HERE ARE A FEW QUESTIONS MUSLIM CLERICS MIGHT ASK CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS DURING DEBATES, ALONG WITH SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES:
A. Common Questions from Islamists (Muslim Debaters)
Muslim debaters often frame their questions based on Islamic theology & critiques of Christian doctrine.
1. Where did Jesus say, “I am God, worship me” explicitly?
2. How can God die on the cross if He is eternal?
3. Why does Jesus pray to God if He is God?
4. Isn’t the Trinity polytheism?
5. Why would God need a son?
6. How can God be three and one at the same time without contradiction?
7. Why does the Bible have so many versions?
8. Who wrote the Gospels, and why do they differ in details?
9. Was Paul a true apostle or did he distort Jesus’ original message?
10. Why did Jesus say the Father is greater than Him?
Some questions here are repetitive so I'll just answer them once.
THE FIRST QUESTION MUSLIM CRITICS DEBATE AGAINST CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS IS:
"Where did Jesus say 'I am God, worship me" explicitly?
The reason why they ask this question is because they believe we Christians are worshipping Isa, their Arabic equivalent of Jesus, whom they consider just a Prophet and messenger of Allah.
They believe in his miraculous birth, being born by the Virgin Mary
They believe he is the Messiah (Al- Masih)
But they do not believe he died on the cross and that he was buried and that he rose on the third day
But rather, they affirm he was taken up into heaven after his earthly ministry and the one day, he will return to the earth.
They affirm fully his humanity but denies strongly his divinity and oneness with God the Father whom they consider to be Allah.
But here in the RAMAH SCHOOL OF MINISTRY and in the Oasis life Network, we do not believe Allah is the same as God the Father.
Allah is a Moon god
God the Father is our God.
Now to answer this question
"where did Jesus say 'I am God, worship me' explicitly"
In the bible, there's no place Jesus said this exact words. But in Jewish language and understanding, they could grasp he was claiming equality and oneness with God in several occasions
First POINT, in John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
The Word here I AM is the root word for YHWH which is the name God used to reveal himself to Moses
Exodus 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
I AM hath sent me to you
God the Father hath sent me to you.
This was the same Word Jesus used when he said before Abraham was, I AM
So he was affirming his divinity and Godhead
There are also other places the word I AM was used in the old Testament.
Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
There are other places in the gospels where Jesus used the word I AM.
Here are the highlights:
- I am the Bread of Life John 6:35, 48
- I am the Light of the World John 8:12
- I am the Door of the Sheep John 10:7, 9
- I am the Good ShepherdJohn 10:11, 14
- I am the Resurrection and the Life John 11:25
- I am the Way and the Truth and the Life John 14:6
- I am the True Vine John 15:1, 5
The secondly point, He said 'I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE' - John 10:30
After he said this, the next verse
John 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
The Jews took up stones once again to kill him because they knew and fully understood he claimed equality with God by saying he is one with God
THE SECOND POINT TO AFFIRM HIS DIVINITY IS THAT Jesus Accepted Worship
Only God accepts worship from men.
Matthew 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
The disciples worshipped Jesus after he walked on water; a great miraculous feat impossible for mere mortal.
Jesus never rebuked them for worshipping him.
John 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
This happened after Christ opened the eye of a blind man.
Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Also see;
Matthew 28:17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
The disciples hailed and worshipped Jesus after his resurrection & he didn't say "Stop worshipping me"
Yeshua accepted worship unlike angels, the apostles and heavenly saints who rejected it..
Revelation 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Thirdly, Jesus forgave sins- only what God can do
The Power to forgive sins was only held by God the Father in the old covenant
David often said the LORD GOD is rich in mercy, including the old Testament prophets
But Christ, in the days of his flesh had mercy on men, he had the authority to do so..
Mark 2:7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
The Jews then saw this as blasphemous because they knew only God could forgive sins
Jesus not only forgave the man sick of the palsy, but cemented his claim of divinity by healing the man permanently.
The fourth point is Jesus used titles reserved for God
Let's expound on this
Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Jesus called himself Son of Man multiple times in the New Testament.
