Reason 2 of 10
Jesus was crucified. The Quran denies it 600 years later.
Roman, Jewish and Christian sources from the first and early second centuries record Jesus' execution under Pontius Pilate. One verse written about six centuries later says it only appeared so. History sides with the eyewitnesses.
What the Quran claims
One passage carries the whole Islamic denial of the cross. It does not name a witness, a source or a substitute. Muslim commentators have filled the gap with several different stories, which is itself a sign there was no history behind it.
وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا ٱلْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ فِيهِ لَفِى شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًۢا 157 بَل رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا 158
157And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain. 158But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise.
Quran 4:157-158 (Pickthall) · context
The record from the first century
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is dated by nearly all scholars to the mid-50s AD, about 25 years after the crucifixion. In it he hands on a summary he had himself received: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day, and appeared to named witnesses, including more than five hundred people at once, most of whom were still alive to be questioned.
All four Gospels, written in the first century, narrate the trial before Pilate, the crucifixion and the burial. The Roman historian Tacitus (Annals 15.44, about AD 116) records that Christus was executed by Pontius Pilate under Tiberius. The Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities 18.63-64, about AD 93) reports that Pilate condemned Jesus to the cross. Lucian of Samosata (The Passing of Peregrinus 11, second century) mocks Christians for worshipping a man crucified in Palestine.
Historians who are not Christians agree. The agnostic scholar Bart Ehrman calls the crucifixion under Pilate one of the most certain facts about Jesus (Did Jesus Exist?, 2012). John Dominic Crossan, no defender of traditional faith, says it is as sure as anything historical can be (Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, 1994).
3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (WEB) · context
24Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take. 25It was the third hour when they crucified him.
Mark 15:24-25 (WEB) · context
30When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19:30 (WEB) · context
33but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. 34However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.
John 19:33-35 (WEB) · context
Where the substitute-on-the-cross idea really comes from
The idea that another man died in Jesus' place is older than Islam, but not by much and not from eyewitnesses. Irenaeus of Lyon (Against Heresies 1.24.4, about AD 180) reports that the Gnostic teacher Basilides taught that Simon of Cyrene was crucified instead of Jesus while Jesus stood by and laughed. The Gnostic Second Treatise of the Great Seth (Nag Hammadi Codex VII) has a similar story.
These Gnostic teachers denied that Jesus had a real body at all, which the Quran does not teach either. So the Quran's denial matches a second-century speculation that the apostles' churches rejected, not anything a first-century witness said.
What the denial would mean
If God made someone else look like Jesus, then God deceived Jesus' mother, his disciples, the Roman soldiers and the Jewish leaders, and then let the whole Christian church be founded on that illusion for six hundred years before correcting it. That is not the God of truth.
19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?
Numbers 23:19 (WEB) · context
2in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began;
Titus 1:2 (WEB) · context
What Muslims answer
Muslims answer that God made someone resemble Jesus: classical commentaries name Judas, a volunteer disciple, Simon of Cyrene or a guard, and al-Tabari's commentary reports several versions. A minority view (including the Ahmadiyya, and the popular debater Ahmed Deedat) says Jesus was put on the cross but did not die there.
55(And remember) when Allah said: O Jesus! Lo! I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me ye will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ.
Quran 3:55 (Pickthall) · context
117I spake unto them only that which Thou commandedst me, (saying): Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. I was a witness of them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou tookest me Thou wast the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things.
Quran 5:117 (Pickthall) · context
Why that answer fails
Several incompatible substitution stories show the commentators had no historical source, only a verse to explain. The swoon theory contradicts Q 4:157 itself (they did not crucify him) as well as the Gospels and Roman practice; John records the spear wound and the flow of blood and water.
Notice too that the Quran's own words for Jesus' end in 3:55 and 5:117 use the Arabic verb tawaffa, which the Quran uses for God taking souls at death (Q 39:42). Commentators disagree about its meaning here.
Where scholars disagree
- Josephus, Antiquities 18.63-64 (the Testimonium Flavianum): scholars agree it was expanded by Christian copyists; most accept a shorter original that includes the execution under Pilate; a minority reject the whole passage.
- The meaning of tawaffa in Q 3:55 and 5:117 (to take fully, to cause to die, or to cause to sleep) is disputed among Muslim commentators.
Sources
- Earliest source Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (about AD 53-55).
- Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John (first century).
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.63-64 (about AD 93-94).
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (about AD 116).
- Lucian of Samosata, The Passing of Peregrinus 11 (second century).
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.24.4 (about AD 180), on Basilides.
- Second Treatise of the Great Seth, Nag Hammadi Codex VII,2.
- Bart D. Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist? (HarperOne, 2012); John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (HarperSanFrancisco, 1994).
- The Quran, Pickthall translation: 3:55, 4:157-158, 5:117, 19:33, 39:42 (text dated by Muslim tradition to AD 610-632).