looking at false christian beliefs in... son of god

8/6/2019 Looking at FALSE Christian Beliefs in... Son of God

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Looking at FALSE Christian beliefs in... Son of God

Sam Shamoun

The following is a continuation of our rebuttal series to the claims of Nisar Muhammad. We againwould like to reiterate that Nisar¶s arguments are some of the worst ever and as such are not worthrefuting. Yet since he has repeatedly claimed that I have been unable to refute his arguments, I havechosen to publicly respond to him in order to silence this lie once and for all. We respond to Nisar¶sarticle regarding the deity of Christ found here:

http://www.answerchristianity.fsnet.co.uk/Son.htm

We begin, by the grace of our risen Lord and eternal Savior Jesus Christ.

NISAR:

Jesus Is Not God The Qur'an denies the deity of Christ: Surah Al-Maeda: 17: In blasphemy indeed arethose that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary. Say: "Who then hath the least power against Allah, if His will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all every - onethat is on the earth? For to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For Allah hath power over all things." 72: They do blaspheme who say: "Allah is Christ the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no oneto help. 75: Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were themessengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had bothto eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what

ways they are deluded away from the truth!

Islam, only accepts Jesus as a Prophet. He is joined with Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacoband Moses (Peace Be Upon Them All) as simply one of the Prophets (an-nabiyyin) betweenwhom no distinction of any kind is made: Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation

given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Mosesand Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between

one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam)." Q ur'an Surah Al-Baqara 136

He is no more than a servant. He was no more than a servant: We granted Our favour to him,and We made him an example to the Children of Israel.Q ur'an Al-Zukhruf 59 And nothingmore than a messenger. Curses were pronounced on those among the Children of Israel whorejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed

and persisted in excesses. Q ur'an Surah Al-Maeda 78

The Qur'an states that Jesus was the Messiah. He is called Al-Masihu Isa - "the MessiahJesus" ( Surah 4.157, 171). The title Al-Masih (the Messiah) sometimes appears by itself as inSurah 4:172 and on other occasions he is called Al-Masihubnu Maryam - "the Messiah, sonof Mary" ( Surah 9.31), but on each of the eleven occasions where it appears the title Al-Masih it is applied specifically to Jesus alone. When the Angel Gabriel first appeared to Mary

he stated that the name of her son was to be Al-Masihu Isa ( Surah 3.45).

The Qur'an declares Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger ; many were the

messengers that passed away before him. (Q ur'an Surah Al-Maeda 78)



RESPONSE:

Nisar appeals to the Quran in order to prove that Jesus is not God. Yet Nisar fails to give us any

reason for accepting the Quran as a reliable source of information on the life and mission of Jesus.

For instance, as Nisar himself noted, Jesus is called the Messiah eleven times in the Quran. Yet theQuran fails to explain the significance the title Messiah has in our understanding of Jesus. Whatexactly is a Messiah? What is the Messiah suppose to do? Why is Jesus called the Messiah? How dowe know that he is the Messiah? The Quran fails to answer these questions and as such is an

incomplete and unreliable record.

For the answer to these pertinent questions we need to turn our attention to the word of God, the HolyBible. It is here that we discover that prophets, priests and kings were generally consecrated to their respective positions by being anointed with God¶s special oil prepared by the priests. This anointingsymbolized the person¶s divine commission, that the individual had been set apart and empowered byGod to assume a specific role or function. This made them Messiahs, or anointed ones. (Cf. Exodus30:22-31; 1 Samuel 10:1, 16:12-13; Psalm 105:15; Isaiah 45:1; Jeremiah 1:5; Lamentations 4:20)

At the same time, the Hebrew Bible singles out one person in particular who would be greater than allthe others and who would reign on the throne of King David forever. This is the One whom the Jews

eagerly awaited, and whom they called THE Messiah.

Seeing that prophets, priests and kings were anointed figures, this indicates that this specific Messiahwould also function as a prophet, priest and king. Several OT passages serve to clarify this point:

³The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the dayof the assembly when you said, µLet us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see thisgreat fire anymore, or we will die.¶ The LORD said to me: µWhat they say is good. I will raiseup for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my wordsthat the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account .¶´ Deuteronomy18:15-18

Both the NT and Rabbinic tradition viewed this passage as a reference to the Messiah:

³He said to them, µHow foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophetshave spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?¶ Andbeginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all theScriptures concerning himself.´ Luke 24:25-27

³He said to them, µThis is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilledthat is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.¶ Then heopened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Luke 24:44-45

³Philip found Nathanael and told him, µWe have found the one Moses wrote about in theLaw, and about whom the prophets also wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.¶´ John

1:45

³But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. Butsince you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" John 5:45-47

³Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signshe had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his



disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a greatcrowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, µWhere shall we buy bread for these people toeat?¶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.Philip answered him, µEight months¶ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to havea bite!¶ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, µHere is a boy withfive small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?¶ Jesussaid, µHave the people sit down.¶ There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat

down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributedto those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When theyhad all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, µGather the pieces that are left over. Let

nothing be wasted.¶ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of thefive barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the miraculoussign that Jesus did, they began to say, µSurely this is THE PROPHET who is to comeinto the world .¶ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force,withdrew again to a mountain by himself« So they asked him, µWhat miraculous sign then willyou give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate themanna in the desert; as it is written: µHe gave them bread from heaven to eat.´¶ Jesus said tothem, µI tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but itis my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven . For the bread of God is he whocomes down from heaven and gives life to the world .¶´ John 6:1-14, 30-33

³On hearing his words, some of the people said, µSurely this man is the Prophet.¶´ John 7:40

³Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how Godfulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshingmay come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you-even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as

he promised long ago through his holy prophets . For Moses said, µThe Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen toeverything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off fromamong his people.¶ Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken,HAVEFORETOLD THESE DAYS .´ Acts 3:17-24

³The King Messiah shall be exalted above Abraham, be high ABOVE MOSES .´ Neve

Shalom

³In fact MESSIAH IS SUCH A PROPHET as it is stated in the Midrash on the verse, µBeholdmy servant shall propser« Moses by the miracles he wrought drew but a single nation to theworship of God, but MESSIAH will draw ALL NATIONS to the worship of God .´ Rabbi Levi

ben Gershom

Many Muslim scholars also believed that Moses prophesied the coming of Jesus in the Torah. One

such scholar was Ibn Kathir. In his comments on S. 61:6 Ibn Kathir states:

µIsa said, ³The Tawrah CONVEYED THE GLAD TIDINGS OF MY COMING, and my comingCONFIRMS THE TRUTH OF THE TAWRAH . I convey the glad tidings of the Prophet whowill come after me. He is the unlettered, Makkan, Arab Prophet and Messenger, Ahmad.´

(Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), Volume 9, Surat Al-Jathiyah to the end of Surat Al-Munafiqun,abridged under a group of scholars under the supervision of Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-

Mubarakpuri [Darussalam Publishers & Distributors Riyadh, Houston, New York, London,

Lahore; First Edition: September 2000], p. 617; bold and capital emphasis ours)

Muslim biographer Ibn Ishaq wrote in his biography Sirat Rasulullah:

³When the Christians of Najran came to the apostle the Jewish rabbis came also and theydisputed one with the other before the apostle. Rafiµ said, µYou have no standing,¶ and hedenied Jesus and the Gospel; and a Christian said to the Jews, µYou have no standing¶ and



he denied that Moses was a prophet and denied the Torah. So God sent down concerningthem: µThe Jews say the Christians have no standing; and the Christians say that the Jewshave no standing, and yet they read the scriptures. They do not know what they are talkingabout. God will judge between them on the day of resurrection concerning their controversy,¶i.e. each one reads IN HIS BOOK THE CONFIRMATION OF WHAT HE DENIES , so thatthe Jews deny Jesus though THEY HAVE THE TORAH in which God requ ired them BYTHE WORD OF MOSES TO HOLD JESUS TRUE; while IN THE GOSPEL IS WHAT JESUS

BROUGHT IN CONFIRMATION OF MOSES AND THE TORAH HE BROUGHT FROMGOD: so each one denies WHAT IS IN THE HAND OF THE OTHER .´ (Alfred Guillaume,The Life of Muhammad [Oxford University Press Karachi], p. 258; bold and capital emphasis

ours)

Interestingly, this tradition shows that copies of the Torah of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus wereavailable during Muhammad¶s time, being in the possession of the Jews and Christians. So much for Bible corruption! The following comments from Ar-Razi are taken from Mahmoud M Ayoub¶s book,The Quran and Its Interpreters, Volume II, The House of Imran, State University of New York Press,

Albany 1992. p. 150:

Razi then raises the following question: µIt may be argued that latter statement contradicts theone before it. This is because it clearly indicates that he came to make lawful some of thethings which were unlawful in the Torah. This would mean that his legislation was contrary tothat of the Torah, which would contradict his saying, ³I shall confirm the Torah which wasbefore me.´¶ Razi, however, holds that µthere is actually no contradiction between the twostatements because confirming the Torah can only signify the belief that all that is in it is trueand right. If, moreover, the second purpose [of Jesus¶ apostleship] is not mentioned in theTorah, his making lawful some of the things which are unlawful in it would not contradict hishaving confirmed the Torah. Furthermore, SINCE THE TORAH CONTAINS PROPHECIESCONCERNING THE COMING OF JESUS , then neither his coming nor his law would be

contrary to the Torah.¶ (bold and capital emphasis ours)

Since Deuteronomy 18:15-19 is the only clear-cut prophecy about a prophetic figure to come after Moses, the Muslim claim that this prophecy refers to Muhammad cannot be sustained. This becomeseven more evident when we take into consideration that this Prophet had to be like Moses in two

respects, as the following citations indicate:

³The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend . ThenMoses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the

tent.´ Exodus 33:11

³Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt -toPharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown themighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all

Israel.´ Deuteronomy 34:10-12

This Prophet had to perform miracles similar to those performed by Moses, and had to know God faceto face, i.e. have direct contact with God. Interestingly, the Quran also confirms that God spoke

directly to Moses:

We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: we sentinspiration to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, andSolomon, and to David We gave the Psalms. Of some messengers We have already told thee

the story; of others We have not;- and to Moses Allah spoke direct;- S. 4:163-164

The following citations demonstrate that Muhammad was quite unlike Moses in these areas:



But (now), when the Truth has come to them from Ourselves, they say, "Why are not (Signs)sent to him, LIKE THOSE WHICH WERE SENT TO MOSES?" Do they not then reject (theSigns) which were formerly sent to Moses? They say: "Two kinds of sorcery, each assistingthe other!" And they say: "For us, we reject all (such things)!" S. 28:48

