Title: Is Jesus Christ the Savior in Christianity?
Is He the Son of Man?
Characteristics of the Savior in Christianity According to the Christian Bible
Christianity is the world’s largest religion. It has certain beliefs about the future of the world and the coming of the Promised Savior. However, there is a difference of opinion in the Bible as who the Promised Savior in Christianity is. Is the person referred to as the “Son of Man” in the Bible Jesus Christ, or is he another savior?
There are other differences in Christian scriptures as well, such as the story of the birth and death of Jesus, his divinity, and the story of Ishmael and Isaac being sacrificed.
On the other hand, despite these differences, they all have something in common: All the scriptures are optimistic about the future of the world; they believe that the Son of Man or the savior in Christianity will establish the Kingdom of God. According to them, all of us are God’s creations and we were born to rule the earth.[1] Humans committed many sins to the extent that they were cursed by God,[2] but God sacrificed Jesus, thereby forgiving humans; through the sacrifice of Jesus, all Christians are cleansed and freed from all sins.[3] They believe that one day God will make the world pure and perfect like the first day it was created.[4] This will be done by the Son of Man or the savior in Christianity, and then the Kingdom of God will be established on earth.
Christians believe that Jesus was crucified and ascended to Heaven after three days in the presence of Mary. In the New Testament, the Trinity is also mentioned among the beliefs of Christianity. Meanwhile, the Gospel of Barnabas has a different view on both of these matters. Barnabas’s views on these issues are consistent with the Quran. According to the Quran and the Gospel of Barnabas, Jesus was not crucified, but another person named Judas Iscariot was crucified and killed instead of Jesus. In Barnabas, Jesus is not introduced as the son of God, and he is considered a human being, just like in the Quran. According to Barnabas, Jesus or Joshua is not the Promised Savior of the End Times. The name of the savior of the End Times is Muhammad. Barnabas’s view of the sacrifice of Ishmael aligns with that of the Quran too.
The strange point is that despite the fulfillment of many prophecies of the Gospel of Barnabas at the beginning of Islam, Barnabas has been rejected by Jewish scholars! To examine this, let us have a look at the history of Christianity.
An Overview of Christianity
In the beginning, Christianity was considered a Jewish sect; however, in 312 AD, Christianity was separated from Judaism and introduced as the official religion of Rome. In 325 AD, the scholars of Christianity held a council, called the Council of Nicaea, and discussed their theological differences. They eventually confirmed the Trinity and the Four Gospels, and discredited other versions of the Bible, such as Barnabas. In fact, today’s Christian Bible consists of two parts: The Old Testament or the Torah and the New Testament, whose content is taken from the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, in addition to the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of Saint Paul to the Corinthians. The content of these four gospels only includes the life, statements, advices, and letters of Jesus. Christians actually follow the Torah in their religious rules and rituals.
The Gospel of Barnabas could not be found for centuries until in the sixteenth century, the Italian monk, Fra Marino, found a copy of it in the library of Pope Sixtus V and converted to Islam after reading it. Till a copy was discovered in Russia, nobody knew where it was. After finding the Spanish version of the Barnabas, it was discredited again due to some baseless excuses.
All divine religions are sent by God, and the Quran recognizes them as one. So it is normal and expected to find similarities among them. That is, every prophet confirmed and completed the previous religion. The Quran also mentions the deceit and betrayal of some Jewish and Christian scholars.[5] Despite all this, it is still possible to find a correct definition of the savior in Christianity in the four gospels.
