Yes, God does have a God!
Quennel Gale
In
this article we will focus on the claim of Sami Zaatari, who basically believes
that if Jesus is God then it is not possible for him to also have a God. This
polemical argument strikes us as amusing for we have been writing on the
Trinity for many years, and have debated Jews, Unitarians, atheists, Muslims
and anti-Trinitarians on issues similar or related to the nature of God. In
fact the Trinity is one of the doctrines where we have acquired a considerable
amount of knowledge, thanks primarily to the debates we’ve had with groups that
oppose this doctrine. In fact, that is why you see that so many of our articles
are rebuttals to Muslims who have yet to offer answers to our material.
With
that being said, lets begin to analyze Mr. Zaatari’s argument:
http://www.answering-christianity.com/sami_zaatri/god_has_god.htm
God has God?
By Sami Zaatari
Christians have made the claim
that Jesus has 2 natures. One man nature, which he took on,
and one divine nature which he always had. They claim as a man, he ate,
slept and died etc.
They also claim as a man it
would be normal for Jesus to say I have a God. Such as in:
John 20: 15-18:
15 Jesus saith
unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest
thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me
where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto
him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17 Jesus
saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet
ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto
my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18 Mary
Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the LORD, and that he
had spoken these things unto her.
Mr.
Zaatari is basically correct in his analysis of orthodox Christian thinking.
For once we actually see a Muslim propagandist not trying to misrepresent
Christian doctrine in hopes of trying to refute a straw man as opposed to
addressing the actual issue. But of course, this isn’t good enough for Mr.
Zaatari so he continues by saying:
Christians have come up with the weak response that this was the man nature of
Jesus speaking. For argument sake we will take this response as correct. So we
are able to conclude that:
1-
Jesus has 2 natures, one divine one human
2-
The man nature eats, sleeps, prays and
has a God
3-
The divine nature does not sleep, pray,
or has a God
However so, it may come as a surprise to many people, but however so the
supposed divine Jesus also said he has a God!
Revelations 3:12:
12 Him that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple of
my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name
of the city of my God, which
is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
So as you can see, the divine
Jesus still says he has a God! This is not Jesus as man speaking anymore, but
this is Jesus as divine speaking, so how can the divine Jesus say I have a God?
This clearly proves that there is no such thing as a divine Jesus, and that
Jesus is not God since he has a God, even when he is in his supposed divine
state.
So I would really
love to see a response from the Christians on this. Why does the divine Jesus
say I have a God?
Zaatari’s
response is rather amusing to say the least for a couple of reasons. First, he
has assumed that Revelation 3:12 is referring to the Divine Jesus, that Jesus
is speaking in relation to His Deity, that as God he has a God. Zaatari seems
to be assuming that Jesus ceases to be human now that he is in heaven. On the
contrary, what we find in Revelation 3:12 is that Jesus is speaking as the
God-man, the One who still is and will forever be both God and man at the same
time. The Scriptures are quite clear that Jesus continues to be a man after his
resurrection:
“Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not
abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised
up, and of that we all are witnesses.” Acts 2:30-32
Christ’s flesh did not see decay because God raised his
physical body, thereby making it immortal.
“‘The
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to
repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in
righteousness by A MAN whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance
to all men by raising him from the dead.’ Now when they heard of
the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, ‘We will hear you
again about this.’ So Paul went out from among them.” Acts 17:30-32
The only way for God to judge the world by the man he has
raised from the dead is if Jesus is still fully human after his resurrection,
albeit a glorified human being at that!
“For
there is one God, and there IS one mediator between God and men, THE MAN Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy
2:5
Paul said that there IS, not was, a mediator who is the MAN
Christ Jesus.
In light of the preceding, we can see why Jesus in heaven
could still refer to his Father as his God since he will forever remain a true
human being. Thus, it isn’t the Divine Jesus who is speaking in Revelation
3:12, nor is it necessarily the human Jesus that speaks. Rather, it is Jesus as
the God-man that is speaking, and by virtue of his remaining man the Father
will continue to be his God.
