1- Muslim - God Doesn’t Change His Nature (Malachi 3:6) - Christian - Agreed God has never changed from the very beginning He has always revealed Himself as having Plurality within Himself while being ONE God.
Gen 1:26 God Says Let Us Make God in Our Image.
Ps. 110 Says: The LORD says to my Lord sit at my right hand.... (YHWH talking to Adonai)
Genesis 19:24 Then YHWH rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from YHWH out of the heavens. (This only make sense if there are two distinct persons both called YHWH)
2- Muslim - GOD Almighty is Greater than Jesus. (John 14:28 ) - Christian - Jesus does say that the Father is greater than Him. But He also says that He and the Father are ONE (John 10:30) . Jesus says that everything that the Father has is His (John 16:15) . So Jesus clearly understood his own glory in John 17:1-3 he says “glorify me with the same glory I had before the world began”. Jesus says the father is greater in terms of the incarnation. The theology of the incarnation is that Jesus chose to humble himself by setting aside his outward form of glory (while still maintaining His divine nature) by coming as a man during his time before his resurrection and ascension. [Philippians chapter 2]
3- Muslim - No one is "Good" including Jesus (Mark 10:18). Christian - Jesus doesn’t say He isn’t Good He asks a question - The text actually says - “why do you call me good? Don’t you know that God alone is good” - Jesus is trying to get this person who sees him ONLY as a teacher to understand that He is so much greater than a teacher. Basically, this can be understood as Jesus saying why are you only calling me a teacher?
4- Muslim - Jesus said he doesn't know when the Hour will come. Only GOD Knows. (Mark 13:32) Christian - to understand this we need to again understand what Jesus did when he became a man:
Consider Him [Jesus] who was in the form of God and did not count equality with God something that He could use for His own advantage instead He emptied Himself and took on the form of a bondservant - Philippines 2:6-7.
Jesus emptied Himself of His outward form of Glory and did not count His equality with God as something to boast in, to be used for His own gain. He humbled Himself and chose the form of a bondservant. This “emptied Himself” is in reference to His outward form of Glory; He did not empty himself of His Divine nature. However Jesus did not use His divine attributes but He chose to operate as a man anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit. For instance Jesus looked to see if there were figs on the tree (he didn’t know right away.... he had to go up closer to take a look (Matthew 21:21). However, John 13 it says that Jesus therefore knowing all things that were going to come upon Him took a towel....Jesus knew all things that were coming upon him in his sufferings because the Father told Him through the Holy Spirit (Read John chapter 5). To peer into this subject is to peer into the mystery of all mysteries and something we will be fascinated with forever. The Humility that Jesus displays in the incarnation is supposed to cause us to marvel at the nature of God not doubt His divinity.
5- Muslim - Jesus said that" OUR God is One GOD (Mark 12:29 ) Christian - Yes, Jesus is quoting the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4, the jewish creed in Hebrew, which uses the word “Echad” which means “ONE” with plurality like a husband and wife are “ONE”. The Hebrew scripture could have used “Yachid” instead of “Echad” which is the word for “one singular” but it doesn’t it uses a word implying plurality.
6- Muslim - Jesus also said "My GOD and your GOD" (John 20:17) - Christian - Yes and then a few sentences later He receives worship from Thomas who calls him my LORD and my GOD and Jesus affirms him and calls Him blessed.
7- Muslims - Jesus bowed his face down to the ground to GOD Almighty. (Matthew 26:39) - Christian - Yes, Jesus prayed! Jesus spoke to the Father in eternity past before he was a man as well. Psalm 2, shows a conversation with the Father and the Son before Jesus became a man. The Godhead was eternally relational. The Father Loved the Son and the Son Loved the Father for eternity before anything was created
8- Muslim - Jesus was tempted by satan for 40 days (Mat1:4), while GOD Almighty can not be tempted (Jacob 1:13). Christian - the best understanding of the word temped is to understand that it is also a word that can also be translated as “tested” Just as the purity of God is tested by fire so Jesus as the last Adam had to overcome every test the devil threw at him, and He did! Jesus had to overcome every “temptation” of Satan as a man. The difference with Jesus is that his soul was perfect and without sin unlike other humans that have a sinful nature. Jesus didn’t have sinful inclinations like James talked about in James chapter 1. Jesus was unmoved and overcame every temptation or test in perfection! Reading through the book of Hebrews helps to understand this.
9- Muslim - Jesus said he is a man (John 8:40) - Christian, YES Jesus is fully and truly man, While being fully and truly God. Just a few verses later in John 8:58 Jesus turns around and says, “Before Abraham was “I AM” which is the Divine name YHWH in Hebrew, only the God of Israel could say such a thing. Everyone knew what he was saying, they picked up stones to stone Him.
10- Muslim - God is neither a man nor a son of a man (Numbers 23:19) - Christian - The point of this verse in Numbers is that God is not like a man that he would LIE - you can’t quote half the verse... He is not like a man that He should lie; and at the point when the Torah was written God wasn’t a human yet... that wouldn’t happen for another 1500 years .
