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The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus (part 1 of 7): Bible’s writers
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Description: How the Bible’s writers believe that Jesus was not God.
By Shabir Ally
Published on 03 Dec 2007 - Last modified on 16 Oct 2011
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Christians and Muslims both believe in Jesus, love him,
and honor him. They are, however, divided over the question of his divinity.
Fortunately, this difference can be resolved if we refer
the question to both the Bible and the Quran, because, both the Bible and the
Quran teach that Jesus is not God.
It is clear enough to everyone that the Quran denies the
divinity of Jesus, so we do not need to spend much time explaining that.
On the other hand, many people misunderstand the Bible;
they feel that the belief in Jesus as God is so widespread that it must have
come from the Bible. This article shows quite conclusively that the Bible does
not teach that.
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is not God. In the
Bible God is always someone else other than Jesus.
Some will say that something Jesus said or something he
did while on the earth proves that he is God. We will show that the disciples
never came to the conclusion that Jesus is God. And those are people who lived
and walked with Jesus and thus knew first hand what he said and did.
Furthermore, we are told in the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible that the
disciples were being guided by the Holy Spirit. If Jesus is God, surely they
should know it. But they did not. They kept worshipping the one true God who
was worshipped by Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (see Acts 3:13).
All of the writers of the Bible believed that God was
not Jesus. The idea that Jesus is God did not become part of Christian belief
until after the Bible was written, and took many centuries to become part of
the faith of Christians.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, authors of the first three
Gospels, believed that Jesus was not God (see Mark 10:18 and Matthew 19:17).
They believed that he was the son of God in the sense of a righteous person.
Many others too, are similarly called sons of God (see Matthew 23:1-9).
Paul, believed to be the author of some thirteen or
fourteen letters in the Bible, also believed that Jesus is not God. For Paul,
God first created Jesus, then used Jesus as the agent by which to create the
rest of creation (see Colossians 1:15 and 1 Corinthians 8:6). Similar ideas
are found in the letter to the Hebrews, and also in the Gospel and Letters of
John composed some seventy years after Jesus. In all of these writings,
however, Jesus is still a creature of God and is therefore forever subservient
to God (see 1 Corinthians 15:28).
Now, because Paul, John, and the author of Hebrews
believed that Jesus was God’s first creature, some of what they wrote clearly
show that Jesus was a pre-existent powerful being. This is often misunderstood
to mean that he must have been God. But to say that Jesus was God is to go
against what these very authors wrote. Although these authors had this later
belief that Jesus is greater than all creatures, they also believed that he was
still lesser than God. In fact, John quotes Jesus as saying: “...the Father
is greater than I.” (John 14:28). And Paul declares that the head of every
woman is her husband, the head of every man is Christ, and the head of Christ
is God (see 1 Corinthians 11:3).
Therefore, to find something in these writings and claim
that these teach that Jesus is God is to misuse and misquote what those authors
are saying. What they wrote must be understood in the context of their belief
that Jesus is a creature of God as they have already clearly said.
So we see then, that some of the later writers had a
higher view of Jesus, but none of the writers of the Bible believed that Jesus
is God. The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one true God, the one
whom Jesus worshipped (see John 17: 3).
In the rest of this article we will explore the Bible in
more depth, and deal with the passages which are most often misquoted as proofs
of Jesus’ divinity. We will show, with God’s help, that these do not mean what
they are so often used to prove.
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The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus (part 2 of 7): Acts of the Apostles
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Description: Proofs from the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus was not God.
By Shabir Ally
Published on 10 Dec 2007 - Last modified on 16 Dec 2007
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Jesus performed many miraculous wonders, and he without
doubt said a lot of wonderful things about himself. Some people use what he
said and did as a proof that he was God. But his original disciples who lived
and walked with him, and were eyewitnesses to what he said and did, never
reached this conclusion.
The Acts of the Apostles in the Bible details the activity
of the disciples over a period of thirty years after Jesus was lifted up to
heaven. Throughout this period they never refer to Jesus as God. They
continually and consistently use the title God to refer to someone else other
than Jesus.
