Was Jesus God? An Imam and Pastor's Perspective

Imam Zuber and Pastor Duncan are both friends of mine with whom I shared an event in 2019 organised by the Christian Union in association with the Islamic Society at Dundee University.

The significance of the pineapple is that it has been a universal symbol of hospitality and welcome for many centuries all over the world and a fitting symbol for conversation between Muslims and Christians in every context.

Imam Zuber's perspective

Islam completely negates attribution of divinity and godness to Jesus. It also denies with clarity the belief of Jesus being the son of God. It completely disassociates itself from the Trinitarian belief. This belief contradicts with the pristine monotheism and the concept of Tawḥīd, the belief in the oneness of God in His being, attributes and qualities. In Islam, God is perceived as the Only Supreme Being, Who is the Greatest, the Creator of the heavens and earth and what they contain, free from having partners, associates and children. The Glorious Quran asserts that Jesus is only the servant, prophet and messenger of God, His word that He put into Mary and the spirit from Him. He is not more than that. His birth is described as virgin without the male intervention, and that God is powerful to create humans with a father and a mother and He is also powerful to create them without a father as it happened to Jesus and that his birth was on miraculous one, a manifestation of divine power. The negation concerning the attribution of divinity to Jesus is clearly apparent in the following verses of the Noble Quran,

“And [beware the Day] when God will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides God?’” He will say, “Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen. I said not to them except what You commanded me - to worship Allah (God), my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them; but when You took me up, You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness.”” (5:116-117)

The Majestic Quran states that God is far above having a child and He is powerful who can create anyone the way He likes,

“It is not [befitting] for God (Allah) to take a son; exalted is He! When He decrees an affair, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is. [Jesus said], “And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path.”” (19:35-36)

It negates Trinity in the following verse,

“O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about God except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in God (Allah) and His messengers. And do not say, ‘Three’; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, God is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.” (4:171)

The Noble Quran rather establishes the servitude of Jesus to God when it quotes his miracle statement which Jesus made in his babyhood as thus,

“[Jesus] said, ‘Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive. And [made me] dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me a wretched tyrant. And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive.’ That is Jesus, the son of Mary - the word of truth about which they are in dispute.” (19:30-34)

These verses above denote his servitude to his Creator, his messengership and appointment as a prophet and messenger of God, his obedience to the commands of his Lord and dutifulness to his mother. These characteristics contrast with the divine attributes of God, the Supreme Being and the Sole Creator of heavens and earth, Furthermore, these are humanly qualities and being a humble servant and a prophet of God is a highest station that human beings are given by God, as such men are chosen by Him to guide people to believe in God, His oneness, and His majestic attributes. The Noble Quran mentions,

“Never would the Messiah disdain to be a servant of Allah , nor would the angels near [to Him]. And whoever disdains His worship and is arrogant - He will gather them to Himself all together.” (4:172)

Pastor Duncan's perspective

Monotheism

First, the Holy Bible is monotheistic from beginning to end. This most foundational belief is expressed beautifully in the ‘shema’ given of the ancient Israelites in the Torah:

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 strength (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

This confession teaches that there is only one God. But more than that, it teaches that he is absolutely unique, in a class of his own. He is the Creator; everything and everyone else are creatures.

In the Bible, the Prophet Isaiah brings out very clearly the Oneness and uniqueness of God:

For this is what the Lord says – he who created the heavens, he is God; he who formed and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited – he says: ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other...

21 Speak out and come near – let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, Allah the Righteous One and a Saviour; there is none but me.

22 ‘Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:18, 21-22[1])

The New Testament/Injil and Messiah Jesus himself confirm the Torah and teach monotheism. On one occasion Messiah Jesus is asked, what is the most important commandment in the law revealed through the Prophet Moses. He replies by quoting from the Torah, from Deuteronomy 6:4,

‘The most important commandment,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 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 12:29-30)

God’s Nature and Attributes

God is the Creator and Ruler over all things. He reveals something of his own nature and attributes to the Prophet Moses in the following words in the Torah:

‘The Lord, the Lord, God, the compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished... (Exodus 34:6-7)

God is faithful (which means he can be relied on to keep his promises), but he is not always predictable. He can surprise us. God cannot be contained, as the Prophet Solomon declared after he had completed the building of the House of God in Jerusalem;

‘But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this house I have built! (1 Kings 8:27)

God cannot be contained by buildings, nor can he be grasped by human minds. How can a cup contain the ocean? How can our limited, finite minds grasp the infinite God?

And yet the Holy Bible also says;

this is what the High and Exalted One says – he who lives for ever, whose name is the Holy One: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who repents and is humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of those who repent. (Isaiah 57:15)

God appears to the Prophet Moses in the Flames of the Burning Bush

A number of times in the Scripture, we read of God appearing to people in some form or other. Perhaps the most famous instance is when God spoke to the Prophet Moses from the flames of the burning bush.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this great sight – why the bush does not burn up.’

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’

And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’

5 ‘Do not come any nearer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ 6 Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Torah, Exodus 3:1-6[2])

The Torah account says that the angel, or messenger of the LORD appeared to the Prophet Moses, but then we read that God called to him from within the bush (Exodus 3:4) and also that ‘Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God’. It seems from this, that in some way, God has appeared in the flames in the bush.

Prophecies of God coming to Reign and to Save

There are also passages in the Old Testament Scriptures that speak of God himself coming to reign and to save his people. The following are some examples:

Strengthen the feeble hands, make firm the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; here is your God! He will come with vengeance; with the retribution of God. He will come and save you.’

