Muslim: One of the principle beliefs In the religion of Islam to believe in all prophets and Jesus (PBUH - Praise Be Unto Him). Muslims believe in all the prophets and holy books that Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) has given to us.
FCT: – We are glad that Muslims accept all the holy books. This belief gives us a great deal of common ground to stand upon together.
Muslim: - Christians say “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” They are giving into a polytheistic belief. This is a clear deviation. Allah (May He be glorified and exalted) says in His holy Qur’an ‘say. He Allah, is one.” (Al-IKHLAS: 1) Jesus says in the Qur'an, "Say not three." Belief in the Trinity did not exist in the beginning of Christianity. It destroys the basis of monotheism. The Bible has been altered fraudulently and has fabricated this belief. Paul originated doctrines that give deity to Jesus and he is the one who introduced belief in the Trinity.
FCT: -First of all, the “Three”- God, the Messiah and the Spirit of God are mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. They are also acknowledged in the Qur'an. Biblical Trinitarianism is based on the fact that all "Three" - God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit are operational simutaneously. Trinitarianism does not teach that Jesus is the Father, not does it say that the Father Himself is plural. However, the wording of the definition of God as – “One God who eternally exists as three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,” can unfortuanately lead Muslims to wrongly conclude that Christians are "polytheists." We need to make a distinction from the wording of a definition and the actual doctrine.
The Apostle Paul was a Jew and a monotheist who taught that, God is one – (Galatians 3:20). There is none other God but one – (I Corinthians 8:4). Jesus said God is Spirit (singular). God is one Spirit, therefore, "Say not Three." And because God is unlimited and omnipresent, He is “diverse in His operations” (I Corinthians 12:4-6 King James Version). There is a big difference between a God who is “three” and One unlimited, omnipresent God who can operate as three simutaneously, or three million as He so chooses, or be in more than one place at the same time because nothing is impossible to Him, as I’m sure you will concur.
Muslim: In Islam, Jesus (PBUH) is one of the greatest prophets of Allah (may he be glorified and exalted). Allah (may he be glorified and exalted) instructs Muslims to believe in Jesus (PBUH) and the unaltered holy bible that was sent to him and all the other prophets that Allah (may he be glorified and exalted) has sent us. Jesus was born fatherless from the Virgin Mary. Jesus (PBUH) was created just as Adam (PBUH) was created without a father. As a matter of fact, today’s medical science, eases the understanding of this situation. Allah (may he be glorified and exalted) is bereft of human qualities and having a child. God had no partner and he did not beget a son.
FCT: Christians have not at any time associated God with “a partner.” This is blasphemy. While Jesus said that He was the Son of God (John 10:36) and the term is used fifty times in the New Testament, you must understand that He did not mean this in any human sense, and this is where a great deal of confusion has arisen. The Qur’an says that God “begets not, nor was He begotten.” (Al-Ikhlas:3). “Warn those who say, Allah has begotten a son.” (Ayah 4-5 of Sura al-Kahf).
We are dealing here with the issue of inadequate language. There are simply no words that I am aware of in either the Hebrew, or Greek languages to describe a supernatural “birth”. We are limited to “begotten” and "conception" because they are the only words we have and unfortunately they are used to describe human births as well as Jesus’ miraculous beginning as a man.
His birth through Mary is as the Qur’an describes – “And Mary the daughter of Imram, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our Spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His books, and was one of the devout (servants).” (At- Tahrim:12). Any Christian would agree with this description. The Qur'an also states in Sura 21:91 “And we blew in her from Our Spirit, and we made her and her son both ayatollahs for all the worlds.”
Jesus’ soul, being or “person” was placed into Mary’s body supernaturally. His “sonship” begins originally from his relationship with God prior to His incarnation. The term “sons of God” is used to describe the angels (Job 1:6) and is the term that is used in the New Testament to describe people who have become believers, in God through faith in His Messiah, Jesus, (Romans 8:14, 16 I John 3:1). These are spiritual sons through spiritual “adoption” (Galatians 4:5, Ephesians 1:5, John 1:12) and God prophesized of them in the Old Testament Scriptures.
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth – (Isaiah 43:6).
Even to them will I give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: for I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off – ( Isaiah 56:5).
And will be a Father to you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty – (II Corinthians 6:18).
Adam is also referred to as “The son of God,” because he too had his beginning from God – (Luke 3:38).
