On the Deity of the Holy Spirit
Abdullah Smith has written a rebuttal to my article on the omniscience of the Holy Spirit. In his article, Smith brought up dozens of topics which were not at all relevant to the arguments set forth in my paper. Instead of letting Smith get away with such gross distortions of what the Holy Bible teaches we have decided to answer his points in full. Due to the fact that Smith raised so many issues against the Holy Bible our present paper will be rather lengthy. We do ask that the readers patiently go through all of the material presented here in order to see for themselves the quality of argumentation put forth by one of Osama Abdallah’s writers.
Smith begins:
The text does not directly mention the Holy Spirit, but the indication is clear that it includes the Holy Spirit, who possesses the same nature as the "angels in heaven". The Greek word for "spirit" is pneuma, the Hebrew translation is ruach.
The Greek translation of the Old Testament known as LXX renders the following context:
Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. (Psalms 104:3-5)
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)
The word spirit is applied to angels; therefore the Holy Spirit is categorically an angel because he is also Spirit. We know the Gospel of John applies the Greek word to God (4:24), it simply means that God is the Highest of the spirits (angels), the Creator of the angels, but does not mean God is an angel, or that angels share in His divinity. The Jews worshipped the Canaanite god Baal, but they still acknowledged the Sovereignty of Yahweh. The pagan Arabs worshipped Allah as the Highest God, but they also worshipped 360 false gods. Similarly, the Christians today worship "inter-mediators" between God and men, a sheer falsehood and physical blasphemy.
The Bible attributes the word pneuma to human beings (Numbers 16:22, 27:16), it basically refers to the "soul" which God Himself breathes into human beings (Psalms 104:30, Ecclesiastes 12:7)
Again:
Jesus did include the Holy Spirit when he said "not even the angels of heaven" (Matthew 24:36) because the Holy Spirit is the Angel of the Old Testament. The Bible speaks of angels as "spirits" therefore the Holy Spirit is an angel. We shall discuss this below.
Finally:
In actuality, the Holy Spirit does not know everything, and hence does not comprehend the mind of God. The Holy Spirit is among the heavenly beings, and spiritual agents who serve God (Revelations 7:11), angels are described as "spirits" (Psalms 104:4, Hebrews 1:14) so the Holy Spirit (must be) is the "Angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament.
RESPONSE:
Angels are spirits, therefore a spirit is an angel. Similarly, lions are cats, therefore the pet sleeping on Aunt Sally's porch is a lion, according to the logic of Abdullah Smith. Smith writes complete nonsense, and Osama Abdallah publishes it without even blinking an eye.
Smith has erroneously assumed that ALL spirits are angels, but even here he is aware of just how weak his position is since he mentions the fact that God himself is called Spirit. Yet Smith tries to escape the logical absurdity of his position by saying that even though God is called Spirit it doesn’t mean that he is an angel. But logically Smith has put himself in a predicament since his argument results in the following absurdity:
Since Smith himself realized just how futile this argument is he has helped us to expose why it is simply fallacious due to the fact that not all spirits are angels.
Moreover, the Holy Scriptures teach that not every angel is necessarily a spirit since human beings are also called angels such as the disciples of John the Baptist:
"The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ … When John's angels (angelon ioannou) had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?’" Luke 7:18-19, 24
Thus, we have seen that according to the Bible there are spirit beings who are not angels, e.g. God (John 4:24) and the Holy Spirit (this will be discussed further in this paper), and there are entities which are called angels but they are not spirits, e.g. the human messengers in Luke 7:24.
If Smith's logic were sound, i.e. all angels are spirits and vice versa, then this means that these human beings did not have corporeality, they did not have actual physical bodies. They simply appeared as if they did.
More importantly, Smith stops at the comparison with angels being spirits whereas the above quoted text of Psalm 104:4 goes on to say that angels are also ministers who are a flaming fire. Now let us see what happens if we were to adapt Smith's logic to human angels, after all if we were to apply Smith's logic consistently then we would need to come to the following conclusion:
Furthermore, angels are called ministers according to Psalm 104:4. Yet the Bible says that the Levitical priests also ministered before the Lord:
"And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:" Hebrews 10:11
Again, if Smith is consistent then he must accept the following conclusion as well:
Smith cites passages from Numbers to show that the Bible attributes the word pneuma to humans. Smith is mistaken that ruach is the Hebrew translation of pneuma, since the text of Numbers is originally in Hebrew whereas the Septuagint (LXX) is the Greek translation of the Hebrew. Smith would have been more correct to say that Greek pneuma is the equivalent of the Hebrew ruach. Here is what these texts actually say:
"And they fell on their faces, and said, ‘O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation?’" Numbers 16:22
"Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation," Numbers 27:16
These texts are not limited to human beings, but also include animals since they too are flesh. After all, the Bible does say that animals have spirits and souls:
"For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath (ruach), and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?" Ecclesiastes 3:19-21
Additionally, human beings are more than just spirits, since they also have physicality which differentiates them from the angels.
More importantly, these verses from Numbers further refute Smith since they provide additional evidence that not every spirit is an angel.
Smith also cited Psalm 104:30 but fails to see how this text refutes his position regarding the Spirit being an angel. Here is what Psalm 104:30 says in context:
"Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. Fromyour lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart. The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creaturs. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground." Psalm 104:1-30
This particular Psalm emphasizes God’s functions as Creator and Sustainer of all things, and connects the Spirit with these specific Divine tasks! The Psalmist is saying that God uses his Spirit to (re)create and sustain all creation, which shows that the Spirit has all the attributes of God. If the Spirit created all things, and this Psalm says he did, then that means he existed before all creation, implying that the Spirit is eternal. If the Spirit renews and sustains all things then this shows that he is all-powerful and present everywhere, attributes which only God has.
This is not the only inspired writer to attribute all the essential attributes of God to the Holy Spirit:
"The Spirit of God has MADE ME, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." Job 33:4
"how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through THE ETERNAL SPIRIT offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Hebrews 9:14
The Spirit is eternal and yet God alone is eternal!
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." Psalm 139:7-12
A person cannot escape from God’s Spirit since he is present in all of creation!
The Spirit is even called God!
"The Spirit of the LORD SPEAKS BY ME, his word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel HAS SPOKEN, the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God," 2 Samuel 23:2-3
The Spirit speaking to David is none other than God speaking!
Finally, the NT authors ascribe OT references where Yahweh is speaking to the Holy Spirit. Note, for instance, the following texts:
"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’ And he said, ‘Go, and say to this people: "Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive." Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. Isaiah 6:8-10
Yahweh appears to Isaiah and commands him what to say to the people. Yet according to the NT it was the Holy Spirit who spoke to Isaiah:
"So, as they disagreed among themselves, they departed, after Paul had made one statement: ‘The Holy Spirit was right IN SAYING to your fathers THROUGH ISAIAH THE PROPHET: "Go to this people, and say, You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them."’" Acts 28:25-27
Again:
"For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts, as at Mer'ibah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people who err in heart, and they do not regard my ways.’ Therefore I swore in my anger that they should not enter my rest." Psalm 95:7-11
Yahweh warns Israel not to disregard his voice and test him as their fathers had done. But the author of Hebrews says that it was the Holy Spirit whom they tested:
"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit SAYS, ‘Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put ME to the test and saw MY works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, "They always go astray in their hearts; they have not known my ways." As I swore in MY wrath, "They shall never enter MY rest."’" Hebrews 3:7-11
Here is the final example:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:31-34
Yahweh swears to make a new covenant with his people where he will no longer remember their sins. The One who made this promise, says the writer to the Hebrews, was the Holy Spirit:
"And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,’ then HE ADDS, ‘I will remember their sins and their misdeeds no more.’" Hebrews 10:15-17
Let us summarize what we have seen thus far:
This by itself is sufficient to refute Smith’s pathetic attempt at rebutting my article. Yet we will go along with his rabbit trails in order to further expose just how utterly shallow his "response" actually is.
Smith tries to address Jesus’ Deity:
Shamoun’s objective is to prove the trinity by reconciling passages that speak of divine knowledge, because the knowledge of God, the Holy Ghost, and Jesus must be exactly one to prove they are "one" in essence, or else the trinity does not work.
The missionary denies the trinity in his own words:
"…His point was that no human being, no angel, not even himself, knew the exact date of his coming to judge Jerusalem".
The infidel asserts that Jesus is All-knowing, so therefore he must be God. Yet the Gospels explicitly deny that Jesus was All-knowing:
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. (Mark 5:30-32)
The Gospel of Luke narrates the same thing:
She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
"Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."
