就在先知伊萨·马西赫(愿主福安之)被捕和被定罪之前,他与门徒进行了一次长谈。门徒之一约翰也参加了这次谈话,并将此事记录在福音书中。伊萨向门徒承诺,在他死后,“真理之灵”将降临。问题自然而然地出现了——这个“真理之灵”是谁?
艾哈迈德·迪达特 (Ahmed Deedat) 的言论加剧了争议
这引起了一些争议,因为一些知名的辩护者,如艾哈迈德·迪达特,曾说过,这人就是先知穆罕默德 (pbuh)。我和你们中的许多人一样,从他和其他受他影响的人那里听说过这一点。我认为我们所有人都需要就这个问题得出自己的结论。然而,我们应该从知情的角度来做这件事,而不是仅仅因为一个著名的伊玛目或迪达特教授它。
我们需要研究伊萨(愿主福安之)在约翰记录的这篇演讲中如何描述“真理之灵”。这是包括迪达特在内的所有人都拥有的唯一数据。这篇演讲可在此处阅读,值得一读,这样您才能完全理解其背景。我将重点介绍直接涉及真理之灵的演讲。伊萨(愿主福安之)如何描述即将到来的“真理之灵”?
伊萨(愿主福安之)关于真理之灵的教导
我要求父,父就另外赐给你们一位保惠师,叫他永远与你们同在,就是真理的圣灵。乃世人不能接受他,因为不见他,也不认识他。你们却认识他,因他常与你们同在,也要在你们里面。我不撇下你们为孤儿,我必到你们这里来。再过不久,世人就不再看见我,你们却看见我。(约翰福音 14:16-19)
伊萨·阿尔·马西赫(愿主福安之)这样描述‘真理之灵’:
- “辩护人”。这里的希腊词是 παράκλητον (parakleton),来自“para”(紧挨着)和“kaleo”(做出呼吁或判断)。类似的词有安慰者或辅导员;
- 世人不能看见他,也不能认识他;
- 他将活在门徒‘心中’。
这听起来不像是一个有肉身的人,因为任何人都可以看到肉身。另一方面,真理之灵是看不见的。而且,一个有肉身的人类先知似乎不可能生活在其他人(包括门徒)的“体内”。但让我们继续伊萨(愿主福安之)的论述。
“我还与你们同在的时候,已将这些话告诉你们了。但保惠师,就是父因我的名所要差来的圣灵,他要将一切的事指教你们,并且要叫你们想起我对你们所说的一切话。(约翰福音 14:25-26)
因此,真理之灵会教导门徒并提醒他们伊萨·阿尔·马西赫 (pbuh) 所教导的一切。
“但我要从父那里差保惠师来,就是从父出来真理的圣灵,他来了,就要为我作见证。你们也要作见证,因为你们从起头就与我同在。(约翰福音 15:26-27)
我实实在在地告诉你们,我去是与你们有益的。我若不去,保惠师就不到你们这里来;我若去,就差他来。他来了,就要叫世人知道,在罪、在义、在审判方面,是有罪的:在罪方面,是因他们不信我;在义方面,是因我往父那里去,你们再也见不到我;在审判方面,是因为这世界的王受了审判。
“我还有好多话要告诉你们,超过你们现在所能领受的。只等真理的圣灵来了,他要引导你们明白一切的真理。他不是凭自己说的,乃是把他所听见的都说出来,并要把将来的事告诉你们。他要荣耀我,因为他要从我受得,告诉你们。凡父所有的,都是我的。所以我说,圣灵要从我受得,告诉你们。”(约翰福音 16:7-15)
我们在这里看到,真理之灵将被派往门徒那里,他将引导门徒了解一切真理。事实上,甚至告诉他们“尚未发生”或未来的事情。你会记得,从《讨拉特》的先知迹象中,这种能力是穆萨 (pbuh) 给予的迹象,这样人们就会知道某人是否是真正的先知。
Deedat 是对的吗?先知穆罕默德 (pbuh) 就是这个应许的真理之灵吗?