While the Scriptures tell us specifically that Jesus is not an angel, (Hebrews 1: 1-18) He is referred to as the “only” son. “Begotten” in John 3:16 is monogenes in the Greek which means only. Jesus is the firstborn (Colossians 1:15) the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18) the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29) (sons of God who have been resurrected from the dead) and the “beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14).
The early Christian church believed, that while Jesus always pre-existed within the Father as the essence of His being, there was a time when his soul, or person was brought forth or “birthed” from God’s substance or being. Some of these Christians included John Wesley, Justin Martyr and John Calvin. God says regarding Jesus, - You are my beloved Son, this day I have begotten you (Psalm 2:7, Hebrews 1:5). The word begotten here means –“to be born”. The word begotten is used to differentiate between something that is created out of nothing and that which is “born,” that which is brought forth from a preexisting substance.
Jesus person or soul, was “begotten” or brought forth from the pre-existing substance of God’s Spirit prior to His incarnation and it is in this sense that He is referred to as God’s Son. He is the “only” Son as He is the only Son that was brought forth directly from God’s being; everything else was created by God through Him (Hebrews 1:2, Colossians 1:16).
You mentioned that Jesus is like Adam. You are correct. Jesus’ beginning is a parallel of the creation of the first man. Adam was brought forth, birthed or begotten from the preexisting substance of the earth. God breathed into him the breath of life and Adam became a living soul (Genesis 2:7) and all subsequent life proceeded from the first man. Jesus’ person, soul or being was brought forth from the preexisting substance of God’s Spirit prior to His incarnation, and God created everything through Him by His Spirit.
God gave Adam life with His breath. In the Hebrew this word is nashamah which is associated with the giving of life to a human soul. This is quite different from the Hebrew word that is used to describe God's Holy Spirit which is Ruwach. The Q’uran states that Jesus is given life by the Spirit of God not the breath, indicating that Jesus' life as a man began directly by God's Holy Spirit, thereby making Jesus' Spirit or the life force that animated His soul the Holy Spirit of God. This is why Muhammad called Him Spirit of God - Ruh Allah; Ruh from the Hebrew word Ruwach and Allah from the Arabic word for God.
Muslim: Jesus (PBUH)never said, “Acquire Me as your Lord.” He said, “Verily Allah! He is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him. That is the straight path.” (Az-Zukhruf: 64). Christians say that Jesus (PBUH)is God.
The Christians are wrongly accepting Jesus (PBUH) as God. The Christians have gone astray by making a creation, their creator. Can a human be a God?
FCT: No, a human cannot be a God, but God is unlimited and can be in a human by His Spirit, because nothing is impossible to Him, as I am sure you will agree.
The Qur’an says that Jesus has the ability to create –
Surah 22:6: Only Allah can create life.
Surah 5:110: Jesus takes clay and creates a bird (life) Therefore, Jesus only shows the same characteristics of Allah creating life.
Jesus can create by the Spirit of God that was in Him. As I mentioned previously, this is why the Qur’an calls Jesus Ruh Allah, “Spirit of God,” and Kelimetullah, the Word of Allah (Surah 4:171, Surah 3:45.)
Jesus never said that He was “The Father”. He said, and we are instructed by His own words to believe that the Father God was in Him by His Spirit (John 10:38) and this is in the sense that John 1:1 says God was with Him and “was” him. Jesus said that the Father was in Him, and the miraculous works were done by the Father through Him
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works - (John 14:10).
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know - (Acts 2:22).
Jesus’ human aspect is always subordinate to the Father throughout the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul, recognized this distinction by addressing God as “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ- (II Corinthians 11:31). Jesus said to His disciples after the resurrection that He was returning to “My God and Your God” (John 20:17). But when the apostle Philip said to Jesus “show us the Father” the Spirit of the Father that was in Ruh Allah said, “Have I been such a long time with you Philip and you have not known Me? and Jesus said, He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), because the Father was in Jesus by His Spirit. In the book of Revelation Jesus refers to God as His God several times, “Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God” – (Revelation 3:12), but in the first chapter He refers to himself as the God, the – “Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” –( Revelation 1:8). In the book of the prophet Daniel, we see Jesus, the Son of Man being brought before God, the Ancient of Days, - I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him (Daniel 7:13) - then in verse 22 we see the Ancient of Days as Jesus coming back to earth the second time supernaturally at the time of the end as prophesied - I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; (Verse 21) until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
The Father is united to the Son by His Spirit and this is why Jesus said, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). It is a relational oneness, as God’s spirit is one with Jesus’ soul. A man cannot separate his spirit from his soul. And this is why Jesus is referred to as the Image of the invisible God and His unapproachable Light – (Colossians 1:15, I Timothy 6:6).