Narrated Masruq:

I said to 'Aisha, "O Mother! Did Prophet Muhammad see his Lord?" Aisha said, "What you have saidmakes my hair stand on end! Know that if somebody tells you one of the following three things, he isa liar: Whoever tells you that Muhammad saw his Lord, is a liar." Then Aisha recited the Verse:

'No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is the Most Courteous Well-Acquaintedwith all things.' (6.103) 'It is not fitting for a human being that Allah should speak to him except byinspiration or from behind a veil.' (42.51) 'Aisha further said, "And whoever tells you that theProphet KNOWS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TOMORROW, is a liar ." She then recited:

'No soul can know what it will earn tomorrow.' (31.34) She added: "And whoever tell you thathe concealed (some of Allah's orders), is a liar." Then she recited: 'O Apostle! Proclaim (theMessage) which has been sent down to you from your Lord..' (5.67) 'Aisha added. "But theProphet saw Gabriel in his true form twice." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 378)

Narrated Masruq:

'Aisha said, "If anyone tells you that Muhammad has seen his Lord, he is a liar , for Allahsays: 'No vision can grasp Him.' (6.103) And if anyone tells you that MUHAMMAD HASSEEN THE UNSEEN, he is a liar , for Allah says: "None has the knowledge of the Unseenbut Allah." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 477)

Returning to the OT portrait of the Messiah, we are told:

³Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you,who are men symbolicof things to come : I am going to bring my servant, the Branch . See, the stone I have setin front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription

on it,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.´ Zechariah3:8-9

³The word of the Lord came to me: µTake silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah andJedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the highpriest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Here is theman whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the templeof the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. Andthere will be harmony between the two.'´ Zechariah 6:9-13

Rabbinic Judaism universally viewed the title ³Branch´ as a name of the King Messiah, the son of David, something which the OT affirms:

³A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. TheSpirit of the Lord will rest on him-the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord - and he will delightin the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what hehears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will givedecisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with thebreath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness thesash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will



feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into theviper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will befull of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jessewill stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will beglorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant thatis left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam,

from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for thenations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah fromthe four quarters of the earth. Isaiah 11:1-12

³And there shall go forth a King from the Sons of Jesse, and the MESSIAH shall beANOINTED from his children¶s children«´ Targum Jonathan

³When the KING MESSIAH shall be revealed all the nations of all the world shall begathered to Him.´ Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai

³The Messiah had one spirit which was equal to all the others put together according toIsaiah 11:1-10.´ Yalkut, Volume 1, p. 247d (Alfred Edersheim)

³The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up to David a righteousBranch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land . In hisdays Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will becalled: Yahweh Our Righteousness.´ Jeremiah 23:5-6

Notice that in this passage God states that the Messiah¶s name is Yahweh our Righteousness,implying that the Messiah is God.

³Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise up to David the MESSIAH, who isrighteous, and He shall reign a King, and shall prosper, and execute the judgment of truth and justice in the earth.´ Targum Jonathan

R. Joshua son of Levi, said: ³Branch is the name of the MESSIAH, for it is written, µBehold the man whose name is the Branch, and he shall grow up out of his place.¶´ Midrash (Ezek.

48:35)

What is the name of the KING MESSIAH? R. Abba, son of Kohana said ¶JEHOVAH,¶ for it iswritten, This is HIS name whereby HE shall be called, THE LORD OURRIGHTEOUSNESS.´ Midrash (Ezekiel 48:35)

Interestingly, David¶s sons were also called priests:

³Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David's sons werepriests (cohani m).´ 2 Samuel 8:18

Since the Messiah is to be David¶s greater Son it is little wonder that the OT indicates that he toowould perform priestly duties. Being a royal priest, the Messiah would reign and intercede forever:

³Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the Earth setthemselves, and the rulers take council together, against the LORD and H is Anointed (Messiah), saying, µLet us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.¶ He whosits in the heavens laughs; The LORD has them in derision, then He will speak to them in hiswrath, and terrify them in His fury, saying, µI have set MY KING on Zion, my holy hill .¶ I willtell of the decree of the LORD; He said to me, µY ou are M Y SON, t oday I have beg otteny ou . Ask of me and I will make the nati ons y our heritage, and the ends of the earthy our possessi on. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like apotter's vessel.¶ Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned o rulers of the earth. Serve the



LORD with fear , with trembling kiss H IS SON, lest he be angry, and y ou perish in theway ; For his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in HIM .´ Psalm 2:1-11

³There are some who expounded this Psalm as referring to God and Magog: and that the ANOINTED KING is the MESSIAH.´ Rabbi David Kimchi

³It is a tradition of the Rabbis that MESSIAH, THE SON OF DAVID , who is to be revealed

speedily« the Holy One said unto HIM Ask of me anything and I will give it to thee, for it issaid, µI will declare the decree, etc. Today have I begotten thee.¶´ Talmud Babylon, Succahfol. 52

And:

³The Lord says to my Lord: µSit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet¶« The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, µy ou are a priest f orever after the order of Melchizedek.¶´ Psalm 110:1, 4

Finally:

³For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his

shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.He willreign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever . The zeal of the Lord Almightywill accomplish this.´ Isaiah 9:6-7

³For to us a SON is born , to us a Son is given: and He shall receive the Law upon HIM tokeep it; and HIS name is called from Old, Wonderful, Counsellor , ELOHA, THE MIGHT Y , Abiding to Eternity, THE MESSIAH, because peace shall be multiplied on us in HIS days.´

Targum Jonathan

³Rabbi Samuel, the son of Nachman, said, µWhen Esau met Jacob he said unto him, ³Mybrother Jacob, let us walk together in this world.´ Jacob replied: ³Let my Lord, I pray thee,pass over before his servant´ (Gen. 33:14).¶ What is the meaning of, ³I pray thee, pass over?´

Jacob said to him: I have yet to supply the MESSIAH, of whom it is said: µUnto us a child isborn¶.´ Midrash (Deuteronomy 2:4)

The OT also teaches that the Messiah would usher in everlasting righteousness and that through hisdeath sin would be eradicated once and for all. The scriptures indicate that this was to take placebefore the destruction of the second temple:

³Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? Hegrew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was

despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one fromwhom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took upour infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he wascrushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, andby his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turnedto his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressedand afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter , and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth . Byoppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? FOR HE WAS CUT OFF FROM THE LAND OF THE LIVING; for the transgression of mypeople he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in hisdeath, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth . Yet it was theLORD¶s will to crush him and cause him to suffer , and though the LORD makes his life



prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, andhe was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learnedobedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect,he became the source of eternalsalvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in theorder of Mel c hizedek .´ Hebrews 5:1-10

³He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has

ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah , and in regardto that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basisof a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.For it is declared: µY ou are a priest f orever, in the order of Mel c hizedek¶« And it was notwithout an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oathwhen God said to him: µT he Lord has sw orn and will not c hange his mind: ³ Y ou are a priest f orever .´¶ Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing inoffice; but because Jesus lives forever , he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he isable to save completely those who come to God throug h him, because he always livesto intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need-one who is holy, blameless, pure,set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does notneed to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people.

He sacrificed for their sins once for all WHEN HE OFFERED HIMSELF . For the lawappoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointedthe Son, who has been made perfect forever.´ Hebrews 7:13-17, 20-28

³When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went throughthe greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of thiscreation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the

Most Holy Place once for all BY HIS OWN BLOOD, having obtained eternalredemption« For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of thetrue one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Placeevery year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many timessince the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of theages to do away with sin BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF . Just as man is destined to die

once, and after that to face judgment, SO CHRIST WAS SACRIFICED ONCE to take awaythe sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bringsalvation to those who are waiting for him.´ Hebrews 9:11-12, 24-28

³And by that will, we have been made holy THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF THE BODY OFJESUS CHRIST once for all . Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious

duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. Butwhen this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, HE SAT AT THE RIG HT H AND OF GOD . Since that time he waits FOR H IS E N E MI E S T O BE MADE H IS FOO T S T OOL, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who arebeing made holy« And where these have been forgiven,there is no longer any sacrificefor sin.´ Hebrews 10:10-14, 18

Seeing that the Quran teaches that Jesus is the Messiah and yet denies Christ¶s divine nature and his

role as priest and king strongly indicates that the author(s) of the Quran had no clue what the titleMessiah implied. Had the author(s) known then he(they) may have hesitated in applying a title toJesus which clearly demonstrates Christ¶s uniqueness and preeminence over all creation.

NISAR:

Islamic Viewpoint Discussed

The Christian Gilchrist writes: "The ultimate cause for the relative paucity of conversionsfrom Islam is the Qur'ans vehement rejection of the Christian belief that Jesus is the Son of



God such as we find in the following verse: They say, "God hath begotten a son!" - Glory beto Him! He is Self-Sufficient! His are all things in the heavens and on earth! No warrant haveye for this! Say ye about God what ye know not? Surah 10.68

The Qur'an states that there is only one sin that God will not forgive, namely the associating of a partner with God. From this comes the belief that shirk, "associating", is the only unforgivable sin in Islam:

God forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, towhom He pleaseth; to set up partners with God is to devise a sin most heinous indeed. Surah4.48

"I believe that this verse is probably the greatest barrier in the way of conversion from Islam toChristianity. The very word "partner" comes from the same root letters as the word shirk,namely yushraku, and in Surah 10.66 we read likewise of shurakaa, "partners", who areworshipped other than God. As it is only two verses lower down that we find the rejection of ason to God in such vehement language (Surah 10.68 quoted above), it is to be presumed that

the Christian belief in Jesus as the Son of God is one of the express acts of shirk that theQur'an sets out to denounce as the greatest of all sins. In Surah 2.105 the Qur'an expressly speaks of mushrikeen (associaters) among the Ahlal-Kitaab (People of the Book), a commontitle for Jews and Christians, and in Surah 9.31 both groups, especially the Christians who

take the Messiah to be ibnullaah (the Son of God) and their rabb (Lord), are said to be thoseabove whom Allah is glorified from their yushriknun - what they "associate" with him T he only conc lusi on that c an be drawn is that the Q ur'an teac hes that among the ac ts of shirk,the unf orgivable sin, is the belief that Jesus is the S on of G od. "

Abdullah Araby, a Christian who wrote "A Christian Reads The Qur'an" states that Islamcannot accept the role of Jesus as the Son of God. This destroys the idea that the allegedeternal Son of God, one with the Father from all eternity who allegedly " became flesh and

became a man" .