Peter stood up with the eleven disciples and addressed
the crowd saying:
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did
among you through him, as you yourselves know.” (Acts 2:22).
It was God, therefore, who did the miracles through
Jesus to convince people that Jesus was backed by God. Peter did not see the
miracles as proof that Jesus is God.
In fact, the way Peter refers to God and to Jesus makes
it clear that Jesus is not God. For he always turns the title God away from
Jesus. Take the following references for example:
“God has raised this Jesus...” (Acts 2:32)
“God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both
Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36)
In both passages, the title God is turned away from
Jesus. So why he did this, if Jesus was God?
For Peter, Jesus was a servant of God. Peter said:
“God raised up his servant...” (Acts 3:26).
The title servant refers to Jesus. This is clear from a
previous passage where Peter declared:
“The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our
fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.” (Acts 3:13).
Peter must have known that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
never spoke of a Triune God. They always spoke of God as the only God. Here,
as in Matthew 12:18, Jesus is the servant of God. Matthew tells us that Jesus
was the same servant of God spoken of in Isaiah 42:1. So, according to Matthew
and Peter, Jesus is not God, but God’s servant. The Old Testament repeatedly
says that God is alone (e.g. Isaiah 45:5).
All of the disciples of Jesus held this view. In Acts
4:24 we are told that the believers prayed to God saying:
“...they raised their voices together in prayer to
God. ‘Sovereign Lord,’ they said, ‘you made the heaven and the earth and the
sea, and everything in them.’”
It is clear that the one they were praying to was not
Jesus, because, two verses later, they referred to Jesus as
“...your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.”
(Acts 4:27).
If Jesus was God, his disciples should have said this
clearly. Instead, they kept preaching that Jesus was God’s Christ. We are
told in Acts:
“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house
to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus
is the Christ.” (Acts 5:42).
The Greek word “Christ” is a human title. It means
“Anointed.” If Jesus was God, why would the disciples continually refer to him
with human titles like servant and Christ of God, and consistently use the
title God for the one who raised Jesus? Did they fear men? No! They boldly
preached the truth fearing neither imprisonment nor death. When they faced
opposition from the authorities, Peter declared:
“We must obey God rather than men! The God of our
fathers raised Jesus...” (Acts 5:29-30).
Were they lacking the Holy Spirit? No! They were
supported by the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:3, 4:8, and 5:32). They were simply
teaching what they had learnt from Jesus — that Jesus was not God but, rather,
God’s servant and Christ.
The Quran confirms that Jesus was the Messiah (Christ),
and that he was God’s servant (see the Holy Quran 3:45 and 19:30).
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The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus (part 3 of 7): Jesus is Not All-Powerful, and Not All-Knowing
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Description: The Bible clearly shows that Jesus was not all-powerful and all-knowing as the true God should be.
By Shabir Ally
Published on 17 Dec 2007 - Last modified on 17 Dec 2007
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_001.jpg) Christians and Muslims agree that God is all-powerful and
all-knowing. The Gospels show that Jesus was not all-powerful, and not
all-knowing, since he had some limitations.
Mark tells us in his gospel that Jesus was unable to do
any powerful work in his hometown except few things: “He could not do any
miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” (Mark
6:5). Mark also tells us that when Jesus tried to heal a certain blind
man, the man was not healed after the first attempt, and Jesus had to try a
second time (see Mark 8:22-26).
Therefore, although we hold a great love and respect for
Jesus, we need to understand that he is not the all-powerful God.
Mark’s Gospel also reveals that Jesus had limitations in
his knowledge. In Mark 13:32, Jesus declared that he himself does not know
when the last day will occur, but the Father alone knows that (see also Matthew
24:36).
Therefore, Jesus could not have been the all-knowing
God. Some will say that Jesus knew when the last day will occur, but he chose
not to tell. But that complicates matters further. Jesus could have said that
he knows but he does not wish to tell. Instead, he said that he does not
know. We must believe him. Jesus does not lie at all.
