Belief in Jesus' Crucifixion & Resurrection determine our Salvation, not the New Testament - Mohammed Hijab vs Builder Bob

Frequently Asked Questions

1.What did Jesus tell the person who asked for eternal salvation?

In the Synoptic Gospels (such as Matthew 19:16-17, Mark 10:17-18, and Luke 18:18-19), when a rich young ruler explicitly asks Jesus what good deed he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus directly answers: "If you want to enter life, keep the commandments." He then proceeds to list foundational moral laws from the Mosaic Torah, such as prohibitions against murder, adultery, and theft. Academic historians emphasize that this shows the historical Jesus operated firmly within a 1st-century Jewish framework, instructing his followers to achieve salvation by keeping the covenantal laws of God.

2.How did Jesus preach salvation and eternal life?

According to this analysis of Trinity dogma, Jesus taught salvation through obedience to the law and commandments within a covenantal framework.

3.Does the resurrection of Jesus prove he is God?

No. Jesus himself raised people after their death:

1. Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:35-43)
2. Son of a widow at Nain (Luke 11:11-17)
3. Lazarus, who was dead for four days (John 11-1-44)
4. Women received their dead by resurrection (Hebrews 11:35)
5. Elijah raised a widows son from death (I Kings 17:17-24)

Therefore, the resurrection itself would not make Jesus unique or divine even.

4.How did the early Jewish-Christians view Jesus' resurrection?

The earliest Jewish-Christians did not believe that the resurrection meant Jesus was God, but rather that he was a righteous man approved by God through miracles, wonders, and signs. Based on texts like Acts 2:22-24, they maintained the theological view that Jesus had been raised by God, not that he was the Creator himself.

5.What is the significance of Jesus' resurrection?

The resurrection of Jesus is of crucial importance to Christian doctrine. The Christian religion was founded many years after the death of Jesus based on the beliefs in his resurrection. Put simply, if there was no resurrection story, their would be no Christianity.

The reported resurrection of Jesus serves as the absolute foundational cornerstone of orthodox Christian theology and identity. Historical scholars note that institutional Christianity was organized years after Jesus' death primarily upon the early community's collective belief that he had triumphed over death. Academic consensus agrees that without the preservation and widespread propagation of this resurrection narrative, Christianity as an independent world religion would not exist.

6.Did Jesus' disciple question his resurrection?

Yes, the New Testament canonical records openly document that even members of Jesus' inner circle of chosen followers struggled to accept his physical resurrection. In the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 28:17), the text captures his final appearance on a mountain in Galilee, explicitly stating that when the disciples saw him, they worshipped him, "but some doubted". Modern historians view this candid admission as highly credible, showing that belief in the resurrection was complex even for early eyewitnesses.

7.What is the credibility of the Jesus' resurrection?

The resurrection is the most controversial creed issue facing Christianity today. There are numerous explanations for the resurrection, all of which are contested. There is no concensus if Jesus' tomb was found empty or not; whether disciples saw anything or not; even if anything happened or not.

8.How important was Jesus' crucifixion to Apostle Paul?

In his surviving epistles, the Apostle Paul demonstrates almost no interest in the day-to-day earthly life, chronological career, or specific moral parables of Jesus of Nazareth. Instead, his extensive theology is completely fixated on the cosmic, atoning meaning of the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of the figure he addresses as "the Lord". Secular historians analyze this focus to illustrate how early Christian theology transformed from an inward-looking Jewish prophetic movement into a universal savior faith.

9.Who replaced Jesus after his crucifixion?

Following the crucifixion, leadership of the primary community of believers in Jerusalem fell to Jesus' biological brother, James the Just. Mainstream historical and biblical scholarship confirms that James directed the mother church as an observant Jew, maintaining that followers must continue upholding traditional Mosaic customs and temple practices.

10.Who instigated the crucifixion of Jesus?

There is no doubt the Jewish religious leaders of Israel were responsible for Jesus' death. The Romans carried out the actuall crucifixion under the authority of Pontius Pilate.

11.What did James do after Jesus' crucifixion?

In Jerusalem, the disciple James, who acted as the primary leader of Jesus' immediate followers, strongly believed that their movement's future lay as a distinct religious group operating firmly within the confines of the traditional Judaism religion.

12.What is the King James Version (KJV) of the New Testament?

The King James Version (KJV) of the New Testament was completed in 1611 by 8 members of the Church of England.

There were (and still are) no original texts to translate. The oldest manuscripts we have were written down hundreds of years after the last Apostle died. There are over 8000 of these old manuscripts, with no two alike.

The King James translators chose to use none of the texts. Instead, they edited previous translations to create the New Testament their king and parliament would approve.

So today, 21st century Christians believe the "Word of God" is a book edited in the 17th century from 16th century translations of 8000 contradictory copies of 4th century scrolls that claim to copies of lost letters written in the 1st century by unknown authors.

13.Is the New Testament historically authentic?

Textual critics note that the original autographs of the New Testament books no longer exist, leaving thousands of handwritten Greek manuscripts that contain thousands of minor variants, mostly consisting of spelling or word order differences. Despite these historical copy changes, scholars emphasize that modern textual reconstruction methods allow historians to confidently identify the original 1st-century text, ensuring no essential historical narrative or Christian doctrine is left in doubt.

14.What is the oldest manuscript of the Bible New Testament?

It is of enormous importance in establishing the biblical text. There are three earliest manuscripts of the Bible New Testament:

1. Codex Alexandrinus is one of the earliest and most important manuscripts of the entire Bible in Greek

2. Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world and is kept in the British Library. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.

3. Codex Vaticanus in Rome

15.What language is the earliest New Testament in?

The earliest New Testament manuscripts are in Koine Greek. But there are Aramaic phrases in the Gospels. Therefore, Scholars believe an Aramaic layer lies beneath the written Greek of the New Testament, one which may never have been written down.

If true, the Greek text is itself a translation, and English text would be a translation of a translation, which raises textual inerrancy and corruption issue.

Since every translation is a personal judgement of which word to best use, made at the translators discretion.