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Opinion:Jesus: Death and Resurrection 1

Published

5 years ago

March 29, 2019

Editor

By Babatunde Jose

That they said (in boast), “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of Allah”; –But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow,

for of a surety they killed him not: (Quran 2:157)

The life of Jesus is shroud in mystery, inscrutability, impenetrability and inexplicability; right from his birth to the age of 12 after which he disappeared and the Bible had no explanation for his absence, only to suddenly reappear into history at 30, ministry for 3 years and summarily crucified for a crime he did not commit. The end of the life of Jesus on earth is also involved in ambiguity as his birth. It is not profitable to discuss the many doubts and conjectures among the early Christian sects and among Muslim theologians. The Gospels record Jesus age 12 in the temple, then age 30 at the River Jordan. Where was he in the interim? Ancient Buddhist manuscripts say Jesus left Palestine and travelled to India, Nepal, Ladakh and Tibet.

According to ancient Tibetan manuscripts, Jesus secretly withdrew from the home at age thirteen. Young “Issa”, as he is known in Asia, joined a merchant caravan. Destination: India and the Himalayas.

Buddhist scholars documented “The Life of Saint Issa” two thousand years ago. Nicolas Notovitch discovered the long lost document in 1887 at the Himis monastery in Ladakh. Swami Abhedananda published a Bengali translation of the Himis manuscript in 1929. Nicholas Roerich quoted the same verses in a 1929 travel diary of his Asian expedition. And in 1939, a lama at Himis presented a set of parchments to Elisabeth Caspari with the words: “These books say your Jesus was here!”

Today there are many books on the controversial stories of these travellers on the most important events that shaped the life and work of Jesus Christ. They are indeed historical breakthrough that will shake the foundations of modern Christendom! However, these are stories for another day. As we approach Easter, our concern is with the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

There is no doubt Jesus had a premonition of his end, hence, the last supper and the words the gospel writers had put in his mouth; his going into the Garden of Gethsemane and his fervent prayer to God to let him overcome his travails: Matthew 26:36-46. The Orthodox Christian Churches make it a cardinal point of their doctrine that his life was taken on the Cross, that he died and was buried, that on the third day he rose in the body with his wounds intact, and walked about and conversed, and ate with his disciples, and was afterwards taken up bodily to heaven. For a detailed expose of this theme, see Philip Schaff, HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: Apostolic Christianity A.D. 1–100.

This subject matter of death, resurrection and ascension is necessary for the theological doctrine of blood sacrifice and vicarious atonement for sins, which is rejected by Islam.

The greatest question the concept of blood atonement begs is: After Jesus carried away our sins, are we sinless today? Have we been cleansed? Is man better for all that has been done on his behalf by the Christ? Judging from the iniquities and sin man has committed since the time of Christ, it might be tempting to conclude that Jesus sacrificed his blood in vain for an unrepentant and adulterous generation.

Some of the early Christian sects did not believe that Christ was killed on the Cross. The Basilidans believed that someone else was substituted for him. The Docetae held that Christ never had a real physical or natural body, but only an apparent or phantom body, and that his Crucifixion was only apparent, not real. The Marcionite Gospel (about A.D. 138) denied that Jesus was born, and merely said that he appeared in human form. The Gospel of St. Barnabas supported the theory of substitution on the Cross; and this tally with the Islamic point of view. The Quranic teaching is that Christ was not crucified nor killed by the Jews:

Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise; (Quran 2:158)

There is difference of opinion as to the exact interpretation of this verse. The words are: The Jews did not kill Jesus, but Allah raised him up (rafa’u) to Himself. One school holds that Jesus did not die the usual human death, but still lives in the body in heaven, which is the generally accepted Muslim view. Yussuf Ali.

In the Reader: Cambridge Companion to Jesus, the Editor, Markus Bockmuehl, in his introduction wrote: “Two thousand years have come and gone, but still his remains the unfinished story that refuses to go away. Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew from rural first-century Galilee, is without doubt the most famous and most influential human being who ever walked the face of the earth. The global fact is that the adherents of Jesus are more widespread and more numerous, and make up a greater part of the world’s population, than at any time in history.”

“The followers of Jesus live in every country of the globe. They read and speak of him in a thousand tongues. For many non-believers, too, indeed to the majority of the earth’s population, Jesus is a household name, whose ‘brand recognition’ still far outstrips that of McDonald’s, Microsoft or MTV.”

Epistemologically, Jesus and his effects in our world are inextricably intertwined: the man of Nazareth cannot be understood in isolation from the footprint he has left on our collective and individual understanding, feeling and knowing. And yet, there is an obvious and equally ‘historical’ sense in which he is clearly not just ‘a man like any other man’.”

Barka Juma’at and happy weekend

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Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

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Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

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Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

7 days ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”