The Gospel of Luke also reveals that Jesus had limited
knowledge. Luke says that Jesus increased in wisdom (Luke 2:52). In Hebrews
too (Hebrews 5:8) we read that Jesus learned obedience. But God’s knowledge
and wisdom is always perfect, and God does not learn new things. He knows
everything always. So, if Jesus learned something new, that proves that he did
not know everything before that, and thus he was not God.
Another example for the limited knowledge of Jesus is
the fig tree episode in the Gospels. Mark tells us as follows: “The next
day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a
fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it,
he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.” (Mark
11:12-13).
It is clear from these verses that the knowledge of
Jesus was limited on two counts. First, he did not know that the tree had no
fruit until he came to it. Second, he did not know that it was not the right
season to expect figs on trees.
Can he become God later? No! Because there is only one
God, and He is God from everlasting to everlasting (see Psalms 90:2).
Someone may say that Jesus was God but he took the form
of a servant and therefore became limited. Well, that would mean that God
changed. But God does not change. God said so according to Malachi 3:6.
Jesus never was God, and never will be. In the Bible,
God declares: “Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.”
(Isaiah 43:10).
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The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus (part 4 of 7): The Greatest Commandment in the Bible and the Quran
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Description: What is the first and greatest of all the commandments in the Bible, which was emphasized by Jesus.
By Shabir Ally
Published on 17 Dec 2007 - Last modified on 23 Dec 2007
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Some will say that this whole discussion over the
divinity of Jesus is unnecessary. They say, the important thing is to accept
Jesus as your personal savior. On the contrary, the Bible’s writers stressed
that, in order to be saved, it is necessary to understand who exactly is God.
Failure to understand this would be to violate the first and greatest of all
the commandments in the Bible. This commandment was emphasized by Jesus, on
whom be peace, when a teacher of the Law of Moses asked him: “‘Of all the
commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered
Jesus, ‘is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength.’” (Mark 12:28-30).
Notice that Jesus was quoting the first commandment from
the book of Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Jesus confirmed not only that this commandment
is still valid, but also that it is the most important of all the
commandments. If Jesus thought that he himself is God, why did not he say so?
Instead, he stressed that God is one. The man who questioned Jesus understood
this, and what the man says next makes it clear that God is not Jesus, for he
said to Jesus: “‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in
saying that God is one and there is no other but him.’” (Mark 12:32).
Now if Jesus was God, he would have told the man so.
Instead, he let the man refer to God as someone other than Jesus, and he even
saw that the man had spoken wisely: “When Jesus saw that he had answered
wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’” (Mark 12:34). If Jesus knew that God is a trinity, why did not he say so? Why did
not he say that God is one in three, or three in one? Instead, he declared
that God is one. True imitators of Jesus will imitate him also in this
declaration of God’s oneness. They will not add the word three where Jesus
never said it.
Does salvation depend on this commandment? Yes, says
the Bible! Jesus made this clear when another man approached Jesus to learn
from him (see Mark 10:17-29). The man fell on his knees and said to Jesus:
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied: “Why do
you call me good? No one is good — except God alone.” (Mark 10:17-18).
By so saying, Jesus made a clear distinction between
himself and God. Then he proceeded with the answer to the man’s question about
how to get salvation. Jesus told him: “If you want to enter life, obey the
commandments.” (Matthew 19:17, also see Mark 10:19).
Remember that the most important of all the
commandments, according to Jesus, is to know God as the only God. Jesus
further emphasized this in the Gospel According to John. In John 17:1, Jesus
lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed, addressing God as Father. Then in verse
three, he said to God as follows: “Now this is eternal life: that they may
know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John
17:3).
This proves beyond doubt that if people want to get
eternal life they must know that the One, whom Jesus was praying to, is the
only true God, and they must know that Jesus was sent by the true God. Some
say that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. But
Jesus said that the Father alone is the only true God. True followers of Jesus
will follow him in this too. Jesus had said that his true followers are those
who hold to his teachings. He said: “If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples.” (John 8:31). His teaching is that people must
continue to keep the commandments, especially the first commandment which
emphasizes that God is alone, and that God should be loved with all our hearts
and all our strengths.
