Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · 1. God in Christianity
'Son of God' in Jewish idiom
In short
- 1.Israel collectively: 'Israel is my firstborn son' [Exodus 4:22].
- 2.David and the Davidic king: 'You are my son; today I have become your father' [Psalm 2:7].
- 3.Adam is called 'the son of God' in Luke's own genealogy [Luke 3:38].
- 4.The peacemakers 'will be called sons of God' [Matthew 5:9] — plainly not deity.
- 5.Read in its own idiom, the title elevates but does not deify.
The claim being examined
The title 'Son of God' is taken by Trinitarians to indicate a unique metaphysical sonship — God the Son, begotten not made.
The Islamic position
Islam reads the title as the Hebrew Bible uses it: a term of closeness, election and righteousness, applied to many, and never implying divinity.
Analysis
The New Testament was written by Jews and first read by Jews, and in that vocabulary sonship language is relational, not ontological. The shift to a literal, metaphysical reading tracks the movement of the young Church out of its Jewish matrix and into a Greco-Roman world where sons of gods were a familiar category. The Qur'an's insistence that God 'begets not' is not a misunderstanding of the Christian doctrine — it is a rejection of the literalising move that produced it.
From the Qur'an
Qur'an 9:30
وَقَالَتِ النَّصَارَى الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ اللَّهِ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ قَوْلُهُم بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ
The Christians say the Messiah is the son of God. That is their statement from their mouths.
Qur'an 19:88-92
وَقَالُوا اتَّخَذَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ وَلَدًا لَّقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئًا إِدًّا
They say the Most Merciful has taken a son. You have done an atrocious thing.
From the Bible
Psalm 2:7
בְּנִי אַתָּה אֲנִי הַיּוֹם יְלִדְתִּיךָ
You are my son; today I have begotten you.
Read it in their BibleSources
Abu Zakariya, Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · James D.G. Dunn · Geza Vermes · Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah — ch. 1, pp. 36-42
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