Sam Shamoun

The following article is a response to the claims set forth by Nisar Muhammad which can be found here:

http://www.answerchristianity.fsnet.co.uk/JC.htm 

We will omit material that has already been addressed in our previous rebuttals. All biblical quotations are from the RSV, unless noted otherwise. 

NISAR:

RESPONSE:

Since historic Christianity has always taught that Jesus was a Jew, we really do not see the relevance of Nisar’s statements in relation to Jesus being God? Does Nisar assume that Jesus cannot be God in nature solely because he was also a Jewish man? Then this is his dilemma since the Holy Bible clearly teaches both truths, namely that Jesus is both fully God and fully human. More on this below. 

NISAR: 

RESPONSE:

Let us complete the quote that Nisar “borrowed” from one of my articles: 

"… I would say that by that time (i.e. the last decade of the first century), under the impact of their quest to understand Jesus, Christians had in a certain sense expanded the meaning of the word 'God.' It no longer for them simply covered the Father in heaven; it covered the Son on earth. They had come to realize that Jesus was so intimately related to God, so filled with God's presence, that the term God was applicable to him as it was to the Father in heaven. May I emphasis that this does not involve a change in Jesus; it involves a change and growth in the Christian perception of who he was.” (Ibid.)  

And,  

“Did Jesus have an identity which his followers later came to understand in terms of his being God? If he was God (and most Christians do agree on that), did he know who he was? I think the simplest answer to that question is yes.” (Ibid. p. 99)  

It is clear that Raymond Brown’s statement in context wasn’t denying the Deity of Christ, but was simply explaining why Christ never said he was God, or why others never asked him if he were God. Brown’s answer demonstrates that Christ, the Apostles and the NT wholeheartedly teach that Christ is God. 

NISAR: 

RESPONSE:

Again, let us quote Jesus’ words in context: 

“Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. I speak of WHAT I HAVE SEEN WITH MY FATHER, and you do what you have heard from your father.’ They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what Abraham did. You do what your father did.’ They said to him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘IF God were your Father, you would love me, FOR I PROCEEDED AND CAME FORTH FROM GOD; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.’ The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ Jesus answered, ‘I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it and he will be the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, HE WILL NEVER SEE DEATH.’ The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, “If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death.” Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is MY FATHER who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God. But you have not known him; I KNOW HIM. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word. YOUR FATHER Abraham rejoiced that he was to see MY DAY; he saw IT and was glad.’ The Jews then said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.” John 8:31-59  

In this passage, Jesus makes the following astonishing claims: 

1. God is Christ’s Father, whereas he is not the Father of these unbelieving Jews.

2. God glorifies Christ just as Christ glorifies God.

3. Christ claims that his word has the sovereign power to prevent believers from ever dying (spiritually).

4. Christ existed before Abraham came into being, and came forth from God out of heaven. Compare: 

“He said to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.’” John 8:23-24  

“Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world’… Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst’… For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY.’ The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’” John 6:32-33, 35, 38-42 

“This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, HE WILL LIVE FOR EVER; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.” John 6:50-51  

“Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?” John 6:62 



“In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” John 16:26-28  

5. Interestingly, whereas Jesus calls Abraham the father of these Jews, Jesus never calls Abraham his own father. Rather, Jesus shows that he is greater than Abraham since the latter rejoiced to see Jesus’ day. 

NISAR:

RESPONSE:

Typical of anti-Trinitarians, Nisar commits the fallacy of hasty generalization and equivocation, as well as non sequitur. He wrongly assumes that since God is often, but not always, used of the Father this automatically means that the Father alone is God. In so doing Nisar erroneously assumes that God and Father are interchangeable terms. Nisar then begs the question by asserting that since God is only one individual, namely the Father, Jesus therefore cannot be God.  