11- Muslim - No one can see God (1 John 4:20) but people saw Jesus - Christian - Yes the Apostle Paul, and the Apostle John and Jesus Himself tell us that no one had ever seen God the Father, that is why Jesus is called the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3). People all throughout the O.T. saw YHWH the God of Israel and lived. So they were always seeing the second person of the God head who would eventually become man named Jesus.
12- Muslim - God is the living and everlasting (Habakkuk 1:12) - Christian - I am guessing Muslims are contrasting this saying that God couldn’t die on the cross? Again the understanding of the eternal Godhead of YHWH’s divine identity clears all of this up. Jesus died on the cross not the Father.
13- Muslim - Jesus always confessed he is just a prophet sent by God (Matthew 21:10-11) Christian - Yes and No, Jesus was a prophet but He was much more than a prophet. There are at least 45 different verses where Jesus affirms his own divinity [Matt. 9,6; 9:15; 11:27; 12:8; 13:41; 16:27; 18:20; 21:9; 22:42; 23:37-39; 24:30; 24:35; 25:31-32; 26:28; 26:63-65; 28:18-20; Mk. 2:5-12; 12:1-12; 13:26; 14:62-63; Jn 1:51; 3:12-15; 3:18; 5:23; 6:20; 6:33-35; 6:38; 6:60-63; 8:23-29; 8:56-59; 10:14-16; 10:29-31; 10:38-39; 11:25-27; 12:44-46; 13:13-14; 13:19-20; 13:31-32; 14:7-10; 14:23-25; 15:4; 15:26; 16:14; 16:27-28; 17:1-5; 17:10; 17:11; 17:20; 20:22]
14- Muslim - God Declared Himself to be God, Jesus didn't (Ezekiel 20:20) Christian - This is an obvious example of Muslims just picking out a verse to validate their own theology - However, the prophet Ezekiel does describe a vision of God that is helpful -
“Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown” Ezekiel Chapter 1:26-28
The prophet Ezekiel describes a Vision of YHWH as looking like a MAN. This was none other than the 2nd person of
the Trinity, the eternal word of God (John 1:1).. This is Jesus before He became a man!
15- Muslim - Jesus told his real mission was to preach not sacrifice (Mark 1:38) Christian - Jesus said his mission was to proclaim the kingdom of God but that message included His death, burial and resurrection. Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 16:21 that he must suffer and die and be raised on the third day before entering into His glory- Luke 24:13-35
16- Muslim - Jesus desired mercy not sacrifice (Matthew 9:13) Christian - Yes, Jesus was telling people it was better to extend mercy to people rather than doing self-righteous religious deeds but the context of this passage has nothing to do with Jesus’ atonement sacrifice
17- Muslim - Jesus referred himself as Servant: (Matthew 10:24, 24:45, 12:18 John 13:16). Christian - Yes, God is humble and came down as a man to serve mankind. The Servant of the LORD is also what the Prophet Isaiah calls the Divine Messiah; and so Jesus saying I am “the Servant” to Jews who knew He was talking about the Prophet Isaiah’s Messianic Prophecies. Read Isaiah chapters 42, 49 and especially chapter 53.
18- Muslim - Jesus referred to himself as Son of Man: Matthew 5:9, 17:22, 8:20, 18:11, 26:2, Luke 9:22, John 5:27. Christian - YES! But remember Jesus was talking to Jews of the 1st century. When Jews of the first century heard the term “Son of Man” they would have immediately thought of THE Son of Man as the exalted messiah from the prophet Daniel:
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Daniel chapter 7:13-14
This is why when Jesus clearly quoted Daniel 7 to the Jewish leaders they condemned Himself to death for blasphemy of calling Himself God.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death. Mark 14:61-64
19- Muslim - Referred himself as a Slave: John 13:16, Matthew 10:24. Christian - Yes remember the Prophet Isaiah foretold 700 years earlier that the Messiah would be known as the Servant of the Lord. The Jewish God YHWH was a God that humbled himself and didn’t have a problem serving.
20- Muslim - Referred himself as a Student and was taught by the Father: Matthew 10:24; John 8:28 - Christian - Yes, because Jesus emptied Himself of his divine privileges (Philippians 2:5-8) Jesus grew up into the knowledge of who he was (Luke 2:52) This is a great and beautiful mystery and isn’t meant to be logically comprehended but is supposed to cause us to marvel with love and worship God who would come so low to save us (1 Timothy 3:16)
21 - Muslim - Jesus can do nothing by himself (John 5:19, John 5:30) - Christian, Yes - The Father and the Son are ONE so they do everything together (John 10:31); its impossible to separate the eternal Godhead.
