74 Jesus, Prophet of Islam
Thus there are records of various sects who lived in the early
centuries after [esus's disappearance, such as, for example, the
Ebionites, the Cerinthians, the Basilidians, the Carpocratians, and
the Hypisistarians, who refused to worship God as a father, They
revered Him as the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, the Highest of
all with no one equal to Him.
In time, many different written accounts of Jesus's life and teach
ings - sorne clearly more reliable than others - appeared and were
used, Jesus had spoken in Aramaic, a dialect of Arabie, which was
not commonly written. The first Gospels were therefore usually
recorded in Hebrew. In these early days, none were formally ac
cepted or rejected. It was up to the leader of each Christian com
munity to decide what books he would use. Depending on whom
they had been taught by, each community or sect went to a differ
ent source. Those who followed Barnabas's example, for instance,
went to one source - and those who followed Paul went to another.
Thus, quite soon after [esus's disappearance from earth, there
was a definite and widening divergence between the followers of
Jesus and the members of the Pauline Church, which was later to
become known as the Roman Catholic Church. Differences between
the two were not only evident in life-style and belief, but were also
clearly delineated geographically.
As the Pauline Church became more established, it became in
creasingly hostile to the followers of Jesus. It aligned itself more
and more with the rulers of the Roman Empire, and the persecu
tion which to begin with had been directed at all who called them
selves Christians, now began to fall mainly on those who affirmed
the Divine Unity. Attempts began to be made to change their be
liefs and forcefully to remove those who refused to do so, together
with the books they used. Most of the early martyrs were Unitar
ians. The more the doctrines of Paul became accepted, the more its
adherents opposed those who affirmed the Divine Unity. By the
time the EmperorJulian came to power, this infighting had reached
such a stage that he said: 'No wild beasts are so hostile to man as
Christian sects in general are to one another.'
Naturally, those who deviated from the teaching of Jesus were
prepared to change the Scriptures too, and even to introduce false
writings in order to support their opinions. Toland, in his book The
Nazarenes, records these words of Iranaeus, who was one of the
early Unitarian martyrs:
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