Muslim Christian Dialogue

4. The Doctrine of the Divinity of Jesus Christ

THE DOCTRINE OF THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST

M. Do you believe that Jesus is God?

C. Yes! In the Gospel according to John (1:1): "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

M. We have agreed that a Holy Scripture should not contain contradictions. If there are two conflicting verses, then only one can be true, both can never be true or both are wrong. Remember that?

C. Yes. I remember.

M. If Jesus is God according to John 1:1. Then how many Gods are there?

C. Two at least.

M. Then this is in contradiction with many passages in the Bible: (Deuteronomy 4:39): "... that the Lord, He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath; there is none else"; (Deuteronomy 6:4): The first commandment "Hear, O' Israel: The Lord our God is One Lord"; (Isaiah 43:10-11): "... that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He; before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no saviour"; (Isaiah 44:6): "Thus saith the Lord.... I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God"; (Isaiah 45:18): "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord; and there is none else." From Isaiah 45:18, alone we can conclusively say that God alone was the Creator and no one else, not even Jesus, participated in the creation.

See further: Deuteronomy 4:35; Exodus 8:10; Il Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23; I Chronicles 17:20; Psalms 86:8,89:6 and 113:5; Hosea 13:4; Zechariah 14:9.

C. But these are all in the Old Testament. Is it in the New Testament?

M. Be very careful in rejecting the Old Testament. It is part of your Holy Bible. Read in Mark 12:29 what Jesus himself said: '"And Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O! Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord."

(I Corinthians 8:4): "'... we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but One." (I Timothy 2:5): "For there is ONE GOD, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Look to the expression the man Christ Jesus. Now you can either say that John 1:1 is right and all these other verses are wrong, or the reverse.

C. Difficult to judge!

M. Let us see it from the Qur'anic perspective then, and if it corresponds with what Jesus himself said in the Bible. Jesus is mentioned several times in the Qur'an as a "Word from Allah." In the Qur'an: Surah 3, verse 45: "(Remember) when the angels said: 'O' Mary! Verily Allah gives you the glad tidings of a Word from Him, his name will be Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the hereafter, and of those who are nearest to Allah.'" In the Holy Qur'an Jesus is also called a Word from Allah, i.e. a Word belonging to Allah, corresponding with I Corinthians 3:23: "And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." In John 1:1 it should have been written: ".. And the Word was God's." The mistake could have been in the translation from Aramaic to Greek. In the Greek language Theos is God, but Theou means God's (see Greek dictionary, Greek Bible, or Muhammed in the Bible by Prof. Abdul-Ahad Dawud, former Bishop of Uramiah, page 16). A difference of an apostrophe "s" letter, but you can see the very big consequences. It changes the entire meaning.