Therefore, do not go out without your tracts.” [Tracts on various topics can be ordered from Crossway Publishers, here Let’s be prepared to sow the seeds of the Kingdom in the hearts and minds of those God brings across our path each day. As Paul exhorted Timothy, “preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season.” (2 Tim. 4:2)]

The following are excellent resources for personal reflection/devotions as well as evangelism equipping tools for becoming effective ambassadors for Christ during these unsettling times. “Conduct yourselves in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” (Col. 4:5-6)

Resources

I highly recommend John Lennox’ book, Where is God in a Coronavirus World?, which can be found, here

About the book:

How belief in a loving and sovereign God helps us to make sense of and cope with the coronavirus outbreak.
We are living through a unique, era-defining period. Many of our old certainties have gone, whatever our view of the world and whatever our beliefs. The coronavirus pandemic and its effects are perplexing and unsettling for all of us. How do we begin to think it through and cope with it?
In this short yet profound book, Oxford mathematics professor John Lennox examines the coronavirus in light of various belief systems and shows how the Christian worldview not only helps us to make sense of it, but also offers us a sure and certain hope to cling to.

Here’s why John Lennox wrote the book:

“This book consists of my reflections on what we are experiencing right now. I started writing it a week ago, and things have changed quickly since then and no doubt will do again…. I would invite you, the reader, to view the book like this: We are sitting in a coffee shop (if only we could!) and you have asked me the question on the book cover. I put down my coffee cup and attempt to give you an honest answer. What follows is what I would try to say in order to convey some comfort, support, and hope.”

5 Lessons from Spurgeon’s Ministry in a Cholera Outbreak-by Geoff Chang-article, here

Gospel Thoughts on Covid-19-Apologetics Canada-podcast here

Why Did God Send Covid-19-William Lane Craig

Where is God in a Corona Virus World-John Lennox

Where is God in a Coronavirus World-Andy Bannister

Why Does God Allow the Coronavirus?-A Live talk with Dr. Clay Jones & Sean McDowell

(Part 1 of this series can be found, here)

Mirza Ghulum Ahmad’s self-understanding as the ‘Promised Messiah’ and incarnation of all prophets

Professor Adil Hussain Khan sums up the extraordinary self-understanding of the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslims, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad:

 
Ahmad’s self-understanding is directly tied to his ahistorical worldview. By inserting himself into and claiming the prophecies of both the Bible and the Qur’an for himself, that of the Promised Messiah and the Madhi, Ahmad creates a narrative that does not correlate to the texts or history, and thereby elevates himself to prophet status by proclaiming:

 
Like a drum roll, these self-proclamations, “God has revealed unto me,” “God almighty has conveyed to me…”, are repeated extensively throughout his writings.

However, Ahmad not only proclaims himself to be the Promised Messiah (and Mahdi), but also the incarnation of all prophets of all time!

 
One of Ahmad’s most bizarre claims concerns God giving him the name of Mariam, the mother of Jesus, and then claiming to have become pregnant, metaphorically speaking, and subsequently giving birth to himself as Christ:

 
It must be noted here that the rationalizing of Ahmad’s extreme claims by his followers is almost always through the ‘metaphorical’ lens. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains the dynamics of metaphor: “When we resort to metaphor, we contrive to talk about two things at once; two different and disparate subject matters are mingled to rich and unpredictable effect.”

By relegating Ahmad’s truth claims to ‘metaphorically speaking,’ both Ahmad and his followers have no base line to distinguish between that which is true and that which is false, as within a metaphorical world any claim can be rationalized. When Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin and was asked, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus didn’t respond by saying, “Well, metaphorically speaking, I am.” He was clear in who He was: “I am (THE Christ, the Son of the Blessed), and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven,” (Mark 14:61–62)

Unlike Ahmad’s claims which are cloaked in metaphor and result in an “unpredictable effect”, Jesus’ claims as the Messiah, the Christ, were unambiguous and unequivocal, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Ahmad also extended his ‘incarnational’ status to that of Krishna in the Haqiqat-ul-Wahi:

 
Ahmad asserts that God “has told me repeatedly that I am Krishna of the Hindus and the promised Messiah for the Muslims and Christians…Spiritually, Krishna and the promised Messiah are one and the same person.”[6] Ahmad proclaimed himself not merely the Promised Messiah and the Mahdi, but also “an incarnation of Jesus Christ.” [7] Moreover, he claims that his grandeur “excels [that of] Jesus by a thousand measures.”[8]

As one can see, the confusion within Ahmad’s understanding as to who he was is revelatory in itself. In fact, this confused, contradictory and ill-defined self perception is what eventually led to a split within the Ahmadiyya movement as professor Adil Hussain Khan explains:

 
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s self-MISunderstanding: “Contrary beliefs can exist, contrary truths cannot”

In the Ahmadi publication, The Messiah Has Come-The Man-The Message-The Movement, the question is posed, “Where is the Prophet all religions foretold for our time?” One-line references are then given from the sacred scriptures of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism, followed by the claim that,

 
The absurdity of this claim is evident when one considers the contradictory truth claims of each of these religions/ideologies. Even a perfunctory overview of the belief systems mentioned, exposes Ahmad’s deficient knowledge of the core tenets of these belief systems. In his short work “The Creed”, English writer and poet Steve Turner answers the question of whether all religions ‘converge’ into one united happy ‘theological family’:

 
As one can see, all religions may be wrong, but they cannot all be right. Every religion differs vastly on ‘matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation,’ and as such, the law of non-contradiction rules out the ‘truth’ claims that ‘all paths lead to God’ and that ‘all religions are the same.’ Even though pluralistic interpretations of religion, such as the Ahmadi’s espouse, possess a strong intuitive appeal, nevertheless, they possess two deficiencies which in the final analysis render them unacceptable:

The Achilles’ heel of the assumption that all paths lead to the same destination, or as the Ahmadi state, “these teachings converge into the true Islam and toward the One God,” is the problem of conflicting truth-claims. Every religious tradition makes truth-claims and some of these truth-claims contradict the truth-claims of other religious traditions. (See my article, All paths lead to God…or do they?, here)

The stark contradictions within Ahmad’s claims of being the various incarnations of prophets/leaders of contradictory belief systems expose the incoherence of Ahmad’s worldview, mental state, and extreme cognitive dissonance in holding an array of contradictory beliefs, ideas, values, and truth claims. Contrary to the pluralistic ideology of Ahmad and the Ahmadiyya movement, all religions are not fundamentally the same and only superficially different, but they are all fundamentally different, and at best, superficially the same.