Second, the Holy Bible has no problem with Jesus being God and
having a God. Mr. Zaatari believes that if Jesus has a God it would somehow
refute the fact that he himself is God by nature. He also believes that if God
has a God then God’s God (stay with us now on this) is more powerful than him.
Before we answer this we would like to say that if a woman or a man says:
I have a man or I live in the temple or house
of my man
Does
this actually imply that the person who refers to having a man is necessarily
inferior in nature, that this somehow proves that the man who is said to belong
to that person is necessarily greater in essence? No. Humans are equal with one
another in essence and nature, so why is it hard to fathom that one Divine
Person has another Divine Person over him as a God without this having to mean
that one is less divine or powerful than the other? Mr. Zaatari doesn’t set out
to answer this, he simply assumes or commits the logical fallacy of begging the
question in believing that since God has a God, it would mean that God’s God is
greater than him in power and/or nature. It apparently never occurred to him in
his simplistic mind that both could be and actually are equal in essence and
nature.
"BUT OF THE SON he (God) says,
'THY THRONE O GOD, is for ever and ever, the righteous scepter is the
scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; THEREFORE
GOD, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness beyond thy comrades.'"
Hebrews 1:8-9 RSV
Notice
that the Father calls Jesus God, says that his throne is forever and ever, and
states that the Son has a God over him, which obviously means the Father.
Hence, we see that the Scriptures have no problem in affirming that the
following can all be true at the same time:
1.
That
both the Father and the Son are God.
2.
That
Jesus at the same time has his Father as a God over him.
3.
That
Jesus as God rules forever and ever in the heavens above and over the earth
below.
In
other words, the Holy Bible sees absolutely no dilemma in affirming that Jesus
is God who also has a God over him, and neither do we. The only dilemma which
exists is the one imagined in the mind of Zaatari who thinks that just because
Jesus referred to the Father as his God he therefore could not also be God.
Here are some more gems from the book of Hebrews:
"But about the Son he says,
‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will
be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated
wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by
anointing you with the oil of joy.’ He also says, ‘In the beginning, O Lord,
you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your
hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a
garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be
changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.’" Hebrews
1:8-12
The Father praises his Son by calling him God,
Lord, eternal King and for being the Creator and Sustainer of all creation! The
same Scriptures teach that Jesus is the only sovereign Master and Lord:
"For admission has been
secretly gained by some who long ago were designated for this condemnation,
ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our
only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Jude 1:4
Now does this mean that the Father is not God, sovereign Master, Lord, and
the Creator of the heavens and the earth because the Son is said to be all of
the above? The answer is obvious. The Father, according to the Holy Bible, is
just as much God, Master, Lord, and just as responsible for creating and
sustaining the universe as the Son is. In a similar manner, just because Jesus
acknowledges that he has a God doesn’t mean that he cannot also be God at the
same time.
Therefore,
Mr. Zaatari has no basis for claiming that if God calls someone “his God” then
this means that the God of the person would be greater in power and nature. It
bears repeating, if there can be different human persons who are equal in
nature, why then should we assume that one Person who is God cannot also be
equal in nature to another Person that is his God? In order for Mr. Zaatari to
be correct he would have to prove that Jesus and his Father share different
natures, that the Bible denies that Jesus is fully God in essence much like the
Father.
The
problem for Zaatari is that the Holy Bible teaches that Jesus is indeed fully
God, coequal to the Father in essence:
Your attitude should be the same
as that of Christ Jesus: WHO, BEING IN VERY NATURE GOD, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the
very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in
appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became OBEDIENT TO DEATH-- even
DEATH ON A CROSS! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave
him the name that is above every name, that at the NAME OF JESUS every knee
should bow, IN HEAVEN and ON EARTH and UNDER THE EARTH, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
If Mr. Zaatari tries to reject this on the basis that this is
Paul speaking, we only need to remind him of what Jesus said about Paul:
As he neared Damascus on his
journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground
and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' 'Who are
you, Lord?' Saul asked. 'I AM JESUS, WHOM YOU ARE PERSECUTING,' HE REPLIED.
'Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.'
