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CONGRUITIES AND INCONGRUITIES BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND THE QUR'AN |
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THE SONS OF GOD
« Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5/9) But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.»(Matthew 5/44,45)
In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Jesus speaks how one becomes a son of God. The same thing holds true in the Old Testament and the Psalms. The expression 'Son of God' does not mean a deified superman. It is an attribute that one assumes as a consequence of efforts spent in the application of God's law. We encounter this attribute for instance in the following passages: « And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God?» (Mark 5/7) « But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.» (Matthew 26/63) « … therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.» (Luke 1/35)
In synoptic gospels, the expression 'Son of God' has been used in the sense of 'the state of being near to God'. In the first Gospel, for instance, this expression has been used not so often. However, the incidence of its occurrence increases in the other gospels, reaching a peak in the last one according to St John, where it is equated with God Himself.
IS GOD NOT CONSCIOUS OF GOD'S EXISTENCE?
« But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father».(Mark 13/32) « Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.» (Matthew 4/1)« And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred». (Mathew 4/2) « And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.» (Luke 6/12)
Is God not conscious of God's existence? Can God be tempted? Can God pray God? The wide gap that yawns between God and Jesus is well apparent in the synoptic gospels in which there is no reference to the doctrine of Trinity.
JESUS CHRIST GOD'S PROPHET
« But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. (Mark 6/4) He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward;....» (Matthew 10/40-41)
As we can see above, there is nothing alluding to the divinity of Jesus Christ in the Gospels according to St.Matthew and St.Mark.
According to the synoptic gospels, Jesus Christ was a prophet sent to the Israelites:« And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. »(Matthew 21/10,11)
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD
« And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,» (Galatians 4/6)« Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:» (Colossians 1/13-14)
« Jesus Christ is said to be a god to have sway over everything, whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.» (Romans 9/5) « Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; »(Titus 2/13)
Paul, the author of the above quotations, had, for the ifrst time declared that Jesus Christ was God, despite the opposition of the Jewish Christians (the Nazarenes).
Just to remind you it was John who had declared that Jesus Christ was God. « In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God». (John 1/1)
« And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (John 1/1, 14) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. »(John 14/6, 7)
The Gospel according to St. John
Despite the fact that he wrote 70 years after Jesus Christ and about 40 years after Paul's death, John had been greatly influenced by Paul's Letters. He also spoke of a Christ, son of God, identified with God Himself. Contemporary scholars reject the idea that the author of the last Gospel was John. It was written for the "Pauline Christians" by a well educated Greek writer who had received a proper education in philosophy. The said Gospel portrayed a supernatural being and quashed Judaistic concepts that seemed alien to Christians.
Today, the great majority of Christians firmly believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. In the Trinity, the second in order is the 'Son'. Christianity during the time of Jesus and his disciples showed a parallelism with Islam. However, in the Council of Nicaea, in 325, despite the protestations of Arius and his partisans, the divinity of Christ had been established not by God's revelation but by the votes of human beings.
IS JESUS CHRIST GOD ACCORDING TO THE QUR'AN?