JESUS CHRIST:
GOD’S TOTAL SELF-GIFT

List of contents:
I. Synopsis
II. The deity of Jesus Christ
A. The Holy Bible affirms the deity of Jesus Christ
1. Christ performed the works of God:
i. Power to create new substance.
ii. Power to raise to the dead.
iii. Power to command nature.
iv. Power to lay down his life and take it back.
v. Power to heal the sick.
vi. Power over demonic powers.
vii. Authority to forgive sins.
2. The divine title is ascribed to Christ
3. The divine attributes intrinsic to God alone are ascribed to Christ
4. Christ is worshiped as God
5. Divine equality is ascribed to Christ
B. Historical facts vindicate the deity of Jesus Christ
1. Triumph of early Christianity over brutal persecutions
2. Destruction of the Jerusalem temple affirmed the establishment of the new covenant
C. The position of the Qur'an on the divinity of Christ
III. Corollary

I. SYNOPSIS (return to list of contents)

Because of the fallen depraved condition of humanity, the human person could not come to God on his own, and could not live and walk in ever closer fellowship with God: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3: 23). Therefore, God has chosen to come down to humanity in order to free the human person who follows him from the power and bondage of sin, deify and elevate the human person to Him: “God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5: 19a). In addition, God has wanted to establish a closer loving communion with His creation for “My delight was with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8: 31b).

God is personal. Therefore, only a person can adequately reveal him. A book may tell us about God, but it is incapable of revealing the personal character of God as a person would. God has revealed His divine energies that pertain to the salvation of man fully in Jesus Christ: “And the Word (Christ) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1: 14, 18). Jesus, not only has a word to speak to humanity, but he himself is that ever living Word of God. He not only does good works, but he himself is the ultimate good work of God on our behalf. He is the ultimate revelation and presence of God in the world. The Word of God is God’s way of letting his divine presence become known to the world.

The eternal living Word/Wisdom of God entered the historical realm of the humankind in the time domain by His incarnation of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit of the living God. The preexistent eternal living Word/Wisdom of God united with human nature in the one person of Jesus Christ, without confusion or alteration of the divine and human natures. This means that Jesus Christ, the divine-human person, is both fully divine and fully human at the same time, therefore, he forms a bridge between God and humanity. His humanity resembles us in every thing except sin, as he was sinless: “But was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4: 15b). He was born of a woman (Galatians 4: 4), and had a human body that grew (Luke 2: 52). He was subject to hunger (Luke 4: 2), thirst (John 19: 28), fatigue (John 4: 6), compassion (Luke 19: 41), and physical death (Luke 23: 46).

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1: 1-5, 10, 14).

As a word is begotten from the mouth, the eternal Son is begotten from the eternal Father before all ages. The sources of time are not subject to time. The living Word/Wisdom of God is a distinct person, not merely an utterance within the Godhead (John 1: 1). Yet, he is one being with God. The eternal Word/Wisdom of God speaks as a person:

“The Lord possessed Me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, form the beginning, before there was ever an earth. When He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman. And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him” (Proverbs 8: 22-23, 29b-30; 1 Corinthians 1: 24).

The Holy Bible teaches that God is a spirit: “God is Spirit” (John 4: 24a). A spirit does not have the procreative sexual function which is associated with the flesh of the members of the animal kingdom. Therefore, the Sonship of Christ to God the Father is a spiritual sonship. It is a unique sonship: “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father” (Matthew 11: 27a). It is not a physical sonship of the flesh as some may erroneously think. God the Father did not take Mary for a wife and procreated Jesus form her. In fact, Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived in her by the power of the Holy Spirit of the living God: “And the angel answered and said to her (Mary), ‘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: 35). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, then is the personified eternal living Word/Wisdom of God the Father.

God has chosen to come down to man motivated by His unlimited divine love for His creation that surpasses human understanding, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3: 16); “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4: 10).

II. THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST (return to list of contents)

Christ’s deity is at the center of the Christian confession of faith since early Christianity. The Christian believer is the one who has received Jesus Christ as Lord (Colossians 2: 6). This faith is articulated in the ancient Nicene Creed:

“We believe in one God, God the Father, who created heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages; light from light, true God from true God, begotten not created, of one essence with the Father, through whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and from the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

The pure sinless life, teachings, miracles, and resurrection of Jesus demonstrate that, in addition to his visible human nature, he also had a divine nature. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3: 22b; 9: 35; John 4: 25-26; 11: 27; Matthew 3: 17; 17: 5; Mark 1: 11; 9: 7). His incarnation and virgin birth were the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies on the first advent of the Messiah: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us” (Matthew 1: 23; Isaiah 7: 14b). The roots of the concept of Christ’s deity are traced back to the Old Testament (Torah) prophecies about the coming Messiah: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9: 6).

There are many arguments for the deity of Christ. Many of these arguments are rooted in the early Christian era.

A. The Holy Bible Affirms the Deity of Jesus Christ

1. Christ performed the works of God
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Christ performed miracles and actions that only God could do: “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him” (John 10: 37-38). He had the divine powers that only the omnipotent God has. Christ performed many miracles. He healed the sick; he exorcised demons; he fed the hungry; he raised the dead; and he stilled the violent nature. Christ showed unique powers that no prophet had shown before him. Here is a sampling of these actions and powers. In all his miracles, Christ commanded the miracle in the first person using his own power. For instance, he did not say to a dead man: “I pray that God may raise you.” Instead, he said: “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11: 43b).

Christ performed his miracles publicly so that people might see them and believe. Christ worked a lot more miracles than any prophet in human history. Based on the Gospel (Injil) information, Christ did at least 900-1000 miracles. About 15,000 people saw those miracles. In addition, approximately another 86,000 friends and family members knew the sick people before and after their healing, and could confirm that they were sick and were subsequently healed. This means that approximately one out of every twenty persons living in Palestine at that time either had seen a miracle, or knew someone who had been healed. Only a small representative proportion of the miracles of Christ is described in the Gospels. “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written 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: 30, 31; 21: 25).

i. Power to create new substance.

The miracles of multiplying the few loaves of bread and fishes to feed thousands of hungry people with plenty of left-over food which they collected in baskets are miracles of creation of new substance (Luke 9: 11-17; Matthew 15: 32-39).

Jesus created two eyes for a man born blind (John 9). This man was born without eyeballs. Jesus created in him a pair of new eyeballs from clay that He anointed the blind man’s eye sockets with. This miracle reminds us of God’s creation of Adam from clay (Genesis 2:7).

ii. Power to raise the dead.

We know of three miracles of raising the dead (Luke 8: 41-42, 49-56; 7: 12-15; John 11: 1-44). The most powerful of these miracles is raising Lazarus from the dead four days after his death after his corpse began to decompose in his grave (John 11: 1-44). Jesus said: “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 to have life in Himself” (John 5:25b-26). Only Christ raised a dead man back to life after four days in the grave. The corpse of the dead man was in a state of decomposition. No one of the prophets in the entire Bible did a similar miracle, though some raised dead persons shortly after their death (1 Kings 17: 17-24; 2 Kings 4: 18-37).

iii. Power to command nature.

Jesus rebuked the stormy wind and the raging sea, and they obeyed him (Matthew 8: 23-27; Mark 4: 36-41; Luke 8:22-25). He was able to command the forces of nature and they obeyed Him! In addition, Jesus walked on the raging sea as if it were dry land (Mark 6: 45-52).

iv. Power to lay down his life and take it back.

Jesus Christ laid down his bodily life willfully when he died on the cross. He took it back willfully when he rose from the dead: “Therefore, My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10: 17-18).

v. Power to heal the sick.

Jesus healed many people afflicted with a variety of ailments. He healed the leper (Luke 5: 12-15; 17: 11-19), the paralytic (Luke 5: 16-26), the paralyzed (Matthew 8: 5-13), the blind (Matthew 9: 27-31), a bleeding woman (Luke 8: 43-48), and those with a variety of diseases:

“Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel” (Matthew 15: 30-31).

vi. Power over demonic powers.

Jesus set many people free from demonic powers that possessed and tormented them. Demons knew that he was the Christ (Luke 4: 33-36, 41; 8: 26-39; Mark 9: 17-29; Matthew 8: 16, 28-34; 9: 32-33; 12: 22-23):

“Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!" For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?” And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid” (Luke 8: 26-35)

vii. Authority to forgive sins.

