Authentic Muslims do not seek to put down or desecrate the Holy Bible. It is a critical matter of faith for Muslims to read, memorize, and believe in the original revelations that came down to Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus, just as it is important for Muslims to reveal their ultimate confidence of the Quran that came to Muhammad (peace be upon him) specifically given in Arabic so the Arabs could not say, “I was not informed”.
Likewise, archaeologist, institutions, people, governments, are still finding historical documents, scientific evidence all over the world. Believers are always sure, some often satisfied with less evidence, that is until more is discovered, to hold on to the faith Jesus Messiah passed on to us by the original followers, teachers, apostles, prophets, and evangelists.
Christians down through the centuries have written, copied, printed, interpreted, translated, modernized, paraphrased, hundreds of versions of the incomplete, at best, scriptures using the manuscripts, prayer books, letters, and partial fragments as their base of reference for their belief systems.
Strange as it may seem, there is still much interest by the Muslim and Christian community to “trust but verify”, on an ongoing basis, every shred of new evidence presented to them through all forms of research and development of the never-ending historical story that is still unfolding like a blooming rose in a desert of misinformation.
With that said, Corlis Dees Ministries founded by Dr. C. L. Dees, carried on through his son Corlis L. Dees II and grandson Corlis L. Dees III continue the quest of the original ancient writings of Scriptures. For the purpose of collecting, preserving, printing, digitizing, and offering to the public any and all the known facts about the Ancient Aramaic Christian Church. The work will serve to bring unity and peace among all faiths and all humanity.
Yousuf Estes writes, “I am a former Christian and chaplain, having served for the Federal Bureau Prisons, as a delegate to the World Peace Summit for Religious Leaders, at the United Nations and as a volunteer for religious services to the various men and women of the United States Military. I am constantly working with other various faith groups and their leaders and as such it is my duty to show respect with regard to the way other faiths handle their own investigation and research into their various sources for establishing their systems of belief. The purpose of this work is to offer to the Muslim scholars and students of knowledge in Islam the opportunity to see the actual workings going on within the scholarly world of Biblical criticism”.
Attention Muslims – Please Read Carefully Before Continuing:
Muslims are not often privileged to see what goes on behind the scenes of scholarly dialog with regard to findings of materials associated with collecting foundation material for the Bible. It is with this aim in mind that we have proffered the following research work, just as it came from the source of the scholars themselves, in copies of letters, emails and websites about an issue they had researched over for more than 1900 years.
Not for Debate Purposes:
Not one word or phrase in our work is for debate, rather for dialog. This is not a place to air ideologies, self-revelatory expressions, self-determinations, or egregious errors. Here, at Corlis Dees Ministries, there is no room for criticizing scholars, whether they be mining for reality in the Quran, the Bible or any other Sacred Writings – in any language. We are a place of reference for comparison. We see the differences and/or similarities in presenting evidences and dealing with scholars of the Writings. Please respect others and pray for all of us to eventually find the reality shared by all believers. Thank you and peace be with all of us as we follow the teachings of the Holy Writings we follow and use to guide our path in Life. – Yusuf Estes, National Chaplin (ret.) Edited for specific use by Corlis Dees II.
The Secret Gospel of Mark
Bible Scholars Discuss a Secret Gospel Allegedly Belonging to Mark
[In 4 Parts]
Read for yourself the Discovery of a Lost Letter by Clement of Alexandria (Egypt)
Morton Smith is popular among researchers of ancient texts, particularly the manuscripts of the Bible.
In 1958 Smith made a discovery while working in a library in Jerusalem. He found a document that appeared, at least to him, to be a gospel of Mark, older than the one now occupying place in the Christian New Testament.
Elizabeth Clare makes reference to Secret Mark in Prophet’s book on the “lost years” of Jesus. She writes about Secret Mark saying, “Early Christians possessed a larger, more diverse body of writings and traditions of Jesus than what we have in the New Testament of today.
