A Discussion on the Trinity & Unitarianism

Answering Muslims: Where Did Jesus Say, "I Am God, Worship Me"? #2

Samuel Green offers a short rebuttal to the often used polemic many Muslims and anti-Trinitarians raise against Christianity: "Jesus never said 'I am God, Worship me!'" Green writes

What is it that ultimately gets him crucified? It is his claim to be the divine man of Daniel 7 who is to be worshipped. The Jewish leaders again understand exactly what he is saying and call it blasphemy. So Jesus actually does say, "I am God worship me"; he just uses the language of the prophets to say it.

If we want to understand Jesus we must learn his language. I am not saying we must learn Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek, though that is an excellent thing to do. Instead I am saying that we must know the titles, the concepts and expectations of the prophets who were before Jesus, because it is with these words that Jesus speaks and invites us to understand him.

 Read the whole post at the following link.

Answering Muslims: Where Did Jesus Say, "I Am God, Worship Me"? #2

The Muslim Use of the Errant Unitarianism of Sir Anthony Buzzard

Dr James White has written a post on how some Muslims use the Unitarianism of Sir Anthony Buzzard to discredit Christianity. They seem to think that they have found a Christian who denies the Trinity therefore Trinitarians are wrong. Rather an irrational argument but they seem to think it flies. It more like crashes and burns. A three-part video is embedded in the post of a two-on-two debate between James White and Dr Michael Brown against Anthony Buzzard and another man who reject Jesus as God and Messiah. Also Dr White posts another video by a Muslim on YouTube who attacks Dr White and Christianity on the basis of the Trinity.

Dr White writes:

If one does not assume unitarianism my comments are, well, obvious. Only by cutting, editing, and ignoring context, can Sir Anthony attempt to create confusion and hence contradiction. He refuses to allow for the distinction between being and person, and on the basis of that refusal, asserts contradiction on my part. Yet, my very definition is based upon the distinction in usage and referent for the terms "being" and "person". Hence, to reject part of my definition, import a different definition, and on that basis accuse me of contradiction is irrational. We have seen this error on Sir Anthony's part many times. But what is MuslimByChoice's excuse this time? He is citing a man who believes Jesus died and rose again. He believes Jesus is properly called the Son of God (in a much higher sense than Islam can possibly allow) and hence is someone who rejects the inspiration of the Qur'an and the prophethood of Mohammed. It is clear once again that MuslimByChoice chooses to use any source, no matter how inconsistent with Islamic doctrine, teaching, or history, as long as it looks like it is contradictory to the Trinity. Isn't it interesting to see how dependent Muslims are upon enemies of the Christian faith, like Bart Ehrman, for example? Rejection of biblical teaching makes strange bedfellows, to be sure!

Follow the link at the end to see the videos.

The Muslim Use of the Errant Unitarianism of Sir Anthony Buzzard

Calvin on the Christ-less Unitarianism of Islam

Image via WikipediaDr James White posted the following quote from John Calvin. He saw this over on the Reformed Baptist Fellowship Blog:

For even if many men once boasted that they worshipped the Supreme Majesty, the Maker of heaven and earth, yet because they had no Mediator it was not possible for them truly to taste God’s mercy, and thus be persuaded that he was their Father. Accordingly, because they did not hold Christ as their Head, they possessed only a fleeting knowledge of God. From this it also came about that they at last lapsed into crass and foul superstitions and betrayed their own ignorance. So today the Turks, although they proclaim at the top of their lungs that the Creator of heaven and earth is God, still, while repudiating Christ, substitute an idol in place of the true God. - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Book II, Chapter VI).

Calvin on the Christ-less Unitarianism of Islam

Atheism is Dead: Is Dan Barker Self Loathing?, part 1 of 2

Mariano has written another thoughtful article about Dan Barker. One thing that I would like to point out is that Barker praises Unitarian Universalists because of their openness and non-exclusivity. Mariano, points out that they don't stand for fundamental anything and allows just about any interpretation of the Bible as long as it does not conflict with them. Mariano gave the example of how asserting Jesus' uniqueness and necessity for salvation is not tolerated among them. No wonder Barker is comfortable in their circels.

Atheism is Dead: Is Dan Barker Self Loathing?, part 1 of 2