FREE ESSAY ON MAN & GOD

MAN & GOD

Man and God
A conflict exists between leaders and lay members alike in two of the world's mainstream
religions. Christianity and Islam, are in conflict or their respective stances over their
disagreement over the divinity of man and God. The philosophical perspective held by each
of these religions about the divinity of man and God is paramount in insuring that it's
teachings will dominate whether it is Islamic or Christian. The philosophical assumptions
that cause the disagreement generate in a follower the belief that his or her religion is
dominate over the other. What problems and benefits does the concept of the divinity of
man being placed in the form of God afford the followers of each of these religions? Was
Jesus the Son of man or the Son of God are the focal issues argued in this Philosophical
research paper. 
In Christian theology, Jesus Christ is the supreme deity who is both God and man in the
flesh, who walked the earth.1 It is believed by Christians, that Jesus Christ was born
through the virgin Mary. This birth was the beginning of a series of miracles throughout
His adulthood and life. These divine miracles of Jesus are what sets the decree of unity
between man and God, in Christian theology.
In his life Jesus preformed many miraculous acts. Such acts as Walking on water,2 healing
the blind3, and healing the sick4 are acts beyond human capability. These acts,
Christians argue, can be manifested only by God. Being God is the only way or reason
Jesus was able to will these miraculous acts: God came down to earth in flesh and blood
to make right, what was wrong. For the Christians, Jesus' unblemished record has given
him the most high and honorable place in Christianity--The Son of God.
In contrast, the Islamic religion has its understanding of Jesus and his reputation.
These understandings fall under the 5 pillars5 of faith: declaration of faith; Payer;
Charity; fasting; and pilgrimage. The pillar of faith' is the practical guide of a
follower of Islam. In Islam, the followers argue that there is no deity other than Allah;
and Muhammad is His messenger. Muslims declare their supreme being is Allah who is
omnipresent and has no physical image. Under the law of Islam, Muslims believe only Allah
has the divine power to create miracles and those miracles are signs to guide his
creation on the right path. 
In Islamic theology, Muslims are taught to believe in all the holy books (Engil, Torah &
Qur'an) and all the messengers6 in the Bible, from Adam to Muhammad. One of the major
sins in Islamic theology is to place any of these messengers on the same level as Allah.

Muslims are taught about the life of Jesus Christ, but they do not attribute the
miraculous events that Jesus performed, to Jesus himself. They view Jesus as endowed with
certain divine powers, as any of the other Messengers, but withhold from Him that He was
God incarnate. Muslims support their understanding of Jesus by arguing that Jesus is the
son of Mary, hence the son of man, but not the Son of God. This highlights the major
disagreement between the two philosophical perspectives of the two religions being
discussed: The Christian perspective, reveals Jesus as God manifest in human form and the
Islamic perspective views Jesus as a great man but without the presence of God in Him.
Apparently, from within both of these religions understanding of their religious
theories, is a matter of faith about the nature of the son of God. In different religious
situations that occurred in in America in the Twentieth century one can point out as to
why in the Islamic tradition there is a reluctance to perhaps agree that man is God. 
In the Twentieth century there have been and still are groups, that claim themselves as
the true adherents of Christianity or Islam because of the words and actions they may
speak and demonstrate. These groups often develop their own sons of God. or deities.
These deities then sets the laws that govern the group. Often these so called deities
begin to act in ways that get people to acquiesce their personal powers in favor of the
diety's. These groups usually do not become separated from mainstream religions from
which they received their impetus but begin to proclaim they are the true and righteous
to which God have given the banner to set things right. 
One example from the Islamic tradition is that of the Nation of Islam (NOI). The Nation
of Islam is a group that Elijah Poole--Fard Muhammad established in the 1920's. NOI
project itself as part of the religion of Islam. The followers of NOI believe in all the
pillars of faith and will validate their Islamic principle with the Qur' an and Holy
Bible. Elijah Poole (Fard Muhammad), claimed himself to be Allah in person. But according
to some religious scholars Mr. Poole did not meet all of the qualifications for being God
on Earth. But this did not stop Mr. Poole from establishing an organizational linkage for
the continuance of his rule. Elijah poole's son, Elijah Muhammad, was to become the
Prophet Muhammad of Allah7 in the Nation of Islam.
Even though the perfect practice and thought of Islam is based on the first fundamental
principle of faith, which states that Allah has no physical image Mr. Poole ignored this.
The suggestion of God/Allah being placed in the form of man, rejects the laws revealed in
the Muslim's Holy book, the Qur'an. Muslim scholars argue that those who support a deity
other than Allah have gone from the direction on which Allah has ordained to be
acceptable; causing those persons to suffer the punishment of Allah for claiming they are
Allah. 
Another example comes from Christian theology. A group called the Branch Davidians8 were
shaped in the same manner as the Nation of Islam. The Branch Davidians originated from
the Christian sect of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in 1929. The Davidians was founded
by a man named Victor Houteff who proclaimed himself to be a divine messenger sent by
God. He did not agree with the teachings of the Seventh-Day Adventist and began his own
Christian sect called The Shepherd's Rod, later becoming the Branch Davidians headed by
David Koresh. David Koresh believed he was a Christ, regarding himself as the Lamb from
Revelation 5; the anointed one who will bring about the second coming of Jesus Christ. 
In both, Man took on the role of being God, not in accordance with the mainstream
doctrines, on which they were rooted and later from which they separated or from which
they were denounced. A God given role, taken on by two men who claimed to be the
Omnipotent One, could not even escape death and died, but then, nor could Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we must ask: Is the Islamic theology correct in its stance of denying that God
is the Messenger? 
The two above examples suggest that there is a need for caution in accepting or
attributing God in man. They (examples) also indicate that there is much bias in the
thinking of each of the religious ideologies under discussion. They also indicate that
there can be no one religion that will satisfy all of human kind and our need to
individually pursue the righteous path according to our own mental bias, which play
themselves out in the forms and thoughts of various religious doctrines.
Bibliography
Bibliography
The Bible; The Bible Gateway, KJV. version
The Bible Gateway, http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible, 1Corinthians 2:14
The Bible Gateway, http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible, Matt. 14:22-34
The Bible Gateway, http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible, Matt. 9:27
The Bible Gateway, http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible,(Matt. 8:14-17)
The Holy Qur'an; IslamiCity.org, Yusuf Ali Translation
Shahaddah(declaration of faith), Salaat(Prayer), Zakaat(Charity), Syawm(Fasting),
Hajj(pilgrimage)
The Holy Qur'an, HTTP://islam.org/mosque/quran/2.htm#136
The Holy Qur'an, HTTP://islam.org/mosque/quran/49.htm#13
The Nation of Islam online
The Nation of Islam Muslim Program, http://noi.org/program.html, "12. WE BELIEVE that
Allah..."
The Branch Davidians
Religious Movements Branch Dav,
http://religiousmovements.lib.Virginia.edu/nrms/bran.html