Page 158 - Prophet Jesus (Pbuh): A Prophet Not A Son, Of God
P. 158

156     Prophet Jesus (pbuh): A Prophet, Not A Son, of God


                   Jesus (pbuh) and was frequently used for important individuals.
                   Therefore, his disciples adopted the son of God and used it to de-
                   scribe their leader: Prophet Jesus (pbuh). Accordingly, Prophet Jesus
                   (pbuh) was described as the son of God, just like the kings from the
                   line of David and persons of religious and moral importance living
                   in Jewish society. According to Hick, in Jewish thought those kings
                   and important people who were awarded this title were never liter-
                   ally regarded as being God's son. Rather, they were honored by
                   being regarded as such, and were revered and praised, solely on ac-
                   count of their personal characteristics. In other words, the title in
                   question was never used in a literal sense in Jewish thought. The
                   term son of God was used for people throughout Jewish history. The
                   Messiah, for example, was regarded as an earthly king who would
                   have to be descended from the line of Prophet David, regarded as
                   the son of God… The followers of Prophet Jesus (pbuh) were able to
                   adapt this term to him very easily. The way that Prophet Jesus
                   (pbuh) was seen as an entity with divine attributes is first of all the
                   result of the culture in which he lived. Accordingly, at the time of
                   Prophet Jesus (pbuh), certain individuals with important character-
                   istics were known as the son of God in the symbolic sense." 54
                   After considering Hick's views in some detail, Aydın says this about
              the use of the term the son of God:
                   Neither Prophet Jesus (pbuh) himself ever suggested that he was di-
                   vine, nor did the disciples ever ascribe to him any form of divinity
                   or god-likeness. On the contrary, the idea of his divinity was put for-
                   ward inside the first Christian community and gradually devel-
                   oped, assuming the nature of doctrine and dogma. That is because
                   expressions regarding the divine sonship gradually left the Jewish
                   context and entered that of Hellenistic Roman culture. 55

                   P. M. Casey, a New Testament scholar and author of several books
              on the origins of early Christianity, says: "… Jesus could have been called
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