Muslim questions
Answered from the commentary of Fritz Ridenour, A. J. Pollock, Arno Clemens Gaebelein and 9 others
Muslims hold that God is one, period, and the Qur'an condemns the Trinity and the deity of Jesus as the sin of ascribing partners to God; many are also wrongly taught that Christians worship three gods, the Father, Mary and the Son, which is a grotesque caricature of what the Bible teaches. Scripture's answer is that there are three distinct Persons in the Godhead, yet not three Gods but one: not a tritheism, but a triune God. Even in the great confession of Deuteronomy 6:4 the singular "Jehovah" is joined to the plural "Elohim," so the unity of God is affirmed and the Trinity guarded in the same breath. The word "one" there means a compound unity, not a bare single one. The Qur'an's "far be it from His glory that He should have a son" rests on carnal thoughts of begetting, such as that a father must be older than his son, an objection met very often among Muslims in India. The reply is that we must not argue from the natural to the spiritual: the Father, Son and Spirit are each eternal, and the mystery is left where Scripture leaves it. Islam honours Jesus as virgin-born, the Messiah and a great prophet, but ranks Him below Muhammad. Muslims even believe He truly came, was truly man, and will come again, yet they remain unbelievers, because they deny the glory of His Person and His divine nature. The true test is therefore not "Is Jesus a son of God?" but a plain yes or no to "Is the Lord Jesus Christ God the Son?".
The Qur'an also denies that Christ died on the cross, claiming that another, perhaps Judas, was made to look like Him and crucified in His place. Yet the cross is the centre of God's redemptive plan; it was foretold in the Old Testament and is told by eyewitnesses in all four Gospels. His death is an attested fact, confirmed by the centurion, the soldiers, Joseph, Nicodemus and the women. Rather than face the verses that declare Jesus' deity, Muslims claim that Christians have changed the Bible. But God has preserved His word: the copies differ only in trifles, and no doctrine is touched, whether the deity of Christ, His atoning death or His resurrection. As for the Koran's claim to be the latest revelation, its denial of Christ's divinity settles that it in no way came from God, and the God it speaks of is not the true God of Scripture. Muhammad is called the false prophet and impostor of Arabia. His book sets the Bible aside as imperfect, and that denial of God's truth makes the system infidel. Indeed, if the history of Islam is true, it is an imposture, whereas if that of Christianity is true, it is incontestably divine. The Prophet like Moses of Deuteronomy 18:15 is Christ, as Peter declares in Acts 3:22. Anyone who comes with a fresh revelation must be judged by Scripture and rejected utterly. Islam is a religion of self-effort, in which a Muslim can only do his best and hope Allah may be merciful. Against this, forgiveness never rests on repentance alone but on the atoning work of Christ. Christians therefore have incredibly good news for any Muslim willing to listen. For those held fast in Islam, believers can pity them, pray for them, and trust the Lord to raise up a witness to Himself.
Verses: Deuteronomy 18:15, John 1:1, John 1:2, John 1:3, John 1:14, John 8:58, John 10:30, John 20:28, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:5, Philippians 2:6, Philippians 2:7, Philippians 2:8, Philippians 2:9, Philippians 2:10, Philippians 2:11, Hebrews 1:8, Titus 2:13, Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 9:6, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 15:3, 1 Corinthians 15:4, 1 Corinthians 15:5, 1 Corinthians 15:6, 1 Corinthians 15:7, 1 Corinthians 15:8, 1 Corinthians 15:14, Luke 24:39, Mark 10:45, Mark 14:61, Mark 14:62, Matthew 16:16, John 3:16, Galatians 4:4, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:5, Psalms 22:16, John 19:30, Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 24:35, 1 Peter 1:24, 1 Peter 1:25, 2 Timothy 3:16, Deuteronomy 18:18, Acts 3:22, John 14:16, John 14:17, John 14:26, Acts 1:8, Galatians 1:8, 1 John 2:22, 1 John 2:23, 1 John 4:2, 1 John 4:3, 1 John 5:11, 1 John 5:12, Ephesians 2:8, Ephesians 2:9, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9, 1 Peter 3:15, Colossians 4:6
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
For Muslims, God is one, period. The Qur'an explicitly attacks the Christian teaching on the Trinity, saying that anyone who ascribes "partners" to God is committing the sin of shirk (blasphemy). This prohibition is explicitly directed against the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the teaching that Jesus is God. Many Muslims are also erroneously taught that Christians are really triâtheists who believe in God the Father, Mary the mother and Jesus the Son. This grotesque caricature of the Trinity is a complete misrepresentation of what biblical Christians believe and what the Bible teaches.
Regarding God: Muslims believe there is no God but Allah; Christians believe that God is revealed in Scripture as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons who are coeternally God (see Matt. 3:13â17; 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14). Regarding Jesus Christ: Muslims believe that Jesus was only a man, a prophet below Mohammed in importance, who did not die for man's sins; Christians say Christ is the Son of God, the sinless Redeemer who died and rose again for sinful man (see John 1:13,14; 1 Pet. 3:18). Regarding sin: Muslims claim that humans are born with hearts that are clean states. if they commit sins, these can be overcome by acts of the will; Christians counter that we are born corrupted by sin, spiritually dead apart from God's grace, and that no one does good apart from faith (see Rom. 3:12; Eph. 5:8â10). Regarding salvation: Muslims say that Allah does not love those who do wrong, and each person must earn his or her own salvation; Christians contend that a loving God sent His Son to die for our sins, according to the inspired Word (see Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:3,4).
The Qur'an denies that Jesus is the Son of God, although it describes the virgin birth in a passage similar to Luke 1:26â38 (see Surah 3:45â47). The Qur'an calls Jesus a prophet, equal to Abraham, Jonah and others; but places Him in rank far below Mohammed. Surah 4:171 says that "Jesus ... was only a messenger of Allah.... Far is it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have a son."
Mohammed totally ignored what the New Testament says about Jesus' divinity (see, for example, Matt. 8:29; 17:5; John 1:1â5; 8:58; 10:30; 14:9; 20:28, Col. 1:15â17; 2:9). instead of admitting that verses like these exist, Muslims claim Christians have changed the Bible.
The Qur'an says that Christ never really died on the cross." "They slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared so unto them" (Surah 4:157). How could this be? According to Islam, Allah took Jesus to heaven just before the crucifixion, because it is unthinkable that an approved prophet of God should face such a humiliating defeat. Who, then, died on the Cross? Muslims say it was Judas (or possibly Simon of Cyrene), made up so cleverly to resemble Jesus that even Mary and the disciples were fooled! Another theory held by certain Muslim sects is that Jesus was taken down from the cross in a coma and that he later revived and traveled to another area where He finally died.
Mohammedanism accepts the whole of the Old Testament, but refuses the New Testament, denying the Godhead of the Lord Jesus as the Son with the Father and Holy Spirit — one God, the atoning character of our Lord's death on the cross of Calvary is refused by them, and also the testimony of His resurrection. They daim that when the Jews were about to crucify our Lord, God caught Him up to heaven, causing His likeness to be put upon another, who was crucified in His place, expostulating all the time that they were crucifying the wrong person.
Next we have the counterpart. "And every spirit that confesseth not Jesus"; such is the shorter and, as I believe, the true reading, in which the best critics agree. The acceptance of this text confirms the genuine sense of what precedes, and makes it perfectly plain that it is the confession, not of a mere fact, but of the person. For in the detection of the evil spirit there is nothing expressed as to Christ's coming in the flesh, though implied of course. It is simply "Jesus," while here the article appears, "the" Jesus of whom more had just been said. "Every spirit that confesseth not (the) Jesus is not of God." He is adequate to detect every evil spirit. It is not only that He came, was truly man, and will come again. The Mahomedans believe all this; yet they themselves are, what they call others, unbelievers. For they do not believe in the glory of His person. Their unbelief makes them hate Christians, and join with the Jews in a measure against Christians. They only look at Him as a prophet, a wonderful man, excellent beyond all the sons of men, and the appointed Judge of the world when he comes to reign for seven years! But they do not believe in His divine nature, or that He put aside His divine glory to manifest God's grace.
As to his creed, if it can be said that he had any, it was copied partly from the Old and New Testaments and from various other sources. Of the Lord Jesus he says, "The Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God . . . . God is only one God. Far be it from His glory that He should have a son." "Infidels now are they who say, God is the Messiah, son of Mary." "God is one; God the eternal; he begetteth not, neither is He begotten; neither is there any One like Him." He may have learnt this from the Arianism of the professing Christians he had met with.
His followers claim for the Koran that it is the latest revelation of the mind of God, and that it had been penned under the immediate inspiration of God. The quotations above given settle at once and without dispute that it in no way came from God. It may have � as scholars declare it has � some sublime passages; but anything that denies the divinity of Christ, cannot be from God.
Another important question is as to God. It sounds reverent to say, "There is only one God," "God is one," "God the eternal," etc.; but is this God they speak of the only true God revealed to us in the scripture? It is not. God is LIGHT, and the Koran is thorough darkness, and in no way reveals the true God, nor the way that a guilty man can approach and be accepted by God. Again, God is LOVE, and the Koran breathes of hatred and vengeance. God is HOLY, but the Koran sanctions lust and impurity. And besides all this, it joins with the declaration of the oneness of God, that Mahomet is His prophet; and as we have seen, he could not possibly have been a prophet of God.
Here in this very majestic declaration of the Oneness of the Godhead, care is taken to state it consistently with the truth afterwards revealed concerning the Three Persons of the Godhead—Father, Son and Spirit. These Three Persons, of one Substance, completely united in thought, will, purpose, counsel, are not three Gods, but One God, not a tritheism, but a Holy Trinity. We cannot understand the mystery of all this, but this truth lies at the very foundation of the Christian faith.
This clearly shows that whilst Scripture affirms that there are three distinct Persons in the Godhead, yet there are not three Gods, but one; not a trinity of Gods, but a triune God.
The Mohammedans trace their descent from Abraham through Hagar's son, Ishmael (Genesis 16). Their great book is the Qur'an or Koran, for which the most extreme verbal, divine inspiration is claimed. In it Jesus is acknowledged to be a great prophet of God, but inferior to Mohammed. They hold that our Lord was born of a virgin, and that He was the promised Messiah. They affirm that as the Koran superseded the Holy Scriptures, so Mohammed superseded our Lord. Mohammed made the most ridiculous claims for himself, saying, "I was a prophet when Adam was still between clay and water." He claimed that God said to him, "Had it not been for thee, I had not have created the world." The Koran contains outstanding inaccuracies, such as the confusing of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, with the virgin Mary; and depicting Haman, chief nobleman at the court of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, as a minister of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. Dr. S. M. Zwemer says, "The Koran has many historical errors, contains monstrous fables, teaches a false cosmogony and is full of superstition."
One thing that stands in the way of the recognition of the Son of God are the carnal thoughts that some entertain as to Father and Son. They argue that a father must be older than his son. They think of the ordinary way in which children are begotten. This idea is very common among Mohammedans. When I was in India I met this objection very commonly.
Verses
- Deuteronomy 18:15Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken;
- John 1:1–31In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things received being through him, and without him not one [thing] received being which has received being.
- John 1:14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth;
- John 8:58Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
- John 10:30I and the Father are one.
- John 20:28Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God.