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NASB | Philippians 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Philippians 2:6 who, although He existed in the form and unchanging essence of God [as One with Him, possessing the fullness of all the divine attributes--the entire nature of deity], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or asserted [as if He did not already possess it, or was afraid of losing it]; |
Bible Question:
The Muslim says Jesus used to often pray to God (Matt 14:23) Sonship implies father-son equality in characteristics. he son can do what his father can.Since the Father does not pray, neither should the son. Since Jesus did pray, this disproves his sonship to God. Prayer proves subordination and disproves equality. |
Bible Answer: You wrote: " Jesus used to often pray to God (Matt 14:23) Sonship implies father-son equality in characteristics. he son can do what his father can.Since the Father does not pray, neither should the son." Your Muslim contact certainly seems to have had an effect on you, Isaac. Don't be terribly alarmed, however. He is not being terribly intellectually honest. Notice what he said. First he said that if Jesus were the Son of God, He would be able to do what the Father does. That is very biblical. However, the Muslim went on to say that since the Father does not pray, neither should the Son. That is not a logical conclusion from what was said before. Where in the Bible does it say, first of all, that God CANNOT pray? The ability to pray and the actual activity of praying are two different things. Secondly, how does a son asking his father for something make him less of a son? That is just plain silliness. With all due respect, I think that if you want to meet the challenges of Islam, you need to study Christianity quite a bit more. I would recommend starting with some of the classical confessions which summarize the teachings of the Bible. Read them and take the time to understand the claims of Christianity a little more, because the Muslims you are talking with do not understand Christianity at all. Many of them can be found on the Internet, such as: --The Belgic Confession http://www.reformed.org/documents/BelgicConfession.html --The Heidelberg Catechism http://www.reformed.org/documents/heidelberg.html --The Westminster Shorter Catechism http://www.reformed.org/documents/wsc/index.html And if you want to examine the claims of Christianity vs. Islam, one of the best resources is a book entitled _Answering Islam_ by Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb. Any honest approach to understanding the Christian faith requires study, so I encourage you to take the time and energy to see and internalize the wonderful truths of Christianity and how it does stand up to all scrutiny. --Joe! |