Kill Christians?? Try and keep it civilised, as I could cite a work by 2 Evangelical pastors, who travelled the World to detail all the Christians killed around the world since 33AD, and they put the blame for at least 5.5 Million of those deaths firmly at the feet of fellow 'Christians' and many of the methods used make Isis and others look like nice people.
There are Tens of Millions of Christians living in Muslim Countries, and have done so for 14 Centuries. Here's some facts both from within the Bible and sources kept out of it showing there was no blood death on the cross or tree as recorded by Paul:
Jesus pbuh had the ability to change his appearance and travel instantly between places. From the NT he appeared to be a gardener to Mary and then travelled with 2 companions that didn't recognise his voice or physical appearance,
Luke 24:13-16. He was able to appear to his disciples who were in a locked room John 20:19. Gospel of Mark 15 says, a man called Jesus Barabbas (Son of God) was set free and Simon carried the cross. Could you read trough Mark 15 KJV and let me know when Simon gave the cross to Jesus?
Paul writes before the 4 Gospels and tries really hard to convince people that Jesus pbuh had died and resurrected. This from the NT:
1 Cor 15:12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
Clearly there were many people who didn't believe their Messiah had been killed.
Jesus pbuh himself prayed all night to be saved:
luke 22:44 And having been in agony, He was praying more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. <<<praying to be saved
John 11:41-42 shows his prayers were ALWAYS heard. No wonder of course, as his name means, 'God Saves'.
6 disciples outside of the NT write to say another whose name was Simon was crucified in error by the enemies of Jesus pbuh.
"Come therefore, let us go on with the completion of the will of the incorruptible Father. For behold, those who will bring them judgment are coming, and they will put them to shame. But me they cannot touch. And you, O Peter, shall stand in their midst. Do not be afraid because of your cowardice. Their minds shall be closed, for the invisible one has opposed them."
When he had said those things, I saw him seemingly being seized by them. And I said "What do I see, O Lord? That it is you yourself whom they take, and that you are grasping me? Or who is this one, glad and laughing on the tree? And is it another one whose feet and hands they are striking?"
The Savior said to me, "He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness. But look at him and me."
But I, when I had looked, said "Lord, no one is looking at you. Let us flee this place."
But he said to me, "I have told you, 'Leave the blind alone!'. And you, see how they do not know what they are saying. For the son of their glory instead of my servant, they have put to shame."
And I saw someone about to approach us resembling him, even him who was laughing on the tree. And he was <filled> with a Holy Spirit, and he is the Savior. And there was a great, ineffable light around them, and the multitude of ineffable and invisible angels blessing them. And when I looked at him, the one who gives praise was revealed.
The Apocalypse of Peter -- The Nag Hammadi Library 80-100 AD
Early Christian Writings: New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, Church Fathers
Many early Christian sects did not believe Jesus was crucified. Jesus laughed with joy:
Wherefore he did not himself suffer death, but Simon, a certain man of Cyrene, being compelled, bore the cross in his stead; so that this latter being transfigured by him, that he might be thought to be Jesus, was crucified, through ignorance and error, while Jesus himself received the form of Simon, and, standing by, laughed at them. For since he was an incorporeal power, and the Nous (mind) of the unborn father, he transfigured himself as he pleased, and thus ascended to him who had sent him, deriding them, inasmuch as he could not be laid hold of, and was invisible to all. Those, then, who know these things have been freed from the principalities who formed the world; so that it is not incumbent on us to confess him who was crucified, but him who came in the form of a man, and was thought to be crucified, and was called Jesus, and was sent by the Father.
(The Church Father Iranaeus, Against Heresies, Chapter XXIV.-Doctrines of Saturninus and Basilides) <<< Basilides was an early Gnostic religious teacher in Alexandria, Egypt who taught from 117 to 138 AD, and claimed to have inherited his teachings from Matthew.
Notice how Iranaeus says “through ignorance and error” the Jews misapprehended, and crucified the wrong person. Amazingly, the Holy Qur'an harmonises this account, stating that they follow error, conjecture, and ignorance:
That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not: (Al-Quran 4:157)
The 1945 discovery of Gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi, Egypt unearthed a book called The Second Treatise of the Great Seth, 55-56 AD where Jesus states:
I did not succumb to them as they had planned. But I was not afflicted at all. Those who were there punished me. And I did not die in reality but in appearance, lest I be put to shame by them because these are my kinsfolk. I removed the shame from me and I did not become fainthearted in the face of what happened to me at their hands. I was about to succumb to fear, and I suffered according to their sight and thought, in order that they may never find any word to speak about them. For my death, which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness, since they nailed their man unto their death. For their Ennoias did not see me, for they were deaf and blind. But in doing these things, they condemn themselves. Yes, they saw me; they punished me. It was another, their father, who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I. They struck me with the reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. It was another upon Whom they placed the crown of thorns. But I was rejoicing in the height over all the wealth of the archons and the offspring of their error, of their empty glory. And I was laughing at their ignorance. (The Treatise of the Great Seth)
“There are also several historical sources other than the Bible and the Qur'an which confirm that many of the early Christians did not believe that Jesus died on the cross...The Cerinthians and later the Basilidians, for example, who were among the first of the early Christian communities, denied that Jesus was crucified...The Carpocratians, another early Christian sect, believed that it was not Jesus who was crucified, but another in his place”.
(Jesus Prophet of Islam, Muhammad Ataur-Raheem, Ahmed Thompson, 1996 (revised edition. p47)
“… Plotinus, who lived in the fourth century, tells us that he had read a book called The Journies of the Apostles which related the acts of Peter, John, Andrew, Barnabas, Thomas and Paul. Among other things, it stated that Jesus was not crucified, but another in his place, and therefore, he laughed at those who believed that they had crucified him”.
(ibid, Jesus Prophet of Islam, 1991 edition. P. 37) acts of john 97-101 AD
Throw into the mix the facts, you don't have the originals, widespread editing from Scribes and Church Fathers, fabricated letters and epistles, disagreement between John and the Synoptics about what was said at the trial, where the trial was, the day and time of the crucifixion, and events surrounding the empty tomb, and it is plain to see you can not be sure of anything, and go by blind faith alone.
The good news is using free will, you can believe what you like. When board member ViaCrucis responds, I shall hopefully be sharing what I've uncovered about Constantine, the 4th Century Emperor of the Romans. It's around this time that Church doctrine is finalised and lots of manuscripts start appearing.