Take Christianity and Islam for instance. The eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ 1st century disciples, and those presiding over His crucifixion, multiply attest to His death on the cross (Luke 23:46; Mark 15:37). Scholars of all stripes, whether they be antagonistic to religion, atheist, liberal, conservative, religious, or non-religious, agree on this historical fact—that Jesus died by crucifixion. However, the Qur’an states, “but they did not kill him, nor crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them…” (Sura 4:157)

Both of these statements cannot be true—either Jesus was crucified and died or he didn’t. (Ahmadi favor a more creative rendition of the crucifixion verse, which is most apparent in the interpretive translation by Malik Ghulam Farid. I have included the comparison of the two translations in the Reference section below entitled: The Qur’an-Comparing translations of Ahmadiyya and Orthodox Qur’an)

Ghulam Ahmad’s claim to a prophetic role in all religions has been rejected by each of the religions he professes to represent–Islam, Hinduism, Sikism and Buddhism. I will offer one example of such a refutation here. In his treatise, A Buddhist Response to Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (of Qadian), Dr. Adrian Chan-Wyles reveals Ahmad’s nescience of both Buddhism and Christianity, as well as his motives in trying to conflate the two religions to support his claim as the Promised Messiah:

In regard to Ahmad’s self-proclamations and the contradictions entailed therein, professor Alfred Mall offers an explanation which highlights Ahmad’s lack of knowledge of religio-philosophical traditions:

 
Although I have not highlighted Ahmad’s political activism and how it influenced his revelations, I find Professor Mall’s comment insightful as to the role that political posturing played in at least one of Ahmad’s self-proclamations of being the incarnation of Krishna, the Hindu avatar:

 
A True Prophet Cannot Lie

Another stark example of Ahmad’s state of mind was his confusion about his age:

 
Considering the above failed prophecy, should one consider Ahmad a true prophet, or the Promised Messiah if he continued to change his age to coincide to prophetic predictions?. This is one example of a number of failed prophecies by Ghulam Ahmad. As the Bible states, “[W]hen a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. (Deuteronomy 18:22)

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and Jesus Christ

Ahmad’s attempts to create an affinity between himself and Jesus plays a prominent role in Ahmad’s polemics against Christianity, and is highly significant in the worldview of the Ahmadi movement. The restoration of the superiority of Islam over Christianity was perceived by Ahmad as a principal goal of his mission. As Yohanan Friedman concluded:

 
Ahmadi are zealously committed to disproving Jesus’ death on the cross and his bodily resurrection and ascension, since this would destroy their faith and position as the following statement from Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, the second successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, confirms:

 
Ahmad made claims about the historical Jesus as described in the Bible which would be considered blasphemous to both Christians and Muslims. He believed the Jesus of the Qur’an was a sinless prophet, but the Jesus of the Bible was an alcoholic, a liar, and a false prophet who had gone insane:

 
Ahmad also denied the miracles of Jesus and the prophets. His reason for denying the miraculous nature of the Prophets’ lives becomes obvious from his own words:

 
In his attempt to further denigrate the Jesus of the New Testament (and Qur’an), Ahmad relegates Jesus miracles to ‘mesmerism’ and naturalistic means:

 
Thus, Ahmad denies both the Biblical and the Quranic evidence for Jesus’ miracles (cf. Sura 5:110, 3:50; Mark 1:34; 3:10; Matthew 4:23-24; Luke 6:18-19)

As I mentioned above, Orthodox Muslims will find these statements blasphemous. The vast majority of Ahmadiyya members are not aware of Ahmad’s degradation of Jesus, who in orthodox Islam is the most revered prophet, only surpassed by Muhammad himself. The reason for this is that Ahmad’s most offensive statements are available only in Urdu and have never been officially translated into English.

The Ahmadiyya worldview is essentially the worldview of Ghulam Ahmad. In proclaiming himself as the ‘Promised Messiah,’ and the second coming of Jesus, he was in a position among his followers to rewrite the 1st century history of the Jesus of the Gospels and remake the historical Jesus into an ahistorical 19th century caricature of Ahmad’s confused imagination.

In regards to the second coming of the historical Jesus of the Bible, the prophetic record given by Jesus Himself is unmistakably clear as to what signs will proceed and be manifest at His second coming:

 
The only sign proceeding Jesus’ Second Coming that Ghulam Ahmad has fulfilled is that of Jesus’ warnings of false christs and false prophets arising before His return. Ahmad fails to fulfill the performing of “great signs and wonders,” but even without these, he has “led many astray.”

Mirza Ghulum Ahmad’s missional strategy vs Christianity

Ahmad’s motivation and purpose in detaching the historical Jesus from history is summed up in Ahmad’s missional strategy of engaging Christians:

 
The Ahmadiyya publication, Death on the Cross–Ten Arguments from the Bible, (published in 2011) affirms this claim:

 
Once again, the Ahmadi lack of biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, and the wresting and editing of scripture is glaring. (Definition of wresting: distort the meaning or interpretation of (something) to suit one’s own interests or views.) The wresting of sacred texts, regardless of the religion, is standard fare within the Ahmadiyya interpretive methodology.

As I covered in my two part series, Was Paul an Apostle or a ‘Hijacker’?, Paul was not “the real founder of Christianity.” In fact, Ibn Ishaq in his authoritative biography, The Life of Muhammad (written in the 8th century), confirms Paul as a follower of Christ along with the other apostles. If Paul was “the real founder of Christianity” and corrupter of Jesus’ message, surely he would not be included with the rest of the disciples in the early Islamic traditions. The Ahmadi publication takes the above scripture, 1 Cor. 15:14, out of the context to bolster their claim that Jesus did not die, and as such, did not rise from the dead which means that the Christian faith is futile. However, the Ahmadi conveniently left out the conclusion of Paul’s argument for Jesus’ death and resurrection:

My Ahmadi friends may object to my choice of quotes and claim that I am ‘cherry picking’ from Ahmad’s writings. However, I do not believe that to be the case. Considering the number of current publications that are designed to fulfill Ahmad’s position on engaging Christianity as stated in the above quotes, there certainly is evidence that Ahmad’s mission to “prove to Christians that Christ is forever dead” and thereby “wipe the Christian religion off the face of the earth,” is continuing to be carried out be the current Ahmadiyya members.