鉴于所有这些描述,我认为这些描述不适用于先知穆罕默德。毕竟,先知穆罕默德有肉身,因此人们可以看到他——即使是那些不接受他的人(例如麦加的古雷什或古莱什)。先知穆罕默德当然没有生活在伊萨的门徒“心中”,也没有被派往门徒那里,也没有教导或指导他们。事实上,由于先知穆罕默德是在伊萨的门徒之后 600 年左右出现的,他与他们没有任何关系。然而,“真理之灵”被承诺要做所有这些事情。
当我仔细阅读和研究迪达特用来说服我们“真理之灵”确实是先知穆罕默德(愿主福安之)的所有论据时,我发现它们都是半真半假的,并没有准确地代表伊萨(愿主福安之)的言论。随着我继续研究他的著作,我发现尽管他非常热心,但他经常使用半真半假或歪曲事实。你可能不这么认为,这不是本文的主要问题,但我发现他不可靠。
当然,在确定谁是真理之灵的问题上,从这些观点来看,我认为它不可能是指先知穆罕默德 (pbuh)。伟大的宗教热情无法克服显而易见的事实。
谁是真理之灵?
但谁是“真理之灵”呢?如果我们读《使徒行传》,它延续了《路加福音》,讲述了伊萨离开后同伴们发生的事情,那么答案就一目了然了。我们在这里读到伊萨升天前所做所为(这里所说的“他”是伊萨,提到的“约翰”是先知叶海亚)。
有一次,当他和他们一起吃饭时,他给了他们这样的命令:“不要离开耶路撒冷,要等待我父应许的礼物,你们听见我说了。约翰用水施洗,但几天后,你们将受圣灵的洗。”
他们就聚集到他那里,问他说:“主啊,你这时候要复兴以色列国吗?”
耶稣对他们说:“父凭着自己的权柄所定的时间或日期,不是你们可以知道的。但圣灵降临在你们身上,你们就必得着能力;并要在耶路撒冷、犹太全地、撒玛利亚,直到地极,作我的见证。”
说了这话,他们正看见他就被取上升,有一朵云彩把他接去,便看不见他了。(使徒行传 1:4-9)
我们在这里看到,就在他离开之前,他再次谈到了即将到来的“圣灵”。然后在下一章中,就在伊萨升天几天后,我们读到(“他们”是伊萨离开后的同伴,五旬节是逾越节后 50 天举行的节日——有关更多解释,请参阅穆萨的标志)
五旬节那天,他们都聚集在一处。突然,天上传来一阵像狂风吹过的声音,充满了他们所坐的整个房子。他们看到似乎有火焰的舌头分开,落在他们每个人身上。他们都被圣灵充满,并开始用圣灵赋予的语言说话。
那时,有敬畏神的犹太人从天下各国来,住在耶路撒冷。他们听见这声音,众人都聚集来,各人听见他们用众人的乡谈说话,就甚纳闷,就希奇说:“这些说话的人不都是加利利人吗?我们各人怎么听见他们用我们本乡的乡谈说话呢?帕提亚人、玛代人、以拦人,和住在米索不达米亚、犹太、加帕多家、本都、亚细亚、弗吕家、旁非利亚、埃及,并靠近古利奈的利比亚一带地方的人,从罗马来的客旅,无论是犹太人还是进犹太教的人,以及克里特人和阿拉伯人,都听见他们用我们的乡谈,讲说神的大事呢?”他们就希奇猜疑,彼此对问说:“这是什么意思呢?”(使徒行传 2:1-12)
因此我们在这里读到“神的灵”降临到每个门徒身上,他们奇迹般地说出了其他语言。当你阅读使徒行传时,你会看到圣灵继续引导和带领门徒。
这种解释符合伊萨 (pbuh) 在他的真理之灵演讲中描述的所有细节。但它给我们带来了进一步的影响,甚至可能带来问题。让我们首先处理一些影响。
