6.3 A "Paraclete" like
Jesus p1
In the Bible we can find the following four
passages wherein Jesus (pbuh) predicts a great event:
John 14:16"And I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever"
John 15:26"But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me"
John 14:26"But the Comforter, [which is]
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you."
John 16:7-14"Nevertheless I tell you the
truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin,
because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged. I have yet
many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you
into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will
shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall
receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you."
In these four verses, the word "comforter" is
translated from the word "Paraclete" ("Ho
Parakletos" in Greek). Parakletos in Greek is interpreted
as "an advocate", one who pleads the cause of another, one who
councils or advises another from deep concern for the other's
welfare (Beacon Bible commentary volume VII, p.168). In these
verses we are told that once Jesus (pbuh) departs, a Paraclete
will come. He will glorify Jesus (pbuh), and he will guide
mankind into all truth. This "Paraclete" is identified in John
14:26 as the Holy Ghost.
It must be pointed out that the original Greek
manuscripts speak of a "Holy pneuma." The word
pneuma {pnyoo'-mah} is the Greek root word for "spirit."
There is no separate word for "Ghost" in the Greek manuscripts,
of which there are claimed to be over 24,000 today. The
translators of the King James Version of the Bible translate
this word as "Ghost" to convey their own personal understanding
of the text. However, a more accurate translation is "Holy
Spirit." More faithful and recent translations of the Bible,
such as the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), do indeed now
translate it as "Holy Spirit." This is significant, and will be
expounded upon shortly.
All Bibles in existence today are compiled
from "ancient manuscripts," the most ancient of which being
those of the fourth century C.E. Any scholar of the Bible will
tell us that no two ancient manuscripts are exactly identical.
All Bibles in our possession today are the result of extensive
cutting and pasting from these various manuscripts with no
single one being the definitive reference.
What the translators of the Bible have done
when presented with such discrepancies is to do their best to
choose the correct version. In other words, since they can not
know which "ancient manuscript" is the correct one, they must do
a little detective work on the text in order to decide which
"version" of a given verse to accept. John 14:26 is just such an
example of such selection techniques.
John 14:26 is the only verse of the
Bible which associates the Parakletos with the Holy
Spirit. But if we were to go back to the "ancient manuscripts"
themselves, we would find that they are not all in agreement
that the "Parakletos" is the Holy Spirit. For instance, in the
famous the Codex Syriacus, written around the fifth century C.E.,
and discovered in 1812 on Mount Sinai by Mrs.Agnes S. Lewis (and
Mrs. Bensley), the text of 14:26 reads; "Paraclete,
the Spirit"; and not "Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.".
Is this just knit picking? "Spirit" or "Holy
Spirit," what's the big deal? Obviously they both refer to the
same thing. Right? Wrong! There is a big difference. A "spirit,"
according to the language of the Bible simply means
"a prophet" See for instance:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets
are gone out into the world,"
1 John 4:1-3:
(also see 1 John 4:6), or an inspired human,
for example read 1 Corinthians 2:10, 2 Thessalonians 2:2,
...etc.
We have already exhibited in chapters one and
two many documented cases of deliberate modification of the
Biblical text by members of the Christian clergy themselves, as
well as deliberate large scale projects to "correct" the Bible,
and the writings of "the early fathers," (such as the deliberate
insertion of the verse of 1 John 5:7 which is now universally
discarded). It is, therefore, possible that either:
1) The word "Holy" could have been dropped by
a careless copyist., or
2) Someone could have inserted the word "Holy"
to convey his personal understanding of the text.
Which was it? In order to arrive at the answer
we must follow the same path of detective work the Biblical
scholars themselves do. We must study the characteristics of the
"Paraclete" and compare them to both the "Holy
Spirit" and to a "Spirit." Muslims believe that Muhammad (pbuh)
was the one intended and not the Holy Ghost. In the Christian's
own "Gospel of Barnabas" Muhammad is
mentioned by name here. The Trinitarian church, however,
has done it's utmost to obliterate all existing copies of "The
Gospel of Barnabas," and to hide it from the masses or to label
it a forgery (see chapter 7). For this reason, it becomes
necessary to show that even the Gospels adopted by Paul's church
also originally spoke of Muhammad (pbuh).
1) Christian scholars see evidence of
tampering:
In the famous "Anchor Bible" we find the
following quote:
"The word parakletos is peculiar in the NT
to the Johnannine literature. In John ii Jesus is a parakletos
(not a title), serving as a heavenly intercessor with the Father
... Christian tradition has identified this figure (Paraclete)
as the Holy Spirit, but scholars like Spitta, Delafosse,
Windisch, Sasse, Bultmann, and Betz have doubted whether this
identification is true to the original picture and have
suggested that the Paraclete was once an independent salvific
figure, later confused with the Holy Spirit."
