Where did Jesus (pbuh) say I am God – A Good Argument

8/13/2019 Where did Jesus (pbuh) say I am God A Good Argument

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Where did Jesus (pbuh) say, I am God? A Good Argument!

Responding to the Christian attempt to undermine the logic and reasonability behind the

Muslim enquiry about divinity of Jesus (peace be upon him)

Question Mark

Introduction

Christian Apologist Keith Thompson hasattemptedto countermine the viability of Muslim

argument against the supposed deity of Jesus (peace be upon him). According to Keith, theMuslim argument to seek proof where Jesus (peace be upon him) unequivocally claimed that he

is God is very desperate and utterly fallacious and scripturally weak.

Therefore, in this paper we intend to study Keiths reasons and respond to him that the particular

Muslim argument is not only good but it is logical and very reasonable! In fact as we would soon

see it is Keiths argument which is desperate and scripturally weak!

Scripturally Unsupported Christian Defense

Keith begins his response not by directly addressing the Muslim argument but by citing

indirect verses which allegedly establish the deity of Christ (peace be upon him).

He brings in clich Christian arguments like First and the Last, Bridegroom, Savior, I AM and

King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Thomas testimony. He brings all of them but bring one

scripturewhich would state that Jesus (peace be upon him) declared himself God-Almighty! Atthis point if any argument is scripturally weak then it is Christian argument!

Although we will deal with all of the above quoted biblical arguments in our future installment

(inshallah), however, for the time being we want to observe that all the above arguments is not

direct and explicit response to the Muslim query.

Those are biblical verses which have to be interpretedto indirectly allege deity of Christ (peacebe upon him). Therefore, if certain biblical verses can be used to indirectly interpret Christs

(peace be upon him) divinity then by the same token Christians should not neglect verses from

the same document which militate against the divinity of Jesus (peace be upon him).

Consider the following verses:
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I can do nothing on my own authority; I judge only as God tells me, so my judgment is right,

because I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants . (John

5:30)

We need to ponder that which Omnipotent God would claim that He can do nothing on his own

but that he needs someone else to guide him; that he has to obey some other entity?

A step further, Jesus (peace be upon him) even belittled the veracity of his own testimonies:

If I testify on my own behalf, what I say is not to be accepted as real proof. But there is

someone else who testifies on my behalf, and I know that what he says about me is true. (John5:31)

A deity who was allegedly revealing verses to his prophets now claims that his testimonies are

not to be trusted if it is unsupported by some higher, more authoritative source! Let alone aDeity, the above statement, does not behooves to even a mere prophet!

On the foregoing, noted Christian commentator Albert Barnes claims that Jesus (peace be uponhim) would not even judge on his own behalf even on the Judgment Day!

Of mine own selfSee Joh 5:19. The Messiah, the Mediator , does nothingwithout the

concurrence and the authori ty of God.Such is the nature of the union subsisting between them,

that he does nothing independently of God. Whatever he does, he does according to the wil l of

God.

As I hear I judge- To hear expresses the condition ofone who is commissioned orinstructed.Thus Joh 8:26, I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him; Joh8:28, As the Father hath TAUGHT me, I speak those things. Jesus here represents himself

as commissioned, taught, or sent of God.When he says, as I hear, he refers to those things

which the Father had showed him Joh 5:20 - that is, he came to communicate the wil l of God;

to show to man what God wished man to know.

I judge- I determine or decide. This was true respecting the institutions and doctrines of religion,and it will be true respecting the sentence which he will pass on mankindat the day of

judgment.He will decide their destiny according to what the Father wil ls and wishes- that is,

according to justice. (Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible, John 5:30)

Think about it, which absolute deity would not judge on His own authority and potency even on

the Judgment Day!

Also note that Barnes portrays Jesus (peace be upon him) as a mere prophet, one who has been

commissioned, Taught and send by God these are specific traits of a mere messenger of Godnot befitting for an absolute Deity.


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In fact Luke explicitly accounts Jesus (peace be upon him), not as a Deity, but as a mere

messenger of God;

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a manapproved of God among youby

miracles and wonders and signs, which God didby him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves

also know: (Acts 2:22, King James Version, e-Sword)

If Jesus (peace be upon him) was an absolute Deity, then why he was not performing miracles by

himself? We all know that God can perform miracles! As a matter of fact, Jesus (peace be uponhim) himself disowned that he can perform miracles on his own:

No, it is rather by means of Gods power that I drive out demonsand this proves that the

Kingdom of God has already come to you. (Luke 11: 21)

Similarly, Matthew also relates that Jesus (peace be upon him) did not used to exorcise uncleanspirits on his own power but he used to depend on God (!):

No, it is not Beelzebul, but Gods Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons,which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you. (Matthew 12:28)

Furthermore, he explicitly denied any divinity bestowed upon him when a rich man mistakenly

attempted to claim Jesus (peace be upon him) with divine perfection and goodness:

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may

have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there isnone good butone, that i s,God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (Mat 19:16-17, King

James Version, e-Sword)

Coincidently the above emphatic declination of divinity is accounted in all the three synopticGospels, refer Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30)

John was not much behind the other Gospel writers, he also accounted where in Jesus (peace beupon him) is portrayed as anybody but God:

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whomthou hast sent. (Joh 17:3, King James Version, e-Sword)

Witnessing that only the so called person of Father was divine, Jesus (peace be upon him)

teaches that prayers have to be exclusively directed to Father:

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Fatherwhich art in heaven, Hallowed be THY name.

THY kingdom come. THY will be done in earth, as it isin heaven. Give us this day our daily

bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but

deliver us from evil: For THINEis the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.(Mat 6:9-13, King James Version, e-Sword)


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We wonder if Jesus (peace be upon him) was also God then why did he ask his followers to

direct their prayers exclusively to the so called person of Father! It was more natural that his

followers directed their prayers to Jesus (peace be upon him) who was with them than Fatherwhom they would never be able to see! [Or they could have directed their prayers to all three

"persons" of the so called Trinity.]

There are more which can be quoted from the New Testament but for brevity we would limit to

these few verses only.

Therefore, if Keith has a certain few verses to allegedly interpret that Jesus (peace be upon him)

is God then we also have verses in the same documents which can be interpreted to disprove

Jesus (peace be upon him) divinity.

This being said, we would now look Keiths rationales why Muslim argument is not good.

Logical and Scriptural Weakness in Christian Defense

Keith logically wants to argue that the Muslim argument is false because,

Moreover, there are other problems, logical fallacies and hidden premises with demanding that

Jesus say I am God while discarding any other words/deeds/titles of Jesus or words from HisApostles. First, by demanding those specific words of Jesus is to invent or build up a criterion

that Jesus must meet in order for Him to be God when, in all actuality, Jesus and the Apostleswanted to communicate Jesus deity, butjust not in the way Muslims demand (i.e., with the

exact words I am God).If it is true that Jesus and the Apostles believed Jesus was God and

wanted to communicate this in other ways than the Muslims demand, and this is in fact true, yetthe Muslims do not allow for any other evidence besides those exact three words, then they are,

right off the bat, negating from the onset all the evidence for Jesus deity that Jesus and theApostles did give. This method is highly problematic to any honest seeker of truth who wants to

seriously study the whole of Scripture, its meaning and its implications.

In a nut shell Keiths argument is:

1. A. Jesus (peace be upon him) and Apostles communicated that the former is God-Almighty.

2. B. Muslims would not accept any proof other than the three words!3.

C. Thus, the Muslim argument is highly problematic.

Recall that Keith complained Muslim argument is Scripturally weak. In this particular

response we would soon witness that it is the Christian defense which is scripturally weak, so letus begin with our response.


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Firstly, we have just seen in the above sections that to claim that Jesus (peace be upon him) and

Apostles wanted to pass him as an absolute Deity is a wild assumption. We saw multiple verses

which militate against this assumption.

However, even if we accept for the sake of argument that Jesus (peace be upon him) and his

apostles wanted to communicate that he is God yet the Muslims should demand those exact threewords because scripturally, historical Judeo-Christian God has always been communicating

through that exact formulation:

And God said unto him, I AM GOD ALMIGHTY: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a

company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; (Gen 35:11)

And he said, I AM GOD, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there

make of thee a great nation: Gen 46:3

And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am

the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Exo 6:7

I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall

eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the

LORD your God. Exo 16:12

For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for Iamholy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon

the earth. Lev 11:44

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. Lev 18:2

Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your

God. Lev 18:4

Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, thatyecommit not any oneof these abominablecustoms, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am theLORD your God. Lev 18:30

Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for

I the LORD your Godamholy. Lev 19:2

Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD yourGod.Lev 19:3

Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I amthe LORD your God. Lev

19:4

(King James Version, e-Sword)


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From the foregoing, and in the light of the Scriptures, declaring Himself with the exactformulation which the Muslims demand has always been an insignia of traditional Judeo-

Christian God.

Therefore, the Christian defense is very desperate and scripturally weak when they do not

want Muslims to demand for the exact formulation! In fact, following their Scriptures they

should back Muslims into asking for such exact formulation.

Here is Keiths second logical rationale why Muslim argument is a straw man:

Second, to demand these exact words I am God from the mouth of Jesus is a straw man since

Christians have never claimed that Jesus said such words or that such words must be said in

order for Jesus to be God. Christians, throughout history, have always affirmed Jesus deity onother equally persuasive grounds from the 1

stcentury until today. Hence, to demand such

words from Jesus is a misrepresentation of the Christian position since we have neverargued that he did say such things or that he must say such things in order to be God.

Is not this ironical that in the light of the Old Testament verses quoted just above, Jesus (peace

be upon him) must have uttered the formulation to be God!

