Debate Video: What was the True Faith of Jesus’ Disciples?
Br. Ijaz Ahmad faced off in a lively and entertaining debate with Reverend Steven Martins on the topic of the true faith of Jesus’ disciples. This debate featured discussion on first century Christology, first to third century Patrology studies, form criticism of the New Testament Gospels, palaeography of the early New Testament manuscripts, oral criticism of both the Gospel and Patristic traditions. Click this link to be carried to the full debate video!
Calling Christians 
Salam alaykum,
Saw this debate and the second debate as well. Is there are any place on this site or elsewhere where the answers given regarding the identity of the ‘Injeel’ as per our Islamic belief are further elaborated?
That said, there were some points made by Mr. Stevens that were let go very easily, such as his saying that ‘God is a Spirit’ since we believe this is intellectually impossible, since it would mean that God fits into the “Spirit and/or Body” dichotomy that is fundamentally true only for created beings. Also the analogy of the Trinity with the atom composed of neutrons, electrons, and protons is very weak since it implies composition, and as per our Islamic belief anything composed requires a Being other than it to determine the exact quantity and form of the composition [meaning that a Being other than God would have to decide how the “Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost” come together and compose the ‘Godhead’, while this is fallacious].
Salam Alaykum,
One more thing I forgot to mention: I can’t believe he mentioned Tom Holland as a reliable source for saying that Islam did not exist in Hijaaz the 7th century. It seems these types of persons in their minds simply do not count Muslims as human beings to begin with – which is why our methods of preserving our religion are dismissed, just like we would dismiss gorilla gruntings as being intelligible human speech. Insha Allah we pray for good though.
The faith of the disciple of Jesus Christ was Islam.They were all Muslims. It is there in Qur’an in Surah Al-Imran. Just read the below verses:
But when Jesus felt [persistence in] disbelief from them, he said, “Who are my supporters for [the cause of] Allah ?” The disciples said,” We are supporters for Allah . We have believed in Allah and testify that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]. Our Lord, we have believed in what You revealed and have followed the messenger Jesus, so register us among the witnesses [to truth].” [Qur’an 3:52-53]
aliff laam meem i think i came to similar conclusion you did 4 days ago
Sahih International: [Mention] when Allah said, “O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ.
QUESTION : who will be judged here on differences? the followers or the disbelievers? or both?
Yusuf Ali: “Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed, and we follow the Messenger; then write us down among those who bear witness.”
Question: has the quran shifted from telling a story about jesus to it’s believing listeners? is the messenger referring to the muhammad (p)?
Yusuf Ali: When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: “Who will be My helpers to (the work of) Allah?” Said the disciples: “We are Allah’s helpers: We believe in Allah, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims.
so here the followers of esa are called “muslims”
can an argument be made that the followers of jesus in 3:55 are following islamic theology ?
i note that in the ayats quoted above “following” is tied to following islamic theology. it seems as if the quran is arguing that islamic theology about esa EXISTED in esas time.
if this is the case then doesn’t this destroy the foolish christian claim that quran is ENDORSING pauline theology in 3:55?