The Anchor Bible, Doubleday & Company, Inc,
Garden City, N.Y. 1970, Volume 29A, p. 1135
We are about to see some of the evidence that
goes to prove this position.
2) Does the Holy Spirit "speak" or
"inspire":
The Greek word translated as "hear" in the
Biblical verses ("whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak") is the Greek word "akouo" {ak-oo'-o} meaning to
perceive sounds. It has, for instance, given us the word
"acoustics," the science of sounds. Similarly
the verb "to speak" is the Greek verb "laleo" {lal-eh'-o} which
has the general meaning "to emit sounds" and the specific
meaning "to speak." This verb occurs very frequently in the
Greek text of the Gospels. It designates a solemn declaration by
Jesus (pbuh) during his preachings (For example Matthew 9:18).
Obviously these verbs require hearing and speech organs in order
to facilitate them. There is a distinct difference between
someone "inspiring" something and him "speaking" something. So
the Paraclete will "hear" and "speak," not
"inspire."
Muhammad (pbuh), as seen above, did indeed
fulfill this prophesy. Whatsoever he "HEARD" from Gabriel
(The Qur'an), the same did he physically "SPEAK" to his
followers. In the Qur'an we read:
"(God swears) By the star when it falls!:
Your comrade (Muhammad) errs not, nor is he deceived; Nor does
he speak of (his own) desire. It is naught save a revelation
that is revealed (unto him)."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Najm(53):1-4
3) The Holy Ghost was already with them:
In the above verses we read "if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you." The comforter can not be the Holy
Ghost because the Holy Ghost (according to the Bible) was "with"
them already (and even quite active) long before the coming of
Jesus (pbuh) himself and then throughout his ministry. Read for
example.
Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
1 Samuel 10:10"And when they came thither
to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the
Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them."
"And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when
he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly."
1 Samuel 11:6
"Then he remembered the days of old, moses,
and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of
the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his
holy Spirit within him?"
Isaiah 63:11
"For he (John the Baptist) shall be great
in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even
from his mother's womb."
Luke 1:15
"And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee."
Luke 1:35
"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth
heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and
Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost"
Luke 1:41
"And his father Zacharias was filled with
the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,"
Luke 1:67
"And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem,
whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout,
waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was
upon him."
Luke 2:25
"And it was revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost (Simeon), that he should not see death, before he had seen
the Lord's Christ."
Luke 2:26
"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily
shape like a dove upon him (Jesus), and a voice came from
heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well
pleased."
Luke 3:22
"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be
unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And
when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
John 20:21-22
Did they or did they not already receive the
Holy Ghost? Was Jesus (pbuh) not still with them
when they received the Holy Ghost? Was the Holy Ghost not with
Simeon, Mary, Elisabeth and Zacharias before the birth of Jesus
(pbuh)? Was the Holy Ghost not with Moses (pbuh)
when he parted the seas? There are many more similar verses to
be found in the Bible. In the above verses, we are told that if
Jesus (pbuh) does not depart then the "parakletos" will not
come. Thus, the "Holy Ghost" cannot be the one originally
intended since it was already with them. The contradiction is
quite obvious.
4) Selective translation: Jesus (pbuh) too
is a Paraclete:
The word "Paraclete" is
applied to Jesus (pbuh) himself in 1 John 2:1
"My little children, these things write I
unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate(parakletos) with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous."
1 John 2:1
Notice how the translators have managed to
translate this exact same word one way (advocate)
in reference to Jesus (pbuh) and another (comforter) with regard
to the coming "parakletos." Why would they want to do such a
thing? The reason is that the translators did not want the
Christians, after reading
"we have an advocate(parakletos) with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous"
to then read
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another advocate(parakletos)."
Can we see why this would make them nervous?
Well, what was Jesus (pbuh)? He was a prophet!
Read:
"...This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth
of Galilee."
Matthew 21:11
and "..Jesus of Nazareth, which was a
prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people"
Luke 24:19:
...etc. (see more
in section 1.2.3.12).
Muhammad (pbuh) was also a prophet of God. We
have already demonstrate in chapter one how the verses of the
Bible themselves prove quite conclusively that Jesus (pbuh) was
neither a god nor part of God Almighty, but an elect messenger
of God. The concept of his divinity was concocted by Paul and
his ministry during the first three centuries after the
departure of Jesus (pbuh) and is explicitly refuted by the Bible
itself and Jesus' apostles (see section 1.2.5).
