A little bit ago, I posted a video reacting to Muslim influencer and dawahgandist, Lily Jay, on my YouTube channel. In this video she was saying that she does believe in Christ but doesn’t believe He’s God and doesn’t know what that makes her. I did my reaction bit to this video, answered her question, and posted. Overall, the few comments I got were positive, but I got a Muslim commenting that Jesus prayed to Allah (the Aramaic “Elah” or “Alaha” sounds similar to Allah), and Muhammad never contradicted Jesus. I responded to him, pointing out some areas where Muhammad does contradict Jesus, he responded back, and I responded in turn. After typing out my point-by-point response, a thought occurred to me. I haven’t done a Debunking Deconstruction post in a while, and some of the points he brought up are similar arguments to ones I’ve heard from your average deconstructor, though it’s coming from a Muslim perspective. So, here’s his second comment in response to my original and my arguments in return.
[Author’s Note: This is not in any way meant to attack this guy. He’s actually one of the more respectful people I’ve debated in a comments section, and props to him for having thoughtful counter arguments. I bring this up because 1). It’s late when I’m writing this and it took an hour or so to write a response to him and 2). I feel like people could encounter similar arguments from deconstructors coming differing viewpoints, so it’s good to read and study the arguments and counterarguments.]
If your Bible tells you that God is one and in other places tells you that God is three. Shouldn’t that be a worry to you? Why should your book contradict itself? Is this what you base your salvation on? The Bible verse you quoted in 28:19, does it explicitly say that there are three Gods?
Referring to Jesus as the son of God, many people have been called sons of God in the Bible even way before Jesus. In Jeremiah 31:9, God says: “I am Israel’s(Jacob) father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son.” This is nothing special, all those who are obedient to God are called sons or children of God. It doesn’t mean they were begotten by God. God is beyond begetting. He is not human to beget. About Jesus’s alleged crucifixion; it says in the books of Mark 14:50 (KJV) and Matthew 26:56 (KJV) that during the most critical time of Jesus, all his disciples fled and forsook him. So who is telling you the story that he was crucified? You’re only following conjecture and guesswork. Jesus himself prayed fervently that he should not die in Hebrews 5:7 : “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” Yet you people quote Paul to claim that Jesus was indeed crucified which is not true.
About faith saving you: Read Mathew 19:16-19: “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” This shows you that the only way you will enter paradise is to keep the commandments and do right. There Is No Other Way!! Another thing is Jesus rejected being good and referred to God as the only Being Who is good. How then do you refer to him as your God? Repent!
We see God as more personal because we need no intermediary to talk to Him. You have created the problem of attributing sons and daughters to the Creator as if He is a man or human. To call God father is to limit exactly who He is. He is your Rabb not your Ab. He is One and Self-existing. He begets not nor was He begotten. And there is none that looks like unto him. Cal Him your Rabb because He is your Creator, Sustainer, Nourisher, Provider, Helper, Guardian, Sovereign Lord and He alone will resurrect you on the day of judgement.
How’s the Aramaic word Elah, different from Allah. You have no knowledge. Ask any Jew if they worship a different God as the Muslims and he will tell you NO. He will tell you that the Muslims and the Jew worship the same God and he as a Jew can even pray in a mosque. He will rather tell you that the Christians worship a different god which they don’t know.
This is how I responded:
You raise a lot of points, some of them I hope to do some videos on. But to answer your questions:
– The Bible does not teach that there are a triad of gods. It teaches that there’s a Trinity, three distinct persons (or centers of will, intellect, and emotion) that are co-equal, co-eternal, and of the same substance, that work together and make up one God. That’s why in Matthew 28:19, Jesus doesn’t say “in the NAMES of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Instead, he says “in the NAME of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” That’s “name” singular, referring to one God, Yahweh. Thus, it’s not a contradiction to say that God is a Trinity.
– While, yes, the title “Son of God” or “Children of God” is used throughout the Bible to refer to a faithful person or persons and you’re right to say that this doesn’t mean that God is their literal father in the human sense, here’s what it means for Jesus. When Jesus is called “the Son of God,” this is used in a unique sense. It means that He is God made manifest as a human being, conceived in Mary via the Holy Spirit. This is why the Jewish religious leaders got so angry when Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of God. They understood that this was a claim to deity, because it meant He possessed the same nature as God. To them, this was blasphemy.
Further, to say that Jesus is God’s Son is not to say that He is a created being. As the second person of the Trinity, He is co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. One did not create the other.
– On Christ’s crucifixion, yes, the disciples fled the scene and forsook Christ. However, there are several reasons for this:
1). Zechariah 13:7 predicted this when it said, “Stike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” The fleeing of the disciples was prophetic fulfillment.
