Does the Bible teach that Jesus is not equal to God?  

Al-Kadhi writes:

Jesus and God can not be co-equal because the Bible says:....

This is very brief, and definitely not complete.

a) Jesus on his pre-existence:

Jesus is the only man in the history of the world who existed before his birth. (I am not talking about
people who believe in reincarnation, since both Christianity and Islam reject it)
 
John 8:

     56   "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it,
     and was glad.
     57   Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and
     hast thou seen Abraham?
     58   Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before
     Abraham was, I am.
     59   Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and
     went out of the
          temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."

The words "I am" are exactly the same God used when Moses asked Him who He was. Most
Muslims do not accept this, so let us just forget about the controversy about the "I am" for a moment, and focus on one astounding fact: Jesus claimed to have been alive before Abraham was born.

John 17:

     5  " And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self
     with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."

Again Jesus says that he existed before. In fact, he existed before the creation of the world.

Not even Mohammed claimed this, the closest parallel in Islam is the doctrine of the pre-existence of
the Qur'an.

b) The descent and ascent of Jesus:

Again we look at John 17:5:

      "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the
     glory which I had with Thee before the world was. "

Jesus had glory with God, but laid it aside (since he did not have it when he was praying this), and after his resurrection, he was reinstated in that glory.

Paul said exactly the same thing:

Philippians 2:

     5   Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
     Jesus:
     6   Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal
     with God:
     7   But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
     servant, and was
          made in the likeness of men:
     8   And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
     obedient unto
          death, even the death of the cross.
     9   Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
     which is above every name:
     10   That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
     heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
     11   And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
     the glory of God the Father.

Paul teaches that:

•           Jesus was in the form of God
•           He did not consider this as something to be grasped
•           But emptied himself of it and took the form of a servant
•           Afterwards, he was reinstated in his previous glory

c) Jesus says that he can duplicate every act of God:

John 5:

     19 "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Truly, I say to you,
     The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for
     whatever the Father does, the Son also does."

Since Jesus said himself that he existed before the creation of the world, he has seen the creation.

THIS IMPLIES, THAT BECAUSE HE SEES THE FATHER CREATING, HE HIMSELF IS
THE CREATOR. This is why God says in His word:

 John 1:

     1   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
     and the Word was God.
      2   The same was in the beginning with God.
      3   All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made
     that was made.

Whatever the Son sees the Father doing, he does.

All things were made by the Word of God:

Genesis 1:

     3  " And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

God spoke His Word, and the Universe was created.
Even the Qur'an calls Jesus "Kalimatullah", The Word of God!

d)Jesus claims that God has made him the judge of the whole human race.

John 5:21   For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth  whom he will.
22   For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

John 5: 23   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: 26   For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Co-equality:

Jesus and God can not be co-equal because the Bible says:

"... my Father is greater than I." John 14:28

Obviously if God is greater than Jesus (pbuh) then they can not be equal.

23   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.

We also read:

"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."
Mark 13:32

If Jesus and God were equal then it follows that they will be equal in knowledge. But as we can see, God is greater in
knowledge than Jesus (pbuh).

"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature..." Luke 2:52

and

"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." Hebrews 5:8

If God and Jesus are equal to one-another then did God too have to "increase in wisdom and stature"? Did God too have to
learn obedience? To whom would He have to be obedient? To another side of his own essence?

Some translations of the verse from Philippians 2 above say that "He emptied Himself to take on the form of a servant". Jesus emptied himself of being God, and became a man, in obedience to his Father.
 
Co-eternity:

God is claimed to have "begotten" Jesus (pbuh). Jesus (pbuh) is claimed to be the "Son" of God. "Beget" is a verb which implies an action. No matter how you define what God actually did in order to "beget" Jesus (pbuh), any definition must require that God Almighty performed some action and then Jesus (pbuh) came into being. Before God performed this action Jesus was not. After God performed this action Jesus came into being. Thus, not only is Jesus (pbuh) not eternal, since there was a time (before the "begetting") when he did not exist, but he can also never be co-eternal with God since God was in existence at a time when Jesus was not. This is very simple grade-school logic.

1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through  whom he made the universe.
3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his  powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in  heaven.
4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father " ?
(King James: "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?")
      Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son" ?
6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."
7 In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire."
8 But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the  scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your  companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."
10 He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.
12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."
 13 To which of the angels did God ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for  your feet" ?
14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

Con substantiality:

In most of his arguments in this section, Mr. Al-Kadhi uses the fact that there are more than one person in God to prove that since these Persons interact, they cannot be the same being. Well, we will say something later on how one Being can be more that one Person. Remember that the word "God" is not synonym to "Father" because God is also the Son and the Spirit. "Son" and "Father" are not synonyms, because although both is the same one God, they are different Persons.

I have remixed the quotations from the book in this section, mainly to put it in a more logical sequence, but also to keep the best for last.
 

