THE PURPOSE OF INCARNATION
THE PURPOSE OF INCARNATION
Christians believe that Allah (S.W) was incarnated in Jesus (PBUH), and their evidence for that is what comes in the Gospel according to John. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”(John 1:14)
To understand this passage, we read what the Monastic Jesuits Edition’s scholars said regarding the incarnation of the wisdom, which is in Proverbs (8:22). They said, “The idea of the incarnated wisdom, which is just a literature art as in Proverbs (14:1), was developed in Israel at the time of the captivity; when worshipping idols ceased to be a threat to the right religion. In all passages that mention the incarnation of the wisdom, the word or the spirit, it is difficult to distinguish between the poetic art, the old religious belief and the new inspiration.”
Thus, it is possible that the passage, which speaks of the word incarnation, is just a literature art, which is the same as the metaphoric incarnation of the wisdom, when it went out, “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out.”(Pro. 1:20-21) and considering ignorance as a wild woman. (Pro. 9:13-18)[1]
In this regard, scholars are asking about the reason for the incarnation of the Son and why it is not the Father’s or the Holy Spirit’s incarnation. They also ask why Allah (S.W) had to incarnate into a human figure: come down from His high throne, enter the womb of a woman and finally, be born from her.
Clergymen have been working hard to answer these questions, and when they did not find any answer in their books, they used their thoughts. Consequently, they have different opinions, and as they cannot find proof for Paul’s claim of God's incarnation, they also cannot find a reason for that incarnation.
Their answers and conclusions are as follows:
First:This is a mystery, which we cannot understand, but we have to believe.
Second:The incarnation is to fill the gap between Allah (S.W) and humanity, and to reconcile it with seeing Allah (S.W).
Third:The incarnation is a way to make people return to Allah (S.W) and worship Him and to leave the worship of idols and other creations; therefore, Allah (S.W) incarnated Himself into a human figure in order to be worshipped. Saint Ephraim said, “God saw us (humans) worshipping idols and creations, that is why He wore a created body to hunt us to worship Him.”[2]
Fourth:The incarnation is necessary to reconcile Allah’s (S.W) justice and His mercy, for His justice ordained the death of humans and His mercy ordained that they live; for that, Jesus (PBUH) was the sacrifice.
Regarding that, Ethanasius, who was one of the most important people on the Nicene Council, said, “That is why the word of God had to bring forth the sinful man to righteousness. At the same time, fulfill what the father requires, and since he – Jesus- is God’s word, he was the only suitable one, who can renew everything and bear the pain instead of everyone else before the father. For that, he came down to our world without body, clean and without sin. He did bear the pain of death in order to prevent the death of humans, because then his father’s creation would be a waste. He took a body like our bodies. If he did not come and dwell among us, then that would be the end of the human race.”
Did Jesus’ death (PBUH) change the death issue for humans, or do people still die until now?
Answering this question, Ethanasius said, “Death entered this world by the devil’s envy. After that, people started to sin and to die; the devil had authority more than it was supposed, because he came as a result of God’s threat in the case of sin.”
I wonder what death’s natural authority is, and I wonder what is the difference between people’s death before and after Jesus (PBUH). One has the right to ask, what is the secret about death taking other creatures’ lives?
Ethanasius also mentioned another reason for Allah’s (S.W) incarnation, which is to comfort humans. He said, “When God, the controller of everything, created humans by His word and saw their weaknesses in knowing God or even having a concept of Him, He came down to show them Himself. He did not leave them without knowledge of Him, in order to prevent them thinking that their existence is useless.”[3]
According to this, the reason for Allah’s (S.W) incarnation is for humankind to know their God and to destroy the gap between the Creator and the creation. This is what Snout mentioned in his book “The Original Christianity”, as he said, “there is an endless big gap, …. In addition, if God did not begin and amend the matter, it would remain the same. Humans would be hopeless, wondering, but God spoke and declared Himself.” [4]
Dr Abdul Karim Al Khateeb wonders, “How was the relation between the prophets and their God with such a gap?
Did they know their God with sufficient knowledge, which led them to worship and obey Him?
Was their faith in Allah (S.W) weak and untrue?
What changes happened to humankind after Allah’s (S.W) incarnation? Did all people believe in Allah (S.W) and know Him? Did Atheism disappear from the world?”
What kind of pleasure is there for humanity in seeing their God slapped, beaten, and whipped? This reduces every belief about Allah (S.W) in their minds, as humans are created with eagerness and curiosity longing to know the invisible; the unseen things. If they know about it, if the unknown was revealed, there would be no more longing, their desire would be less towards the thing they were looking for and searching for so hard.
