The Lost Testament: What Christians Don't Know About Christ

By Sayed Mahdi Modarresi

They have been closely guarded for centuries.. Painstakingly and meticulously preserved at great risk to their keepers. Now, they are being revealed to the world, giving a glimpse of who Jesus really was and providing timeless answers for timely questions. Renowned scholar, Sayed M. Modarresi, searches for the lost words of Christ within other r

• Language: English
• Publisher: Enlight Foundation
• Release date: Jul 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9780994240989

Sayed Mahdi Modarresi

Sayed Mahdi Modarresi is a distinguished faith leader, renowned lecturer and theologian, specializing in Islamic history and spirituality. He has appeared on major media outlets such as the BBC, The Independent, Huffington Post, New Statesman, the Vatican Press Office, among others. He has led prayers at the United States House of Representatives, delivers lectures to tens of thousands around the world, and leads an interfaith outreach program designed to strengthen relations between Muslim religious leadership, the Holy See, as well as representatives of other major religions. An alumni of one of the top seminary research institutions in the Muslim world as well as Western universities, Sayed Modarresi provides a unique perspective on Islam in a cosmopolitan context, and advises senior religious and political leaders on human-rights as well as major faith initiatives.

Book preview

THE

LOST

TESTAMENT

What Christians Don’t Know

About Jesus

Sayed Mahdi Modarresi

Copyright © 2015 by Sayed Mahdi Modarresi

All rights reserved.

Cover Art: Simone Martini, Saint Andrew (41.100.23)

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000

Revised First Electronic Edition, July 2015

@EnlightPress

Modarresi, Sayed Mahdi

@SayedModarresi

The Lost Testament — What Christians Don’t Know About Jesus.

1st ed.

HISTORY; CHRISTIANITY; ISLAM; JESUS; WISDOM; QUOTES; AHLULBAYT; MOHAMMED; MARY; CHURCH

When Jesus came with clear signs, he said: ‘I have brought wisdom to you and to make plain some that upon which you differ. So keep your duty to God, and obey me’  - Quran 43:63

Dedication

To St. Peter; Simon son of Jonah; Jesus’ cousin, first apostle, and appointed heir..

Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.. you are the rock (Petra), and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven - Matthew 16:13-19

About the Author

Sayed Mahdi Modarresi is a distinguished faith leader and renowned lecturer and theologian, specializing in Islamic history and spirituality. He has appeared on major media outlets such as the BBC, The Independent, Huffington Post, New Statesman, Vatican Press Office, among others. He has led prayers at the United States House of Representatives, delivers lectures to tens of thousands around the world, and leads an interfaith outreach program designed to strengthen relations between Muslim religious leadership, the Holy See, and other major religious traditions. An alumni of top Islamic research institutions as well as Western universities, Modarresi provides a unique perspective on Islam in a cosmopolitan context, and advises senior religious and political leaders on human-rights as well as major faith initiatives. He is frequenlty invited to speak at universities, including UNSW, UCL, King’s College, Imperial, Queen Mary, University of Manchester, and London University’s School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS).

Prologue:

Religious Symbiosis

On a sunny day in DECEMBER OF 2014, with little fanfare and under heavy security, an historic meeting took place in Rome which marked a turning point in interfaith relations. Inside the sixteenth-century Casina Pio IV villa, home to the Pontificia Accademia Delle Scienze, the Vatican’s premiere scientific establishment, seven top world religious leaders overcame lingering traditions of suspicion to commit to the eradication of modern-day slavery by the year 2020. The summit concluded with the signing of a declaration that condemned the practice as a ‘crime against humanity’, a major triumph for freedom given that the preeminent authorities represented over five billion faithful.

The initiative was designed to bring to light an abhorrent evil that affects nearly thirty-six million people worldwide who are forced into bondage and prostitution. Yet despite the gravity of the issue that brought them together, the meeting went above and beyond its intended purpose and literally made history. For the first time since the establishment of the church, the Pope and other religious leaders met face to face with a Grand Ayatollah representing the Shia Muslim faith. Not only did they all become co-signatories of an important document, but they shook hands and chatted informally before and after the event at one of the Vatican’s beautifully decorated garden pavilions. Recognizing the significance of hosting a Muslim leader at the heart of the Catholic Church for the first time, the Pope followed the Grand Ayatollah into the pavilion to shake his hands.

How are you? said Grand Ayatollah al-Modarresi, a moderate and powerful scholar with a big following in the Muslim world. Fine, thank you. replied the Holy Father who looked a little weary having just arrived from a trip to the Middle East. It is important for me that you would be fine said the Grand Ayatollah to the Pontiff with a surprisingly fluent English. If you are well, many people around the world will also be well. Most remarkable was how both leaders showed humility and set aside protocol, engaging with one another on a personal level. There were plenty of genuine smiles, handshakes, and group photos.

Complementing the gravity of the gathering was having other preeminent spiritual leaders in attendance. That included Al-Azhar, the foremost Sunni ecclesiastic body, as well as Argentina’s most senior Rabbi (who sat to the left of the Grand Ayatollah) and the Archbishop of Canterbury (who exchanged light-spirited banter with the Muslim leader as he sat to his right). Following the ceremony and as we joked about how easily people condemn others as hell-bound, I extended an invitation, on behalf of the Grand Ayatollah, to the Archbishop to visit the sacred shrines in the Iraqi holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.

Andrew Forrest, the initiative’s main patron, said in an interview with CNN: for the first time, a Grand Ayatollah shook hands with the Pope. This summarized the exceptional nature of the conference. It was the first time the global faiths had met through their highest representatives. And the handshake was particularly timely too. It came in the backdrop of a crisis reshaping the geopolitics in the Middle East, where both Shia Muslims and Christians are facing an existential threat and a war for their very survival.

Grand Ayatollah al-Modarresi was the first Shia religious leader (with Grand Ayatollah Sistani following shortly after) to issue a call to popular resistance against the maniacal threat of Daesh (also known as ISIS), after its swift capture of large swathes of land in Iraq in June 2014. In his statement, al-Modarresi warned against the destruction of churches and temples belonging to all religions. Shia religious centers subsequently opened their doors to Christian refugees, and their holy cities now serve