Session 8
A. Indeed the glory is that of the Lord Jesus
Christ (Glory be to His name), all reference made to the ‘Word’ in the Holy
Bible is intended to His Glorious Self, as we explained earlier. In fact the
‘Word’ refers to the Lord Jesus in the Quoran as well
‘Most surely the Messiah Jesus the son of Mary was…a messenger of God, and a
word from Him which was pronounced upon Mary and a spirit from Him’ Surah Al Nisa 4:171,
Q. What does the word ‘glory’ here means?
A. The word 'glory' in the dictionary means:
Importance, honor, praise, exaltation, majesty, excellence, riches, brilliance
awe, and magnificence. All these terms
are included in one word, ‘Glory’, all of which is ascribed to the Lord Jesus
Christ (Glory be to His name); but in fact they cannot possibly be ascribed to
anyone else but to God Almighty.
Greatness and magnificence belong to God alone. The Majestic is one of the most beautiful
Names of God Almighty. Similarly, honor,
praise, awe, magnificence and exaltation; these are all characters of God
Almighty. Which confirms the truth that
the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name) is God Almighty revealed I human
body.
Q. The same verse continues, ‘the glory as
of the one begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’ that is meant by
the Father in this context? It is clear
that the only begotten Son is the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name).
A. The word ‘Father’ here refers to God Almighty,
seated on His Throne. He is One who has the authority to tell things 'be', and they
happen. The only begotten Son is, as you
said, the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name). An only Son here does not mean that He has no
sisters or brother it indicates uniqueness and individuality.
Q.
Dr. Nagi, one of the most intricate problems
in Christ (Glory be to His name) Christianity is ‘Trinity’ it has ever always
been a controversial issue with other religions. This verse refers to the Lord Jesus Christ
(Glory be to His name), describing Him as the ‘only begotten Son'. You said
that the Father is God Almighty. This means that the verse speaks of two
people, and both are God Almighty. Then there is a third person who is the Holy
Spirit.
A. The third person is also God Almighty.
Q. Then God remains to be three people. From
human standpoint this is atheism - associating a partner or partners to God
Almighty. God cannot be except One person, or else He couldn't say, let there
be' and it is.
A. God is one; He has no partner and no equal. This
is Christ (Glory be to His name) Christian faith, and all other religions; in
fact this ought to be faith of all humans who employ a tiny bit of their minds.
The Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name) instructed His disciples saying,
‘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' Matt 28:19 He said 'in the
name' and not 'in the names'. In other words, the lord Jesus Christ (Glory be
to His name) is saying there is but One name for the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit.
Q. Dr. Nagi, how
come that the three are One?
A. This truth cannot be understood except through
too provisions:
One: That a person does not start
searching whereas determined not to believe. God Almighty would not enlighten a
person's heart to believe unless this person comes in humbleness and
submission, seeking knowledge and support from God Almighty, and willing to
believe what He reveals.
Two: That the searcher realizes the
nature of the Almighty. This truth is in fact, the rock, on which Man's
salvation from Hell and torture of the grave stand. It is Man’s access to Heaven and eternal
glory.
Q. Dr. Nagi,
before you elaborate on this point, I would like to ask you if searching about
God Almighty would be considered atheism. How then could you stipulate this
second condition of understanding the nature of God Almighty?
A. Searching about the person of God Almighty in
order to gain the knowledge that leads to salvation from sin and wages thereof
can never be considered atheism, provided it is not intended for Man to contain
God in our limited human mind. In fact our Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His
name) told us to do this kind of searching, ‘search the scriptures, for in them
you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify to Me'. John 5:39. Besides, as we mentioned earlier, our search
in the revelations of the Almighty, need be with an attitude of absolute
humbleness, awe and acceptance. We do not go beyond that. The matter is not left to guessing and
imagination; it is based on Biblical, Divine facts revealed by God Almighty to
those who seek His face, mercies and forgiveness. I do encourage everyone who
hears those words to go ahead and start searching. May God Almighty guide us to
His truth! I also encourage every audience to send us your opinion, comments,
or inquiries about our study, and God willing, we'll
answer all your questions.
Q. Dr. Nagi, you
just mention that a searcher needs to understand the nature of God Almighty;
what does this mean?
