Crucifixion or Crucifiction - A Response (PART 1)

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1
Corinthians 1:18

In the series of posts to follow, I will be responding to the book by Ahmed Deedat under the same name "Crucifixion or Crucifiction" You will find that the arguments presented by Deedat in his book are the same arguments found in the videos I posted of his lecture.

On my last days of Paltalk, I had an interesting conversation with a
muslim gentleman named Yahya. I said to him that the only reason he
believes that Jesus Christ was not crucified was because of Surah
4:157, and that had that verse not appeared in the Quran, he would
believe the crucifixion as we do, citing the same evidence we do to
those who disagree.

Let us first examine Surah 4:157 and how we can know it is not
divinely inspired. Then we can take a look at the Islamic explanations
of what took place on that day at Calvary.

"And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of
Marium, the messenger of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they
crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely
those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no
knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed
him not for sure." - 4:157 Shakir Translation.

Let us look first at the titles given by the Jews in this verse to Jesus:

(1) Messiah
(2) Son of Marium
(3) Messenger of Allah

The only plausible title that would appear in this verse is the 2nd -
i.e. Son of Marium.

However, let's take a look at the other two. Firstly, the Jews would
NEVER refer to Jesus as the Messiah, because they did not believe that
He was the Messiah. They would certainly not desire to kill a person
whom they genuinely thought was the promised Messiah.

But the problem becomes even greater when we examine the third title -
Messenger of Allah. First of all, Jesus was never ever referred to in
any historical writings as the Messenger of Allah. The name Allah does
not ever appear in them, including the Talmud. Again, like with the
first title, the Jews would never refer to someone they are killing as
a messenger or prophet of God. It would seem more likely that they
would call him a messenger of the devil or some other such thing.

Now we turn our attention to the words "killed" and "crucified". This
is where Muslim theology melts into a puddle of goo. There is a big
split here as to what this really means. Some believe that it means
that Jesus was not put to death, nor was He even put on the cross.
This is known as the Substitution theory, and was commonly the most
traditional view held by Muslims. One such proponent of this theory
today is Osama Abdallah (founder of www.answering-christianity.com)

Some belive, as Shabir Ally points out, that the word "killed" is
referring to the act of execution in a general way, whereas
"crucified" is referring to the act of execution in a specific way.
Thus, Jesus was in fact put on the cross, but did not die there. The
obvious objection from the former interpretors is that "being nailed
to the cross equals crucifixion, which would contradict the Qur'an".
This point was masterfully made in a debate between Ahmed Deedat and
John Gilchrist. Read more about that debate at this URL:
http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Deedat/deedat.html

The substitutionists also interpret "but it appeared to them so (like
Isa)" as meaning that there was another person made to look like
Jesus, who was put upon the cross. Some Muslims say that it was Judas
Iscariot. Others say Simon of Cyrene, and others have other theories
as to who it was.

The Swoon-theoriest group (Shabir Ally etc...) suggest that the text
in the Qur'an merely points out that it only appeared that Jesus had
been killed and crucified on the cross when in fact He had not.

A very quick rebuttal to that claim is that if they are to claim that
it only appeared that way, then they would have to suggest that it
appeared that Jesus was killed twice - first in a GENERAL way, and
then secondly in a more specific way, i.e. by way of crucifixion. As
none of the muslims would claim such a ridiculous notion, they would
by necessity have to retract the claim that crucified must mean
killing in a specific way and not allow the possibility of it simply
meaning to be nailed to the cross, since the word killed already
appears in the text.

Interestingly, the end of the verse only serves to add to the complete
confusion, when it says: "and most surely those who differ therein are
only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but
only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure."

This statement is a contradiction of the first part of the verse
wherein the Jews are said to state something they are sure of, and yet
the latter part of the verse says that it is they who differ about the
matter, following conjecture, with no certain knowledge.

The Jews were clear about this matter. The death of Jesus was never
ever disputed among them. They never differed about it. On the
contrary, it is the Muslims who dispute about what took place. It is
they that have no certain knowledge, following the saying of a man who
came some 600 years after the event.

This verse is probably one of the strongest evidences against the
Divine inspiration of the Quran. It fails logically, historically, and
theologically.

When time allows, I will examine each of these two popular theories
put forward by Muslims - both the Swoon theory (that Jesus passed out
on the cross), and the substitution theory (that someone else was
placed upon the cross). We shall see how utterly bankrupt the muslim
position rests in both theories and why we Christians can be assured
of the reliability of the accounts of the gospels. I would like to go
into some of the often discussed "contradictions" of the gospels and
then present both cases side by side. The results will be devastating
to one, and uplifting and edifying to the other.

May the Lord bless you all. He has purchased you from among men with
His precious redeeming blood. Now, may the God of all grace fill you
and supply you bountifully.