Ashraf Schneider – Son of God – Part 1-1

			Assalamu alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh peace blessings, mercy be upon y'all. Welcome back to my
page. Today I wanted to talk to you about something that's been in the forefront of my mind lately.
I've recently started rereading moscato, a book by renowned scholar, Dr. Lawrence v. Brown. Now, the
first time I read this book was really, really early in my journey to faith and rereading it now.
unstruck once again, for how Dr. Brown unpacks the concept of a son of God, and if you'll indulge
me, it's this concept I'll be exploring and hopefully unpacking and making sense of with you, in
this first of a two part video series today. Obviously, the overwhelming Christian opinion is that
		

			Jesus peace and blessings be upon him was the Son of God, the definite article because he was the
only one. But was he actually the son of God, the Son of David, or the Son of Man. In the biblical
New Testament, Jesus is called as Son of David 14 times. For example, in the book of Matthew chapter
one, verse one, the gospel of Luke goes on to trace his lineage back 41 generations to David,
attempting to render the paternal claim literal, but this attempt is undercut by the book of
Matthew, offering an alternative lineage distancing Jesus from David, but only 26 generations,
incompatibility of number aside, both claims actually prove that even if David was a distant
		

			relation, Jesus could not literally have been the son of David, as several generations separated
than the title is thus an honorific one, a metaphorical one, and not a literal one. Can one not then
understand or interpret the Son of God title in the same way? Shouldn't one, at the very least we
need to take Jesus's word for his own identity? Because whether you're a Muslim or Christian, you
believe that Jesus peace and blessings be upon him was a messenger of God, right? So what did Jesus
have to say about his own identity? We know he called himself a son of man. Right? He did. So
repeatedly, and empathetically. Let's take a step back for a second, when people called Jesus the
		

			Son of God, what do they actually mean? Those who believe in the Trinity are not claiming that God
literally corporeal, impregnated a woman against a wall, or outside of the confines of marriage, nor
are they attempting to suggest that God took human form and calculated with his own creation. That's
something straight out of Greek mythology, right? So why Son of God? Should it not then be
understood as an honorific or metaphor? Just like Son of David, perhaps the most logical way to
interpret Son of God is not literally because you claim that God literally fathered a child with a
mortal is blasphemous, and simply conforms to the accepted mythological Tradition of the Greeks. The
		

			Koran, as it turns out, poses this very question. Namely, how can God have a son when he has no
consort? Logically, God has no partner, no spouse no equal. So how can you have a son? And whilst
some are quick to argue that God can do anything that plays straight into the kind of philosophical
but ultimately meaningless, navel gazing that leads to questions like can God create a rock so big
for him to carry? The answer, I believe is irrelevant, because God is not concerned with moral
philosophy, logical paradoxes are triggered. Rather, God is consistent in his being, and all his
actions are godly, and intentional. God's innate rationality and integrity are intrinsic to his
		

			character, as Almighty Creator. So the question really shouldn't be good God, but would God? Would
God have to find his own nature to father a son with a mortal woman? No. Would God have denied and
degraded himself and his supreme majesty to take a human form in order to copulate with a woman
outside of the confines of marriage, for which he himself calls? No, he'd be defying his own decree.
So then, what a son of God mean, scholars from various religious persuasions conclude that the title
must be interpreted metaphorically, as Son of David is interpreted metaphorically as an honorific.
In fact, the harpist Bible Dictionary itself suggests that Jesus uses Son of man as a simple self
		

			designation as self effecting way to refer to himself simply as a human being. Furthermore, the
Oxford Dictionary of Jewish religion confirms that the phrase of Son of God is idiomatic, not
literal. Similarly, the Hastings biblical dictionary notes that, in Semitic languages, sonship is
conceived of as loosely denoting moral rather than paternal connections, or relationships, to be
someone's son is thus to be morally similar to him, and not to be his direct descendant. Thus, the
sons of Bilal who are all wicked men, and are referenced in Judges chapter 19. Verse 22, for
example, are not all the biological offsprings of Billa
		

			As the man, but influenced by similar morals, or who behave in a similar fashion to him, the
biblical text is thus replete with metaphor. And so one cannot ignore the metaphorical weight with
which Son of God must be similarly imbued a son of God, then, would be any and everyone who reflects
a godly character, and who loves according to his decree, there's little evidence that Jesus was
ever given this honorific by his community during his lifetime, and to distort its meaning to imply
biological sonship is contrary to the Jewish monotheistic doctrine, even if you discount the
metaphorical application of similar titles completely. There are multiple SONS OF GOD listed in the
		

			Bible. So even then, Jesus would be a son of God, and not the Son of God. Adam is called the Son of
God in Luke chapter three, verse 38. And yes, Jesus is called God's Son in Matthew chapter three,
verse 17. But So Solomon and the entire Israelite nation, Jesus himself is quoted as saying, Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God, thus implying that anyone who practices
peacemaking and keeping the peace, a characteristic of God is like his child, in that they are
mimicking his nature. Jesus confirms that this is what he meant when he encourages his followers to
emulate the traits of God and His morality, so that they may be sons of their father in heaven. He
		

			even calls God their father and not his father, meaning he acknowledges being a son of God does not
claim to have any exclusive rights to that title. As a matter of fact, Jesus describes himself as
the Son of Man at eight times in the New Testament, but only others refer to him as the Son of God
as such, although there are two verses in the New Testament in which Jesus refers to himself as son,
only in relation to his referring to God as his father. The authenticity of these statements is,
according to the Harper's Bible Dictionary, often called into question, and so it remains uncertain
whether Jesus ever actually called himself son, even in relation to God as Father. Regardless, it is
		

			worth noting that Jesus never honors himself with the title Son of God. Nor did he accept honorifics
easily in general. For example, in a particular instance, recorded in Luke chapter 22, verse 67,
Jesus tells a high priest who tries to honor him that way, it the Son of God, honorific, like the
title Messiah is the priest word, not Jesus's own. As a result, I cannot help but conclude that
Jesus, if we are to accept that he is a messenger of God, and therefore an honorable and godly man
was who he says he was, if I accept Jesus as a messenger, I feel I must accept that he is telling
the truth about himself and his identity. When he calls himself the Son of Man 88 times, I feel it's
		

			my responsibility to listen. Thank you so much for watching this video, and for your ongoing
support. If you have any questions about any of the content I've shared with you today, please feel
free to contact me via my page, and I'd be more than happy to share additional resources with you.
If you like the content of this video, be sure to check out part two coming soon, which will focus
on the construction of the concept of the Son of God through mistranslation, and further illustrate
why I believe Jesus peace and blessings be upon him to be a messenger of God, and the metaphorical
Son of God, but not the literal Son of God.