If a farmer mates a rabbit with a fox, what will the offspring be? There will be none. Rabbits and foxes do not mate. If an angel has sexual intercourse with a human woman, what will the child be? There will be no children. Angels can't have intercourse with humans. If God chooses a special righteous virgin lady, and they make love, what will their child be? There will be no child. God does not have physical intimacies with women. If you set up impossible situations, you won't get any results. This is perfectly logical. Only irrational people would claim otherwise.

The Qur'an vehemently denies that Jesus is God's Son. Long sections of the Qur'an refute Jesus' divinity and argue that both Jesus and Mary were only human beings with nothing divine about either of them. The Qur'an bases its argument on the term "Son of God," which is understood to mean a literal physical male, fathered by God, whose mother was the virgin Mary. Since God does not have intimacies with human women, Jesus is not God's Son. Muslims believe Christians are irrational and worse than that, blasphemers. The Qur'an condemns Christians for making Jesus equal to God, to be worshiped along with God. This is the worst sin according to Islam. (Sura 9:30-31; 5:19, 75-78; 4:171; 19:35; 13:38)

However, the Qur'an asserts that the conception of Jesus was a special creative act of God similar to God's creation of Adam. (Sura 3:59; 19:34-35) The Bible asserts that Jesus was conceived through the effective revealing of reality that existed before any acts of creation took place. Jesus has always been an essential part of the very nature of God. (John 1:1-18; 8:58; 17:5; Hebrews 7:3; Revelation 22:13)

Both the Qur'an and the Bible affirm that the conception of Jesus was miraculous because Mary was a virgin. They differ about the nature of Mary's conception. The Qur'an states it was a creative act whereas the Bible calls it revelation, but neither manner of conception enables Jesus to be called the Son of God. Christians will deny as emphatically as Muslims that Jesus is the product of a union of God with Mary.

The Christian concept of the Son of God is based on the character and way of life of Jesus rather than on his manner of birth. Both the Qur'an and the Bible assert Jesus' kind, compassionate healing of the sick, cleansing of lepers and raising the dead back to life. In addition, the Bible describes in detail the words Jesus said, his deeds, his struggle with Satan, the evil spirits and the sinful nature of people. The Bible shows how his manner of living, dying and rising again is the exact fulfillment of prophecy given hundreds, even thousands of years before his birth.

In the character of Jesus we see God's righteousness, His power, His justice, His mercy, His goodness and His truth. In fact, these qualities are revealed in deeper, fuller ways than has ever occurred before or since.

Especially wonderful is the revelation of God's deep love for all human beings, His undeserved kindness to sinners who repent and believe, and His final decisive victory over evil, unrighteousness and wrong.

Jesus' revealed character is the very character of God revealed bit by bit down through the ancient centuries to the prophets of old and through the history of the Hebrew people. Therefore, the Bible says that Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus is God's son, not because of his virgin birth but because of His perfect likeness to the great Almighty God.

If a Muslim wishes to prove to a Christian that Jesus is not God's son, he need not use the argument that God does not have intimacies with human women. Christians also are shocked with such an idea. To prove Jesus is not God's son, you must find flaws, errors or sins in his character, deeds and words. But that is impossible to prove.

Neither the Qur'an nor the Bible mentions any mistake in Jesus' thoughts, actions or character. He is presented in both books as a perfect human being.

Who is Jesus? Jesus is the perfect man. He is the only perfect man who ever lived. There is none perfect but God. Since Jesus is absolutely akin to God in his character, we can confidently call him God's son.

[Epilogue] [Table of Contents]