Favorable Investigating of the Scripture Reports on Christ (AS) and His Main Title in Sacred Sources

Abstract

With little reference to the works of Christian and Muslim scholars, researching about Jesus, it becomes clear that they often try to declare their own interpretation of Christianity as valid and dismiss other readings as invalid and rejected in a defensive and argumentative approach. It is not expected that the output of such research would lead to unity and harmony among the followers of the Abrahamic religions; a necessity that everyone acknowledges as essential for achieving global peace, understanding, and reconciliation. Based on this, the present article attempts to reconcile the conflicting reports of these two sacred sources in a harmonious, favorable, and compatible manner using the tools of documentary-library collection and a comparative-analytical method, while classifying the reports on Jesus in the New Testament and Shia narratives and determining the main position of the discussion. It seems that the use of other valid data in Islam and Christianity, attention to lexicography, contemplation in text translation, consideration of the context in which statements are made, the role of the speaker, as well as collective brainstorming and utilizing tools from it, are among the solutions that can help unravel the conflicting reports. This research has attempted to reach Jesus (AS) as a central figure in the New Testament and the Quran and Shia narratives, and then explain its possible reasons. The findings indicate that he does not have a specific title in the New Testament, but "Son of Mary" is his main title in the Quran and "Spirit of Allah" is his central title in Shia narratives. These terms are likely not unrelated to the fundamental concept of "Tawhid" in Islam and the doctrine of "End Time Reign" in Shiism.

Keywords

• jesus
• new testament
• quran
• hadiths
• shia
• history