In fact it is Keiths argument which is straw man when he claims that, Christians have neverclaimed that Jesus said such words. Because the reason is, why did not Jesus (peace be upon

him), in the New Testament, say those words if he was truly a traditional and historical Judeo-

Christian Deity. Since he had, supposedly, no hesitation in saying those exact wordings to

Israelites prophets in the Old Testament! And when on the same idea Muslims question

Christians, it is deemed as misrepresentation of the Christian position!

As a matter of fact it is misrepresentation ofhistorical and traditional Judeo-Christian insigniaof God- when Christians do not want to allow the Muslim argument of seeking exact

formulation.

Keith also provided an analogy to prove that Muslim argument is not logical enough:

Here is an analogy: would it be proper for me to demand that Jesus say I am the Messiah in

the Quran, in those exact wordswhen he doesnt, and say that unless I get those exact four

words from Jesus mouth nothing is good enough? Or is it rather fair to say there are texts in the

Quran that strongly prove Islam teaches the Messiahship of Jesus but just not in the way Idemand? Of course, there are. Therefore, to be consistent the Muslim must apply this approach

to the Bible or else they are left employing double standards. Ju st because Jesus doesnt say I

am God it doesnt mean His deity is not communicated in equally clear ways that havepersuaded Christians for 2000 years. In like manner, just because Jesus, in the Quran, doesnt say

I am the Messiah in those exact wordsit doesnt mean His Messiahship is not communicated

in equally clear ways in the Quran.


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In brief, Keith wants Muslims to provide the statement I am the Messiah or give up their

argument. Well, we have multiple responses in order:

To begin with, Christians need to understand that when we demand that Jesus (peace be upon

him) should state that He was God, we do so for the following reasons:

(i) For Muslims Jesus (peace be upon him) is the authority.

In the light of the above, we have instances in the Quran where let alone, Jesus (peace be upon

him), we have Allah (SWT)a higher authority than Christ (peace be upon him), testifying theJesus (peace be upon him) is Messiah:

O people of the Book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but truth.Christ Jesus the son of Marywas (no more than) an Apostle of Allah and His Word which He

bestowed on Mary and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Apostles.

(Quran 4:171, Yusuf Ali Translation, Al-Alim CD-ROM Version)

Behold! the angels said "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name

will be Christ Jesus the son of Maryheld in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the

company of) those nearest to Allah. (Quran 3:45, Yusuf Ali Translation, Al-Alim CD-ROMVersion

Or,

When the angels said "O Maryem! Allah gives you the good news with a Word from Him that

you will be given a son: his name will be Messiah, Isa (Jesus Christ) the son of Maryem.Hewill be noble in this world and the Hereafter; and he will be from those who are very close to

Allah. (Quran 3:45, Malik Translation, Al-Alim CD-ROM Version)

(ii) Jesus (peace be upon him) need to be consistent with the insignia of Old

Testament Deity.

(iii)

Our second response is a rhetorical enquiry to Keith. Show us, in Islam, which individual(s)came before Jesus (peace be upon him) proclaiming I am Messiah!? This is because, when


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Muslims enquire Christians for Jesus (peace be upon him) statement, I am God- they ask it

consistently under the light of Old Testament Scripture wherein God was frequently proclaiming

I am God for Himself.

On the foregoing it is illogical and scripturally weak for Christians to claim that Muslims need

to produce the statement I am Messiah for Jesus (peace be upon him) in the Quran.

However, on the other hand, because we have had individuals before Jesus (peace be upon him)

who came from Allah (SWT) claiming that they are prophets/messengers/apostles etc (c.f.Quran 7:104), therefore, we do have written record of Jesus (peace be upon him) claiming such

title(s) for himself:

He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a

prophet; (Quran 19:30, Yusuf Ali Translation, Al-Alim CD-ROM Version)

Therefore we request Keith and Christians to enquire consistent demands and, inshallah,

Muslims will produce it.

Conclusion

In an attempt to not allow Muslims from demanding Christians Jesus (peace be upon him)statement I am God, Keith used indirect biblical verses to interpret that Jesus (peace be upon

him) is a deity. However, that was not what Muslims demand. Therefore, if indirect biblicalverses was good enough for Keith to claim deity for Christ (peace be upon him), then we had

similar verses which militated against the purported deity of Christ (peace be upon him).

Secondly, we saw that God of the Old Testament used to frequently proclaim I am God forHimself and therefore it is very consistent and logical when Muslims demand the same

formulation from Jesus (peace be upon him) if he be the same God as of the Old Testament.

Therefore, when Keith claims that Muslim argument is scripturally weak, in reality, it is his

Christian defense which is scripturally weak. Scripturally he should also be searching for similar

formulation in the New Testament accounts of Jesus (peace be upon him) while enquiring whydid not Jesus (peace be upon him) utter the formulation which was so fond to him in the Old

Testament (allegedly)!

If Christians really want Muslims not to use that argument then they should either produce such averse or find some other argument stronger than what we just observed.

Notes:

Unless otherwise mentioned, all biblical texts are taken from Holy Bible, Good NewsEdition, Todays English Version.

Emphasize wherever not matching with the original is ours.


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Where did Jesus (pbuh) say I am God – A Good Argument