What about the other generations, who did not have the pleasure of seeing the incarnated God? Would it be fair to exclude them? How could they know their God if they did not see Him?
Why was our pleasure and comfort in seeing Allah (S.W) in His childhood and His youth, but not in His middle and old age?
Muslims refuse these justifications, which offend the greatness of Allah (S.W), make Him incapable of forgiveness, and make Him confused between His mercy and His justice. Such issues do not occur with wise people, how could we accept them for Allah (S.W)? These justifications make Allah (S.W) unable to guide people to worship Him except in a polytheistic way that they know.
Charles Gene Pier has the same opinion - he agrees in the weakness of these justifications. He affirms that Paul was the one who created the idea of the incarnated God. He explains the reasons, which led Paul to do that. Paul came up with the incarnation idea after realizing that “the new polytheist followers will not accept the crucifixion scandal, and, there must be a good explanation for Jesus’ shameful death, which the enemy did not stop from relating matters to it. That explanation must be sufficient to make the crucifixion event an event of deep religious significance.
Paul (the apostle) dealt with this problem… he developed a solution, which had a huge influence; he ignored the idea of Jesus of Nazareth, which was the major concept of the twelve. He mentioned nothing but the crucified Jesus, imagining him as a divine character, who existed before the world itself and considered him as a kind of personification. The apostle found the basic elements of secrets; he found them without even looking for them…”[5]
Paul faced another difficulty while he was finishing the crucified incarnated God, and that was, what was he going to say about Jesus’ death on the cross, since the Torah states that every crucified person is cursed? (Deuteronomy 21:23), Thus, this shameful death was an insult to Jesus, and made him cursed according to the Jewish Law.
To solve this fatal matter, Paul decided to make the cursed as an example of sacrifice, and make him God, who descended and incarnated to redeem humans’ sins. He became a curse to redeem them from the Law’s curse, as Paul says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”(Romans 5:8-10), he became a curse to save us from the Law’s curse. [6]
Finally, what Christians say about Allah (S.W), multiplicity and incarnation, is a kind of a human trifling, and a clear insult on Allah (S.W). The sculptor, as the guided Mohammad Majdi Murjan said, “When he makes a statue he can destroy it, and no one can say that the statue will claim that it was made of the same substance as its maker, or that it is part of him.
The powerless human, who is one of Allah’s (S.W) creations, dared to insult his Creator; he became arrogant and ignorant, and then turned these facts upside down. He reformed his Maker, and, from his own imagination, divided Him into three parts, making each part as God, consequently, transferring the one and only God into three. He also divided the work and the burden on his three gods, which he did to pity the one God so as not to carry all these burdens alone by Himself. How miserable is man!”[7]
In fact, the idea of incarnation is one of the most important reasons for the spread of Atheism among Christians. Human beings tend to glorify and esteem their Creator by their own spirits and instincts, and consider Him the most adorable and far above being equal to anyone; Christianity, all the while, makes Allah (S.W) as a human, who came from the womb of an Israeli woman.
Cranes Airsold said, “From the scientific point of view, I cannot imagine God materially, who can be seen or replaced anywhere” [8]
Consequently, people face difficulty in choosing between the wrong belief and the true instinct, which their minds support. Many of them find no alternative other than to disbelieve in the church that whipped and crucified God, which increases Atheism. Allah (S.W) is far above what they say.
One of the disadvantages of the incarnation creed is that it weakens the morals and principles that Jesus taught and made him a good example for his followers. The call of Jesus’ (PBUH) divinity affects all that, as people cannot follow and do what Allah (S.W) has done.
The writers of The Encyclopedia Americana said, “If Jesus was God, then the morals and principles, which he performed and gave to us during his humble life, would be invaluable, as he has power which we do not have, and humans cannot imitate God.”
In his book “on Jesus steps” Tomas Ecembesphy said, “If Jesus was God, then one cannot follow him and follow his tradition.
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[1]- See also, (Sirach 4:11, Proverbs 9:1-6, 23:23) and other passages.
[2]- The frank opinion about the will and the nature of Christ, bishop Ghebrial Abdel Maseeh, pp 59
[3]- Christ in the Quran, The Torah and the Gospel, Abdul Kareem el Khateeb, pp 158-160
[4]- ibid, 130-132, 160-170
[5]- Christianity, its beginning and its development, Charles Gene Pier, pp 134
[6]- People of the Book, Let Us Come to a Common Term, Raoof Shalaby, pp 265
[7]- God Almighty One or Three, Mohammad Majdy Morjan, pp125
[8]- Monotheistic Christians in History, Ahmad Abdul Wahab, pp 38-39, 45
