Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - Why Denying the Crucifixion of Jesus Is a Big Problem for Muslims

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

Alan discusses two problems he has with the Quran’s reference to crucifixion and explains why that’s a huge problem for Muslims.

Well, it's fairly well known that Muslims deny the crucifixion of Jesus. The problem though is why they deny it. And that's because the Quran says Jesus was never killed. Now, that's a problem because not only does the Quran get Jesus' crucifixion wrong, it actually gets all crucifixions wrong. And I like to explain what I mean by that in this episode of my podcast, Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shleeman. Now Jesus is central to Christianity.

And of course, it turns out that he's very important in Islam as well. Now, the Bible's depiction of his life, message, and ministry are vigorously contested by Muslims. In fact, they not only deny that Jesus was divine, but they also deny his defining act, which is his crucifixion and resurrection. Now, Muslims have no choice though, because they have to believe their highest authority, the Quran, because they claim the Quran contains the literal words of Allah. Now, what that means is, whatever the Quran affirms, Muslims must also affirm. Whatever the Quran denies, Muslims must also affirm. Whatever the Quran denies, Muslims must also deny.

And since the Quran denies the crucifixion of Jesus, Muslims must also deny the crucifixion of Jesus. Now it turns out that the Quran doesn't just get Jesus' crucifixion wrong, it turns out it gets all crucifixions wrong. You see, when the Quran was written in the 7th century, Christianity was the largest world religion. Yet, despite the Quran being allegedly authored by an all-knowing God, Allah, the Quran makes anachronistic references to the crucifixions and also denies the most famous crucifixion in history, which is that of Jesus of Nazareth. Now, this is incriminating evidence that the Quran can't be trusted and is not the word of God. And in fact, I want to focus on two problems with the Quran's references to crucifixion.

Now, the first is that the Quran makes, as I said, anachronistic references to crucifixion in general. So for example, in Surahs chapter 7, verse 120 through 123, the Quran references Pharaoh, Moses, and his brother Aaron. Okay, so remember, this is we're talking about the era when Israelites were in Egypt. Now then in verse 124, Pharaoh says, quote, I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, then I will surely crucify you. Okay, end quote. And this comes from the Sahih International Translation of the Quran. Now, the Quran has Pharaoh make a similar comment in Surah 20 verse 71. Pharaoh says, I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides and I will

crucify you. And then finally in Surah 12 verse 41, Joseph is interpreting a dream for a prisoner and he says this, quote, Oh, two companions of prison, as for one of you, he will give drink to his master of wine, but as for the other, he will be crucified

and the birds will eat from his head, end quote. Okay, so here's the problem. Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron lived sometime around the 14th to 12th century BC and Joseph lived around the 18th century BC. Right now crucifixion wasn't invented until maybe the 6th century BC by the Persians. And that's because we have some records that indicate that King Darius crucified his enemies back in like 519 BC. So that means the Quran claims crucifixion was a method of execution 800 years before

it was ever invented. Or if you're talking about the case of Joseph, now we're talking about 1200 years before it was ever invented. Right? So that's a significant difference in time. But the Quran not only dates crucifixions to the wrong time, it also rejects the most significant and important crucifixion of all time. In fact, perhaps the most famous one.

And that's the second problem, which is that the Quran denies the crucifixion of Jesus. And this comes from Surah 4, verse 157, which says this, and for their saying, indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah, and they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him. But another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption, and they did not kill him for certain.

Okay, so there's the passage from the Quran. So according to the Quran, Jesus was not crucified. Instead, Allah allegedly performed this kind of like sleight of hand and made it appear as though they killed Jesus. This is the testimony of the Quran's author writing 600 years after Jesus. Now here's why that's a problem for the Quran. Eyewitness testimony of Jesus, as well as the historians and authors of the first and

second centuries, paint a completely different picture. They univocally affirm that Jesus was killed by crucifixion. All four gospel authors record that Jesus was crucified. Further, Josephus, who was a first century Jewish historian, reports also that Jesus was crucified. In fact, he wrote the following. He said, quote, Pilate condemned Jesus to be crucified. Right fact, he wrote the following, he said, quote, pilot condemned Jesus to be crucified. Right? End quote. We also have Tacitus, who was a first century Roman historian, and he also attests to Jesus's death. He writes that Christ, quote, suffered the extreme penalty

during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate." And then there's this other guy Lucian who was another author of the time. He was a second century Greek satirist. He says that Christians worship a man who was, quote, crucified, end quote. Right? So all these authors who wrote after Jesus's ministry all attest to his crucifixion. All these authors who wrote after Jesus's ministry all attest to his crucifixion. Now, this ancient data has led modern thinkers to reach the same conclusion. For example, the Journal of American Medical Association, which is simply a just a standard secular medical journal, which is well respected, studied the crucifixion details that are described in the gospels and made this conclusion, quote, modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence indicates

that Jesus was dead when he was taken down from the cross, end quote. Even liberal theologians and atheists affirm that Jesus was crucified. So for example, John Dominic Croson, who was a Jesus scholar, who by the way, this guy denies the denies the resurrection. Okay, john Dominic cross and who was part of the Jesus seminar. He says, after the crucifixion, Jesus's corpse was probably laid in a shallow grave, covered with dirt, and subsequently eaten by wild dogs. The story of Jesus's entombment and resurrection was the result of wishful thinking. Okay, so that's John Dominic Crosson on the resurrection.

So clearly this is not an orthodox Christian, right? But even though he denies this essential Christian doctrine of the resurrection, he still admits, quote, that he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be. Right. So he, he affirms that Jesus was the least crucified. Anti-Christian Bible scholar, Bart Ehrman, right. This guy debates Christians. He even writes, quote, one of the most certain facts of history is that Jesus was crucified on orders of the Roman prefect of Judea Pontius Pilate." Let's see who else we got with Geert

Ludemann who is an atheist New Testament professor at University of Göttingen I think, basically a German New Testament scholar, again atheist, he affirms also that Jesus' death was as a consequence of crucifixion and he describes it as quote unquote indisputable. All right. So virtually everyone who was an eyewitness of Jesus, his friend or enemy, or a historian of Jesus' day, or a scholar who studied this question, affirms the reality of this defining event, and that is, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. The only one who denies it is the author of the Quran, who wrote about 600 years after

Jesus. Now, to me, this creates a twofold problem for Muslims. First, getting crucifixion wrong renders the Quran untrustworthy, right? I mean, how can a Muslim trust their highest authority when it anachronistically refers to crucifixion hundreds of years before it began and then also denies the most historically attested event of Jesus' life. Now that's just the historical problem with the Quran. But the second problem is this.

At least for Muslims, denying the crucifixion robs Muslims of the power of Christ's atonement. Right? Because Christ's death and resurrection is an essential part of the gospel. Romans 10.9 teaches, quote, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, end quote. So by denying the crucifixion and consequently the resurrection, Muslims denied the event that paves the way for their sins to be pardoned. And this just reminds me of J. Gresham Maitian's warning 100 years ago, which I would say is

still relevant very much so today. He warned that false ideas are the greatest obstacles to the gospel. And of course, sadly, billions of Muslims believe the false ideas that are presented by the Quran as fact. And so it's really our role as ambassadors for Christ to Muslims to present the truth of what scripture affirms. Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. His death can give us life.

And Muslims reject the very truth that can atone for their sins and save them from certain judgment. Well, that's all I have for you today. If you've enjoyed this episode, I encourage you to share it with a friend and also don't forget to subscribe to my podcast so you don't miss any future episodes.

And thank you for listening. I look forward to thinking out loud with you next time. you