Note 88 — Part I
Reading edition
According to the Koran, it was the Jews who said, "'Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, an apostle of God.' Yet they slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness.... No sure knowledge had they about him, but followed an opinion, and they did not really slay him, but God took him up to Himself."--Sura iv. 150. See also Sura iii. 40. The Rev. J.M. Rodwell, in his translation of the Koran, observes in a footnote to the latter passage: "Muhammad probably believed that God took the dead body of Jesus to Heaven--for three hours, according to some--while the Jews crucified a man who resembled him."