Page 268 - New English Book L

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If he believed himself to be the Son of Man, it
would follow that either he or the Apocalyptists
were in error; and in either case, the argument
goes most decidedly against Jesus Christ (pbuh) .
For his error, concerning his own personality and
mission is as bad as the erroneous predictions of
the Apocalyptists, whom he believed to be divinely
inspired. Of course, this dilemmatic reasoning will
lead us to a conclusion unfavourable to himself. The
only way to save Jesus (pbuh) from this dishonour is
to look upon him as the Quran pictures him to us,
and accordingly to attribute all the contradictory and
incoherent statements about him in the Gospels to
their authors or redactors.

Before discussing further the subject, “the Son
of Man” as depicted in the Jewish Apocalypses, a
few facts must be carefully taken into consideration.
First, these Apocalypses not only do not belong to
the canon of the Hebrew Bible, but also they are not
even included among the Apocrypha or the so-called
“Deutro-canonical” books of the Old Testament.
Secondly, their authorship is not known. They bear
the names of Enoch, Moses (pbuh) , Baruch, Ezra, but
their real authors or editors seem to have known the
final destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of
the Jews under the Romans. These pseudonyms were
chosen, not for fraudulent purposes, but out of a pious
motive by the Sophees or Seers who composed them.
Did not Plato put his own views and dialectics into the
mouth of his master, Socrates? Thirdly, “these books,”
in the words of the Grand Rabbin Paul Haguenauer,
“in an enigmatical, mystical, supernatural form, try to
explain the secrets of the nature, the origin [sic] of God,
the problems of good and evil, justice and happiness,
the past and the future. The Apocalypse makes upon