The Savior in Christianity in Different Versions of the Bible
The prophecy of a bright future and participation in it has been one of the greatest duties of all prophets, and Jesus was not exempt from this rule. Although access to the original statements and speeches of Jesus is not possible using the four Gospels, what has remained unaltered and reached us through the Gospels indicates that his most important duty was to declare that the Kingdom of God would be established on earth in the future.[6] The kingdom of God is the ideal future or the Noble Rule of the Righteous which Christians must do their best to establish. The future will be in the hands of the savior, or the “Son of Man”:
“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” [7]
“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning…You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” [8]
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.” [9]
“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”[10]
“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.”[11]
“And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”[12]
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” [13]
“And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice.” [14]
“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heaven will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire. But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” [15]
“And again, Isaiah says, ‘The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.’” [16]
Who Is the Savior in Christianity or the Son of Man
Although Christians insist on identifying the savior in Christianity or the Son of Man as Jesus, many verses in the Bible show that the Son of Man, or the Promised Savior, is not Jesus Christ, and these are two separate individuals. For example, it is stated in Matthew:
“‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’”[17]
As it is evident, this verse is from the words of Prophet Jesus (PBUH), and it is Jesus himself who is giving the news that in the future a person named the Son of Man will come. Therefore, certainly Jesus, who gives this good news, cannot be the Son of Man, and if he considered himself to be the Son of Man, the sentence structure would have been different.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says: “I do not seek My own glory. There is One who seeks it, and He is the Judge.” [18]
Again we see in Matthew:
“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory…But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”[19]
Now, it becomes clear that the savior in Christianity is referred to as the “Son of Man,” who is a distinct personality from Jesus (PBUH). In order to gain a better understanding of who he is, we must seek out additional evidence and indications.
The Return of Jesus
Jesus is mentioned twenty-five times in the Quran. Verses from the Quran refer to the wrong claims about Jesus in Christian books. It says that all scriptures except the Quran are distorted and contain false information. Some Quranic verses examine the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus “And God will say, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you ever ask the people to worship you and your mother as gods besides Allah?’ He will answer, ‘Glory be to You! How could I ever say what I had no right to say? If I had said such a thing, you would have certainly known it. You know what is within me, but I do not know what is within You. Indeed, You are the Knower of all unseen. I never told them anything except what You ordered me to say: ‘Worship Allah—my Lord and your Lord!’ And I was witness over them as long as I remained among them. But when You took me, You were the Witness over them—and You are a Witness over all things.’”[20]
The subject of the return of Jesus has been stated in the Bible more than three hundred times under the title “Second coming.” According to Christian belief, after the return of Jesus and the killing of anti-Christ, world peace will be achieved, and the kingdom of God will be established on earth.
The belief in the return of Jesus (PBUH) is shared by both Christians and Muslims. In Shia traditions, it is believed that Jesus will return to help Imam Mahdi, while Sunni traditions suggest that Jesus will act as the minister of the Imam of the Time. Both Shia and Sunni sources suggest that Mecca, Damascus, or Jerusalem are possible locations for the return of Jesus.
However, the difference between Christianity and Islam is that in Christianity it is believed that Jesus is the Promised Savior, but in Islam, Jesus helps the Promised Savior.
[1]. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” (Genesis 1:27-28)
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15)
[2]. “To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’” (Genesis 3:17-19)
[3]. “But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:14)
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
[4]. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day. And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning-the fifth day. And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 65:17-25)
[5]. “Do you hope that they will believe in you, when some of them used to hear the Word of God, and then deliberately distort it, even after understanding it? And among them are uneducated who know the Scripture only through hearsay, and they only speculate. So woe to those who write the Scripture with their own hands, and then say, ‘This is from God,’ that they may exchange it for a little price. Woe to them for what their hands have written, and woe to them for what they earn.” (Quran, 2:75, 78-79)
[6]. “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.” (Luke 16:16)
“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” (Daniel 2:44)
[7]. Luke 21: 27
[8]. Luke 12: 35, 40
[9]. Daniel 7: 13
[10]. Matthew 24: 37
[11]. Mark 13:7
[12]. Mark 13:26
[13]. Matthew 5:5
[14]. John 5:27-28
[15]. 2 Peter, 3:11-13
[16]. Romans, 15:12
[17]. 26:64
[18]. 8:50
[19]. 24:30, 36
[20]. Quran, 5: 116, 117