But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me." (Luke 8:44-46)
Jesus didn’t know it wasn’t fig season:
Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. (Mark 11:13)
And:
Another good example shows that Jesus was powerless:
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" (Mark 5:30)
Moreover, there are contradictions between Jesus and God which prove they are not equal:
http://www.answering-islam.com/abdullah_smith/jesus_contradicts_god.htm
RESPONSE:
Do the Gospels deny that Jesus is all-knowing? Let us take a look and see:
"Now we know that you know all things, and need none to question you; by this we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe?’" John 16:30-31
"He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’" John 21:17
The disciples correctly concluded that Christ knows everything.
"And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil IN YOUR HEARTS? For which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Rise and walk"? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ -- he then said to the paralytic – ‘Rise, take up your bed and go home.’ And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men." Matthew 9:1-8
Not only does this passage state that Jesus knows what is in a person’s heart, an ability that God alone has:
"then hear you in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you ONLY, know the hearts of all the children of men);" 1 Kings 8:39
"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever." 1 Chronicles 28:9
He also does the very works which the OT says Yahweh performs:
"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy," Psalm 103:2-4
The obvious conclusion is that Jesus is God:
The foregoing demonstrates that the pagan Smith has only exposed his ignorance of biblical teaching since the Holy Scriptures teach that Jesus is God and man simultaneously. Christ is omniscient in reference to his Deity, but limited in knowledge in relation to his humanity. This accounts for why he could say that he didn’t know the day or hour.
We will now deal with the specific examples that Smith produced which he thinks proves his case against the Deity of the Lord Jesus:
"So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, 'If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who touched my clothes?' 'You see the people crowding against you,' his disciples answered, 'and yet you can ask, "Who touched me?"' But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith as healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’" Mark 5:24-34
By reading the context we see that Jesus was not asking who touched him because he did not know, but rather he wanted the woman to make a public confession. The reason why the woman kept her identity hidden was due to the Mosaic Law that forbade Israelites from making contact with women who suffered from blood flow, whether from menses or from a bleeding disorder:
"When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the LORD for the uncleanness of her discharge. You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them. These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen, for a woman in her monthly period, for a man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who lies with a woman who is ceremonially unclean." Leviticus 15:25-33
The Lord wanted her to come forward and acknowledge her faith in order to demonstrate his compassion on individuals who were considered unfit to associate amongst the children of Israel.
As far as the fig tree is concerned there is a very reasonable explanation why Jesus cursed it, one that Smith could have found on our site and thereby saved himself from being embarrassed for writing such shallow rebuttals. Messianic Believer David Stern comments:
"… If Yeshua's cursing and drying up the fig tree had been a petulant reaction to disappointment because he couldn't satisfy his hunger, it would be unworthy of anyone, let alone the Messiah. But Yeshua is making a point by means of prophetic drama, acted-out parable (possibly Lk 13:6-9). Tanakh examples include Yirmiyahu, who bought and broke a clay bottle (Jeremiah 19), and Yechezk'el, who made and then burned up a model of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4-5); for a later New Testament instance see Ac 21:10-11.
Even out of season a fig tree in leaf- it must have been in leaf to be seen in the distance (v. 12)- holds forth the promise of fruit. The normal early season for figs in Israel is June, but the early unripe fruit (Song of Songs 2:13) begins to show itself even before the spring leaves appear on the branches, often before Passover.
We know that Yeshua expects God's people to put forth the fruit of righteousness, and that unproductive branches are thrown in the fire (Mt 7:16-20; 12:33; 13:4-9, 18-23; Yn 15:1-8). Thus, the drying-up of the fig tree is an acted-out warning. In keeping with Proverbs 27:18 ('He who tends a fig tree will eat his fruit, and he who serves his master will be honored') Yeshua here is teaching his followers what it means to serve their master, God: it means simply to have the kind of trust that comes from God (v 22), and that they will wither away if they don’t. Yeshua neither acts from pique nor perform arbitrary miracles like a magician; every one of his supernatural acts has spiritual significance." (Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary [Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., Clarksville Maryland, Fifth edition 1996], pp. 95-96)
The late renowned NT scholar F.F. Bruce noted:
"The other miracle is the cursing of the barren fig tree (Mk. xi 12 ff.), a stumbling block to many. They feel that it is unlike Jesus, and so someone must have misunderstood what actually happened, or turned a spoken parable into an acted miracle, or something like that. Some, on the other hand, welcome the story because it shows that Jesus was human enough to get unreasonably annoyed on occasion. It appears, however, that a closer acquaintance with fig trees would have prevented such misunderstandings. 'The time of the fig is not yet,' says Mark, for it was just before Passover, about six weeks before the fully-formed fig appears. The fact that Mark adds these words shows that he knew what he was talking about. When the fig leaves appear about the end of March, they are accompanied by a crop of small knobs, called taqsh by the Arabs, a sort of fore-runner of the real figs. These taqsh are eaten by peasants and others when hungry. They drop off before the real fig is formed. But if the leaves appear unaccompanied by taqsh, there will be no figs that year. So it was evident to our Lord, when He turned aside to see if there were any of these taqsh on the fig-tree to assuage His hunger for the time being, that the absence of the taqsh meant that there would be no figs when the time of figs came. For all its fair foliage, it was a fruitless and a hopeless tree." (Bruce, Are The New Testament Documents Reliable? [Intervarsity Press; Downers Grove, Ill, fifth revised edition 1992], pp. 73-74)
Noted Evangelical scholar Craig S. Keener makes the following observation:
"At Passover season in late March or early April, fig trees are often in leaf on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. At this time of year, such fig trees contained only green early figs (Arabs call them taqsh), which ripen around June but often drop off before that time, leaving only green leaves on the tree. A leafy tree lacking such early figs, however, would bear no figs at all that year," (Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew [Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, July 1999], p. 504)
What was thought to be an argument against the veracity of the Scriptures, turns to be a very strong argument for it! This exemplifies the minute accuracy of the Synoptic Gospels, both in time and place, i.e. this took place during the month of Passover, figs located on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives etc. This provides evidence for an early dating of Matthew and Mark - or, at the very least, shows that they were dependent on very old and early material - well before the fall of Jerusalem. After all, the knowledge of these horticultural details would most likely have been lost or unknown to authors writing after the destruction of Jerusalem.
More importantly, the cursing of the fig tree is a played or acted out parable. The OT uses the fig tree as a symbol of national Israel:
"I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, AND THEIR LEAVES WILL WITHER. What I have given them will be taken from them.’" Jeremiah 8:13
"You may say, 'The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,' but this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David's throne and all the people who remain in this city, your countrymen who did not go with you into exile- yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. For they have not listened to my words,' declares the LORD, 'words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,' declares the LORD." Jeremiah 29:15-19
"When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, IT WAS LIKE SEEING THE EARLY FRUIT ON THE FIG TREE. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved... Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring." Hosea 9:10, 16
"What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire- they all conspire together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you. Now is the time of their confusion." Micah 7:1-4
"All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater." Nahum 3:12
The foregoing helps clarify why Jesus did what he did. Christ sought after what the OT says Yahweh was searching for, namely the spiritual fruit that national Israel owed God. Yet instead of finding the early fig (cf. Hosea 9:10) Christ found the nation spiritually dead and therefore unfruitful:
"Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, "For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?" "Sir," the man replied, "leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down."’" Luke 13:6-9
In light of Israel’s barrenness, God would now bring destruction upon the nation:
"He then began to speak to them in parables: 'A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, "They will respect my son." But the tenants said to one another, "This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.’" Mark 12:1-9
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’" Matthew 23:37-39
"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, 'If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.’" Luke 19:41-44
"So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, 'This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.’" Acts 6:12-14
Although these Jews were trying to falsely accuse Stephen, there was some truth to what they said since Jesus did speak of the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem.
Smith cites John Shelby Spong and Shabir Ally to prove that the early Christians never believed in the Deity of Christ and that the hypostatic union is logically inconsistent. Smith also wrote:
The 12 disciples never preached the concept of trinity, the early Christian gospel known as the Didache (97 CE) contradicts the trinity and teaches the Oneness of God.
