There are three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In a side-by-side comparison, these religions share some important beliefs, such as belief in the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob; however, stark differences also set each distinctly apart from the others. Unsurprisingly, Jesus sits at the intersection of almost all of these theological differences. Not that Jesus was a first-century man from Nazareth who taught of God’s kingdom; all three agree that Jesus was a real historical figure. Rather, the differences concern the claim that Jesus was divine and was raised from the dead, which Christians alone believe. In fact, these two claims are the most commonly disputed points by Muslim apologists.
Within Islam, the question of Jesus’s deity is most often put forward as a direct statement: “Jesus never claimed to be God.” To support their position, Muslims cite the Quran which states that even as an infant Jesus said “I am the servant of Allah. . . He made me a prophet (sura 19:30). Other passages call Jesus a “messenger” (Sura 4:171; 5:75) but the Quran never states that Jesus claimed to be God nor does it say Jesus ever told anyone to worship Him. Muslim apologists also bring forward passages from the Gospels to support their claim, such as Jesus saying, “My God and your God” (John 20:17) to suggest Jesus is someone other than God. Nor, they argue, would He say, “The Father is greater than I” (John 14:28) unless He was referring to God as separate from Himself. It is also claimed that Jesus denying having divine knowledge, such as not knowing the hour or day of His return (Mark 13:32), also suggests He was not divine but simply a prophet and teacher called by God. Further, Muslims argue that Jesus’ denialtobecalledgood(Mark10:18) also indicates Jesus was not claiming to be God.
However,fortheChristian,these passages are not examples of Jesus denying His deity but rather show His human nature by responding as a human would be expected to. Christian doctrine holds that within the triune nature, God exists equally as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. At the birth of Jesus, he took on human nature in addition to His eternal and unchanging divine nature. And that is what is reflected throughout the gospels: Jesus speaking at times from His human nature, as in the passages above, but also speaking extensively from His divine nature.
In one of the clearest references to His divinity, Jesus told the Pharisees that “Before Abraham was, I Am” (John 8:58). “I Am,” of course, is a holy name of God. Speaking to His disciples leading up to the night of His arrest, Jesus is unequivocally bold in His proclamation “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) telling the disciples, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10) and that if they have seen Him then they have indeed also seen the Father (John 14:9). Jesus reiterates the fact saying if you don’t believe me then believe miracles as proof that I am who I say that I am: God in human flesh.
So,itseemstherearetwocompeting accounts. The Gospel accounts support the Christian position that Jesus claimed to be a divine being, and the Muslim position asserts that Jesus never claimed to be God, which the Quranic passages support. The vital question is this: which position best explains the evidence? Since the life of Jesus is a historical event, perhaps the historical method of investigation could help here. According to that method, both early accounts and eyewitness accounts are generally much more reliable than later accounts written by others. Concerning transmission of the Quran, Islam claims Muhammad received the message and then dictated it to a scribe. Historically, since Muhammad lived 600 years after the events of Jesus’ ministry, the Quran is not an eyewitness account. On the other hand, the Gospel accounts (4 independentaccounts)werewritten by eyewitnesses within 25-35 years of the event, when many of those who witnessed the event were still living. In addition, there is one more issue here. It is a concrete rule of historical investigation that a later historical document cannot be used to reinterpret older eyewitness accounts, which is precisely what Muslim apologists are doing while arguing that Jesus never claimed to be God. He clearly did, as is multiply attested in the four Gospels.
In the end, it seems that the Muslim position that Jesus never claimed to be God is not well supported. Whileconsideringthetriune nature of God, it can safely be said that time and again in the Gospel texts, Jesus does indeed claim to be God. And it matters greatly. If Jesus is not divine, we Christians among all people are to be most pitied (1 Cor 15:19). But that is not what the evidence shows! Join us next time as we look closely at a Muslim favorite: the Substitution Theory of what happened to Jesus after the Cross.
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.