Vincent van Gogh and the Gospel

On December 23, 1888, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh cut off his own ear with a razor and delivered the ear to a girl named Rachel at a local brothel. Many have assumed that van Gogh's ear was some sort of twisted present for a prostitute he loved. However, recent research has shown that Rachel wasn't a prostitute. She was a farmer's daughter who had been mauled by a rabid dog. This new information about Rachel affects our understanding of van Gogh's tragic episode.

The Gospel in Ninety Seconds to a Muslim Audience

What do you say when you have only a minute and a half to present the gospel to a Muslim-packed lecture theater at a Mosque in South Africa? Here, I give it my best shot.

What is the Gospel?

Here is my latest interview on the One Minute Apologist, in which Pastor Bobby Conway asks me to explain the gospel in a nutshell.

For more of my interviews on the One Minute Apologist and other programs, as well as talks and debates, check out my YouTube channel here.

What Is the Gospel?

Jesus and his disciples commanded people to believe in the Gospel, and Christians have been preaching the Gospel ever since. But what is the Gospel? The word "Gospel" means "Good News." The "Good News" found in the pages of the New Testament is that God did something for us that we could never do for ourselves.

The Uncorrupted Injeel

On a recent outing in London Paul Williams, who was recently outed himself (in more ways than one, see here and here), discovered something that outs Islamic apologists like Bassam Zawadi, not to mention many others.

According to PW, world-renowned Islamic scholar Abdel Haleem confirmed for him in a phone conversation one of the two claims that Christians often make regarding the Bible. In the view of Professor Haleem, the Qur’an does NOT teach that the Bible was corrupted. Instead, it teaches that the Bible has been misinterpreted. Prof. Haleem’s statements in this connection, as PW says, “put Muslim apologist Bassam Zawadi (who has argued many times for the view that the Quran teaches textual corruption) in the wrong.” This, as PW also says, serves to “vindicate the oft-stated views of Sam Shamoun and David Wood.”

To PW’s relief, Professor Haleem went on to say that the Injeel is not the same as the four canonical gospels or the New Testament, and that the former was “largely lost to history” while the latter contains only “a few shreds of Jesus’ authentic teaching.’” For whatever reason, and I can think of one that is more than plausible but best left unspoken, PW still hates the Bible but wants to leave room for the Qur’an to still be true in its theological and historical pronouncements, even though he finds the ethical and religious injunctions of the Qur’an impossibly hard to follow (contrary to its own empty-boast about being light and easy, Q. 2:185ff, 7:157, et. al).

As is often the case, PW’s relief on this score proves to be very temporary. For if we follow out this reasoning, it would have to mean that the Quran mentions two different books: the Bible (i.e. the canonical Gospels, the New Testament) and the Injeel (i.e. the original message given to Jesus). Furthermore, it would also mean: 1) when the Qur’an speaks of Christians misinterpreting the Bible at the time of Muhammad, it is not talking about the Injeel, for the Injeel was “largely lost to history”; and 2) when the Qur’an speaks of the Injeel being largely lost to history, it is not talking about the Bible that Christians had in their possession at the time of Muhammad, because they certainly must have had the Bible in their possession in order to (allegedly) misinterpret it.

The problem with saying that the Bible and the Injeel are two different books – one of which existed at the time of Jesus but was lost before Muhammad’s time, the other of which existed at the time of Muhammad but was being misinterpreted – is that the Qur’an does not mention these two different books. Anywhere. This idea is totally foreign to the Qur’an. It nowhere says that Christians have a book that is different than what was given to Jesus, and it nowhere says that the book given to Jesus is different than the book in the possession of Christians.

Worse than the above, not only does the Qur’an not make such a distinction, it actually contradicts it. To give just one example, the Qur’an says that Christians can find Muhammad in the (Torah and the) Injeel.

Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered Prophet, whom THEY FIND mentioned in their own (scriptures), - in the law and the Gospel [i.e. Injeel]; - for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him, - it is they who will prosper. (Q. 7:157, Yusuf Ali)

If Christians did not have the Injeel at the time of Muhammad, then the Qur’an is wrong when it claims that they could find Muhammad in it. And if Christians (allegedly) could find Muhammad in the Injeel, then that means Christians must have had it at the time of Muhammad. And of course, since we have today what the Christians had at the time of Muhammad, then that means that Christians today have the Injeel.