2). This was divine necessity. Had the disciples stayed during Jesus’ arrest, they likely would’ve been arrested and killed as well (likely in an identical manner as Jesus), which would’ve jeopardized the spread of the Gospel. Further, the Lamb (Jesus) had to go to the cross unblemished and unassisted. If Jesus’ disciples had put up some massive fight, this would’ve tarnished that.
3). Imagine if you were in that situation at Gethsemane. You’re a Jew awaiting a Davidic Messiah that will free Israel from Roman rule, and now a bunch of soldiers are coming to arrest your leader, shattering your expectations of a political savior, and putting you in danger of receiving the same brutal punishment as your leader. You would absolutely be panicking and having a fight or flight response. It’s been observed in the modern world; there’s no excuse why some 1st-century Jews wouldn’t have that response too.
4). There was an element of spiritual warfare at play as Jesus predicted in Luke 22:31.
The disciples were quickly regathered in Matthew 28:16-20, which means that they had not deserted Him for long, and later, they would all (except John, who was exiled) be martyred by beheading, crucifixion, stoning, etc. This meant that they clearly had a change of heart, and it’s not improbable that they would’ve gone to see Jesus on the cross. After all, Mary was there to see it, wasn’t she? And we know that some of Jesus’ dying words were to John to take care of Mary.
Some more evidence that Jesus was crucified and this isn’t “conjecture and guesswork” as you call it is the fact that the majority of credible historians (including non-Christians) agree that Jesus lived and died via crucifixion, even if they don’t all believe He was resurrected. For example, New Testament scholar and staunch agnostic atheist, Bart Ehrman agrees that Jesus was crucified, though he is against Christianity.
As for Jesus praying to God that He didn’t have to be crucified, who wouldn’t be? Go look up some articles on what happens to the body during crucifixion. It’s one of the worst ways to die. The verse from Hebrews that you quote is being taken out of context to support the belief that He didn’t die on the cross. It’s not talking about Jesus asking to not have to die on the cross. It’s talking about His reverent submission to God’s will. As it was God’s will for Christ to die on the cross, Christ went with it and died on the cross.
– You also took Matthew 19: 16-19 out of context. This passage is not talking about salvation by works, or, at least, not in the way you’re thinking of it. Let’s look at the full story:
“16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother, and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”
When the rich young ruler comes over to Jesus asking what he must do to get into Heaven, Jesus tells him that no one is good but God (which isn’t a denial of His divinity, as I explained earlier) and proceeds to give him the 10 Commandments. This is important because the 10 Commandments are essentially the basic standard of conduct that we must keep perfectly to get to heaven. However, that’s a big if. Because we are fallen according to the Bible, we can’t keep those commandments perfectly. We fall short. We stumble, especially when it comes to the core of the commandments which is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Breaking even one of them leads to Hell.
This is where Jesus asking the rich young ruler to give away his possessions and give to the poor comes in. It’s a test to see which he loves more and has faith in more: God or money. When he walks away sad, we see he loves money more than God. This is further illustrated by the fact that the disciples are promised rewards in heaven for their willingness to leave behind their old lives to walk in faith with Christ. Thus, it’s not advocating for a works-based salvation plan. Jesus is making a point that your works will not save you. It is faith in Him, loving Him with all your heart, soul, and mind that will.
(I will also point out that this is further testified by the fact that in the Old Testament, though the Israelites would often try to keep the commandments, they would often slip and continue to do them while not having faith in God. If you’re working for salvation but have no faith, it’s all empty and worthless. The entire Old Testament, in fact, is meant to show how we need Christ, the perfect sacrifice who did keep all of God’s commands to a T, to pay for our sins.)
[As an author’s note: This does not mean that everyone should give away their money right now for the promises of health, wealth, and prosperity. I say this because some false teachers teach this, and it causes massive hurt. What it means is we should be putting our faith and hope solely in Christ, not our money, our status, etc.]
– Calling ourselves as Christians “Sons and Daughters of God” is not “attributing partners” with God. It’s a figure of speech. As Christians, we believe that we’ve been metaphorically adopted into the kingdom of God. Where we once were exiles because of our sin, we are now treated as family. Does this mean that we are gods? Heck no. What it does mean is that we have a father-to-child relationship with God. This does not limit His power. He is, as you call Him, “Creator, Sustainer, Nourisher, Provider, Helper, Guardian, Sovereign Lord,” and the term Abba or Father does not negate that. After all, a mere teacher doesn’t do all that stuff for me. Those attributes that you list are actually more fitting of a Father to His child!
– As for the difference between the Aramaic Elah and the Arabic Allah, they are different in practices and beliefs regarding the nature of God. Heck, I see a lot more Jews siding with Christians than Muslims. In fact, one theory that really highlights this split is the fact that some scholars believe that Allah was actually the moon god of Muhammad’s tribe. They’re only similar phonetically because they’re from the same linguistic family.
Until next time,
M.J.
The Tanuki Corner 
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