# Islam, please.  I just found out that Muslims believe in Jesus...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 20, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862 "2010-12-20T19:29:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/61 "2010-12-22T15:48:30Z")

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> [@stpauler](#):
>
> Sure, but the Qu’ran was written from a Muslim POV and its laws and blah blah blah were all done from a Muslim POV. Anything they did or perceived is most likely FROM a Muslim POV.

Well, yeah. But this is discusing a historical episode.

One thing that must always be remembered about Islam, is that its personages, while still obviously having legendary attributes and experiences, are considerably more “historical” than most of those in to OT and NT, such as (say) Jesus. _In his own lifetime_, Mohammed was a considerable military and civic leader. As a historical figure, there is no reason to understand him only through the eyes of his co-religionists - and his relationship with other religions during his lifetime is a perfect example of why.

It appears to be the case that Mohammed hoped to recruit extensively for his new faith from among the Jewish tribes of Medina - who were a power in that city. This hope obviously failed. The reasons why it failed have been bedeviling Muslim-Jewish relations (and more generally muslim-non muslim relations) ever since - according to the Muslim accounts, in which of course the Prophet is in the right, it is because of the “treason” of the Jewish tribes; together with their mockery and humiliation of Muslims in general and the Prophet in particular, this totally justified their treatment at Muslim hands - i.e., massacre, expulsion or enslavement. According to the (perhaps more historic) account, it is because Jews have no-where been disposed to join new religions, and the Prophet made a deliberate power-play to exterminate possible rivals.

The reason this obscure episode is significant, is that the doings of Mohammed in Medina have formed a pattern for acceptable Muslim behaviour ever since: how this episode is interpreted forms a part of the religious/political basis for the interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims.

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**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/62 "2010-12-22T15:53:19Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet. They even believe in the Virgin Birth. But they believe his followers erroneously deified him, not that he was crazy or heretical.

I, as an enlightened Christian, Doper, and seeker of knowledge, have tried to learn as much as I can about the world around me, including what others believe, since I have not experienced their religion. Over the years I felt I’ve pretty much nailed down what Muslims do and do not believe about Jesus, and the answers in this thread (especially from the Muslims themselves (or is it just **Angua**?)) are spot on, but this was the first I heard that the Muslims believe in the Virgin Birth.

Knowing what I know about what the Muslims believe in with regards to Jesus, I’m not surprised, but I’m wondering what exactly they believe in that regard. Christians believe the Virgin Birth is how Jesus got his divinity: as a man and a woman is needed to make a baby, the woman was human and the man was God himself. Therefore Mary could claim to be a virgin as she had not had sex with a human male. (Although, every time I think of the Virgin Birth I really have to wonder how much more painful giving birth was for her if her hymen was still intact (and no doctors present). Yikes!) I assume that Islam also believes that it takes a man and a woman to make a baby (that’s pretty much a universal belief right there 😉 ), like Christians they believe the woman was Mary. But, if they too believe she has not had sex with a human man (making it a “Virgin Birth”), how did Mary become pregnant in Islamic theology? (to spell it out, since I don’t think it has been explicitly stated in the thread yet, Islam does not believe that God can have a Son, such a thought is blasphemy). If Jesus isn’t God’s Son, then who’s son is he?

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/63 "2010-12-22T16:11:01Z")

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> [@dhkendall](#):
>
> I, as an enlightened Christian, Doper, and seeker of knowledge, have tried to learn as much as I can about the world around me, including what others believe, since I have not experienced their religion. Over the years I felt I’ve pretty much nailed down what Muslims do and do not believe about Jesus, and the answers in this thread (especially from the Muslims themselves (or is it just **Angua**?)) are spot on, but this was the first I heard that the Muslims believe in the Virgin Birth.
> 
> Knowing what I know about what the Muslims believe in with regards to Jesus, I’m not surprised, but I’m wondering what exactly they believe in that regard. Christians believe the Virgin Birth is how Jesus got his divinity: as a man and a woman is needed to make a baby, the woman was human and the man was God himself. Therefore Mary could claim to be a virgin as she had not had sex with a human male. (Although, every time I think of the Virgin Birth I really have to wonder how much more painful giving birth was for her if her hymen was still intact (and no doctors present). Yikes!) I assume that Islam also believes that it takes a man and a woman to make a baby (that’s pretty much a universal belief right there 😉 ), like Christians they believe the woman was Mary. But, if they too believe she has not had sex with a human man (making it a “Virgin Birth”), how did Mary become pregnant in Islamic theology? (to spell it out, since I don’t think it has been explicitly stated in the thread yet, Islam does not believe that God can have a Son, such a thought is blasphemy).

