How many 'Sons' does God have?

Question

How many 'Sons' does God have?





Many people tell us "but the Bible clearly says that Jesus is the Son of God. How can you say that Jesus is not God's only begotten son when Jesus says it so clearly in black and white in the Bible?" Well, first of all, as seen in the previous section, we first need to know the language of his people, the language of the Jews to whom he was speaking. Let us see how they understood this proclamation.


Let us begin by asking: How many sons does the Bible tell us that God Almighty has?


Jacob is God's son and firstborn: "Israel is my son, even my firstborn" Exodus 4:22.
Solomon is God's son "He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son": 2 Samuel 7:13-14.
Ephraim is God's firstborn: "for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn" Jeremiah 31:9 (who is God's firstborn? Israel or Ephraim?).
Adam is the son of God "Adam, which was the son of God" Luke 3:38.
Common people (you and me) are the sons of God:
"Ye are the children of the LORD your God" Deuteronomy 14:1.
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" Romans 8:14.
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name" John 1:12.
"That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;" Philippians 2:15.
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: ... now are we the sons of God" 1 John 3:1-2.
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:7.
"Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD," Job 2:1.
"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD," Job 1:6.
"when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men," Genesis 6:4.
"That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair" Genesis 6:2
As we can see, the use of the term "son of God" when describing normal human beings was not at all an uncommon practice among Jesus' people.


Well then, was Jesus the only begotten son of God?

Read Psalms 2:7 : "I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me (King David, King), Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee"

Indeed, the Jews are even referred to as much more than this in the Bible, and this is indeed the very trait which Jesus (pbuh) held against them. When the Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus (pbuh) he defended himself with the following words

"Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, 'I said, Ye are gods?' If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken..." John 10:34:

(he was referring to Psalms 82:6 "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High..") As we can see from these and many other verses like them, "son of God" in the language of the Jews was a very innocent term used to describe a loyal servant of God. Whether the translators and editors chose to write it as "Son of God" (with a capital S) in reference to Jesus and "son of God" (with a small S) in reference to everyone else does not diminish the fact that in the original language, both cases are exactly the same. Are we beginning to see what drove the most learned men of the Anglican Church to recognize the truth? But let us move on.

Grolier's encyclopedia, under the heading "Jesus Christ," says:

"During his earthly life Jesus was addressed as rabbi and was regarded as a prophet. Some of his words, too, place him in the category of sage. A title of respect for a rabbi would be "my Lord." Already before Easter his followers, impressed by his authority, would mean something more than usual when they addressed him as "my Lord.".... it is unlikely that the title "Son of David" was ascribed to him or accepted by him during his earthly ministry. "Son of God," in former times a title of the Hebrew kings (Psalms 2:7), was first adopted in the post-Easter church as an equivalent of Messiah and had no metaphysical connotations (Romans 1:4). Jesus was conscious of a unique filial relationship with God, but it is uncertain whether the Father/Son language (Mark 18:32; Matt. 11:25-27 par.; John passim) goes back to Jesus himself" .

There seems to be only two places in the Bible where Jesus (pbuh) refers to himself as "son of God." They are in John chapters 5 and 11. Hastings in "The dictionary of the Bible" says: "Whether Jesus used it of himself is doubtful." Regardless, we have already seen what is meant by this innocent title. However, Jesus is referred to as the "son of Man" (literally: "Human being") 81 times in the books of the Bible. In the Gospel of Barnabas, we are told that Jesus (pbuh) knew that mankind would make him a god after his departure and severely cautioned his followers from having anything to do with such people.

Jesus was not the son of a human man (according to both the Bible and the Qur'an). However, we find him constantly saying "I am the son of man." Why?. It was because in the language of the Jews, that is how you say "I am a human being."

What was he trying to tell us by constantly repeating and emphasizing to us throughout the New Testament "I am a human being," "I am a human being," "I am a human being"?. What had he foreseen? Think about it!.

Do Christians emphasize this aspect of Jesus? The New Testament Greek word translated as "son" are "pias" and "paida" which mean "servant," or "son in the sense of servant." These are translated to "son" in reference to Jesus and "servant" in reference to all others in some translations of the Bible (see below). As we are beginning to see, one of the most fundamental reasons why Jesus (pbuh) is considered God is due to extensive mistranslation. We shall see more and more examples of this throughout this book.

Islam teaches that Jesus (pbuh) was a human being, not a God. Jesus (peace be upon him) continually emphasized this to his followers throughout his mission. The Gospel of Barnabas also affirms this fact. Once again, Grolier's encyclopedia says:

"...Most problematical of all is the title "Son of Man." This is the only title used repeatedly by Jesus as a self-designation, and there is no clear evidence that it was used as a title of majesty by the post-Easter church. Hence it is held by many to be authentic, since it passes the criterion of dissimilarity."

Written by : Misha'al ibn Abdullah, 'What Did Jesus Really Say?'

http://www.islamawareness.net/Christianity/bible_faq.html

http://www.islam101.com/religions/index.htm

Answer 1

How could God the Al Mighty have a son?a human being make of flesh and blood?
think about it?

nice post you have there!