This puts Muslims in quite a bind. Instead of crying down everything they don’t like in the Bible as a corruption of the original message sent down by God in the first century, they will now have to do the tough job of disproving that the Bible, i.e. the Injeel, teaches things like the following:

Jesus is God

Jesus became a human being

Jesus died, was buried and rose again for the salvation of sinners

Among other things.

There can be no question of corruption from a Qur’anic standpoint, and thus no cherry-picking of verses to avoid the obvious. The only option that is open to Muslims in light of what Professor Haleem admitted, i.e. the Qur’an does not teach that the Bible has been corrupted, and that the Qur’an demonstrates, i.e. the Bible is the Injeel, is the hard job of honest exegesis.

This is why Professor Haleem's devastating admission coupled with an artificial and false distinction could only provide temporary relief for those who want to give credence to the Qur’an, even those who have left Islam behind. PW should really just come all the way out and make a clean break with Islam, leaving behind not only any hope of being able to live up to the Qur'an's impossible requirements, but also any notion that it is true in its theological and historical teachings.

The good news for those who have ears to hear it, is that according to the uncorrupted Injeel, the true God does not first require us to live up to His dictates before He will love us; rather, we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). And God demonstrated his own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). That is why Jesus could say in the Gospel that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). The love of God taught in the Bible is a saving and transforming love; the love of Allah taught in the Qur’an produces despair for those who are honest with the fact that they do not measure up to what Allah requires in order to be loved by him. PW has already learned the latter. Let's pray that he (and all Muslims) also comes to learn the former.

Why Did Allah Corrupt the Gospel?

The Qur'an affirms the inspiration (3:3-4), preservation (7:157; 18:27), and authority of the Gospel (5:47, 68). Yet our Muslim friends tell us that the Gospel has been corrupted. Here we may start to wonder who corrupted it. According to the Qur'an, Jesus never died by crucifixion (4:157-158). According to the Bible, Jesus died by crucifixion (e.g., Matthew 17:22-23; 27:50; etc.). Who corrupted the portion of the Gospel that reports Jesus' death on the cross? Interestingly, Islam teaches that Allah corrupted the Gospel by tricking and deceiving people into believing that Jesus died on the cross. But why would Allah corrupt his own revelation?

What Is the Gospel?

According to the Qur'an, the Gospel (Injeel) is a book:

Qur'an 7:157—Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they find written with them in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) . . . it is they who will be successful.

The Qur'an also suggests that the Gospel was given to Jesus:

Qur'an 5:46—And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God.

Since we have no record of any book given to Jesus, Muslims have a problem, for the Qur'an affirms that Christians have access to the Gospel and that we must judge by what it says:

Qur'an 5:47—Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel.

Qur'an 5:68—Say: "O People of the Book! ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord."

How can we obey a book given to Jesus when we have no record of any book given to Jesus? The only way to reconcile (1) the fact that we have no book from Jesus, and (2) the fact that the Qur'an affirms some book in our possession, is to adopt the Christian perspective of the Gospel. The Gospel was a message (the "Good News") delivered by Jesus to his followers and then proclaimed by these followers. This message was recorded in books called "Gospels" (because they contain the Good News). These books were eventually collected into a larger book called "The Gospel."

From the second century on, the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were known as "The Gospel" or "The Four-Fold Gospel." But the core message of the four Gospels is that Jesus is the divine Son of God (Matthew 3:17), who died on the cross for our sins (Mark 10:45) and rose from the dead (Matthew 28:5-7). Islam, by contrast, teaches that Jesus was only a prophet (Qur'an 4:171), who never died (Qur'an 4:157) and didn't rise from the dead (Qur'an 4:158). Because the Qur'an commands us to judge by the Gospel, and the only Gospel we have access to is the book containing the four Gospels, we have no choice but to reject Islam, which contradicts the message of the Gospel.

To put the matter more succinctly, if the Gospel is the inspired, preserved, authoritative Word of God, then Islam is false, because Islam contradicts the Gospel. If, on the other hand, the Gospel is not the inspired, preserved, authoritative Word of God, then Islam is false, because Islam affirms the inspiration, preservation, and authority of the Gospel.

Either way, Islam is false. Muslims have no rational choice but to reject Islam and search for the truth.

Here's N. T. Wright on the Gospel message: