Jesus: Word of God Meeting with Shabir Ally about Who is Jesus:prophet or God?

Erasmus University at 19 april 2009

Hear ,O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Sura 112 makes clear that Allah(=God) is one. God does not procreate and is not procreated.

Before God no god was formed and after Him there shall be none (Isaiah 43:10).

Thus says the Lord,I am the first and I am the last,there is no God but me.(Isaiah 44:6).

The dogma of trinity is the product of speculation of Greek speaking theologians in the 3e and 4e century..Jesus is the Messenger of God and His Word.Maria is not the mother of God.Maria is the mother of the human being Jesus.God is not consisting of three “persona”(the masks).God is more close to us than the heart beat vein of our body.

Jesus is the reflection of the glory of God.God is hidden for us.The unicity of God is important in the jewish,christian en islamic religion.

In the Quran Jesus was called nabi(prophet) and rasul(messenger).Jesus was also called “Al-Masieh(Messias).Jesus is the Word of God.That Word plays an important role in the creation of heaven and earth.Jesus is the Ghost of God.The angel Gabriel said to Mary:the Holy Spirit will come upon you..Jesus said to his disciples that the Holy Spirit will come down on them(the birth of the christian congregation). Jesus is the Servant of God.Jesus has not come to be served but to serve.

The king of Israel who is righteous can be called the Son of God(Psalm 2:7)He is not a biological son of God.When Jesus was baptized the skies opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in visible form like a dove.A voice from heaven was heard to say:You are my beloved Son.On you my favor rests.We speak here about adoption.We repeat it again:Jesus is not God en is not the biological Son of God.After the resurrection of Jesus Christ the first christian congregation is saying that Jesus emptied himself en took the form of a slave.God exalted him.The christians call Jesus Christ:Lord.God is also called Lord but it does not mean that Jesus is God(Philippians 2:6-11)In the beginning there was no misunderstanding.In the 3e and 4e century there was the theological dispute bertween Cyrillus and Nestorius.Cyrillus had the opinion that Jesus had only the fysis(nature) of God.It is right that the prophet Muhammad had objections against this interpretation of the meaning of Jesus in relationship with God.The Jewish Christians have always considered Jesus as human being who was exalted to the status of Messias.

Jesus was not crucified according the opinion of the prophet Muhammad.An other person(Simon of Cyrene) perhaps was crucified.It is a very difficult item in the dialogue bertween moslems and christians.But we can say that de death of Jesus Christ is not the last word in history.God has exalted Jesus.

The best bridge in the dialogue between Moslems and Christians is the standard invocation of God as the Compassionate,The Merciful,God has proved His Mercy in the lives of the prophets Jesus and Muhammad.God has said:My heart is overwhelmed,my pity is stirred.I will not give vent to my blazing anger,for I am God and not man.This crucial message in Hosea 11:8-9 is for me very important specially in a time that religion was misused as tool in violence.

God is love and mercy. Origenes has said to us that the love of God can save all the people.God overcomes his anger.Origenes speaks about the Apokatastasis(the complete restoration of Gods creation)

In thJesus:Word of God Meeting with Shabir Ally about Who is Jesus:prophet or God?

ee history Jesus:Word of God Meeting with Shabir Ally about Who is Jesus:prophet or God?

oof Christianity the Mercy of God was often waived by penance,,punishment and judge.Therefore we are grateful tot Bernard of Clairvaux who had emphazised the love of God.Mystics as Eckhart,Tauler and Nikolaus von Kues have the opinion that the Mercy of God is the basis of our christian belief.Psalm 30:6 makes clear that Gods anger lasts but a moment,a life time,his good will.The love of God saves us.God wants all men be saved(1 Timothy 2:4)Nothing wll be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Jesus Christ(Romans 8:38)

The dialogue between moslems and christians makes it necessary to reconsider the dogma of Chalcedon(451)There are two natures in Jesus Christ(God and man) but the natures were not mixed,unaltered,not divided and unseperated.The conclusion of Chalcedon is conceivable in the context of the church in the 4e century.After 17 centuries we can reformulate this dogma.Jesus is man.He is theWord,the Messias,the Messenger,the Prophet and Servant of God.Jesus Christ is the reflection of Gods love for our world.By the Word of God the creation was made.Jesus Christ is that Word.

God has not hidden himself completely.The peole were to seek God,God is not really far from them.In God we live and move and have our being.(Acts of the Apostles 14:127 and 17:28-29)We believe that de revelation of God is an arrow that touched the heart of the prophet Muhammad.The touch has a human effect in the context of the life of the prophet.It can help us to interprete the holy scriptures.

Our starting point is that the God in whom both christians and moslems believe is one and the same.We are brothers and sisters in the faith of Abraham.God is mercyfull and all powerful.He is the maker of heaven and earth.God is mercyfull.Therefore christians and moslems have got a profound basis for mutual love.Jesus Christ will not impose himself but tries to make his whole life a shining message of the love of God.

I hope that we can meet each other in this dialogue.The mercy of God is a challenge for ithe future.Sometimes christians and moslems were lead by misunderstanding.In the last century I have worked in the Poso area of Central Sulawesi (East Indonesia).The relationsahip between christians and moslems was good although there was not a dialogue.In the beginning of this century christians and moslems were involved in a civil war.There was political competition:who has the power?Christians and moslems were involved in jihad and crusade.Many victims.I have visited the area in the years 2000,2001/2002,2003,2004 and 2007..I have spoken with moslems and christians..I was sad and disappointed.We have lost the mercy of God.Only feelings of hate and misunderstanding were playing a role.Let we not lose the courage.Gods love overcomes His anger.Therefore we are called to love our friends and enemies.

God bless you.

Hans Visser

Literature:

1.Islam and christianity to day,W.Montgomery Watt

2.Muslims and christians in Europe,Eassays in honour of Jan Slomp

3,Bijbel en Koran,Jacques Jomier

4.Jezus zien,Anton Wessels

5.De Koran verstaan,Anton Wessels

6.De Islam,Hans Kung

7.Geschiedenis der Kerk,Otto de Jong

8.Geschichte der Religiositat im Mittelalter,Arnold Angenendt

Dr Hans Visser is reverend of the PKN Church in the Netherlands,he has worked in the cities Ij muiden,Wijk aan zee ,St .Laurens and Leek,in the seventy years he has worked in Indonesia and later till 2007 in Rotterdam.In Rotterdam he has promoted discussions between moslems and christians.