How Many Sons Does God Have
How Many Sons Does God Have
How Many Sons Does God Have
Many people tell us "but the Bible clearly says that Jesus is the Son of God. How can you say that
Jesus is not God's only begotten son when Jesus says it so clearly in black and white in the Bible?"
Well, first of all, we need to know the language of his people, the language of the Jews to whom he
was speaking. Let us see how they understood this proclamation.
Let us begin by asking: How many sons does the Bible tell us that God Almighty has?
Jacob is God's son and firstborn: "Israel is my son, even my firstborn" [Exodus 4:22]
Solomon is God's son "He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son": 2 [Samuel 7:13-14]
Ephraim is God's firstborn: "for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn" [Jeremiah 31:9]
(who is God's firstborn? Israel or Ephraim?).
Adam is the son of God "Adam, which was the son of God" [Luke 3:38].
As we can see, the use of the term "son of God" when describing normal human beings was not at all
an uncommon practice among Jesus' people.
Indeed, the Jews are even referred to as much more than this in the Bible, and this is indeed the very
trait which Jesus (pbuh) held against them. When the Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus (pbuh) he
defended himself with the following words
"Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, 'I said, Ye are gods?' If he called them gods, unto
whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken..." [John 10:34]
(he was referring to Psalms 82:6 "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most
High..") As we can see from these and many other verses like them, "son of God" in the language of
the Jews was a very innocent term used to describe a loyal servant of God. Whether the translators
and editors chose to write it as "Son of God" (with a capital S) in reference to Jesus and "son of God"
(with a small S) in reference to everyone else does not diminish the fact that in the original language,
both cases are exactly the same. Are we beginning to see what drove the most learned men of the
Anglican Church to recognize the truth? But let us move on.
There seems to be only two places in the Bible where Jesus (pbuh) refers to himself as "son of God."
They are in John chapters 5 and 11. Hastings in "The dictionary of the Bible" says: "Whether Jesus
used it of himself is doubtful." Regardless, we have already seen what is meant by this innocent title.
However, Jesus is referred to as the "son of Man" (literally: "Human being") 81 times in the books of
the Bible. In the Gospel of Barnabas, we are told that Jesus (pbuh) knew that mankind would make
him a god after his departure and severely cautioned his followers from having anything to do with
such people.
Jesus was not the son of a human man (according to both the Bible and the Qur'an). However, we find
him constantly saying "I am the son of man." Why?. It was because in the language of the Jews, that is
how you say "I am a human being."
What was he trying to tell us by constantly repeating and emphasizing to us throughout the New
Testament "I am a human being," "I am a human being," "I am a human being"?. What had he
foreseen? Think about it!.
Do Christians emphasize this aspect of Jesus? The New Testament Greek word translated as "son" are
"pias" and "paida" which mean "servant," or "son in the sense of servant." These are translated to
"son" in reference to Jesus and "servant" in reference to all others in some translations of the Bible
(see below). As we are beginning to see, one of the most fundamental reasons why Jesus (pbuh) is
considered God is due to extensive mistranslation. We shall see more and more examples of this
throughout this book.
Islam teaches that Jesus (pbuh) was a human being, not a God. Jesus (peace be upon him) continually
emphasized this to his followers throughout his mission. The Gospel of Barnabas also affirms this fact.
Once again, Grolier's encyclopedia says:
"...Most problematical of all is the title "Son of Man." This is the only title used repeatedly by Jesus as
a self-designation, and there is no clear evidence that it was used as a title of majesty by the
post-Easter church. Hence it is held by many to be authentic, since it passes the criterion of
dissimilarity."
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