Page 161 - Prophet Jesus (Pbuh): A Prophet Not A Son, Of God

HARUN YAHYA 159

gradually became divine. (Surely God is
beyond that!) William C. Varner examines
how the first Christians perceived this
term:
It is also true that the New Testament
calls each one who believes in Jesus a
"son of God." (John, 1:12) How then
does Jesus being the son of God differ
from my being a son of God? Does the
title son of God clearly express Jesus'
deity, or do Christians read more into
it than the Bible intends? The only
way to answer these questions is to
comprehend how the first hearers and
readers of the Christian message un-
derstood the title when they encoun-
tered it. Who were those first
hearers/readers? On the most basic
level, some were Gentiles and others
were Jews. Both already had the ex-
pression son of God in their first-cen-
tury linguistic and cultural
backgrounds. 61

Proponents of the trinity do not ac-
cept the interpretation that the concept of
the son of God in the New Testament is an
expression of honor and respect, even
though many New Testament statements
clearly use it in that very sense. For exam-
ple, the sons of God is used for all who have

faith in God and follow Prophet Jesus'