The Mysteries of Jesus -
A Muslim Study of the Origins and Doctrines of the Christian Church,
*[A5+] Paperback - 304 pages,
by Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood
Published by Sakina, Oxford.
Description :
Revolutionary of pacifist ? Jewish scholar, or liberator from the Law? For two thousand years few subjects have provoked more controversy than the life of the blessed Messiah of Nazareth. In our own time, discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Gospels, and the still unresolved mystery of the Shroud of Turin, have made the debate more lively and more fascinating than ever before.
In this book a leading British Muslim scholar examines the most recent research and its implications for Jesus scholarship and for the churches, as they seek to reinterpret Jesus for the new age. Her conclusions are that the historical Jesus emerges as a figure far more glorious than the Christ defined in the formulas of medieval Christianity, which were influenced heavily by Greek philosophy and mystery religions whose beliefs hold little appeal for the modern mind. Ideas once blasted as 'heresies' now seem to have preserved the authentic teachings of the Galilean more fully than the official orthodoxies. Maqsood shows that the Jesus who is now being reclaimed in this way is a figure who is not a stumbling block to dialogue, but can be affirmed by Jews and Muslims, as well as by Christians anxious to uphold historically credible accounts of the saintly figure at the centre of their faith.
Few Muslims have meditated deeply on Christian origins. This groundbreaking book shows how modern Christian and Muslim scholarship is drawing together, bringing hope of future reconciliation and dialogue between the two largest world faiths.
Table of Contents :
---Introduction,
---[1]. A Miscarriage of Justice,
---[2]. Problems, Problems,
---[3]. Where have all the Romans gone?
---[4]. Zealots and the Royal Family,
---[5]. The Relatives of Jesus,
---[6]. Keepers and Doers,
---[7]. Why did Paul reject the Torah?
---[8]. The Goat for Azazel,
---[9]. Covenant, Circumcision and Cookery,
---[10]. Paul or James,
---[11]. Jesus the Myth ?
---[12]. The Ka'aba Pantheon,
---[13]. Inspired or Prohibited?
---[14]. The Document called 'Q'
---[15]. Scrollduggery: Was there a Dead Sea Scrolls Deception ?
---[16]. Two Messiahs - the Sons of David and the Zaddikim
---[17]. Jeshu bar Nagara and the Prophet 'Isa,
---[18]. The Injil of 'Isa (was this the gospel copied by Waraqa ibn Nawfal?)
---[19]. Does the Bible know about Islam?
---[20]. Did the crucifixion kill Jesus?
---[21]. Was Jesus buried alive?
---[22]. Imperial Manoeuvring and Wavering,
---[23]. Have the Christians really got it all wrong ?
---[24]. Life without an Atoning Saviour,
---[25]. Judgement.
---Appendix : The Gospel of Barnabus,
---Notes,
---Bibliography,
---Index.
*Dimensions : 23.3 x 15.8cm.