The Arabic word for Jesus is “Isea”. This word is a possible derivative from the word “Ishi” (pronounced “eesh”). It is from the prophet Hosea, (Hosea 2:16). In the context of the situation, God is calling His adulterous people back into a relationship with Him. God says “And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me Ishi." God says that you will call Him Ishi which means husband, a man. Jesus is referred to as the bridegroom in the Scriptures, (Matthew 9:15, 25:1, Mark 2:19, John 3:29) so we can see through the prophet Hosea a time when God will be called a man, a husband, a bridegroom, for the purpose of reconciling His people to Himself. We see this fulfilled in Isea, Jesus, Ruh Allah, the Spirit of God, the prophesied Messiah.
Again, Jesus has the title in the Qur’an Word of God. This is also acknowledged by the Apostle John In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God –(John 1:1). Jesus is the visible word, the revealer and the visible image of the invisible God who is Spirit and unapproachable light.
Muslim: The distorted Bible contains many references on the prophethood of Jesus (PBUH): After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” John 6:14.
All the verses and similar ones mentioned in the Bible, clearly show that Jesus (PBUH) is a prophet, a messenger sent by God. But this is contradicted by all the verses stating that Jesus is the Son of God. These are two opposing ideologies. This clearly shows that the Bible has been distorted. The Holy Qu’ran clearly explains that Jesus is a prophet.
FCT: The term used in the Scriptures that designates Jesus as a prophet is Son of Man. It was a common term used to designate a prophet of God. A prophet of God is a messenger of God and Jesus was definitely God’s messenger. The writer of the book of Hebrews says, God who at various times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom He also made the worlds – (Hebrews 1:1,2).
The term “Son of God” designates Jesus’ role as Messiah, redeemer of mankind, the “second Adam.”
The term Son of Man and Son of God are not contradictions but different titles for Jesus’ two functions, one as prophet and the other as Messiah. We know that the Qur’an also calls Jesus Messiah, and Prophet, recognizing both titles, and as a Prophet Jesus viewed Himself as a servant.
The Messiah does by no means disdain that He should be a servant of Allah..-(An-Nisa: 172).
“Nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done” – (Luke 22:42).
“Even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” – (Matthew 20:28).
Muslim: Christians do not believe that there are any prophets after Jesus. We believe that Muhammad is the last prophet and there would be no more after him.
FCT: Christians acknowledge that there are other prophets after Jesus, there were prophets operating in the church - And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; - (Ephesians 4:11). But Jesus is designated as the only Messiah and there would be no other Messiah after Him.
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect –( Matthew 24:22, 23).
There would only be one Redeemer of mankind.
As we mentioned previously, Jesus is a parallel to Adam. To understand Jesus’ role as Messiah, and why He was sent to us, we must return to Adam’s creation.
In Genesis God creates Adam from the earth and breathes into Him “the Breath of Life” and Adam became a living soul – (Genesis 2:7). This Breath of Life that we all inherit from Adam was contaminated by Adam’s sin. When he disobeyed God in the garden, he gave Satan the right to afflict us through our lineages and the result is sin, sickness, death and the disease of human rebellion against God.
Muslim: But we Muslims do not believe that Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) is unjust. I was not in Eden!
FCT: I know you don’t understand why sin should come upon everyone because of the disobedience of one man, but are you assuming that if you were in Eden the outcome would have been different?
Listen, in a sense we all were in the Garden. The Bible says that Eve is the mother of all living – Genesis 3:20. Scientists have traced the DNA of every human being on this planet back to one woman who had lived in northern Africa. In a way, God is saying we all have the same feet of clay.
In His omniscience, God can see the future and He sees you. He knows every detail of your construction, emotionally and physically. He can see you in Eden faced with the same temptations and He can see you making the same choices because you are made from the same dust that birthed Adam.
