regard to all created beings there are three divisions of time: past, present, and future; for all created beings are subject to change. But the self-existent One changes not,¹ and therefore with Him alone there is neither past nor future, but an eternal present. When the Lord Jesus Christ used the expression I AM of Himself, He clearly asserted His essential Deity (الوهيّة). This is evident, not only from the meaning of the words, but also from the reference to the Taurat which they contained. The Jews clearly understood this, for they, disbelieving His teaching, thought He was guilty of blasphemy. 'They ² took up stones, therefore, to cast at him,' wishing to stone Him to death. It is very important to notice this, because it shows us how His words were understood at the time, and proves that we are not wrong in understanding that they were a distinct assertion of His Deity. Some Muslims have tried to explain this away by declaring that all men's spirits exist from the time of creation, long before they are born into the world. But, even if we grant that the doctrine of the pre-existence of spirits is true—and of this we have no proof whatever—yet the difficulty is not thereby removed. If all men's spirits were created together, no one of them could be more ancient than another. If, on the other hand, they

come into existence shortly before birth, and if we regard Christ as a mere man, how could He have existed before Abraham, since He was one of Abraham's descendants ¹ according to the flesh? ² Even had He said, 'Before Abraham came into existence I came into existence,' we could not explain this on the supposition of His being a mere man. Still less is this supposition possible when He said, 'Before Abraham came into existence, I AM'. It is impossible, therefore, to explain this saying as other than a clear assertion of His own divine nature on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another proof that this is the correct explanation of His words is afforded by another statement of His contained in His intercessory prayer before His crucifixion. In it He said: 'And ³ now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.' No mere man could truly say anything of this kind, for no man existed ⁴ before the creation of the world, since man's creation followed ⁵ that of the world and did not precede it. No one, not even the greatest of the apostles and prophets, could state that he existed before the creation of the world, still less that he had then shared the glory