OK – now get ready to read for yourself about – the Secret Gospel of Mark 
These articles were originally published in Alexandria, Egypt: The Journal for the Western Cosmological Traditions, volume 3 (1995), pp. 103-129. Alexandria, edited by David Fideler and is published by Phanes Press. The whole of this article is copyright © 1995 by Phanes Press. All rights reserved, including international rights.
NOTICE: TO MUSLIMS REGARDING ALL SCRIPTURE
Respect For Holy Books
Muslims are told by Allah in the Holy Quran that He is the One who sent down the “Furqan” (Quran) and He sent down the scriptures before it. Muslims have no option but they must respect the Bible because it does still contain (a translated portion) of the original teachings of Allah. The Quran makes it clear that Allah has indeed, perfected our “way of life” for Muslims and has conferred on us His favor and has chosen for us to submit to Him in Islam, if that is the decision we have made.
We would like to suggest to the non-Muslims to consider reading a Quran if that is your choice. This is a means by which you may investigate what is written in the Quran. Hearsay is not the proper method to discover reality.
[Free Quran available at:http://islamtomorrow.com/free]
Final comment from Yusuf Estes: (This may be a difficult statement for believers to hear Yusuf say. However, if we are going to trust his experience, we also have to be open to his own determinations and choices.
I would like to state that after years of studying the Bible and then learning the Arabic language to read the Quran as it was originally recited to Muhammad, peace be upon him, by the angel Gabriel, I have come to an amazing conclusion. It seems to me that the Bible and the Quran are most definitely from the exact same source and they compliment each other very nicely. In fact, it appears that the Bible does not contradict the Quran, except in the very same places where the Bible contradicts itself. (It is evident that Yusuf did not have the privilege of studying the Aramaic Text or he could not have been able to make his last remark)
We have been blessed tremendously in this latter generation with wonderful discoveries, preserved writings, and amazing technology and science. Just fifty years ago my Science Lab teacher got up in our class and made this statement; “there is no God and if there was one, He is Dead.”
More importantly, we are living in the season of the dissemination of thousands of years of data. On its face, the data is reliable, sincerely offered, and unlimited amounts of hours have been spent making this data available to ever human being.
There is a Chapter in the Writings of a Prophet to the Nation of Israel. I will share it now.
Isaiah Chapter 11
Isa 11:1 The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David’s descendants.
Isa 11:2 The spirit of the LORD will give him wisdom and the knowledge and skill to rule his people. He will know the LORD’s will and honor him,
Isa 11:3 and find pleasure in obeying him. He will not judge by appearance or hearsay;
Isa 11:4 he will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless. At his command the people will be punished, and evil persons will die.
Isa 11:5 He will rule his people with justice and integrity.
Isa 11:6 Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them.
Isa 11:7 Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do.
Isa 11:8 Even a baby will not be harmed if it plays near a poisonous snake.
Isa 11:9 On Zion, God’s sacred hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil. The land will be as full of knowledge of the LORD as the seas are full of water.
Isa 11:10 A day is coming when the new king from the royal line of David will be a symbol to the nations. They will gather in his royal city and give him honor.
Isa 11:11 When that day comes, the Lord will once again use his power and bring back home those of his people who are left in Assyria and Egypt, in the lands of Pathros, Ethiopia, Elam, Babylonia, and Hamath, and in the coastlands and on the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12 The Lord will raise a signal flag to show the nations that he is gathering together again the scattered people of Israel and Judah and bringing them back from the four corners of the earth.
Isa 11:13 The kingdom of Israel will not be jealous of Judah any more, and Judah will not be the enemy of Israel.
Isa 11:14 Together they will attack the Philistines on the west and plunder the people who live to the east. They will conquer the people of Edom and Moab, and the people of Ammon will obey them.
Isa 11:15 The LORD will dry up the Gulf of Suez, and he will bring a hot wind to dry up the Euphrates, leaving only seven tiny streams, so that anyone can walk across.
Isa 11:16 There will be a highway out of Assyria for those of his people Israel who have survived there, just as there was for their ancestors when they left Egypt.
In light of what is going on in the Middle East now, see if this makes sense to you?
To Be Continued…. next post.