Looking at the Qur'anic verse below and his statement*:

O People of the book! Commit no excess in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but truth,

Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of Allah, and His Word, which Hebestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him. So believe in Allah and His apostles.Say not 'Trinity': desist! It will be better for you. For Allah is One Allah. Glory be to Him: (Far

exalted is He) above having a son." Surah 4:171

* "In this Qur'anic verse Jesus bears the highly-charged names the "Word of God" and "aSpirit proceeding from him". Both expressions refer to when Mary became pregnant through amiracle of God. But so that there will be no misunderstanding of the Qur'ans teaching onJesus, the statement is preceded by an assurance that Jesus is merely the apostle of God,like Muhammad and many others. Besides this, the verse continues with an attack against theTrinity and an assertion that God does not have a son".

One wonders why Christians play gymnastics and word games with the references toJesus as "his w ord" and "a spirit pr oc eeding fr om hi m."

Hence there is no Logos but rather a servant of Allah and Prophet.

RESPONSE:

One wonders why Nisar plays gymnastics and word games with the Quranic references to Jesusbeing God¶s Word and a spirit proceeding from God. Since Nisar has evidently read the works of Gilchrist and Araby, then he is surely aware of the arguments set forth by these men in relation to thesignificance these titles have on the person of Christ.



For instance, to say that Jesus is God¶s Word implies that Jesus is God¶s self-statement, his self-revelation. In other words, Jesus is God¶s eternal and perfect statement that became flesh. Cf. John1:1-14

The common Muslim explanation that Jesus is called God¶s Word solely because he was created byGod¶s command makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Since if this were the reason then we wouldexpect the Quran to call Adam the Word of God since he is said to have been created by God's

command also. (Cf. S. 3:59) Yet, neither Adam nor anyone else is ever called the Word of God.

Second, that Jesus is a spirit proceeding from God implies that Christ preexisted as a Divine Spirit.This becomes more evident in light of the fact that the same statement, ³a spirit proceeding from him´,is elsewhere used in reference to God¶s omnipresent Spirit:

Thou wilt not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, loving those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers or their sons, or their brothers,or their kindred. For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with aspirit from Himself . And He will admit them to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, to dwell

therein (for ever). Allah will be well pleased with them, and they with Him. They are the Partyof Allah. Truly it is the Party of Allah that will achieve Success. S. 58:22

That this Spirit is able to strengthen a group of believers at the same time implies his omnipresenceand omnipotence. This is perhaps why Abdullah Yusuf Ali can say that the Spirit is divine:

³« Cf. ii 87 and 253, where it is said that God strengthened the Prophet Jesus with the holyspirit. Here we learn that all good and righteous men are strengthened by God with the holyspirit. If anything, the phrase used here is stronger , `a spirit from Himself' . Whenever anyone offers his heart in faith and purity to God, God accepts it, engraves that faith on theseeker's heart, and further fortifies him with the Divine Spir it, which we can no moredefine adequately than we can define in human language the nature of God ." (Ali, TheMeaning of the Holy Quran, p. 1518, f. 5365; bold and capital emphasis ours)

Since Christ alone is said to be a spirit from God, this therefore implies that Christ is ³the Divine Spirit,

which we can no more define adequately than we can define in human language the nature of God.´This is perhaps the closest the Quran comes in affirming the deity of Christ.

These titles demonstrate the inconsistent and contradictory picture that the Quran presents of Christ.In one breath, the Quran vehemently denies the divinity of Jesus, going so far as to accuse those whowould believe that Jesus is God¶s divine Son of blasphemy. Yet at the same time the Quran attributestitles and qualities to Jesus that exalt him far above humanity. This conclusively demonstrates that theQuran is not from God, since God wouldn¶t give two conflicting and contradictory views of JesusChrist.

Nisar needs to face the music and deal with the fact that these Quranic titles pose major problems for the Muslim seeking to refute Christian beliefs. For instance, one such Muslim who evidently struggledwith refuting the Christian assertions in regards to the divine implications of these titles was Ibn Kathir.In his commentary on S. 3:7, he notes:

<So far those in whose hearts there is a deviation> meaning, those who are misguided and

deviate from truth to falsehood«

<they follow that which is not entirely clear thereof> meaning, they refer to the Mutashabih,because they are able to alter its meanings to conform with their false interpretation since thewordings of the Mutashabihat encompass such a wide area of meanings. As for the Muhkam Ayat , they cannot be altered because they are clear and, thus, constitute unequivocal proof against the misguided people. This is why Allah said«

<seeking Al-Fitnah> meaning, they seek to misguide their following by pretending to prove

their innovation by relying on the Qur¶an- the Mutashabih of it- but, this is proof against and



not for them. For instance, Christians might claim that [µIsa is divine because] the Qur¶anstates that he is Ruhullah [Sam- Spirit of God] and His Word, which He gave to Mary , allthe while ignoring Allah¶s statements«

<He [µIsa] was not more than a servant. We granted Our favor to him.> [43:59], and«

<Verily, the likeness of µIsa before Allah is the l ikeness of Adam. He created him from dust,

then (He) said to him: ³Be!´ and he was.> [3:59].

There are other Ayat that clearly assert that µIsa is but one of Allah¶s creatures and that he isthe servant and Messenger of Allah, among other Messengers. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged),Volume 2, Parts 3, 4 & 5 (Surat Al -Baqarah, Verse 253, to Surat An-Nisa, Verse 147), FirstEdition: March 2000, pp. 112-113; bold emphasis ours)

Ibn Kathir¶s comments only highlight the major confusion and difficulty the Quranic picture of Jesusposed for Muslims in their encounters with Christians. Add to this list the following factors, and theQuranic confusion becomes more compounded:

1. Jesus is the only human to be conceived of and born to a virgin. Cf. 3:45-47; 19:16-20; 66:12

The common Muslim arguments used to explain away the significance of Jesus¶ virgin birth arethoroughly inadequate. For instance, many Muslims claim that God caused Mary to conceive as avirgin in order to demonstrate his ability to create human beings in different ways. God created Adamwithout a father and a mother. God created Eve without a mother. God created Jesus without a father. And God creates everyone else from a father and a mother.

This explanation fails to explain why God chose Jesus to be born of a virgin, and not someone elselike Moses or Muhammad. Furthermore, seeing that Adam was the first human being it was notpossible for him to be born from either a father or a mother. Likewise, since Eve was the first woman

she could not have been conceived from a mother. Yet this was not the case with Jesus since Godcould have caused him to be born from a father and a mother. This makes Jesus¶ virginal conceptionmuch more astonishing and utterly unique. In light of these considerations, we can see why theMuslim explanation thoroughly fails to adequately deal with this fact.

2. Jesus¶ mother is the only woman mentioned by name in the entire Quran.

3. Jesus¶ mother is the only woman to have an entire chapter named in her honor.

4. Jesus¶ mother is preferred above all women. Cf. S. 3:42

5. Jesus and his mother are said to be a sign for mankind. Cf. 19:21; 21:91; 23:50

6. Jesus and his mother are protected from the touch of Satan. Cf. S. 3:36

The Hadith expounds on the meaning of this passage:

Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:

Abu Huraira said, "I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'There is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of thetouch of Satan, except Mary and her child." Then Abu Huraira recited: "And I seek refugewith You for her and for her offspring from the outcast Satan" (3.36) (Sahih Al-Bukhari,Volume 4, Book 55, Number 641)

Muslim historian al-Tabari cites Qatadah as saying:



"Jesus and his mother did not commit any of the sins which the rest of the children of Adam commit." (Ayoub, The Quran and Its Interpreters, Vol. II , p. 94; bold emphasis ours)

7. Jesus alone is explicitly said to be honored or illustrious in the hereafter. Cf. 3:45

8. Jesus alone is said to be strengthened with the Holy Spirit. Cf. 2:87, 253; 5:110

9. Jesus alone is said to have created clay birds and breathed life into them, much like Allah breathedlife into Adam. Cf. 3:49; 5:110

Instead of evading these points, Nisar needs to address each of them one by one.

NISAR:

Samuel Zweier writes

"The Koran denies the Divinity and the eternal Sonship of Christ. He is a creature like Adam.God could destroy Jesus and his mother without loss to himself. Surah Maryam Ayat 35 &36: "God could not take to himself any son.... When He decrees a matter He only says to it 'Be,' and it is." Surah Al-I mraan Ayat 51: "Verily, the likeness of Jesus with God is as the

likeness of Adam. He created hint from the earth, then He said to him Be, and he was". Surah At- T awba Ayat 30: "The Jews say Ezra is the son of God and the Christians say that the Messiah is the son God; that is what they say with their mouths imitating the sayings of those who misbelieved before. God fight them! How they lie". Surah Al-Maeda Ayat 19: "Infidels are they who say, Verily, God is the Messiah, the son of Mary. Say, who has any hold on God if He wished to destroy the Messiah, the son of Mary, and his mother and thosewho are on the earth together?"

God has no son...

"Say: 'If (Allah) Most Gracious had a son, I would be the first to worship." Al Zukhruf 43:81

It is completely unthinkable for God to have a son and therefore puts himself forward as the

first worshipper of this son, who according to the Qur'an cannot exist.

Jesus denies he told anyone to worship him...

"And behold! Allah will say: 'O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, "Worship me

and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah"?' He will say: 'Glory to Thee! Never could I say what I had no right (to say)." Al Maeda Ayat 116.

RESPONSE:

It is true that the Quran may say that Jesus is not God¶s divine Son and that he is not to beworshiped, yet the Holy Bible affirms both these truths as we shall show. Nisar¶s citations simplyreinforce the contradictory and confusing picture the Quran paints of Jesus.

NISAR:

Jesus (PBUH) is merely human...

"Christ, the son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger..." Surah Al Maeda Ayat 75 " And behold! Allah will say: 'O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, "Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah"?' He will say: 'Glory to Thee! Never could I say what I had no right (to say)...'" Al Maeda Ayat 116 "Say: 'If (Allah) Most Gracious had a son, I would be the first to worship.'" Surah Al Zukhruf Ayat 81 "Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He



begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him." Surah Al-Ikhlas 112:2-4 Allah does not "beget" meaning that Allah has no children either in a spiritual or carnal sense.Thus, Allah can never be the Father. Nor does he allow himself to be "begotten", i.e. does nottake on human nature such as God the Son did when he became man for our salvation.

