A CALL TO THE TRUTH Christians- Are you sure that Jesus is God? Many Christians maintain that Jesus, peace be upon him, and God Almighty, whom they refer to as the Son and Father respectively, are one God. The Bible describes God as unchanging and eternal. All His attributes are eternal, as they flow from His infinite nature whose essence is also eternal: “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. [Malachi 3:6] Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. [Psalm 102:25-27] Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. [Psalm 93:2] Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. [Isaiah 40:28] Now if Jesus really is part of an unchanging God then you would expect him to have identical, or at least compatible, attributes and personality compared to God. Let’s contrast Jesus and God as portrayed in the Old and New Testament: Omniscience Jesus: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” [Matthew 24:36] Job (speaking of God): “Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?” [Job 37:16] God clearly is omniscient. He does, has, and always will, know everything. Jesus on the other hand does not have all knowledge. Omnipotence Jesus: “I can of mine own self do nothing.” [John 5:30] Jeremiah (speaking of God): “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. [Jeremiah 32:17] God clearly is omnipotent, capable of anything. Jesus on the other hand did not have any power of his own. All the miracles he performed, such as healing the sick and casting out demons, were only possible by the permission of God. Authority And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [Matthew 28:18] Some translations render the above passage as “power” instead of “authority”, which is incorrect according to the original Greek. It matters because there is an important difference between the two. We learn an important thing from this passage about Jesus in relation to God - Jesus was given authority by God. Authority comes only from a higher source, it must be delegated. Authority cannot exist unless there is a higher source in which it can be based. Power, on the other hand, is altogether different. Only God has all power, He doesn’t need authority. A “power” holds control by virtue of its own strength. Unlike Jesus, there is no one above God to delegate authority down to Him. Wisdom Jesus: And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. [Luke 2:52] David (in a song of praise for God): Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (unlimited). [Psalm 147:5] God’s wisdom is perfect, whereas the wisdom of Jesus increased throughout his life. An important point to ponder is that if Jesus gained favour with God, whilst being God as Christians claim, then the implication is that he gained favour with himself. Obviously an absurd proposition. Garden of Gethsemane incident And he (Jesus) came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. [Luke 22:39-42] We learn two important things from this passage about Jesus in relation to God: 1. Jesus acknowledged two sets of wills, his own and that of God, and they are independent of one another. If Jesus is part of God, then how can he have a different will to God? If they are one and the same God, then they would surely have the same will. 2. Jesus prayed to God for help. This wasn’t a prayer of teaching, he wasn’t showing the disciples how to pray. He was begging God to “remove the cup”, meaning the Crucifixion. If Jesus prayed to God, whilst being part of God, then we have the paradoxical situation of God praying to Himself. Dealing with enemies Jesus: But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. [Matthew 5:44-45] God: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” [1 Samuel 15:2-3] It must be noted that according to the Bible, the Amalekites in Samuel’s time were punished for what their ancestors had done over 300 years previously! We Muslims do not attribute such actions to God Almighty. I have included this reference to demonstrate just how juxtaposed the two portrayed personalities are. Act of revenge Jesus: But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. [Matthew 5:39] God: “And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” [Deuteronomy 19:21] Fighting and warfare Jesus: “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” [Matthew 26:52] David (in a song of praise for God): Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. [Psalm 144:1] Children Jesus: Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” [Matthew 19:14] David on God’s blessings: Blessed is the one who grabs your little children and smashes them against a rock. [Psalm 137:9] As has been demonstrated, the attributes and personality of Jesus and God, according to the Bible, are so juxtaposed that they cannot be part of one God. CHRISTIAN REBUTTAL The common way that Christians attempt to resolve this paradox is to say that in becoming man, God was subject to the limitations of human beings. They assert that even when Jesus was on earth in human form he still had a divine nature alongside his human nature. Once Jesus ascended back to God, he reclaimed his full divine attributes. So the human limitations of Jesus were only temporary, and eventually/ultimately he returned to being fully divine. This explanation creates more problems than it attempts to solve. You can’t have an eternal and unchanging God on the one hand, as per the Old Testament, and a part of Him, Jesus according to Christians, that is changing. If Jesus was a limited man, whilst at the same time still being part of God, then that means that in becoming man, God lost some of His divinity. When Jesus ‘regained’ full divinity, then the overall divinity of God increased. This conflicts with the knowledge from the Old Testament that God is eternal and unchanging (“I the Lord do not change…”). Here is a diagram which summarises the Christian claims and why they are a problem (click on picture to enlarge): This theological mess is a good indication that the notion of Jesus being divine is man-made. MONOTHEISM IN ISLAM All of this confusion is in stark contrast to the clarity and indeed beauty of pure Islamic monotheism. This is how God Almighty, called Allah in Arabic, describes Himself in the Qur’an: Say, “He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.” [Chapter 112] CONCLUSION Based on the abundant evidence presented from the Bible it’s reasonable to conclude that God and Jesus are not one God. God is not Jesus, and Jesus is not God, because their attributes and personality are incompatible. Christians correctly assert that God is eternal and unchanging, but it’s time to stop equating Jesus with God and acknowledge what both the Bible and Qur’an tell us: Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord…” [Mark 12:29] They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary” while the Messiah has said, “O Children of Israel, worship Allah , my Lord and your Lord.” Indeed, he who associates others with Allah – Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers. [Quran, chapter 5, verse 72] Jesus is a Messenger of God, not divine, just like the other messengers sent by God before and after him. For the Christian readers, considering that our hereafter is at stake, and after having seen strong scriptural evidence against the view that Jesus is divine, are you still sure that Jesus is God?
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 06:08:22 +0000
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