Q. In fact,
studying the Holy Bible (Holy Scripture) is indeed very important, and is worth
our full attention and Concentration. We
are therefore willing to send you a free copy of the Gospel according to
A. The word gospel is derived from the two Anglo-Saxon words: God meaning good, and spell meaning tidings, or history. All inspired writings after The Lord Jesus Christ, who lived 2000 years ago, are called Gospel. The word Gospel is different from the term “Holy Bible”. The latter includes all that God Almighty revealed to Man since the beginning of creation up till the very last book revealed in the Gospel. The Holy bible includes the Torah ‘Pentateuch and historical’, Prophetic and Poetic books - all of which are called “The Old Testament, and the Gospel, which is also called the New Testament.
Q. What does the Old Testament mean? Is it a reflection of a chronological period,
or is it merely a group of books?
A. The Old Testament is a chronological period and is
also a group of books, of which the Holy Bible consists. Chronologically, it starts with creation: The
first Man, Adam and goes on to the death Jesus Christ (Peace be
upon Him, His resurrection, and ascension to Heaven. This period speaks of the creation of heavens
and earth; night and day, and all that is in the universe: planets, stars, sun and moon. It states all that is on earth, be that
animals, birds or plants. It also
recounts the fall of Man in sin: the test to which God Almighty had put him to:
Man eating from the forbidden tree, the wake of evil and its proliferation
throughout the earth, and the sequence of events until The Lord Jesus Christ
(Peace be upon Him) came to earth.
Q. Thus is the Old Testament in terms of a
chronological order; what about it in terms of books?
A. The Old Testament is categorized into books
starting with what is known as the Pentateuch, written by Moses, the spokesman
of God Almighty. These are five namely:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The following are the historical books, then
the prophetic books, and the Poetical ones (Psalms, Job, etc.).
Q. Before asking you about the New Testament, there
is issue that confuses me in the Old Testament.
There is always a reference to one nation and one people: The People of
Israel. My question is why would more
than half the Holy Bible concentrate on one nation and one people, ignoring the
rest of the nations? Wouldn’t that be
considered a kind of prejudice - racial discrimination? Could God Almighty be
biased to one people excluding the rest of this creation?
A. This sounds logic, but please allow me to draw your
attention to a number of important facts: First, God Almighty does not have any
trace of prejudice or racism. We are all
His handiwork and the work of His fingers.
When God Almighty created our ancestors and our initial parents, Adam
and Eve, they were not Jews, they represented the
entire human race. Then the Almighty intended to place Man in gardens
underneath which rivers flow, to enjoy.
The Prophet of God, Adam, along with his wife, Eve knew nothing but
well. They were not exposed to knowing
evil and that's why the Almighty forbid them from eating from a specific tree,
so as not to die. But they believed the
deception of the accursed Satan, and ate from the forbidden tree.
Q. But it seems like they did not die as the Almighty
told them.
A. Indeed they died.
Q. They died how come! Weren't they expelled from the
Garden of Eden?
A. That's exactly what is meant by death. The word you shall die that God Almighty told
them, means: Once you’ve eaten from that tree, you will be separated from God
Almighty, and will have knowledge of evil, not only good. It will then be inevitable for you to choose
between following that which is good - to repent deep down in your hearts and
return to the Almighty. Or, to choose
evil, and God forbid, you will become losers.
They chose to eat from the forbidden tree, had knowledge of evil, and
separated from God Almighty. Consequently, they were expelled from the Garden,
sent down to earth where they lived in anguish and fear, and labored in the
earth that, because of their sin, God Almighty has accursed.
Q. Why did God Almighty choose one nation in particular?
A. After the fall of Man and their multiplication on earth, two groups
of people existed: One, knowing the Almighty; whose were willing to communicate
with Him, and were embodied in Noah, Prophet of God. The other, choosing evil, refused the Almighty.
God Almighty saved His servant Noah from the Flood, which swept the
entire earth. The story goes on until
God Almighty called his friend, Abraham, asks him to leave or of the Chaldeans, and resides in
Q. Why does the Old Testament concentrate on
A. As I mentioned before, God had taken them for a sample of the human
race to prove that Man, on own power and might, cannot possibly please the
Almighty. Once and again the Lord God
was gracious to them, sending out a savior to deliver them from the servitude
of the Egyptians, satisfy their thirst from the rock, or feed their hunger by
sending out food from heaven. He gave
them all the protection they needed in the wilderness and granted them victory
over their enemies. Yet, they were
adamant in their stubbornness and disobedience to Him. The Old Testament does not, in fact, concentrate
on one nation in particular to honor it.
