Evidence Against the Crucifixion
Introduction
As we Muslims believe in the common sense of there being no need for a crucifixion for God to forgive us, no need for anything to go between, “Please forgive me,” and, “I forgive you,” it should be no surprise that we believe that the blessed Jesus was not crucified at all. We do not deny, however, that people at the time thought he was crucified. The Koran says:
And for their saying, “We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God”--yet they did not slay him, neither crufcified him, only a likeness of that was shown to them. Those who are at variance concerning him surely are in doubt regarding him; they have no knowledge of him, except the following of surmise; and they slew him not of a certainty--
(- 4:157 -)
Noble Quran
No indeed; God raised him up to Him; God is All-mighty, All-wise.
(- 4:158 -)
Noble Quran
We tend to interpret this as meaning that God miraculously swip-swapped the physical appearances of the blessed Jesus and someone else, and that someone else was crucified instead. There is disagree-ment over who this person was and whether he was a wretch who got this as a punishment or a disciple who volunteered for it. Many of us believe it was Judas Iscariot; it’s also been suggested that it was Simon of Cyrene, since early Christian heretics believed centuries before the advent of Islam that he had played such a role.
The Bible is famous for its contradictions, but what many of my brothers and sisters in Islam don’t know is that many of these contradictions are irrelevant or not real at all. The four Gospels of the Bible, for instance, are much more harmonious with each other than discrepant--most of the way through. But there are a few places, most notably the accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection, where contradictions simply abound. The four Gospel authors could hardly agree on a thing. Such a level of confusion over the prophet’s death supports our belief that it was only made to look like he was crucified.
In this paper I am going to show sixteen contradictions in the brief crucifixion account alone, mainly in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19, but also extending a few verses before some of those chapters and into a couple of verses from Acts and 1 Corinthians. In just this brief space there are at least sixteen contradictions, some over some very major issues, which I will discuss in the conclusion. I will show the contradictions along with my responses to the usual attempts Christian inerrantists make at harmonizing them. Then, in this paper’s conclusion, I’ll show how it all fits together.
THE CONTRADICTIONS
- :: #1 Did Judas commit suicide? ::
And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:5)
Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. (Acts 1:18)
I’ve heard all manner of strange harmonizations for this contradiction, including this very strange one by Answering Islam (found at http://debate.org.uk/):
Matthew 27:1-10 mentioned the fact that Judas died by hanging himself in order to be strictly factual. Luke, however in his report in Acts1:18-19 wants to cause the feeling of revulsion among his readers, for the field spoken about and for Judas, and nowhere denies that Judas died by hanging. According to tradition, it would seem that Judas hanged himself on the edge of a cliff, above the Valley of Hinnom. Eventually the rope snapped, was cut or untied and Judas fell upon the field below as described by Luke.
The problem with that explanation is that you don’t fall headlong when you hang yourself: you fall the opposite way, feet first. But personally, I’m suspicious of this tradition that Answering Islam mentioned in the above quoted but offered no direct references to, and let’s face it, folks: you’re making quite a stretch when you introduce a cliff out of nowhere.
- :: #2 Did Judas die at all? ::
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. (Matthew 28:16-17)
The response Christian inerrantists give is always the same: “The Twelve” was just a title that Paul was using to refer to the eleven. Think about that and I think you’ll see how ridiculous it is.
- :: #3 How did the Field of Blood get its name? ::
Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Akel’dama, that is, Field of Blood. (Acts 1:18-19)
The chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.So they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.” Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. (Matthew 27:6-8)
Regarding this, Answering Islam says:
Both passages agree that it was due to it being bought by blood-money. Acts 1:18-19 starts by saying, “With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field”. So it begins with the assumption that the field was bought by the blood-money, and then the author intending to cause revulsion for what had happened describes Judas bloody end on that piece of real estate.
What they’re telling you here is that because they read an assumption into one verse, therefore it agrees with another verse even though it clearly doesn’t. They have no way of knowing if the author of Acts was writing under any assumption or another, but simply make their own assumption about it because otherwise their inerrantist goose is cooked. They offer no evidence that the Acts passage was written under the assumption that the Matthew passage was true, and as far as I can see there is no evidence possible. They just made it up.
- :: #4 For what crimes was Barabbas in prison? ::
Pilate...went out to the Jews again, and told them, “I find no crime in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover; will you have me release for you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barab’bas!” Now Barab’bas was a robber. (John 18:38-40)
And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barab’bas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he was wont to do for them. And he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barab'bas instead. (Mark 15:7-11)
While it’s always possible that he was a robber as well as an insurrectionist and murderer, the two different charges are mentioned in the same context, so that the John passage clearly refers to his robbery as the reason he is in prison. After all, why would the author of John write that he was a robber if he didn’t mean that this was the charge against him?