The term "begotten" was applied to the Son by the early Church Fathers. The Christian creedsays: the only begotten son of God The Qur'an teaches that Jesus, who was certainly born of a virgin, was only human. The Qur'an also categorically denies that God revealed himself in

Jesus and that Jesus was the Son of God. God has never begotten anyone "Say: He is Allah,the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten, and

there is none like unto Him." Surah Al-Ikhlas Ayats 1-4

RESPONSE:

Before responding to Nisar¶s false claims, we would like to mention Nisar¶s consistent plagiarizing of sources. For instance, Nisar¶s comments regarding Allah not begetting is taken from my response to Akbarally Meherally which is found here:

http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Meherally/mehB12_0.htm

This is not the only time that Nisar has stolen citations from other authors without giving credit wherecredit is due, or asking permission. It is one thing to take citations from authors and reword them inorder to adopt them into one¶s argument. It is quite another thing altogether to simply quote verbatimand give the misleading impression that the arguments are one¶s own.

Second, to be more precise, the early Church Fathers applied the term monogenes to the Son, a termalso applied to Jesus in the New Testament. (Cf. John 1:14, 18; 3:16; 1 John 4:9) Some Englishtranslators have translated monogenes as ³begotten´, while others translate it differently. J.N.D. Kellyfor example, whom we will be quoting, translates monogenes as ³unique Son.´

Third, it may be true that certain verses of the Quran emphatically deny Jesus¶ divine Sonship andpreexistence, yet it is equally true that other Quranic passages affirm his divine preexistence as we

have already demonstrated. This concludes this section. Part two to follow shortly, Lord Jesus willing.

Looking at FALSE Christian beliefs in... Son of God pt. 2

Sam Shamoun

As promised, here is the second part of our response. Nisar claims:

This Surah expresses the most important doctrine in the Qur'an, the teaching on God'soneness (tawhid). The Qur'an rejects every notion of trinity as irreconcilable with the doctrine

of the one true God. God has never fathered a son.

How Was The Son of God Conceived

Luke 1:35 explains why Jesus was God at the beginning of His human life. The angel toldMary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" . Jesus was born of a virgin, His conception being effected by the Holy Ghost. Because



of this ("therefore"), He was the Son of God. In other words, Jesus is the Son of God becauseGod, and not a man, caused His conception. God was literally His Father... "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son«" ( J ohn 3:16). To beget means to father, sire,procreate, or cause. Jesus was begotten by God in the womb of the virgin Mary.

Isaiah 7:14 also links the virgin conception with the recognition that the Son thus born wouldbe God. In other words, at the moment of conception, God placed His divine nature in the

seed of the woman. The child to be born received its life and the fatherly side of its naturefrom God at this time. From the mother's side it received the human nature of Mary; from thefather's side (God, not Joseph) it received the nature of God. Jesus obtained His divinenature through the conception process; He did not become divine by some later act of God.

The virgin birth of Jesus establishes His deity.

RESPONSE:

Nisar erroneously assumes that Isaiah and Luke place Jesus¶ divine sonship at his virgin conception.

Yet, an accurate reading of the texts in question would demonstrate otherwise:

³Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. Inthe past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the

future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along theJordan-The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on thoseliving in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned « For to us a child is

born, to us A SON IS GIVEN , and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will becalled Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of theincrease of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throneand over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that

time on and forever . The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.´ Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7

Although Isaiah refers to the birth of the Messiah, he clearly states that the Messiah is also a Son thatis given who is the Mighty God. This implies the Messiah¶s preexistence. This point is made explicit by

the fact that Isaiah applies the title Mighty God to the true God Yahweh:

³In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely onhim who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant

will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.´ Isaiah 10:20-21 For Isaiah to call the Messiah ³Mighty God´ indicates that Isaiah believed that the Messiah is theeternal God Yahweh. Furthermore, Luke is clearly dependent upon Isaiah 7 and 9 as the following

citations show:

³µYou will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. Hewill be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him thethrone of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end .¶ µHow will this be,¶ Mary asked the angel, µsince I am a virgin?¶ The angel

answered, µThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will

overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God . Luke 1:31-35

³His (John) father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied« µAnd you, mychild, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to preparethe way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us fromheaven to shine on those l iving in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into

the path of peace.¶´ Luke 1:67, 76-79



The italicized portions highlight the fact that Jesus¶ birth and ministry were a direct fulfillment of theIsaiah passages. This affirms that Luke did not believe that Jesus became God¶s Son at the momentof his virginal conception. Rather, Luke¶s allusions to Isaiah show that the former believed that Jesus

is the divine preexistent Son of God who had now come to deliver his people.

Finally, it may be true that some Christians erroneously believe that the virginal conception madeJesus God¶s Son. Yet most, if not all, informed Christians do not claim this. Rather, they believe that

Jesus is God¶s eternal Son and that God¶s Holy Spirit miraculously conceived the human nature of Christ from the virgin.

NISAR:

Sons Of God In The Bible

The term 'Son of God' was not solely given to Jesus Christ. As can be seen from the excerptsbelow this term was used commonly in the Old Testament to describe those who were close

to God.

Sons of God : Roman Catholic Encyclopedia

The title "son of God" is frequent in the Old Testament. The word "son" was employed amongthe Semites to signify not only filiation, but other close connexion or intimate relationship.

Thus

"a son of strength" was a hero and a warrior,

"son of wickedness" a wicked man,

"sons of pride" wild beasts,

"son of possession" a possessor,

"son of pledging" a hostage,

"son of lightning" a swift bird,

"son of death" one doomed to death,

"son of a bow" an arrow,

"son of Belial" a wicked man,

"sons of prophets" disciples of prophets etc.

The title "son of God" was applied in the Old Testament to persons having any specialrelationship with God. Angels, just and pious men, the descendants of Seth, were called"sons of God" (Job, i, 6; ii, 1; Ps. lxxxviii, 7; Wisd., ii, 13; etc.) . In a similar manner it wasgiven to Israelites (Deut., xiv, l); and of Israel, as a nation, we read: "And thou shalt say tohim: Thus saith the Lord: Israel is my son, my firstborn. I have said to thee: Let my son go,that he may serve me" ( Ex ., iv, 22 sq.).

The leaders of the people, kings, princes, judges, as holding authority from God, were calledsons of God. The theocratic King as lieutenant of God, and especially when he was

providentially selected to be a type of the Messiahs, was honoured with the title "Son of God".



Sons of God by Brother Mishael al Kandy

Let us begin by asking: How many sons does the Bible tell us that God Almighty has?

1. Jacob is God's son and firstborn: "Israel is my son, even my firstborn" Exodus4:22.

2. Solomon is God's son "He shall build an house for my name, and I will establishthe throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son": 2Samuel 7:13-14.

3. Ephraim is God's firstborn: "for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn" Jeremiah 31:9 (who is God's firstborn? Israel or Ephraim?).

4. Adam is the son of God "Adam, which was the son of God." Luke 3:38 .

5. Common people (you and me) are the sons of God: "Ye are the children of theLORD your God" Deuter onomy 14:1. "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" J ob 38:7 . "Again there was a day when thesons of God came to present themselves before the LORD," J ob 2:1. "Now there

was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD," J ob1:6 . "when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men," Genesis 6:4. "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair" Genesis 6:2 (Davidspeaking): ³I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son;this day have I begotten thee.´ [Psalm 2: 7]

As we can see, the use of the term "son of God" when describing normal human beings wasnot at all an uncommon practice among Jesus' people.

Sons of God in the Old Testament by F. Rice

A clear example of the term "Son of God" being used in Jewish scripture is that ProphetSolomon (peace be with him) is called "Son of God" in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament),

and is even quoted by God as saying he is His Son, in the book 1 Chronicles. The releventpassages are these:

1 Chronicles, chapter 17: [God is being quoted as speaking to Nathan, telling him to say thefollowing things to David.] 13: I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son;

1 Chronicles, chapter 22: He shall be my Son, and I will be his Father.

In the first underlined section, David repeats the words of God (according to the HebrewBible), that the person referred to will be the "Son of God". The second underlined part showsthat the person who will be the "Son of God" is "you," that is, Solomon, to whom David isspeaking.

Finally, here is the third and last passage....

1 Chronicles, chapter 28: [Here, David is being quoted about Solomon.] I have chosen him tobe my Son, and I will be his Father.

Here, again God is quoted as directly saying that Solomon is His "Son".

These passages establish that the term "Son of God" is used in Jewish scripture to meansomeone who is close to God, and in particular it is used for Jewish kings of the House of David. The term "Son of God" as used in Jewish scripture (such as for Solomon, peace be



with him) has absolutely nothing to do with a person being God, or having any share indivinity. It is a metaphorical term meaning someone who is close to God.

Sons of God in Judaism by Shaikh Ahmad Deedat

The Bible ascribes sons by the tons to God. (a) 'Which was the son of Enos, which was theson of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the SON OF GOD." G E N E SIS 6:2 and 4

(c) " . . Thus- saith the Lord, Israel is MY SON even my FIRSTBORN." EX ODUS 4:22 (d) " . .and Ephraim is my FIRSTBORN," J E R E MIAH 31:9 (e) " . . Thou (o David) ART MY SON; thisday have I (God) BEGOTTEN thee. " P SALMS 2 :

As a Prophet Ezra was the heavenly Scribe and as a priest and a heavenly scribe like Enochhe would have been anointed like Jesus.

Solomon:

1 Kings 1:39 "And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed

Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon."

David:

1 Samuel 16:13 "Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of hisbrethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose

up, and went to Ramah."

Jewish priests:

Leviti c us 4:3 "If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORDfor a sin offering."

Ezra

In Neh 8, Ezra appears again upon the scene at the Feast of Tabernacles as the chief scribe

of the law of Moses, the leader of the priests and Levites who read and explained the law tothe people.The Jews say "Ezra would have been worthy to have made known the law if

Moses had not come before him."

THE TERM 'SON OF GOD' IN A MONOTHEISTIC SENSE

In the Tenach, the term 'Son of God' does speak of divine son-ship. Usually it is in conjunctionwith three specific groups of people

(1) Angels (cf. Gen6:2; Job 1:6; Dan 3:25)

(2) Israel (cf. Ex 4:22,23; Hos 11:1; Mal 2:10)

(3) King Sam (cf. 7:14; Ps 2:7; 89:26,27)

One of the most famous verses that illustrate this special relationship is "You are the childrenof the LORD your God" ( Deutr onomy 14:1). The sonship in reference to Israel meansbelonging in a special way to the Almighty God. Jewish Tradition refer to God as 'Avinu,Malkanu' meaning 'our father, our king' and such a metaphor describes the close relationshipbetween Israel and God which is akin to how a father loves his son. God loves the just, andhis love cannot be destroyed by sin. The King also in his capacity as a Son of God exercisesauthority over both the people of Israel and the nations and as such is restricted to the

descendants of David.