A. This means the kind of oneness (Unity,
Monotheism) of God Almighty. Jews say
that God is One, and worship Him alone and Christ (Glory be to His name)
Christians say that God is one and worship Him alone. Beloved Moslems say that
they worship the same One God whom Christ (Glory be to His name) Christen
worship, as the Glorious Quoran instructs Moslems
saying, ‘And do not dispute with the people of the earlier Scripture, save in a
good manner; except with those of them who do wrong, and say: “We believe in
what has been revealed to us, and what has been revealed to you, and our God
and your God is One, and to Him do we submit in Islam.’ Surah
Al Ankabout 29-46
Q. If this is the case, what is
controversial?
A. The controversial issue lies in that God
Almighty is One, and has no equal.
Q. Do you mean to say that there is more
than one nature for God Almighty in terms of his Unity?
A. There are three types of unity under which any
living being or even an object categorize. There is compound unity, meaning one
thing, or person consisting of a group of parts. For example, a recorder or a computer maybe
regarded as one unit, yet every unit consists of many parts (wires, keys,
screen Etc.) This applies even on the nucleus; it is one compound unit.
Q. How can this apply to the unity of God
Almighty?
A. This does not apply to God Almighty: and it is
not a Christ (Glory be to His name) Christian’s
belief, nor is it Islam, nor does it belong to any other religion. The unity of
God Almighty is not compound; we cannot divide Him into organs, cells or
bodies.
Q. What is the second type of unity
(oneness)?
A. The second type is Abstract unity. This is the
type that our beloved Moslems believe apply to God Almighty. This abstract
unity denies that God Almighty shares any characteristics with other creatures.
They believe Him to be beyond such common characteristics, since sharing such
likeness with creatures would limit Him. They consider the Almighty to be way
beyond existence, science, and will. Christ (Glory be to His name) Christianity
does not believe in this kind of unity either.
Q. What kind of unity then, does Christ
(Glory be to His name) Christianity believe in?
A. Christ (Glory be to His name) Christianity believes
in what is known as ‘collective unity'.
Q. You said before that there are three
types of unity: collective, compound and abstract. Since neither Christ (Glory
be to His name) Christians, nor Moslems believe that God's Unity (Monotheism)
is compound, then let us say no more of it. Let us now discuss the abstract
unity that beloved Moslems believe in.
To be honest, I would like to say that abstract unity is more likely to
believe, and closer to logic than the collective unity that Christ (Glory be to
His name) Christians believe in.
A. It is not a matter of which is closer to human
logic and perception, but rather what God Almighty has revealed about Himself.
Long before the lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name) came to earth, the
Lord God Almighty revealed that His Unity is collective; He revealed common
characteristics between Man and Himself. Even before Mankind was created on
earth, the Holy Scripture says, ‘When God said, Let us make man in our image,
according to our likeness'. Genesis 1: 26 God Almighty
speaks here in the plural form (we, our, etc.)
Q. Is it possible for means to speak in the
plural for the purpose of honoring and glorifying oneself?
A. Indeed, in the Arabic language, but not in the
original Hebrew script. The original form of the words is plural, not a
magnified singular. This is what God Almighty revealed of Himself about 6000
year ago. About 4000 years later, another revelation came from the Almighty, in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name) confirming to us that
His unity is not abstract. The Unity of
the Almighty, that of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is indeed
collective. Revelations continued successively until the 6th century, about
4650 years apart from the first revelation, and about 650 years apart from the
coming of the lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name) . Now it is illogic to
believe that God would send a revelation, which is contradictory to what he had
revealed to us about 4650 years earlier - that His unity is abstract.
Q. Why not?
A. Besides what I just said, some of the
distinguished Moslem scholars believe that the concept of abstract unity causes
some problems. Should God Almighty have an abstract unity, and does not share
any of the abilities that He bestowed on Mankind, like hearing, speaking,
willing etc. He is therefore beyond existence, and God forbid He is
non-existing, non-knowledgeable, and has no will. This contradicts the
teachings of Islam. God Almighty is Omniscient, All-Hearing, All-seeing, All
Knowledgeable, and have the upper will throughout the Universe. Another
problem, which is unacceptable, and hard to perceive, is that should God
Almighty have all these abilities, how did He employ them before he created
angels or mankind? If God’s unity is abstract,
then all such abilities were passive, or unemployed, until He created Mankind
and other creatures (those we know of, and those we know nothing about) only
then, would God have employed all those abilities. This is unacceptable both to
Christ (Glory be to His name) Christians, and to Moslems.