God can see your shame and humiliation as you realized that you were naked and He watched you attempt to cover yourself with leaves that would ultimately dry up and blow away, because ‘we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away '– Isaiah 64:6.
In God’s compassion He made the first sacrifice and clothed you Himself, with the soft, warm skins - Genesis 3:21.
Death entered through disobedience and through death mankind would be redeemed, as God speaks the very first prophecies of the coming and purpose of the Messiah – that He would be born of a woman and be bruised by satan who in turn would be bruised by Messiah – Genesis 3:15.
Adam was forgiven and covered by a sacrifice that was instigated by God. God was saying, ‘The sacrifice I make will cover you.’ The covering that Adam made from leaves was insufficient. Adam’s own efforts to cover himself would fail. Only God can cover sin His way by sacrifice.
Adam would still have to live with the consequences of his sin as we all do to this day. The ground was cursed (Genesis 3:17) he would obtain his bread by labor and he would experience death as God said.
We cannot negate this account. Moses was called, not by an angel, but directly by God Himself. God wrote this account through His prophet and to disregard, or discredit what God has written by Moses is to insult The Lord, and I know it is not your intention to do so.
Now Adam’s soul is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) – which has eternal properties. God originally designed the human soul to live forever. It cannot literally die, but the death referred to in the Scriptures means a total separation from God and the paradise of His presence. When sin entered, the fellowship that Adam shared with God prior to his fall was severed by his disobedience and humans began to experience death. The soul cannot die and remains earthbound and is unable to ascend into God’s presence.
God loves His creation and wanted to restore the fellowship that was lost and make a way for the human soul to return to Him after the body dies. In other words, the contaminated “breath of life” would have to be replaced. God would provide a new sanctified “breath” a new holy source of animation for our souls that would enable our beings to enter God’s presence after death.
The Qur’an says that when Jesus’ soul was placed in Mary’s body, God’s Spirit was breathed in - “We breathed into her body of our spirit” (At- Tahrim:12). When Jesus was born, he was born like any man with a body, which was Mary’s contribution, a soul and a spirit. Souls are created by God. - For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls which I have made (Isaiah 57:16). As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul (Jeremiah 38:16) - and formed in the body - Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee – (Jeremiah 1: 5).
(This is why God is referred to as “The Father” in the Scriptures. Each soul begins from God, He knows us, and forms us within the womb by the loving hands of His Spirit. This is why He has commanded us, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13).
God animated Adam’s soul with the “breath of life”. The word “breath” as it is used in Genesis 2:7 here in the Hebrew is nashamah which is associated with the giving of life to the human soul. –And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
There is a distinction that the Scriptures make between the spirit, the “breath of life” that gave life to Adam and the quickening or life giving spirit that gave life to Jesus. Jesus said, “for as the Father has life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26). “And so it is written, the first Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening – (Greek, zoopoieo – life giving spirit (I Corinthainas 15:45).
Jesus said, “It is the Spirit that quickens (gives life) (John 6:63). God says in referring to the Messiah, “I have put My Spirit upon Him” (Isaiah 42:1).
Jesus said that these verses in the Old Testament refer to Himself – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken –hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1).
God’s Holy Spirit animated or gave life to Jesus’ soul. He was not given life by Adam’s contaminated “breath”, thus Jesus’ soul was born sinless and perfect. While His soul was 100% human, His spirit is 100% Divine. He is Ruh Allah, spirit of God as the Qur’an says.
In the Hebrew Scriptures it is said that - For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11). The Spirit is life (John 6:63) and this life is in the blood of Jesus. Blood carries oxygen throughout the human body. It carries the “breath”.
Jesus’ purpose as Messiah is to impart this breath to us and replace the sin contaminated breath of life inherited from Adam with a new holy source of animation for our souls that will enable us to enter God’s presence when we die.
Jesus was on a rescue mission instigated by God for the redemption of the human race. The whole purpose of Jesus existence was to “destroy the works of the devil” - He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil - ( I John 3:8).
Jesus was manifested to eradicate the control and authority over the lives of the people that had been given to satan through Adam’s disobedience. It is God’s purpose to restore the fellowship he had with Adam (mankind) that was broken by sin, and annihilate the works of the devil, sin and death, and bestow eternal life upon all who believe in Jesus as Messiah.
As Moses was the mediator between God and Abraham’s seed, so Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant. This is why He was named “Yeshua” which is Hebrew for Joshua. Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land symbolizing the Old Covenant. Joshua led the people to the New Land instead.