The story in the Qur’an is not that different from the story in Matthew. An angel (Gabriel) appears to Mary and tells her she will conceive a son. Mary asks how this is possible since “no man has touched me,” and the angel says God has ordained it as a sign. Then she gets pregnant.

> [@](#):
>
> If Jesus isn’t God’s Son, then who’s son is he?

Mary’s. He has no father at all. He was a special creation of God. In Islam, the comparison is made to Adam and Eve who were simply created by God, and had no parents, but were not divine and were not any kind of literal children of God.

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**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/64 "2010-12-22T16:11:25Z")

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We’re talking about actual historical people, not Santa Claus. :rolleyes:

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/65 "2010-12-22T16:17:17Z")

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So … believing that god was literally Jesus’s father is somehow less Santa Claus-y than believing that Jesus had no father?

Parthenogenesis, although not observed in mammals, is a scientifically observed phenomenon.

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**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/66 "2010-12-22T16:32:28Z")

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> [@acsenray](#):
>
> So … believing that god was literally Jesus’s father is somehow less Santa Claus-y than believing that Jesus had no father?

I guess that depends on who Santa Claus’s father is.

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**Author:** ![Flanker388](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Flanker388](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flanker388)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/67 "2010-12-22T20:42:07Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> Mary’s. He has no father at all. He was a special creation of God. In Islam, the comparison is made to Adam and Eve who were simply created by God, and had no parents, but were not divine and were not any kind of literal children of God.

What about in Christianity?

Wasn’t there a lot about how Jesus would be a descendant of King David? As far as I recall, Mary was not known to be a descentant of David. I believe the book of Matthew traces the line from David to Joseph.

But if Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ father then that lineage is irrelevant and Jesus isn’t a descendant of David.

/Not Christian. Not a bible scholar. I’m probably missing something simple…

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/68 "2010-12-22T22:01:23Z")

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> [@Flanker388](#):
>
> What about in Christianity?
> 
> Wasn’t there a lot about how Jesus would be a descendant of King David? As far as I recall, Mary was not known to be a descentant of David. I believe the book of Matthew traces the line from David to Joseph.
> 
> But if Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ father then that lineage is irrelevant and Jesus isn’t a descendant of David.
> 
> /Not Christian. Not a bible scholar. I’m probably missing something simple…

You are correct. It’s a legit contradiction, at least in terms of Jewish tradition. Christian apologists generally try to defend it by saying that Luke traces Jesus’ descendancy through Mary (which it doesn’t, and matrilineal descendancy doesn’t count for Jewish royal bloodlines anyway) or that Jesus somehow adopted the birthright through Joseph (which is not actually possible in Jewish law).

It’s a legitimate problem without a good solution, but then Jesus didn’t fulfill any of the other expectations for the Jewish Messiah either.

I guess it’s probably easiest just to say that Jewish and Christian conceptions of the Messiah are very different regarding qualifications and expectations.

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**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/69 "2010-12-22T22:12:35Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> It’s a legitimate problem without a good solution, but then Jesus didn’t fulfill any of the other expectations for the Jewish Messiah either.

I think it’s also because we have a _sui generis_ situation here. I mean, when you’ve got a person with just one blood parent (and that one is not the one from which genealogies are usually traced), you’re kind of working in unknown territory here.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/70 "2010-12-22T22:46:42Z")

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How is it unknown? Does it somehow change the definition of male-line descent?

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**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/71 "2010-12-22T23:58:10Z")

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There was a British documentary about this a year or so ago and as luck would have it, you can watch it online:

[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4133116052638521235#](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4133116052638521235#)

I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but I found it interesting nevertheless.

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**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/72 "2010-12-23T04:07:56Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> They don’t believe Jesus was God. I don’t think it’s help to start parsing different perceptions of Jesus as being equivalent to belief in different entities, though. By that standard you have to start dividing up even Christian denominations (not all Christians are Trinitarian, for instance). I was mostly objecting to the assertion that Muslims think Jesus was a “nutcase.” They don’t.

You are missing the point. Mohammed invented a new Jesus, who is a prophet and not a nutcase.