The story of the nation of
Q. Would you please explain to me this last
statement? What does the New Testament
mean, and why was it so called?
A. The word ‘testament’ means covenant or agreement. The meaning of the New Testament is that God
Almighty concluded a covenant with Mankind, which is altogether different than
that of the Old Testament. The Old
Testament indicates a covenant between the Almighty and the people of
Q. Dr. Nagi, do you mean to
tell me that God’s chosen people now are the Christians, in lieu of Israelis?
A. As I said before, God Almighty does not take a specific nation on earth to
be his chosen people. It is not correct to say that Christians are his chosen
people under the new covenant (New Testament), unless we realize who those
Christians are. The word Christian originally means a person who believes in
the Lord Jesus Christ (Peace be upon Him) as the only savior to the human race
from sins and iniquities. They believe that he’s the only One whose
intercession will be accepted on the day of judgment, and that He’s been given
a name above all names, ‘ for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by whom we must be saved.’ Acts
4:12. Spiritually speaking, those
are the Christians. They belong to all religious throughout the earth and are
reckoned by God Almighty as His people today.
Practically speaking, a person may be called Ahmed or Mohamed and yet believes
in what we just said; he therefore belongs to the people of God Almighty.
Whereas a person called John or Paul and does not believe, as such is not to be
considered of the spiritually chosen people of The Almighty. God is not prejudiced or biased to one race
or people. The Bible says, ‘in every nation whoever fears Him and works
righteousness is accepted by Him’ Acts 10:35
Q. Dr. Nagi you said that
the word gospel means “good tidings & history” what does this term mean,
and what is the good history or tidings.
A. Good tidings are happy tidings. All the literature of the Bible was termed
as such since it includes the most important and greatest happy tidings (good
news) for the entire human race: The Old Testament, that of the law, commandments
and bloody sacrifices was concluded, and a New Testament started in which
imprisoned Mankind, fettered in their own sins and iniquities, are able to get
complete freedom by faith in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ (Peace be upon
Him)- transferring from death, that is separation from God Almighty, to the new
life in Jesus Christ. It is not only one
nation or one people who can come forward towards God Almighty to offer
sacrifices for atonement of sins. The
Lord Christ (Peace be upon Him) offered Himself, as a sacrifice to God Almighty
on behalf of the entire human race, ‘having obtained eternal redemption’.
Hebrew 9:12. The good news is that God
Almighty granted His loyal followers the power to defeat death, the torture of
the grave, and the evil of the slinking whisperer (Satan), all through the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ (Peace be upon Him).
Q. Who wrote the Gospel, or the Good News?
A. To answer this question, we need to specify what ‘the writer’
means. If you mean the source, the
author and initiator, it is definitely God Almighty, ‘Surely
we have sent down the Torah (The Scripture sent to Moses), in it is guidance
and Light… And We sent following….Essa the son of
Miriam, confirming what was before him of the Torah, and We gave him the Injeel in which was guidance and Light, and confirming what
was before it of the Torah, and a guidance and an admonition for the pious’ Surat Al Maidah 5:44,46. But if
by writer we mean one who actually took pen and paper, nail and leather board,
or papyrus to write on it what God Almighty revealed, such those are many. They
are Saints Matthew, Mark,. Luke,
and John the Evangelists. The word saint here in fact does not mean special
status, or better favor to other people; it indicates that those people are sanctified,
selected and dedicated to this kind of life, and to the service of God
Almighty.
Q. Why were Gospels called after Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John the Evangelists? Is it one Gospel, or many Gospels?
A. It is indeed one Gospel, because the account of the Good News is repeated in
four versions of the one Gospel. But each has its own style and reasons for its
revelation. Even though there are Gospels that are written by Matthew, Mark and
others, yet they are different in terms of style, and not in terms of
content. The difference is in the person
who was entrusted by God Almighty to write it. The Gospel may be called
Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, but this does not mean that they initiated, or are
the source for this Good News.
Q. Why didn’t the Lord Jesus Christ (Peace be upon
Him) write the Gospel as he was here on earth, all in one book?
A. The Mission of the Lord Christ (Peace be upon Him)
was not to write a book for his followers to repeat and memorize by heart. His call, as per the Gospel, was to go ‘about
doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil’ Acts 10:38, and to
teach His disciples the principles of the New Covenant the way through which people
can get closer to God Almighty. He actually took His disciples to field
training - performing miracles among them and practicing love. In fact, He wrote his Gospel, not using ink
and paper, but rather His might, power and good example. He imprinted His gospel on their hearts. To answer your question, when God Almighty
chose to record the Gospel on paper, he used the people of God, the disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ, lead by the Holy Spirit