He even dares to lie that Constantine transformed Jesus into God incarnate. Here is what some of the early Christians wrote regarding the Deity of the Lord Jesus LONG BEFORE Constantine ever appeared on the scene:
Ignatius (107-112 A.D.). Bishop of Antioch and an eyewitness of the Apostles: "We have also as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, BEFORE TIME BEGAN, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For ‘the Word was made flesh.' Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passable body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts." (Letter to the Ephesians 7)
"Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, unto her that hath found mercy in the bountifulness of the Father Most High and of Jesus Christ His only Son; to the church that is beloved and enlightened through the will of Him who willed all things that are, by faith and love towards Jesus Christ our God; even unto her that hath the presidency in the country of the region of the Romans..." ( Letter to the Romans 1)
"Nothing visible is good. For our God Jesus Christ, being in the Father, is the more plainly visible. The Work is not of persuasiveness, but Christianity is a thing of might, whensoever it is hated by the world." (Letter to the Romans 3)
"I give glory to Jesus Christ the God who bestowed such wisdom upon you" (Letter to the Smyraeans)
"By the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ our God." ( Letter to the Ephesians)
Polycarp (70-160). Bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of John the Apostle: "O Lord God almighty...I bless you and glorify you through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be glory to you, with Him and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever"
"Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal High Priest Himself, the God Jesus Christ, build you up in the faith..."( The Epistle of Polycarp to the Church at Philippi, 12)
Justin Martyr ( 140 A.D.): "the word of wisdom, who is himself God begotten of the Father of all things, and word, and wisdom, and power, and the glory of the begetter, will bear evidence to me".(Dialogue with Tropho Ch.61)
"God speaks in the creation of man with the very same design, in the following words: 'Let us make man after our image and likeness' . . . I shall quote again the words narrated by Moses himself, from which we can indisputably learn that [God] conversed with someone numerically distinct from himself and also a rational being. . . . But this Offspring who was truly brought forth from the Father, was with the Father BEFORE ALL THE CREATURES, and the Father communed with him" (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 62)
"For Christ is King, and Priest, and GOD and Lord..."(Dialogue With Trypho, 34)
"...He preexisted as the Son of the Creator of things, being God, and that He was born a man by the Virgin." (Dialogue With Trypho, 48)
CHAP. LXVI.--HE (JUSTIN) PROVES FROM ISAIAH THAT GOD WAS BORN FROM A VIRGIN. - Chapter Title
"And Trypho said, "You endeavor to prove an incredible and well-nigh impossible thing;[namely], that God endured to be born and become man...some Scriptures which we mention, and which expressly prove that Christ was to suffer, to be worshipped, and [to be called] God, and which I have already recited to you, do refer indeed to Christ." (Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 68)
"We will prove that we worship him reasonably; for we have learned that he is the Son of the true God Himself, that he holds a second place, and the Spirit of prophecy a third. For this they accuse us of madness, saying that we attribute to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all things; but they are ignorant of the Mystery which lies therein" (First Apology 13:5-6)
Iranaeus Iranaeus (120-202): "In order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, AND GOD, and Savior, and King..."(Irenaeus Against Heresies, 1.10.1)
180 A.D. "But he Jesus is himself in his own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, Lord, and king eternal, and the incarnate word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles …The Scriptures would not have borne witness to these things concerning Him, if, like everyone else, He were mere man." (Against Heresies 3:19.1-2)
"For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, 'Let us make man after our image and likeness'". (Against Heresies, 4:10)
All these quotes from the Fathers were written long before Nicea, demonstrating that the belief in the Deity of the Lord Jesus and the Trinity was something already affirmed and preached by the Church very early in its history, even by the apostles themselves.
And here are some quotes from the Didache in order to refute Smith's lie that this document refutes the Trinity:
Chapter 7. Concerning Baptism. And concerning baptism, baptize this way: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. But if you have no living water, baptize into other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither, pour out water three times upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whoever else can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before.
Chapter 16. Watchfulness; the Coming of the Lord. Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come. But come together often, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increases, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but those who endure in their faith shal be saved from under the curse itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet. And third, the resurrection of the dead -- yet not of all, but as it is said: "The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him." Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven. (Source; italic and underline emphasis ours)
The Didache refers to the Trinitarian Baptismal formula, to God as Father, and to Jesus as the Lord who comes on the clouds with his saints. The foregoing clearly shows that there is nothing in the Didache which refutes the Trinity.
Smith will also mention the Apostles' Creed, claiming that this too doesn't include the Trinity. Here is what this creed actually states:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.Amen.
This creed can be found all over the net, e.g. here and here.
As one can clearly see there is nothing in this confession which refutes or contradicts the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, and yet it does refute and expose Muhammad as a false prophet.
We even find elements of this creed in Iraneaus' writings:
2. To which course many nations of those barbarians who believe in Christ do assent, having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit, without paper or ink, and, carefully preserving the ancient tradition, believing in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and all things therein, BY MEANS OF CHRIST JESUS, THE SON OF GOD; who, because of His surpassing love towards HIS CREATION, condescended to be born of the virgin, He Himself uniting man through Himself to God, and having suffered under Pontius Pilate, and rising again, and having been received up in splendour, shall come in glory, the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Judge of those who are judged, and sending into eternal fire those who transform the truth, and despise His Father and His advent. Those who, in the absence of written documents, have believed this faith, are barbarians, so far as regards our language; but as regards doctrine, manner, and tenor of life, they are, because of faith, very wise indeed; and they do please God, ordering their conversation in all righteousness, chastity, and wisdom. If any one were to preach to these men the inventions of the heretics, speaking to them in their own language, they would at once stop their ears, and flee as far off as possible, not enduring even to listen to the blasphemous address. Thus, by means of that ancient tradition of the apostles, they do not suffer their mind to conceive anything of the [doctrines suggested by the] portentous language of these teachers, among whom neither Church nor doctrine has ever been established. (Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 4, Number 2; online source; bold, capital and italic emphasis ours)
Jesus, according to Iraneaus, is God's Son and the One by whom the Father created all things, who became a man from the virgin out of his love for his creation!
As far as the hypostatic union being logically plausible is concerned, we recommend that the readers consult this response to Shabir Ally.
Moreover, Smith's statements only manage to expose his ignorance of the Trinity, or his distortion of it. His comments that these sources teach God's oneness as opposed to the Trinity shows that he really has no clue what the Trinity teaches, or at least shows that he is willing to distort its teaching. The heart of Trinitarianism is that God is one, emphasizing the unity of God, so why in the world does Smith think that God's Oneness refutes the Trinity is simply beyond us.
For more quotes from the Fathers and the Biblical basis which underlies the formuation of the Christian Creeds please read the following articles:
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Meherally/meh11_0.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/tam_r2.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/tam_app.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/origens_christology.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Saifullah/samebible.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/diatessaron.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Meherally/mehB12_0.htm
http://www.jude3.net/were_early_christians_trinitarians.htm
http://www.carm.org/doctrine/trinityquotes.htm
http://www.letusreason.org/Trin1.htm
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/debate5.htm
And to read the Fathers in their own words please consult the following online resource: http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/
Smith next makes one of the most incoherent statements ever produced by a Muslim:
Jesus included himself by saying "neither the Son", which also includes the Holy Spirit because, according to the Gospels, Jesus is supposed to be "filled with the Holy Spirit", implying that his limited knowledge is part of the Holy Spirit, therefore the latter also limited (in knowledge) did not know the day.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (Isaiah 42:1)
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (Luke 4:1, KJV)
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, (NIV)
Despite the fact that many other characters were "filled with the Holy Spirit", they are not considered divine personages, Jesus is regarded as "God incarnate" and "second person of the trinity" according to the Nicene Creed, yet he was not omniscient but filled with the Holy Spirit, this implies the Holy Spirit possesses the same nature as Jesus, because they are both supposed to be one. The Apostolic Creed does not include the trinity, it teaches the Oneness of God that would later be distorted by the Nicene Creed, signed by emperor Constantine in 325 CE.
Again:
The Holy Spirit is not All-knowing because only God is All-knowing; the New Testament implicatively abolishes the trinity when Jesus distinguished the Holy Spirit:
Finally:
If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. (Psalms 44:20-21)
God knows the secrets of the heart, yet if the Holy Spirit is God, then he must also know the secrets of the heart. Yet, once again, the Bible contradicts this idea. Jesus was "filled with the Holy Spirit" but he didn’t know who touched him (Mark 5:31).
RESPONSE:
The Holy Spirit isn’t the only One who indwells Christ, the Father does also:
"Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not 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 in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.’" John 14:9-11
"I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:20-23
In fact, the Holy Bible teaches that God permeates all creation, that he is filling all things with his Divine presence:
"Am I a God at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD." Jeremiah 23:23-24
"and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:19
"If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." John 10:37-38
Smith erroneously assumes that God’s indwelling means that the individuals somehow either become God or that God becomes them, or that all their actions must be attributed to God. On the contrary, these texts are simply saying that God is actively sustaining and superintending all creation, as well as empowering and fellowshipping with believers without this implying that every act of the creature is the act of God.
Moreover, if God knows the secrets of men’s hearts then the Spirit also knows them since he knows the very mind of God:
"God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." 1 Corinthians 2:10-11
In fact, because the Holy Spirit knows whatever God knows he needs no one to instruct him:
"Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has instructed him? Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?" Isaiah 40:13-14
Let us see how this works out logically:
We now turn to Islam to see what happens when we apply this logic to Smith’s pagan deity:
Hadith Qudsi 25:
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said:
Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.