真理的精神和先知伊萨·马西赫 (pbuh) 门徒的著作
首先,经文说,从此以后,伊萨 (愿主福安之) 的同伴们就被圣灵“居住”了。这一点可以从他们后来的行为和所写的内容中看出。例如:
圣灵清楚地说,在后来的时候,有些人会离弃信仰,追随欺骗的邪灵和魔鬼的教导。(提摩太前书 4:1)
藉着神迹奇事的能力,并圣灵的能力。所以我从耶路撒冷直转到以利哩古,到处传了基督的福音。(罗马书 15:19)
天使又对我说:“你要写上:凡被请赴羔羊之婚筵的有福了!”他又说:“这是神真实的话。”我就俯伏在他脚前要拜他。他对我说:“万不可!我与你并你为耶稣作见证的弟兄同是作仆人的。你要敬拜神!因为预言中的灵是为耶稣作见证的。”(启示录 19:9-10)
这些段落取自《新约》中伊萨 (愿主福安之) 同伴的著作,清楚地表明了他们的权威和对真理之灵的依赖。在上面的第一段中,圣灵向作者预言了未来将发生的事情(全世界抛弃善良,追随邪恶)。在第二段中,作者依靠自己在圣灵的帮助下可以创造的奇迹,为耶稣 (或伊萨 – 愿主福安之) 的福音 (引支勒) 作证。最后,在第三段中,作者在异象中看到了一位强大的天使,并想崇拜天使,但天使告诉他只崇拜上帝,然后说,正是通过“预言之灵”,异象才得以实现,而且是关于伊萨 (愿主福安之) 的。
来自伊萨(pbuh)的指标
这些正是伊萨 (愿主福安之) 在关于真理之灵将做什么的演讲中所给出的相同指标。这灵将居住在伊萨的门徒心中并引导他们,使他们成为先知,而灵的信息将指向伊萨 (愿主福安之)。
这就是我们需要认真对待《新约》中伊萨 (愿主福安之) 门徒的著作的一个重要原因。这种真理之灵启发了他们的著作,因此我们应该像对待《讨拉特》中穆萨的预言一样认真对待他们。伊萨 (愿主福安之) 在他的演讲中直接承诺,这种精神将“提醒他们我 (伊萨 – 愿主福安之) 对你们说过的一切”。如果是这样,那么我们必须听取这些同伴的著作。
真理之灵和《引支勒》的所有追随者
真理之灵降临的第二个含义是,他不仅启发了伊萨 (愿主福安之) 的同伴,而且他居住在所有相信引支勒的人心中。这种居住将改变我们的生活。请注意以下经文对此的看法。
你们既听见真理的信息,就是那叫你们得救的福音,你们也信了基督(即玛西),既然信了,就受了所应许的圣灵为印记。(以弗所书 1:13)
圣灵所结的果子,就是仁爱、喜乐、和平、忍耐、恩慈、良善、信实、温柔、节制。这样的事,没有律法禁止。(加拉太书 5:22-23)
圣灵的承诺不仅是为了激励伊萨 (愿主福安之) 的同伴,而且是为了使所有《引支勒》的追随者都受到同样的真理之灵的印记。这样,我们的生活就会被列出的圣灵果实所标记,而不是通常主宰我们生活的那些:不和、嫉妒、贪婪、嫉妒、愤怒、欲望和缺乏控制。我可以从自己的亲身经历中说,真理之灵从内心改变了我,所以我的外在行为也因内心的改变而改变。确实,这是《引支勒》的一大祝福,也是它成为“好消息”的原因之一。
起初的真理之灵
当我们进一步了解圣灵时,我们发现圣灵从《讨拉特》一开始就扮演着重要的角色。我们在《讨拉特》的第一节中读到,万物的创造
起初上帝创造天地。地是空虚混沌,渊面黑暗。上帝之灵运行在水面上。(创世记 1:1-2)
因此,圣灵在创造之初就存在!