We love Jesus, but we must not love him as God. Today
many love Jesus more than they love God. This is because they see God as a
vengeful person who wanted to exact a penalty from them, and they see Jesus as
the savior who rescued them from the wrath of God. Yet God is our only
savior. According to Isaiah 43:11, God said: “I, even I, am the LORD, and
apart from me there is no savior.” Also God said according to Isaiah
45:21-22: “Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a
righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all
you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”
The Quran confirms the first commandment and addresses
it to all humankind (see the Holy Quran 2:163). And God declares that true
believers love Him more than anyone else or anything else (Quran 2:165).
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The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus (part 5 of 7): Paul Believed That Jesus is not God
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Description: Many people use Paul’s writings as proof that Jesus is God. But this is not fair to Paul, because Paul clearly believed that Jesus is not God.
By Shabir Ally
Published on 24 Dec 2007 - Last modified on 24 Dec 2007
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In his first letter to Timothy, Paul wrote: “I charge
you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these
instructions...” (1 Timothy 5:21).
It is clear from this that the title God applies not to
Christ Jesus, but to someone else. In the following chapter, he again
differentiates between God and Jesus when he says: “In the sight of God, who
gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before
Pontius Pilate made the good confession...” (1 Timothy 6:13).
Paul then went on to speak of the second appearance of
Jesus: “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about
in his own time.” (1 Timothy 6:14-15).
Again, the title God is deliberately turned away from
Jesus. Incidentally, many people think that when Jesus is called “Lord” in the
Bible that this means “God.” But in the Bible this title means master or
teacher, and it can be used for addressing humans (see 1 Peter 3:6).
What is more important, however, is to notice what Paul
said about God in the following passage, which clearly shows that Jesus is not
God: “God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has
seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever.” (1 Timothy 6:15-16).
Paul said that God alone is immortal. Immortal means he
does not die. Check any dictionary. Now, anyone who believes that Jesus died
cannot believe that Jesus is God. Such a belief would contradict what Paul
said here. Furthermore, to say that God died is a blasphemy against God. Who
would run the world if God died? Paul believed that God does not die.
Paul also said in that passage that God dwells in
unapproachable light — that no one has seen God or can see him. Paul knew that
many thousands of people had seen Jesus. Yet Paul said that no one has seen
God, because Paul was sure that Jesus is not God. This is why Paul went on
teaching that Jesus was not God, but that he was the Christ (see Acts 9:22 and
18:5).
When he was in Athens, Paul spoke of God as “The God
who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and
does not live in temples built by hands.” (Acts 17:24). Then he identified
Jesus as “the man he (i.e. God) has appointed.” (Acts 17:31).
Clearly, for Paul, Jesus was not God, and he would be
shocked to see his writings used for proving the opposite of what he believed.
Paul even testified in court saying: “I admit that I worship the God of our
fathers...” (Acts 24:14).
He also said that Jesus is the servant of that God, for
we read in Acts: “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our
fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.” (Acts 3:13).
For Paul, the Father alone is God. Paul said that there
is “one God and Father of all...” (Ephesians 4:6). Paul said again: “...for
us there is but one God, the Father . . . and there is but one Lord, Jesus
Christ...” (1 Corinthians 8:6).
Paul’s letter to the Philippians (Philippians 2:6-11) is
often quoted as a proof that Jesus is God. But the very passage shows that
Jesus is not God. This passage has to agree with Isaiah 45:22-24 where God
said that every knee should bow to God, and every tongue should confess that
righteousness and strength are in God alone. Paul was aware of this passage, for
he quoted it in Romans 14:11. Knowing this, Paul declared: “I kneel before
the Father.” (Ephesians 3:14).
The letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 1:6) says that the
angels of God should worship the Son. But this passage depends on Deuteronomy
32:43, in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. This phrase cannot be
found in the Old Testament used by Christians today, and the Septuagint version
is no longer considered valid by Christians. However, even the Septuagint
version, does not say worship the Son. It says let the Angels of God worship
God. The Bible insists that God alone is to be worshipped: “When the LORD
made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: ‘Do not worship any
other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the LORD,
who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the
one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices.