It was related by al-Bukhari. (Forty Hadith Qudsi; online source)
This narration says that Allah will actually be the believers’ ears, hands, feet etc. which means that all the sins, immorality, stupidity, lies, deception, murders, you name it, committed by those faithful Muslims whom Allah loves is due to Allah himself. After all, this hadith plainly states that Allah is the sole cause of his believing servants’ every action and movement. Thus, the stupidity of Muslims — and sadly we cannot exempt Smith from this category — must be the direct result of Allah’s stupidity who is empowering them to be stupid!
He says regarding the Spirit being blasphemed:
And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. (Luke 12:10)
I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." (Mark 3:28)
According to these verses, the Holy Spirit is superior to Jesus, whatever sins against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, whereas sins against Jesus can be forgiven.
RESPONSE:
Had Smith actually read the NT he would have seen why Jesus said that blasphemies against him would be forgiven but not against the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures teach that the only thing that the natural man, the unregenerate sinner can do is to blaspheme Jesus. The only way for such a person to be able to even believe in Jesus as Lord is if the Holy Spirit enables such a one. As the Apostle Paul wrote:
"For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Romans 8:7-8
"Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:3
It is the function of the Holy Spirit to convict a person of sin and of his/her need of Jesus as Savior and Lord. As the Lord Jesus himself said:
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." John 16:7-11
What Jesus was basically saying is that to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to cut off the only hope one has of ever believing in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. To be cut off from the Spirit is to be cut off from ever possibly being saved and forgiven since without the Spirit no one can ever come to faith in Jesus.
Smith brings up specific passages to show that even God doesn’t know everything and that he is the Creator of evil:
There is hardly anything significant that requires a refutation to what Shamoun has just written.
He assumes that the Holy Spirit is all-Knowing, that is the main argument of his article. Yet, the Bible portrays God as being deficient in knowledge and power. Does this mean God the Creator of the Holy Spirit is inferior to the Holy Spirit?
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (Genesis 3:9)
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? (Genesis 4:9)
The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." (Job 1:7)
And the LORD was WITH Judah; and HE drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. (Judges 1:19)
Again:
Does the Holy Spirit change his mind? The Bible states that God changed his mind, his plans:
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. (Exodus 32:14)
"Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and your father's house would minister before me forever.' But now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line. (1 Samuels 2:30-31)
Finally:
Shamoun believes the Holy Spirit is God, therefore he must accept the Holy Spirit is not All-knowing:
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (Genesis 3:9)
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? (Genesis 4:9)
The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." (Job 1:7)
As we mentioned earlier, how can the Holy Spirit be all-Knowing when God himself, according to the Bible, is not All-knowing?
RESPONSE:
It seems that Smith assumes that God is asking questions because he is ignorant of the facts. A careful reading of the Bible shows that God isn’t necessarily asking out of ignorance, but has reasons for doing so. One reason that God asks is to stump people in order to expose just how ignorant they truly are:
"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements -- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed"? Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shake out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment. From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken. Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain, and away for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man; to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass? Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Can you bind the chains of the Plei'ades, or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Maz'zaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, "Here we are"? Who has put wisdom in the clouds, or given understanding to the mists? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into amass and the clods cleave fast together? Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert? Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?’" Job 38:1-41
Here, God silenced Job by asking a series of questions that highlight God’s sovereignty and incomprehensibility! God was basically showing Job that when he could answer these questions he might then have the right to question God.
Again:
"They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave you authority to do this?’ Jesus replied, ‘I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism- was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!’ They discussed it among themselves and said, ‘If we say, "From heaven," he will ask, "Then why didn't you believe him?" But if we say, "From men"…’ (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, 'We don't know.' Jesus said, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’" Mark 11:27-33
"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?’ ‘The son of David,’ they replied. He said to them, 'How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him "Lord"? For he says, "The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’" If then David calls him "Lord," how can he be his son?’ No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions." Matthew 22:41-46
From the above examples we see that Christ asked questions in order to confound the Jewish elders, not because he did not know the answers.
God also asks questions in order to procure a confession:
"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’ Again Jesus said, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me?' He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’" John 21:15-19
Peter correctly stated that Jesus knows all things and therefore already knew that Peter loved him. Hence, this example serves to reinforce the point that God asks questions in order to either confound individuals or to procure a confession of faith. His questions were not asked because he did not know the answers.
God’s questioning may also be for the purpose of exposing just how wicked a person is for thinking that he or she can actually lie to God and get away with:
"Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ The LORD said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.’" Genesis 4:8-10
God knew that Cain had killed Abel but wanted to expose just how evil he was since he actually thought he could lie about his crime. Much like Smith, Cain thought God was ignorant and did not know all things.
Now regarding Judges 1:19, here is what the text says:
"The LORD was with the men of Judah. THEY took possession of the hill country, but THEY were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots." Judges 1:19
Nowhere does it say that the LORD was unable to drive out the iron chariots. Rather, it was the men of Judah who could not drive them out since it was not God’s will for them to do so. Had Smith bothered to read the rest of the book he would have discovered why God didn’t grant Judah complete victory:
"The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, ‘I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, "I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars." Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’" Judges 2:1-3
"But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, ‘Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.’ The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua." Judges 2:19-23
"These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses. The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods." Judges 3:1-6
We therefore see that God purposefully allowed Israel's enemies to flourish in order to teach Israel a lesson for their disobedience, as well as to test them to see if they will remain faithful to God's covenant. He also allowed them to remain in order to instruct Israel on the art of warfare.
As far as God repenting is concerned this only exposes more of Smith’s ignorance. The Hebrew word used in those specific texts that speak of God repenting is nacham. This word has a broad range of meanings just as the following lexicon demonstrates:
1) to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted
a) (Niphal)
1) to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
2) to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
3) to comfort oneself, be comforted
4) to comfort oneself, ease oneself
b) (Piel) to comfort, console
c) (Pual) to be comforted, be consoled
d) (Hithpael)
1) to be sorry, have compassion
2) to rue, repent of
3) to comfort oneself, be comforted
4) to ease oneself (Source)
When this word is used in reference to God regretting having made man this doesn’t necessarily imply that God had second thoughts. In those specific contexts it simply means that God hates sin and is grieved when his creatures rebel against him. Smith assumes that God must be impassionate in order for him to be all-knowing, that God cannot have any feelings towards the actions of his creatures but must remain indifferent. The fact of the matter is that God is not indifferent towards sinners but is hurt and angered by our sins and rebellion:
"How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!" Psalm 78:40
"You have bought Me not sweet cane with money, Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; Rather you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities." Isaiah 43:24
"But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them." Isaiah 63:10
"Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations." Ezekiel 6:9
This is why specific translations render nacham in these specific contexts as God being grieved and pained:
"The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." Genesis 6:6 NIV
In other words, being all-knowing doesn’t mean that God must remain indifferent or dispassionate about actions which he fully knows will occur.
Furthermore, when this word is used in reference to God refraining from bringing judgment upon a nation this again doesn’t necessarily imply that God changed his mind. If anything, it proves that God is immutable and remains consistent to his nature. After all, if God continues to bless a nation that has turned away from righteousness then God would be unholy and unjust. Likewise, if God destroys a nation that repents of its wickedness then God would be unmerciful and unkind. Since God cannot deny himself, but must always remain faithful, he must either refrain from punishing a nation that has repented or destroy one that has turned away from righteousness. In other words, since God acts consistently he must take into account the actions of his creatures and deal with them accordingly; he cannot continue to bless evildoers or punish repentant sinners. In the words of Jeremiah and Ezekiel:
"Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "Thus says the LORD, behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds." But they say, That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart."’" Jeremiah 18:5-12
Note that God tells Jeremiah in advance what the response of the people will be, clearly showing that he knows what will happen even before it occurs!
"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, fr them he shall die. Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not just." Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is not just." O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that youhave committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live." Ezekiel 18:20-32
God tells Israel that he will judge them but also commands them to repent, demonstrating that God takes into consideration the actions of the people in determining whether he will show judgment or mercy.
This also shows that God’s threat of judgment isn’t necessarily the last word since, as the above texts indicate, God will use warnings and the threat of judgment in order to lead the people into repentance. This obviously implies that God allows enough time for the people to repent of their actions in order to spare them from destruction. Putting it simply, God sometimes uses the threat of judgment as a means of drawing people to repent.