This was the figure who received eternal worship in the visions of Daniel the Prophet, who was given Dominion, Power & Glory and a Kingdom (The Church)
He (Christ) was brought to the Ancient of Days (God the Father)
Psalms 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Same vision David saw over 600 years before Daniel
Revelation 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
Same vision Apostle John saw about Christ in his glorified state
He (Jesus) was constantly affirming this Son of Man status to identify himself with man. It was more like a confession
He was calling himself Son of Man so you and I can call ourselves sons of God
So the first title he used was Son of Man
Second is "Son of God"
Son of God doesn't mean God had a wife in heaven who produced a son after an intercourse.
It doesn't mean Jesus is subordinate to God in sonship
What it means is "God made manifest in Human flesh"
1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
The third title is "The Lord of the Sabbath"
The Jews revered days, moon celebrations, feast celebrations because these were part of their ceremonial codes
Jesus calling himself the Lord or Master of the Sabbath was him declaring himself God.
Mark 2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath
In short, he was saying "I AM GOD"
The fifth point is that Jesus was condemned for blasphemy
Lets expound on this
In his trial with the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Chief Priest, he affirmed his Godhead
Mark 14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
14:63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
14:64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
Jesus replied the Chief Priest, I AM.
He quoted Daniel the Prophet in Daniel 7 claiming he is the figure "the Son of Man"
He said they would see him sit at the right hand of Power which signified his Eternal Lordship & Sovereignty
He said he would come in the clouds of heaven - which signified his judgement on the earth in his second Advent..
They (The Jews) clearly understood all these, not in the same way we 21st century Christians would, because we aren't Jews by citizenship.
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THE SECOND QUESTION MUSLIM CRITICS DEBATE AGAINST CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS IS:
HOW CAN GOD DIE ON A CROSS IF HE IS ETERNAL?
The first defense we as Christian Apologists use to counter this is that Death here doesn't mean Annihilation but separation.
Jesus experienced physical death on the cross, his spirit was separated from his body because he wore the nature of sin
His body died but his spirit still remained eternal, immortal and unchanging.
So we make them know Jesus didn't cease to exist but he just changed location, still retaining his Godhead even after his death.
The second defense is to make them know exactly why he experienced this death.
We introduce the concept of the hypostatic union to them
The hypostatic union means Divinity in Humanity; Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.
He had to die the death of man (for mankind) and at the same time have the nature of God to carry the sins of the entire world.
The third defense we give to this is to make them know why exactly he died on the cross.
He did this to satisfy the claims of divine Justice.
The altar of sacrifice where the lamb would be slain & the blood poured on the mercy seat, offered by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, once a year.
The cross of Christ is that altar where Jesus fulfilled this practice in the flesh.
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THE THIRD QUESTION MUSLIM CRITICS DEBATE AGAINST CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS IS:
WHY DOES JESUS PRAY TO GOD IF HE IS GOD?
So to answer this.
We must make them understand the concept of Trinity
God the Father is the El- Shaddai, the Almighty God.
God the Son is Jesus (Yeshua)
God the Spirit is the Spirit of the Godhead (the Holy Spirit)
The Trinity is One God in three distinct persons
So God the father (YHVH) is not God the Son (Jesus)
God the Father is not the Holy Spirit
God the Son (Yeshua) is not the Holy spirit
But God the Father (Yod Hei Vav Hei) is God
God the Son (Yeshua) is God
The Holy spirit is God.
This was what the Council of Nicaea established as doctrine in 325 A.D about the Trinity.
So the three are coequal, coeternal and unchanging, equal in essence (Homoousios)
The Trinity isn't three gods (that's polytheism), in this case, tritheism.
That's what pagans worship, multiple gods.
We believers worship one God, but three distinct persons
Deut 6:4 KJV
Believers also tend to think God the father changes sometimes into God the Son (Jesus) and sometimes changes into the Holy spirit to perform several roles
This is an heresy called modalism.
So Jesus prayed to the Father in Heaven in the days of his flesh.
Also, He prayed to show his obedience and love for the Father.
Him praying doesn't de-authenticate his Godhead. It doesn't mean he is in subordination to God the Father.
Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
So prayer revealed his relationship with the Father, not inferiority.
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THE FOURTH QUESTION MUSLIM CRITICS DEBATE AGAINST CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS IS:
isn't the Trinity Polytheism?
I already answered this in the third question.
