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CONGRUITIES AND INCONGRUITIES BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND THE QUR'AN |
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The Gospel according to St. Matthew, the first in order among the Gospels, was, according to the majority of biblical scholars and Mircea Eliade, committed to Paper approximately 45 years after Christ, i.e. in 80 A.D. This Gospel is remarkable in that it contains the outlines of the Law given by Moses, while reflecting the break with Judaism. Moreover, the Judeo-Christianity (the Nazarenes) has been given a significant place. The biblical scholars concur on the fact that the Gospel according to St. Matthew justifiably occupies the place it has been reserved for it. According to Christian sources, the Gospel according to St. Matthew was penned by Matthew, the Apostle that Christ had called to join him leaving his office as a custom officer, circa 60 A.D., in Hebrew, to be translated later into Greek.
Today, the general consensus is that the author of this Gospel was not Matthew, since he had not disclosed his identity, had not given any hint about his having encountered Christ and peregrinated with him. In the Gospel attributed to him, he refers to Matthew not as himself but as a third person. An Apostle who had had the privilege of being inspired by God would certainly not have appealed to Mark, who was not an Apostle. For, the scholars agree that St. Matthew owed a lot to the Gospel according to St. Mark.
« “O.Culmann considers that 'many turns of phrase corroborate the hypothesis that the author was of 'Jewish origin', but the presence of Latin expressions might suggest that he had written his Gospel in Rome. “He addresses himself moreover to Christians not living in Palestine and is careful to explain the Aramic expressions he uses….. Mark's Gospel as a whole is officially recognized as being canonic. All the same, the final section of Mark's Gospel (16,19-20) is considered by modern authors to have been tacked on to he basic work: the Ecumenical Translation is quite explicit about this.Father Kannengisser makes the following comments on the ending: “The last verses must have been suppressed when his work was officially received (or the popular version of it) in the community that guaranteed its validity. Neither Matthew, Luke or a fortiori John saw the missing section. Nevertheless the gap was unacceptable. A long time afterwards, when the writings of Matthew, Luke and John, all of them similar, had been in circulation, a worthy ending to Mark was composed.What a blunt admission is provided for us here, in the thoughts of a great theologian, that human manipulation exists in he texts of the scriptures!» (Bucaille Ibid. p 37) The fact that the miracle related to Joseph in the Qur'an (Surah 12/28-40) is seen told here using the same phrases is an interesting point.
What were the sources of the Gospel according to St. Matthew? To begin with the oral tradition handed down by the Nazarenes and the original Gospel committed to paper by the said community which has been lost without having left any trace behind. In addition, there were the Gospel according to St. Mark and the letters of St. Paul.
A supplement was annexed to the end of the last chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, « All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: » (Matthew, 28/18-19) The biblical scholars concur that in the other Gospels there is no commandment related to baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and that in the period of the Apostles the baptism was performed in the name of Jesus Christ. This fact had been mentioned in the Acts (2/38, 22/16, 10/48, 8/16, 19/5). « Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. »(Acts 2/38). As one can see in Paul's letters the converts into Christianity were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. « Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? »(Romans 6/3)
The concept of Trinity was sanctioned by the majority of the participants in the sitting of the ecumenical council of the Christian church, meeting in Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey) in 325 A.D. despite the opposition of Arius and his proponents; whereupon the Council of Nicaea, declared Arius a heretic after he refused to sign the formula of faith stating that Christ was of the same divine nature as God. During the second ecumenical council of the Christian church, summoned by the emperor Theodosius I and meeting in Constantinople in 381, doctrinally, it was promulgated what became known to the church as the Nicene Creed; the Trinitarian doctrine of the equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son had been officially adopted. Thus, the Trinity doctrine that received general approval in the fourth century was added to the text penned in the first century. The decision reached by the ecumenical council was incorporated in the Gospel according to St Matthew. This shows that additions and alterations had been made at various periods to the original Gospel. « And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. »(Matthew 28/18,20)
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO St. MARK