In reality it is Smith’s god that is ignorant and not all knowing:
If a wound has afflicted you (at Ohud), a wound like it has also afflicted the (unbelieving) people; and We bring these days to men by turns, and that Allah MAY KNOW those who believe and take witnesses from among you; and Allah does not love the unjust. And that He may purge those who believe and deprive the unbelievers of blessings. Do you think that you will enter the garden while Allah has NOT YET KNOWN those who strive hard from among you, and (He has not) known the patient. S. 3:140-142 Shakir
That which befell you, on the day when the two armies met, was by permission of Allah; that He MIGHT KNOW the true believers; And that He MIGHT KNOW the hypocrites, unto whom it was said: Come, fight in the way of Allah, or defend yourselves. They answered: If we knew aught of fighting we would follow you. On that day they were nearer disbelief than faith. They utter with their mouths a thing which is not in their hearts. Allah is Best Aware of what they hide. S. 3:166-167 Pickthall
Then, it may be that you will give up part of what is revealed to you and your breast will become straitened by it because they say: Why has not a treasure been sent down upon him or an angel come with him? You are only a warner; and Allah is custodian over all things. S. 11:12 Shakir
Yet it may be, if they believe not in this statement, that thou (Muhammad) wilt torment thy soul with grief over their footsteps. S. 18:6 Pickthall
Allâh said: "You are granted your request, O Mûsa (Moses)! And indeed We conferred a favour on you another time (before). When We inspired your mother with that which We inspired. Saying: ‘Put him (the child) into the Tabût (a box or a case or a chest) and put it into the river (Nile), then the river shall cast it up on the bank, and there, an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his shall take him.’ And I endued you with love from Me, in order that you may be brought up under My Eye, When your sister went and said: ‘Shall I show you one who will nurse him?’ So We restored you to your mother, that she might cool her eyes and she should not grieve. Then you did kill a man, but We saved you from great distress and tried you with a heavy trial. Then you stayed a number of years with the people of Madyan (Midian). Then you came here according to the fixed term which I ordained (for you), O Mûsa (Moses)! And I have Istana'tuka, for Myself. Go you and your brother wih My Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), and do not, you both, slacken and become weak in My Remembrance. Go, both of you, to Fir’aun (Pharaoh), verily, he has transgressed (all bounds in disbelief and disobedience and behaved as an arrogant and as a tyrant). And speak to him mildly, PERHAPS he may accept admonition or fear Allâh." They said: "Our Lord! Verily! We fear lest he should hasten to punish us or lest he should transgress (all bounds against us)." He (Allâh) said: "Fear not, verily! I am with you both, hearing and seeing." S. 20:36-46 Hilali-Khan
It may be thou will kill thy self with grief, that they do not become Believers. S. 26:3
Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah WILL CERTAINLY KNOW those who are true from those who are false. S. 29:2-3
He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;- S. 67:2
Say: "I know not whether the (Punishment) which ye are promised is near, or whether my Lord will appoint for it a distant term. He (alone) knows the Unseen, nor does He make any one acquainted with His Secrets.- Except an messenger whom He has chosen: and then He makes a band of watchers march before him and behind him, That He MAY KNOW that they have (truly) brought and delivered the Messages of their Lord: and He encompasses all that is with them, and takes account of every single thing." S. 72:25-28
He frowned and turned away. Because the blind man came unto him. What could inform thee but that he MIGHT grow (in grace) Or take heed and so the reminder might avail him? S. 80:1-4 Pickthall
Note the precise words used in the above references: "may know", "might", "it may be", "perhaps". Clearly Allah doesn’t know everything and needs to place people in certain situations and ask questions in order to learn something about them, a fact confirmed by the following references:
Who is he that will lend God a good loan, and He will multiply it for him manifold? God grasps, and outspreads; and unto Him you shall be returned. S. 2:245 Arberry
And when Abraham said, 'My Lord, show me how Thou wilt give life to the dead,' He said, 'Why, dost thou not believe?' 'Yes,' he said, 'but that my heart may be at rest.' Said He, 'Take four birds, and twist them to thee, then set a part of them on every hill, then summon them, and they will come to thee running. And do thou know that God is All-mighty, All-wise. S. 2:260 Arberry
Here are some narrations from the so-called sound hadiths:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Apostle said, "Every night when it is the last third of the night, our Lord, the Superior, the Blessed, descends to the nearest heaven and says: Is there anyone to invoke Me that I may respond to his invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone asking My forgiveness so that I may forgive him? (See Hadith No. 246,Vol. 2). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 586)Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "Allah created the creation, and when He finished from His creation the Rahm (womb) got up, and Allah said (to it). ‘Stop! What do you want?’ It said; ‘At this place I seek refuge with You from all those who sever me (i.e. sever the ties of Kinship.)’ Allah said: ‘Would you be pleased that I will keep good relation with the one who will keep good relation with you, and I will sever the relation with the one who will sever the relation with you?’ It said: ‘Yes, O my Lord.’ Allah said (to it), ‘That is for you.’" And then Abu Huraira recited the Verse:-- "Would you then if you were given the authority, do mischief in the land, and sever your ties of kinship." (47.22) (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 593)Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Apostle said, "A man who never did any good deed, said that if he died, his family should burn him and throw half the ashes of his burnt body in the earth and the other half in the sea, for by Allah, if Allah should get hold of him, He would inflict such punishment on him as He would not inflict on anybody among the people. But Allah ordered the sea to collect what was in it (of his ashes) and similarly ordered the earth to collect what was in it (of his ashes). Then Allah said (to the recreated man), ‘Why did you do so?’ The man replied, ‘For being afraid of You, and You know it (very well).’ So Allah forgave him." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 597)
Smith’s god even forgets and repents!
Then Adam received commandments from his Lord, and his Lord repented towards him; for He is Oft-Repenting (Huwat Tawwaab), Most Merciful. S. 2:37
And remember Moses said to his people: 'O my people! ye have indeed wronged yourselves by your worship of the calf; so turn (in repentance) to your Maker, and slay yourselves (the wrong-doers); that will be better for you in the sight of your Maker.' Then He repented towards you: for He is Oft-Repenting (Huwat Tawwaab), Most Merciful. S. 2:54
Such as took their religion To be more amusement And play, and were deceived By the life of the world. That day shall We forget them As they forgot the meeting Of this day of theirs, And as they were wont To reject Our Signs. S. 7:51
The Hypocrites, men and women, are alike: they enjoin evil, and forbid what is just, and tighten their purse's strings. They have forgotten Allah: so He hath forgotten them. Verily the Hypocrites are rebellious and perverse. S. 9:67
So taste (the evil of your deeds). Forasmuch as ye forgot the meeting of this your day, lo! We forget you. Taste the doom of immortality because of what ye used to do. S. 32:14
And it will be said: This day We forget you, even as ye forgot the meeting of this your day; and your habitation is the Fire, and there is none to help you. S. 45:34
Smith also writes:
According to the Bible, God is the creator of evil. (Isaiah 45:7)
Shamoun believes the Holy Spirit is God, therefore he must accept the Holy Spirit is the creator of evil:
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)
And:
The Holy Quran does not say God is the creator of evil, but says it is Satan:
Allah did curse him, but he said: "I will take of Thy servants a portion Marked off; "I will mislead them, and I will create in them false desires; I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and to deface the (fair) nature created by Allah." Whoever, forsaking Allah, takes satan for a friend, hath of a surety suffered a loss that is manifest. (Al-Quran 4:118-119)
And Satan will say when the matter is decided: "It was Allah Who gave you a promise of Truth: I too promised, but I failed in my promise to you. I had no authority over you except to call you but ye listened to me: then reproach not me, but reproach your own souls. I cannot listen to your cries, nor can ye listen to mine. I reject your former act in associating me with Allah. For wrong-doers there must be a grievous penalty." (Al-Quran 14:22)
RESPONSE:
The point Isaiah was making is that God is in complete control of every aspect of creation and determines everything that occurs. It is an explicit teaching of Scriptures that God decrees and controls all things, even evil itself. In fact, the reason why evil exists is because it serves the purpose of accomplishing God’s perfect and righteous will:
"The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." Proverbs 16:4
"In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will," Ephesians 1:11
Here is an example of how God uses evil to bring forth a greater good:
"And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt." Genesis 45:5-8
"But Joseph said to them, ‘Fear not, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.’" Genesis 50:19-20
Joseph correctly understood that the evil that his brothers committed against him was deliberately decreed by God to accomplish the greater good of saving countless lives!
More importantly, God himself does not act crookedly or do evil personally, but has created agents who will freely do the very evil which God decreed should occur:
"With him are strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his." Job 12:16
"Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; no weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, says the LORD." Isaiah 54:16-17
It seems that Smith is advocating the position that God is not in control of the evil that occurs, and therefore is not in complete control of all things. Smith’s position leads to the inevitable conclusion that there are actions and events that are occurring without a divine purpose for them!
As far as Allah not being the creator of evil is concerned, here are what the Quran and hadiths have to say about that:
And they schemed (makaroo), and Allah schemed (makara), and Allah is the best of deceivers and schemers (wa Allahu khayru al-makireen). S. 3:54
And when the unbelievers were devising (yamkuru) against thee, to confine thee, or slay thee, or to expel thee, and were scheming (wa yamkuroona), and Allah was scheming (wa yamkuru); and Allah is the best of deceivers and schemers (wa Allahu khayru al-makireen). S. 8:30
Allah is the best liar and deceiver of them all!
Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive God, but He deceives them; and when they rise up to pray, they rise up lazily to be seen of men, and do not remember God, except a few; S. 4:142 Palmer
Allah deceives people!
And when We desire to destroy a city, WE COMMAND its men who live at ease, AND THEY COMMIT UNGODLINESS therein, then the Word is realized against it, and We destroy it utterly. S. 17:16
Allah commands people to do evil in order to destroy them!
So We have appointed to every Prophet an enemy -- Satans of men and jinn, revealing tawdry speech to each other, all as a delusion; yet, had thy Lord willed, they would never have done it. So leave them to their forging, S. 6:112 Arberry
Hast thou not seen how We sent the Satans against the unbelievers, to prick them? S. 19:83 Arberry
Allah unleashes satans and demons on the people!
Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the one who follows the right way; and whomsoever He causes to err, these are the losers. And certainly We have created for hell many of the jinn and the men; they have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear; they are as cattle, nay, they are in worse errors; these are the heedless ones… Whomsoever Allah causes to err, there is no guide for him; and He leaves them alone in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on. S. 7:178-179, 186 Shakir
And We have sent no Messenger save with the tongue of his people, that he might make all clear to them; then God leads astray whomsoever He will, and He guides whomsoever He will; and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise. S. 14:4 Arberry
Allah leads people astray, deliberately misguiding them!
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:
I did not see anything so resembling minor sins as what Abu Huraira said from the Prophet, who said, "Allah has written for the son of Adam his inevitable share of adultery whether he is aware of it or not: The adultery of the eye is the looking (at something which is sinful to look at), and the adultery of the tongue is to utter (what it is unlawful to utter), and the innerself wishes and longs for (adultery) and the private parts turn that into reality or refrain from submitting to the temptation." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 77, Number 609)Abu al-Aswad reported that 'Imran b Husain asked him: What is your view, what the people do today in the world, and strive for, is it something decreed for them or preordained for them or will their fate in the Hereafter be determined by the fact that their Prophets brought them teaching which they did not act upon? I said: Of course, IT IS SOMETHING WHICH IS PREDETERMINED FOR THEM AND PREORDAINED FOR THEM. He (further) said: Then, would it not be an injustice (to punish them)? I felt greatly disturbed because of that, and said: Everything is created by Allah and lies in His Power. He would not be questioned as to what He does, but they would be questioned; thereupon he said to me: May Allah have mercy upon you, I did not mean to ask you but for testing your intelligence. Two men of the tribe of Muzaina came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Allah's Messenger, what is your opinion that the people do in the world and strive for, is something decreed for them; something preodained for them and will their fate in the Hereafter be determined by the fact that their Prophets brought them teachings which they did not act upon, and thus they became deserving of punishment? Thereupon, he said: Of course, it happens AS IT IS DECREED BY DESTINY AND PREORDAINED FOR THEM, and this view is confirmed by this verse of the Book of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious: "Consider the soul and Him Who made it perfect, THEN BREATHED INTO ITS SIN and its piety" (xci. 8). (Sahih Muslim, Book 033, Number 6406)
Verily Allah has fixed the very portion of adultery which a man will indulge in, and which he OF NECESSITY MUST COMMIT (or there would be no escape from it). (Sahih Muslim, Book 033, Number 6421, see also Number 6422)
Allah predetermines all things, including the adultery that a person must necessarily commit, and even breathes sin into a person’s soul! And Smith had the audacity to say that Allah, his false god, isn’t the creator of evil!
Smith continues with his distortions:
According to the Bible, God repents (Gen. 6:6) sleeps (Ps. 44:23, 78:65), forgets (Ps. 13:1, Lam. 5:20) claps (Ezek. 21:17, 22:13) whistles (Isaiah 5:26, 7:18) smokes (2 Sam. 22:9, Ps. 18:8, Job 41:20) shaves your legs (Isaiah 7:20) commands Isaiah to strip NAKED (Isaiah 20:1-3) and RIDES female angels (2 Sam. 22:11) who have BREASTS (Rev. 15:6)
Now if the Holy Spirit doesn’t do this, both entities cannot possibly be "one" and co-exist. Read the article http://www.submission.org/god-bible.html
RESPONSE:
Smith has a problem with the Bible using metaphors to describe God, which is truly astonishing in light of all the metaphors that the Quran uses for his false god. He even dares to lie and distort what some of these passages actually say. For instance, he claims that God rides female angels, something which the Bible never says:
"He rode on a cherub, and flew; he was seen upon the wings of the wind." 2 Samuel 22:11
The angels that God rides are not female angels, but the cherub. To see what cherubs actually look like we only need to cite the following passage:
"In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoi'achin), the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chalde'ans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was upon him there. As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the our had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another; they went every one straight forward, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. In the midst of the living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning. Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creaures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite; and the four had the same likeness, their construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. The four wheels had rims and they had spokes; and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. nd under the firmament their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another; and each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of a host; when they stood still, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the firmament over their heads; when they stood still, they let down their wings. And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance f the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. Ezekiel 1:1-28; cf. Ezekiel 10
He also distorts the meaning of the Greek word used in Revelation 15:6 which says:
"and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, and their breasts (stethe) girded with golden girdles."
Smith, because of his perverted mind, thinks that breasts here imply that these angels were women. It seems to have never dawned on him that even men have breasts (their chest!) as the following texts show:
"But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’" Luke 18:13
"So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, ‘Lord, who is it?’" John 13:25
Here, now, is the text of Isaiah 7:20 to see what the point of that text really is:
In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River - the king of Assyria - to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to take off your beards also.
Anyone having even a slight familiarity with biblical customs and expressions would realize what Isaiah was trying to convey. The act of shaving one’s head and hair was done during the times of mourning:
"When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife." Deuteronomy 21:10-13
"Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off." Isaiah 15:2
God was essentially saying that Assyria would soon mourn due to the destruction and calamity that God would bring upon it.
Now did God command Isaiah to appear completely naked? Let us see:
"In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and took it, -- at that time the LORD had spoken by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take off your shoes from your feet,’ and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot -- the LORD said, ‘As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians captives and the Ethiopians exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt." Isaiah 20:1-4
Because Smith is ignorant of ancient near eastern attire he assumes that this command meant that Isaiah walked completely nude. However, an act such as uncovering the thigh would be classified as nakedness according to biblical teaching:
"And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it." Exodus 20:26
"And you shall make for them linen breeches to cover their naked flesh; from the loins to the thighs they shall reach;" Exodus 28:42
Notice that the action of the priest lifting his leg as he went up the steps of the altar could potentially uncover his nakedness. Obviously, this nakedness is not talking about the priest's private parts, but to an exposure of his upper leg, his thigh. Again:
"Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chalde'ans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind meal, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no man." Isaiah 47:1-3
Here, nakedness is again defined as an uncovering of the leg.
What these examples show is that the biblical definition of nakedness does not refer to being completely nude. In the case of Isaiah, his nakedness would entail a putting off of the outer sackcloth while still retaining the tunic or inner vest.
The above examples should sufficiently expose Smith’s gross manhandling of the biblical texts. He has deliberately distorted the passages’ obvious use of metaphorical and poetic language to describe specific theological truths, as well as showing a gross ignorance of biblical customs.
This is particularly astonishing, since Muslims oftentimes call Western women "naked" although they are not literally naked, merely wearing short sleves or a skirt, showing part of their arms or legs. Despite this very common Muslim way of talking about people as naked even though they still have several pieces of clothing on their body, Smith apparently did not get the idea that the Biblical usage of the term may have been similar.
We now turn our attention to the Quran’s depiction of Allah. Smith’s god has a fascination with women’s breasts:
and maidens WITH SWELLING BREASTS, like of age, S. 78:33 Arberry
And VOLUPTOUS women of equal age; Pickthall
His god also has a thing with breathing into women’s vaginas/vulvas:
And Mary, daughter of Imran, who guarded her PRIVATE PARTS (ahsanat farjaha), and we breathed THEREIN of our spirit and she verified the words of her Lord and His books, and was of the devout. S. 66:12 Palmer
Here is some friendly advice to Smith. Make sure you have studied your own religion before you try to attack God’s true Word in order to spare yourself from being humiliated so badly and so often.
Smith mentions Jesus’ subordination to the Father as if this somehow undermines Trinitarianism:
Jesus gives another example that contradicts the concept of the trinity:
"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."
"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
"We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." (Mark 10:36-40, Matthew 20:22-24)
If Jesus and God are one, how can you cut yourself in half and divide functions? Surely if both entities co-exist as equal substances, Jesus would have had the power to grant the wish of Zebedee’s mother. On the contrary, Jesus denied that he possessed the authority to grant these kinds of prayers.
