ANSWERS TO COMMON MUSLIM QUESTIONS:
A. Deity of Christ ?
(First we need to understand the problem from the Muslim's perspective: -
How can a man be God, especially when God is a seperate entity from the man?:
Compare Psalm 121:4 & Isaiah 40:28 with John 4:6 & Matthew 8:24;
Compare Matthew 4:1 with James 1:13;
Compare James 1:17 with Hebrews 5:9;
Compare Psalm 50:9-13 & Acts 17:25 with John 19:28)
1) God became man; a man didn't become God. He became a real man,
not a apparition or "make believe" man. As a man, he had all the needs
and limitations of a man, except for the fallen nature of Adam. He is
called the "last Adam" because he became just like Adam was before the
fall. "The Word BECAME flesh..." (John 1:14); "Who, being in very nature
(morphae) God...made himself nothing, taking the very nature (morphae) of
a servant, being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:6-7) "He learned
obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect..." (Hebrews 5:8,9)
2) One of God's greatest attributes is love. True love is self
giving (not taking) for the sake of another. God gives Himself to us by
revealing Himself to us in becoming one of us.
3) Adam and Eve and Jesus - one flesh - "bone of my bone and flesh
of my flesh." (Genesis 2:23); "he too shared in their humanity (flesh and
blood) so that by his death he might destroy...the devil and free those..."
(Hebrews 2;14,15)
B. What does the term, "Son of God" mean?
(God uses a human word to describe a spiritual relationship)
1) The term, "son" is used to mean one loved by his father
[*"firstborn" shows an even more unique love relationship]:
(a) Israel = "...Israel is my *firstborn son...let
my son go, so he may worship me... (Ex.4:22,23)
(b) David = "I have found David my servant...My
faithful love will be with him...He will call out to me, `You are my
Father, my God, the Rock, my Savior.' I will also appoint him my
*firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. I will maintain my
love to him forever..." (Ps.89:20-28)
(c) Solomon = "...tell my servant David, `This is
what the LORD almighty says;...I will raise up your offspring to succeed
you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my
son [see Heb.1:5]...my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it
away from Saul...'" (2 Sam.7:8,12-15)
(d) Messiah = "...against the LORD and against his
anointed One [Messiah]...I have installed my king...You are my Son; to day
I have become your Father [see Acts 13:33; Heb.1:5; 5:5]...Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry..." (Ps.2:2-12)
(e) Jesus = "As soon as Jesus was baptized...a
voice from heaven said, `This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased.'" (Matt.3:16,17)
"...Jesus...a voice from the cloud said, `This is
my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!'"
(Matt.17:4,5)
"Then the owner of the vineyard [parabolic
reference to God] said, `What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love;
perhaps they will respect him.'" (Luke 20:13)
2) The term "son" is used to mean one exactly like his father:
- "No one has ever seen God, but the only son who
is at the Father's side, has made him known." (John 1:18)
- "The son is the radiance of God's glory and the
exact representation of his being..." (Heb. 1:3)
- "...I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing
by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever
the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows
him all he does...For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them
life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it...for as
the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in
himself." (John 5:19-21,26)
3) The term "son" is used to mean one who came out of his father:
- "And God said to him [Abraham], `I am God
Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of
nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body [KJV: out of
thy loins].'" (Gen.35:11)
- "Because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was
still in the body of his ancestor." (Heb.7:10)
- "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God...Through him all things were made...The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only [only begotten], who came from the Father..."
(John 1:1-3,14)
- "For I [Jesus] have come down from heaven [from
God] not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me...I am the
living bread that came down from heaven." (John 6:38,51)
- "...You are from below; I am from above...for I
cam from God..." (John 8:23,42)
- "...that I came from. I came [out] from the
Father and entered the world..." (John 16:28)
- "The first man [Adam] was of the dust of the
earth, the second man [Jesus] from heaven." (I Cor.15:47)
4) The term son is used to mean produced by the power of...:
- "`How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, `since
I am a virgin?' The angel answered, `The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be
born will be called the Son of God.'" (Luke 1:34,35)
5) The term son is used to mean of the nature of or totally
associated with:
- "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and
when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."
