Editorial

4 The Review of Religions – August 2005 Understanding the true Nature of God and man’s place as His creation, and the position of Prophets and Angels, has been a challenge for mankind throughout history. Before Islam, scholars of other faiths such as Origen, the great Christian scholar, tried to grapple with these concepts. The heritage he had to work from was confusion over whether Jesus( a s ) was human or divine, and the intrigue surrounding his virg i n birth. Origen sparked a new line of theology that was to have an impact on Christianity for centuries and eventually led to the formulation of the concept of Trinity three centuries after Jesus(as). The Promised Messiah( a s ) explained these concepts to us with that certainty that is only born of personal experience and Divine Guidance. The series of excerpts from the Essence of Islam that we have featured in the Review of Religions of late has gone into great detail on the nature of God and His relation with various Prophets including Jesus(as). In this issue, the Promised Messiah( a s ) describes the Throne of God as a metaphorical representation of God’s separation and majesty as compared to that of His creations. We can see a cycle here. The Jews, over a period of time, had interpolated new thoughts into the Torah to the point that a Messiah was needed to guide them back to a proper understanding of their maker and their faith. Among his followers, a new faith emerged in the form of Christianity. Just three centuries later, the Christians had misinterpreted the Gospels to such an extent that after Origen, a Canon had to be set up of authentic Gospels. Islam emerged just three centuries after this. The Messiah(as) of Islam has guided us back to the original teachings of the Qur’an, and also saved the Prophets from the ravages of history. By Fazal Ahmad – UK EDITORIAL