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Arius argued that the divine Triad was composed of three separate and distinct
realities, and that Jesus Christ was of created, finite nature. In other words, a man. Arius’
major work, Thalia (meaning “banquet”), was first publicized in 323 CE and created such
a stir that the Council of Nicaea was convened in 325 to address the Arian challenges.
For example, the Arian syllogism proposed that if Jesus was a man, then we shouldn’t
say he was God, and if Jesus was God, we shouldn’t say he died. Arius proposed that the
Godman concept doesn’t stand up to critical analysis, and defies explanation.
Arian challenges to Trinitarian theology would swamp and sink...
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What is said regarding Astrology (At- Tanjeem)
Imam Al-Bukhari recorded in his Sahih that Qamdah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "Allah created the stars for three purposes:
(1) As ornaments of the heavens;
(2) As missiles against...
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The objective researcher now needs to expand the list of notes as follows:
1. Jesus is assumed to be exactly what he called himself.
2. Jesus called himself “son of man.”
3. Nowhere in the Bible did Jesus ever lay claim to the literal title of “son of
God.”
4. And in any case, in Jewish idiom the term “son of God” was either
metaphorical or contrary to monotheism.
5. The primary translation of the phrase pais theou is...
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What is said regarding Belief in Omens (At- Tataiyur)
Allah the Most Exalted said: "Verily, their evil omens are with Allah but most of them know not." (7:131)
Allah the Most Exalted said: "They (Messengers) said: Your evil...
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Regarding the religious use of the word ebed, “The term serves as an expression
of humility used by the righteous before God.”88 Furthermore, “After 100 B.C. pais theou
more often means “servant of God,” as when applied to Moses, the prophets, or the three
children (Bar. 1:20; 2:20; Dan. 9:35).”89 A person can easily get into doctrinal quicksand
over this point, for out of the eight mentions of pais theou in the New Testament, only
five refer to Jesus (Matthew 12:18; Acts 3:13, 26;...
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Curing through Magical Spells (An-Nushrah)
Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Allah's Messenger (May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) was asked about An-Nushrah (the act of seeking cure from magical...
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It is noteworthy, however, that Jesus never claims for himself the
title “Son of God.” While he is represented as accepting it in Mark 14:61
62, both Matthew (27:64) and Luke (22:67) are at pains to tone down
Jesus’ acceptance of the title as though what he says to the High Priest is,
“It—like the title ‘messiah’—is your word, not mine.”84
Hasting’s Bible Dictionary concurs: “Whether Jesus used it of
himself is doubtful …”85
Might the phrase “son of man” imply uniqueness? Apparently not—the book of
Ezekiel contains ninetythree references to Ezekiel as “son of man.”
All of which leaves an objective...
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On Soothsayers and the like
Muslim recorded in his Sahih, from some of the wives (Hafsah) of the Prophet (May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) that he said: "Whoever goes to...
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Graham Stanton comments, “In the GraecoRoman world heroes, rulers, and
philosophers were called sons of God. In the Old Testament “son of God” is used of
angels or heavenly beings (e.g., Gen. 6:2,4; Deut. 32:8; Job 1:612), Israel or Israelites
(e.g., Ex. 4:22; Hosea 11:1), and also of the king (notably in 2 Sam. 7:14 and Psalm
2:7).” 80 And Joel Carmichael elaborates:
The title “son of God” was of course entirely familiar to Jews in
Jesus’ lifetime and indeed for centuries before: all Jews were sons of God;
this was in fact what distinguished them from other people….
During the postexilic period in Jewish history the word was further
applied to any particular pious man;...
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Clarification of types of Sorcery (As-Sihr)
Imam Ahmad (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Muhammad bin Ja'far narrated from Auf, from Haiyan bin Al- `Ala', from Qatan bin Qabisah, from his father that he heard...