Muslim: We know that the Old Testament Scriptures prophesize of Jesus (PBUH). We do not deny that.
FCT: Okay, so to further understand “Yeshua’s” role as mediator we must return to the Old Testament. These are some the things in the Scriptures that the first century church used to explain who Jesus is and why He came. His mission is foreshadowed and prophezied throughout the entire Old Testament. There are seven major foreshadows that I will outline here.
1. Eden – (Genesis 1, 2, 3). We mentioned this one previously. Adam sins, God forgives his sin by making a sacrifice to cover him, thus saying Adam’s ability to cover himself is not sufficient, nor acceptable to God. It would be God’s plan that would be instigated for the atonement of mankind. God covers Adam and tells him the plan – And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise His heel – (Genesis 3:15).
2. Cain and Abel – (Genesis 4:3-5). Cain brings God an offering of his labors from ground that God had cursed. Cain’s offering represents man’s efforts to please God, and is rejected. Abel brings an offering from the flock representing the sacrifice God made in the garden to cover Adam. Abel’s offering is accepted.
3. Abraham and Isaac – (Genesis 22:1-18). God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son. Just as Abraham is about to plunge in the knife, an angel intervenes and a substitution offering, a ram is provided in Isaac’s place and his life is spared. Abraham says, “God will provide Himself a lamb,” the sacrifice, paralleling this incident back to Eden again – only God can cover sin.
4. The Pass Over – (Exodus 12). God tells the Jews to put blood on the doorposts of their houses to protect them from the angel of death and God will “pass over” them and their lives will be spared, thus instigating the Passover sacrifice and the blood of a lamb is shed to save the people. God spares from death again by a sacrifice that He instigates.
5. The Wilderness – (Numbers 21:8, 9). In the wilderness, the people are dying from serpent bites. God tells Moses to make a brazen serpent on a pole and instructs him to tell the people to look upon it and they will not die. Jesus uses this analogy to apply it to Himself and His mission – And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life – (John 3:14,15).
6. The law and the Tabernacle – (Exodus 20-32). God gave Moses the Ten Commandments written by God’s finger on stone tablets. At the same time Moses was also given the plan for the tabernacle which provided for the forgiveness of the sins of the people by the sprinkling of blood upon the mercy seat. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11). God had already made a provision for His people for the forgiveness of sins, because God knew His people would not be able to keep all the law. Before Moses could deliver the commandments to the people, they had already made the golden calf and had broken the first commandment “Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me.” Moses broke the stone tablets upon which God had written His word to symbolize man’s inability to maintain his own righteousness. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah to come who would “sprinkle many nations” (Isaiah 52:15) with His blood for their redemption which would replace the tabernacle sacrifices.
7. Isaiah 53 – There are over three hundred scriptures concerning the Messiah throughout the Old Testament. The fifty-third chapter of the prophet Isaiah contains some of the most specific concerning the plan that was originally instigated in Eden. – But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed –Isaiah 53:5. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin…(Isaiah 5:10).
God gave us the Scriptures contained in the Bible, including the Gospels, as the Qur’an says. The Old Testament outlines the plan and purpose of the Messiah, the New Testament contains the fulfillment.
Muslim: But we believe that the Scriptures in the Bible have been corrupted.
FCT:
The Qur'an says that the word of God cannot be changed, or corrupted because it is kept by the power of God. -
"It is the law of Allah which hath taken course aforetime. Thou wilt not find for the law of Allah aught of power to change" (Qur'an 48:23).
And the Qur'an also affirms that the Torah, Psalms and the Gospel are also God's word, therefore, they cannot be changed or altered. -
"We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and a light" ... (Q5:44).
"And already have we written in the Psalms after the reminder that the earth shall my righteous servants inherit" (Q21:105).
"Subsequent to them, we sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the previous scripture, the Torah. We gave him the Gospel, containing guidance and light, and confirming the previous scriptures, the Torah, and augmenting its guidance and light, and to enlighten the righteous" 5:46).
The words of the prophet Isaiah were also found in the Dead Sea scrolls and the translation is exactly the same as our copies. While there are some translation errors in the New Testament, we know what they are and in most cases do not affect the original meaning of the texts.
