Roots and Relations

AFTER A CHRISTIAN missionary handed Mustafa Akyol a Bible on a busy Istanbul street, the Turkish journalist became fascinated with the many similarities between his Muslim faith, Christianity, and Judaism. As a moderate Muslim, Akyol had been studying the Quran with a group of friends for some time. He used his study group discussions as background to inquire about the other two religions.

The result is The Islamic Jesus, which takes the reader on a complex, winding journey, detailing many of the profound historical and religious bonds of the three religions. They “are like three siblings,” explains Fred M. Donner, a respected historian of Islam, in a University of Chicago lecture. He points out that there was quite a bit of fluidity and interchange among these “siblings” in the first few centuries after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632.

Akyol, who writes for the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News and The New York Times  International Edition, became engrossed early on with the different ways that Jesus is portrayed in the New Testament and the Quran. The New Testament, of course, describes Jesus as divine, part of the Trinity, and the son of God. The Quran is reverential toward Jesus, and he is seen as the last Jewish prophet, but not as divine. The Islamic view is that there is only one God, and no Trinity.

Akyol puts a lot of credence in the views of James D. Tabor, a scholar of Christian origins and ancient Judaism, who writes, “There are two completely separate and distinct Christianities embedded in the New Testament.” The version that has defined Christianity for years is the Pauline version, based on the teachings of Paul, who preached to the Gentiles throughout the Greco-Roman empire. Akyol explains that “the more Christianity moved away from its Jewish roots ... the more it perceived Jesus as divine.” And since the Gentiles already believed in many divine Gods, it seemed natural, when they became Christians, to pronounce Jesus divine.

But another group, which fascinates Akyol, were the so-called “Jewish Christians.” They began as followers of James, one of the 12 disciples and the biological brother of Jesus, according to some scholars. James is the author of the very brief Epistle of James in the New Testament. The “Jewish Christians” became marginalized, were declared heretics, and scattered throughout the Middle East. They believed, as the Muslims came to believe, that Jesus was a revered prophet. They also followed special Jewish dietary laws and practiced circumcision. Donner points out that there were reportedly Jews and Christians who sometimes shared worship spaces a century or so after the Prophet Muhammad died. The implication seems to be that there was also some interchange among people who prayed in these spaces, and an open-minded environment as early Islam defined itself. This would begin to change soon thereafter.

While Akyol brings his relentless reporter’s drive to analyze these happenings, it is also very worthwhile to read Oxford scholar Tarif Khalidi’s The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature. Published in 2003 and hailed as a classic, Khalidi’s rich, contemplative work is beautifully written and also describes a much-revered Jesus, this time defined in 300 Arabic stories based on numerous texts, along with the Quran.

In these terribly violent times throughout the Middle East, these two books remind us again that Donner’s “siblings” were not always enemies. Far from it. As Akyol generously concludes, “given our grim malaise and [Jesus’] shining wisdom, we need to follow him.” That’s unusual advice from a mainstream journalist working in today’s autocrat-led Turkey.