Jesus Christ: Is He just a

Prophet or God in human

form?
POSITIVE CASE FOR CHRISTIANITY
Introduction
1. Muslims honour Jesus, and consider him a great prophet.
2. He is mentioned in 15 suras and 93 verses.
3. Some Muslim scholars follow the ideas of the ‘Jesus Seminar’…
Historical Jesus ≠ ‘Jesus of Faith’
• Don’t understand the pre-suppositional base used by the group: no miracles,
‘Hillel’ precedent, etc…
4. Others take on Hyam Maccabys criticism, that the gospel of Jesus is
a creation of Paul.
5. Muhammad ‘Ata ur Rahim, believes Jesus was a member of the
Essene brotherhood.
 The Qur’an confirms the Bible as the
Word of God (Disclaimer)
• Many Muslims have never read the Bible because they think the
Qur’an has replaced it. The Qur’an, however, never claims to annul
the Bible. The Qur’an praises the Bible as God’s guiding truth (Surah
5:46; 3:3; 10:94-95). Some Muslims say that just as the Gospel (Injeel)
abrogated the law (Tauret), the Qur’an replaces the Gospel. However,
the Gospel did not abrogate the law. The perfect Jesus came, not to
abolish the law, but to fulfill the law.
• Islam teaches that the Bible has been corrupted. However, the Qur’an
commends the Bible: “And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in
their footsteps, confirming that which was (revealed) before him in
the Torah, and We bestowed on him the Gospel wherein is guidance
and a light, confirming that which was (revealed) before it in the
Torah—a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off (evil)”
(Surah 5:46). Muhammad was commanded by Allah to “recite what
has been revealed to you of the Book” (Surah 29:45).
• In addition, the Qur’an says that God’s Word cannot be changed
(Surah 6:34; 10:34, 64), and it makes no distinction between the
various revelations of God. “We have believed in Allah and what has
been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and
Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was
given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from
their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them” (Surah
2:136).
Why Jesus is not just a
Prophet?
• We know that there are titles and attributes that belongs only to God,
and yet Jesus declared those titles and attributes that only God can
truly make. At the same time, we believe as well that Jesus Christ is
the Prophet, but He is not just a prophet and not a mere man at all.
• Since Muslim apologists quoted some Bible passages where it
demonstrates the distinction between God the Father and Jesus
Christ, which is, ironically, it proves the biblical doctrine of the Trinity
(that the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the
Holy Spirit is not the Father). At the same time, since Jesus is God, it
points that He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are one in essence of
God.
 1. The First and the Last
• ALLAH
• He is the First and the Last, the Evident and Immanent; and He has full
knowledge of all things. S. 57:3
• YAHWEH
• "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.’" Isaiah 44:6
• JESUS
• "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand
upon me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I
died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and
Hades.’" Revelation 1:17-18
• The titles, "First and Last" and "the Beginning and the End, refer to
God's sovereignty as the only Lord and God, that everything begins
and ends with God since he alone sustains and controls all creation
and events. No mere creature could utter such words, and yet the
Lord Jesus does.
 2. Sovereignty and Inheritor
• ALLAH
• To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: It is He who gives
life and death; and He has power over all things. S. 57:2
• YAHWEH
• "The earth is the LORD's and the fulness thereof, the world and those who
dwell therein; for he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon
the rivers." Psalm 24:1-2
• JESUS
• "And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me.’" Matthew 28:18
• NT WRITERS
• "but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of
all things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God
and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of
power ..." Hebrews 1:2-3a
• Both the Lord Jesus and the NT writers emphatically state that Christ
sovereignly rules creation.
• At this point, a Muslim might interject that Christ is said to be given this authority,
indicating that there is One greater than he who gave it to him. Muslims are
obviously not taking into consideration the implications of these statements,
otherwise they would not make such assertions. First, how can a mere mortal
exercise power over all creation and possibly give eternal life to all flesh? Second,
the passages do not state that Christ was given the power to rule creation or to
grant life, but was given the authority or right to do so. In other words, God is
permitting Christ to rule and to give salvation to all, and yet in order for God to give
Jesus this authority, Christ must be able to have the ability to carry out these tasks
of maintaining and saving all creation.
