Islam: The Religion of Polytheism and Man Worship Pt. 2

We continue from where we previously left off https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/islam-the-religion-of-polytheism-and-man-worship-pt-1/ by quoting the rest of Mikhail’s discussion.

Second: the Koran associated Muhammad with Allah and exalted him even to the place of deity.

In Surat Al-Kahf we read:

Allah… makes none to share in His Decision and His Rule. (Surat Al-Kahf 18:26)

But in another verse the Koran positioned Muhammad as a counselor with Allah. As I mentioned before, Muhammad wanted Zainab Bint Gash to marry his adopted son, Zaid. When Zainab refused Muhammad’s proposal, the Koran declared that this proposal was the decision of Allah and Muhammad.

It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any option about their decision. If anyone disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong path. (Surat Al-Ahzab 33:36)

The Bible declares that God does not accept any human counseling:

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? (Romans 11:33-34 NKJ)

For Muhammad to associate himself as a counselor with Allah is clearly polytheism. Again we read in the Koran:

Verily, those who give pledge to you (O Muhammad) they are giving pledge to Allah… (Surat Al-Fath 48:10)

He who obeys the Messenger (Muhammad) has indeed obeyed Allah… (Surat Al-Nisa 4:80)

In these verses we see that the Koran places Muhammad on equal footing with Allah. Moreover, we read in the Koran:

And the mosques for Allah (Alone) so invoke not anyone along with Allah. (Surat Al-Jinn 72:18 HK)

But, if you listen to the Moazin (the man who calls Muslims to prayer from the top of the mosque) you will hear him saying,

Allah Akbar, Ashado an la-ilaha illa Allah, washado anna Muihammadan rasoulo Allah.

God is greater, I testify that there is no God but Allah, I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

With that call to prayer the Moazin associates Muhammad with Allah five times a day. More importantly, the Koran positions Muhammad as a center of prayer and praise in heaven and on earth.

When I debated Dr. Jamal Badawi on February 1, 1988 at Saint Mary’s University, in Halifax, N.S. Canada, Dr. Badawi asked, “How could Christ be God and pray on the cross, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?'” (Matthew 27:46 NKJ).

“Dr. Badawi,” I answered, “The Koran says that Allah and His angels pray on the prophet. ‘O ye who believe pray on him and salute him with a worthy salutation'” (Surat Al-Ahzab 33:56 Author’s literal translation).

“If Allah in heaven is praying on the prophet,” I continued, “the question is, ‘to whom is Allah praying?'” Why do you Muslims doubt the deity of Jesus Christ because He prayed to God when He was on the cross? Dr. Badawi did not answer my question.

If the Muslims accept the Biblical revelation of God he would believe that God is a triune God, he would understand that the one who was incarnated in the person of Jesus Christ is God the Son, and that Jesus “took the form of a servant, came in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7,8 NKJ). Then the Muslim would know that Jesus, as a servant, cried out to God, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And he would understand why Christ said “for my Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). The Father was not incarnated, nor crucified, but the Son was.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon commented on that verse saying:

In order that the sacrifice of Christ might be complete, it pleased the Father to forsake his well-beloved Son. Sin was laid on Christ, so God must turn away his face from the Sin-Bearer. To be deserted of his God was the climax of Christ’s grief, the quintessence of his sorrow. See here the distinction between the martyrs and their Lord; in their dying agonies they have been divinely sustained; but Jesus, suffering as the Substitute for sinners, was forsaken of God. Those saints who have known what it is to have their Father’s face hidden from them even for a brief space, can scarcely imagine the suffering that wrung from our Savior the agonizing cry, ‘My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?’ (Matthew: The King has Come, p. 406)

Nevertheless, the first word Christ uttered while on the cross was:

Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do. (Luke 23:34 NKJ)

Then he committed his human spirit to the Father, saying:

Father into your hands I commit My spirit. (Luke 23:46 NAS)

He was always the Son calling on His Father. In addition, He offered that prayer, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” to demonstrate that He was the one whom the prophet David spoke about in Psalm 22. All the prophecies in that Psalm were fulfilled perfectly in Christ when He died on the cross.

But in the Koran Allah, who is absolute, prays to himself on the prophet. The Muslims accept that. They should not question Christ’s deity because of his prayer on the cross. More importantly, if Allah and his angels in heaven are praying on the Prophet, and on earth Muslims are praying on the prophet, than Muhammad is the center of praise and worship in heaven and on earth. This is also the conclusion arrived at by some intellectual Muslims.

The daily Egyptian Newspaper, Alwafd, (September 9, 1992), recorded the following question sent to Sheik Hassan Mamoun, one of the prominent clerics in Egypt.

What is your judgment concerning prayer on Muhammad, the messenger of Allah? Doesn’t that mean worshipping him?

Muslims never mention the name of Muhammad without saying peace be upon him or in Arabic Salla Allah Alihe Wasalaam or Alayhe Alsalaato Wasalaam which means “Allah’s prayer and salutation on him.” Look at any Islamic inscribed sign, and you will read the name “Allah” at the same level with the name of “Muhammad.”

Mahmoud Al-Saddani, the well know Egyptian journalist, wrote a critical article in the August 9, 1996 issue of Almussawar, an Egyptian weekly magazine, saying:

On the memorial birthday of the Messenger [Muhammad] I listened to the Friday message on an Arabic television. The speaker was a young man… he said while shedding tears over the decline of Muslims in this age… ‘the only cause for the Muslims’ demise in this age is that they do not glorify the master of creatures, Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, as they should glorify this glorious Messenger, who is the beginning and the last of all creation… the early Muslims used to glorify the Prophet to the point of drinking his urine…’

This is clear polytheism in Islam.

Do you see how the Koran and the Muslims exalt Muhammad, even to the place of deity, while he lived a sinful life, and rejected the biblical revelation which confirm that Christ is the sinless savior, the eternal Son of God?

Some Christians think that Allah of Islam is the same God revealed to Jews and Christians in the Bible. They refer to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as the three great monotheistic religions.

The Koran declares to the Jews and the Christians:

Our God and your God is one. (Surat Al-Ankabut 29:46)

Say (O Muhammad to the Jews and Christians), Dispute you with us about Allah while He is our Lord and your Lord? (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:139)

Here we have an important question: If Allah of the Muslims is the same God of the Jews and Christians, why do Jews and Christians need Islam at all? Why do Muslim clerics propagate Islam to Christians in Christian countries?

The fact is that the Allah of Islam is not the same God as the God of the Christians and the Jews revealed in the Bible.

Clearly, the Koran and Islamic traditions fall short of monotheism. Instead, they teach polytheism by their representation of Allah swearing by lesser creatures and objects, and by raising the level of created things to that of Allah as well as associating the praise and superiority of Muhammad with that of Allah.

Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/islam-the-religion-of-polytheism-and-man-worship-pt-2/ 

IHS

Islam: The Religion of Polytheism and Man Worship Pt. 1

The late Christian apologist, writer and pastor Dr. Labib Mikhail wrote a section in his excellent book, Islam Muhammad and the Koran: A Documented Analysis (Blessed Hope Ministry, Second Edition: Revised and Expanded 2002), where he proves that Islam is a polytheistic religion that demotes God and elevates creation, specifically Muhammad. We have decided to reproduce that section here for the benefit of the readers so they can employ this material in their witness to Muslims.

The following appears on pp. 181-193 of chapter 17 titled, “The Koran and Polytheism”.

Polytheism In The Koran

God is the supreme Being, no one is greater than Him. No one is associated with Him. In the book of Hebrews we read:

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself. (Hebrews 6:13 NKJ, Author’s emphasis)

For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. (Hebrews 6:16)

Every time God swears in the Bible, He swears by Himself because no one is greater than Him.

By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord… in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 22:16-18 NKJ)

I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow… (Isaiah 45:23 NKJ)

I swear by Myself, says the Lord. (Jeremiah 22:5 NKJ)

The true and supreme God could not swear by someone else, let alone anything else. So He swore by Himself.