The Christian Jesus, claiming to be God incarnate, is blaspheming according to Islam (Qur’an 5:17). This is not an issue of minor theological nuance. Mohammed’s is a totally different, non-divine, reinvented Jesus, and he’s different in such a fundamentally profound way that the Christian Jesus nust be either a liar or psychotic\*.

In the same way, Christian theology considers that either Mohammed is lying about his revelations from God, or is a psychotic who believed his revelations.

This is why it’s so disingenous to pretend that “Muslims believe in Jesus.” Not the Christian Jesus, they don’t.

\*Psychotic because he is unable to separate reality from delusions about being the Son of God incarnate. In layman’s terms, a nutcase.

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**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/73 "2010-12-23T04:16:35Z")

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> [@Angua](#):
>
> Well, in that case, I might as well stop arguing now. You want to believe that they’re all separate religions, with no overlap whatsoever. That’s your prerogative, but when its written in the Koran that Judaism, Christianity and Islam worship the same God and are different paths back to the same God, Muslims are going to believe it\*.
> 
> **Dio’s** already re-explained the Muslim view of Jesus, and that even if its not outright “bow down and worship him”, he still holds a status equal to that of Mohammad.
> 
> Incidentally, **Shmendrik** , the references to Jesus in the Koran are a) not uncomplimentary and b) refer to him as one of the Great Prophets of God, on a par with Mohammad. Somewhat different to the Talmud.  
> \*In other words, whether I was to write this post in English, French, German, Hindi, or whatever, the form of the words might be different, there might even be some differences in translation, but the basic meaning and gist would be the same.

Perhaps you could translate–or at least explain–Qur’an 5:17 to us if we are talking about the same God. Or is it the case you don’t think it’s a fundamental tenet of Christianity that Jesus is God incarnate?

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**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/74 "2010-12-23T04:48:09Z")

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> [@Chief\_Pedant](#):
>
> Perhaps you could translate–or at least explain–Qur’an 5:17 to us if we are talking about the same God. Or is it the case you don’t think it’s a fundamental tenet of Christianity that Jesus is God incarnate?

The verse where the Koran (and by Muslim tradition, God) says that no, Jesus was the son of a woman, a highly exalted Prophet, but not divine, and anyone saying so is blasphemous? In Islamic belief, the whole “son of God” thing is a mis-transmission through the ages (man is not perfect after all) and the Koran was an attempt to put things right. Nonetheless, Christians are still seen as People of the Book in Islam, and not people who followed some nutjob. But that’s just my interpretation, and I’m no religious scholar or anything like that.

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**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/75 "2010-12-23T07:01:33Z")

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> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#):
>
> How many people are prevented by pride from buying a book with the title ending “for dummies”? I know I am.

My question is how do you buy them as a gift.

“I saw the most recent ‘for Dummies’ series of books, and I immediately thought of you.”

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/76 "2010-12-23T11:25:00Z")

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> [@Larry\_Borgia](#):
>
> I would suggest reading the Koran

Or, more accurately, “a translation of what the Koran says”, unless Stoid reads classical Arabic.

It’s not the actual, holy Koran if it is translated, at least according to believers. All the copies of the Koran here in Indonesia, intended for non-Arabic speaking faithful, have the original Arabic on one side with an Indonesian translation on the facing page.

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**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/77 "2010-12-23T14:08:05Z")

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> [@Angua](#):
>
> The verse where the Koran (and by Muslim tradition, God) says that no, Jesus was the son of a woman, a highly exalted Prophet, but not divine, and anyone saying so is blasphemous? In Islamic belief, the whole “son of God” thing is a mis-transmission through the ages (man is not perfect after all) and the Koran was an attempt to put things right. Nonetheless, Christians are still seen as People of the Book in Islam, and not people who followed some nutjob. But that’s just my interpretation, and I’m no religious scholar or anything like that.

Why yes, that would be the verse (Qur’an 5:17)!  
The verse where Mohammed, “putting things right,” says that to call Jesus divine is blasphemy. Every new inventor of religion tries to “put things right,” don’t they? And in this case, what Mohammed and Islam “put right” is the demotion of the Christian Jesus (God Incarnate, to Christians)–back to a Regular Prophet. Blasphemy, to Christians, as it turns out.

Which is why Muslims do not believe in the Christian Jesus. They believe in their own Jesus, who is an entirely different, and entirely human, Jesus.