 • "But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by
the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself." Philippians
3:20-21
• These passages therefore show that Christ has the intrinsic ability to
rule creation and grant eternal life, which implies that he must have
the same nature as God. If he did not have the very nature of God,
then Christ could not possibly be able to exercise power over the
universe and be its sustainer. Third, God does not give his glory to a
mere creature. This means that, despite the Muslim line of logic, the
fact that God granted Christ the right to share in the divine authority
basically means that Jesus is no mere mortal. (Cf. Isaiah 42:8, 48:11)
 3. The Resurrection and the Life
• ALLAH
• This is so, because God is the Reality: it is He Who gives life to the dead, and it
is He Who has power over all things And verily the Hour will come: there can
be no doubt about it, or about (the fact) that God will raise up all who are in
the graves. S. 22:6-7
• YAHWEH
• "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make
alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand."
Deuteronomy 32:39
• JESUS
• "Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me,
though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall
never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you
are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.’" John 11:25-
27
• "Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will
hear THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD, and those who hear will live. For as the
Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in
himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the
Son of man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in
the tombs will hear HIS VOICE and come forth, those who have done good, to
the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of
judgment." John 5:25-29
 4. Omnipresent
• ALLAH
• To God belong the East and the West: Withersoever Ye turn, there is the
Presence of God. For God is All-Pervading, All-Knowing. S. 2:115
• YAHWEH
• "Am I a God at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide
himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the LORD. Do I not fill
heaven and earth? says the LORD." Jeremiah 23:23-24
• JESUS
• "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of
them." Matthew 18:20
 5. Omniscient
• ALLAH
• "... For God knoweth well the secrets of your hearts." S. 3:154
• YAHWEH
• "He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond
measure." Psalm 147:4-5
• JESUS
• "And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned
within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question thus in your hearts?’"
Mark 2:8
 6. The Object of Prayers
• ALLAH
• When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I
listen to the prayer of every supplicant when he calleth on Me: Let them also,
with a will, listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the
right way. S. 2:186
• YAHWEH
• "I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called upon God and he answered
me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock." Job 12:4
• JESUS
• "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it." John 14:13-14
 7. The Light of the World
• ALLAH
• "God is the Light of the heavens and the earth..." S. 24:35
• YAHWEH
• "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the
stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1
• JESUS
• "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he who
follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’" John 8:12
 8. The Forgiver of Sins
• ALLAH
• And those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their
own souls, earnestly bring God to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins,
- and who can forgive sins except God? - and are never obstinate in persisting
knowingly in (the wrong) they have done. S. 3:135
• YAHWEH
• "But Joshua said to the people, ‘You cannot serve the LORD; for he is a holy
God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.’"
Joshua 24:19
• JESUS
• "And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘My son, your sins
are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their
hearts, ‘Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins
but God alone?’ ... ‘But that you may know that the Son of man has authority
on earth to forgive sins’ ..." Mark 2:5-7,10a
• "‘Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved
much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ And he said to her, ‘Your sins
are forgiven.’ Then those who were at table with him began to say among
themselves, ‘Who is this, who even forgives sins?’" Luke 7:47-49
 9. The Truth/Al-Haqq
• ALLAH
• "High above all is God, The King, The Truth ..." S. 20:114
• YAHWEH
• "Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of
truth." Psalm 31:5 NASB
• JESUS
• "Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to
the Father, but by me.’" John 14:6
 10. The Final Judge
• ALLAH
• Nay! When the earth is pounded by power, and thy Lord cometh, and His angels, rank
upon rank, and Hell, that Day, is brought face to face - On that Day will man remember,
but how will that remembrance profit him? S. 89:21-23
• YAHWEH
• Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehosh'aphat; for there I
will sit to judge all the nations round about. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in,
tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the
valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their
shining. And the LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the
heavens and the earth shake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the
people of Israel. So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwell in Zion, my
holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy and strangers shall never again pass through
it." Joel 3:12-17
• JESUS
• "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and
the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of
man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see
the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and
he will send out HIS angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather HIS
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew
24:29-31
• "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he
will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he
will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from
the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’ ... Then
he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;’" Matthew 25:31-34, 41
 11. King of kings and Lord of lords
• ALLAH
• Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
The vilest name in Allah's sight is Malik al-Amlak (King of Kings). The narration
transmitted on the authority of Shaiba (contains these words): There is no
king but Allah, the Exalted and Glorious. Sufyan said: Similarly, the word
Shahinshah (is also the vilest appellation). Ahmad b. Hanbal said: I asked Abu
'Amr about the meaning of Akhna. He said: The vilest. (Sahih Muslim, Book
025, Number 5338, see also Number 5339)
• YAHWEH
• "O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures for ever;"
Psalm 136:3
• JESUS
• "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His
eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a
name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped
in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the
armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on
white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the
nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press
of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he
has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords." Revelation 19:11-16
Attributes of God Allah Yahweh Jesus
The First and the Last Surah 57:3 Isaiah 44:6 Revelation 1:17-18
The Forgiver of sins Surah 3:135 Psalm 51:4 Mark 2:1-12
The final Judge Surah 22:56-57 Joel 3:12; Psalm 9:7-8 Matthew 25:31-32
The Truth Surah 22:6 Psalm 31:5 John 14:6
The One who raises the dead Surah 22:7 I Samuel 2:6 John 5:25-29; 11:25-27

Does God share His glory? Surah 57:1 Isaiah 42:8 John 17:5
Other Claims of Jesus Christ
The Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2:28 He could answer prayers John 14:13-14

The Lord of David Matthew 22:41-45 He is omnipresent Matthew 18:20

Jesus seen Abraham John 8:39-58 He has authority over all Matthew 28:18-20

Greater than God’s temple Matthew 12:6 He owns everything John 16:15
Has absolute relationship with Matthew 11:27 Jesus was worshipped John 5:21-23
God
Jesus and Islamic Theology
Why the Jesus of the Bible is different to the Issa of the Qur’an?
 Names of Jesus
1. More honourable Titles (eleven) to Jesus than to any other person:
1. Statement of truth (Sura 17:24) vs. ‘Way the truth and the life’ (John 14:6)
2. Word (Sura 10:19) vs. the ‘Word’ (John 1:1)
3. Apostle (Sura 19:31) vs. apostle (Hebrews 3:1)
4. Servant (Sura 4:172; 19:31) vs. Servant (Isaiah 42, 49, 50 & 53)
5. (Sign, Witness, Example, Messiah, Son of Mary, Messenger, and Spirit of
God)
 Who is Issa (Islamic Jesus)?
1. Appears 25 times in the Qur’an.
2. The origin of the word is not clear:
3. Did it come from the Syriac ‘Iesous’?
4. Or from the ‘Isaniya’, followers of Issa, from a group in Syria in 571
AD?
5. Is it Esau: from Arabian Jews who believed Esau’s soul transferred onto
Jesus?
6. Today Christian Arabs use ‘Yesuah’ which is more grammatically
correct.
7. BUT the Qur’anic name is not simply ‘Issa’, by itself
‘Issa’, son of Mary’, occurs 23 times.
1. Possibly chosen in contradistinction to son of God, to show he was human.
2. Found only once in the Bible.
3. Used by Syriac sources, influencing 70% of all Qur’anic religious terms.
4. Problem: (S.19:28-29; 66:12; 20:25-30) How was Mary, Jesus’ mother, Aaron’s
sister and Imran’s daughter (Numbers 26), as she lived 1,570 years later?
5. Luke 3 tells us ‘Heli’ was Mary’s father
‘Issa’, the messiah (11 times).
6. JESUS: Insous = Joshua - ‘The Lord our Salvation’
7. Yesua or Yeshua (Arabic / Heb.)
8. MESSIAH: (known in Arabic as al Masihu) found 11 times in the Qur’an
9. All in the later Medinan suras, but never defined.
10. Thus a puzzle for Muslims, while a great bridge for us.
11. The meaning has been declared to be unclear by some Muslim scholars.
12. But is used in Morocco for the king (referred to as the ‘anointed one’).
 Birth of Jesus vs Birth of Issa
• Sura 3: 33 ff, and Sura 19 (Maryam), give the details of his birth.
• The Spirit (‘ruh’) is active in his birth (blowing into Mary’s sleeve =
Tabari)
• Sura 3:42 and 19:21, he is conceived by Allah saying “Be”, much like
Adam’s birth.
• Born of a Virgin (Sura 19:20), so new creation, as no male to provide
the ‘Y’ chromosome.
• Difficulty of a biological birth from God (Suras 4:169; 25:2; 112)
 Birth: Sectarian Antecedents
• Imran/Zachariah (Mary’s Father & patron) (S.3:35-37) vs. Proto-
Evangelion’s James the Lesser (2nd C.)
• Jesus speaks from the cradle (3:41; 5:109; 19:29-33) vs. ‘First Gospel
of Infancy of J.C.’ (2nd C.)
• Jesus & Mary being fed by the Palm tree (S.19:22-26) vs. ‘Lost book
of the Bible’ (2nd C.)
• Jesus creating birds from clay (S.3:49; 5:11) vs. ‘Thomas’ Gospel of
the Infancy of Jesus Christ’ (2nd C.)
 The Life of Jesus according to the Qur’an
Miracles:
• as a baby 19:27-32 (Palm tree)
• as a child 3:49; 5:110, 113 (birds)
• in adulthood 3:49 & 5:113-114, (table, healing blind, lepers, and raising dead)
Words:
• Jesus denies his deity & predicts Muhammad’s coming: 5:17, 72, 116; 43:63-
64; 61:6
• Sura 61:6 = ‘Ahmad’ as the messenger to come; why not Muhammad?
Translated in the 750s as a noun, instead of an adjective, due to ‘paraclete’
promise in Jn.14 & 16. Could be ‘whose name is worthy of more praise’.
• The Qur’an also denies the trinity 4:171-172
 The Crucifixion of Jesus in the Qur’an
Primary Verses to be considered:
• Baidawi (1286 AD) changed 19:15, & 33 to the future, to 2nd coming (40 yrs.)
because of the need to reconcile it with 4:157-159, thus an internal contradiction..
• Jesus will be taken up is promised in 3:55, 5:120
• A possibility to suffer, or die... in 5:19
• Surah 4:157-158
1) The Jews believe that they had killed Jesus.
2) God reveals that they definitely did not. Jesus was not killed nor crucified.
3) There was someone else (not named) who looked like Jesus who died in his place.
4) God instead took up Jesus, like an ascension.
 Various Explanations of Muslim Scholars
• Al Baidawi (1286 AD)... ‘God took Jesus to heaven, The likeness was on someone else who
died’.
• (Taken from Mani, a Persian in 276AD)
• ‘God took Jesus to heaven in his sleep’
• (Taken from ‘Gospel of Peter’, 2nd C. Docetic)
• Al-Zamakhshari.. ‘They imagined Jesus was crucified. But Jesus is alive in
heaven’.
• ‘The substitution of a person for Jesus... Judas, another Jew, or Simon of Cyrene’
• (Taken from Basilides, a Gnostic writer)
• Ahmadiyya view = Swoon Theory, ‘Jesus swooned, died later & was buried in
Kashmir’
• (Taken from the ‘Gospel of John’, 2nd C. Docetic heresy).
• So, there is no resurrection as there was no death.
 Sources for these stories:
• Taken from 2nd cent. Docetic (Jesus only seemed physical) & Gnostic
writings.
• The Apocryphal Gospel of Peter: “Jesus was taken up”
• The Apocryphal Gospel of John: Jesus appeared to John in a cave, saying
the sufferings did not happen to him.
