Short answer
No. The Bible itself says God (﷾) is not a man and does not change. In Hosea God (﷾) says, "I am God, and not man". In Malachi he says, "I am the Lord, I change not". One person cannot have opposite qualities at the same time. God (﷾) cannot die, yet Christians say Jesus died. God (﷾) cannot be tempted, yet the devil tempted Jesus. God (﷾) knows everything, yet Jesus grew in wisdom and did not know the hour of the end. God (﷾) depends on no one, yet Jesus said his teaching was not his own. No one has seen God (﷾), yet thousands saw Jesus. Calling this a mystery does not remove the contradiction. Islam's answer fits every one of these verses: Jesus was a man and a messenger of God (﷾).
Full explanation
What the Bible says God (﷾) is
The prophets say God (﷾) does not change and is not a man. The New Testament adds three things. God (﷾) cannot be tempted with evil. He alone has immortality, which means he cannot die. And no one has ever seen him.
“For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
“I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.”
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:”
“Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”
What Christians teach: two natures
In 451 a church council met at Chalcedon. It defined Christ as one person with two complete natures, divine and human. A nature is a kind of being, and divine means God's (﷾) kind of being. On this view he was hungry, was tempted, learned and died in his human nature, while remaining fully God. Christians also cite Hebrews, a New Testament letter. It says he was tempted in every way yet without sin.
The council confessed one and the same Christ in two natures, divine and human, and declared him "not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son".
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
What the Gospels say of Jesus
The Gospels show Jesus with the opposite of each quality above. He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and he was hungry. He grew in wisdom. He said he did not know the day or the hour. He said his teaching was not his own. He said places in his kingdom were not his to give, but his Father's. Jesus never says "now I speak as man" and "now as God". The idea of sorting his words between two natures is not in the Bible.
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”
“And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.”
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
“Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”
“And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.”
| Point | God (﷾) | Jesus |
|---|---|---|
| Temptation | “God cannot be tempted with evil” (James 1:13). | He was led into the wilderness “to be tempted of the devil” (Matthew 4:1). |
| Knowledge | Knows everything. | He “increased in wisdom” (Luke 2:52), and did not know the day or the hour (Mark 13:32). |
| Death | He “only hath immortality” (1 Timothy 6:16). | Christians say he died on the cross. |
| Being seen | “No man hath seen God at any time” (John 1:18). | Thousands saw him. |
| Depending on another | Depends on no one. | “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me” (John 7:16). |
God (﷾) says, “I am God, and not man” (Hosea 11:9). Calling this a mystery does not remove the contradiction.
In Paul's greetings, God (﷾) is the Father
Paul was a Christian missionary of the first century. Almost every letter of Paul opens with a greeting of grace and peace. In each of these the word God belongs to the Father. Jesus is named beside him as a second figure: "God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ". Paul never swaps the two names. He never sends greetings from "God the Son". At Jesus' baptism in the river Jordan, a voice from heaven called him the beloved Son, in whom God (﷾) is well pleased. As in Paul's greetings, God (﷾) is the Father, and Jesus is someone else.
“To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”
“And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
How the New Testament ranks them
Paul writes that the head of Christ is God, and that Christ gave himself as a sacrifice to God (﷾). Peter, one of Jesus' closest followers, gave the first sermon in the book of Acts. He calls Jesus a man approved of God (﷾), through whom God (﷾) did the miracles.
“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”
“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:”
The Qur'an's simpler account
The Qur'an says Jesus was a messenger, created like Adam, and that he and his mother both ate food. The Gospels agree. He ate and drank, he slept, and he wept. God (﷾) needs none of these things. The Qur'an describes God (﷾) as one who neither begets nor is begotten, with none like him.
“Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!”
“The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: "Be". And he was.”
“The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.”
“And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.”
“Jesus wept.”
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
Verse by verse
Hebrews 4:15 — Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 15
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
Cited for
Jesus was tempted as a man, yet as God he could not sin, so both natures are kept.
The response
James says God (﷾) cannot be tempted with evil. If the one person who was tempted is God the Son, James is contradicted. If the one tempted was someone other than God the Son, there are two persons in Christ, which the creeds deny.
Where it lands — Either God (﷾) was tempted, against James, or Christ is two persons, against the creeds.
Mark 13:32 — Gospel of Mark, chapter 13, verse 32
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
Cited for
Christ has a divine mind and a human mind; he knew the hour in the one and not in the other.
The response
A mind does not know anything by itself; it is what a person knows with. Christ is one person, so that one person both knew the hour and did not know it at the same moment. That is a contradiction, not a mystery. And just before he is taken up, in Acts, he still says the times are ones the Father "hath put in his own power". Revelation, the last book of the Bible, opens by saying that God (﷾) gave Jesus its revelation of things to come.
Where it lands — The limit may be placed in a nature or in a mind. Either way, the one person Christ is would both know and not know the hour. And the Bible says that even in heaven his knowledge of the future was given him by God (﷾).
Definition of Chalcedon, 451 CE — on the one person of Christ
The council confessed one and the same Christ in two natures, divine and human, and declared him "not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son".
Cited for
Christ died in his human nature; his divine nature did not die.
The response
A nature does not die; a person does. Cyril of Alexandria was a church leader of the fifth century. In 553 the Council of Constantinople upheld his formal curses, called anathemas. The twelfth condemns anyone who will not confess that the Word of God "tasted death in the flesh". The Word of God is the title Christians give to God the Son. Yet 1 Timothy says God (﷾) alone has immortality. If only the man died, the sacrifice was a man's, not God's (﷾).
Where it lands — Either God (﷾) died, against 1 Timothy, or the sacrifice was only a man's, against the Church's own doctrine of atonement.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christ is one person in two complete natures, divine and human, as Chalcedon defined. What fits a man is said of his human nature, and his divinity is untouched. The union is a mystery above reason, not against it.
Christ is one person with a full divine nature and a full human nature, joined without mixing.
Rebuttal
That is the Church's teaching, but the Bible says God (﷾) is not a man and does not change. One who was not a man, then became one, has changed. Calling it a mystery does not remove the contradiction.
Hebrews says Jesus was tempted in every way yet without sin. Christians read this as temptation in his human nature only.
Rebuttal
James says God (﷾) cannot be tempted with evil. If the one who was tempted is God the Son, James is contradicted. If it was someone else, there are two persons in Christ, which the creeds deny.
The Islamic perspective
God (﷾) is one, unchanging and not a man. Jesus was a perfect man and a messenger of God (﷾), and every verse about him fits that picture without a second nature.
The Bible has God (﷾) say that he does not change and that he is not a man.
James says God (﷾) cannot be tempted with evil, and Matthew says the devil tempted Jesus.
Jesus grew in wisdom, and said he did not know the day or the hour. Yet God (﷾) knows all things.
Jesus said his teaching was not his own and that some things were not his to give.
The New Testament says God (﷾) alone has immortality and has never been seen, yet Jesus was seen by many.
Cyril of Alexandria, a fifth-century church leader, wrote formal curses (anathemas). The twelfth condemns anyone who will not confess that the Word of God, the title Christians give God the Son, tasted death in the flesh. Yet 1 Timothy says God (﷾) alone has immortality.
The greetings that open Paul's letters give the name God to the Father and name the Lord Jesus Christ beside him. They never use the two interchangeably.
The New Testament places God (﷾) above Christ, and Peter calls Jesus a man approved of God (﷾).
The Qur'an teaches that Jesus was a messenger who, like his mother, needed food, and so was not God.