Evans Craig A - Jesus and the Jihadis : confronting the rage of Isis : the theology driving the ideology

Copyright 2015Craig A. Evans and Jeremiah J. Johnston

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version Copyright 1962, by Oxford University Press, Inc., Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NET are taken from The NET Bible, New English Translation copyright 1996 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. NET Bible is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. All emphasis within Scripture quotations is the authors own.

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DEDICATION

T o the Christians of the Middle East who have suffered at the hands of the ISIS fanatics.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him (James 1:12, ESV).

INTRODUCTION

An Introduction to Jesus and the Jihadis

H ardly a day goes by without hearing something in the media about ISIS. Almost all that we hear is outrageous and heartbreaking. In recent weeks and months, we have heard about the looting and destruction of antiquities. Statues from the classical period have been smashed, some dating back to the seventh century BC; others have been stolen and sold on the antiquities black market. Not only that, but ancient books and manuscripts have been burned as well. These treasures from the past are irreplaceable. The ISIS vandals know no limits to the crimes against humanity that they are willing to commit.

Churches, synagogues, and monasteries have been looted and/or blown to pieces. Even some mosques have been vandalized because they contain artwork or other features that radical Muslims, including members of ISIS, do not approve of. The Associated Press has reported that eastern Christians living in Iraq have fled in the face of advancing ISIS combatants, some of them with precious books that are hundreds of years old. One codex in particular that caught our attention is a Syriac version of the letters of Paul the apostle that ISIS tried to take, which may be more than one thousand years old. If ISIS thugs got their hands on it they would have destroyed it.

ISIS vandals posted a video in February 2015 depicting their enthusiastic destruction of many antiquities in a museum in Mosul, Iraq. Many of these antiquities relate to the Old Testament period, the period of Abraham and the kingdom of Israel. Winged bulls from Nineveh and Nimrud, two very important cities of the Ancient Near East, have been smashed to pieces. Reuters news service reported:

Lamia al-Gailani, an Iraqi archaeologist and associate fellow at the London-based Institute of Archaeology, said the militants had wreaked untold damage. Its not only Iraqs heritage: its the whole worlds, she said. They are priceless, unique. Its unbelievable. I dont want to be Iraqi any more, she said, comparing the episode to the dynamiting of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Afghan Taliban in 2001.

Professor al-Gailani is quite correct in her assessment of the damage: Its not only Iraqs heritage: its the whole worlds. These antiquities are irreplaceable; once destroyed, they are gone forever. And all of this is being done in the name of Allah. The perversity of it is beyond comprehension. Professor al-Gailani no longer wants to be identified as an Iraqi. Who can blame her? And one may well wonder, how many Muslims still want to be Muslim?

Inspired by ISIS atrocities, other radical Islamic groups have become more aggressive and daring than ever before. Boko Haram in Africa continues to take large numbers of school children hostage. They attack Christians wherever they can find them. They burn down churches and schools, massacring whole villages. Some of these Islamic terrorist groups raise money by taking westerners hostage for ransom. But not all hostages are releasedpayment or no paymentsome are beheaded. They do this all in the name of Allah. And who can forget the horror of watching the video of Jordanian pilot Lt. Muah al-Kaseasbeh, who, locked in a cage, was burned to death? What kind of people would do such a thing? And why would they do such a thing?

Why does ISIS show such violence and depravity? Why do people who say they believe in God commit such vile acts against fellow human beings, even against fellow Muslims? General William G. Boykin recently described the Islamic State as evil in its purest form. Civilized people find the actions of ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups horrifying and incomprehensible. But there are explanations, at least for some of it. The authors of the present volume do not pretend to know how to explain the dark hearts and twisted minds of humans who, with enthusiasm, commit such depraved crimes. But we can share with our readers the history and theology that is behind much of it.

The story goes back about 4,000 years, all the way back to one man and one place. It goes back to a decision, a choice of one son over another. This man, this place, and this choice set in motion a series of events that shaped the course of history and almost certainly will shape our future:

Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your fathers house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves (Genesis 12:1-3).

What we are seeing today in the Middle East is the direct result of a very old story, and, until it is understood, the leaders of the civilized world simply will not know how to deal with it. Therefore, this book is everything Christians (and non-Christians, for that matter) need to know about ISIS and Islam, and dont. As we will see, rather than being an un-Islamic distortion of the Quran and Hadith, the Islamic State adheres to and embodies the teachings of Muhammad and Islam at its core. An honest and close reading of the Islamic holy texts and traditions reveal that Muhammad would not only join the Islamic State, but he would lead it.