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but
did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he
could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he
was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus there was a disciple
named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, 'Ananias!' 'Yes, Lord,' he
answered. The Lord told him, 'Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and
ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. IN A VISION HE HAS
SEEN A MAN NAMED ANANIAS COME AND PLACE HIS HANDS ON HIM TO RESTORE HIS SIGHT.'
'Lord,' Ananias answered, 'I have heard many reports about this man and all the
harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with
authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.' BUT
THE LORD SAID TO ANANIAS, 'Go! THIS MAN IS MY CHOSEN INSTRUMENT TO CARRY MY
NAME before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I
will show him how much he must suffer for my name.' Then Ananias went to
the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, 'Brother Saul,
the Lord - Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has
sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.'
Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see
again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his
strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he
began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Acts 9:3-20
Listening to the words of Jesus we see that:
1. He personally chose Paul
2. Ananias was a second witness
that Jesus himself spoke to Paul, thereby validating the commission of Paul.
3. Jesus used Paul to carry his
name to the Gentiles.
Moreover, what Mr. Zaatari will be shocked to know is that Jesus even gives God
a command. In his high priestly prayer, Jesus commands the Father to glorify
him with the glory Christ had with him before become flesh:
"And now, Father, GLORIFY
ME (Greek- doxason Me) in your presence with the glory I had with
you before the world began." John 17:5
The phrase, "glorify me" is a Greek imperative, with the word
"glorify" being in the aorist tense. Noted Greek Grammarian Dr.
Daniel B. Wallace comments on the Greek imperative with the aorist tense:
"The imperative is most
commonly used for commands, outnumbering prohibitive imperatives about five
to one. As a command, the imperative is usually from a superior to an
inferior in rank. It occurs frequently with the aorist and present (only rarely
with the perfect tense).
The basic force of the imperative of command involves
somewhat different nuances with each tense. With the aorist, the
force generally is to command the action as a whole, without focusing on
duration, repetition, etc. In keeping with its aspectual force, the aorist
puts forth a summary command..." (Wallace, Greek Grammar
Beyond the Basics [Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids MI, 1996], p.
485; bold emphasis)
As Wallace noted, the imperative is a command usually given from a superior
to an inferior in rank, but not always. In the case of John 17:5, it is two
equals addressing each other. The very reason why Jesus can demand to be
glorified by the Father is because Christ is equal to the latter in his Divine
nature, being fully God also. John himself states this truth in several places:
"In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the
beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made
that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men...
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the
world did not recognize him... No one has ever seen God, but God the One and
Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known." John
1:1-4, 10, 18
"So, because Jesus was doing these things on
the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, 'My Father is always
at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.' For this reason
the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the
Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL
WITH GOD." John 5:16-18
In light of all the above, we can see that Mr. Zaatari has done nothing more
than commit a categorical fallacy by assuming that if the Father were to
command the Son or that if Jesus mentions that the Father is “his God” this
would somehow diminish Jesus' Deity and co-equality. What he fails to realize
is that Jesus also gave God orders, which provides implicit evidence that we
are dealing with two distinct Persons who are co-equal in nature and essence.
Is he now going to assume that Jesus is greater than the Father since the former
commanded the latter to do something for him? Hardly. Mr. Zaatari’s challenge
isn’t hard to answer at all. For more information on topics like this, please
see the following:
http://answer-islam.org/AlmightyGod.html
http://answer-islam.org/JesusisYahweh.html
http://answer-islam.org/Trinityintro.html
To conclude, Jesus calling the Father “his God” doesn’t disprove that he has
a Divine nature, nor does it imply that Jesus isn’t the same kind of God that
his Father is, i.e. that Jesus is a lesser god. The Father himself addressed
Jesus as the eternally reigning God, with the Son issuing commands to him as
one who is equal in nature and power. That’s why Jesus could say the following:
"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 the Son does not honor the
Father who sent him." John 5:22-23
Note carefully:
honor the Son, EVEN AS they
honor the Father.
You honor God by praying to him and worshipping
him as the Creator, Sustainer and Savior of all. So for Jesus to say what he
did means that he was demanding that all persons give him the very same kind of
worship that one gives to God alone.
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