In the Talmud, miracle workers were sometimes described as 'Sons of God'.

God in the Old Testament is represented to have used for Solomon, as applicable to Christ: 'Iwill be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son'. By these words was meant that God

would distinguish Solomon with peculiar favours, would treat him as a father treats a son.

Here we have the term son of God being presented as a special relationship between the son

and the father. It is a historical fact that the Israelites had borrowed from the Canaaniteheathenism the statement 'sons of God' but used it only as a symbolic statement' to denotethose qualities which recommend moral beings to the favour of God; those which bear such alikeness to his moral attributes as may be compared with the likeness which a son has to hisfather' those which constitute one, in the Oriental (Eastern) style, to be of the family of God.The Israelites were created by God and as such symbolically might be called His 'children',

not literally.

RESPONSE:

Nisar basically thinks that by taking lengthy quotations from authors regarding God having manysonshe will somehow refute Jesus¶ unique divine eternal Sonship. Nisar is guilty of the fallacy of false

analogy and the fallacy of equivocation. Although acknowledging that the term ³son´ or ³sons´ can

have different meanings, he does not allow for the fact that Jesus is God¶s Son in a completelydifferent sense from the rest. Since Nisar realizes that terms may have different meanings in differentcontexts, we present the biblical evidence to demonstrate that unlike the others, Jesus is the divine

preexistent Son of God, the One through whom God made all things and for whom all things exist:

"All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is exceptthe Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to

reveal him." Luke 10:22

"He went on to tell the people this parable: 'A man planted a vineyard, rented it to somefarmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants sothey would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent himaway empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treatedshamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him andthrew him out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, "What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him." But when the tenants saw him, they talked thematter over . "This is the heir ," they said. "Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." Sothey threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. "What then will the owner of the vineyard doto them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.' When the

people heard this, they said, 'May this never be!'" Luke 20:9-16

In this parable Jesus states that the prophets are the servants God and that Christ is God's beloved

Son and the Heir of all the things. Continuing further:

³For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son , that whoever believes inhim shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not SEND his Son INTO the world tocondemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not

condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has notbelieved in the name of God's one and only Son.´ John 3:16-18

³µYes, Lord,¶ she told him, µI believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to

come INTO the world.¶´ John 11:27

³All that belongs to the Father IS MINE. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is

mine and make it known to you.´ John 16:15



³My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you . Maythey also be IN US so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given themthe glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I IN THEM and you in me.May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have lovedthem even as you have loved me« I have made you known to them, and will continue tomake you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I MYSELF

MAY BE IN THEM .´ John 17:20-23, 26

As the Son, Jesus is the object of God¶s eternal love:

"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17

"Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: 'This is my Son,

whom I love. Listen to him!' " Mark 9:7

³The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.´ John 3:35

³For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will

show him even greater things than these.´ John 5:20

³Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, theglory you have given me because you loved me BFEORE THE CREATION OF THE

WORLD.´ John 17:24

³For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.In love he

]predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with

his pleasure and will-to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the

One he loves.´ Ephesians 1:4-6

As the Son, Jesus claims to exist in the same diving glory of the Father and demands to be glorified

by the Father:

³When he was gone, Jesus said, µNow is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified inhim. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself , and will glorify him at

once.´ John 13:31-32

³After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: µFather, the time has come.Glorify YOUR SON, that YOUR SON may glorify you. For you granted him authorityover all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him . Now thisis eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you havesent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now,

Father , glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you BEFORE THE WORLD

BEGAN.´ John 17:1-5

Furthermore, as the Son Jesus demanded that the same exact honor given to the Father must bealso given to him:

"The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor theSon, EVEN AS they honor the Father . He who does not honor the Son does not honor theFather WHO SENT HIM." John 5:22-23

This honor entails worshiping and praying to Jesus:



"Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified IN THE SON; if

you ask ME anything in my name, I WILL DO IT ." John 14:13-14

This should sufficiently put to the rest Nisar¶s attempt of using the Holy Bible to undermine Jesus¶

divine eternal Sonship.

NISAR:

Allah Hath Taken A Son

The statement of the fourth gospel that the Logos became flesh is a literal way of speaking.The truth is that the Logos took on flesh so much that it could be said he had become it. This

is more like adoptionist thinking.

RESPONSE:

Nisar has obviously not understood what it means that the Logos became flesh. To become fleshaffirms that the Logos took on a true human nature, becoming fully and truly human. Yet, prior to hisbecoming an actual human being the Logos already was fully and truly God in nature, having all theattributes of true Deity. Therefore, John¶s prologue affirms that the eternal Logos who was truly God inessence, took on the additional nature of humanity. Since John teaches that the eternally existingLogos became flesh, indicating that Christ is an eternal Being, Nisar¶s claim that this is adoptionist

thinking is incredulous to say the least. Adoptionism teaches that Christ was became the Son of Godthrough adoption at some point in his earthly life, i.e. at the Baptism, the Resurrection etc., something

quite foreign to John¶s Gospel.

NISAR:

The Logos became a hypostasis separate from God. Hence, he first came into existence.From the moment when he was begotten the Logos is a being distinct from the Father.(Something different in number, another God, a second God). But his personality only datesfrom that moment. There was a time when the Father has no Son. Wherefore in rank he isbelow God in the second place and a second God, the messenger and servant of God. The

apologists Logos appears as the highest creature, IN SO FAR AS HE IS CONCEIVED ASTHE PRODUCTION OF GOD.

J. N. D. Kelly

That they all (APOLOGISTS), Athenagoras included, dated the generation of the Logos, and so His eligibility for the title "Son", not f rom His origination from within the beingof the Godhead, but from His emission or putting forth for the purposes of creation,

revelation and redemption.

RESPONSE:

Nisar quotes sources without giving us a page number to verify the accuracy of his citations. Be that

as it may, we reproduce the following lengthy quote from J.N.D. Kelly in order to demonstrate Nisar¶smisquoting:

The Apologists were the first to frame an intellectually satisfying explanation of the relation of Christ to God the Father. They were all, as we have seen, ARDENT MONOTHEISTS, determined at all costs NOT TO COMPROMISE THIS FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH . Thesolution they proposed, reduced to essentials, was that, AS PRE-EXISTENT, Christ was theFather¶s THOUGHT OR MIND, and that, as manifested in creation and revelation,He wasits EXTRAPOLATION OR statement. In expounding this doctrine they had recourse to the

imagery of the divine Logos, or Word, which had been familiar to later Judaism as well as to



Stoicism, and which had become a fashionable cliché through the influence of Philo .Others had, of course, anticipated them. In the Fourth Gospel, for example, the Word isdeclared to have been with God in the beginning and to have become flesh in Christ, while for Ignatius Christ was the Father¶s Word issuing from silence. The Apologists¶ originality (their thought was more Philonic than Johannine) lay in drawing out the further implications of theLogos idea in order to make plausible the twofold fact of Christ¶s pre-temporal onenesswith the Father and His manifestation in space and time . In so doing, while using such

Old Testament texts as Ps. 33, 6 (µBy the word of the Lord were the heavens made¶), they didnot hesitate to blend with them the Stoic technical distinctions between the immanent word(logos endiathetos) and the word uttered or expressed (logos prophorikos).

Their teaching appears most clearly in Justin, although his theology is far from beingsystematic« The Logos, however , had now µassumed shape and become a man¶ inJesus Christ; He had become incarnate in His entirety in Him . The Logos is hereconceived of as the Father¶s INTELLIGENCE OR RATIONAL THOUGHT ; but Justinargued that He was not only in name distinct from the Father, as the light is from the sun, butwas µnumerically distinct too¶ (kai arithmo heter on). His proof, which he was particularlyconcerned to develop against Jewish monotheism, was threefold. The Word¶s otherness, hethought was implied (a) by the alleged appearances of God in the Old Testament (e.g. to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre), which suggests, that µbelow the Creator of all things, thereis ANOTHER Who is, and is called, GOD AND LORD¶ , since it is inconceivable that µthe

Master and Father of all things should have abandoned all supercelestial affairs and madeHimself visible in a minute corner of the world¶; (b) by the frequent Old Testament passages(e.g. Gen. I, 26: µLet us make man etc.¶) which represent God as conversing with ANOTHER, Who is presumably a rational being like Himself ; and (c) by the great Wisdomtexts, such as Prov . 8, 22ff. (µThe Lord created me a beginning of His ways etc.¶), sinceeveryone must agree that the offspring is other than the begetter. So the Logos, µhaving beenput forth as an offspring from the Father, was with Him BEFORE ALL CREATURES, andthe Father had converse with Him¶. And he is DIVINE: µbeing the Word and first -begotten of God, HE IS ALSO GOD ¶. µThus, then, He is adorable, HE IS GOD¶; and µweadore and love, next to God, the Logos derived from the increate and ineffable God, seeingthat for our sakes He became man¶.

The incarnation apart, the special functions of the Logos, according to Justin, are two: to bethe Father¶s agent in creating and ordering the universe, and to reveal truth to men. As

regards to His nature, while other beings are µthings made¶ ( poiemata) or creatures (ktismata),the Logos is God¶s µoffspring¶ (gennema), His µchild¶ (teknon), and µUNIQUE SON¶ (ho monogenes); µBEFORE ALL CREATURES God begat, in the beginning, a rational power OUT OF HIMSELF¶. By this generation, Justin means, not the ultimate origin of the Father¶sLogos or reason (this he does not discuss), but His putting forth or emission for thepurposes of creation and revelation ; and it is conditioned by, and is the result of, an act of the Father¶s will. But this generation or emission does not entail ANY SEPARATIONBETWEEN THE FATHER AND HIS SON , as the analogy between human reason and itsextrapolation in speech makes clear« Elsewhere Justin uses the analogy of the impossibility

of distinguishing the light from the sun which is its source in order to argue that µ this Power isindivisible and inseparable from the Father¶, and that His numerical distinction from

the Father does not involve any partition of the latter¶s essence .

