:salam2:
Well i love the work of Ahmed Deedat and Dr Zakir Naik ... i enjoy doing comparitive religion as many ppl might know here
i have a question there is a verse in bible that always shuts me up its
John 8:58
In this verse Jesus (PBUH) said he is before Abrahim (PBUH)
now im confuse christian missionaries always bring this up and say see he is God (nauzubillah) how do i refute them using this verse please dont give me other verses i need help with this verse
thank you
Salaam Aleykom, I don't know if you are still searching for an answer to this verse but I found something that should help you inshaAllah. Here is the verse in John first of all:
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
The first thing that needs to be clarified about this verse is that it is not an accurate or honest translation. Neither Hebrew, Aramaic nor koine' Greek have capital letters, therefore "I AM" is not correct but it is dishonesty on behalf of translators. The word in Greek for "I am" is "eimi" and this word is found in the New Testament more than 150 times. Why is it only translates as "I AM" one time while kept in small letters everywhere else? This is prejudice on behalf of translators and it is not correctly translated. Furtheremore, about this verses which Christians try to quote as proof that Jesus(as) claimed divinity, I found something else. Here is what the Old Testament says about the prophet Jeremiah in the book named after him:
5 “ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Again as can be seen, even if Jesus truly said "before Abraham was I am" this does not prove divinity because it can be interpreted in many ways. If the verse in John is taken literally, all it means is that Jesus(as) may have had a pre human existense and we all did in general because we all existed in God's knowledge before we came to be. God is the most wise and all knowing, therefore, He knew when there was nothing that we all would be here and He already knows what will happen because keep in mind that we(Muslims) believe in the qadar of Allah.
Either way, this verse does not prove anything and it isn't strong enough to use as evidence for divinity. There is no verse where Jesus(as) is recorded as saying "worship me" or "I am God" or anything in that nature. The Bible can be interpreted in so many different ways and the verses are unclear in many ways. This is why there are so many different denominations who interpret the Bible differently and one example are the Unitarian Christians who do not believe Jesus was God nor do they believe in a trinity, yet they read the Bible too. The verse quoted to prove divinity are not explicit nor are they clear to prove divinity. There are, however, many verses that prove the contrary.
I hope this helps you inshaAllah.
