On 10/10/05, Firouz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Gilberto:
> >>Yeah, I see what you are saying. But personally I wouldn't be as
> generous. I would say mainstream Christianity represents a significant
> departure from Jesus' original teaching. And I think Paul was largely
> responsible for the shift.<<
> At the same time, don't you think the mainstream Muslims represent a
> significant departure from Prophet Muhammad Teachings?
Not in the way I am talking about.
In the case of Christianity, the New Testament actually contains only
a very small set of words attributed to Jesus. Jesus only taught for
about 3 years, partially in secret, and even towards the end of his
ministry his closest disciples still didn't totally understand
everything he was talking about. Paul's words make up more of the
Bible than any other person's, including Jesus. Paul never met Jesus
in the flesh. And actually persecuted the early Christians until he
had his experience on the road to Damascus. He didn't even spend much
time with the disciples who knew Jesus (out of 13 or so years, he
might have spent 2 weeks with a small group of them in Jerusalem).
James had a different interpretation from Paul's and he was Jesus' own
brother and the head of the church in Jerusalem. And we know that
there were many other non-Pauline groups in existence which could also
claim to be authentic.
In the case of Islam, the Quran consists of words which were spoken by
Muhammad (saaws) . And you might not like them, but our knowledge of
the prophet is also supplemented by hadith. Muhammad (Saaws)taught
among the people for about 23 years. In the beginning he taught in
secret, but by the end Islam was a very public open religion practiced
by a community. The people had 23 years to ask questions, to
understand the details of doctrine and practice. The people who taught
and explained the religion after him (the sahabas) were all people who
knew the prophet rather well, his wives, his in-laws, his blood
relatives, his close friends. And there were many such people, making
sure that the teachings of the prophet were transmitted accurately to
the next generation.
I think it is easier to make a case that Islam accurately represents
the teachings of Muhammad (saaws) than one can argue that modern-day
Christianity represents the teachings of Jesus. In the latter case,
there is alot more distance, and seperation and gaps.
Peace
Gilberto
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