Christians are not polytheists but the Muslims are. I say that, not to ridicule Muslims, but to set the record straight. Two issues are very clear in the Koran

First, the Koran puts Allah in a lesser position than his creation.

Second, the Koran exalted the prophet Muhammad, even to the place of deity.

First, the Koran puts Allah in a lesser position than his creation since He swore by many things other than Himself.

This is polytheism, which the Muslims call “shirk” in Arabic. Allah swore in the Koran twenty-four times, by the Koran, the angels, the winds, the mount, the star, the pen, the moon, the night, the dawn, the day of resurrection, the sky, the day of judgment, the even and odd numbers, the sun, the earth, the soul, the creation of male and female, the fig, the olive and the city of Mecca. Are these things greater than Allah that He would swear by them? What is the value of the pen, the sun, the moon, the fig or the olive, compared to Allah?

Suppose that you are called as a witness in court, and instead of putting your hand on the Bible or the Koran and saying that you will tell the truth and nothing but the truth, you say “Your honor, I swear by the fig, the olive, the pen, and the star to tell the truth.”

Will the judge accept your testimony?

For the Koran to declare that Allah swore by things He had created is to teach heresy and clear polytheism.

1. Allah swore by the Koran five times.

By the Koran, full of wisdom. (Surat Ya Sin 36:2)

By the Koran, full of admonition (Surat Sad 38:1)

By the Book that makes things clear, we have made it a Koran in Arabic, that ye may be able to understand. (Surat Al- Zukhruf 43:2)

By the Book that makes things clear (Surat Al-Dukhan 44:2)

By the Glorious Koran (Surat Qaf 50:1)

2. Allah swore by different ranks of angels or probably men

By those who arrange themselves in ranks. Those who so are strong in repelling [evil]. Those who thus proclaim the message of Allah. (Surat Al-Saffat 37:1-4)

By the [angels] who tear out [the souls of the wicked with violence] by those who gently draw out [the souls of the blessed] and by those who glide along [on errands of mercy], and then press forward as in race, then arrange to do [the commands of their Lord]. (Surat Al-Naziat 79:1-5)

3. Allah swore by the winds.

By the [winds] that scatter broadcast, and those that lift and bear away heavy weights, and those that flow with ease and gentleness, and those that distribute the affair. (Surat Al-Zhariyat 51:1-4)

By the [winds] sent forth one after another. (Surat Al-Mursalat 77:1)

4. Allah swore by the mount, the inscribed book, the Kaaba, and the ocean.

By the mount, by the book inscribed in a parchment unfolded, by the much-frequented house [Kaaba] by the canopy raised high and by the ocean filled with swell. (Surat Al-Tur 52:1-6)

It is of great importance to notice in this verse that Allah swore by the Kaaba, while it was still the shrine of 360 idols.

5. Allah swore by the star.

By the star when it goes down. (Surat Al-Najm 53:1)

6. Allah swore by the pen.

By the pen and by the record which [men] write. (Surat Al-Qalam 68:1)

7. Allah swore by the moon, the night, and the dawn.

Nay, verily: By the moon, and by the night as it retreateth, and by the dawn as it shineth forth. (Surat Al-Muddathir 74:32-34)

8. Allah swore by the Resurrection Day and the self-reproaching soul.

I do swear by the Resurrection Day. And I do swear by the self-reproaching soul. (Surat Al-Qiyamah 75:1, 2)

9. Allah swore by the sky, the Day of Judgment, and by one that witnesses.

By the sky, with its constellations, by the promised day [of judgment]. By one that witnesses and the subject of witness. (Surat Al-Buruj 85:1-3)

10. Allah swore again by the sky.

By the sky and the night-visitant (Surat Al-Tariq 86:1)

11. Allah swore by the dawn, the ten nights, by the even and odd, and by the night.

By the dawn, by the ten nights; by the even and odd [contrasted]. And by the night when it passeth away. (Surat Al-Fajr 89:1-4)

12. Allah swore by the city (Mecca).

Nay I do swear by this city. (Surat Al-Balad 90:1)

