Jesus, Prophet of Islam - The Islamic Bulletin

Early Unitarians in Christianity 111

collection of ideas that would tend to persuade the

reader that the Gospels hardly raise any problems con­

cerning the personaIities of the authors of the various

books, the authenticity of the texts and the truth of the

descriptions. In spite of the fact that there are so many

unknowns concerning authors of whose identity we are

not at aIl sure, we find a weaIth of precise information

in this kind of introductory note. Often they present as

a certainty what is pure hypothesis, or they state that

such-and-such an evangelist was an eye-witness of the

events, while speciaIist works daim the opposite. The

time that elapsed between the end of [esus's ministry

and the appearance of the texts is exaggeratedly re­

duced. They would have one believe that these were

written by one man from an oraI tradition, when in fact

speciaIists have pointed out adaptations to the texts. Of

course, certain difficulties of interpretation are men­

tioned here and there, but they ride rough shod over

glaring contradictions that must strike anyone who

thinks about them. In the little glossaries one finds

among the appendices complementing a reassuring

preface, one observes how improbabilities, contradic­

tions or blatant errors have been hidden or stifled un­

der elever arguments of an apologetic nature. This state

of affairs, which shows up the misleading nature of such

commentaries is very disturbing. JO

Dr. Bucaille continues:

Themajorityof Christiansbelieve thatthe Gospelswere

written by direct witnesses of the life ofJesus and there­

fore constitute unquestionable evidence concerning the

events highlighting his life and preachings. One won­

ders, in the presence of such guarantees of authenticity,

how it is possible to discuss the teachings derived from

them and how one can cast doubt upon the vaIidity of

the Church as an institution by applying the generaI

instructions Jesus himself gave. Today' s popular editions

of the Gospels contain commentaries aimed at propa­

gating these ideas among the generaI public.