Did God Beget a Son? | Beginning Christian-Muslim Dialogue #1

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, RSV). The most famous verse in the Bible, and the theology of the Gospel of John as a whole, stands as a point of long-held disagreement and conflict between Christians and Muslims concerning the Essence of Jesus. Did Jesus come as the Messiah to die for humanity's sins, as Christians claim; or, is Jesus a prophet, who never died, and will reveal himself later in time? To even begin to address this question, the groundwork for dialogue must first be laid.

God's Truth is Absolute, The Expression of Truth Is Not

Solving this core theological difference between Christians and Muslims requires several challenging actions on the part of the believers of these faiths. First, and most importantly, is a true desire for religious dialogue. This means dispensing with accusations of "one true religion," "heresy," and "you're going to Hell" for, at the very least, the present moment(s) the conversation takes place. 

Second, both Christians and Muslims have to accept a historically accurate fact: the scriptures are fallible. On the Christian front in particular, authors wrote the Gospel several decades, if not more than that (depending on who you ask) after the death of Jesus. Additionally, each Gospel uses different theological tilts. Scholars even believe certain narratives, such as the Virgin Birth, may be totally made up. These are historical, academic facts as of current available information. This does not exempt the Muslims. Muslims, in their debates with Christians, state that the Qu'ran was directly dictated by Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him). However, even the Qu'ran was passed down through "7 Readers" and thus, for many centuries, multiple versions of the Qu'ran existed, though with very little theological differences. 

There is a profound teaching in Unificationism: "Spirit and truth are unique, eternal and unchanging. However, the degree and scope of their teaching and the means of their expression will vary from one age to another as they restore humankind from a state of utter ignorance" (Eu, 104). When Jesus promised to return, and in the course of God's revelation through the prophets, God's Truth remained unchanging, how it was communicated to human beings evolved depending on God's Will over the course of history. There is one thing Christians and Muslims can agree on: the Last Days are yet to come (or may be here already), and thus God's final judgement, and Word to humanity, is also yet to come.

With these two points in mind, let's address the a big elephant stubbornly in the way of dialogue between these two Abrahamic faiths: Can God Beget a Son?

Bible & Qu'ran: A Similar Appearance of Gabriel to Mary

According to the Gospels, Jesus is the Messiah, God's Only Son. Jesus' birth was described by the angel Gabriel upon his appearance to Mary: 

"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 1:35, RSV)

According to the Gospels, Jesus was conceived through the Holy Spirit, one of the three parts of the Holy Trinity of God. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary; in other words, God conceived and bore Jesus through Mary. The Qu'ran, however, staunchly refutes these claims, saying:

"It is not for God to have a child—glory be to Him. To have anything done, He says to it, 'Be,' and it becomes" (19:35)

Despite the Qu'ran's indication that God, or the Holy Spirit, did not conceive of Jesus through Mary, the Qu'ran also indicates that Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin:

"And mention in the Scripture Mary, when she withdrew from her people to an eastern location. She screened herself away from them, and We sent to her Our spirit, and He appeared to her as an immaculate human. She said, “I take refuge from you in the Most Merciful, should you be righteous.” He said, “I am only the messenger of your Lord, to give you the gift of a pure son.” She said, “How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, and I was never unchaste?” He said, “Thus said your Lord, `It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign for humanity, and a mercy from Us. It is a matter already decided.'“ So she carried him, and secluded herself with him in a remote place" (19: 16-22). 

The Spirit appearing as an immaculate human alludes to the appearance of an angel. Since angels, including the three archangels, are a part of the Qu'ran's theology, we can assume for now that the entity that appears to Mary is the same Archangel Gabriel as portrayed in the Gospels. Gabriel likewise also informs Mary of being gifted a son. However, the method of the Son's entry into Mary's womb is described an "easy" act of God, echoing Genesis 1's account of creating the world: "And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light" (Genesis 1:3), which Muslims view as an account (though corrupted) of God's Word.

The Evolution of Yahweh Into Heavenly Father and Allah

The key difference is not that God miraculously gave Mary a son, but that the son given to Mary was God's Son, allowing the Son to call God Heavenly Father. In Islam, God's name is Allah, and given many titles. Generally speaking, Allah is related to as a merciful Master in the Muslim faith, following Allah's portrayal in the Qu'ran. 

To 'beget' implies God's transformation from Masterhood to Parenthood. Christianity relates to God as a Heavenly Father, while Muslims relate to God as Allah. Allah and Heavenly Father, though denoting a different type of God, both stem from the same Old Testament Diety: Yahweh, the God of the Israelites as revealed through the prophets. God's relationship to Moses is of particular importance. In the Qu'ran, Moses is considered to be one of the most important prophets (besides Prophet Mohammad himself, who stands as the Last Prophet). In Christianity, Moses is considered to have many parallels with Jesus, and help guide God's Chosen People into the promised land of Canaan. From Yahweh, a more authentic understanding of God came about: Heavenly Father in Christianity and Allah in Islam. It is from this difference that the difference of Jesus as God's Son and Jesus as a prophet emerge. A Heavenly Father naturally begets a Son; the Master Allah brings forth a prophet. 

The difference between Heavenly Father and Allah also corresponds to the evolution of the expression of God's method of creation. In Genesis, God creates through the Word. While both Christians and Muslims accept Genesis, John evolves the meaning of the Word as the Son Jesus Christ Himself: "He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:2-3, RSV). Setting aside the complicated theology of Jesus as God (another point of disagreement between Christians and Muslims, and between groups of Christians), John indicates that God creates through what Unificationism calls an Embodiment of the Word (Eu); in other words, God's mature children. 

The Evolution of the Word as God's Son and Being/Nothing Itself

In Genesis, God creates Adam and Eve, who begin as immature children from a logical point of view. Eventually, they disobey God and reap the consequences (Genesis 3, RSV). However, the God that creates in the Genesis narrative is Yahweh (El in Genesis 1, to be precise). However, the New Testament evolves Yahweh into Heavenly Father, and thus evolve Adam and Eve as God's lost children. Heavenly Father originally begot children: An Only Son and Only Daughter. By calling Jesus the  Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:44-46, RSV), just as Jesus is a Son of God, Adam can be considered to be a lost Son of God, as "sin came into the world through one man" (Romans 5:12, RSV) by eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

Islam's advance of understanding Yahweh as Allah also evolves the Word which God created the world with through Genesis. In the Qu'ran, God's act of creation is detailed as “'Be,” and it becomes" (2:117). The Word, therefore, is defined as Being itself, rather than a substantial substance or entity. The Word does not evolve beyond Being in Islam. This is why many Islamic scholars state that Allah created out of nothing. This means that Jesus was not conceived through Mary, but was created by Allah through nothing, a miracle of Allah. 

Commonalities Found, Foundation Laid for Dialogue on Jesus' Essence

Despite many unresolved issues, a few points of commonality have been reached:

1. Allah and Heavenly Father share the common origin of Yahweh

2. God created Jesus

3. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary

4. The Last Days have yet to come 

From this foundation, whether Jesus was a Son of God or a prophet can be hashed out in a more grounded manner. For my part, and the part of Unificationism, I believe Jesus came as God's Son. I also believe that all human beings are meant to be the children of God, the Heavenly Parent, serving Him and obeying his laws as filial children. However, the beauty of dialogue is peace-peace that allows people of all faiths, Christian, Muslim, or otherwise, to focus on their relationship with the One God as much as possible, so that we all may enter the promised Kingdom.