The Orlando Sentinel publishes on Saturdays a page that they designate as “A Call to Worship.” It displays advertisements for all manner of religious groups—including Muslims. At the top of the third column (there are six across) and running four inches down (the average size) is an ad that makes the following claims. ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF INCLUSION. Some might want to dispute that, but that is not the subject of this article. The next two statements (the second will be considered next week) must be challenged:
of Old & New Testaments.
No, they most certainly do not. They may or may not be intending to mislead people by making this statement, but it is totally false, and this article (and the next one) will show abundant proof that they do not believe the prophets of either the Old or the New Testaments. First, let us consider the New Testament. They claim to regard Jesus as a prophet. Okay, then, what did this Prophet say?
One of the most fundamental truths that Jesus taught is that He is the Son of God. First to consider are His tacit admissions of the fact.
1. When Satan tempted Jesus, he told Him to turn stones into bread if He was the Son of God. Jesus repudiated the temptation by quoting Scripture; He did not deny, however, that He was the Son of God (Matt. 4:3-4). Satan again used the phrase, if You are the Son of God, in connection with Jesus throwing Himself off the pinnacle of the temple. Again, Jesus refused to yield to temptation, but again He did not deny His Deity (Matt. 4:6-7).
2. When Jesus met two demon-possessed men in the country of the Gergesenes, they asked, “What have we to do with you, Jesus, You Son of God?” He cast out the demons, but He did not chastise them for what they called Him (Matt. 8:28-34).
3. Jesus was in the city of Capernaum and met a man with an unclean spirit in a synagogue. This man cried out, “‘Let us alone! What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!’” (Luke 4:31-36). Satan and the demons recognized the One Who had power over them. From the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon Peter’s house and healed his mother-in-law (Luke 4:37-39). When the sun set, Jesus began healing those who had various diseases. He also cast out demons, who kept crying out, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” (Luke 4:40-41). Once again, Jesus did not tell them they were mistaken or that He was not worthy of such an honor. He surely would have if He were not, lest people be confused.
4. When Jesus told Nathanael that He had seen him under a fig tree in a location that the Lord had not visited, Nathanael concluded: “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). Jesus did not rebuke him with words such as, “No, Nathanael, you have glorified Me beyond what I deserve.” Instead, He told him he would see even greater things that would cause him to believe (John 1:50-51).
Not only did Jesus never contradict men, demons, or the devil when they said He was the Son of God, He made the claim Himself and agreed with others when they called Him Divine.
1. Referring to Himself, Jesus taught plainly: “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he had not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). Muslims should consider this verse carefully. If they reject Jesus as the Son of God, they stand condemned.
2. Referring again to Himself, Jesus claimed that someday “the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). A person will be condemned for not believing Jesus is the Son of God; instead, if he hears His voice (is obedient), he will live.
3. Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth (John 9:1). After the man had been interrogated by the Jews, Jesus found Him and asked him if he believed in the Son of God (although some texts have son of Man). When he asked, “Who is He?” Jesus answered, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you” (John 9:35-38). The man declared His faith and worshipped Him. (Since only God is to be worshipped, the man must have understood that Jesus was proclaiming His Deity).
4. Jesus asked the Jews why they wanted to stone Him since the Scriptures could not be broken. He wanted to therefore know why they said, “‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (John 10:36). In other words, it would only be blasphemy if it were not true. But He is the Son of God!
5. Jesus was intentionally not present when Lazarus died. He and His disciples would not arrive until this friend had been in the tomb four days. The reason for His delay was so that all would realize that Lazarus was fully dead. Jesus proclaimed: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:1-4). Jesus then restored his life.
6. At Caesarea Philippi Peter made the confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13-16). Did Jesus rebuke Peter for making an impetuous and untrue statement? No. Instead, He commended Peter for being blessed because “flesh and blood” had not revealed this truth to him, “but My Father who is in heaven” (v. 17). Clearly, Jesus acknowledged His Godhood.
7. Before the high priest, Jesus was adjured to reveal to them whether or not He was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One. He answered, “I am.” How much plainer could He be in identifying Himself as the Son of God?
Jesus both by implication and declaration claimed to be the Son of God. Furthermore, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all recorded these incidents, and they believed also that Jesus is Divine. In addition to what we have already noticed, Mark makes it plain at the outset what his view of Jesus is: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). No one need wonder where he stood on the subject. John says that the very reason that he recorded the miracles of Jesus was “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
Paul, who wrote about half of the New Testament books, made it clear that, prior to His coming to earth, Jesus was in the form of God and did not count it robbery to be equal with God (Phil 2:5-8). The New Testament is united in its insistence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Therefore, Jesus and the New Testament prophets stand together in proclaiming this fact.
Neither Muhammad nor his Muslim followers believe all these passages of Scripture written by New Testament prophets. The proof comes from the Qur’an itself. To those who think that “God hath begotten a Son” the Qur’an teaches: “No knowledge of this have either they or their fathers! A grievous saying to come out of their mouths! They speak no other than a lie” (Sura 18:3-4). In addition to all the teachings previously reviewed, Luke records the angel saying to Mary that her Son would be called “the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:32). When questioned further, the angel tells her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:36). Nevertheless, Muhammad said:
Christians say, “The Messiah is a Son of God.” Such the sayings in their mouths! They resemble the sayings of the infidels of old! God do battle with them! How are they misguided! They take their teachers, and their monks, and the Messiah, the son of Mary, for Lords beside God, though bidden to worship one God only. There is no God but He! (Sura 9:30-31).
Muhammad could not let Jesus be the Son of God because to him that idea suggested polygamy. To him the Holy Spirit was not a personality in the Godhead, either. Below are more comments about the Godhead:
Whoever shall join other gods with God, God shall forbid him in the Garden, and His abode shall be in the Fire; and the wicked shall have no helpers. They are surely Infidels who say, “God is the third of three:” for there is no God but one God: and if they refrain not from what they say, a grievous chastisement shall light on such of them as are Infidels (Sura 5:76-77).
Muhammad does not deal with the eleven passages (or the others previously cited) that show Jesus to be the Son of God. He just says it is not possible and that all who believe it are infidels. One might understand Muhammad’s confusion; he may not have had access to the New Testament or studied it carefully. He was (eventually) opposed to polytheism in any form. However, today Muslim clerics have adequate access to the New Testament; they can read for themselves the passages already examined. They cannot, therefore, say with a straight face that they believe the New Testament prophets when they absolutely repudiate what they teach concerning Jesus being God, as well as the Son of God. Let’s express their dilemma this way.
1. Muslims say they believe the New Testament prophets.
2. Those prophets include Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and Peter.
3. All of those men taught that Jesus is the Son of God.
4. Therefore, Muslims, if they believe those men, must accept that truth as fact.
5. However, they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
6. Therefore, they do not believe New Testament prophets.
7. To claim that they do when they do not is deceptive.
Muslims do not believe the Old Testament prophets, either, which shall be shown in the next article. When they say that they believe Jesus is a prophet or that they believe in Jesus, they do not mean what the Christian means—that He is the Son of God. So, what good does it do to proclaim that He is a prophet when they do not believe His own testimony about Himself? If a prophet says, “I am the Son of God,” on what basis can anyone reject this teaching? To deny Jesus’ Deity is to call Him a liar! And where does that leave them? In effect, Muslims must say, “We know that Jesus is a prophet, but sometimes He lies.” Really? Of what value would such a prophet be, and who is going to tell us when He is lying and when He is telling the truth? Such is chaos.