13. Allah swore by the sun, the moon, the day, the night, the firmament, the earth, and the soul.

By the sun and his [glorious] splendour: by the moon as she follows him; by the day as it shows up [the sun’s] glory; by the night as it conceals it; by the firmament and its expanse: by the soul, and the proportion and order given to it; and its inspiration as to its wrong and its right. (Surat Al-Shams 91:1-8)

14. Allah swore by the night, the day, and the creation of male and female.

By the night as it conceals [the light]; by the day as it appears in glory; by the creation of male and female. (Surat Al-Layl 92:1-3)

15. Allah swore by the morning light and by the night.

By the glorious morning light, and by the night when it is still, the Guardian-Lord hath not forsaken thee, nor is He displeased. (Surat Ad-Duha 93:1-3)

Ahmad Abdelwahab, citing Muhammad’s biographers, wrote in his book, Prophecy and Prophets, the following:

Revelations ceased from coming to Muhammad for a long time (some say two years); some of Muhammad’s friends may have said to him ‘It seems that your Allah has forsaken you.’ The prophet passed through a terrible spiritual crisis. The biographies of Muhammad say: ‘During that time Muhammad thought to commit suicide by throwing himself from the top of Mount Hira, or Mount Abi-Qubees, because he felt desperate and lonely.’ (Prophecy and Prophets, pp. 177-178)

Could you imagine the Prophet Muhammad thinking of committing suicide? At that time Allah swore to Muhammad “by the glorious morning light, and by the night that He had not forsaken him, nor was He displeased with him.”

16. Allah swore by the fig, the olive, Mount Sinai, and the city of Mecca.

By the fig and the olive, and Mount Sinai, and this City of Security [Mecca]. (Surat Al-Tin 95:1-3)

17. Allah swore by the steeds, which, according to the commentators of the Koran, might be camels, war-horses, or spiritual forces.

By the [Steeds] that run, with panting [breath] and strike sparks of fire, and push home the charge in the morning, and raise the dust in clouds the while, and penetrate forthwith into the midst [of the foe]. (Surat Al-Adiyat 100:1-5)

18. Allah swore by time through the ages. 

By the time, verily man is in loss. (Surat Al-Asr 103:1-2)

Does not the association of Allah with these objects and creatures represent polytheism?

With the foregoing in perspective we are now ready to proceed to the second part of Mikhail’s discussion https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/islam-the-religion-of-polytheism-and-man-worship-pt-2/.

Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/islam-the-religion-of-polytheism-and-man-worship-pt-1/ 

IHS

God and Allah are two Separate Beings: According to the words of Jesus Christ

 I am going to be responding to Muhammadan polemicist Paul Williams’ post where he quotes John 17:3,

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

And then says:

As the verse makes clear, Jesus and God are two different and separate beings: one is Almighty God and the other is Jesus the Messiah whom God has sent. This is the teaching of Islam too. This correct understanding is key to eternal life. To deny it is to be in danger of hell fire. (https://bloggingtheology.net/2017/03/11/31428/)

I am going to show Williams’ claim that the teaching of Islam agrees with Jesus’ words in this inspired text is a boldfaced lie, and will be seen as such by anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear.

We will now quote the immediate context of John 17:3 in order to properly understand the meaning of the Lord’s blessed words: 

“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; GLORIFY thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power OVER ALL FLESH, that HE SHOULD GIVE ETERNAL LIFE to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory WHICH I HAD WITH THEE BEFORE THE WORLD WAS… And all mine are thine, and thine ARE MINE; and I am glorified in them… Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” John 17:1-5, 10, 24

We now proceed to break this down so as to help the readers see how the Lord Jesus’ statements not only affirm that he is God in the flesh since he is one with the Father, but also serve to expose Muhammad as a false prophet and antichrist.

1. Jesus is the Son whom the Father glorifies in the same manner that the Son glorifies him, having personally existed alongside the Father in the same divine glory and being the very object of the Father’s love from before the creation of the world.