• Basilides (Gnostic writer): “Jesus changed forms with Simon of Cyrene, a
substitution”
• Mani (Persian, 276AD): “The widow of Nain’s son was substituted for Jesus”
• Ignatius writes against them, quoting them when they say, “Jesus suffered
in semblance
 Misunderstandings concerning Christ’s
death
• The sovereignty of God; that Allah would not allow his prophets to
suffer (S. 3:183)
• Islamic understanding of salvation - that no atonement is needed,
since no one can pay for another’s sin (S.6:164; 53:38)
• What about Garden of Eden, & Jesus’ sin
 Controversial References to Jesus
SON OF GOD:
• S. 39:4; 43:81 =God can have a son, possibility exists, which would be worshipped.
• S. 2:177 ‘Ibn ul-sabeeli’ means ‘son of the road’ = traveller
• S. 6:101; 5:17 = confusion of biological vs. inheritance birth
• Lk.2:49 = ‘begotten’= monogenes = one & only (unique), not ‘genao’ = birth
• Phil.2:6-8 = Not man becoming God, but God becoming man
• Can God become a man? Yes! So not how, but why! Eradicate SIN
• Must remind them of theophanies (burning bush, Angel with Abraham etc...)
• Revelation! = Gen.1:26-27; Deut.6:4; John 1:1,18; 5:18, 8:58-59, 10:30-33, Is.44:6
& Rev.1:8,17-18.
 GOD = JESUS = DIED ≠ GOD
• S. 5:17, 72 = “God [Father] is the Messiah...is one [or the third] of
three”
• Patripassianism = God the father died on cross.
• Noetus in 200 AD and Praxeas felt Jesus = God, & both lived and died
on earth.
 MARY = TRINITY
• Sura 5:116 = “Take me and my mother as two Gods apart from God”
• Collyridians = 4th century Arabian female sect who saw Mary as the
‘great earth mother’.
 TRINITY
• The word ‘Trinity’ is not in the Bible, nor ‘Tawhid’ in the Qur’an?
• Tri-unity (Tertullian 125 A.D.). Not mathematical (1+1+1, or 1x1x1) but
organic: (i.e.: son, father, husband, brother, pen, water, sun, author, egg, body
mind and spirit)
• Not Sabellian (3 consecutive ‘gods’) nor Arian (‘man becomes God’)
• Many mysteries we can’t explain (i.e. God’s omnipresence, eternity, virgin
birth, or electricity etc...), yet we accept them…on faith.
• Qur’an stands against ‘Christian’ polytheism (S.4:17;5:73), but has a
mistaken trinity, as it includes Mary (Sura 5:116)
• Qur’an = Jesus = God’s word, both eternal (S.85:22) ≠ ‘Tawhid’, since if
Qur’an was created (Mutazilites) then at one time God was without his
word.
 • Allah’s names include Love (Wadud), Compassion (Rahman), Mercy (Raheem) &
all 3 require objects -so only exist upon Man’s creation, & not found or exampled
in a 1-dimensional monad Allah, but found & exemplified in a trinitarian context!