5) "Another" Paraclete:
Now go back to John 14:16 and notice the words "another Paraclete." If the comforter is
the Holy Ghost then how many Holy Ghost's are there? The word
"another" is significant. We have already seen how this term is
applied to Jesus (pbuh) himself. In English, "another" may mean
"One more of the same kind" or "one more of a
different kind." If the latter were the one intended then
the current Christian interpretation might bear some merit.
However, if "One more of the same kind" was what was intended
then this is positive proof that the coming Paraclete would be
just like Jesus (pbuh), a human being and a prophet,
not a ghost. The actual Greek word used was the word "allon"
which is the masculine accusative form of "allos" {al'-los}:
"Another of the SAME kind." The Greek word for "another
of a different kind" is "heteros" {het'-er-os}.
Prof. Abdul-Ahad Dawud (formerly Rev. David
Benjamin Keldani, Bishop of Uramia)* says:
"The adjective 'another' preceding a
foreign noun for the first time announced seems very strange and
totally superfluous. There is no doubt that the text has been
tampered with and distorted."
Muhammad in the Bible, Prof. Abdul-`Ahad Dawud,
p. 211
"The Paraclete is a parallel figure to
Jesus himself; and this conclusion is confirmed in the fact that
the title is suitable for both. It is clear from 14:16 that the
source thought there were sendings of two Paracletes, Jesus and
his successor, the one following the other"
The Gospel of John a Commentary, Rudolf
Bultmann, p. 567
6) "Parakletos" or "Periklytos"?:
Some scholars believe that what Jesus (pbuh)
said in his own Aramaic tongue in these verses represents more
closely the Greek word "Periklytos" which means
the admirable or glorified one. This word corresponds exactly to
the Arabic word "Muhammad" which also means the "admired one" or
"glorified one." In other words, "Periklytos" is "Muhammad" in
Greek. There are several similar documented cases of similar
word substitution in the Bible. It is also quite possible that
both words were contained in the original text but were dropped
by a copyist because of the ancient custom of writing words
closely packed, with no spaces in-between them. In such a case
the original reading would have been: "and He will give you
another comforter(Parakletos), the admirable one(Periklytos)"
(See examples of many similar cases in the Biblical text in
"The Emphatic Diaglott").
In his book "Muhammed in the Bible", Professor
`Abdul-Ahad Dawud, formerly Rev. David Benjamin Keldani, Roman
Catholic Bishop of Uramiah, submits a much more eloquent and
scholarly presentation in defense of these assertions, far
beyond the limited abilities of this humble author. For those
who which to read a truly scholarly study of this matter, you
may obtain a copy of that book. The following is a very brief
quotation from that book:
"The 'Paraclete' does not signify either
'consoler' or 'advocate'; in truth, it is not a classical word
at all. The Greek orthography of the word is Paraklytos which in
ecclesiastical literature is made to mean 'one called to aid,
advocate, intercessor' (Dict. Grec.-Francais, by Alexandre). One
need not profess to be a Greek scholar to know that the Greek
word for 'comforter or consoler' is not 'Paraclytos' but 'Paracalon'.
I have no Greek version of the Septuagint with
me, but I remember perfectly well that the Hebrew word for
'comforter' (mnahem) in the Lamentations of Jeremiah (I. 2, 9,
16, 17, 21, etc.) is translated into Parakaloon, from the verb
Parakaloo, which means to call to, invite, exhort, console,
pray, invoke. It should be noticed that there is a long alpha
vowel after the consonant kappa in the 'Paracalon' which does
not exist in the 'Paraclytos.' In the phrase (He who consoles us
in all our afflictions) 'paracalon' and not 'Paraclytos' is
used. (I exhort, or invite, thee to work). Many other examples
can be cited here. There is another Greek word for comforter or
consoler, i.e. "Parygorytys' from 'I console'.....The proper
Greek term for 'advocate' is Sunegorus and for 'intercessor' or
'mediator' Meditea"
Muhammad in the Bible, Prof. Abdul-`Ahad Dawud,
pp. 208-209
7) "He" not "It":
Notice the use of "he" when
referring to the Paraclete and not "it."
If we read John 16:13, we will find no less than SEVEN
occurrences of the masculine pronoun "He" and "Himself." There
is not another verse in the 66 books of the Protestant Bible or
the seventy three books of the Catholic Bible which contains
seven masculine pronouns, or seven feminine pronouns, or even
seven neuter genders. So many masculine pronouns ill befits a
ghost, holy or otherwise. The word "Spirit" (Greek, pneu'ma), is
of a neutral gender and is always referred to by the pronoun
"it."
