Likewise, the Christians have a parallel account about the Messiah—peace be upon him—in a work they call Sirr Buṭrus (The Secret of Peter). Peter—whom they also name Shamʿūn, Samʿān, al-Ṣafā, and Buṭrus, the four titles designating the same person—is credited by them with transmitting a book from the Messiah that they possess, containing the hidden sciences; they believe this text comes to them straight from Jesus.

Thus, the practices adopted by the Christians constitute the very root of idol-worship, and this is precisely what their eminent scholar—whom they style “Golden Mouth,” one of their foremost authorities—declared when he mentioned