Whereas the term Father does refer to a specific person distinct from the Son, as well as the Holy Spirit, this is not the case with the term "God." Although often used of the Father, the term God is also used of the Son, as the following citations demonstrate: 

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman'u-el.” Isaiah 7:14 

“But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’” Isaiah 9:6 

Fulfillment: 

“All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel’ (which means, God [ho theos] with us).” Matthew 1:22-23  



“Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘The land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles- the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.’” Matthew 4:12-16 



“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How shall this be, since I have no husband?’ And the angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.’” Luke 1:30-35 



“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:76-79

“A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for OUR GOD. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken’… Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:3-5, 10-11 

Fulfillment: 

“For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.” Matthew 16:27  

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; WE HAVE BEHELD HIS GLORY, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John bore witness to HIM, and cried, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.”’)… He (John) said, ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,' AS THE PROPHET ISAIAH SAID.”’” John 1:1, 14-15, 23 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers… Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:1-5, 7-16  

“The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God.’” John 10:33  

“Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and MY GOD!’” John 20:28 

“And to the angel of the church in Thyati'ra write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first… And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.” Revelation 2:18-19, 23b 



“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17  



“‘Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end’… He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” Revelation 22:12-13, 20  

“Behold, a day of the LORD IS COMING, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in the midst of you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day HIS FEET shall stand on the MOUNT OF OLIVES which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the MOUNT OF OLIVES shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, for the valley of the mountains shall touch the side of it; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzzi'ah king of Judah. Then the LORD YOUR GOD WILL COME, and all the holy ones with him… And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one.” Zechariah 14:1-5, 9 

According to the NT, the Lord God that is to descend upon the Mount of Olives is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ!: 

“And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come IN THE SAME WAY as you saw him go into heaven.’ Then they returned to Jerusalem from THE MOUNT CALLED OLIVET, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away;” Acts 1:9-12 



“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:11-16  

The preceding OT passages and their subsequent fulfillment in Jesus clearly demonstrate that the term God does not always refer to the Father. These examples also demonstrate that the OT prophets were aware that the one true God of Israel is multipersonal, something which we will expound upon shortly. Other passages where God is used in reference to the Son include: 

“But of the Son he says, ‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness beyond thy comrades.’” Hebrews 1:8-9 

“awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” Titus 2:13 

“Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” 2 Peter 1:1 

Second, since Trinitarians believe that God is one undivided Being, it is therefore apparent that Nisar is attacking a straw man here. Nisar erroneously assumes that an undivided Being cannot exist or subsist in three distinct, yet inseparable Persons. Yet Nisar provides no arguments proving why this cannot be true. 

Third, it might be true that some (many?) Jews have worshiped God as one single Person, namely the Father, yet it is not true that EVERY Jew believed this way. Nor is it true that the Holy Bible supports the erroneous view that the Father ALONE is God.  

For instance, it was monotheistic Jews who believed in the absolute Deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit who wrote the NT. This clearly demonstrates that there were many Jews who worshiped God as a Triune Being. 

Furthermore, as was already mentioned, the OT is replete with passages demonstrating that the one true God exists as a multipersonal Being. For the sake of brevity, we will only highlight a few examples: 

“Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomor'rah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.” Genesis 19:24-25  

Here, Yahweh on earth destroys Sodom and Gomor’rah with fire from Yahweh in heaven. This is a clear reference to two distinct Persons as God. That one of these Persons is on earth can be seen from this passage: 

“And the LORD APPEARED TO HIM by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, ‘My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant’… Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree WHILE THEY ATE. They said to him, ‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And he said, ‘She is in the tent.’ THE LORD SAID, ‘I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?’ THE LORD SAID to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, and say, “Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son.’ But Sarah denied, saying, ‘I did not laugh’; for she was afraid. HE SAID, ‘No, but you did laugh.’ Then THE MEN set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them ON THEIR WAY. THE LORD SAID, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.’ Then the LORD SAID, ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomor'rah is great and their sin is very grave, I WILL GO DOWN TO SEE whether they have done according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know. So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood BEFORE THE LORD. Then Abraham drew near, and said, ‘Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH do right?’ And the LORD said, ‘If I FIND at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I WILL SPARE the whole place for their sake.’ Abraham answered, ‘Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?’ And HE SAID, ‘I WILL NOT DESTROY IT if I FIND forty-five there.’ Again he spoke to him, and said, ‘Suppose forty are found there.’ HE ANSWERED, ‘For the sake of forty I WILL NOT DO IT.’ Then he said, ‘Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.’ HE ANSWERED, ‘I WILL NOT DO IT, IF I FIND THIRTY THERE.’ He said, ‘Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.’ HE ANSWERED, ‘For the sake of twenty I WILL NOT DESTROY IT.’ THEN HE SAID, ‘Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.’ HE ANSWERED, ‘For the sake of ten I WILL NOT DESTROY IT.’ And the LORD WENT HIS WAY, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.” Genesis 18:1-3, 8-33 

This passage has caused major problems for anti-Trinitarians such as Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses and even unbelieving Jews. The reason being is that this passage clearly teaches that the true God Yahweh has appeared on earth to his servants in the form of a man, something that the preceding groups vehemently deny. In fact, this passage goes so far as to say that Yahweh actually ate food that was offered to him by Abraham! 