22- Muslim - Jesus does not even have his own doctrine (John 7:16) - Christian - Jesus and the Father are ONE and Jesus as a humble loving servant wants to see the Father exalted, and the Father wants to see the Son exalted. This is the Love of the Trinity. This makes so much sense because for instance how can Allah be merciful if he has never personally related to anyone. Allah as a monad existed all by himself before creation and so how could he actually show mercy to anyone? Allah actually needs creation to have any real attributes. Because YHWH is a Godhead, The Father, Son and Spirit were loving and serving each other from eternity past so it makes sense that YWHW can call himself loving long before creation.
23- Muslim - Jesus ascended to his God (John 20:17) - Christian - Yes and Jesus sat down on the divine throne as YHWH exalted over all things... only God could sit on the divine throne! Psalm 110, Joel chapter 2
24- Muslim - According to Christians Jesus died as recorded in Matthew 27:27-56 but Bible says that God is infinite Psalm 102:27-27 - Christian - Jesus’ spirit wasn’t destroyed when he died on the cross he kept existing as He descended to the dead for three days and then His spirit rose and he was given a new body.
25- Muslim - Jesus needed to Pray, Eat, Drink and was helped by a woman, as stated in Luke 8:1-3 but God in the Bible is self-sufficient Psalm 50:12 - Christian - Again, when Jesus chose to come as a man He laid aside his divine privileges and grew up fully man anointed by the Holy Spirit and experienced life just like any man but without any sin. The prophet Isaiah tells us that Jesus’ entire life before He was resurrected from the dead was marked with suffering. Jesus experienced weakness, got hungry, felt the pressures and tensions from external pressures while maintaining a perfectly clean soul.
26- Muslim - the God remain the same in nature (Hebrews 1:12) - Christian - this passage is talking about God’s character - His Character never changes - Hebrews 1:3 clearly telly us that Jesus is God.
27- Muslim - Jesus is the same today, yesterday and forever including being a human (Hebrew 13:8) - Christian, Jesus is not eternally since he wasn't a human in eternity past but He has always been fully God and His character has never changed, (which is the point of the passage, not his ontological substance). The whole book of Hebrews clearly tells us that Jesus is fully God and fully man.
28- Muslim - Jesus could not save anyone as he was even not able to save himself (Hebrews 5:1-8) - Christian, This is not what this passage is saying at all - a complete distortion of the passage.
29 - Muslim- Jesus said he was sent to lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24)- Christian, Yes! Jesus initiated the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31 with twelve Jews who represent the new leadership of the nation of Israel. On the night of the last supper and broke bread saying “This is my body broken take and eat this is my body broken for you,” and then he took the cup and said “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” - only YHWH the God of Israel could initiate the New Covenant with Israel.
30 - Muslim - God can not be born and perhaps from His own creation. Christian, if God is all powerful he can do whatever he wants. Besides, in the Old Testament scriptures the God of Israel was always coming down into his creation and appearing as a man Also, Jesus had to be born as a man, because to be a perfect sacrifice for humanity he had to be a real man, not just appear as a man. But only God had the worth and value in himself to pay the price for the cumulative sins of humanity. This is why only someone who was fully God and fully man could die on the cross for the sins of humanity.
31- Muslim - Jesus never told people to worship him - Christian, Jesus received worship on numerous occasions and affirmed those who worshiped Him.
John 20:28-29 - Thomas responded to Jesus., “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.[e] Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Luke 19: 37-40 –The disciples began to joyfully shout praise God in loud voices, “Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the LORD, Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” He replied I tell you, If they keep quiet the stones will cry out”
Matthew 14:33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “truly you are the Son of God” John 9:38 – Then the man [who had been healed] said, “Lord I believe, “ and he worshiped Him.
Luke 24:52 - Then they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great Joy
32- Muslim - Jesus did not Teach Trinity - Christian, Jesus DID teach that there were three divine persons within one God -
Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:9-17
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit - Matthew 28:18-19
33- Muslim - God is the essence of the worship. He is the object of worship. Had Jesus been God, he would have told people to worship him. Truly, he did the exact opposite as in Matthew 15:9
Christian, You misunderstand the nature of God and the mission of Jesus before He was crucified. Jesus will ultimately be worshiped by all people in heaven, on the earth and under the earth. [Philippians 2:9-11] The purpose of the Jesus’ incarnation demanded he suffer before entering into His glory.
34- Muslim - Jesus never called his followers Christians, Paul did - Christian - No, Paul was not the first person to call them Christians. The disciple of Jesus and historian Luke wrote this in the Acts of the Apostles... “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch - Acts 11:26 - Its doesn’t say who first called them Christians and that doesn’t matter what defined “Christians” from the very beginning was their devotion to worship Jesus and to take “communion” together. Communion which the act of worship when Jesus initiated the new covenant when He broke the bread and drank of the cup commanding us to remember His death burial and resurrection as an atoning sacrifice. The presence of communion was central to the earliest followers of Jesus. Historically the early followers of Jesus adopted the name “Christian” as their very own and died martyrs deaths not letting go of that name.Caesar would bring them forward and ask them to renounce being a Christian and commanded them to worship the emperor and many Christians wouldn’t and were put the death clinging to that name.