Mr. Ahmed Deedat says:
"When this point of seven masculine
pronouns was mooted by Muslims in India in their debates with
the Christian missionaries, the Urdu (Indian) version of the
Bible had the pronouns presently changed to SHE, SHE, SHE! so
that the Muslims could not claim that this prophecy referred to
Muhammad (pbuh) - a man! This Christian deception I have seen in
the Bible myself. This is a common trickery by the missionaries,
more specially in the vernacular. The very latest ruse I have
stumbled across in the Afrikaans Bible, on the very verse under
discussion; they have changed the word "Trooster" (Comforter),
to "Voorspraak" (Mediator), and interpolated the phrase - "die
Heilige Gees" - meaning THE HOLY GHOST, which phrase no Bible
scholar has ever dared to interpolate into any of the
multifarious English Versions. No, not even the Jehovah's
witnesses. This is how the Christians manufacture God's word."
"Muhammad, the natural successor to Christ,"
Ahmed Deedat, p. 51
8) He will guide you into all truth:
In the above verses Jesus (pbuh) is quoted as
saying "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot
bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
will guide you into all truth." What does Jesus (pbuh) mean
by "ye cannot bear them now"? If we were to read the
Bible, we would find many verses throughout the Bible wherein
Jesus (pbuh) bemoans the lack of understanding he was constantly
greeted with from his disciples throughout his ministry:
"And he(Jesus) saith unto them(the
disciples).....O ye of little faith."
Matthew 8:26
"...and (Jesus) said unto him(Peter), O
thou of little faith."
Matthew 14:31
"he (Jesus) said unto them(the disciples),
O ye of little faith."
Matthew 16:8
"And he(Jesus) said unto them(the
disciples), Where is your faith?"
Luke 8:25
Notice that these are not common Jews who he
is saying these words to, but his own elect disciples. The Bible
vividly illustrates how he is constantly going out of his way to
simplify matters for them and to speak to them as one speaks to
little children. However, even at that, they still
misunderstand. He is finally driven to frustration and made to
say:
"And Jesus said, Are ye even yet without
understanding?"
Matthew 15:16
and "And Jesus answering said, O faithless
and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and
suffer you?"
Luke 9:41
We are even told that his own people did not
accept him:
"He came unto his own, and his own received
him not."
John 1:11
Jesus (pbuh) had "all truth," but he
could not give it to them because they were not fit to receive
it. Therefore, he told them that another would come after him
who shall guide them into "all truth" which they could
not receive from him. He tells us that the one who will come
will "teach you all things." This one who will guide them
into "all truth" is described as "The spirit of
truth." We have already seen how the word "spirit" in the
Bible is synonymous with the word "Prophet." Muhammad (pbuh),
even before he became the prophet of Islam was known among his
people as "Al-sadik Al-amin," which means "The truthful, the
trustworthy." Thus, it becomes apparent that Muhammad was indeed
"the spirit of truth." Since the departure of Jesus (pbuh)
and to this day, the "Holy Ghost" has not taught mankind a
single new truth not revealed by Jesus (pbuh) himself.
It is important to notice the words "ALL
truth" and "MANY things." "Many" and "All" means more
than one. What new and innovative teachings has the Holy Ghost
given mankind which were not taught by Jesus (pbuh)? The Qur'an
says:
"O mankind! The messenger (Muhammad) hath
come unto you with the truth from your Lord. Therefore believe;
(it is) better for you. But if ye disbelieve, still, lo! unto
Allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth.
Allah is the All-Knower, the All-Wise."
9) He shall glorify me:
The Paraclete "shall
glorify me" and will "testify of me." Muhammad (pbuh)
did indeed testify of Jesus (pbuh) and did indeed glorify him
and raise him and his mother to their well deserved stations of
honor and piety and even made it an article of faith for every
Muslim to bear witness to this. Just one of the many examples of
this is:
"And the angles said 'O Mary, Allah gives
you glad tidings of a Word from Him, his name is Messiah, Jesus
son of Mary, High honored in this world and the next, of those
near stationed to Allah."
The noble Qur'an, A'al-Umran(3):40.
