Jesus Did Not Die On The Cross
The Qur'an claims that Jesus did not die on the cross; he only appeared to die.
Muslims believe that at the last minute a substitution took place, allowing Jesus to survive and be taken up to heaven.
Sura 4:157 -- That they said (in boast), "We killed Jesus Christ, the son of Mary and the Messenger of Allah" - but they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear to them, and those who differ about this are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for really they killed him not.
Sura 4:158 -- No, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.
There is also a belief that Jesus has been or will be raised to life again, as seen in the following passage:
Sura 19:33 -- [Jesus says:] "So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I will be brought back to life (again)".
The credal belief of Muslim Orthodoxy is that Jesus neither died nor was crucified, but rather was raised to heaven.
Docetism claimed Jesus only appeared to die
One of the heresies of the early Church period was one called Docetism which claimed that Jesus only appeared (Greek verb dokeo=seem) to die.
Problems
• There is no evidence of such a substitution being made.
There is no evidence of a belief in the substitution of somebody else in place of Jesus before the appearance of Islam.
Interestingly, it seems to reflect the story of Abraham and Isaac in the Old Testament, where we find a ram being substituted at the last moment for the boy. Muslims, like Jews, claim descent from the Old Testament patriarch.
• Substitution at the last minute would have been a deception & denial of everything Jesus said about the reason for his life and death. His stated mission was to institute a new covenant in his blood by dying for sinners.