• So Allah requires Man’s existence, while Yahweh chooses Man’s existence
• Can personal man come from impersonal God, only as Imago Dei…in His image
(Gen.1:26-27)
• The Tawhid of Allah breeds totalitarian Ummah (many swallowed into the one)
• The Trinity of Yahweh
• Islamic trinity:
• Allah (S.13:16; 14:10)
• Ruh (S.50:16; 56:83)
• Eternal tablets (S.85:22)
• Baptism of Christ (Luke 3:22) = voice of God the father, dove as spirit of
God, and Son as Jesus. (Matt.6:11-13 = Lord’s Prayer)
 Sectarian Influences (source Criticism):
• Monarchists: God has no children (sura 4:171; 19:34)
• Docetists (1st C.): Jesus didn’t die (sura 4:156-158)
• Monophysites - Cholloridian (4th C.) Maryolatry: Mary in the Trinity
(sura 5:116)
• Nestorians (5th C.): Jesus = God-chosen human (sura 3:42-48, 51, 59;
4:171; 5:116-117;19:30, 34-35)
• Imran & Zachariah (Mary’s Father & patron) (S.3:35-37) vs. Proto-
Evangelion’s James the Lesser
• Jesus Speaks from the Cradle (3:41; 5:109; 19:29-33) vs. ‘First Gospel
of Infancy of Jesus Christ’
• Jesus & Mary being fed by the Palm tree (S.19:22-26) vs. ‘Lost book
of the Bible’
• Jesus creating Birds from clay (S.3:49; 5:11) vs ‘Thomas’ Gospel of
the Infancy of Jesus Christ
• Progression Of Mary:
• 1st C. = Minor role: mother of Jesus
• 5th C. = Major Role: Eternal Virgin, Mediator, Holy Woman, Pious, greater
than Jesus
• 7th C. = Major Role: (S.3 & 19): Eternal Virgin, Lives in Temple, above all
women, Pious
• Digression Of Joseph:
• 1st C. = Mentioned often,
• 5th C. = Few times,
• If we want to know more details about the life of Christ, then we need
to look at historical sources, writings which were close to the event,
not only to the time period of Jesus, but close to the place he lived, in
Palestine.
• There are accounts of Jesus which are close to the time, and the place
Christ lived; written in the late first and early second century, and
written by non-Christian Jewish and Roman historians.
• Let us look at some of these latter documents first.
• Thallus and Phlegon (52 AD): two 1st - century historians who debate the
cause of the darkness in the middle of the day, and the terrible earthquake
• Tacitus Roman historian (80‑84AD): death of Jesus, during reign of Tiberius, by
Pontius Pilate of Judea (Lk.3:1)
• Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived from AD 37 to 90, wrote the following
in his ‘Antiquities of the Jews’.
• ‘‘And there arose about this time a source of new trouble, one Jesus. He was a doer of marvellous
deeds. This man was the so-called Christ and when Pilate had condemned him to the Cross, those who
had loved him did not cease - for he appeared to them, as they said, on the third day alive again.”
• Lucian of Samosata, a Satirist - early second century, who referred to Christ
as
• ‘the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced a new cult into the world’.
• Seutonius, who refers to Christians as being
• ‘given over to a new and mischievous superstition’.
• Pliny the Younger (112 AD) advices Trajan on killing Christians, a community
who sang to Christ
 Conclusion
1. Jesus is important to the Qur’an, referred to 93 times, but not the
Biblical ‘Jesus’
2. It uses the wrong name: ‘Issa’ (Syriac?)
3. The titles emphasize his humanity (‘Issa ibn Maryam’, ‘Issa al-
Masihu’)
4. And confuses his mother with OT ‘Miriam’
5. Much is spoken of his childhood, but little of his adulthood, unlike
the Biblical account
6. ‘Issa’ = 5th c. Syriac, while ‘Jesus’ = 1st C.
• Crucifixion: Internal confusion, no historicity, all can be traced to 2nd
C.writings
• Jesus’ Eschatology points to later theology…
• Son of God allows his omnipotence
• Qur’anic view of Trinity is wrong, and borrowed
• Qur’anic Trinity exists, but can’t be explained
• Jesus vs. Muhammad?
• Jesus is unique (birth, death, ministry)
• Jesus =righteous (S. 19:19) Muh. forgiven 3 times!
• Jesus did miracles, Muh. never could
• Jesus is universally relevent, Muh. fits 7th C. only…
• Jesus is God…Muhammad
CONCLUSION
• Christ's extensive usage of divine titles and prerogatives that are
found in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Quran affirms that Jesus'
self-description is consistent with one claiming to be God Almighty.
The Lord Jesus’ use of divine titles that belong exclusively to God
shows that Jesus is God, or at least establishes the fact that Jesus
claimed to be God. No true prophet of God would make such divine
claims, unless of course the claims were actually true. And in the case
of Christ, these divine claims are true since he is God in the flesh.
Hence, a Muslim must come to the conclusion that the recorded
words of Christ in the holy Scriptures leave no doubt that Jesus
claimed to be God. There is simply no way around it.