Conclusion

The story is told that when reviewing a scientific paper, physicist Wolfgang Pauli remarked, “This isn’t right. This isn’t even wrong.” By this Dr. Pauli meant that the paper had no grounding in scientific reality. In a similar way, Ahmadiyya Muslim beliefs about Jesus (and every other religion Ahmad claims to represent) have no grounding in historic reality. They are grounded in the ahistorical worldview of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, whereby he prevaricates, interpolates, and rationalizes in order to adapt prophecies to his method of interpretation. By way of contrast, the Christian faith and worldview is grounded in historically verifiable evidence, both within the historical eyewitness narratives of the New Testament and that of extra-biblical sources, that coheres with reality as we know it. The value of eyewitness testimony is stated by the pre-Christian Roman dramatist Plautus:

 
In summary, Ahmad’s credibility fails on numerous counts:

 
As professor Alfred Mall concluded,

 
A Message to my Ahmadi friends

When speaking with one of my Ahmadi friends, I said, “You realize that you’re alone on a worldview ‘island’. There is no one, whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, etc., that finds your position as per Ahmad’s claims credible.” His answer was, “Oh, we don’t mind being on an island.”

I invite you, my Ahmadi friends to please step off your worldview ‘island’ and consider with an open mind, the true evidence for the historical Jesus, the one and only promised Messiah as found in the Holy Bible. I ask that you read, without prevaricating, interpolating, and rationalizing the scriptures through the ahistorical worldview lens of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Find or ask your Christian friends for a copy of the Injeel/New Testament and read the exciting and awe inspiring 1st century eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ disciples and followers, who walked with Jesus and were witnesses to His teaching, power and majesty. As you read, let Jesus’ words speak to your heart and mind. As Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life… if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 6:63; 8:31-32) As Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples testified:

 
When Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious leaders) He spoke plainly and truthfully as to who He was/is:

 
Jesus declares under oath before the high priest that He indeed is the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy and is the Messiah, the Anointed of God:

 
This is one of over 300 prophecies given by the prophets which Jesus fulfilled. (See article: Did Jesus Fulfill Old Testament Prophecy?) Which prophecies did Mirza Ghulam Ahmad fulfill? Are you willing to stake your life and eternity on the claims of a man whose claims are incoherent and whose mental state was one of contradictions and confusion, living in a perpetual state of cognitive dissonance? If you love truth, and you are willing to follow the evidence where it truly leads, then you will find the truth as Jesus promised:

References
[1] Adil Hussain Khan, From Sufism to Ahmaddiyya—A Muslim Minority Movement South Asia, Indiana University Press, 2015, pg. 60
[2] Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Jesus in India, Islam International Publication, (republished) 2015, pg. 12, 13
[3] Maududi, The Qadiani Problem, p. 119
[4] Kashti-Noh, pp. 46-47
[5] (Appendix, p. 85)
[6] The Ahmadiyya Movement, 2.
[7] A Short Sketch, 11.
[8] Our Teaching, 13.
[9] ibid, Adil Hussain Khan, pg. 51-52
[10] Steve Turner, The Creed, 1993, here
[11] Adrian Chan-Wyles, A Buddhist Response to Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (of Qadian), 2016, here
[12] Alfred Mall, A Critical Study of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, 1977, pg. 128
[13] ibid, Mall, pg. 22, 23
[14] ibid, Mall, pg. 69
Ahmad’s recorded confusion of his age: 1) Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Albashari (Publication at Qadian, n.d.), Vol. ii, p. 2. 2) Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Mawahib al-Rahman (Publication at Qadian, n.d.), p. 21. 3) Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Arbain (Publication at Qadian, 1900), p. 30.
[15] Haqiqat al-wahy, pg. 39
[16] Tiryaq al-qulub, pg. 35, 36
[17] Yohanan Friedman, Prophecy Continuous-Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and its Medieval Background, University of California Press, 1989, pg. 117-118
[18] Bashir-ud-din, Invitation to Ahmadiyyat, p. 15
[19] Roohani Khazain (Satt-Bachan), 10:296, as quoted in Syed Rashid Ali, “Jesus (pbuh) in Ahmadiyyat,” Anti Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, March 2005, http://alhafeez.org/rashid/jesus.htm (accessed 2010-02-27).
[20] Roohani Khazain (Anjam Aatham), 11:289, cited in S. Ali.
[21] Roohani Khazain (Ijaz-e-Ahmadi), 19:121, cited in S. Ali.
[22] Roohani Khazain (Satt-Bachan), 10:295 footnote, cited in S. Ali.
[23] Anjam-i-Atham, Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 11, P. 291, addenda
[24] Anjam-i-Atham, Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 11, P. 290, Addenda
[25] Azalah-i-Auham, Roohany Khazaen, Vol. 3, P. 257
[26] Tawzih Miram, English tr. pp. 6-77
[27] Ghulam, Azala Auham, pp. 560-61
[28] See http://www.irshad.org/exposed/false.php for a list of failed prophecies.
[29] The best way to appreciate this is to read large swaths from the Tadhkirah,
available online at http://www.alislam.org/books/.
The 22-volume set of Roohani Khazain (“Spiritual Treasures”), cited above, is available in PDF format in the Urdu section.
[30] ibid, Alfred Mall, pg. 137

Research books, papers, articles re the Ahmadiyya movement

Aaron Goerner, Is the Qur’an the Word of God?, here-This is an excellent book in which Pastor Goerner addresses the challenges put forth by Ahmadiyya members via his email correspondence with them.
Eric Pemet, The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Watchman Fellowship Profile, 2010, here
Dr. Alfred Mall, A Critical Study of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, 1977, here
Mirza Ghulam’s Tirade against Jesus Christ-In light of His own words, Compilation, here
Tahir Hussain, The Last Avatar, here

The Qur’an-Comparing translations of Ahmadiyya and Orthodox Qur’an

From Adil Hussain Khan’s book, From Sufism to Ahmaddiyya—A Muslim Minority Movement South Asia, pg. 44-46:

A synopsis of the current position begins with the assertion that it is impossible
for any human being to physically ascend to heaven. It may be worth
mentioning here that most Ahmadis would also reject the physical ascent of the
Prophet Muhammad to heaven during the night journey (isrā and mi῾rāj). To explain
the whereabouts of Jesus, Ahmadis argue that Jesus did not die from crucifixion,
even though he was indeed hung on the cross and crucified. The problem
with this position for many mainstream Muslims is that it appears to be a direct
contradiction of the Qur᾽an. This can be illustrated quite clearly by comparing
different translations of the Qur᾽anic account of the crucifixion. (Sura 4:157) Abdel Haleem
translates the crucifixion verse like this:

 
Ahmadis favor a more creative rendition of the crucifixion verse, which is most
apparent in the interpretive translation by Malik Ghulam Farid:

 
The Ahmadi translation of the next verse, (Sura 4:158) which describes Jesus’s ascension
to heaven following the crucifixion, is also worth comparing to non-Ahmadi
translations. Abdel Haleem translated the verse: “God raised him [Jesus] up to
Himself (rafa῾ahu ᾽llāhu ilayhi).” The Ahmadi translation of the verse reads:
“On the contrary, Allāh exalted him [Jesus] to Himself.” The traditional interpretation—
as seen when comparing the two translations—is that Jesus was physically
raised to the heavens. This view is consistent with the Christian account of
Jesus’s ascension. The Ahmadi rendition reinterprets the verse to show that Jesus
was only raised in spiritual status and not raised physically to the heavens.