You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and
commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the
covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship
the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your
enemies.’” (2 Kings 17:35-39).
Jesus, on whom be peace, believed in this, for he also
stressed it in Luke 4:8. And Jesus too fell on his face and worshipped God
(see Matthew 26:39). Paul knew that Jesus worshipped God (see Hebrews 5:7).
Paul taught that Jesus will remain forever subservient to God (see 1
Corinthians 15:28).
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The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus (part 6 of 7): Evidence from the Gospel of John
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Description: A clear proof from the Gospel of John that Jesus was not God.
By Shabir Ally
Published on 31 Dec 2007 - Last modified on 31 Dec 2007
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The Gospel of John, the fourth Gospel, was completed to
its present form some seventy years after Jesus was raised up to heaven. This
Gospel in its final form says one more thing about Jesus that was unknown from
the previous three Gospels — that Jesus was the Word of God. John means that
Jesus was God’s agent through whom God created everything else. This is often
misunderstood to mean that Jesus was God Himself. But John was saying, as Paul
had already said, that Jesus was God’s first creature. In the Book of
Revelation in the Bible, we find that Jesus is: “the beginning of God’s
creation” (Revelation 3:14, also see 1 Corinthians 8:6 and Colossians 1:15).
Anyone who says that the Word of God is a person
distinct from God must also admit that the Word was created, for the Word
speaks in the Bible saying: “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his
works...” (Proverbs 8:22).
This Gospel, nevertheless, clearly teaches that Jesus is
not God. If it did not continue this teaching, then it would contradict the
other three Gospels and also the letters of Paul from which it is clearly
established that Jesus is not God. We find here that Jesus was not co-equal
with the Father, for Jesus said: “...the Father is greater than I.” (John
14:28).
People forget this and they say that Jesus is equal to
the Father. Whom should we believe — Jesus or the people? Muslims and
Christians agree that God is self-existent. This means that He does not derive
his existence from anyone. Yet John tells us that Jesus’ existence is caused
by the Father. Jesus said in this Gospel: “...I live because of the
Father...” (John 6:57).
John tells us that Jesus cannot do anything by his own
when he quotes Jesus as saying: “By myself I can do nothing...” (John 5:30).
This agrees with what we learn about Jesus from other Gospels. In Mark, for
example, we learn that Jesus performed miracles by a power which was not within
his control. This is especially clear from an episode in which a woman is
healed of her incurable bleeding. The woman came up behind him and touched his
cloak, and she was immediately healed. But Jesus had no idea who touched him.
Mark describes Jesus’ actions thus: “At once Jesus realized that power had
gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my
clothes?’” (Mark 5:30). His disciples could not provide a satisfactory
answer, so Mark tells us: “Jesus kept looking around to see who had done
it.” (Mark 5:32). This shows that the power that healed the woman was not
within Jesus’ control. He knew that the power had gone out of him, but he did
not know where it went. Some other intelligent being had to guide that power
to the woman who needed to be healed. God was that intelligent being.
It is no wonder, then, that in Acts of the Apostles we
read that it was God who did the miracles through Jesus (Acts 2:22).
God did extraordinary miracles through others too, but
that does not make the others God (see Acts 19:11). Why, then, is Jesus taken
for God? Even when Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, he had to
ask God to do it. Lazarus’ sister, Martha, knew this, for she said to Jesus: “I
know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” (John 11:22).
Martha knew that Jesus was not God, and John who
reported this with approval knew it also. Jesus had a God, for when he was
about to ascend to heaven, he said: “I am returning to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God.” (John 20:17).
John was sure that no one had seen God, although he knew
that many people had seen Jesus (see John 1:18 and 1 John 4:12). In fact Jesus
himself told the crowds, that they have never seen the Father, nor have they
heard the Father’s voice (John 5:37). Notice that if Jesus was the Father, his
statement here would be false. Who is the only God in John’s Gospel? The
Father alone.
