Ok now I don’t want to necessarily start a war of sorts on this topic so I’ll preface it by saying that this is hopefully a non-offensive thread. Basically, I’m struggling to understand by trying to put myself in the shoes of Christians as to how they believe Jesus can possibly be the “son of God.” Aside from the fact that Islam specifically teaches that God has no equal nor does He have progeny, etc., I’m curious as to how Christians rationalize this point. No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t make sense to me at all (I don’t mean to be argumentative, just making a factual statement here).
actually Jesus never said that....
bible, the current day version too, is full of accounts where Jesus calls himself "son of Man"....
him being the son of God was first declared by st paul....
at first the christians rejected the theory as they cud not see anyone but God as divine....
but later it sank in....
and then some couple of centuries later, someone came up with trinity, and people took it up but no one really understood what it meant, until two brothers and their friend from greece (current turkey) came up with a good theory to support trinity and then it gained wide acceptance....
There are many sons, daughters and children of God mentioned throughout the Bible... these terms are meant figuratively, denoting a close relationship with God, but certainly not in the sense of God having physically begotten a child. Jesus as son of God, assuming that we accept the term for a moment, is no different... the subsequent development of this into the mysterious concept of a triune god reeks of pagan influence...
^ Good point :k: That’s what I would think…I mean at some point during the course of evolution of Christianity, the metaphorical began to be translated literally to portray Christ as the actual son of God. Also as armugal states, originally Jesus even calls himself the son of Man but later on, newer versions of the Bible interpreted him to be the son of God Himself. Heck if we took it at its intended meaning, then all of us are metaphorically the children of God.
To me, 1) changing Christ from being the son of Man (which Jesus himself proclaimed himself to be) to son of God is blasphemous enough but then 2) going ahead and interpreting the Bible and revising it to suit the socio-political goals of the likes of laterday theologians is even worse.
I am glad Islam does not allow the word of God (the holy Koran) to be revised or changed). What a mess our religion would be if such was allowed. Astagfarullah.
Also as I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong), originally under Christ, Christians were as well not allowed (like Muslims) to drink or eat pork but again, somewhere down the road, the so-called European theologians of the Middle Ages changed the original Christian teachings to suit their own goals and lifestyles. Blasphemous.
"Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' " (Mark 7:14-15)
... are central to the development of Christian dietary laws. It should also be kept in mind that there were cases of conflict between Paul (who had never met Jesus) and some of Jesus' other disciples over what should and should not be allowed.
Compare the following New Testament verse from Acts 15:29...
"You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals..." (Acts 15:29)
... with the Qur'anic verse...
"Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah; that which hath been killed by strangling..." (Qur'an 5:3)
Christians believe Jesus was sent by God to be an example as to what man can be, something for all to aspire to. All other prophets had imperfections - they killed people, had multiple sex partners, treated others harshly and otherwise had imperfections. Many believe that God is everywhere and that He is within all of us. With that belief it is not a difficult concept to understand Jesus was the "Son of God". Not God, but the embodiment of perfection within a human and God = perfection. Christians also tend to understand all of mankind as "children of God". It doesn't mean that God "fathered" everyone in the traditional sense, but that He is the Fatherly figure and we owe our existence to Him.
Islam brought the message of peace as is shown by our Holy Prophet :saw:, who spread the message of peace not by the sword, but by the word…History is proof of that…
On the other hand, Christians truly followed Jesus when he said:
** “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; .” (Matthew 10: 34, Luke 12: 49-53)**
Seems the discovery of the ‘new’ land (America) and the treatment of the natives, the destruction of the Inca and Mayan civilizations, the crusades, the Inquisition, the witch trials, WWI and WWII and the current great Christian leader Bush and his holy wars are truly following a great example…Onward Christian soldier…
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Seminole: *
Christians believe Jesus was sent by God to be an example as to what man can be, something for all to aspire to.
[/quote]
The same is said of Prophet Muhammad in the Qur'an... the Bible describes numerous prophets as "righteous" if I remember... that's usually a good enough reason to take someone as an example...
[quote]
All other prophets had imperfections - they killed people, had multiple sex partners, treated others harshly and otherwise had imperfections.
[/quote]
What imperfections did John the Baptist have?
[quote]
Many believe that God is everywhere and that He is within all of us. With that belief it is not a difficult concept to understand Jesus was the "Son of God".
[/quote]
In that case, we are all Sons of God and the "embodiment of perfection". The same applies to all the other Sons of God mentioned in the Bible.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Matsui: *
Because Jesus said so. Kind of like when you believe what mohammad said, so do the christians when it comes to Jesus. It is a matter of faith...
[/QUOTE]
Matty, the problem is he never said so (at least that is what Muslims believe).
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Seminole: *
Christians believe Jesus was sent by God to be an example as to what man can be, something for all to aspire to. All other prophets had imperfections - they killed people, had multiple sex partners, treated others harshly and otherwise had imperfections. Many believe that God is everywhere and that He is within all of us. With that belief it is not a difficult concept to understand Jesus was the "Son of God". Not God, but the embodiment of perfection within a human and God = perfection. Christians also tend to understand all of mankind as "children of God". It doesn't mean that God "fathered" everyone in the traditional sense, but that He is the Fatherly figure and we owe our existence to Him.
[/QUOTE]
hmmm All are god's children except blacks, browns, asians...etc. In other word only white people are children of God. Do you want me to continue on that line and cite examples or do you want to rethink that statement?
Your bias blinds you. To claim that Jesus preached violence is a complete contradiction to his teachings of “turn the other cheek”, forgiveness and “love your neighbor as yourself” that he spent his whole life advocating. You could have picked from hundreds of passages that solidify his place in history as the “Prince of Peace”. But to imply he advocated violence as compared to someone who DID use the sword, led battles and killed people is beyond reason, even considering your considerable bias.
Because these people called themselves “Christians” doesn’t mean they were following the teachings of Christ, just as those killing in the name of Islam do not represent the teachings of Muhammed. Christ was perfect. His followers are not.
Getting back to the original topic, one reason for the theory may be the fact that Mary was a virgin. How did a virgin girl, get pregnant and then give birth to a son? Somewhere along the line, someone must have felt the most logical answer is that Mary was impregnated by God Himself. Hence, the term "Son of God" came into being.
