Question

I have a friend who was a Christian but now by the grace of God she is ready to accept Islam and also has changed her name now. Her name is now Hafzah. She wants to know that is there any reason about this biblical belief that ”Jesus was the son of God”. Is it based on the Bible or it is propaganda? I have some information about this idea but I want some historical proofs that this idea was infused by people or by Saint Paul.

Answer

The bible does not endorse the belief that Jesus was Son of God in the sense the Christian hold him to be. Of course you will find the word father for the Almighty in the Bible and the words son for Jesus. But that does not prove the point at all. The reason is that the actual Hebrew words which have been translated to Latin etc. as son do not merely connote the ‘son’ or father. Mr. Moiz Amjad in his response to a similar query explains:

We do know that the word ‘ben’ in the Hebrew language was used in a much wider sense than mere biological progeny. The Strong’s Hebrew dictionary explains the word thus:

a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc…

Similarly, the word “‘ab” in the Hebrew language was also used in a much wider sense, than for merely a biological father. The dictionary explains the word as:

a primitive word; father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application):–chief, (fore-)father(-less), X patrimony, principal.

It is a well-known fact that all the disciples of Jesus Christ did not ascribe divinity to him. The present belief of trinity and divinity of Jesus Christ has been under debate and it is only after centuries that the Church professed the belief. Clear negation of the idea by the Holy Qur’an and lack of support in the bible would suffice for a proof that the belief of trinity was not included in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi

Date: 2015-01-04