RESPONSE:
The example that Smith gives doesn’t contradict the Trinity, but simply contradicts his distortion and caricature of the doctrine. Smith has committed a categorical fallacy since he assumes that just because Jesus is subject to the Father’s authority this somehow implies that he is also inferior in essence. The fact is that you can have a person who is subject to another in authority while still being co-equal to him in nature. Here are a few examples:
We can go on but we are sure that the readers get the picture.
Furthermore, God is not a Being that can be cut in half, but is a multi-personal Being whose essence is indivisible.
Moreover, since there are three distinct, yet inseparable Persons of God each specific Person can assume a distinct role or function in order to accomplish a specific task.
Smith continues to expose his gross misunderstanding and caricature of the Trinity:
The Bible rejects the trinity, it clearly says there is no god besides God, there is nothing equal to God.
"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. (Isaiah 40:25)
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: (Isaiah 45:5)
I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. (Isaiah 43:11)
Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. (Isaiah 44:8)
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, (Isaiah 46:9)
Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me. (Hosea 13:4)
Again:
Shamoun is wrong to claim the Holy Spirit is All-knowing. The Bible teaches that only God is All-Knowing, and there is none LIKE him:
For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD ? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? (PSALMS 89:6)
"There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)
Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, (Psalms 113:5)
"Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. (Exodus 10:8)
Finally:
Once again, the Holy Spirit is the heavenly being created by God, and nothing in the Heavens is like God:
For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? (Psalms 89:6)
To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. (Isaiah 40:25)
RESPONSE:
Smith has assumed that God is uni-personal, that there is only one Person who is God, and because of this erroneous assumption thinks that references stating that God is one or that he is completely unique somehow refute the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Smith has again only managed to expose just how completely ignorant he is regarding biblical teaching and what the doctrine of the Trinity truly entails.
Trinitarians affirm that the one God is completely unique, that he is unlike anything in creation, and do so precisely because this is what the Holy Bible teaches. Yet Trinitarians also accept the biblical statements that this one God exists as three eternally distinct, yet inseparable Persons.
Moreover, seeing that God's Triunity is completely unlike anything in creation, transcending human logic and comprehension, this would serve to strengthen the case for the Trinity being a revealed truth from God. Note that the citations that Smith quoted explicitly state that God is unlike anything in creation, and since the Trinity is unlike anything in all creation this makes it all the more likely that it is true. After all, this better comports with the teaching that God is utterly unique and distinct from his creation, existing in a manner much more complex than that of his creatures.
We will try to assist Smith in comprehending this point by breaking it down step by step:
Finally, here is what some of the writers that Smith quoted taught about the nature of God:
"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." Isaiah 63:7-9
Isaiah says that the Angel of God’s face/presence saved Israel, even though Yahweh alone is the Savior.
"The LORD has an indictment against Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways, and requite him according to his deeds. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with THE ANGEL and prevailed, he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with him -- the LORD the God of hosts, the LORD is his name: ‘So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.’" Hosea 12:2-6
In this passage Hosea identifies the Angel of Yahweh as Yahweh God himself! He even states that the man whom Jacob wrestled with and whom he identified as God was actually this Angel, thereby implying that the Angel is God Almighty and not a creature (cf. Genesis 32:24-30). More on this Angel a little later.
What the foregoing shows is that these writers believed that the one, utterly unique God existed as more than one Person. So much for Smith’s arguments.
He resumes:
The Old Testament refers to the same entity under different titles:
(1) The Spirit of God
(2) The Angel of the Lord or Angel of God (Genesis 21:17, 31:11, Exodus 14:19, etc)
(3) The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost (New Testament)
And after citing some references that mention the Spirit of God he writes:
Now let us quote the passages for the second title, the same being:
And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. (Genesis 16:7)
And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. (Genesis 22:11)
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2)
Specifically, the angel of the Lord who appeared to Moses is the Holy Spirit who appeared to Jesus:
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (Matthew 3:16)
The Spirit of God and the Angel of the Lord are the same entity; the Bible further clarifies this fact:
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him? (Isaiah 63:11)
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:39
RESPONSE:
Let us expose this lie. First, if the Angel were the Holy Spirit this would prove our point and refute Smith. This particular Angel isn’t a creature but is actually God Almighty functioning in the role of a messenger. Thus, if the Angel were in fact the Spirit then this would only confirm that the Holy Spirit is God.
Second, the OT shows that the Angel of the Lord IS NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT:
"Then I said to THE ANGEL who talked with me, ‘What are these, my lord?’ And the angel answered me, ‘These are going forth to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the LORD of all the earth. The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go toward the west country, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.’ When the steeds came out, they were impatient to get off and patrol the earth. AND HE SAID, ‘Go, patrol the earth.’ So they patrolled the earth. THEN HE CRIED TO ME, ‘Behold, those who go toward the north country have set MY SPIRIT at rest in the north country.’" Zechariah 6:4-8
Here the Angel of the Lord who spoke with Zechariah identifies the Holy Spirit as HIS SPIRIT, showing that they are not one and the same Person!
In fact, the evidence shows that this Angel is none other than the preincarnate Christ. For more on these points please consult the following articles:
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Menj/tam1.htm
http://answering-islam.org/authors/beck/angel_of_the_lord.html
Smith then tries to show how the Spirit performs the same functions in both the Old and New Testaments, something which will now backfire against him. Let us examine some of the references one at a time:
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and began to speak in other tongues, AS THE SPIRIT GAVE THEM UTTERANCE. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Par'thians and Medes and E'lamites and residents of Mesopota'mia, Judea and Cappado'cia, Pontus and Asia, Phryg'ia and Pamphyl'ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre'ne, and visitors from Rme, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.’ And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’" Acts 2:1-12
The Holy Spirit fills an entire group of believers and enables them to speak in tongues simultaneously. In order to be able to fill an entire body of individuals and teach them to speak in various languages the Spirit must be omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient!
"For the palace will be forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest." Isaiah 32:14-15
God pours forth the Holy Spirit to replenish the earth, turning deserts into plush habitable lands. This text shows that the Spirit can fill the earth and has the power to recreate, something which is reiterated in the following references:
"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame, and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies' lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations any more; and I will not hide my face any more from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord GOD." Ezekiel 39:25-29
And:
"For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, AND CAUSE YOU TO WALK IN MY STATUTES and be careful to observe my ordinances. You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses; and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you." Ezekiel 36:24-29
"Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, AND YOU SHALL LIVE, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it, says the LORD." Ezekiel 37:12-14
The Spirit will be poured out on the entire nation of Israel with the purpose of enabling them to walk holy and pure before the LORD. Moreover, Ezekiel says that the Holy Spirit has the power to resurrect the dead both physically and spiritually, which basically means that he is the Source of Life and therefore omnipotent!
Smith also alluded to Joel 2:28, which we cite here within its immediate context:
"You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame. ‘And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit.’" Joel 2:27-29
Similar to Acts 2:1-4, these verses demonstrate that God’s Spirit can fill all believers and empower everyone of them to prophesy.
What all of these texts prove is that the Holy Spirit is the Creator, the Source of Life, that he is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.
Smith now focuses on the Paraclete passages of John:
The Gospel of John identifies the Comforter (Paraclete) as the Holy Spirit. The word comforter in the Old Testament can refer to human beings or angels distinctively:
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. (Ecclesiastes 4:1, LXX)
RESPONSE:
Here is the Greek of the LXX:
και επεστρεψα εγω και ειδον συν πασασ τασ συκοφαντιασ τασ γινομενασ υπο τον ηλιον και ιδου δακρυον των συκοφαντουμενων και ουκ εστιν αυτοισ παρακαλων και απο χειροσ συκοφαντουντων αυτουσ ισχυσ ^αι ουκ εστιν αυτοισ παρακαλων
The word translated as comforter is parakalon, a word that is not the same as Paraclete even though it is related. Moreover, Smith assumes that this text is referring to human or angelic comforters and from there assumes that the Paraclete of John must be one as well. He conveniently fails to tell his readers that God himself is said to be a comforter:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort (parakleseous), who comforts (parakalon) us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort (parakalein) those who are in any affliction, with the comfort (parakleseous) with which we ourselves are comforted (parakaloumetha) by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort (paraklesis) too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort (parakleseous) and salvation; and if we are comforted (parakaloumetha), it is for your comfort (paraklesis), which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer." 2 Corinthians 1:3-6
What the above example shows is that God himself can be a Comforter. The only way to know what kind of comforter John had in view is by looking at the context of his statements. Once this is done it will become quite apparent that John’s Comforter is the Holy Spirit of God whom Jesus sends from the Father:
"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." John 14:26
"But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning." John 15:26-27
He also cites Bucaille’s and Bultmann’s material on the Comforter, all of which have been refuted here:
http://answering-islam.org/Campbell/s6c1.html#paraclete
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Meherally/integrity.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Shabir-Ally/paracletos.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Silas/comforter.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/mhd_in_john1.htm
What is interesting about the Bultmann quote is that it provides absolutely no support for Smith’s position:
The Comforter is a helper, and hence the Prophets were comforters sent by God:
The Paraclete is a parallel figure to Jesus himself; and this conclusion is confirmed by the fact that the title is suitable for both. It is clear from 14:16 that the source thought there were sendings of two Paracletes, Jesus and his successor, the one following the other. (Rudolf Bultmann, Gospel of John, A Commentary, p. 567)
RESPONSE:
Smith has erroneously assumed that since Jesus is a prophet who is a Paraclete this therefore means that the other Paraclete must be a prophet as well. The reader should be able to see the problem with this argument. Smith has assumed that Jesus is only a human being, as opposed to also being God, and on that basis further assumes that the other Paraclete must be human as well.
