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The Crucifixion
Read the cited context and compare 14 documented textual points.
Comparison 5 of 34
The Crucifixion
The two accounts at a glance
Bible
World English BiblePaul relays that Christ died, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to named witnesses and groups.
Each Gospel narrates Jesus' crucifixion under Pontius Pilate, burial, and subsequent appearances.
Qur'an
Sahih InternationalThe text says they did not kill or crucify Jesus, though it was made to appear so to them; God raised him.
These are concise account summaries with exact references. Open the complete texts at these passages →
14 documented comparison points
The comparison includes Jesus' predictions, betrayal, trials, execution, burial, resurrection, appearances, and ascension in the New Testament, together with every Qur'anic passage about the plot, crucifixion denial, raising, death, and end-time witness. Labels use one standard: agreement means both texts state the point; additional detail means one adds a non-conflicting detail; omission means one is silent; ambiguity means an identity or meaning is not explicit; contradiction means both texts state mutually exclusive claims. Stylistic wording alone is not counted.
Jesus predicts his death and resurrection
The Gospels repeatedly portray Jesus predicting rejection, execution, and resurrection before the events occur.
The Qur'an does not narrate Jesus predicting crucifixion and resurrection. It instead says his opponents plotted and that God planned and raised him.
Betrayal and arrest
Judas is named as betrayer, Jesus is arrested in a garden, disciples scatter, and the arrest begins a detailed sequence of hearings.
No betrayer, arrest location, disciple flight, hearing sequence, or substitute is named in Q 4:157.
Roman trial under Pontius Pilate
All four Gospels place Jesus before Pontius Pilate and connect the execution to Roman authority, soldiers, and the charge 'King of the Jews.'
Pontius Pilate, the Roman trial, Roman soldiers, and the political charge are not part of the Qur'anic account.
Whether Jesus was crucified
The four Gospels, Acts, and Paul's letters affirm that Jesus was crucified and died.
Q 4:157 says Jesus' opponents neither killed nor crucified him and that it was made to appear so to them.
Location and time of the execution
The Gospels locate the execution at Golgotha outside Jerusalem in connection with Passover and give time-of-day details.
No location, festival, day, hour, or execution chronology is supplied because no passion narrative is told.
Witnesses at the cross
Named women, soldiers, passersby, leaders, and in John the beloved disciple are placed at or near the crucifixion.
No eyewitnesses are named. The text says those who differ are in doubt and have no certain knowledge except conjecture.
Jesus' words and the signs at his death
The Gospels preserve sayings from the cross and narrate darkness, torn temple curtain, an earthquake in Matthew, and a centurion's reaction.
No sayings from a cross, darkness, torn curtain, earthquake, or centurion confession are narrated.
Confirmation of death
Jesus yields his spirit; Mark reports Pilate confirming death through the centurion, and John reports a spear thrust producing blood and water.
The opponents are said not to have killed Jesus. The text does not narrate medical or official confirmation of death at that time.
Burial in Joseph's tomb
Joseph of Arimathea receives the body, wraps it, and places it in a tomb; the women observe where Jesus is laid.
The Qur'an does not narrate a body, Joseph of Arimathea, burial, tomb, stone, guard, or women observing a burial.
Resurrection on the third day
The New Testament says Jesus was raised on the third day, the tomb was found empty, and he appeared bodily to named witnesses.
The Qur'an says God raised Jesus to Himself but does not narrate a third-day resurrection, empty tomb, or post-resurrection appearances to disciples.
The sequence of resurrection and ascension
Jesus dies, is buried, rises, appears over a period, commissions disciples, and then ascends.
God's raising of Jesus follows the denial that his opponents killed him; the text gives no intervening burial, resurrection, appearance period, or ascension scene witnessed by disciples.
The meaning assigned to Jesus' death
Jesus and the apostles interpret his death as covenant sacrifice, ransom, sin-bearing, reconciliation, and fulfillment of Scripture.
Q 4 says Jesus' opponents did not kill or crucify him and that God raised him; it assigns no atoning meaning to a death in this passage. Elsewhere, the Qur'an says no soul bears another's burden.
Who is said to possess certainty
Luke, John, Acts, and Paul present Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and appearances as events reported by witnesses and publicly proclaimed.
Those who differ about the event are said to be in doubt and to follow conjecture; the verse closes by affirming that they certainly did not kill Jesus.
Jesus and the final judgment
The risen and ascended Jesus is expected to return openly and judge, with the New Testament grounding that hope in his completed death and resurrection.
Jesus is connected with the Hour and will be a witness concerning the People of the Book, while the Qur'an does not ground that role in a crucifixion and resurrection narrative.
What do both texts share?
- Jesus is a central figure with a unique divine mission.
- Jesus’s enemies are opposed to him.
- God vindicates Jesus.