Was Jesus a Muslim or Christian

1
Was Jesus a Muslim or Christian?

• The Son of God or only a great Prophet?

2
Jesus According to the Bible

• Prophet (above all other prophets)
• Messiah
• Son of Man (divine)
• Son of God (divine)
• God

3
Jesus According to the Quran

• A great prophet
• Servant of God
• Messiah
• Not the Son of God
• Not divine in any sense

4
Jesus According to the Quran

• They say the most gracious has betaken a son!"
  Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous!
  At it in the skies are about to burst, the earth
  to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down
  in utter ruin, that they attributed a son to the
  Most Gracious, for it is not consonant with the
  majesty of the Most Gracious that he should beget
  a son. (1988-92).

5
Jesus According to the Quran

• Say not Trinity desist it will be better for
  you. For Allah is one Allah. Glory be to Him.
  (Far exalted is He) above having a son. (4171)

6
What can history verify about Jesus?
7
Early Christians Regarded Jesus as Divine
8
Paul Philippians 26-11 (AD 60 or earlier)
although Jesus existed in the form of God, he
did not regard equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of
a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness
of men. . . .
9
Paul Philippians 26-11 (AD 60 or earlier)
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross. For this reason
also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him
the name which is above every name, so that at
the name of Jesus . . .
10
Paul Philippians 26-11 (AD 60 or earlier)
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow,
of those who are in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and that every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.
11

• 4311. I, I am the Lord, and there is no other
  Savior but me.
• 4313. I am God alone
• 446. There is no God but me.
• 448. Is there any God but me?
• 455. I am the Lord and there is no other
• 455. There is no God but me.
• 456. There is no one but me
• 456. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

12

• 4514. there is no other
• 4514. there is no other God
• 4518. I am the Lord, and there is no other.
• 4521. There is no other God but me
• 4521. There is no one except me.
• 4522. For I am God, and there is no other.

13
After stating 14xs that He is the only God, He
says the following
By myself I have sworn Truth has gone from My
mouth, A word that will not be revoked Every
knee will bow to Me, Every tongue will swear
allegiance. Isaiah (4523)
14
Philippians Hymn

• Jesus existed in the form of God
• Early Christians applied to Jesus OT passages
  that referred to God
• Jesus is Yahweh

15
Paul Romans 109, 13 (AD 60 or earlier)
If you will confess with your mouth,Jesus is
Lordand believe in your heartthat God raised
him from the dead,you will be saved.
16
Paul Romans 109, 13 (AD 60 or earlier)
For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will
be saved.
17
Was there evolution in the doctrine of Jesus?

• Mark Son of Man
• Matthew Messiah
• Luke Son of God
• John God

18
Who is the Son of Man?
Daniel 713-14 I kept looking in the night
visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven
one like a Son of Man was coming, And he came up
to the Ancient of Days and was presented before
him. . .
19
Who is the Son of Man?
. . . And to him was given dominion, glory and a
kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and
language might SERVE him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion which will not pass away
And his kingdom is one which will not be
destroyed.
20
Serve?

• Term used 130 times in Bible
• With only 1 exception, the word is always an
  action done to deity. (Prayer, fasting, Temple
  sacrifices)
• Jesus answered Satan, It is written, You shall
  worship the Lord your God and serve him only.
  (Lk 48 Matt 410)

21
Jesus Trial Confession
Mark 1461-64 Again the high priest was
questioning Him, and saying to Him, Are You the
Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said,
I am and you shall see the Son of Man sitting
at the right hand of power, and coming with the
clouds of heaven.
22
Jesus Trial Confession
. . . Tearing his clothes, the high priest said,
What further need do we have of witnesses? You
have heard the blasphemy how does it seem to
you? And they all condemned Him to be deserving
of death.
23
Did Jesus Actually Claim to be the future Son of
Man in Daniel 7?

• Good historical reasons to say YES.
• Found in earliest Gospel Mark
• Found in multiple sources
• Dissimilarity later church writings not refer to
  Jesus in this sense.

24
Did Jesus Actually Deny being the Son of God as
Quran states?

• Only source saying Jesus denied being Son of God
  is the Quran, written 600 years after Jesus.

25
Quran vs. NT Which is a reliable source on
Jesus?

• Quran
• 600 yrs of Jesus
• 5th-hand testimony (at best)
• Single Source
• Influence from Heretical Groups

• New Testament
• Within 70 yrs of Jesus
• 1st 2nd-hand testimony
• Multiple Sources

26
Bart Ehrman Concedes

• the only real sources availableto the historian
  interested for the life of Jesus are therefore
  the New Testament Gospels.
• (NT, 215)

27
Did Jesus Claim Being Divine?

• Earliest Christian writings claimed Jesus is
  divine
• Good historical evidence exists that Jesus
  actually claimed to be divine
• Quran denies Jesus claimed divinity, but is a
  very poor source on Jesus

28
Claims Reality

• Jesus claimed to be divine. But anyone can do
  that.
• However, if Jesus rose from the dead, we have
  good reason to believe that his claims of
  divinity are true.
• Did Jesus rise from the dead?