[article by Mr.P]

Christianity says that Jesus is Son of God

1John c5v10 “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness (i.e. witness of God v9) in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.”

Luke c1v35 “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’”

Romans c1v4 “(Jesus Christ v3) and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

Islam says that Jesus is not the Son of God but was just a man

Surah 2:136 “Say (O Muslims), “We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismail (Ishmael), Ishaque (Isaac), Yaqoob (Jacob), and to Al-Asbat (the twelve sons of Yaqoob (Jacob)), and that which has been given to Moosa (Moses) and Iesa (Jesus), and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islam).” (Dr Hilali and Dr Khan)

Surah 9:30 “And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!”

Surah 18:4-5 “And warn those who say: Allah has taken a son. They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers; a grievous word it is that comes out of their mouths; they speak nothing but a lie.”

How can Christianity explain to Islam about Jesus being the Son of God? 

If you think that it is blasphemy to say that God had close personal relations with Mary and so produced the Son of God then Christians agree with you.

So how is the description “the Son of God” meant to be understood? If a book is called “the mother of books”, for say Italian cooking, does it mean that all other Italian cooking books come from that one book? No it means that the book referred to is considered the best source of information for Italian cooking. The phrase “a son of the road” does not mean that two roads got together and produced another road. No, it is a colloquial expression meaning that a person is a traveller.

The same principle applies to the description “the Son of God”. The term “Son of God” was and is never meant physically, but describes the personal character of Jesus Christ in which we see Divine characteristic likenesses, a Divine relationship and a deep love. Also as someone has to exist before they are sent anywhere so the personal character of Jesus Christ was eternally the Son of God before He was sent to the earth and physically born to become a Man on earth.

Isaiah c9v6 says “For unto us a child is born {Jesus’ physical birth on earth}, unto us a son is given {Jesus previously existed in heaven as the Son of God and was given as such to the world} …”

Luke c1v35 “And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”

1John c5v20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

We also know that a true prophet would not receive worship because they know that worship should only be given to God.

A Gospel record about Jesus Christ’s life is in Matthew 22:16, “And they (the Pharisees v20 i.e. some of the religious leaders in the Lord Jesus time) sent to Him (Jesus v1) their disciples with the Herodians (a political group), saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.’”

Also John c3v1-2 “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’”

Yet the Lord Jesus received worship as below.

Matthew c9v18 “While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.’”

Matthew c14v33 “Then those (Jesus’ disciples v26) who were in the boat came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’”

John c20v28 “And Thomas answered and said to Him (Jesus v26), ‘My Lord and my God!’”

In none of these instances do we see Jesus telling those worshipping Him to stop, as did mere men and even angels who were being worshipped wrongly by others (Acts c10v25-26; Revelation c19v9-10). Therefore by knowingly accepting worship the Lord Jesus was claiming Divinity.

But more than that we find that the Son of God came to be the Saviour from our sins.

Galatians c2v20 “… the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” He did that when as 1 Corinthians c15v3-4 say “… that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Romans c5v8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This was so that in Romans c5v10 “For if when we were enemies we (those who have faith in Jesus Christ v1) were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, …”

John c3v16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish (that means should not go to hell) but have everlasting life.”