Jesus testified this when he declared that the God of the
Jews is the Father (John 8:54). Jesus too confirmed that the Father alone is
the only true God (see John 17:1-3). And Jesus said to his enemies: “...you
are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from
God.” (John 8:40). According to John, therefore, Jesus was not God, and
nothing John wrote should be taken as proof that he was God — unless one wishes
to disagree with John.
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The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus (part 7 of 7): God and Jesus Are Two Separate Beings
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Description: Many people use certain verses of the Bible as proof that Jesus is God. However, all of these verses, when understood in context, prove the opposite!
By Shabir Ally
Published on 07 Jan 2008 - Last modified on 19 Feb 2008
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For example, in Matthew 9:2, Jesus said to a certain
man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” Because of this, some
say that Jesus must be God since only God can forgive sins. However, if you
are willing to read just a few verses further, you will find that the people “...praised
God, who had given such authority to men.” (Matthew 9:8). This shows that
the people knew, and Matthew agrees, that Jesus is not the only man to receive
such authority from God.
Jesus himself emphasized that he does not speak on his
own authority (John 14:10) and he does nothing on his own authority, but he
speaks only what the Father has taught him (John 8:28). What Jesus did here
was as follows. Jesus announced to the man the knowledge Jesus received from
God that God had forgiven the man.
Notice that Jesus did not say, “I forgive your sins,”
but rather, “your sins are forgiven,” implying, as this would to his Jewish
listeners, that God had forgiven the man. Jesus, then, did not have the power
to forgive sins, and in that very episode he called himself “the Son of Man”
(Matthew 9:6).
John 10:30 is often used as proof that Jesus is God
because Jesus said, “I and the father are one.” But, if you read the
next six verses, you will find Jesus explaining that his enemies were wrong to
think that he was claiming to be God. What Jesus obviously means here is that
he is one with the Father in purpose. Jesus also prayed that his disciples
should be one just as Jesus and the Father are one. Obviously, he was not
praying that all his disciples should somehow merge into one individual (see
John 17:11 and 22). And when Luke reports that the disciples were all one,
Luke does not mean that they became one single human being, but that they
shared a common purpose although they were separate beings (see Acts 4:32). In
terms of essence, Jesus and the Father are two, for Jesus said they are two
witnesses (John 8:14-18). They have to be two, since one is greater than the
other (see John 14:28). When Jesus prayed to be saved from the cross, he said:
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but
yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).
This shows that they had two separate wills, although
Jesus submitted his will to the will of the Father. Two wills mean two
separate individuals.
Furthermore, Jesus is reported to have said: “My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). If one of them forsook
the other, then they must be two separate entities.
Again, Jesus is reported to have said: “Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46). If the spirit of one can be
placed into the hands of another, they must be two separate beings.
In all of these instances, Jesus is clearly subordinate
to the Father. When Jesus knelt down and prayed he obviously was not praying
to himself (see Luke 22:41). He was praying to his God.
Throughout the New Testament, the Father alone is called
God. In fact, the titles “Father” and “God” are used to designate one
individual, not three, and never Jesus. This is also clear from the fact that
Matthew substituted the title “Father” in the place of the title “God” in at
least two places in his Gospel (compare Matthew 10:29 with Luke 12:6, and
Matthew 12:50 with Mark 3:35). If Matthew is right in doing so, then the
Father alone is God.
Was Jesus the Father? No! Because Jesus said: “And
do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in
heaven.” (Matthew 23:9). So Jesus is not the Father, since Jesus was
standing on the earth when he said this.
The Quran seeks to bring people back to the true faith
that was taught by Jesus, and by his true disciples who continued in his
teaching. That teaching emphasized a continued commitment to the first
commandment that God is alone. In the Quran, God directs Muslims to call
readers of the Bible back to that true faith. God have said in the Quran:
Say: “O people of the
Book (Christians and Jews)! Come to a word that is just between us and you:
that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall associate no partners
with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords beside God.” (Quran,
3:64)
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