Over the last couple of years, I have had the opportunity to get to know and dialogue with members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. In spite of our differences in regard to our worldviews and beliefs, I consider these members as friends, as I believe they do me. Our discussions have been framed in ”gentleness and respect,” (1 Pet. 3:15) and we’ve come to understand each other’s beliefs in a more comprehensive way than we did before our dialogue began. I have also had the opportunity to peruse several of the books written by the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, that were gifted to me. It is from these writings that I will offer my assessment of the truth claims of the Ahmadiyya faith and where I, and many religious scholars, see an incoherence in their worldview.

Scripture instructs us to ‘speak the truth in love’ (Eph. 4:15). Sharing the truth with a friend or acquaintance is the greatest manifestation of love one can offer, as Jesus so aptly stated, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…who the Son has set free, is free indeed’ (John 8:31-32, 36). In this two-part series, I will use the definition of truth as that which corresponds to reality, or to use the standard definition from philosophy put forth by Aristotle:

 
Professor of Philosophy Douglas R. Groothuis adds clarity to the definition of truth as to that which corresponds to factual reality:

I posit these definitions to determine what truth is and is not, and its vital importance to any discussion of history or worldviews.

The focus of this series will be two-fold:

 
Defining what ‘appeal to authority’ is and is not

As a brief preface to this series, I will address an objection my Ahmadi friends have raised during our discussions, which is the reference to experts in the field of history when presenting the historicity of Jesus’ death by crucifixion and His resurrection. In doing so, I have been told that just because a person says something is true, that doesn’t necessarily make it true, to which I agree, as this would be using the ‘appeal to authority fallacy’ and could therefore weaken my position. However, this is not the case in my use of the experts in the field which I am presenting, as these experts fulfill the criteria of appeal to a legitimate authority, and the claims being made by the individual authority are consistent with other experts in the field. The fallacious appeal to authority most often occurs when an illicit appeal is made to the authority’s competence from one field to another which is not the case with the scholars cited in this article.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s ahistorical worldview
[Definition: ahistorical: not concerned with or related to history, historical development, or tradition; historically inaccurate.]

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad begins his book Jesus in India by stating,

 
In reading Jesus in India, it becomes apparent early on that the “proofs, established facts and historical evidence” Ahmad claims to be privy to regarding the later life of Jesus are speculation and conjecture at best, and a blatant disregard of the true “proofs, established facts and historical evidence.” Ahmad relies on legends and documents which include a number of clear historical errors, in an attempt to make a case for Jesus surviving crucifixion and eventually traveling to India, where He supposedly died. This is in contradiction to the historical evidence, the analysis of preeminent historians (see below), the eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ followers of His life, death, resurrection and ascension, found in the historical, and independently attested narratives of the New Testament, as well as the extra-biblical sources found in the writings of historians and scholars of the 1st century.

As I mentioned in previous posts, The Jesus Seminar–A ‘New Gospel, New Fiction’-The Making of a Fabricated Jesus, and Did Jesus Die on the Cross?, the claim by Ahmadiyya Muslims can be concisely summarized as:

 
While this fictional narrative may be of interest to some, there is no historically reliable evidence for the claim that Jesus traveled to India, Tibet or the surrounding areas as the following list of preeminent scholars affirm:

• J. Gordon Melton–Religious historian, Baylor University, states that having assumed the mujaddid (faith renewer) appellation in the 1880s, and having declared himself the Promised Messiah for the Christians, Ghulam Ahmad simply picked up the legend that Jesus had visited India to increase his self-identification with Jesus.
• Gerald O’Collins–Research professor, Jesuit Theological College, Australia, states that, “no historical evidence has been provided to support Ghulam Ahmad’s theory that Jesus died in India.”
• Simon Ross Valentine–Professor at Leeds University and Bradford University, classifies the theory as a legend and considers the burial of Jesus in Roza Bal a myth in the scale of the legend of Joseph of Arimathea taking the Holy Grail to Britain.
• Paul C. Pappas–West Virginia Institute of Technology, states that from a historical perspective, the Ahmadi identification of Yuzasaf with Jesus was derived from legends and documents which include a number of clear historical errors… (e.g. confusing the reign of Gondophares) and that “it is almost impossible to identify Yuz Asaf with Jesus”.
• Robert Van Voorst–Professor, states that modern scholarship has “almost unanimously agreed” that claims of the travels of Jesus to Tibet, Kashmir or rest of India contain “nothing of value”.
• Marcus Borg–Co-founder of the Jesus Seminar, states that the suggestions that an adult Jesus traveled to Egypt or India and came into contact with Buddhism are “without historical foundation”.[9]
• John Dominic Crossan–Co-founder of the Jesus Seminar, states that none of the theories presented about the travels of Jesus to fill the gap between his early life and the start of his ministry have been supported by modern scholarship.
• Leslie Houlden–British Anglican scholar, states that although modern parallels between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha have been drawn, these comparisons emerged after missionary contacts in the 19th century and there is no historically reliable evidence of contacts between Buddhism and Jesus.
• Paula Fredriksen–Historian and religious scholar, Boston University, states that no serious scholarly work places Jesus outside the backdrop of 1st century Palestinian Judaism.
* Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University, states, “I cannot prove a negative. I cannot prove that Jesus never traveled. But there is absolutely no evidence from the ancient record that he went to India. It seems unlikely that he visited India, because if there had been even the slightest vague memory of an ancient tradition claiming that Jesus visited India—then the Christians living in India would not have claimed that Thomas founded their church. They would have claimed that Jesus founded it. And the tradition about Thomas as founder has distinct, well-known, long-running historical roots”

As one can see from this list of the broad range of scholars, there is no historical basis to substantiate Ahmad’s claim that Jesus traveled to and died in India. The Ahmadi logic and position does not find any support in early historical evidence and is therefore ahistorical. As the preeminent New Testament scholar N. T. Wright so aptly stated, “Historical facts prevent faith from becoming fantasy.” In jettisoning the historical facts, Ahmad has created an ahistorical worldview of fantasy of his own making.