Tatian was a disciple of Justin¶s, and like his master spoke of the Logos as existing IN THE

FATHER as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated . Like Justin,too, he emphasized the Word¶s ESSENTIAL UNIT Y with the Father , using the same imageof light kindled from light. µThe birth of the Logos involves a distribution ( merismon), butNO SEVERANCE (apok o pen)«¶ At the same time Tatian threw into sharper relief thanJustin the contrast between the two successive states of the Logos. Before creation Godwas ALONE, the Logos BEING IMMANENT IN HIM as His potentiality for creating allthings; but at the moment of creation HE LEAPED FORTH FROM THE FATHER as Hisµprimordial work¶ (erg on pr ot ot ok on). Once born, being µspirit derived from spirit, rationalityfrom rational power¶, He served as the Father¶s instrument in creating and governing theuniverse, in particular making men in the divine image .



The teaching of Theophilus of Antioch followed similar lines, although he frankly used Stoictechnical terms appropriate to the underlying system of ideas. µGod¶, he wrote, µhaving HisWord immanent (endiathet on) in His bowels, engendered Him along with His wisdom, emitting Him before the universe .¶ He used this Word as His assistant in His creativework, and by Him He has made all things . This Word is called First Principle because Heis the principle and Lord of all things fashioned by Him¶ . Again, dealing with the sonshipof the Logos, he wrote: µHe is NOT the Son in the sense in which poets and romancers

RELATE THE BIRTH OF SONS TO GODS , but rather in the sense in which the truth speaksof the Word as ETERNALLY IMMANENT (endiathet on) IN GOD¶S BOSOM . ¶ For BEFOREANYTHING CAME INTO BEING He had Him as His counsellor , HIS OWN INTELLIGENCE

AND THOUGHT. But when God willed to create what He had planned, He engendered andbrought forth (egennese pr o phorik on) this Word, the first-begotten of all creation. Hedid not thereby empty Himself of His Word, but having begotten Him consorts with Himalways¶. Like Justin, Theophilus regarded the Old Testament theophanies as having beenin fact appearances of the Logos. God Himself cannot be contained in space and time, butit was precisely the function of the Word Whom He generated to manifest His mind and will inthe created order.

A rather fuller account is given by Athenagoras. In a famous passage, after stating that theunoriginate, eternal and invisible God has created and adorned, and actually governs, theuniverse by His Word, he goes on to identify the Word as the Son of God . Repudiating

the objection THAT THERE IS SOMETHING RIDICULOUS IN GOD¶S HAVING A SON , heprotests that God¶s Son IS NOT LIKE THE CHILDREN OF MEN, but is µthe Father¶s WordIN IDEA AND IN ACTUALIZATION¶ (en idea kai energeia). It was by Him, and through Him, that everything was made, and the Father and the Son FORM A UNIT Y. µThe Sonbeing IN the Father and the Father IN the Son by the unity and power of the divinespirit, the Son of God is t he Father¶s INTELLIGENCE and Word ( nous kai l og os). Tomake his meaning clearer, Athenagoras then points out that, while He is God¶s offspring, HENEVER ACTUALLY CAME INTO BEING ( ouk hos genomenon), µfor God from thebeginning, being eternal intelligence, had His Word (l og on) IN HIMSELF, BEINGETERNALLY RATIONAL (aidi os l ogik os). A more correct account would be, that He µissuedforth¶ ( proelthon: again the idea of logos prophorikos) into the world of formless matter as thearchetypal idea and creative force. In support of this he quotes Prov . 8, 22, µThe Lord createdme as a beginning of His ways for His works¶, without stressing, however , the verbµcreated¶. In a later chapter he speaks of µthe true God and the Logos Who derives from

Him¶, dwelling on the unity and fellowship which exist between Father and Son; andelsewhere he describes the Son as the Father¶s µintelligence, Word, wisdom¶ .

There are two points in the Apologists¶ teaching which, because of their far-reachingimportance, must be heavily underlined, viz. (a) that for all of them the description µGod theFatherµ connoted not the first Person of the Holy Trinity, but the one Godhead considered asauthor of whatever exists; and (b) that they all, Athenagoras included, dated the generation of the Logos, and so His eligibility for the title µSon¶ , not from His origination within the Beingof the Godhead, BUT FROM HIS EMISSION OR PUTTING FORTH FOR THE PURPOSES

OF CREATION, REVELATION AND REDEMPTION . Unless these points are firmly grasped,and their significance appreciated, A COMPLETELY DISTORTED VIEW OF THEAPOLOGISTS¶ THEOLOGY IS LIABLE TO RESULT . Two stock criticisms of it, for example,are that they failed to distinguish the Logos from the Father until He was required for thework of creation, and that, as a corollary, they were guilty of subordinating the Son to

the Father . These objections have a superficial validity in the light of post-Niceneorthodoxy, with its doctrine of the Son¶s eternal generation and its fully worked-out conceptionof hypostases or Persons; but they make no sense in the thought-atmosphere in which the Apologists moved . It is true that they lacked a technical vocabulary adequate for describing eternal distinctions within the Deity ; but that they apprehended such distinctions ADMITS OF NO DOUBT. Long BEFORE CREATION, FROM ALL ETERNIT Y, God had His Word or Logos , for God is essentially rational; and if what later theologyrecognized as the personality of the Word seems ill defined in their eyes, it is plain that theyregarded Him AS ONE WITH WHOM THE FATHER COULD COMMUNE AND TAKECOUNSEL. Later orthodox was to describe His eternal relation to the Father as generation;the fact that the Apologists restricted the term to His emission should not lead one to



conclude that they had no awareness of His existence prior to that. Similarly, whenJustin spoke of Him as a µSECOND GOD¶ worshiped µin a secondary rank¶, and when allthe Apologists stressed that His generation or emission resulted from an act of theFather¶s will, their object WAS NOT SO MUCH TO SUBORDINATE HIM AS TOSAFEGUARD THE MONOTHEISM WHICH THEY CONSIDERED INDISPENSABLE . TheLogos as manifested must necessarily be limited as compared with the Godhead Itself; and itwas important to emphasize that there were not two springs of initiative within the Divine

Being. That the Logos was ONE IN ESSENCE WITH THE FATHER, inseparable in Hisfundamental being from Him as much after His generation AS PRIOR TO IT, THEAPOLOGISTS WERE NEVER WEARY OF REITERATING . (Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines,

revised edition [HarperSan Francisco, 1978], pp. 95-101; bold and capital emphasis ours)

The following citations from Athenagoras regarding his views on the deity of the Lord Jesus and theessential Trinity are taken from A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, Hendrickson Publishers,

Massachusetts, 1998, edited by David W. Bercot. All bold and capital emphasis ours:

What is meant by the Son? I will state briefly that He is the first product of the Father. I DONOT MEAN THAT HE WAS BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE. For, from the beginning, God,who is the eternal Mind, HAD THE LOGOS IN HIMSELF . From ETERNIT Y, He is instinctwith Logos. However, [the Son is begotten] inasmuch as He came forth to be the Idea andenergizing Power of all material things , which lay like a nature without attributes« Theprophetic Spirit also agrees with our statements. ³The Lord,´ it says, ³made me the beginning

of His ways to His works.´ Athenagoras (c. 175, e), 2.133. (p. 104)

The universe has been created and set in order through His Logos« For we acknowledge

also a Son of God . Athenagoras (c. 175, e), 2.133. (p. 113)

The Holy Spirit Himself, who operates in the prophets, we assert to be an effluence of God, flowing from Him , and returning back again like a beam of the sun. Athenagoras (c. 175, e),

2.133. (p. 345)

Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men called atheists who speakof God theFather , and of GOD THE SON, and of the Holy Spirit , and who declare both their POWER

IN UNION and their DISTINCTION in order? Athenagoras (c. 175, e), 2.133. (p. 652)

Christians know God and His Logos. They also know what type of ONENESS the Son haswith the Father and what type of communion the Father has with the Son. Furthermore, theyknow what the Spirit is AND WHAT UNIT Y IS OF THESE THREE : the Spirit, the Son, and theFather. They also know what THEIR DISTINCTION IS IN UNIT Y . Athenagoras (c. 175, e),

2.134. (Ibid.)

We acknowledge a God, and a Son (His Logos) , and a Holy Spirit. These are UNITED INESSENCE- the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Now, the Son is the Intelligence, Reason, and Wisdom of the Father . And the Spirit is an emanation, as light from fire. Athenagoras

(c. 175, e), 2.141. (Ibid.)

Let us now summarize the testimony of the Apologists:

1. The Apologists all believed that the person of Christ is eternal, uncreated.

2. The Apologists all believed that the person of Christ eternally existed within the eternal Being of God as His Reason, Intelligence, Word, and Wisdom.

3. The Apologists all affirmed the personal distinctions of the Father and His Word, acknowledgingthat the two were in communion with one another.



4. The Apologists all believed that God¶s eternal Word sprang forth from the Father, without severingfrom the source, to become the Father¶s Agent in creation and redemption. It is at this point that the

Logos begins to relate to the Father as the Son.

These points prove that the Fathers were essentially Trinitarians in their beliefs. This means thatNisar has twisted J.N.D. Kelly¶s statements in order to mislead his readers into thinking that the Apologists denied the eternal existence of Christ. Such shoddy scholarship is inexcusable to say the

least, especially for one who constantly claims that such research has refuted my arguments. Nisar concludes:

Orthodox Christians Repudiated

Parrinder along with Gilchrist, and Cragg says some verses of the Qur'an in references toJesus as the Son of God is a refutation of Adoptionist and Arians. But passages 169-171 inSurah An-Nisa is more pointed to orthodox Christianity. Some scholars accuse Nestorians of

this heresy as well.

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but thetruth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word,

which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His

messengers. Say not "Trinity" : desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory beto Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and

on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. Q ur'an Surah Al-Nisa 172

RESPONSE:

Nisar ends with a citation from the Quran as if the Quran carries any real weight for the serioushistorian or Christian. Suffice it to say, Lord Jesus willing, I will follow up this rebuttal with anexamination of all the Quranic passages dealing with the deity of Christ and document the author(s)¶

gross misunderstanding of essential Christian doctrine.

This concludes this part. More rebuttals to follow shortly, Lord Jesus willing.

NOTE TO THE READERS- Nisar has rewritten his article on Paul, which is obviously due to mycomplete refutation of his arguments. This is an implicit admission on the part of Nisar that he wasunable to refute my points, and needed to rework his paper without even attempting to interact withany of my arguments. Yet even in this reworked paper Nisar still failed to establish his case and refuteany of my points. He simply repeats the same tired assault on Paul. We leave it to the intelligent

readers to read the articles for themselves in order to see who in fact as presented the facts.