因此,这引出了一个重要的问题。我们如何理解上帝之灵或真理之灵?这是一个巨大的谜团,但也许对《古兰经》的共同理解会对我们有所帮助。许多人认为《古兰经》是上帝自亘古以来永恒的话语。它被启示给先知穆罕默德 (pbuh),但一直存在,因此从未被创造过。也许以某种类似的方式,上帝的精神(我们从上面的《讨拉特》中知道它在创世之初就存在)是一种永恒的、非创造的本质,来自真主。这些书籍没有详细解释这一点,所以它可能是“只有上帝知道”的奥秘之一。
我,也许还有你,都知道有些人努力背诵《古兰经》,以便上帝之言能够进入他们的内心。如果真理之灵如上所言,他也可以进入我们的内心,改变我们,让我们的生活结出上帝之言所标记的果实——这难道不是一种巨大的祝福吗?一种非常有价值的祝福?我们或许应该反思一下承诺进入我们内心的“真理之灵”的意义,以及这对我们意味着什么。
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While I would tend to believe that this is referring to the Holy Spirit, it makes no sense based on the “Christian” descriptions of it. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is supposedly inside them and guides them, but what Jesus is talking about is REVELATION. He says he has a lot of things to tell them but the PEOPLE aren’t ready for it yet. It simply wasn’t the time or place for it.
As Muslims we believe the Holy Spirit is the Angel of Revelation, Gabriel. See how much sense that makes? Christians generally confuse the Spirit of the Lord with the Holy Spirit. A simple test to prove my point? What is one thing the “Christian” Holy Spirit has revealed in the last 2000 years that Jesus pbuh did not.
Sorry if i come off as rude
Hi. Thanks for your comment/question. And honestly I did not take you as being rude. You are honestly arguing a point – that is the way we all learn.
I prefer not to position the discussion with a ‘Muslim’ view or a ‘Christian’ view. This is because there are so many variants of these views that it is really hard to categorize them. And at the end of the day, you and I are concerned with ‘truth’ irregardless of what camp or label is attached to it. To your question, here is a simple quote from one of Paul’s epistles where he ascribes revelation directly to the Spirit apart from Jesus (PBUH) and then from John
This is repeated (“what the Spirit says”…) many times followed by some teaching in this book. So it is not hard to find teachings/sayings not coming from Jesus that come from the Spirit.
But to your point that the role of the ‘Spirit’ is only revelation (I think we agree that it included revelation but was it that only?). Here are some passages that teach a wider role.
These passages show that the Spirit is/was involved in (in addition to revelation): giving os spiritual gifts to people – including the gift of doing miracles, cleansing of our conscience, writing the law of God into our hearts (rather than just revealing it), participated in the resurrection of Jesus. So there is ample evidence to show that the role of the Spirit goes beyond revelation.
Some food for thought.
I’m sometimes eh about the writings of Paul. Indeed, when the Prophet pbuh was asked about who corrupted the Bible he responded by saying there were Kings after the time of Isa pbuh who put their hands to it. Also, from my research, the teachings of Paul sometimes vary greatly from the teachings of Christ. While it is possible the Bible has GENERALLY stayed in tact, there are a lot of sketchy translations in the Bible, and the the teachings of Paul create contradictions
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[g] to be with you forever.
But the Advocate,[i] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
There are very clear oddities going on here. He says he will ask the Father to send ANOTHER Spirit, not THE Spirit. Yet he calls this other Spirit as the Holy Spirit? So which is it, since we assume there isn’t more than one Holy Spirit. If the words “Holy Spirit” did not exist in the second quote, these passages describe Muhammad pbuh down to a tee. So whats going on? Jesus says he has to go away for the Spirit to come, but the Holy Spirit was present at his Baptism. Im not saying I have the solution, so I was hoping you could comment on this.
Also, this Website is great, very unbiased. I would add that while I’ve read the articles pertaining to the Qurans comments on the Gospels, I disagree. The Quran states that it takes priority of the other books. While the Prophet didn’t mind Jews/Christians reading the Bible, he became annoyed when Muslims did it. Also we know of the John 5:7 Trinity line that was fabricated into the Bible, so someone can clearly change it. Regardless, I think you know the biggest problem with the Bible is how badly the world interprets it, not really the content itself. I think this is what the Prophet felt, and because the Quran is just Allah speaking, it is very clear
Personal question? Do you believe the Prophet Muhammad pbuh is a messenger of God?