"And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" Matthew 26:39

"He (Jesus) went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me,
except I drink it, thy will be done." Matthew 26:42

And "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." John 5:30

Both these verses tell us that Jesus and God have two different will and that Jesus' will is subordinate to that of God. If Jesus and God were one substance then this ONE substance must only have only ONE will.

"because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me"

So what about Jesus praying not to be crucified?

In order to understand the following, it is important that the reader should first read the article on the Blood Sacrifice. If you have not read it yet, please read it now!

Let me tell you a short parable to illustrate the point: (the persons of the father and son in this parable do not necessarily coincide with the Father and Son)

A man had a son, who became very ill. He took him to hospital and the doctor told him that his son would die if he did not receive a kidney transplant very soon. The problem was, there was none available. The father told the doctors that he would donate a kidney to save his son.
After they examined the father, they found that he was a poor anesthetic risk and would probably not survive the operation. Since it was the only chance his son had of survival, he decided to go ahead.

The night before the operation, the father became very scared, because he knew that there was a chance that he would die. He phoned the doctor, and pleaded him to find another way of saving his son. The doctor confirmed that the only way the son's life could be saved was if the father donated his kidney. So in spite of his fear and terror, the father went ahead with the planned kidney transplant. To save his son, possibly at the cost of his own life.

Of course this father did not want the operation. What he really wanted was for his son to be healthy and not to need the operation. But the fact was that his son would die without the operation. So because of the reality of  his sons disease, the father wanted the operation.

Did the Father want to sacrifice His own Son? What does God really want?

God wants mankind to be pure and holy, and to love Him:

 Deuteronomy 6: 4   Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
      5   And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with
     all thy might.

But the reality is that mankind is separated from God, and therefore morally diseased, unable to love God the way He intended. The law of God requires that  sinners (us!) be separated from God eternally (cast into hell). But since God loved us He decided to perform painful surgery:  The death of His Son on the cross, even though God would prefer not to do it! In Jesus' supplication not to be crucified we see Jesus' human terror of going to hell, but more important, we have a glimpse of God's horror at the sacrifice that was about to take place. In Jesus' decision to be crucified we see God's incomprehensible love for us: that He did not spare his only Son in order to save us.

 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46

Tom Harpur says:

"The idea of the Second Person of a Holy Trinity knowing what it is to be God-forsaken has only to be stated to be recognized as absurd" For Christ's Sake, pp. 45.

Matthew 8:
11   "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west,
and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of
heaven.
 12   But the children of the kingdom (of Satan) shall be cast out into
outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

According to Jesus, hell is the "Outer Darkness". It is where God chooses not to be. It is the final, complete separation from God.

Jesus was forsaken by God. He was in hell. Because of our sin, that is where we all should go. Read the verses from Isiah 53 quoted in the Blood atonement article again. This was written hundreds of  years before Jesus came to earth.

Isiah 53:
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities (sin); the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and
by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own
way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity (sin) of us all.

Jesus went to hell because I was heading that way. Because he went there in my place, and paid my debt, I can be certain of being with God in heaven for all eternity.
 

 First go back and read the comments on co-equality and co-eternity. Next, remember when Jesus is claimed to have died?

(Mark 15:37, John 19:30). If God and Jesus are one substance then God died also. But then who was governing all of creation?

Sura 6:61   Section 8. He is the Irresistible, (watching) from above over His worshippers, and He sets guardians over you. At length, when death approaches one of you, Our angels take his soul, and they never fail in their duty.

 "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven

him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the
[world] to come." Matthew 12:31-32

If God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are "the same substance" then how can a blasphemy against Jesus be forgiven while a blasphemy against the Holy Ghost can not be forgiven?

• To convict us of our sin, and our own helplessness to do anything about it
• To show us God's solution for the problem: the cross of Jesus Christ

• To deny that our sin is really as bad as God says it is
• To reject God's cure for the disease: God's free gift of love and forgiveness based on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

The "Mystery of the Trinity"
The Trinity is no mystery because God is omnipotent, this means He can do whatever He wants, and He can be whatever He wants. If He chooses to be a Trinity, or anything else that I cannot understand, then it is His choice, there is nothing I can do to force Him to conform to my idea of how He should be. An ant cannot deny the existence of my computer just because he cannot understand it!

Even explaining the supposed "Trinity" away as a "mystery" does not hold water. In 1 Corinthians 14:33 we read "For God is not [the author] of confusion." Thus, confusion can never be His very nature.

(SNIP)

THIS is why blind faith was demanded, and THIS is why twelve million Christians were put to death by the church as heretics in the notorious Church "Inquisitions" (Apology for Mohammed and the Qur'an, John Davenport).

As far as I am concerned, to trust one man on just his word alone with your eternal life is the definition of blind faith...

The Rebuttal to "What Did Jesus Really Say?"
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