than Him. In its affirmation of Jesus as ‘‘a spirit proceeding
from’’ Allah, the Koran contains another tantalizing hint of
the divinity of Christ.
Many Koranic texts about Jesus can only be explained
fully by Christian theology. This is why Jesus Himself is the
key to communicating the truth of the Gospel to Muslims.
However, this is a route full of hurdles. Chief among these
obstacles, besides the Koran’s explicit denial of Christ’s
divinity, is its denial of the crucifixion.
38. Why don’t Muslims believe that
Jesus died on the Cross?
Simply because the Koran says He did not. Muslims
believe that He was taken alive up to Heaven, never having
tasted death. It would be wrong for Allah to allow one of
His prophets to die in shame and humiliation, so Allah
placed someone who looked like Jesus on the Cross. The
Jews thought they were actually killing Jesus, but actually
the imposter was crucified: ‘‘they slew Him not nor
crucified, but it appeared so unto them’’ (Sura 4:157).
The denial of the crucifixion and death of Jesus is, of
course, a complete innovation. This denial is in direct
contradiction to the Gospel texts. In all four Gospels, Jesus’
passion, death, and resurrection are clearly enunciated.
These events are, moreover, attested to in the writings of
various non-Christian and secular sources including the
writings of the Jewish historian Josephus, the Annals of