1.2.4.1 Who can forgive sins?:

Islam teaches that a Muslim is rewarded for every single hardship he endures patiently during his lifetime and that each hardship endured patiently is used by God Almighty to erase a previous sin by this individual. Even something so simple as a pin prick is counted to this end. How much greater the reward for a man who endured paralysis. His reward may very likely be the forgiveness of all of his sins. If Christianity believes that forgiving sins is a sign of divinity then what are we to say about the many millions of people in the Christian clergy who over the last 2000 years have publicly accepted people's "confessions" and "forgiven" their sins? Are they all the offspring of God and part of the Trinity? Do they call God on the telephone and ask His permission to forgive each individual or do they have "the power to forgive sins"?

In "The Five Gospels," written by 24 Christian scholars from some of the most prominent US and Canadian Universities around today, we read on page 44:

"Stories of Jesus curing a paralytic are found in all four narrative gospels, The Johannine version (John 5:1-9) differs substantially...The controversy interrupts the story of the cure- which reads smoothly if one omits vv. 5b-10 (Mark 2)- and it is absent in the parallel of John...Scholars usually conclude, on the basis of this evidence, that Mark has inserted the dispute into what was originally a simple healing story...If the words are to be attributed to Jesus, v. 10 may represent a bold new claim on Jesus' part that gives the authority to forgive sins to all human beings...The early church was in the process of claiming for itself the right to forgive sins and so would have been inclined to claim that its authorization came directly from Jesus."

However, even if we were for a moment to disregard all of the evidence, then we will find that to insist on following Mark 2:1-12 blindly shall result in utter and complete nullification of one of the founding beliefs of Christianity. For the proof of this, please read section 5.16.

We have already spoken in section 1.2.3.2 about the term "Son of God" and its true meaning as understood by the people of that time. What we want is a claim by Jesus himself where he says "Worship me" just as God Almighty says for instance in Isaiah 66:23

"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD."

I simply want to know where Jesus (pbuh) does the same.