(Matt.23:15)
- "...the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience..." (Eph.2:2 KJV)
- "Yet to all who received him [Jesus], to those
who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."
(John 1:12)
- "Is it not written in your Law, `I have said you
are gods'? If he called them `gods' to whom the word of God came - and the
Scripture cannot be broken - what about the one whom the Father set apart
as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of
blasphemy because I said, `I am God's Son'?" (John 10:34-36)
C. Does the Bible predict the coming of Muhammad?
1) Deuteronomy 18:18 (most common passage used by Muslims) -
(a) "from among their brothers" - Muslim claim is that this
means Ishmael, the brother of Israel, and Muhammad is from Ishmael.
Ans. = See vs. 15 of the same chapter plus Deut.17:15 &
18:2 for the meaning of "among their brothers" (means Israel; cannot be
Ishmael).
(b) "Like me" - Muslim claim is that Muhammad is more like
Moses than Jesus because Jesus was different in his birth, marriage and
death.
Ans. = It says, "A prophet like me"; not just a man like
me. See Numbers 12:6-8; Exodus 33:11 & Deut.34:10-12 for the uniqueness
of Moses among the prophets (God spoke to him "face to face" and he did
many miracles - fits Jesus; cannot be Muhammad).
(c) "I will put my words in his mouth" - Muslim claim is
that Gabriel put the words of the Quran into Muhammad's mouth.
Ans. = Jesus repeatedly said He did not speak His own
words, but the words the Father gave him (John 7:16-18; 8:28; 14:24)
2) John 14,15,16 (paraclete passages - the second most common
passages used by Muslims)
(a) Muslims claim that Christians have changed the Greek
word, "pariclyte" which means "illustrious one" (the meaning of "Ahmed,"
another name for Muhammad) to "paraclete" which means "comforter" or
"advocate."
Ans. = No proof!
(b) Muslims interpret Jesus' words as follows:
- "He will abide with you forever" "he lives with
you and will be in you." -Muhammad is the last prophet, so he abides with
us and in us in his message (Quran) and life (Hadith).
- "The Spirit of Truth" - Muslim claim is that
Muhammad was called "Al Ameen" (the honest one) from his childhood.
- "He shall not speak of himself, but whatever he
shall hear, that shall he speak." - the angel Gabriel dictated every word
of the Quran to Muhammad. Not one word was from himself.
- "He shall glorify me" - The Quran gives more
reverence to Jesus than Christians do! Their changed Bible curses Him with
crucifixion and says he addressed his mother, "Woman!".
Ans. = We can argue about the meaning of these
Biblical phrases, but it seems more effective to trace the whole story
through the following verses:
- John 1:26-34 -- John's testimony of Jesus
baptizing with the Holy Spirit;
- John 14,15,16 -- Jesus' promise of the gift of
the Holy Spirit;
- Acts 1:4,5,8 -- Jesus connects his promise with
John's testimony;
- Acts 2:1-4,12-18,38,39 -- the actual coming of
the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and Peter's teaching about it.
Christ's real meaning obviously is the Holy Spirit;
not Muhammad.
3) Other verses:
(a) "The Lord came...from Mount Paran. He came with ten
thousands of holy ones." (Deut.33:2; see also Hab.3:3-6) - Muslim claim
is that Muhammad came from Medina to conquer Mecca with ten thousand of his
followers.
Ans. = the word for "ten thousands" is an indefinite
plural, so there were at least 20,000.
(b) Muhammad of Kedar - several verses used to show this:
- Isaiah 42:1-19 -- The Muslim claim is that
Muhammad fits the description of the servant (Mustifa) in verse 1 and
messenger (rasool) in verse 19. He alone is a prophet from Kedar (vs.11),
whom the Bible identifies as the son of Ishmael (Gen.25:13), the forefather
of the Quraish tribe of Arabia. Kedar is associated with all the Arabs in
Ez.27:21.
Ans. = Yes, Kedar is the second son of Ishmael and
in the Bible the name is used generally in association with all Arabs.
This passage, however, does not say that God's servant is from Kedar. It
only says that the people of Kedar (along with the many other peoples)
should rejoice. In fact, this passage is speaking about God's Messiah.