A particular point of interest regarding the ‘lost years of Jesus’ and his having traveled to India after crucifixion is that a number of these narratives were being floated by others during Ahmad’s lifetime, including Louis Jacolliot (1869), Nicolas Notovich (1887), Levi H. Dowling (1908) and Swami Abhedananda (1922). It would appear that Ahmad found support from these narratives while developing his own reinterpretation of the historical Jesus. These attempts to link Jesus with the East were found to be historically and evidentially unsubstantiated, and were therefore discarded.

The failed ‘swoon theory’

The pillar on which Ahmad’s theory of Jesus surviving crucifixion and traveling to and dying in India is the ‘swoon theory’. Proposed by Heinrich E.G. Paulus in The Life of Jesus published in 1828 (just seven years before Ahmad’s birth), the swoon theory proposes that Jesus was not actually dead when He was removed from the cross. Instead, He had fallen into a coma-like state (a swoon) on the cross and was then buried in a tomb in that condition. He later revived, rolled away the tombstone from the inside, evaded the Roman guards, and escaped. He then appeared to His disciples proclaiming He had conquered death.[4]

J. N. D. Anderson says this theory, “…has been resuscitated in recent years in a slightly different form by a heterodox group of Muslims called the Ahmadiyya. Their explanation runs like this:

 
No reputable historian denies the fact of Jesus’ death by Roman crucifixion under Pontius Pilate—not even the most liberal scholars (i.e. Jesus Seminar) dispute this. John Dominic Crossan states, “Jesus’ death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate is as sure as anything historical can ever be. For if no follower of Jesus had written anything for one hundred years after his crucifixion we would still know about him from two authors not among his supporters. Their names are Flavius Josephus and Cornelius Tacitus.”[6]

According to Cambridge scholar Murray Harris: “the ‘swoon theory’ or the ‘apparent death theory,’ enjoyed considerable popularity among eighteenth and nineteenth-century German rationalists… but the theory is now totally discredited.”[7] As John Foster reports, claims that Jesus didn’t die on the cross “have been laughed out of court by serious scholars.”[8] J. N. D. Anderson concludes: “This theory does not stand up to investigation.”

Jesus’ death by crucifixion is affirmed for principally three reasons:

 
The evidence for the historicity of Jesus’ death by crucifixion is so powerful that one of the world’s leading Jewish theologians, the late Pinchas Lapide, who taught at Hebrew University in Israel, declared himself convinced on the basis of the evidence that the God of Israel raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead![9]

T. J. Thorburn describes what Christ suffered at the hands of Pilate as follows:

 
Let’s review the historical facts of the crucifixion as reported by the eyewitnesses and 1st century historians:

• Jesus was severely beaten by the whip used by the Roman guards. Jesus was so weak after His torture that He couldn’t carry the patibulum of His cross to the crucifixion site.
• Jesus had spikes driven through His wrists and feet and hung bleeding for six hours.
• The Romans thrust a spear deep into Jesus’ side, confirming beyond doubt that Jesus was dead.
• Jesus was prepared for burial according to exacting Jewish custom. His body was encased in wrapped linen and spices.
• Jesus was then entombed, and a massive, heavy rock was rolled across the tomb entrance. A unit of highly trained Roman guards vigilantly guarded the entrance—knowing they would be punished if Jesus’ body went AWOL.
• The ‘swoon theory’ suggests that the cool, damp air of the tomb somehow revived Jesus after three days and He decided to exit. Despite not having access to desperately needed medical care and nourishment, Jesus supposedly managed to unwrap His dressings and then, in the total darkness of the tomb, locate and roll away the mammoth stone sealing the tomb entrance. Still unnoticed by the guards, Jesus then supposedly walked away, on feet punctured by the cross nails, to rejoin His disciples.

The most significant problem with this theory is that it greatly underestimates the severity of Jesus’ wounds. Historical sources confirm that Jesus was horribly tortured—and declared dead by several sources before He was removed from the cross. Jesus died more quickly than other crucifixion victims because of his unique pre-crucifixion experience. As a result, his early death is reasonable and expected.

The ‘swoon theory’ dies from lack of explanatory power

The swoon theory entails the hypothesis that, after somehow duping the disciples into thinking he was resurrected (and somehow duping them into thinking that he’d ascended to God the Father), Jesus “abandoned all those who loved and trusted him, leaving them to their own fate, and crept away out of Palestine with his tail between his legs . . .” Such a theory is ad hoc, implausible, and strongly disconfirmed by our evidence about Jesus’ character. Finally, any suggestion that Jesus had help—whether divine (according to some Muslims) or secular (according to Drange)—turns the swoon theory into a conspiracy theory. Indeed, to explain away the reports of Jesus’ resurrection appearances, the swoon theory requires (and is thus a worse explanation than) either a conspiracy theory or some sort of delusion theory, since “the disciples testified that Jesus did not swoon, but really died and really rose.” [11]

As many scholars observe, a Jesus who swooned on the cross lacks the explanatory causal power to account for the resurrection appearances or the origin of the disciples’ belief in the resurrection:

• J.N.D. Anderson is skeptical that “instead of proving the inevitable end to His flickering life, that he would have been able to loose Himself from yards of grave-clothes weighted with pounds of spices, roll away a stone that three women felt incapable of tackling, and walk miles on wounded feet.” [12]

• Gary R. Habermas: “A crucified but still-living Jesus would have been in horrible physical shape: bloodied, bruised, pale, limping, unwashed, and in obvious need of medical assistance. Such a condition would have hopelessly contradicted the disciples’ belief that Jesus had appeared to them in a resurrected body.” [13]

• J.P. Holding asks us to consider “the fact that the temperature in the tomb was probably about 56–58 degrees Fahrenheit, which would cause death by exposure on its own after 36 hours (note that linen is not much of a protector in this context) . . . lain out shivering and losing energy in a tomb . . . after hanging for hours on a cross (how do those dislocated shoulders and/or strained muscles feel about pushing anything?).” [14]

• Karl Theodor Keim: “Then there is the most impossible thing of all; the poor, weak, sick Jesus, with difficulty holding himself erect, in hiding, disguised, and finally dying—this Jesus an object object of faith, of exalted emotion, of the triumph of his adherents, a risen conqueror, the Son of God! Here, in fact, the theory begins to grow paltry, absurd, worthy only of rejection.” [15]

• John Stott: “are we to believe that after the rigours and pains of . . . flogging and crucifixion He could survive thirty-six hours in a stone sepulchre . . . then rally sufficiently to perform the superhuman feat of shifting the boulder which secured the mouth of the tomb.” [16]

Christ did indeed die on the cross, according to the judgment of the soldiers, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus. Jesus’ disciples did not perceive Him as having merely revived from a swoon. Skeptic David Friedrich Strauss, himself certainly no believer in the resurrection, gave the deathblow to any thought that Jesus revived from a swoon:

 
In regards to the medical evidence that confirms Jesus dying while on the cross, Doctor William D. Edwards and his team at the Mayo Clinic offer the following evaluation:

 
Professor Charles Foster states, “The overwhelming conclusion of the mainstream literature, even that written by virulent opponents of Christianity, is that Jesus did indeed die on the cross.”[19] The historical assessment of the following scholars, some virulent opponents of Christianity, attest to the historicity of Jesus death by crucifixion:

• Reza Aslan: “Jesus was executed by the Roman state for the crime of sedition.”[20]
• Raymond E. Brown: “Except for the romantic few who think that Jesus did not die on the cross but woke up in the tomb and ran off to India with Mary Magdalene, most scholars accept the uniform testimony of the Gospels that Jesus died . . .”[21]
• John Dominic Crossan: “Jesus’ death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate is as sure as anything historical can ever be.”[22]
• Bart Erhman: “Was Jesus killed? Yes. By the Romans? Yes. By crucifixion? Yes.”[23]
• A.N. Wilson: “The Cross, and the Crucifixion, are at the very centre of this religious vision, not as an airy concept or a metaphor, but as a bloody death actually recollected.”[24]
Paul Little: “It is significant that not a suggestion of this kind has come down from antiquity among all the violent attacks which have been made on Christianity. All of the earliest records are emphatic about Jesus’ death.” [25]

As a final conclusive point of evidence for Jesus’ death from crucifixion, when the Roman soldiers approached Jesus’ cross, he was no longer pulling himself up in order to breath, which means he was dead, a fact the centurion confirmed and reported to Pilate. (John 19:32-37; Mark 15:42–45).

Jesus Foretells of His Death

Claims by Ghulam Ahmad, and current members of the Ahmadiyya community, that Jesus was ‘speaking metaphorically of His death’ and that He was referring only to His suffering, extreme physical hardship, or near death experience, are by definition completely unfounded and should therefore be dismissed. Such claims lack an exegetical and/or hermeneutical treatment of the text, and instead use an eisegetical approach of interpreting the text, or portion of the text, in such a way that introduces the Ahmadiyya’s own presuppositions, agendas, or biases into and onto the text, based on Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s writings. (For more on the historicity of the crucifixion, please see my page on the topic, here.)

Muslims who support the ‘theistic swoon theory’ (or the substitution hypothesis) have a choice to make—either Jesus was a true prophet or He was a false prophet. We know that a true prophet, which the Qur’an states that Jesus was, cannot lie. If one holds to the position that Jesus only ‘swooned’ (or was substituted) and did not die on the cross as He clearly stated He would, then they have no other choice but to declare Jesus (Isa) a liar and false prophet. However, if one holds to the words and prophecies of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel regarding His death and resurrection, then they can confidently declare Him to be a true prophet, and His death and resurrection did indeed happen as He said they would. Even the Jesus (Isa) of the Qur’an said, “And peace be on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised alive.” (Sura 19:33)

[Before reading the following scriptures, it must be noted that every time the word ‘kill(ed)’ or ‘die’ or ‘slain/slew’ is found in the Gospels (Injeel), it is a direct translation from the Greek word, apokteino—which means: To kill in any way whatever, To destroy, to allow to perish, To inflict mortal death— In the New Testament apokteino is used: Kill (55x), slay/slew (14x), put to death (6x) There is therefore no ambiguity as to what the New Testament writers mean when they use the word apokteino.]

All four eyewitness Gospel narratives attest to Jesus foretelling of His death: Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:33, 34; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22, 23; Luke 9:22; Luke 18:31, 32; John 12:30-33

The New Testament clearly states that Christ “died” (Mark 15:44–45, Acts 3:15, Rom. 5:8) and rose “from the dead” on the third day (Acts 10:40–41, 1 Cor. 15:3–4, 1 Pet. 1:21) as Jesus himself stated. Scripture never says he only “appeared” or “seemed” to die, nor do any extra-biblical sources make such a claim. As per the scriptures above, on a number of occasions, Jesus predicted his death and resurrection—not his injury and recovery (Mark 8:31, 9:9, 31, 10:34, 45, 12:1-12, 14:22-25).

It is interesting to note that Ahmad contradicts himself on a point held by Ahmadi apologists as one of the proofs that Jesus did not die on the cross: the time that Jesus was on the cross. It is clear from Mark 15:24–37 that Jesus spent at least six hours on the cross:

 
However, instead of relying on the multiply attested eyewitness accounts of this historical event, 1800+ years later, Ahmad develops two contradictory time sequences regarding the time that Jesus hung on the cross:

Clearly both these statements cannot be true; however, both statements can be false, which in light of the eyewitness testimony and extra-biblical material, they are. This is one of many examples in which Ahmad is the “attester and the attestee, both the truth and the criteria by which it is attested.” In so doing, he fabricates an historically unhinged narrative of his own choosing.

Ahmad’s solution to Jesus’ ‘resuscitation’– The ‘ointment of Jesus’

Ghulam Ahmad has staked his claim of Jesus resuscitating in the tomb on what he refers to as the ‘ointment of Jesus,’ or, Marham-i-Isa. Although he places a great deal of importance on the ‘ointment’, stating that this was the burial spices referred to in John 19:39–40 and Luke 23:56–24:1, these spices were not an “ointment” for healing Jesus’ wounds as he was already dead. It was Jewish custom to use spices to mask the smell of decay (see John 19:40, 2 Chron. 16:14).

Also, the ‘ointment of Jesus’ which is more commonly referred to as the ‘Apostles’ Ointment’ or the ‘Ointment of Venus’ was commonly used for skin diseases and other such maladies, but certainly not for healing the wounds inflicted by Roman torture, flagellation and crucifixion. If this ointment could achieve such a feat, it seems that every doctor and hospital in the world would be utilizing it to heal third degree burns, resuscitating the comatose, etc. The formula for the ointment was first attributed to Avicenna, a Persian physician who lived in the 10th and 11th century, 1,000 years after Jesus’ crucifixion, death and burial! Although Ahmad excitedly lists a number of books in which the ‘ointment of Jesus’ is mentioned, once again he has detached himself from history and is ‘grasping at unsupported straws’ to support his misplaced historical worldview, as a number of the books he lists are from the 10th century or later, with several as late as the 19th century.