Hey, thanks for your thoughtful comments. It makes good dialogue possible. I understand about your reticence of Paul which is why I included quotes from non-Pauline books like Hebrews and Revelation (John is the author of that) and 1 Peter. (I personally do not struggle with Paul but I know that many from Muslim tradition do). Now to understand the John passage that you quote. Actually though you quoted it, you referred to it incorrectly. Jesus says “I will send another Advocate…” You then quoted it with Jesus saying “I will send another Spirit…” (Look carefully and you will see you missed it). When you read it as “another spirit…” as you do then you get the oddities that you describe, wondering how many Spirits there are if there is another one. If you read it (crrectly) as “Another Advocate…” it is quite plain. Jesus is the first advocate and the Spirit is the other. There are two advocates: Jesus and the Spirit, but there is only one Spirit. This plain reading makes sense of the whole passage. In the verses just before your quote starts Jesus says
So the context of the ‘another advocate’ is that Jesus is going away. He is departing and this is making the disciples sad and confused. So he is comforting them by saying that they should not worry about his departure because another advocate will come – the Spirit. Try reading the whole chapter of John 16 with from that viewpoint and you will see that the oddities disappear and it makes perfect sense.
You are absolutely correct about 1 John 5:7. But we know about this verse precisely because we have so many manuscripts and they are very ancient and none of them have this verse in it. Erasmus was the Greek scholar who in the 1500’s made the first modern Greek text of the New Testament. He knew from his sources that it should not be in. But the verse was in traditional Latin texts (not Greek) and since people were used to seeing it there Erasmus was under great pressure to keep it in. But the text is reliable and must surely be treated that way. From my reading, I have come across evidence of similar kinds of editing in the Qu’ran, but I do think that the text of it is still very well preserved.
Re. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). I find that many times in the Qur’an he calls himself a ‘warner’ (ex. I am but a warner, and a bringer of glad tidings to whose who have faith – Surah 7:188). So I see him more on along the lines of a Warner.
Re. interpretation. You are (again) correct though that it is the interpretation that is the biggest difficulty. But I do not see internpretation problems limited to the Bible. Do the Sunnis and the Shi’ites not have the same Qur’an? Is not the (big) differences in their interpretations? The challenge for everyone is to try to come at the text and let it speak for itself without imposing our prior views on it. I know that this is hard because I have seen it in my with the Bible and have had to ask myself at times why I get a certain intrepretation from a certain passage. I think if we recognize our own tendencies to want to ‘cheat’ in this way, and expose our interpretation to others who may not come from our perspective then we can sharpen our own interpretation.
Hey, thanks for your comments but now I have almost written a full article and should sign off until later.
I highly recommend this article
http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/201/
Am a christian who has red Koran and Islamic hadiths especially Sahih bukhari and Abu Dawuud: From the hadiths i can conclude that Mohammed was not a messenger of God but was good teacher and all morals in Islamic world are good(there are many good things he did and i respect him for that) however:
1.sleeping with his slaves then receiving revelations to justify that ?
2.thighing of Aisha before consummation of the the marriage at 9 years,remember he married her at 6yrs, from six 6-9 he used thigh her up to masturbation point and Aisha has narrated removing semen from the prophet clothes so many times?
3.marriage to his adopted son wife then receiving revelations ,something that was immoral even in pre-islamic world?
4.which prophet raided people with arms and club in the name of holy war ?
All these are from the hadiths look at this one about angel Gabriel : and ask yourself which angel of God can do this till his head is covered with dust and holding weapons?
Narrated `Aisha:
When Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) returned on the day (of the battle) of Al-Khandaq (i.e. Trench), he put down his arms and took a bath. Then Gabriel whose head was covered with dust, came to him saying, “You have put down your arms! By Allah, I have not put down my arms yet.” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Where (to go now)?” Gabriel said, “This way,” pointing towards the tribe of Bani Quraiza. So Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) went out towards them .
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said on the day (of the battle) of Badr, “This is Gabriel holding the head of his horse and equipped with arms for the battle.