Few questions generate more sincere dialogue between Muslims and Christians than the true nature of Jesus, peace be upon him. Who was he really? Was he divine? Did he die for the sins of humanity? Yahya Evans — formerly Joshua Evans, a Christian Youth Minister raised in a deeply traditional Christian household in Greenville, South Carolina, who embraced Islam in 1998 — spent years wrestling with these very questions through direct, unbiased study of the Bible. Now working full-time in Islamic education and da’wah, he addresses each of these questions with clarity, intellectual honesty, and deep spiritual conviction. His journey from ordained Christian ministry to Islam offers a compelling window into how sincere, open-minded inquiry can lead a soul to the straight path of faith, purpose, and divine guidance.
Can Jesus Be God? The Logical and Scriptural Case Against Divinity and the Trinity
When asked whether Jesus, peace be upon him, can be God, Yahya Evans offers a response that is both logical and theologically grounded: no. God is the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and everything in existence — including time itself. A Creator, by definition, cannot be contained within or made subject to His own creation. A careful, unbiased reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus never once claimed divinity for himself; whenever he was praised, he consistently redirected attention toward God alone. The concept of the Trinity — three persons in one God — is equally challenged on rational grounds: 1 + 1 + 1 equals three, not one, and no logical mind can reconcile the claim otherwise. The Quran addresses this with sublime clarity, explaining that had there been more than one God, confusion and conflict would have overtaken the heavens and the earth — yet the universe operates in extraordinary, unbroken harmony, which is itself powerful evidence for Tawheed, the absolute Oneness of God. As for Jesus being the “only begotten Son of God,” biblical scholars themselves acknowledge that this phrase does not appear in the oldest manuscripts and was inserted when the Roman Church compiled the canon. Moreover, if being born without a human father was the criterion for divine sonship, then Prophet Adam — created by God with neither mother nor father — would hold an even stronger claim. “Son of God” in scripture is a term of honour applied to many righteous figures, including Jeremiah and the Israelites, never an exclusive theological declaration of literal divinity.
“Jesus himself never ever attests to himself being God. Every time he was praised in any way in the Bible, he would always direct the people’s attention from him to God.” — Yahya Evans (formerly Joshua Evans)
- God cannot be subject to or limited by the creation He brought into existence — including time, matter, and biological life
- Jesus consistently directed all praise toward God, not to himself — fully consistent with the Islamic understanding of prophethood
- The Trinity defies basic logic and is unsupported by the earliest known Biblical manuscripts
- The Quran’s argument from universal harmony — one coherent cosmos requires one unified Creator — is a powerful refutation of polytheism
- The “only begotten Son” phrase was added by the Roman Church and absent from the original Biblical texts
- Adam, created without mother or father, holds the greater claim by that logic — proving the term was never meant literally
Who Was Jesus? His True Identity as Prophet, His Message of Pure Monotheism, and the Doctrine of Atonement Examined
From an Islamic perspective, Jesus, peace be upon him, was among the most honoured prophets and messengers of God — a miraculous sign sent to the Children of Israel to guide them back to pure, undiluted worship of the One God. Born of the Virgin Mary by God’s sovereign command — “Be, and it is” — he performed miracles, spoke truth, and called people to righteousness. Muslims affirm that he was, in the truest sense, a Muslim: one who submitted wholly to the will of God. His own words, when asked about the greatest commandment, were unambiguous: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your might, with all your strength.” The doctrine of vicarious atonement — that Jesus died on the cross to bear humanity’s sins — is contradicted by the Bible itself, which states plainly that no person can bear the burdens of another, nor can the son bear the iniquities of the father. Furthermore, God is the Ever-Living, the All-Sustaining; He cannot be killed. The same Bible declares that anyone hung on a tree is cursed — an outcome utterly incompatible with the dignity of a chosen prophet of God. In Islam, God saved Jesus, peace be upon him, from crucifixion, raised him up, and his return before the Day of Judgement remains a central and affirming article of Islamic faith.
“Throughout the whole entire Bible the message is the same — that God is one, that He should be worshipped in His Oneness, and that the prophets sent to us should be followed.” — Yahya Evans (formerly Joshua Evans)
- Jesus, peace be upon him, is a revered prophet and messenger in Islam — his honour is never diminished, but his divinity is firmly and lovingly rejected
- His miraculous birth was an act of God’s will, just as Adam’s creation from clay — neither makes either of them God
- The greatest commandment Jesus himself taught was pure monotheism: love and worship God with every faculty
- The Bible’s own moral framework — that no soul bears another’s burden — dismantles the theological foundation of vicarious atonement
- God, being eternal and ever-living, cannot die; this alone proves that Jesus could neither be God nor could he have died as God
- Islam teaches that Jesus was saved by God, was not crucified, and will return as a mighty sign before the Last Day
For anyone sincerely seeking spiritual truth, the counsel offered here is profound in its simplicity: open your heart and your mind, set aside inherited assumptions, and engage the scriptures with honest, humble inquiry. Pray to God directly — with earnestness and sincerity — for guidance, and trust that He alone, the only true Guide, will illuminate the straight path. This is the very essence of Islamic spirituality and the foundation of faith in Islam: that God is One, that His guidance is never withheld from the sincere seeker, and that every prophet — from Adam to Abraham, from Moses to Jesus to Muhammad, peace be upon them all — carried a single, unbroken message of submission, gratitude, and devotion to the One Creator. The journey to truth begins not in argument alone, but in the courage to ask God for guidance and the humility and sincerity to receive it.