Since God doesn’t share his glory with anyone,

“For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.” Isaiah 48:11

And since he is the One whom all the angels are commanded to glorify,

“Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” Psalm 29:1-2 New International Version (NIV)

This means that the only way for Jesus to possess the same divine glory that belongs to the Father from even before the creation of the world is if he is also God in essence.

This is brought out by what our Lord taught elsewhere where he plainly states that God commands everyone to grant the Son the same honor that they render to the Father:

“For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, EVEN AS they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.” John 5:22-23

The fact that God commands everyone to grant the Son the same honor that they render to the Father further confirms that Jesus is God in the flesh, and coequal to the Father in essence, glory, majesty and honor. After all, God will never tolerate that a creature be given the very honor that he himself receives from his creation.

Moreover, since Muhammad denied that his god is the Father of Jesus,

The Jews say, ‘Ezra is the Son of God’; the Christians say, ‘The Messiah is the Son of God.’ That is the utterance of their mouths, conforming with the unbelievers before them. God assail them! How they are perverted! S. 9:30 Arberry

And also denied that he is a father to the Jews and Christians,

(Both) the Jews and the Christians say: “We are sons of God, and his beloved.” Say: “Why then doth He punish you for your sins? Nay, ye are but men, – of the men he hath created: He forgiveth whom He pleaseth, and He punisheth whom He pleaseth: and to God belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between: and unto Him is the final goal (of all)” S. 5:18 Yusuf Ali – cf. Q. 6:101; 19:88-93; 21:26; 39:4; 72:3

Thereby rejecting the spiritual fatherhood of God (after all, the Jews and Christians with whom Muhammad engaged did not think for a moment that God was their Father in a biological, procreative sense), Muhammad therefore stands condemned by Christ’s own words as a false prophet and antichrist:

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23

2. Jesus has power over all flesh and owns everything that belongs to the Father.

This is something that is stated more than once in John’s Gospel,

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given ALL THINGS into his hand.” John 3:35

“Jesus knowing that the Father had given ALL THINGS into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;” John 13:3

“ALL THINGS that the Father hath ARE MINE: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” John 16:15

And is confirmed by the other Gospel writers:

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ALL power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matthew 28:18

“Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.” Mark 12:6-8 – cf. Matthew 21:37-39; Luke 20:13-15

“In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of MY Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” Luke 10:21-22 – cf. Matthew 11:25-27

Since Muhammad was flesh who belonged to God, this means that Muhammad is under the glorious feet of the Lord Jesus since Christ owns him. And since all the Muslim nations belong to the Father, this too means that Jesus owns all Muslims everywhere since they were made for his glory and are his everlasting possession.

3. Jesus gives everlasting life to all believers.

Jesus not only possessed the divine ability to grant his followers morally incorruptible and physically indestructible lives, he even claimed to be the One who would resurrect the dead from their graves at the last hour by the power of his sovereign and majestic voice:

“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will… Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD: and they that hear shall live… Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear HIS [the Son’s] VOICE, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:21, 25, 28-29

“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day… Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:39-44, 54

To show just how remarkable these statements are, note what the Quran says regarding this issue of giving life and raising the dead at the last hour:

That is because Allah, He is the Truth and because He quickeneth the dead, and because He is Able to do all things; And because the Hour will come, there is no doubt thereof; and because Allah will raise those who are in the graves. S. 22:6-7

It is Allah, i.e. the one God, who shall give life and resurrect people from their graves at that last day and he is also the Truth, which is a name that Christ ascribes to his own person:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Thus Jesus claims to do what even the Quran says only the true God can and shall do at the last day!

It gets a lot worse for Williams and his fellow Muhammadans since Jesus again emphasizes his ability to preserve all true believers forever in a passage where he claims to be one with the Father:

“MY sheep hear MY VOICE, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” John 10:27-33

The context makes it crystal clear that Jesus is making himself one with the Father in respect to essence and power since, like the Father, no one is able to pluck any of the sheep out of his hand, which presupposes that Christ is Almighty, all-knowing and omnipresent.