I feel like you are finally catching on to the difference between marketing (“We all believe in the same God”) and fact (“They are totally different Gods”). 😉

May I suggest a little more religious scholarship before you post a reply to a factual question about what religious scholarship holds as a core tenet?

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**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/78 "2010-12-23T15:46:45Z")

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> [@Chief\_Pedant](#):
>
> Why yes, that would be the verse (Qur’an 5:17)!  
> The verse where Mohammed, “putting things right,” says that to call Jesus divine is blasphemy. Every new inventor of religion tries to “put things right,” don’t they? And in this case, what Mohammed and Islam “put right” is the demotion of the Christian Jesus (God Incarnate, to Christians)–back to a Regular Prophet. Blasphemy, to Christians, as it turns out.
> 
> Which is why Muslims do not believe in the Christian Jesus. They believe in their own Jesus, who is an entirely different, and entirely human, Jesus.
> 
> I feel like you are finally catching on to the difference between marketing (“We all believe in the same God”) and fact (“They are totally different Gods”). 😉
> 
> May I suggest a little more religious scholarship before you post a reply to a factual question about what religious scholarship holds as a core tenet?

:rolleyes: So, I’m to ignore all the other verses in the Koran where Christians and Jews are said to be the People of the Book, and where the God of Islam is identified as the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus?

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/79 "2010-12-23T16:51:26Z")

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> [@Chief\_Pedant](#):
>
> You are missing the point. Mohammed invented a new Jesus, who is a prophet and not a nutcase.

There was nothing new about this perception of Jesus. Mohammed didn’t “invent” it.

> [@](#):
>
> The Christian Jesus, claiming to be God incarnate, is blaspheming according to Islam (Qur’an 5:17). This is not an issue of minor theological nuance. Mohammed’s is a totally different, non-divine, reinvented Jesus, and he’s different in such a fundamentally profound way that the Christian Jesus nust be either a liar or psychotic\*.

Muslims believe the Christian Jesus is the same as theirs, only that Christian believers were given false information about him. They don’t believe there is another “Christian Jesus” who was a liar or a psychotic, they believe Jesus’ followers distorted him themselves. If I believe Elvis was an avatar of Shiva and you don’t, that doesn’t mean we’re talking about different Elvises. just different perceptions of the same Elvis.

> [@](#):
>
> This is why it’s so disingenous to pretend that “Muslims believe in Jesus.” Not the Christian Jesus, they don’t.

By that standard then the Jehova’s Witnesses don’t “believe in Jesus” either.

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**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islam-please-i-just-found-out-that-muslims-believe-in-jesus/564862/80 "2010-12-23T18:09:36Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> There was nothing new about this perception of Jesus. Mohammed didn’t “invent” it.  
> Muslims believe the Christian Jesus is the same as theirs, only that Christian believers were given false information about him. They don’t believe there is another “Christian Jesus” who was a liar or a psychotic, they believe Jesus’ followers distorted him themselves. If I believe Elvis was an avatar of Shiva and you don’t, that doesn’t mean we’re talking about different Elvises. just different perceptions of the same Elvis.
> 
> By that standard then the Jehova’s Witnesses don’t “believe in Jesus” either.

I got it that there may be an actual historical person with varying assertions about him. That historical Jesus, and the debate around who is correct with respect to that is not the debate here, and to pretend otherwise is silly.

Christendom–however you want to define it–came up with the notion that Jesus was God Incarnate as a central tenet for Christianity. That Christian Jesus was Divine. He was part of the Trinity. That’s the “Christian Jesus” that has stood at the center of Christianity since the Nicene creed, at least. To pretend otherwise is highly disingenuous, and to pretend that a belief in some other non-divine iteration of the historical Jesus is a belief in the Jesus of Christianity is wrong because Divinity is not some sort of theological fine point. We are talking about totally different Elvises. One is a human being. One is God. Naming the both “Elvis” doesn’t mean it’s the same belief with simply a minor variation.

You are correct that the Jesus of the Jehovah’s Witnesess is not the same Jesus as the Jesus for the vast bulk of Christianity. For the same reason as the Muslims, it would be linguistic fraud for Jehovah’s Witnesses to say “We also believe in Jesus” and leave unsaid the fundamental differences.

Perhaps a better wording is “We have a Jesus in our theology.”

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