Jesus performed both physical healings and spiritual healings. The latter was effected mainly by forgiving the sins of the person:

“When He saw their faith, He said to him, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.’ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ‘Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, ‘Why are you reasoning in your hearts?’ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’—He said to the man who was paralyzed, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God” (Luke 5: 20-25; 7: 36-50).

Jesus healed the paralytic man, but did that after He forgave his sins. This proved that he had the authority to forgive sins as he declared, because if he had committed blasphemy, he could not heal the paralytic man, which he did with ease.

2. The divine title is ascribed to Christ
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The Word/Wisdom of God is Christ who is God the Son: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1: 1, 14); “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3: 16a). The Gospel of Matthew teaches that Christ is “Immanuel, which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1: 23b). Christ is the only begotten Son of God: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1: 18; Matthew 14: 33). He is the Lord of glory (James 2: 1). He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelations 19: 16). He is the Son of God “whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1: 2b-3a). God the Father calls him God: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever (Hebrews 1: 8a). Jesus never protested when the terms of God were ascribed to him. The apostle Thomas and other disciples called him God and worshiped him: “My Lord and my God” (John 20: 28b; Titus 2: 13; Matthew 28:9). Christ said: “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves” (John 14: 11); “I and My Father are one” (John 10: 30); “That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5: 23). The Jews understood his claims to deity, and sought to kill him (John 5: 18; 10: 31-33). When the Jewish high priest asked Jesus whether he is the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus answered in the affirmative. The high priest then accused him of blasphemy, because the title “Son of God” was understood as identifying with God, and being equal with God the Father (Matthew 26: 63-65).

3. The divine attributes intrinsic to God alone are ascribed to Christ
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Attributes that could be ascribed only to God, are ascribed to Jesus Christ: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2: 9). The following are main highlights of these attributes.

1. Existent in eternity:
“Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8: 58); “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17: 5); “He is before all things” (Colossians 1: 17a); “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Revelations 22: 13; 1: 8; 21: 6).

2. Uncreated being:

3. Immutable being:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13: 8).

4. Omnipotence:

5. Omniscience:

“Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4: 29); “For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him” (John 6: 64b; 2: 25; 11: 11-14; Luke 6: 8a).

6. Omnipresence:

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man (Christ) who is in heaven” (John 3: 13).

“I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28: 20b),

“Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18: 20).

7. Sovereignty:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28: 18; John 3: 35; Hebrews 1: 2); “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son (Christ)” (John 5: 22).

“Angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him” (1 Peter 3: 22b; Revelations 1: 5).

8. Holiness of Jesus:

“holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26b; John 8: 46; Acts 3: 14).

9. Divine love:
“To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge” (Ephesians 3: 19a).

4. Christ is worshiped as God
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The core of the Christian profession of faith is that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 10: 9). The resurrected Christ unreservedly received worship due only to God throughout the history of Christianity: “That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5: 23); “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7: 59). The apostle Thomas worshiped Christ as God: “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God’” (John 20: 28; Matthew 14: 33; 28: 9).

5. Divine equality is ascribed to Christ
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The Holy Bible teaches us that Christ is equal in divinity to God the Father: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28: 19); “Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen” (Romans 9: 5b); “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God (the Father), and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen” (2 Corinthians 13: 14); “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2: 9).

B. Historical Facts Vindicate the Deity of Jesus Christ

1. Triumph of early Christianity over brutal persecutions
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All the apostles of Christ that he sent to evangelize the world were tortured and martyred, except one: the apostle John who died naturally. They all stood fast in their testimony about the deity of Christ all the way to the very end. They gave their lives for their faith which they believed to be true to the last breath.

Christianity not only survived the first three centuries A.D. of brutal bloody Roman persecution, but also spread in many parts of the world, and it eventually became the religion of the Roman empire itself, its greatest persecutor. Hundreds of thousands were tortured and martyred for confessing their faith in Christ in the first three centuries of the Christian era. Yet, the Christian faith spread and grew stronger. The only adequate convincing explanation for this is that the power of the living God in Christ frustrated and overcame the mightiest empire that ever existed on the face of the earth, the Roman empire, without using mighty armies: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4: 6b).

