As for the Gospel now in their possession, they concede that Christ—peace be upon him—neither wrote it nor dictated it to its scribes. Instead, after Christ was taken up, it was dictated by Matthew and John, who had accompanied him; yet it was not preserved by a large body of transmitters whose number would reach the level of tawatur (concurrent mass transmission). It was also compiled by Mark and Luke, neither of whom had ever seen Christ, peace be upon him. These writers themselves state that they recorded only some of Christ’s words and certain episodes of his life, and that they did not encompass all of his sayings and deeds.

The report of 2, 3, or 4 persons is liable to error—especially when they even erred about Christ himself, confusing him with the one who was crucified. Yet the Christians claim that the Disciples are messengers of God like Jesus son of Mary and Moses—peace be upon them—that they are infallible, that they handed the Torah and the Gospel over to the Christians, and that miracles were manifested through them, saying, “Here is the Torah and here is the Gospel.” At the same time they admit that the Disciples were not prophets. If they were not prophets, then anyone who is not a prophet is not immune from error, even if he is among the greatest friends (awliyaʾ) of God and even if supernatural marvels occur at his hands. Indeed, Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, and the other eminent Companions are, in the Muslims’ view, superior to the Disciples, yet they regard none as infallible except a prophet.

The claim that the Disciples are messengers of God while they are not prophets is a contradiction, and their status as messengers of God rests upon the assertion that Christ is God—for they are said to be messengers of Christ—and this