After making the claim that the list of books and references of the prescription for the ‘ointment of Jesus’ “was known to millions of people of different nationalities”, Ahmad claims that “this ointment was prepared for Jesus by his disciples.” Ahmad states that the ‘revelation’ of the ‘ointment of Jesus’ is one of the proofs of his claim to be the Promised Messiah! He states, “True, until the coming of the Promised Messiah, it did not occur to any of these people to make use of the historical importance of this ointment…” [26] Ahmad’s claim is another example of recreating an historical event in his own image. There are no 1st century historical documents that validate Ahmad’s claims regarding the use of the ‘ointment of Jesus’ as it pertains to Jesus’ crucifixion.

In his book, Masih Hindustan Main, Jesus in India, Ahmad claimed to have invented the ‘ointment of Jesus’ under the influence of divine inspiration. He believed this to be the ointment which had been used to heal Jesus’ wounds. He even suggested that the ointment was a remedy for a plague that was spreading in India at the time. This ointment disappeared from the market when government officials started raiding the bogus medicine shops, pursuant to an order from the deputy commissioner of Lahore, dated 19th October 1899, which was later upheld by a decision of the Chief Court of the Punjab, in an appeal case dated 8th June 1900.

In his excellent book, From Sufism to Ahmaddiyya—A Muslim Minority Movement South Asia, professor Adil Hussain Khan, confirms that there is no evidence to substantiate Ahmad’s claims relating to the ‘ointment of Jesus’, either in history, or in connection with Jesus’ burial:

 
Conclusion

In his milestone work, The Resurrection of Jesus — A New Historiographical Approach, Dr. Michael Licona posits the following conclusion regarding the ‘swoon theory’:

In his doctrinal thesis, A Critical Study of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam professor Dr. Alfred Mall concludes:

 
The ahistorical position of Ahmad is highlighted by his complete disregard of the earliest and trustworthy records of Jesus’ death in favor of a patchwork of late questionable and error prone documents of persons thousands of miles and centuries removed from the actual event.

John W. Montgomery writes, concerning history and Christianity, that “the weight of historical probability lies on the side of the validity of Jesus’ claim to be God incarnate, the Savior of man, and the coming Judge of the world. If probability does in fact support these claims (and can we really deny it, having studied the evidence?), then we must act in behalf of them.” [30]

You may be asking why Ahmad is so zealous in making his case for the ‘swoon theory’ and positing an ahistorical account of Jesus traveling to India and dying there? One notable point is the vested interest Ahmad had in attempting to substantiate his claim that Jesus Christ, the true promised Messiah of history is dead and buried, so as to proclaim himself the Promised Messiah, even if his claim is attested only by himself. In part 2 of this series we will explore the self-understanding and self-proclamations of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Why We Can Be Sure Jesus Really Died on the Cross-J. Warner Wallace

Swoon (and substitution) Theory Refuted-Nabeel Qureshi

Is the “swoon theory” adequate to counter the biblical accounts of the resurrection?-Dr. Gary Habermas & Dr. Anthony Flew

Alternate theories about the resurrection proposed by secular scholars?-Dr. William Lane Craig

References

[1] Aristotle, Metaphysics 10 11b 25
[2] Douglas Groothuis, What is Truth? (on the Nature and Importance of Truth Today), 2007, here
[3] Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Jesus in India, Islam International Publications, 1908, pgs. 12, 13
[4] Tim Chaffey, Faking Death, 2013, here
[5] J.N.D. Anderson, Christianity: The Witness of History, Downers Grove, 111.: InterVarsity Press, 1970, pg. 7
[6] John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, HarperOne, 1995, pg.145
[7] Murray Harris, From Grave to Glory, Zondervan, 1990, pg. 114
[8] John Foster, The Jesus Inquest, Thomas Nelson, 2011, pg. 72
[9] Pinchas Lapide, The Resurrection of Jesus-A Jewish Perspective, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2002, pg. 92
[10] Thomas Jame Thorburn, The Resurrection Narratives and Modern Criticism, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd, 1910, pg. 183-85
[11] Peter S. Williams, Getting at Jesus: A Comprehensive Critique of Neo-Atheist Nonsense about the Jesus of History, Wipf & Stock, 2019, pg. 316
[12] J. N. D. Anderson, The Resurrection of Christ, pg. 7
[13] Gary Habermas, The Risen Jesus, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003, pg. 16
[14] J. P. Holding, Defending the Resurrection, Xulon Press, 2010, pg 382
[15] Karl Theodor Keim, Jesus of Nazareth, Forgotten Books, 2015, pg. 327-28
[16] John Stott, Basic Christianity, Eerdmans Publishing, 2008, pg.48-49
Christopher Bryan, The Resurrection of the Messiah, Oxford University Press, 2011, pg. 163
[17] David Strauss, A New Life of Jesus, Ulan Press, 2012, pg. 412
[18] William D. Edwards, MD, On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ, Journal of the American Medical Association 255:11, 1986
[19] ibid, Foster
[20] Reza Aslan, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Random House, 2013, pg. 156
[21] Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah, Yale University Press, 1998, pg. 1373
[22] ibid, Crossan, pg. 145
[23] Bart Ehrman, Bart Ehrman Interview, 2018
[24] A. N. Wilson, Paul: The Mind of the Apostle, W. W. Norton & Co, 1998, pg. 117
[25] Paul Little, Know Why You Believe, Wheaton Scripture Press, 1987, pg. 65
[26] Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Jesus in India, Islam International Publications, 1908, pg. 73
[27] Adil Hussain Khan, From Sufism to Ahmaddiyya—A Muslim Minority Movement South Asia, Indiana University Press, 2015, pg. 47
[28] Michael R. Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus-A New Historiographical Approach, Inter-Varsity Press, 2010, pg. 311-313
[29] Alfred Mall, A Critical Study of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, 1997, pg. 44, 137
[30] John W. Montgomery, History & Christianity, InterVarsity Press, 1971, pg. 19

When addressing religious pluralism, Dr. Frank Turek offered this succinct refutation: “Contrary beliefs can exist, but contrary truths cannot.” [1] To set the stage for the rest of this article, let’s first listen to Bobby Conway as he defines religious pluralism and what our responsibility is as Christian case-makers and truth bearers in the pluralistic milieu in which we now live.

What is religious pluralism?-Bobby Conway-oneminuteapologist.com

Living here in Canada, where religious pluralism flourishes in an extreme form, I often hear, as I’m sure you have, the following sound bites masquerading as truth claims: “All paths lead to God” [Question: What God is this claim referring to?], “all religions are the same,” “all religions are fundamentally the same and only superficially different,” etc. This pluralistic view of religion thrives in places like Canada or Europe where the reinvented definition of tolerance is valued above everything else. With the redefining of tolerance, it’s very easy to slip from the truth claim, ”all people have equal value”, to the false claim that “all ideas/beliefs have equal merit/value.” These are two very different claims entirely, and it is vital for us, as adherents of “the way, the truth and the life,” (John 14:6) to help others to understand the difference.