Biblical evidence for the Trinity
One God: Isaiah 45:5, Deut. 6:4
Jesus is God: John 1:1, John 20:28
Holy Spirit is God: Acts 5:3–4
Three Persons Together: Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14
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THE FIFTH QUESTION MUSLIM CRITICS DEBATE AGAINST CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS IS:
"WHY WOULD GOD NEED A SON?
To answer critics this, we must make them know God doesn't need a son, because he is All Sufficient.
humanity does need a Son, it's why God became man to die.
And that Sonship doesn't mean subordination as they tend to believe.. It's Divinity in Humanity (As we established earlier, the hypostatic union)
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Unto us, not unto God.
We need the Son, God doesn't because He is the Son.
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THE SIXTH QUESTION MUSLIM CRITICS DEBATE AGAINST CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS IS:
HOW CAN GOD BE THREE IN ONE AT THE SAME TIME WITHOUT CONTRADICTION?
To explain this to Muslim skeptics, we must make them understand the concept of the Trinity
In their minds, they believe the concept is absurd, illogical and incoherent with reasoning.
But to the believer, the Trinity is a blessing ( Blessed Trinity) shrouded in mystery
A mystery is something beyond the scope of human understanding yet not illogical.
An absurdity is something illogical and unreasonable.
God is actually One (in essence) in three distinct persons (the father, the Son & the Holy spirit).
God isn't one person having three roles
God isn't three gods.
To understand this, think about the three edges of a triangle. There are three vertices, yet still one triangle
Think of the Sun, the rays of the Sun and the feeling we get when the ray touches us
Think of the mind, the will and the intellect , yet it's still one Soul.
Think of ice, water and steam
These illustrations mustn't be stretched to avoid dabbling into error.
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THE SEVENTH QUESTION MUSLIM CRITICS DEBATE AGAINST CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS IS:
"WHY DOES THE BIBLE HAVE SO MANY VERSIONS?"
It's one question they often ask to disprove the authenticity of the scriptures.
These Muslims are very vast in the knowledge of sacred writings, they even quote bible verses more than we believers.
Their aim is to push the believer during debate to a corner with these questions.
They'll say things like,
The bible was written originally in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin
Today why do we have so many translations like King James Version, New King James Version, NASB
Another reason why they say this is to disprove the inerrancy of the scriptures
They'll say, the bible has so many translations because there's a hidden agenda by those who changed the manuscript
Some will even say, many words were removed and added to suit the belief of the writers.
How then do we answer them?
By letting them know these translations were done to be easily understood by different languages, different cultures spanning across different times
The King James Version was written in 1611.
Times have changed, now we have the New Living Translation, New American Standard Bible (NASB), Amplified Bible, all having their modes of communication yet the meaning still remaining exactly same
Although there are some unfaithful writers who have changed some things, it doesn't disprove the fact that the bible isn't correctly translated by those deemed faithful in writing
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THE NINTH QUESTION MUSLIM CRITICS DEBATE AGAINST CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS IS:
"WAS PAUL A TRUE APOSTLE OR DID HE DISTORT JESUS' ORIGINAL MESSAGE?"
The reason why they ask this is because even in the body of Christ, there are many sects and preachers who doesn't fully affirm the authenticity of Paul's apostleship
Jesus' teachings were heavily centered on the Gospel of the Kingdom.
He often used times, seasons, agriculture, family, government to teach about the Kingdom of God
But in Paul's letters or teachings, he taught mostly to a large degree on salvation by grace through faith alone
Other apostles like James, Jesus' brother taught about salvation by grace through both faith & works
What both the critics and those preachers fail to understand is that
• Jesus chose Apostle Paul Himself in Acts 9
And He gave Paul his Revelations - Galatians 1:11-13
Also the Early apostles (James, Peter, John) received Paul and confirmed his apostleship -Galatians 1
They ordained him for ministry
Also Jesus taught about salvation by grace through faith, just like Paul too. Luke 18: 9-14
And lastly, the fruit of Paul's ministry authenticates his true apostolic calling
• He wrote 13 books in the New Testament
• He suffered the sufferings of Christ -2 Cor 11
• He Planted Churches across the Roman World and built men in truth and righteousness..
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Daniel Ezeokeke
Lead Instructor at the Oasis life Network Theological Seminary - Ramah School of Ministry 2025
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