- :: #5 What tortures did the blessed Jesus suffer at the hands of the Romans and in what order? ::
- Matthew 27:26-31, Mark 15:15-20:
(1) flogging, (2) crown of thorns, (3) whack with a reed.
- Luke 23:
No tortures, although you could make the case that Luke 23:16 implies a flogging.
- John 19:1-5:
(1) flogging, (2) crown of thorns.
- :: #6 What color was the robe the blessed Jesus was put in? ::
And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him. (Matthew 27:28)
And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe. (John 19:2)
- :: #7 Did the blessed Jesus carry his own cross or not? ::
So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol’gotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. (John 19:17-18)
And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyre’ne, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull).... (Matthew 27:31-33)
The full context, as you can see, makes it clear that both passages refer to the person in question carrying the cross for the whole trip, so that there is no way that one carried it before the other. Remember also what I said about combining passages from separate writings.
- :: #8 When was Jesus (peace be on him) crucified? ::
And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. (Matthew 15:25)
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” (John 19:14-15)
The inevitable response from Christian inerrantists is that one author was using Roman time and the other wasn’t. This completely overlooks the fact that it was a time of patriotism and ethnocentrism for the Jews, making it unlikely that one of them would use anything Roman if given the choice. In any case there is no real evidence that these two methods of keeping time were being used.
- :: #9 What did the sign over his head say? ::
And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” (Matthew 27:37)
And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” (Mark 15:26)
There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” (Luke 23:38)
Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19)
The typical response here is to combine the four accounts of what the sign said into, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Bear in mind what all I said above about combining accounts. Also remember John 19:21-22: “The chief priests of the Jews then said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, The King of the Jews, but, This man said, I am King of the Jews.' Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written.’”
- :: #10 Why did the people offer Jesus (peace be on him) a drink? ::
After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the scripture), “I thirst.” A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. (John 19:28-29)
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, la’ma sabach-tha'ni?” that is, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “This man is calling Eli’jah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Eli’jah will come to save him.” (Matthew 27:46-49)
- :: #11 What drink did they offer Jesus (peace be on him)? ::
And when they came to a place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull), they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. (Matthew 27:33-34)
And they brought him to the place called Gol’gotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh; but he did not take it. (Mark 15:22-23)
- :: #12 Did one of the people crucified with Jesus (peace be on him) deride him or both? ::
Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him...so also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders...and the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. (Matthew 27:38-44)
And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left...and the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him....The soldiers also mocked him....One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:33-43)
Only two criminals are mentioned, one on the right and the other on the left. Either they both mocked him or one did and the other rebuked him for it. It’s as simple as that.
- :: #13 What were Jesus’s (peace be on him) last words? ::
Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46)
When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30)
- :: #14 What did the centurion say after the crucifixion was over? ::
And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)
Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” (Luke 23:47)
- :: #15 Did the curtain of the temple tear before or after the blessed Jesus died? ::
And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (Mark 15:37-38)
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:44-46)
- :: #16 What events happened right after the blessed Jesus died? ::
- Matthew 27:
The temple curtain is torn, there is an earthquake that splits rocks, and people emerge from tombs and go into town, including saints, even though there were no saints by that point.
- Mark 15:
There is an earthquake and the temple curtain is torn, but that’s it.
- Luke 23:
The curtain is torn and that’s all.
- John 19:
No strange events at all.
Conclusion
Why so many contradictions in these brief accounts? The same goes for the Resurrection accounts. Go to http://ffrf.org/ for Dan Barker’s slightly longer list of Resurrection contradictions. Now, what are the most important, improbable contradictions I’ve listed? Right, they’re the ones about Judas Iscariot. There’s confusion not only over how he died, but over whether he died. This fits the common Islamic idea that God miraculously switched his physical appearances with his teacher’s so that he was crucified instead. It all fits, don’t you see? That’s why there’s such confusion over Judas’s death, that’s why there’s such confusion over what happened at the crucifixion, that’s why the four Resurrection accounts of the Gospels are hopelessly inconsistent. God switched Jesus’s (peace be on him) and Judas’s appearances, Judas was crucified, the illusion and miracle created confusion, and there was no resurrection but God did take the blessed Jesus up to heaven. It all makes perfect sense, n’est-ce pas?