Nobody seems to recognize this fact as being
at all extraordinary. People generally look upon the Jews as
true worshippers of God and followers of a legitimate faith,
even if they do consider them misguided by not following Jesus (pbuh)
but killing him. Their book is even incorporated into the Bible
as the faultless word of God. On the other hand, Muslims are
looked down upon as followers of a false prophet and as savage
blood thirsty terrorists or barbarians. However, if we were to
look at the Jewish opinion of Jesus (pbuh) we would find that an
early reference in the Babylonian "Talmud" says
that "Jeshu ha-Nocri" was a false prophet who was hanged on the
eve of the Passover for sorcery and false teaching. They further
claim that he was a bastard son of a Roman adulterer among many
other allegations.
Mr. Josh McDowell is a Biblical scholar who
has researched the topic of the Jewish Talmud's
view of Jesus. The Talmud, of course, is the ultimate
authoritative body of Jewish tradition, comprising the Mishnah
and Gemara. In Mr. McDowell's book, "Evidence that
demands a verdict," he quotes extensively from the Jewish Talmud
with regard to the official Jewish view of Jesus (pbuh). The
following is a small sampling from this book:
"Tol'doth Yeshu. Jesus is referred to as
'Ben Pandera'." Note: 'Ben Pandera' means 'son of Pandera'. He
was a Roman soldier the Jews allege to have raped Mary to
produce the illegitimate son Jesus (God forbid).
Yeb. IV 3;49a: "Rabbi Shimeon Ben Azzai
said (regarding Jesus): 'I found a genealogical roll in
Jerusalem wherein was recorded, such-an-one is a bastard of an
adulteress."
Joseph Klausner adds:
"Current editions of the Mishnah, add: 'To
support the words of Rabbi Yehoshua' (who in the
same Mishnah says: What is a bastard? Everyone who's parents are
liable to death by the Beth Din), that Jesus is here referred to
seems to be beyond doubt."
The Jews had adopted in their ancient
references a system of referring to Jesus with code names when
heaping upon his person allegations of evil and blasphemy. One
good reference on this topic is "The Jewish Encyclopaedia," in
twelve volumes. The following information is obtained from that
book.
Under the heading of "Jesus in Jewish legend"
(Vol. VII, page 170-173), we are told that Jesus is referred to
in Jewish references by such code names as "that man," "that
anonymous one," "Yeshu," "bastard," "son of Pandera," "son of
Stada," "Balaam," (destroyer of the people) etc. Most
allegations which are associated with Jesus (peace be upon him
and his mother), concern themselves either with belittling the
person of Jesus, ascribing to him illegitimate birth, ascribing
to his mother Mary (pbuh) acts of whoredom, attributing to Jesus
acts of black magic through the vain use of the given name of
God, and attributing to him a shameful death as well as severe
and denigrating punishment in the afterlife.
These references to Jesus in Jewish records
and law claim that Jesus was born to a well known adulteress
named "Mary," who conceived him through adultery with a Roman
soldier who was named either "Pandera" or "Stada." Jesus is then
claimed to have traveled to Egypt and entered into the service
of magicians, he lusted after a woman and was excommunicated, he
set up a brick as his god and led all of Israel into apostasy.
He is claimed to have cut his magic formulas into his skin, by
having taken a parchment containing the "declared name of God"
and cut it into his skin in order to steal it from the Temple.
All of his miracles were then performed through this stolen
parchment which was later forcibly retrieved from him. It was
Judas Iscarlot who volunteered to retrieve it from Jesus. An
arial battle ensued between Judas and Jesus. Judas found that he
could in no way touch Jesus so he "defiled" him. Judas emerged
victorious and Jesus fled. Forty days before the condemnation of
Jesus, a herald called upon anyone who could say anything in
Jesus' favor. Not a single person came. The scholars of Israel
then bound him to a pillar, however, his disciples attacked them
and freed him. He disguised himself and rode an ass into
Jerusalem, however, Judas saw through his disguise
and exposed him.
We are told that Jesus was then taken to be
hung on the tree as the law required, however, he had conjured
all of the trees with his black magic and none of them would
receive him. Finally they hung him up on a large cabbage stalk
which received him. After Jesus' body was placed in the tomb it
disappeared and his disciples tried to claim that he had risen,
however, it was later discovered that "Judas the gardener" had
taken Jesus' body and used it as a dam to hold back the water in
his garden. Jesus' body was then retrieved and flung before the
Queen. In this manner the lies of the apostles were silenced and
there was great rejoicing throughout the land. This same
encyclopaedia aleges that the Qur'an "alludes to" the insult
delivered to the body of Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem. A
claim that is not only preposterous and unfounded, however, the
authors are hereby publicly challenged to produce the text of
the Qur'an that "alludes to" such evil claims against Jesus,
peace be upon him and his mother Mary.
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