Furthermore, that Genesis 19:24 unmistakably identifies two distinct Persons as Yahweh God can be seen from the following passage: 

“‘I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I slew your young men with the sword; I carried away your horses; and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me,’ says the LORD. ‘I overthrew some of you, as WHEN GOD overthrew Sodom and Gomor'rah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,’ says the LORD.” Amos 4:10-11 

Here, Yahweh states that Sodom and Gomor’rah were overthrown by another entity who is God also. 

According to this passage, Yahweh God is being sent by Yahweh God to dwell in the midst of his people! 

“Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, ‘Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them-not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the Lord their God.’” Hosea 1:6-7 NIV 

Yahweh says that he will deliver Judah by Yahweh their God. This refers to God’s miraculous deliverance of Judah from the hands of the Assyrian King Sennacherib. The OT records the fulfillment of God’s promise: 

“Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him… He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ That night THE ANGEL OF THE LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning-there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.” 2 Kings 19:20-21, 32b-37  

God sent the Angel of Yahweh to strike down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. This means that the God whom Yahweh used to deliver the house of Judah was none other than the Angel of Yahweh! 

We have already written extensively on the Angel, demonstrating from the Old Testament that this particular Angel isn’t a creature, but is actually Yahweh God himself functioning in the role of a messenger. Yet at the same time the OT shows that this Angel is sent by another who is called Yahweh God, indicating that the one true God is multipersonal. We also presented evidence that this Angel is none other than OT appearances of the preincarnate Christ! For more information, we recommend the following article: http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/tam1.htm 

“Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am He, I am the first, and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together. Assemble, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chalde'ans. I, even I, have spoken and called him, I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now THE LORD GOD HAS SENT ME AND HIS SPIRIT.” Isaiah 48:12-16  

Here, the Creator Yahweh God claims that Yahweh God has sent him and the Spirit, a clear affirmation of God’s Triunity!  

“I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel which he has granted them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he said, Surely they are my people, sons who will not deal falsely; and he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and THE ANGEL OF HIS PRESENCE saved them; in his love and in his pity HE redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved his holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is he who brought up out of the sea the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So thou didst lead thy people, to make for thyself a glorious name. Look down from heaven and see, from thy holy and glorious habitation. Where are thy zeal and thy might? The yearning of thy heart and thy compassion are withheld from me. For thou art our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer from of old is thy name.” Isaiah 63:7-16

The Exodus of Israel is attributed to Yahweh God the Father, the Angel of His Presence (i.e. the Angel of Yahweh) and the Holy Spirit. Notice again that the Angel is given divine attributes and functions, being referred to as God’s personal Presence and the Agent of redemption. This is another clear-cut OT proof of God’s Triunity. 

NISAR: 

RESPONSE:

Nisar is correct that the Father is the Lord God and God Almighty. Yet the NT clearly teaches that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also the one true Lord God and God Almighty. 

NISAR: 

Other verses include: 

“Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, NOR DID HIS FLESH CORRUPTION. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” Acts 2:29-32 

“Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets which are read every sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning him. Though they could charge him with nothing deserving death, yet they asked Pilate to have him killed. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee.’ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, NO MORE TO REUTRN TO CORRUPTION, he spoke in this way, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore he says also in another psalm, ‘Thou wilt not let thy Holy One see corruption.’ For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption; but he whom God raised up SAW NO CORRUPTION.” Acts 13:26-37 

“Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; THE SECOND MAN is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is THE MAN of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of THE MAN of heaven.” 1 Corinthians 15:45-49  

“Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead… But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like HIS GLORIOUS BODY, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:8-11, 20-21  

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the MAN Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6 

This concludes this part. Part two follow shortly, Lord Jesus willing.

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2. Articles by Sam Shamoun Found on Answering Islam main site

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