The Scriptures were written by forty different authors on three continents. There is a reason why it was done this way. Although there are some errors, they in no way interfere or change the basic redemption message contained in its pages. All these authors were receiving their instructions from One Source. When put together they paint One Picture. It is as if someone dropped a picture puzzle and all the pieces land in place. Even though the authors many times did not know each other and were separated by time and distance, it proves, especially to those who do not believe that there is a God that the Bible came together by a Divine Source.
There are some translation errors, we have the manuscripts and all four thousand of them have been diligently compared over the years by many scholars. There has been no deliberate corruption of the message it contains, for as the Qur'an says, God would not allow this. There are just a few minor translation errors. For example, the verse in I John 1:9 is not found in any of the earliest manuscripts and did not show up until the sixteenth century in only two manuscripts. It is thought to be a copyist error. Sometimes the scribes would make explanatory notes in the margins and in this case they were inadvertently copied into the text.
In this passage the Apostle John is talking about that which bears witness to Messiah – “The Spirit, the water and the blood” – (I John 5:8). The verse regarding the Trinity is not found in the early documents as we mentioned, so John is not talking about the Trinity being that which bears witness to Christ.
The apostle John was an eyewitness to Jesus’ crucifixion. He saw the centurion pierce Jesus’ side and he saw what he thought was water pour out with the blood – (John 19:34,3)5. John actually saw the clear fluid from the heart’s pericardial sac. Jesus was dead at this point. But John saw this fluid as water mixed with blood and immediately grasped the parallel with the Spirit, the Spirit water, the “Breath” the oxygen that is contained within the blood of Jesus, being released through His wounds for us.
Immediately after Jesus’ resurrection He appeared to His disciples and “breathed” upon them His Spirit, the Spirit of the Father. The word breathed here is only used one other time in the scriptures and that is when God breathed the breath of life into Adam. Here Jesus is replacing the sin contaminated breath of life with His breath, the Holy Spirit and our souls, through faith in His atonement, are cleansed, and forgiven. And as His spirit embraces our souls, when we die this new life within us will carry our beings into God’s holy presence and eternity.
Jesus has become our High priest replacing the priest’s office in the Old Testament. There no longer needs to be any more sacrifices, for Messiah has made one sacrifice for all time.
Messiah Jesus is the fulfillment of the plan God instigated from the beginning of time for the redemption of His creation. The God who said He would be in us and we would be his spiritual sons and daughters is now in us by His Spirit through Jesus, His Messiah, through repentance and faith in the atonement.
Muslim: Christians have deviated so much with their excessive elevation of Jesus (PBUH) that they ignore God and worship Jesus instead: O people of the Scripture! (Jews and Christians) Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of Allah aught but the truth…” An-Nisa: 171
FCT: Jesus is the “mediator” of the New Covenant. - But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises (Hebrews 8:6). And for this cause He is the mediator of the New Testament that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15).
Christians, Messianic Jews, and Messianic Muslims worship God through Jesus as the apostle Paul said, - “I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25)-
…but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement –(Romans 5:11).
For through Him we both have access by One Spirit unto the Father – (Ephesians 2:18).
By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God – (Hebrews 13:15).
We worship God through Jesus Christ and God responds back to us through our priest and intercessor, our mediator of the New Covenant.
God supplies our needs by Jesus Christ – (Colossians 1:19).
God speaks by Jesus Christ – (Hebrews 1:2).
God judges by Jesus Christ – (Romans 2:16).
We worship God the Father, through Jesus because like the first century church, we recognized that the Father is in Jesus by His Spirit. In Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). We cannot be connected to God without the Messiah. He alone removes our sins, replaces the contaminated breath of life we’ve inherited from Adam with the Holy Spirit and makes intimate fellowship with God possible.
When Jesus’ role as intercessor and mediator is completed, then the Scriptures tell us that God will be all in all. - For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power – (I Corinthians 15: 21-24).
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all in all –( I Corinthians 15:28).
But Jesus and the Father are always one and will always be our light.
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. – (Revelation 21:23).
Muslim: Jesus prophezied of Muhammad. The term used to refer to the “Spirit of Truth” of whose coming Jesus (PBUH) spoke is “Paraklate”. The direct translation of the word paraklate into Arabic is Ahmad, hence this refers to our prophet Muhammad.
