Dear Dirty America

AUSTIN WAYNE LUEBKE
Amman, Jordan

(I received a letter from Austin about the subject of Jesus having predicted the coming of the Prophet. Below is the report, and then Austin’s letter.)


The report from Daily Mail:

A secret Bible in which Jesus is believed to predict the coming of the Prophet Muhammad to Earth has sparked serious interest from the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI is claimed to want to see the 1,500-year-old book, which many say is the Gospel of Barnabas, that has been hidden by the Turkish state for the last 12 years.

The £14million handwritten gold lettered tome, penned in Jesus’ native Aramaic language, is said to contain his early teachings and a prediction of the Prophet’s coming.

Well its possible insofar as predictions of Muhammad by Jesus. The status of the Gospel of Barnabas is, of course, in question. The Catholics and the Protestants certainly don’t accept it. I don’t know what its status is amongst the canonized gospels. Obviously, if this new text is older than any other Gospel of Barnabas manuscript, the Gospel would receive more credence. Regardless, it is an interesting claim.

If you read toward the end of the article it says that Jesus claims that he is not the Messiah and that a Messiah would be coming after him. It says he wishes people to refer to him as an Ishmaelite. If that is true (and we can’t really trust an article from Daily Mail, especially on a topic such as this) then Jesus would be predicting something right and wrong at the same time. One, that Muhammad would come, which would be right and two, that Muhammad is the true Messiah, which is wrong. Muhammad never claimed to be the Messiah. That is a Jewish thing and specific to Jesus alone.

Muslims believe that Jesus is the Messiah and he is to bring in the final era and so on. This is actual a very subtle position with far reaching consequences and would take a much longer commentary to hash out its meanings. Basically, the Jews rejected Jesus and what he brought, i.e. a new law to the Mosaic law. Therefore the fulfillment of the role of the Messiah did not happen but will happen at a later date.

Anyway, back to predictions, it is said there are a number of references to Muhammad in both the Torah and the Gospels. Some say in the Vedas as well. Allah Knows. In the gospel of John, there is curious talk of a Paraclete at the end Jesus makes reference to. This Paraclete is said to come after Jesus and usher in a new age.

If you look at the translation of this passage in the NIV bible, they translate it as the “Holy Spirit”. Paraclete in Greek does not mean “The Holy Spirit”. That translation was a decision based not on linguistics, but a theological position as what could come after Jesus but the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit was brought into the world by Jesus, the Protestants say, and this era is evidenced, among other things, by the whooshing wind which lit the tongues of fire on the disciples’ heads and gave them the ability to speak and understand in all languages. It is also evidenced by the ability to be bitten by snakes and not be affected as seen here:

Jesus in the Greek Bible used the Greek word “Periklytos” which means the admirable or glorified one. He called that predicted human prophet “Periklytos”.  This word corresponds exactly to the Arabic word “Muhammad”, which also means the “admired one” or “glorified one.” In other words, “Periklytos” is “Muhammad” in Greek.

and

In the Bible we can find the following four passages wherein Jesus (peace be upon him) predicts a great event:

John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever”

John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me”

John 14:26 “But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 16:7-14 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.”

There is more on this matter. People have done extensive studies on these things and claim a number of references in the Torah and Gospels predict Muhammad. One of those predictions is in Genesis when God said he would make a great nation come from Ishmael.

As to what I wrote above, I realize I threw out some strange things maybe, in respect to the Holy Spirit and translations. There are many things pertaining to that matter. In case you find it strange or far from possible, know I simply wished to show how the NIV really messed up our understanding of the Gospels. Even in college I grew to like the NIV the least as it left the linguistic meaning many times in order to substitute a not too subtle theological position. That, of course, is the problem and danger of relying on translations.

There are a lot of fascinating things going on in terms of revelations in the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Quran. But my knowledge is limited and my body is getting sleepy.