A Leading Muslim Taqiyyist Strikes Back!
This will be a very short reply to Muslim taqiyyist Sami Zaatari who has come out with a “response” where he shamefully twists my words in order to mislead his readers and thinks he can actually get away with it!
He quotes a part of my reply to Paul Bilal Williams where I demonstrated from Matthew 9:1-8 that Jesus carried out some of the divine functions which the OT ascribes to Yahweh, such as forgiving sins, healing diseases, and exposing what people were thinking within themselves. Zawadi tries to use this to prove that people were being forgiven without needing Jesus to die on the cross for their sins!
Here is what he writes:
Sam Shamoun is essentially trying to argue that Jesus must be God because he was able to forgive people of their sins; the major irony is that Shamoun doesn’t realize that he is simply affirming Williams’ argument! The fact that Jesus was able to forgive sins BEFORE HE WENT ON A CROSS proves that sins could be forgiven and removed WITHOUT the cross, it shows that the crucifixion was not needed, and that Jesus could’ve simply forgiven people of their sins. Furthermore Shamoun states that this proves Jesus must be God as only God can forgive sin, therefore Shamoun affirms this attribute of God, that he is the forgiving one, i.e. he can forgive sins, so once again this proves the cross and crucifixion was not needed as all God could have done was to forgive people of their sins!
All in all this shows that the crucifixion was NOT the only method of forgiveness, there was a far more simple way of removing sins, and it was by the act of forgiveness. No blood, no death, no human sacrifice, but the simple act of: ‘I forgive you’. (Sam Shamoun agrees, sins could be forgiven without the Cross)
What makes Zaatari’s butchering of my words so reprehensible is that this is what I also wrote in the very same rebuttal:
For instance, Jesus in Matthew explicitly says that he has come to lay his life down as a ransom for many in order that their sins might be forgiven:
"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” Matthew 26:26-28
Notice that Jesus emphatically says that his vicarious death is the grounds for forgiveness and redemption. This in itself proves that Jesus thought of himself as God since the Hebrew Bible clearly teaches that no human being can offer a sufficient enough ransom to God to save someone from ever dying in order to live forever!
Jesus himself claimed that only God could save anyone:
“Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, FOLLOW ME.’ When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” Matthew 19:21-26 – cf. Mark 10:21-27; Luke 18:22-27
Hence, the only way that Jesus’ death could redeem anyone from ever dying AND GUARANTEE THE FORGIVENESS OF ALL OF A PERSON’S SINS is if he is God!
Notice how this logically works out:
A. It is impossible for any human being to redeem or save anyone since only God can save man.
B. Jesus is able to save man and wipe away all their transgressions BY HIS VICARIOUS SACRIFICE.
C. The only way Jesus could do this is if he was/is God. (Bold and capital emphasis ours)
I clearly stated that Jesus’ vicarious death provides the basis upon which Christ can graciously forgive all those who turn to him. In other words, since Christ’s death satisfies God’s perfect justice he is therefore able to pardon transgressors who believe in him.
I even wrote a two part article (*, *) showing that the reason why God could forgive sinners even before Jesus’ actual death is because God had already foreordained from before the creation of the world that Christ would die on the cross as an atoning sacrifice. As such, God was forgiving people before Jesus’ death because he knew that the blood of Christ on Calvary’s Cross would be the payment for all the sins committed by the people of God.
Zaatari is aware of all these replies which means that he has deliberately perverted my words in order to deceive his readers.
Unfortunately, such deceptive and dishonest tactics are typical of Islamic apologists like Zaatari, which isn’t really surprising. After all, these dawagandists are following a god who boasts of being the best deceiver of them all and are emulating a prophet who wasn’t above using lies and deceit in order to murder his opponents:
Allah – The Greatest Deceiver of them All
Allah as a Deceiver
None Can Feel Safe From Allah’s Schemes
Muhammad And His Personal Enemies
Therefore, we shouldn’t be shocked to find the followers of such a man employing lies and deceit in order to mislead people into thinking that their religion is the truth.
As I have often said, the character of one’s god will affect one’s behavior and conduct. Thus, since Zaatari’s deity is a capricious deceiver then it shouldn’t be surprising that he is constantly employing lies and deceptions to achieve his aim. He is simply being a good Muslim at this point.