Q. Why would this be unacceptable? This
theory will solve a big problem?
A. Indeed it will solve the problem of the
conviction of God having an Abstract unity; but it will create a bigger
problem, the Almighty would then be changeable.
This means that God initially could not hear, talk or love; and that He
started doing all this only after He created
Q. Is there any other problem associated
with this concept of abstract unity?
A. There are many more. Those who believe in the
Abstract unity of God do not believe that God Almighty is ‘word and spirit’;
they believe that He created the spirit of Man, but does not Himself have
Spirit. He is the One eternally besought
of all. Great Moslem scholars differed in explaining and identifying who is the
Holy Spirit in ‘And We gave Jesus the son of Mary the Clear Signs, and
supported him with the Holy Spirit.’ Surah Al Baqara 2:253. The
Imam Baidawy is of the opinion, among other Moslem
scholars, that the Holy Spirit is Gabriel, the angel. But Sheikh Mohammed El Hariry El Bayommi stated in His
book 'the Spirit and what it is all about’ P.53, that the Holy Spirit, is the
Spirit of God, and is not created. Also Mr. Abd El Rahim El Gabaly wrote, ‘the Holy Spirit
is not created, He is eternal; it is only God Almighty who is eternal.’ Journal of the Faculty of Literature, P34. Another example from the Glorious Quoran is found in, ‘Never give hope in God’s Spirit, of
God’s Spirit no one despairs except the unbelieving people’ Surah
Youssef, 12:87
Q. How would the concept of God having a
Collective Unity solve all these problems?
A. The collective Unity of God Almighty is not a
mere concept or theory. It is the truth that God had revealed once and again
through out the Holy Bible (in the Torah, the Zubur,
the Prophetic books and the Gospel), and had confirmed to all His
servants. This truth solves all the
problems associated with the concept of abstract unity.
Q. How can this truth of God’s monotheism be
collective and solve all these problems?
A. This truth invalidates the concept of compound
unity; God Almighty does not consist of different parts. It also invalidates
the concept of God being changeable - because of the theory of God having had
passive abilities that He started to employ after He created the universe. This
concept also resolves the issue that we started our conversation with - that
the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name) is indeed the Word of God
Almighty, that is God revealed in human body.
Another problem to be solved realizing that God Almighty has a Spirit
(The Holy Spirit) Thus the issue of Trinity unfolds, proving that, as taught by
Christ (Glory be to His name) Christianity, Trinity is not Atheism or
associating partners with God Almighty.
In fact, this is the truth revealed by God Almighty about Himself in a
manner perceivable by all genuine people.
It is acceptable not only to their minds, but also to their entire
beings. Accepting this perception, Man
is no more a loser, and is not endangered to grieve on the Day of Judgment, as
is quoted by the Glorious Quoran.
Q. What do you mean by as is quoted in the
Glorious Quoran?
A. The Glorious Quoran quotes that Christ (Glory be to His name) Christians
are not atheists, and do not associate partners be God Almighty, ‘Quoranic Verse’.
The collective unity of god also clarifies how the Lord Jesus Christ
(Glory be to His name) is the Son of God
Almighty, and how is His Son hood to God is only natural, since He is as close
to the Almighty as His very Word. His Sonship is therefore not as a result of a sexual relation
God forbid, or even related to natural reproduction.
Q. Dr. Nagi , if
both Christ (Glory be to His name) Christianity and Islam, speak of One God,
His Word, and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God - whom Moslems are called not
to give hope in, then where is the problem?
A. The problem lies in that the Glorious Quoran fought the idea of God Almighty having a Mistress,
from whom He begot the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name)- which was the
claim of some heretics who pretended to Christ (Glory be to His name)
Christians, and were known as followers of Mary. We had discussed such beliefs earlier in
another episode. To put an end to these
allegations, which were also rejected by Christ (Glory be to His name)
Christianity, the Glorious Quoran denied that the Lord
Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name) is God revealed in human flesh, and accused
whoever believed, or propagated this truth of atheism, claiming they associated
partners to God Almighty. Beloved
Moslems never got to understand the truth behind Trinity. Thus a problem evoked, which I believe will
never be resolved until till the Day of Judgment. On that day losers will
suffer eternal death, whereas those who believe in the wonders, revealed
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His name) would be
rewarded graciously by the Almighty.