2. Destruction of the Jerusalem temple affirmed the establishment of the new covenant (return to list of contents)

Jesus had prophesied the destruction of ancient earthly Jerusalem and its Jewish temple:

“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19: 41-44, 21:20-24; Matthew 23:38).

The prophecy was literally fulfilled by the final total destruction of Biblical Jerusalem and its Jewish temple in 70 A.D. by the Romans in an unprecedented inferno, which was almost unparalleled in mankind’s bloodiest historical upheavals. The whole city and temple were razed to the ground as Jesus prophesied: “and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another” (Luke 19: 44a). The great part of the Israelite population, that was not massacred in the bloody Jewish war of 66-70 A.D. and the Bar-Kokhba rebellion of 132-135 A.D., was sold into slavery, again fulfilling the second part of Jesus’ prophecy: “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations” (Luke 21: 24a). In this respect, it is worth noting that although the abuse of temple articles had caused God’s wrath on the Babylonian king Belshazzar and the fall of the Babylonian kingdom to the Persians (Daniel 5), the abuse of temple articles by the Romans, more than six centuries thereafter, did not result in God’s judgment on the Roman Empire (the seven-branched golden lampstand and the table of the showbread were placed in the pagan temple of peace in Rome). In the post-Christ era, neither the temple nor its holy articles meant anything to God. In the post-Christ era, God has arranged that the ethnic Israelite identity be diluted, and the tribal identity completely disappear.

The destruction of the Jewish temple of Jerusalem signified the end of animal sacrifices that had been offered in accordance with the Mosaic law of the Torah, and confirmed the beginning of the new covenant of grace for those that believe in Christ, the Son of God. These animal sacrifices symbolized the all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

C. The Position of the Qur'an on the Divinity of Christ
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The position of the Qur’an on the divinity of Christ is contradictory. The Qur’an contains verses that strongly support the divinity of Christ and others that deny it.

1. The Qur’an supports the divinity of Christ when it distinguishes Him from all creation by calling Him the “Word of God:” “The angels said: ‘O Mary, God gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary…” (al-Imran 3: 45, 39; al-Nisa’ 4: 171). These verses indicate that the Word of God is not to be understood as the spoken word of God (utterance of God). But it indicate the Person of Christ. Arabic grammar supports that understanding. Although the Arabic word for “word” is feminine, it is followed by the masculine possessive pronoun in al-Imran 3: 45: “…His name is the the Messiah…” If the intended meaning were a spoken word, its possessive pronoun has to be in the feminine gender. The Person of the Word that issues form God (the Father) has the same divine nature and attributes of God (the Father).

2. The Qur’an supports the divinity of Christ when it calls Him “the Spirit of God:” “…the Messiah, Jesus son of May, is God’s apostle, and His Word that He cast to Mary, and a Spirit form Him…” (al-Nisa’ 4: 171; al-Baqarah 2: 87, 253; al-Ma’idah 5: 110; al-Anbiya’ 21: 91; al-Tahrim 66: 12).

The Word of God and the Spirit of God are God Himself. It is important to point out that the Qur’an does not call any prophet that way. These titles are reserved for Christ alone.

The above is in agreement with the biblical teachings on Christ: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1: 1, 14; Revelation 19: 13). The eternal Word (Son) of God and the Spirit of God are equal to God in divinity. God the Father, His Word (Son), and His Holy Spirit are one God.

3. The Qur’an supports the divinity of Christ when it states that Christ has the powers reserved for God alone.

(a) He knows all hidden things: “…I (Jesus) will tell you what you eat and what you hoard in your homes…” (al-Imran 3: 49), whereas all the prophets and messenger of God do not know these hidden things: “One day God will gather all the apostles and ask them: ’How were you received? They will reply: ‘We have no knowledge. You alone know what is hidden’’” (al-Ma’idah 5: 109; al-An’am 6: 50; al-A’raf 7: 188). The Qur’an reserves this knowledge to God alone (al-Hujurat 49: 18; al-Jum’ah 62: 8).