In verse 1 God says He will put His Spirit on his servant, which is the
essential idea of the "Messiah" (Anointed One), as in Is.61:1, "The Spirit
of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me...."
Compare vs. 6 with Lk.2:32 and vs. 7 with Lk.4:18 to see the clear
reference to Messiah Jesus.
- Isaiah 60:1-11 -- The Muslim claim is that "The
flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together" (vs.7) speaks of all Arabia
uniting under Muhammad's leadership to adorn "the house of my glory" (the
Ka'aba in Mecca).
Ans. = This passage is not talking about a prophet,
but about a city. Note the language: "Foreigners will rebuild your
walls..." (vs.10) and "Your gates will always stand open..." (vs.11). In
fact, it is speaking of Jerusalem: "...and will call you the city of the
LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel." (vs.14).
- Isaiah 21:13-17 -- The Muslim claim is that
"Within one year...all the pomp of Kedar will come to an end" (vs.6) means
within one year of the hijra all the people of Mecca would be conquered by
Muhammad in the Battle of Badr.
Ans. = There is nothing in this passage that would
indicate that the phrase, "Within one year" is referring to Mecca and the
Battle of Badr. In fact, it is quite obvious that it means one year from
the time the Lord spoke to the prophet Isaiah (well over a thousand years
before Muhammad).
In all of these verses Muslims are attempting to equate
ancient Kedar with Muhammad simply on the grounds that Kedar was a son of
Ishmael. They neglect some other references, however, which would not be
too flattering to Muhammad! For example, Psalm 120:5-7 describes those who
live in "the tents of Kedar" as "those who hate peace" because "they are
for war."
(c) Isaiah 11:1,2 prophecies the coming of "a shoot...from
the stump of Jesse, from his roots a branch..." Dr. Jamal Badawi states
that Cheyene in his Encyclopedia Biblica under "Names" declares that "Jesse
is contracted from Ishmael." Therefore, this prophecy is not about Jesus,
but about Muhammad.
Ans. = In verse 10 the additional name of "Root of Jesse"
is given. If we accept the hypothesis that "Jesse" is Ishmael, then
Muhammad probably is a shoot or offspring of Ishmael, but there is no way
that he could be the root or source of Ishmael (unless he is the Creator,
God)! Obviously, Jesse is David's father and not Ishmael. Jesus is the
only one who can claim to be both "...the root and the offspring of
David..." (Rev.22:16). Isaiah 11:10 is quoted by the Apostle Paul in
reference to Jesus in Romans 15:12.
(d) Muhammad, the Prophet of Peace:
- Genesis 49:10 "The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and unto
him shall the gathering of the people be." - The Muslim claim is that
"Shiloh" means peace or rest, i.e., Islam. The Israelite prophethood in
the lineage of Isaac continued until Shiloh (Islam). Jesus is the last of
the prophets in the lineage of Isaac, and finally Muhammad, Shiloh, the
Prophet of Islam (peace) has come.
Ans. = By combining this prophecy with the many
which speak of the Lord's promise to establish the throne of David and his
seed (Messiah) forever, we can see that Shiloh is not outside of Israel,
but speaks of One who is a descendant of David. Jesus is called "The
Prince of Peace" in Isaiah 9:6.
- Jeremiah 28;9 "But the prophet who prophesies
peace, will be recognized as the one truly sent by the Lord only if his
prediction comes true." The Muslim claim is that Jesus said he didn't
come to bring peace on earth (Lk.12:51-53). Islam means "peace" so this
is Muhammad, who truly prophecied and brought peace.
Ans. = Yes, Jesus said he would not bring peace "on
earth" during his first coming, and he said those who would believe in him
would suffer hatred and persecution even from their own family members.
But he certainly promised to bring peace into the hearts of all individual
believers - even in the midst of family strife. "Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let
your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27); "I have told
you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will
have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33).
The Bible also tells us that when Messiah Jesus returns for His second
coming, He will then rule the earth with total power and justice, and
establish eternal world-wide peace. (Is.9:6,7; Ps.2; Is.11:4-10; etc.)
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