This is brought out more clearly from the fact that the Lord ascribed to himself the very language which the OT writers attributed to Yahweh God Almighty. I.e., believers are the sheep of Yahweh’s hand and it is his voice they are supposed to hear,

“O come, let us worship and bow down:
let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:” Psalm 95:6-8

And it is Yahweh who gives life, and is able to prevent anyone from delivering out of his sovereign hand:

“See now that I, even I, am he,
 and there is no god with me:
 I kill, and I make alive;
 I wound, and I heal:
 neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.” Deuteronomy 32:39 – 1 Samuel 2:2, 6; Isaiah 43:10-13

No wonder the Jews correctly concluded that Jesus was making himself out to be God even though he was a man!

4. Jesus is a necessary object of faith and knowledge for salvation.

Jesus clearly states in 17:3 that eternal life is dependent on knowing him, not just the Father. In other words, a believer’s salvation is derived from knowing, loving, trusting and believing in both the Father and Son equally, a point that the Lord makes elsewhere:

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” John 14:1-4

This in itself presupposes the essential unity of the Father and the Son since the Holy Bible condemns trusting and depending on mere flesh and blood human beings for one’s salvation and provisions:

“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:5-9

5. Jesus is the Lord God of all true believers.

“Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said UNTO HIM, My Lord and my God (HO Kyrios mou kai HO Theos mou – “THE Lord of me and THE God of me”). Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” John 20:27-29

Here Thomas worships the risen Christ as his very Lord and God!

Thomas’ worship of the Lord Jesus is virtually identical to the way that David addressed Yahweh in the Psalms:

“Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, 
even unto my cause, my God and my Lord (elohay wadonay – Gr. HO Theos mou kai HO Kyrios mou).” Psalm 35:23

Astoundingly, the Hebrew Bible makes it emphatically clear that a God-fearing Jew cannot believe in or worship any other God besides Yahweh:

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:1-3

“for thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” Exodus 34:14

Therefore, the only way for Jesus to permit Thomas to worship him as his very own Lord and God is if he is Yahweh in the flesh.

What makes this interesting is that earlier in the same chapter, Jesus refers to the Father as being both the God of Christ and of his disciples:

“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God (kai Theon mou kai Theon hymon).” John 20:17(1)

Now note the implication of all this:

1. The Father is the God of Christ and of the disciples.

2. Jesus is the God of the disciples.

3. The disciples are to trust in and worship only one God, namely, Yahweh.

4. Therefore, both the Father and the Son must be Yahweh God.

5. And yet the Father and the Son are not the same Person.

6. Therefore, the one true God Yahweh is a multi-Personal Being since he exists as at least two distinct, divine Persons, namely the Father and the Son.

So much for Williams’ claim that Islam teaches the same truth that is found in John 17:3.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptural citations taken from the Authorized King James Version (AV) of the Holy Bible.

Endnotes

(1) It is rather interesting that, whereas John employs the articular Theos (God with the definite article, i.e. THE God) when quoting Thomas, he omits it in the case of Jesus referring to the Father as his God and the God of the disciples. Now if God without the article means something less than true Deity then this means Jesus is more divine than the Father!

Another intriguing aspect of John 20:17 is that Jesus didn’t simply tell Mary Magdelene to inform his brothers that he was ascending to “our Father and our God,” which would have been much simpler and easier to say. Rather Christ deliberately speaks of returning to his Father and God, and to the disciples’ Father and God, in order to highlight the qualitative difference between his relationship to God from that of the disciples. As John’s Gospel emphatically affirms, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique and eternal sense, whereas the disciples are God’s children by grace through faith in Christ (cf. 1:12-13). Moreover, the Father is the disciples’ God by virtue of their being his creatures, which he brought into being by means of his Son (cf. 1:3-4, 10). However, the Father is the Son’s God due to the Incarnation, e.g. the Father is the God of Jesus by virtue of the latter becoming a flesh and blood human being at a specific moment in time, not because he is a creature by nature.

Source: https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/god-and-allah-are-two-separate-beings-according-to-the-words-of-jesus-christ/ 

IHS