(b) He has the power to create life (birds) from clay: “…I (Jesus) bring you a sign from your Lord. From clay I will create for you the likeness of a bird. I shall breathe into it and, by God’s leave, it shall become a living bird. By God’s leave, I shall heal the blind man and the leper, and raise the dead to life…” (al-Imran 3: 49; al-Ma’idah 5: 110). The Qur’an states that God created man in the same way: “…He first created man from clay. He molded him and breathed His spirit into him…” (al-Sajdah 32: 7, 9; al-An’am 6: 2; al-Hijr 15: 28-29; Sad 38: 71-72). This attests the divinity of Christ, because the Qur’an reserves the power of creation to God alone: “…God first brings the creation into being, and will then restore it…” (Yunis 10: 34; Yasin 36: 77, 81).

(c) Christ also has the power to raise the dead (al-Imran 3: 49; al-Ma’idah 5: 110). The Qur’an reserves the power of raising the dead to God alone: “It is He (God) who has given you life, and will cause you to die, and then will bring you back to life…” (al-Hajj 22: 66; al-Mu’minun 23: 80; al-Rum 30:50; Yasin 36: 78-79). Christ explained these powers in the Gospel saying: “For as (God) the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. Most assuredly, 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 to have life in Himself” (John 5: 21, 25, 26).

4. The Qur’an supports the divinity of Christ when it states that Christ is immune from sin. According to the Qur’an, all humans, including all the prophets, have committed transgressions and sinned except one person—Jesus Christ. He is perfect and immune form faults and sin. The Qur’an states that all humans have sinned: “There is not one among you who shall not pass through it (hell). Such is the absolute decree of your Lord” (Mary 19: 71; al-Nur 24: 21). The Qur’an also states that all the prophets have sinned: “…Adam disobeyed his Lord, and went astray” (Taha 20: 121; al-Baqarah 2: 36; al-shu’ara’ 26: 20, 82; Sad 38: 24; Nuh 71: 28…etc). In addition, we note the following Hadith in Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari: “None of you will get into paradise except for the mercy of God. It is said: ‘Not even you (Muhammad) O messenger of God ?’ He (Muhammad) said: ‘Not even I unless God grants me His mercy.’”

The Qur’an emphasizes the unique position of Christ who is perfect without fault or sin “…He (God) has purged Me (Jesus) of vanity and wickedness…” (Mary 19: 31-33; al-Imran 3: 36). The position of the Qur’an on the unique purity of Christ and immunity from faults and sin agrees with the Gospel’s: “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2: 22; John 8: 46). This position supports the divinity of Christ because only God is perfect and immune from fault and sin.

5. The hadith supports the divinity of Christ when it declares that he is the final judge in the day of judgment: “In the final hour, the son of Mary will judge you” (Sahih al-Bukhary, vol 3, p. 107). This is in agreement with the teaching of the Gospel: “(God) The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son (Christ)” (John 5: 22; Revelations 22: 12). The final judgment is God’s alone. No human person could replace God in it. The fact that Islam admits that Christ is the final judge supports the divinity of Christ.

6. Despite the strong support of the Qur’an for the divinity of Christ as shown above, it contradicts itself by denying the divinity of Christ in a number of verses: “…The Messiah, the son of Mary, was no more than an apostle. Other apostles passed away before him…” (al-Ma’idah 5: 75, 17, 72, 116; al-Tawbah 9: 30-31; Yunis 10: 68; al-Isra’ 17: 111; al-Kahf 18: 4-5; Mary 19: 35, 88-93; al-zukhruf 43: 81-83; al-Ikhlas 112: 3; etc). This is one of the many problematic internal contradictions in the Qur’an. This contradiction points to the diverse sources of the Qur’an which utilizes orthodox sources that confirm the divinity of Christ, as well as heretical sources that deny it.

III. COROLLARY
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It is important to point out that although the above powerful arguments prove the deity of Jesus Christ, no intellectual argument, however powerful it may be, could, of itself, instill this essential concept in the heart of a person. These series of arguments could only attempt to capture what faith in Jesus Christ knows—that Christ is the divine One. Faith in Christ is a gift form the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16: 17); “No one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12: 3). God grants this gift to those that seek the truth.

The deity of Jesus Christ is very consistent with the oneness of God.

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