FCT: The Holy Spirit that Jesus said would come to us, the paraklete in the Greek which means “advocate” is God’s Spirit and not a man. This comforter, the Holy Spirit will be in us – something a man cannot do. Jesus explains it this way –
“The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you. – (John 14:26).
“Have I been such a long time with you” – (John 14:9). (Here Jesus is referring to the Spirit of the Father that is in Him being present with His disciples at that moment as He is speaking) – …and shall be in you (John 14:17). The Holy Spirit which is “the Breath” will be placed in them for their sanctification.
Jesus said – “I will come to you”(John 14:18). The Father’s Holy Spirit and Jesus’ Spirit were viewed by the First Century Apostles as one.
…the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His (Romans 8:9).
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father – (Galatians 4:6).
And if Christ be in you… (Romans 8:10) -
if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you -( Romans 8:11).
We can see that these Scriptures are obviously not talking about Muhammad. He obviously cannot be the Holy Spirit for a man cannot be in another man.
If Paraklete means Ahmad in Arabic, this is a reference to Muhammad’s role as an advocate for his people by delivering them from idolatry. Because of Muhammad you now know that there is only one God. He delivered you from believing in over three hundred gods to one. That’s quite an accomplishment. Also, because of the Qur’an, you know the name of Isea (Jesus).
While Muhammad is obviously not the Holy Spirit, he was raised up to deliver his people from idolatry which he did, and to introduce them to Jesus and the Gospels. We know that the Qur’an says that God gave us the Gospels. Al –Maida 6:68 – “The Gospel and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord…” And the Gospel is this - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – (Romans 6:23).
Muhammad said that he could not save anyone from hellfire. - “Save yourselves from hellfire, as I cannot save you from Allah’s punishment... Nor do I know what will be done with me or you…” (Sahih Bukhari Vol. 4, book 51, #16 and The Koran: Sura 46:9).
Muhammad said Jesus is a prophet and prophets cannot lie. Jesus said that He could save us from hellfire – I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me – (John 14:6).
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life – (John 3:16).
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. – (John 10: 27, 28).
Because of Jesus a people that knew him not would be able to know God, and the Gentles would come to God - And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious –(Isaiah 11:10).
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth - (Isaiah 49:6).
As prophezied, Jesus was to bring the Gentiles into the covenant God made with Abraham by the atonement, which he did. And God will gather all those in Messiah to Him who will include all those who believe the Gospel, including Messianic Jews, (Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah and accept God’s plan of redemption) and also Messianic Muslims.
I hope you are beginning to see the plan in all of this and how Jesus’ role and Muhammad’s purpose fit in – The Old Testament was designed to prophesize the coming Messiah, the New Testament chronicles the fulfillment of those prophecies cumulating in Jesus. This is the purpose of the Bible. While God promised to make a great nation out of Ishmael’s seed, which He did, Ishmael’s descendents fell into gross idolatry. The Messiah had to be born in a purely monotheistic lineage in order to point the way to the one true God - And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent – (John 17:3). The people of Abraham’s lineage were the only ones in the ancient world who maintained the belief in only one God. Jesus is the second Adam and His lineage is traced all the way back in a direct connection to the first Adam following a line of pure monotheistic belief (Luke 3: 23-38). When the Jews began to deviate, God dealt with them severely because it was mandatory that the Messiah be born from monotheistic believers, in order to point the way to the only true God who created the heavens and the earth.
Muhammad was raised up specifically to deliver Ishmael’s seed from idolatry and bring them knowledge of Jesus.
satan does not want either Jews or Muslims to enter the covenant and seeks to distort and confuse the doctrines. He will try to destroy any doctrine that will destroy him. Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil through God’s chosen plan.
Muslim: But we do not believe that Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) would humiliate His prophet on the cross. The Qur’an says that Jesus (PBUH) did not die on the cross and He was not crucified.
FCT: The Qur'an actually does say that Jesus did die - if it is read in Classic Arabic, the language it was written in originally. Because that language has changed so significantly, (the word in the Qur'an today for "virgin" was actually "fruit" in the original,) the translation of the Ayah you are referring to- Surah 4:157, has a completely different meaning.
The classic Arabic version of Surah 4:157, declares that Jesus did die on the cross. And in the following Ayah, Surah 4:158, Muhammad tells us that God raised up Jesus to Himself (Surah 4:158.)
