Another reason the mention of “Christ” in the Quran destroys Islam
As a recap and following on from a previous article (linked below), we earlier discussed how the Quran fundamentally misunderstands “Christ” as a name rather than a title and by acknowledging that Jesus is the Christ, concedes doctrines like the trinity and events like the crucifixion which the Quran explicitly denies thus leading to a fundamentally self-destructive message.
To summarise the dilemma Islam is in; The Quran confirms the inspiration (Surah 3:3, 2:41, 2:98, 2:101), preservation (Surah 6:115, 18:27) and authority (Surah 5:47, 68, 10:94) of the Gospel and the Torah, yet the Torah and the Gospel contradict the Quran, so either the Torah and Gospel are corrupt, in which case Islam is false for claiming they are preserved, inspired and authoritative as well as for confirming corrupt scriptures or the Torah and Gospel are indeed inspired, authoritative and preserved in which case, Islam is false because its message does not line up with the Gospel and the Torah.
Now in this light, there is yet another fundamental way, the mention of “Christ” destroys Islam.
The understanding of the “Christ” in the Jewish context is that He would be the final messenger of God and seal up prophecy. Daniel writes concerning the Messiah,
“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.”
(Daniel 9:24)
Daniel in another place interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as revealing the kingdom of the Messiah set up without hands will be not just an everlasting kingdom but the final kingdom,
“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”
(Daniel 2:44)
The writers of the New Testament also shared this sentiment of the Christ, which they applied to the person of Jesus. So Paul for example writes,
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
(Romans 10:4)
Interesting verse this. The Greek word for “end” here denotes “end-point or destination”. Paul is saying here that the Christ is the destination of the entire law as far as righteousness is concerned. Paul’s point is that you cannot get more righteous than Christ makes you through the gospel. This does not allow for another superseding message to subsequently come.
Secondly, the writer of Hebrews says,
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…”
(Hebrews 1:1–4)
Essentially, God initially spoke by the prophets in the Torah in various ways and manners but now in these last days spoken to us by the Son. The Son, who is the Christ, is God’s final message to the world. The writer of Hebrews again says this,
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
(Hebrews 10:26–29)
The Torah also talks about the outpouring of the Spirit of God as occurring in the last days. The apostle Peter says Pentecost was a fulfilment of this prophecy (Joel 2:28–32, Acts 2: 14–21). If the Christ’s coming and ministry was to usher in the last days, then it follows there was no one else expected to follow after the Christ.
Peter in another place, calls the Christ the fulfilment of the prophecy of Hebrew scriptures,
“But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”
(Acts 3:18–21)
Notice what else Peter says above? The heavens must receive Christ until the end of time, the end which was spoken about by all the prophets as well. So between the Christ and the end of time, there will be no other messenger from God, the only messengers from God would be those preaching the message of the Christ and the gospel, the final messenger and message of God.
Logically speaking, it makes sense there would be no other messenger after the Christ for a plethora of reasons but I will give two. One logic from the Jewish perspective and one from the Christian perspective.
From a Jewish perspective, think about this; When Israel asked Samuel for a king, what does God say?
“And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”
(1 Samuel 8:7)
God says here that Israel in asking for a king had rejected Him as king, so in God’s ultimate ideal world, He rules as king. The Christ according to Jewish scriptures is God’s appointed king,
“The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!”
(Psalm 110:1–2)
And again,
“Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
(Psalm 2:6–9)
So if the Christ has come, there will be no need for another messenger from God because He will be God’s ideal king.
Logically speaking from a Christian perspective, Jesus Christ is God in the flesh manifested among us, literally “God with us” as the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 says. So if God Himself has already walked among us on earth, what further need is there for another messenger to come? Jesus would thus be the ultimate climax in terms of revelation from God, it quite literally cannot get better than that.
So what have we established? That according to the Torah, the Christ would seal up prophecy and will be God’s ideal king, according to the gospel, Christ has ushered in the last days, is the fulfilment and destination of the Torah and is the climax of revelation being God in the flesh and logically, from both the perspective of the Torah and the Gospel, it makes sense the Christ is the last and final messenger.
Muhammad however says he is the seal of the prophets and according to Muslims, this makes him the last and greatest of the prophets. The Quran says,
“Muḥammad is not the father of any of your men, but is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets…”
(Surah 33:40)
And again,
“Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “My similitude in comparison with the other prophets before me, is that of a man who has built a house nicely and beautifully, except for a place of one brick in a corner. The people go about it and wonder at its beauty, but say: ‘Would that this brick be put in its place!’ So I am that brick, and I am the last of the Prophets.”
(Sahih Bukhari Book 61 Hadith 44)
Problem though is Muhammad acknowledged the Christ has come and Jesus is that Christ! If this is the case, there cannot be any messenger coming after the Christ and as such Muhammad cannot be the last of the prophets because the Christ is!
And before you say the Torah and the Gospel have been corrupted, I would humbly remind you that the Quran like a broken record confirms over and over again the Torah and the Gospel in the possession of the Christians of his time and manuscript evidence shows us that this is identical to and conveys the same message as the Old and New Testaments in our Bibles today!
In conclusion, the Christ is the seal of the prophets and the bringer of the last and final message from God and the moment the Quran designates the Son of Mary, Jesus as “Al-Masih” i.e. “The Christ”, any claim of being a messenger after the Christ or bringing a message that supersedes the Christ, goes out the window!