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. (Isaiah 35:3-6)

Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him... The Lord will be king over the whole earth. (Zechariah 14:5, 9)

Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he is coming, he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. (Psalm 96:13)[3]

These and other passages gave rise to an expectation that God would in some way come to this world, to bring judgement on his enemies and healing, comfort and salvation to his people, and that his reign would be established. But how exactly this would happen remained a mystery.

Jesus the Messiah’s Disciples

In the early days of his career as a prophet, Jesus drew disciples to himself. These disciples recognised him as a prophet sent from God and as the Messiah whom many previous prophets had foretold. However, their understanding of what his being the Messiah involved was seriously limited.

Jesus the Messiah’s close disciples spent about three years with him listening to his teaching and witnessing the amazing things he did. His miracles or signs, combined with the claims he made, caused them to ask, ‘Who is this man?’

For example, in Luke 5:20-26 in the New Testament/ Injil, some people bring a paralysed friend to the Lord Jesus.

20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’

21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’

22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralysed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’

Other prophets performed miracles, but Jesus the Messiah’s miracle on this occasion was a sign to demonstrate that he has the authority to forgive sins – something which, according to the Jewish teachers of the law, only God can do.

On another occasion, Jesus the Messiah raised a young man from the dead (Luke 7:11-17). The Prophets Elijah and Elisha had performed similar miracles, but they both prayed to God and God answered their prayer by raising the dead person[4]. In contrast, Messiah Jesus raised the dead man with a command, ‘Young man, I say to you; get up!’ (Luke 7:14). Upon which, the dead man sat up and began to talk!

In Luke 8, Jesus the Messiah’s disciples witness him calming a raging storm with a mere word. No wonder they respond the way they do;

In fear and amazement, they said to each other, “Who is this? He commands even the wind and the water and they obey him!” (Luke 8:25)

These disciples all knew the Psalms, which spoke of One who commands the wind and sea, namely the LORD, God himself.

You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Saviour... You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves (Psalms 65:5,7)

You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. (Psalms 89:9)[5]

Jesus also demonstrated a remarkable self-awareness. On one occasion in prayer, his disciples heard him say to God,

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:5)

Over the three or so years the disciples spent with Jesus the Messiah, they observed many more such signs. They heard his teaching and the things he claimed for himself[6]. They witnessed him doing things that only God can do and they heard him claim authority that only God has. And this drove them to discuss and ponder the question, ‘Who is this?’

When God powerfully and astonishingly raised Jesus from the dead, the disciples understood this as a complete vindication of all that Jesus claimed for himself. And they came to the conclusion that what the prophets had spoken of when they had foretold that God himself would come, had now been fulfilled with the coming of Messiah Jesus.

Perhaps the clearest statement of this is from the disciple Thomas, who on encountering Jesus, raised from the dead, declares to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (John 20:28)

Jesus the Messiah’s Disciples are still monotheist

All of these disciples still firmly believe in monotheism. Their most fundamental belief was expressed in the shema;

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 strength (Deuteronomy 6:4-5),

which Messiah Jesus himself had confirmed[7].

These disciples were not taking Messiah Jesus as an additional god to God. That would be to reject monotheism and is condemned by the Scriptures.

Instead, in fulfilment of what the Prophets foretold, God, the One, has come to this world in and as the person of Jesus the Messiah. He has become human and lived among us. Is this impossible for God to do? Surely not. God is Almighty. Nothing is impossible for him.

Jesus the Messiah’s Relationship with God

However, some may see a problem with this: If the One God has come to this world in the person of Messiah Jesus, why does Jesus pray, worship[8] and speak of God as if he were a distinct other?

The answer seems to be that within the One God there is some kind of inter-personal relationship, so that God who has come to this world can speak in prayer to God in heaven, and yet there is only one God. This may be very hard for us to understand, but it should not surprise us that there are aspects of God’s Being that are difficult (or perhaps impossible) for us to grasp. How can the finite comprehend the Infinite? How can a cup contain the ocean?

‘Word of God’

One title that both the Qur’an and the Bible use of Jesus the Messiah is that of ‘Word’[9]. A person’s word is their self-expression, revealing and communicating their thoughts. Jesus the Messiah as the Word of God, is the one who reveals God to us, who makes God known[10].

The book of John in the New testament/ Injil begins:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind…

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

Final Prayer

If you are struggling with the whole matter of monotheism and the identity of Jesus the Messiah, don’t worry too much about it. No doubt his first disciples struggled with these issues too and only after much prayer and reflection together on the earlier Scriptures and on their experience of Jesus the Messiah, did they reach their conclusions.

May God guide us all in the path of wisdom and understanding.

[1] See also, Isaiah 40:25-26, 42:8, 43:10-12, 44:6,7,8.

[2] The Qur’an also records this event, see TaHa 20:11-12, Al-Qasas 28:29, 30.

[3] Other examples include Isaiah 40:3-5, 9-11, 52:7-10, Psalms 98:7-9.

[4] Taurat, 1 Kings 17:20-22, 2 Kings 4:32-35

[5] See also Psalms 107:23-30.

[6] Space is too limited in this article to give more examples. Please read the books Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament/ Injil.

[7] Mark 12:29-30.

[8] Examples of Messiah Jesus praying and worshipping God can be found in the New testament/ Injil in Luke 6:12, 9:18,28, 10:21, 11:1, 22:17,19, 41-42, 23:34,46, 24:30

[9] Quran, An-Nisa’ 4:171, John 1:1.

[10] See John 1:18.