Answer 2

Wow! You've certainly done your research. The Protestant Christian answer is he has Jesus Christ as his one and only son - John 3:16- and also the declaration at the baptism of Jesus where the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove and a voice spoke from heaven saying "this is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased.".
However, you bring up a good point that God also talks of Israel being his son, and the New Testament speaks of Christians being sons and daughters of God. The New Testament generally uses the word adoption when it speaks of a Christian's relationship with God. So, while Jesus is his one and only son, Christians believe that they have been adopted into God's family as coheirs with Christ (however, this does NOT make them gods). As for the Old Testament, the Jews are a chosen people, chosen by God to be his sons and daughters, through a covenant.

Answer 3

well i don't if you are actually asking something or you are probably trying to convince me. I see that you put a lot of these bible scriptures. my question for you is , what do you believe? do you think God had many sons? still does? who are the children?i think the most of the people have answers within themselves except for they just don't realize it. You might have a doubt.But that's all. Asking around will not probably take you nowhere but i know for sure that if you read the bible as i think you do, there seems to be a lot of controversy which h'm not sure if there is or not. open your mind the fact that the bible is another book written by people "that you are not even sure if is true or not". I'm not against the bible neither churches neither science but i believe there is more than just a Book.

Answer 4

God has one begotten son, and that is Jesus.

Because English is such a limited language, you cannot translate the Bible word for word, that is why begotten is used for both David and Jesus. But Jesus is the only one who is God's own flesh and blood, so to speak, since God does not really have flesh and blood.

David, on the other had, is more like God's surrogate son, and the word begotten is used to emphasize the strong love God has for David.

And Israel, is God's firstborn, because it is the first nation that God chose to serve him. My New International Study Bible answers all of these questions.

Answer 5

The Holy Spirit is the Primal Creation of God. Each time the Holy Spirit manifests Himself as Moses, Christ, Muhammad..., He is the only begotten Son of God.
All human beings are created out of love by the One True God through the Holy Spirit, so all are His children.
The station of son in man and the station of Son in the Holy Spirit are absolutely different.

Answer 6

I'm curious as to whether or not you wanted to ask a question or preach your opinion. To answer your question, even in Christianity, God does not have a son in the sense of you or I having children. The term, "son of God" is the theological equivalent of saying, I want eggs for breakfast, hold the shell. Jesus is a part of God; e.g., "I and the father are one." He is part of God in the same way that and egg yolk is part of an egg, but not the whole egg. More simply stated, Jesus is God's love in human form. He does not represent the wholeness of God; hence, Jesus prayed. He was praying to the complete God. He wasn't talking to himself; that wouldn't make any sense at all. God and Jesus differ in their personalities. Since Jesus is God's love, and not God's wrath, jealousy, etc., he was not aware of everything that God's plan entailed.

Before Christ came, mankind could make the argument that God didn't understand humanity since he did not experience suffering. By becoming a man, God suffered and took the sins of mankind upon himself. Salvation is a free gift from God. You don't have to do anything to receive this gift other than to accept it. Unfortunately, many cannot accept it. Muslims, for instance, believe that they must earn their way into heaven (e.g. the hajj to Mecca, praying, fasting, etc.). Christianity claims that you cannot earn your way into heaving since humanity sins and is imperfect. Jesus was the only human who was perfect, so we get into heaven only through accepting him.

The trinity is a very difficult concept for Muslims, such as you, to understand. Remember the egg analogy. When Christians say "In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit," this is the same as referencing an egg, the yolk, and the egg white. It's all an egg!

I realize that Islam denies the divinity of Jesus as the messiah. It holds itself to be the last incantation of religion. Unfortunately, Islam, like all religions, is thoroughly uncontaminated by evidence. The same applies to Christianity, but I believe that the character of God set forth by Jesus is far less petty and cruel than the Allah of the Qur'an. Take time to examine all the violence and intolerance set forth by the Qur'an. I won't waste your time by referencing these numerous versus and Hadith; I'm sure you know them. In any case, it's worth mentioning that Muslims perform intense denial and mental gymnastics in order to claim that these violent and intolerant verses do not mean what they seem to mean. Why then, are the peaceful verses of the Qur'an and the Hadith taken at face value, but the violent ones are supposedly "taken out of context?"

If you have the courage, I suggest you read "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris. It is very critical of all religions, including Christianity. It will challenge your beliefs. One point that I found particularly profound was that if a man is told that his wife is cheating on him or that frozen yogurt will make him invisible, he will require proof to substantiate those claims. However, if you tell him that the book he keeps by his bedside is the direct word of God and he will burn in hell if he doesn't submit to it, he seems to require no proof at all. Hopefully, one day you will realize that every moment spent on religion is a wasted moment of a very short life. If you truly want to feel spiritual, it can be found in the service of mankind; not to dead "profits" with no credentials other than their words whose character and motivations are highly suspect.

Answer 7

Jesus was Gods only begotten son . If you become a born again christian you become a child of God. One of God's children . We are all God's creation but only true born again christians are his children.He was the son of man because he had a earthly mother and God is the father.

Answer 8

All Chirstian men are Sons of God, however Jesus is the only Begotten Son of God.

Answer 9

" A Rose ; By any other name ... Would Still Smell As Sweet "
( Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet. )
God is in your Heart - And All the Rest is Written By Men in order to control Man.
" There is No God .... But God.x :)

Answer 10

Which God? Zeus? Odin? Quetzalcoatl?