The Gospel and the Injeel

In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.

May the peace, blessings, and mercy of God be upon all of you, and may He continue to bless all of the prophets, their successors and their followers for eternity.

There's a huge misconception amongst both Muslims and Christians concerning the Injeel & Gospels. Some say these are synonymous terms, and that the Gospels (or even the New Testament) is the Injeel mentioned in the Qur'an, given to Jesus (a).

Let's clear a few things up a bit:

The Christian Bible is divided into two major sections: Old Testament and New Testament. The OT is a collection of several books, which include the Jewish Pentateuch (attributed to the Torah), the Psalms (attributed to the Zabur), and the books of the prophets, written by man, inspired by God. Jews and Christians both accept the Old Testament.

The New Testament (NT) is exclusively a Christian scripture, and not included in the Jewish Bible. It contains the 4 versions of the Gospel, as well as various letters written by different authors, and it is concluded with the book of Revelations; an alleged revelation written about 100 years after Jesus' birth.

Let's look at the 4 Gospels. Each Gospel is the account of one author, who writes about the life and time of Jesus (a). The authors of the 4 Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The fact is, though, we barely know anything about these authors. At first, it was believed that these were all eye-witnesses to Jesus (a), but further evidence proves that these four individuals may not have even been students of the Messiah Jesus (a).

The Gospel of Mark was the first one to be written, which is said to have been written at around 60 CE, approximately 27 years after Jesus' alleged crucifixion. The 4th Gospel, written by John, was likely to have been written between the years 90 and 120 CE, therefore making it much after the time of Jesus (a).

Were these the only accounts of Jesus' life? Absolutely not. It is said by Christian scholars and archeologists that there may have even been 60 Gospels written in the first two hundred years, including some that had been attributed to Jesus' apostles. There were also many Apocalypses written. Each piece of work was radically different from the others, and every one of them had unique ideas, stories, and arguments on who Jesus (a) really was. Some argued he was God in body and spirit, others had said he was God in spirit, but not in body. Some put him as an esteemed messenger of God, while others put Jesus as the means in which God would create something.

As if this wasn't confusing enough, archeologists today claim that about 5,000 manuscripts of the 4 Gospels have been found that date back as far as 200 CE - and no two manuscripts are identical! Each one had its own set of minor differences, and some even had major differences, with omitted, added, or changed verses.

The most ancient authorities of these Gospels are usually the ones that comply more with Islam, though I must say that the very writers of these Gospels are unreliable. We simply do not know much about Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, if that was in fact their real names. We are not sure if these people had known the Messiah Jesus (a), and even if they did know him, we do not know if they had sent out an authentic message. The 4 Gospels themselves have conflicting views and inconsistencies in comparison to each other, so we know for sure that the sources are not infallible.

So if the 4 Gospels and the rest of the NT is not the Injeel, what is the Injeel mentioned in the Qur'an?

The Injeel is not a book written by obscure, inconsistent authors AFTER Jesus (a). It is in fact the revelation given from God to Jesus (a) during his lifetime.

"And He will teach him (Jesus) the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and Injeel" (3:48)

"And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was revealed before him in the Torah, and We bestowed on him the Injeel, wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was revealed before it in the Torah - a guidance and admonition to those who ward off evil" (5:46)

As these verses and others like it say, the Injeel was indeed a new teaching which God had given Jesus (a). It was the very essence of the revelations given to the Messiah, and was probably an oral revelation and teaching which Jesus (a) had instructed his students with.

Does the Injeel still exist today? Assuming the Gospels quoted Jesus (a) correctly, word for word, then those quotations of Jesus (a) would be the only part of the Injeel we still have today. But the authenticity of the Gospels and the Bible are undetermined, so we do not know for sure what Jesus (a) had said, versus what was twisted and what was fabricated.

May God bless the Prophets and all who follow them in righteousness.