Looking at FALSE Christian beliefs in... Jesus Christ

Sam Shamoun

The following article is a response to the claims set forth by Nisar Muhammad which can be

found here:

http://www.answerchristianity.fsnet.co.uk/JC.htm

We will omit material that has already been addressed in our previous rebuttals. All biblical

quotations are from the RSV, unless noted otherwise.

NISAR:

The God of Jesus was a Jew. He was circumcised as a Jew. He lived as a Jew and

prayed as a Jew. He performed the Jewish Rites. He was addressed as a Rabbi by thelearned. Jesus the pious Jew celebrated Passover, he taught in the temples, he wore

tsitsit and the fringe or tassels attached to the four corners of a robe. He showedregard for the temple by paying the half shekel tax.

RESPONSE:

Since historic Christianity has always taught that Jesus was a Jew, we really do not see the

relevance of Nisar¶s statements in relation to Jesus being God? Does Nisar assume that Jesuscannot be God in nature solely because he was also a Jewish man? Then this is his dilemma

since the Holy Bible clearly teaches both truths, namely that Jesus is both fully God and fullyhuman. More on this below.

NISAR:

"The question concerns Jesus a Galilean Jew of the first third of the first century, for

whom 'God' would have a meaning specified by his background and the theological

language of the time. By way of simplification (and perhaps oversimplification) letme say that I think by a Jew of that period `God' would have been thought of as One

dwelling in the heavens - among many attributes. (Brown, Responses to 101Questions on the Bible [Paulist Press; Mahwah, N.J. 1990)

RESPONSE:

Let us complete the quote that Nisar ³borrowed´ from one of my articles:

"« I would say that by that time (i.e. the last decade of the first century), under the

impact of their quest to understand Jesus, Christians had in a certain sense

expanded the meaning of the word 'God.' It no longer for them simply coveredthe Father in heaven; it covered the Son on earth. They had come to realize that

Jesus was so intimately related to God, so filled with God's presence, that the termGod was applicable to him as it was to the Father in heaven . May I emphasis that



this does not involve a change in Jesus; it involves a change and growth in theChristian perception of who he was.´ (Ibid.)

And,

³Did Jesus have an identity which his followers later came to understand in terms of

his being God? If he was God (and most Christians do agree on that), did he knowwho he was? I think the simplest answer to that question is yes.´ (Ibid. p. 99)

It is clear that Raymond Brown¶s statement in context wasn¶t denying the Deity of Christ, butwas simply explaining why Christ never said he was God, or why others never asked him if

he were God. Brown¶s answer demonstrates that Christ, the Apostles and the NTwholeheartedly teach that Christ is God.

NISAR:

The God of Jesus was God (The Father). The God = The Father

By God "The Father is understood the creator of the world and the sole reigning deity

of the Old Testament as well as the first person of the Holy Trinity."

In the New Testament the Jews claim that God is Our Father and Jesus said, it is the

father, of whom you say... he is Our God.

RESPONSE:

Again, let us quote Jesus¶ words in context:

³Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, µIf you continue in my word,

you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make youfree.¶ They answered him, µWe are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say, ³You will be made free´?¶ Jesus answered

them, µTruly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. The

slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. So if the Son

makes you free, you will be free indeed . I know that you are descendants of

Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. I speak of

WHAT I HAVE SEEN WITH MY FATHER, and you do what you have heard

from your father.¶ They answered him, µAbraham is our father.¶ Jesus said to them,

µIf you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did, but now you seek

to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not

what Abraham did. You do what your father did.¶ They said to him, µWe were not

born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.¶ Jesus said to them, µIF God wereyour Father, you would love me, FOR I PROCEEDED AND CAME FORTH

FROM GOD; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not

understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of

your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer

from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in

him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the

father of lies. But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you

convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God



hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of

God.¶ The Jews answered him, µAre we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan

and have a demon?¶ Jesus answered, µI have not a demon; but I honor my Father,and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it

and he will be the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, HE

WILL NEVER SEE DEATH.¶ The Jews said to him, µNow we know that you have

a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, ³If any one keeps my word,he will never taste death.´ Jesus answered, µIf I glorify myself, my glory is nothing;

it is MY FATHER who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God . But

you have not known him; I K NOW HIM. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a

liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word. YOUR FATHER Abraham

rejoiced that he was to see MY DAY; he saw IT and was glad.¶ The Jews then said

to him, µYou are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?¶ Jesus said to

them, µTruly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.¶ So they took up

stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.´ John 8:31-

59

In this passage, Jesus makes the following astonishing claims:

1. God is Christ¶s Father, whereas he is not the Father of these unbelieving Jews.

2. God glorifies Christ just as Christ glorifies God.

3. Christ claims that his word has the sovereign power to prevent believers from ever dying

(spiritually).

4. Christ existed before Abraham came into being, and came forth from God out of heaven.

Compare:

³He said to them, µYou are from below, Iam from above

; you are of this world, Iamnot of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your

sins unless you believe that I am he.¶´ John 8:23-24

³Jesus then said to them, µTruly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you

the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread

of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world¶ «

Jesus said to them, µI am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger,

and he who believes in me shall never thirst¶ « For I have come down from

heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of

him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise

it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the

Son and believes in him should have eternal life; AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP ATTHE LAST DAY.¶ The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, µI am the

bread which came down from heaven.¶ They said, µIs not this Jesus, the son of

Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ³I have come

down from heaven´?¶´ John 6:32-33, 35, 38-42

³This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not

die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven ; if any one eats of this



bread, HE WILL LIVE FOR EVER ; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.´ John 6:50-51

³Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?´

John 6:62

³In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray theFather for you; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and

have believed that I came from the Father. I came from the Father and have

come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father .´ John

16:26-28

5. Interestingly, whereas Jesus calls Abraham the father of these Jews, Jesus never calls

Abraham his own father. Rather, Jesus shows that he is greater than Abraham since the latter rejoiced to see Jesus¶ day.

NISAR:

Jews have worshipped God as a one undivided being; one single person; the father.

The Jews believe that the father alone is God. The Jews believe only in one God; The

God=The Father.

RESPONSE:

Typical of anti-Trinitarians, Nisar commits the fallacy of hasty generalization andequivocation, as well as non sequitur. He wrongly assumes that since God is often, but not

always, used of the Father this automatically means that the Father alone is God. In so doing Nisar erroneously assumes that God and Father are interchangeable terms. Nisar then begs

the question by asserting that since God is only one individual, namely the Father, Jesus

therefore cannot be God.

Whereas the term Father does refer to a specific person distinct from the Son, as well as the

Holy Spirit, this is not the case with the term "God." Although often used of the Father, the

term God is also used of the Son, as the following citations demonstrate:

³Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shallconceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman'u-el.´ Isaiah 7:14

³But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought

into contempt the land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, but in the latter time hewill make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the

nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dweltin a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined« For to us a child is born, to us a

son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be

called µWonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.¶´

Isaiah 9:6

Fulfillment:



³All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: µ Behold, a

virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel¶

(which means, God [ho theos] with us).´ Matthew 1:22-23

³Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and

leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of

Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might befulfilled: µThe land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, toward the sea, across the

Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles- the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.¶´ Matthew

4:12-16

³And the angel said to her, µDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with

God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call

his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the

Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the

house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end .¶ And Mary said to

the angel, µHow shall this be, since I have no husband?¶ And the angel said to her,

µThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High willovershadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.¶´

Luke 1:30-35

³And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before

the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the

forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall

dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the

shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.´ Luke 1:76-79

And:

³A voice cries: µIn the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in thedesert a highway for OUR GOD. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain

and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it

together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken¶« Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his

recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the

lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are

with young.´ Isaiah 40:3-5, 10-11

Fulfillment:

³For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he

will repay every man for what he has done.´ Matthew 16:27

³In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was

God« And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth;

WE HAVE BEHELD HIS GLORY, glory as of the only Son from the Father .(John bore witness to HIM, and cried, µThis was he of whom I said, ³He who comes

after me ranks before me, for he was before me.´¶)« He (John) said, µI am the



voice of one crying in the wilderness, ³Make straight the way of the Lord,' ASTHE PROPHET ISAIAH SAID.´¶´ John 1:1, 14-15, 23

³Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs

in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is

the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice,

and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out . When he has brought outall his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the

voice of strangers« Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who

came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the

door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find

pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may

have life, and have it abundantly . I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays

down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the

sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf

snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothingfor the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the

Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And Ihave other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed

my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.´ John 10:1-5, 7-16

³The Jews answered him, µIt is not for a good work that we stone you but for

blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God.¶´ John 10:33

³Thomas answered him, µMy Lord and MY GOD!¶´ John 20:28

³And to the angel of the church in Thyati'ra write: µ The words of the Son of God ,

who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know

your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your

latter works exceed the first« And all the churches shall know that I am he who

searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve .´Revelation 2:18-19, 23b

³For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd , and he will guide

them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.´Revelation 7:17

³µBehold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for

what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning

and the end¶« He who testifies to these things says, µSurely I am coming soon.¶

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!´ Revelation 22:12-13, 20

Finally:

³Behold, a day of the LORD IS COMING, when the spoil taken from you will be

divided in the midst of you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to

battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished;half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from

the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when he



fights on a day of battle. On that day HIS FEET shall stand on the MOUNT OF

OLIVES which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the MOUNT OF OLIVES

shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley ; so that one half of theMount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And the valley of my

mountains shall be stopped up, for the valley of the mountains shall touch the side of

it; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzzi'ah king of

Judah. Then the LORD YOUR GOD WILL COME, and all the holy ones withhim« And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD

will be one and his name one .´ Zechariah 14:1-5, 9

According to the NT, the Lord God that is to descend upon the Mount of Olives is none other

than the Lord Jesus Christ!:

³And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud

took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went,

behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, µMen of Galilee, why do you

stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,

will come IN THE SAME WAY as you saw him go into heaven.¶ Then they

returned to Jerusalem from THE MOUNT CALLED OLIVET, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away;´ Acts 1:9-12

³Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called

Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a

flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which

no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by

which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in finelinen, white and pure, followed him on white horses . From his mouth issues a sharp

sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he

will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe

and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords .´Revelation 19:11-16

The preceding OT passages and their subsequent fulfillment in Jesus clearly demonstrate that

the term God does not always refer to the Father. These examples also demonstrate that theOT prophets were aware that the one true God of Israel is multipersonal, something which we

will expound upon shortly. Other passages where God is used in reference to the Soninclude:

³But of the Son he says, µThy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, the righteous

scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated

lawlessness; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness

beyond thy comrades.¶´ Hebrews 1:8-9

³awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior

Jesus Christ,´ Titus 2:13

³Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a

faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus

Christ:´ 2 Peter 1:1



not, I will know . So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but

Abraham still stood BEFORE THE LORD . Then Abraham drew near, and said,

µWilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fiftyrighteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty

righteous who are in it? Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous

with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall

not THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH do right?¶ And the LORD said, µIf I FIND at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I WILL SPARE the whole place for

their sake.¶ Abraham answered, µBehold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the

Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking?

Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?¶ And HE SAID, µI WILL NOT

DESTROY IT if I FIND forty-five there.¶ Again he spoke to him, and said,

µSuppose forty are found there.¶ HE ANSWERED, µFor the sake of forty I WILL

NOT DO IT.¶ Then he said, µOh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose

thirty are found there.¶ HE ANSWERED, µI WILL NOT DO IT, IF I FIND

THIRTY THERE.¶ He said, µBehold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the

Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.¶ HE ANSWERED, µFor the sake of twenty I WILL NOT DESTROY IT.¶ THEN HE SAID, µOh let not the Lord be angry, and

I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.¶ HE ANSWERED,µFor the sake of ten I WILL NOT DESTROY IT.¶ And the LORD WENT HIS

WAY, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.´ Genesis 18:1-3, 8-33

This passage has caused major problems for anti-Trinitarians such as Muslims, Jehovah¶s

Witnesses and even unbelieving Jews. The reason being is that this passage clearly teaches

that the true God Yahweh has appeared on earth to his servants in the form of a man,

something that the preceding groups vehemently deny. In fact, this passage goes so far as to

say that Yahweh actually ate food that was offered to him by Abraham!

Furthermore, that Genesis 19:24 unmistakably identifies two distinct Persons as Yahweh God

can be seen from the following passage:

³µI sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I slew your young men

with the sword; I carried away your horses; and I made the stench of your camp go upinto your nostrils; yet you did not return to me,¶ says the LORD. µI overthrew some of

you, as WHEN GOD overthrew Sodom and Gomor'rah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,¶ says the LORD.´ Amos

4:10-11

Here, Yahweh states that Sodom and Gomor¶rah were overthrown by another entity who is

God also.

Ho! ho! Flee from the land of the north, says the LORD; f or I have spread you abroad as the

f our winds of the heavens, says the LORD. Ho! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the

daughter of Babylon. For thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory SENT ME to the

nations who plundered you, f or he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: Behold, I

will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder f or those whoserved them.

Then you will know that the LORD of hosts HAS SENT ME. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of

Zion; f or lo, I come and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the LORD . And many nations



shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the

midst of you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts HAS SENT ME TO YOU . And the

LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be

silent, all flesh, bef ore the LORD; f or he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Zechariah 2:7-13

According to this passage, Yahweh God is being sent by Yahweh God to dwell in the midst

of his people!

³Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea,

µCall her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I

should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save

them-not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the Lord their

God.¶´ Hosea 1:6-7 NIV

Yahweh says that he will deliver Judah by Yahweh their God. This refers to God¶s

miraculous deliverance of Judah from the hands of the Assyrian King Sennacherib. The OT

records the fulfillment of God¶s promise:

³Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: µThis is what the Lord, the

God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him« He will not enter this city or

shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp

against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares

the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my

servant.¶ That night THE ANGEL OF THE LORD went out and put to death a

hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp . When the people

got up the next morning-there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of

Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day,

while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech andSharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And

Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.´ 2 Kings 19:20-21, 32b-37

God sent the Angel of Yahweh to strike down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. This means that the

God whom Yahweh used to deliver the house of Judah was none other than the Angel of

Yahweh!

We have already written extensively on the Angel, demonstrating from the Old Testament

that this particular Angel isn¶t a creature, but is actually Yahweh God himself functioning in

the role of a messenger. Yet at the same time the OT shows that this Angel is sent by another who is called Yahweh God, indicating that the one true God is multipersonal. We also

presented evidence that this Angel is none other than OT appearances of the preincarnate

Christ! For more information, we recommend the following article: http://answering-

islam.org/Responses/Menj/tam1.htm

³Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am He, I am the first, and I

am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread

out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together . Assemble, all of

you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he



shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chalde'ans. I,

even I, have spoken and called him, I have brought him, and he will prosper in

his way. Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,from the time it came to be I have been there. And now THE LORD GOD HAS

SENT ME AND HIS SPIR IT.´ Isaiah 48:12-16

Here, the Creator Yahweh God claims that Yahweh God has sent him and the Spirit, a clear affirmation of God¶s Triunity!

³I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to

all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel which

he has granted them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his

steadfast love. For he said, Surely they are my people, sons who will not deal falsely;

and he became their Savior . In all their affliction he was afflicted, and THE

ANGEL OF HIS PRESENCE saved them; in his love and in his pity HE

redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. But they

rebelled and grieved his holy Spirit ; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and

himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses his

servant. Where is he who brought up out of the sea the shepherds of his flock? Whereis he who put in the midst of them his holy Spirit , who caused his glorious arm to

go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the

desert, they did not stumble. Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the

LORD gave them rest. So thou didst lead thy people, to make for thyself a glorious

name. Look down from heaven and see, from thy holy and glorious habitation. Whereare thy zeal and thy might? The yearning of thy heart and thy compassion are

withheld from me. For thou art our Father, though Abraham does not know us and

Israel does not acknowledge us; thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer

from of old is thy name.´ Isaiah 63:7-16

The Exodus of Israel is attributed to Yahweh God the Father, the Angel of His Presence (i.e.

the Angel of Yahweh) and the Holy Spirit. Notice again that the Angel is given divineattributes and functions, being referred to as God¶s personal Presence and the Agent of

redemption. This is another clear-cut OT proof of God¶s Triunity.

NISAR:

In the Bible the term God is used primarily as a name for the father. Hence every time

that Jesus Christ in the New Testament refers to "the father", "Our Father", "Your

Father", "My father", "heavenly father" this is a reference to the Lord God or God

Almighty.

RESPONSE:

Nisar is correct that the Father is the Lord God and God Almighty. Yet the NT clearly teachesthat Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also the one true Lord God and God Almighty.

NISAR:

Jesus himself was a pious Jew who called God "Father".



Father in the New Testament is called 'the God of....Jesus Christ'. The Father was theone to whom Jesus prayed. According to Christian theology, Jesus as the God-Man

both prayed to the Father both privately in seclusion and in secret and in public.Father is the one Jesus called "My God."

For Jesus God the Father was his "The God" (the deity). As a Jew he (Jesus) said we

the Jews worship the father; hence The God (divine being) = The Father!

The God of Jesus was not a Trinitarian nor a triune deity. The God of the Jews and

Jesus only had a single one person in the GODHEAD; namely the Father. Hence The

God of Jesus has become one of three.

RESPONSE:

Here, Nisar attacks a strawman since no Trinitarian has ever claimed that Jesus¶ God is the

Trinity. Nisar commits the fallacy of false dilemma since implicit in his statement is theerroneous assumption that ³God´ either refers to the Trinity or to the Father, but it cannot

refer to both. Yet, in Trinitarian usage the term God refers to different things in different

contexts. For instance, when a Trinitarian refers to the God of Christ, he or she means theFather. When a Trinitarian speaks of God being manifested in the flesh, God here refers to

the Lord Jesus Christ becoming man for our salvation. The Trinitarian is not claiming that the

Trinity became man, or that the Father or the Holy Spirit became flesh.

Similar, the Holy Bible also uses the term God in different senses as we have already shown

above and as Nisar himself notes:

In the Bible the term God is used PRI MA RI LY as a name for the father«

Second, Jesus became a member of creation by partaking of human nature:

³Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of

the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of

death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to

lifelong bondage.´ Hebrews 2:14-15

By becoming man, Jesus¶ relationship with the Father took on a new dimension since theFather now became Jesus¶ God. Since Jesus retains his human nature, the Father will forever

remain his God:

³For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in

himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of

man.´ John 5:26-27

Compare:

³But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and

Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, µBehold, I see the heavens

opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God .¶´ Acts 7:55-56



³µThe times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhereto repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in

righteousness by A MAN whom he has appointed, and of this he has given

assurance to all men by raising him from the dead.¶ Now when they heard of the

resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, µWe will hear you again about

this.¶ So Paul went out from among them.´ Acts 17:30-32

³Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven

golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like A SON OF MAN,

clothed with a long robe and with a golden girdle round his breast; his head and his

hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his

feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the

sound of many waters; in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth issued a

sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I

saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying,

µFear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am

alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.¶´ Revelation 1:12-18

³Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like A SON OFMAN, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another

angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud,µPut in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth

is fully ripe.¶ So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and theearth was reaped.´ Revelation 14:14-16

Other verses include:

³Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and

was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and

knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of hisdescendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the

Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, NOR DID HIS FLESHCORRUPTION. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.´ Acts

2:29-32

³Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us

has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their

rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets which are read every sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning him. Though

they could charge him with nothing deserving death, yet they asked Pilate to have him

killed. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down

from the tree, and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and formany days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee toJerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good

news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children

by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, µThou art my Son, today I

have begotten thee.¶ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, NO

MORE TO REUTR N TO CORRUPTION, he spoke in this way, µI will give you

the holy and sure blessings of David.¶ Therefore he says also in another psalm, µThou

wilt not let thy Holy One see corruption.¶ For David, after he had served the counsel



of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and sawcorruption; but he whom God raised up SAW NO CORRUPTION.´ Acts 13:26-

37

³Thus it is written, µThe first man Adam became a living being¶; the last Adam

became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical,

and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; THESECOND MAN is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the

dust; and as is THE MAN of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have

borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of THE MAN of

heaven.´ 1 Corinthians 15:45-49

³Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ

Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as

refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness

of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness

from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his

resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if

possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead« But our commonwealth isin heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our

lowly body to be like HIS GLOR IOUS BODY, by the power which enables himeven to subject all things to himself.´ Philippians 3:8-11, 20-21

³For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the MAN

Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne

at the proper time.´ 1 Timothy 2:5-6

This concludes this part. Part two follow shortly, Lord Jesus willing.

looking at false christian beliefs in... son of god

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