Philosopher and author Mortimer J. Adler once stated, “In the sphere of matters subject to individual thought and decision, pluralism is desirable and tolerable only in those areas that are matters of taste rather than matters of truth.”

As ambassadors for Christ, and as such, ambassadors for the truth, what should our response to religious pluralism be? When our friends or colleagues inject a truth claim into the conversation such as, “I believe that all religions are basically the same, each providing a different path to God. As the saying goes, ‘different strokes for different folks’,” how should we respond?

The following is one of my “real-life” experiences in which I was able to deconstruct religious pluralism and bring the person I was conversing with to understand the difference between a belief and that which is true:

The above is one of many “all paths lead to God” conversations that I have had over the years. Some have been more lengthy and in depth than the one I shared here, but for those of us who are living in Western countries where relativism is rife and the driving force behind religious pluralism, it behooves us to embrace Paul’s instruction to Timothy: “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness [that] God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 2:24–25-ESV)

When entering into a conversation where religious pluralism is the topic, we must always keep the person of Christ at the forefront of our minds. It is the Jesus of history, the Word made flesh, whose life, death and resurrection differentiate the Christian faith from all other religious worldviews. Author and apologist Dr. Kenneth Samples offers the following explanation on what makes the Christian faith stand out from all others:

 
The following video clip by Andy Bannister, offers an in-depth insight into the issue of religious pluralism and tips on how we as Christian case-makers can address the topic when it comes up in conversation.

Aren’t all religions basically the same?-Andy Bannister

References:
[1] Frank Turek-his site is an excellent resource–crossexamined.org
[2] Jesus and the Qur’an-by Jospeh P. Gudel-Tract from Crossway publishers-it can be ordered online, here
[3] Kenneth R. Samples, Without a Doubt-Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions, Baker Books, 2004, pg. 169

More resources:
Christianity & Religious Pluralism-Are There Multiple Ways to Heaven?-by Rick Wade, article here
Aren’t All Religions Equally Valid? by Andy Bannister-article, here
True for you but not for me…but can that be true?-by Lane, here

When sharing the historical evidence for Jesus’ life, death and resurrection from the Gospel narratives with my friends or curious acquaintances, I am at times challenged with, “That’s all very interesting, but is there any extra-biblical evidence, evidence outside the Bible for Jesus’ life, or that he even existed?” When a person raises this objection, they are basically saying, “I don’t believe that the New Testament documents are historically reliable because they were written by Christians, which means they were written by people with a bias, an ulterior motive.” [As the focus of this article is the evidence for Jesus outside the Bible, I won’t cover the historical reliability of the Gospels here. However, I have included equipping resources on this topic at the end of this article which address that issue.]

In reply to my friend’s question regarding whether there is any extra-biblical evidence of Jesus’ life and existence, I generally respond along the lines of, “That’s a good question and one that I hear from time to time. And the answer to your question is a resounding, YES, there certainly is evidence outside the Bible for Jesus life.” I have found that most people who raise this challenge are simply ‘parroting’ the sound bites they’ve picked up from agnostics or skeptics which have been bantered around message boards on the internet. I am then in a position to present the historical extra-biblical sources that they are inquiring about, but don’t think exist. Most people are somewhat taken aback (and at times dumbfounded) when I list just a few of the ancient extra-biblical sources which include the Roman historians, Tacitus and Suetonius, Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata, Jewish historian Josephus, the Jewish Talmud, etc., all of which include information regarding Jesus’ life, His death by crucifixion by Pontius Pilate, His teachings, His power to perform miracles, His disciples worship of Him as God, etc.

In his book, Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus-Historical Records of His Death and Resurrection, New Testament scholar and author, Gary Habermas, offers the following summary regarding extra-biblical sources as they relate to the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth:

 
In his article, Is There Any Evidence for Jesus Outside the Bible, author and Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace outlines the specific points of Jesus’ life that are included in the data from the extra-biblical historical sources. The list is quite extensive, which makes the case for the historical Jesus based only on extra-biblical sources even more impressive:

“Let’s review what we’ve learned from hostile pagan and Jewish sources describing Jesus. We’ll do our best to discount the anti-Christian bias we see in the sources, just as we discounted the pro-Christian bias we think might exist in some versions of the writing of Josephus. Many elements of the Biblical record are confirmed by these hostile accounts, in spite of the fact they deny the supernatural power of Jesus:

 
Not bad, given this information is coming from ancient accounts hostile to the Biblical record. While these non-Christian sources interpret the claims of Christianity differently, they affirm the initial, evidential claims of the Biblical authors…[and] the basic facts of the historical events. Is there any evidence for Jesus outside the Bible? Yes, and the ancient non-Christian interpretations (and critical commentaries) of the Gospel accounts serve to strengthen the core claims of the New Testament.”

(For complete article by J. Warner Wallace, Is There Any Evidence for Jesus Outside the Bible?, here)

Is there any evidence for Jesus outside the Bible?-J. Warner Wallace

Is there any evidence for Jesus outside the Bible-Peter Williams-The Veritas Forum

Did Jesus exist?-Sean McDowell

Resources

Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus-Historical Records of His Death and Resurrection-by Gary Habermas-found on Amazon, here
Eyewitness testimony in the New Testament, untrustworthy or reliable?-by Lane, here
The Case for the Early dating of the Gospels-countering scholarly laziness and blindness-by Lane, here
Ancient Evidence for Jesus from Non-Christian Sources, Michael Gleghorn, Probe Ministries, 2001, here

I am highlighting i2 Ministries as I have found it to be one of the best equipping resources for reaching our Muslim neighbors with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The following are i2 Ministry endorsements from some of the outstanding evangelists and apologists of our day:

 
I highly recommend the equipping resources at i2 Ministries for churches, whether small or large group, as well as for individuals who the Lord has called to the Muslim harvest field which is “white unto harvest.” The i2 Ministries site and resources can be found at: https://i2ministries.org

i2 Ministries video courses can be found at: https://thewadi.org The courses address a wide range of topics, such as:

 
…and much, much more. If you want to be equipped in meeting the Muslim challenge and being the ambassador for Christ that He has called you to be, this is the program for you!

i2 Ministry Vision-Dr. Joshua Lingel, president of i2 Ministries

Conference highlights:

Workshops and keynotes taught by some of the world’s foremost experts in Muslim ministry

Content at different levels for audiences of all types, from first-timers to experienced leaders

Powerful first-hand stories and testimonies from Believers from a Muslim Background

For more information and how to register for the conference, here