The fact is that both the Son and the Spirit are fully God who intercede and assist all true believers:
"And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (allon parakleton), to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you." John 14:16-17
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. … Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? Romans 8:26-27, 33-34
"My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate (parakleton) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:1-2
Smith brings up the issue of God wanting to kill Moses:
Shamoun believes the Holy Spirit is God, therefore he must accept the Holy Spirit threatened to kill Moses:
At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met {Moses} and was about to kill him. (Exodus 4:24)
Why did God threaten to kill Moses? The NIV uses the words "sought to kill him".
RESPONSE:
Let us quote the context to see why God tried to kill Moses:
"At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!’ So he let him alone. It was then that she said, ‘A bridegroom of blood,’ because of the circumcision." Exodus 4:24-26
By failing to circumcise his sons Moses was in willful violation of God’s covenant of circumcision which he made with Abraham (cf. Genesis 17:9-14). God seeking to kill Moses demonstrates his impartiality since it shows that he will not excuse any person who breaks his covenant, not even if that person happens to be a prophet! In fact, prophets and messengers are more accountable since they know and speak for/with God.
Smith also focuses on the Bible passages regarding God’s just command that pagans and unbelievers be killed and claims that his false book is free from such things. In order to prevent this rebuttal from being longer than what it already is we will provide links which discuss these issues more in-depth:
http://christian-thinktank.com/quranlike.html
http://christian-thinktank.com/rbutcher1.html
http://christian-thinktank.com/qamorite.html
http://christian-thinktank.com/midian.html
http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/allahs_wars.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/jihad.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/torture.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/q_amalekites.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zaatri_amalikites.htm
http://answer-islam.org/childkiller.html
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Shabir-Ally/favorites.htm#ps137
He resumes with some more distortions by his misintepretation of specific texts:
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24)
I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:16)
And:
The Holy Spirit is the Servant of God, the Angel OF the Lord; he is not greater than the God who sent him:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:26)
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (John 16:14)
The Holy Spirit (Comforter) will speak whatever God commands him, indicating that he’s not all-Knowing and powerful. He is under the authority of God the way Jesus was:
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30)
The Holy Spirit can do nothing of his own authority.
RESPONSE:
Smith commits so many errors that we need to address them one at a time. First, the statement that the Son and the Spirit can do nothing of their own authority isn’t a refutation of their Deity, but a clear affirmation of the perfect unity that exists among the members of the Godhead. The Son and the Spirit do not act independently from the Father, but in perfect union with him. They always and can only work in unison with the Father and are able to do whatever he can do. Yet for them to be able to do whatever the Father does proves that they too are God. Note for instance what Jesus in John 5:30 said IN CONTEXT, which Smith conveniently ignored to quote:
"And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘MY Father is working until now, AND I AM WORKING.’ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For WHATEVER the Father does, THAT THE SON DOES LIKEWISE. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, SO ALSO THE SON GIVES LIFE TO WHOM HE WILL. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, EVEN AS THEY HONOR THE FATHER. He who does not honor theSon does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted THE SON ALSO TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the graves will hear HIS VOICE and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.’" John 5:16-29
Jesus explicitly says that he can do WHATEVER the Father does, such as work on the sabbath, raise the dead, give life, and even claims to have life within himself just as the Father does! He further states that all must honor him in the same way that they honor the Father. Jesus is basically claiming that he cannot act on his own initiative because he is in perfect and inseparable union with the Father, while also affirming his co-equality with the Father in essence, power and honor!
Second, to be a servant doesn’t mean that one cannot be equal in essence and nature with the one served. It only implies that the servant does not have equal authority with his master. After all, would Smith argue that black slaves were inferior in essence and dignity to their white masters just because they served them? Obviously not.
In a similar manner, the Spirit can be God’s servant without this implying that he is inferior in essence and nature. All this would prove is that the Spirit doesn’t have the same authority or rank as the One whom he serves, which in this case would be the Father.
He claims:
What a blasphemy to attribute the qualities of God to his created beings! We have clearly demonstrated the Holy Spirit is not omniscient, and the Bible undermines the power and knowledge of God. The Holy Quran corrects the Biblical descriptions attributed to God by the writers. There is no need to repeat ourselves but further evidence can be given.
RESPONSE:
What a blasphemy to deny the explicit testimony of God’s true Word that the Holy Spirit is God eternal! We have clearly demonstrated that the Holy Spirit is omniscient, and that the Holy Bible affirms the perfect power and infinite knowledge of God. It is the Quran that presents Allah as an ignorant deity who is the source of evil, even describing him in such a way as to blur the distinction between him and Satan!
He then says:
According to the Gospel of John, Jesus said "Before Abraham, I am".
Let us quote the entire context of the passage:
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (John 8:57-59)
Now read what the Bible says about Solomon:
"The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; (Proverbs 8:22:24)
Jesus and Solomon were speaking in poetic language; they were not speaking literally, but figuratively.
RESPONSE:
Let’s expose more of Smith’s lies and distortions:
"Does not WISDOM CALL? Does not UNDERSTANDING RAISE HER? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals SHE CRIES ALOUD: ‘To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. I, WISDOM, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. I have counel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength. By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries. The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.’" Proverbs 8:1-22
As anyone can see Proverbs 8 IS NOT SPEAKING ABOUT SOLOMON, but God’s own Wisdom. The author is personifying Wisdom as a woman since the Hebrew word for it (hokma) is a feminine noun.
Here is the immediate context of John 8 so as to show that Jesus was not speaking figuratively:
"Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.’" John 8:42
"‘Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone 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, yet you say, "If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death." Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. HE SAW IT and was glad.’ So the Jews 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 came into being (genesthai), AM.’ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple." John 8:51-59
Jesus claims to have come forth from God and to have existed even before Abraham, accounting for how Abraham could have personally seen Christ. The Jews picking up stones to stone the Lord Jesus demonstrates that they even knew that he was speaking anything but figuratively.
Smith brings up the erroneous assertion that John plagiarized the idea of Jesus existing before his birth from Hindu beliefs regarding Vishnu! He also quotes some other authors such as David Strauss, and asserts that this author completely destroyed John’s authenticity. Again, instead of destroying Smith’s lies here, thereby making this rebuttal longer than what it is, we will simply defer the readers to the following links which also deal with a host of other related issues:
http://www.tektonics.org/ntdocdef/johndef.html
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/pseudox.html
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/objedex.html
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/hway.html
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Shabir-Ally/nab.htm
He concludes with a citation of 1 Corinthians 14:33 in order to show that God is not the author of confusion, and in so doing only managed to further expose his inability to understand and read texts carefully. Paul’s statement here was in reference to orderly conduct in worship, that Christians need to be organized in the way they worship God in the Church since he is not a God of DISORDER:
"What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace…" 1 Corinthians 14:26-33a NIV
As it stands this text has nothing to do with the (in)comprehensibility of God’s Being. In fact, Paul was quick to point out that God is incomprehensible by nature and could not be fully fathomed:
"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen." Romans 11:33-36
"may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:18-19
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
Paul was doing nothing more than repeating what the OT prophets had already said regarding man’s inability to fully fathom the infinitude of God:
"Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven--what can you do? Deeper than Sheol--what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea." Job 11:7-9
"O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it." Psalm 139:1-6
"He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure." Psalm 147:4-5
Using Smith's own words and style of formulating, we conclude: Smith’s article tried to falsify the biblical basis for the Trinity in order to convince people to believe in his pagan god and false prophet. The reality is that Allah of Islam does not exist except in the minds of pagan idolaters like Smith. The true God is Triune, and our time on earth is precious and we cannot waste it discussing false pagan ideas which the infidels like Smith keep replicating.
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