This is the current rendering of Surah 4:157 -
And their saying: "We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, Mary's son, God's messenger, and they have not killed him, and they have not crucified him/placed him on a cross, and but (it) resembled/was vague/was doubtful to them, and that those who disagreed/disputed in (about) him (are) in (E) doubt/suspicion from him, (there is) no knowledge for them with (about) him, except following the assumption , and they have not killed him surely/certainly.
The translation from the original Classic Arabic version reads -
وقولهم إنا قتلنا المسيح عيسى ابن مريم رسول
الله وما قتلوه وما صلبوه ولكن شبه لهم وإن
الذين اختلفوا فيه لفي شك منه ما لهم به من علم
إلا اتباع الظن وما قتلوه يقينا
Waqawlihim inna qatalna almaseeha AAeesa ibna maryama rasoola Allahi wama qataloohu wama salaboohu walakin shubbiha lahum wa-inna allatheena ikhtalafoo feehi lafee shakkin minhu ma lahum bihi min AAilmin illa ittibaAAa alththanni wama qataloohu yaqeenan
4.157 And their saying: "Certainly we killed The Messiah, Jesus, Mary's son, “Allah's” messenger”, and that they killed him, and that they crucified him, and certainly they alike, and certainly whom they followed in Him, certainly they (are) not in doubt from Him, on account of Him, from knowledge, except to follow the belief, and that they surely killed him.
(Note: Actually it was our sins that crucified Jesus - "He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities" - (Isaiah 53:5) and the Gentiles hammered the nails.
The following Ayah, Surah 4:158 reads -
But God rose him (Jesus) to Him, and God was/is glorious/mighty, wise/judicious.
Here in these two Ayahs, Surah 4:157 and 4:158, Muhammad is sharing the Gospel message, that Jesus died on the cross and that God raised Him up to Himself, which Muhammad obviously believed or he would not have recommended his followers to read the Gospel as from the Lord. - "The Gospel and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord"...Al-Maida 6:68.
You mentioned previously that the Holy Bible has been corrupted. Muslims say this to explain the apparent contradictions in the Qur'an, when as we can see, many of the contradictions are due to the fact the language has changed.
Also regarding the fact that Jesus was crucified, we have to consider that the ancient secular historian Josephus recorded Jesus’ death and we have to remember that the Gospel accounts of Matthew and John are eyewitness accounts.
As far as God not humiliating His prophet on the cross, we also have to remember that the Apostle John said God is love -
(I John 4:16). As a limited human being, can you comprehend the depths of God’s love? Of course not; it would be as if we were all ants trying to comprehend an enormous mountain rising up into the heavens for infinity.
If a human father would die to rescue his child, or protect his family, how much more would God be willing to make a sacrifice of One He loves to save us, the creation He loves? Can a love so enormous, risk an instant of humiliation, compared to eternity in order to accomplish the rescue of multitudes of souls? Would the One who hates pride (Proverbs 16:5) and dwells with the humble and contrite, (Isaiah 57:15) who promises that it is the meek who will inherit the earth, (Matthew 5:5) who resists the proud and gives grace to the humble, (1 Peter 5:5) whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways, (Isaiah 55:8) devise a plan to counteract satan’s pride and arrogance and defeat him with the exact opposite - one mighty act of submission and humility? Would not God choose to humiliate the devil with the glorious victory of a death defying resurrection with eternal life giving salvation in its wake as a free gift to all who believe? God chose to humiliate and destroy the works of the devil by using death, the very thing that the devil uses to destroy God's creation.
Is it impossible for God to accomplish our redemption with an act that human thinking would label as impossible? I believe that with God all things are possible.
We've tried our best to answer your concerns and clear up some of the misunderstandings. But the best way is to ask God yourself. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you by His Spirit through Messiah Jesus. If a Muslim can believe that Jesus is a prophet and still be a Muslim, then why can't you accept Jesus' other offices as Messiah, Redeemer, High Priest and Intercessor and still be a Muslim, a Messianic Muslim? Jews who accept God's provison for the redemption of their souls still remain Jews, Messianic Jews, and they continue to practice the tenents of their faith, as acts of worship, free from the bondage of fear of death. They no longer fear not being accepted by God when they die because of Jesus and what He accomplished for us all through His death and resurrection. If you are sincerely seeking God's truth, He will answer you, because He loves you.
Blessings to you.