Gurmat & Christianity

What is the Sikh view on Jesus being the only Son of God?
Christians sometimes call Jesus God but at other times they call him the only Son of God: (i) God so loved the world that he sacrificed His only begotten son for it. Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16-18). (ii) He is the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. Begotten, not made, of one being with the Father, by whom all things were made (Nicene Creed). (iii) "And Lo a voice came from heaven, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17,26:63-64, John 1:14-18,3:16,1:8,14:7-10, 4:9 Mark 14:61 Luke 1:32). (iv) The Holy Quran says, And they say God gracious has begotten a son. Indeed they have put forth a thing most monstrous. At it the skies are ready to burst, and the earth to split asunder and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin that they should invoke a son for God. It is not consonant with the majesty of God that He should beget a son" (The Holy Quran 19: 88-92 ). On the other hand, the same Holy Quran says: "He begets not nor is He begotten" (Holy Quran 112:3). (v) The father-son paradigm is ageless. It is older than human history. The rays of father-hood contained in this formulation belong to the Trinitarian mystery" (Crossing the threshold of hope page 227 Pope John Paul II). The paradigm cannot be ageless. It was Paul who called Jesus Son of God for the first time' (See Acts 9:20). Paul had never met Jesus. According to the Bible itself, if God did have a son then it must have been Adam not Jesus because Jesus was the son of Adam's descendants Joseph and Mary and Adam was the first man created by God on earth. Bible itself says, Adam was the 'Son of God' (See Luke 3:38) Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the Son of God (Hebrews 7:3). As for being the only son, we know that David and Moses lived before Jesus. Even David is referred by God to be His son "Thou art my son" (Psalm 2:7). So David, Moses, and Adam, who lived before Jesus, were not the Sons of God or Jesus was not the only son. Again we find in Matt 12:46-47 the phrase Mother and His brethren which implies that Mary had other children besides Jesus. Mary had given birth to 4 sons in addition to Jesus, and 2 daughters. And his brethren James, and Jose, and Simon, and Judas and his sisters (Matthew 13:54-56). This point has been discussed threadbare by the Christian Scholars for years. We give below some views far and against this belief. (i) David Icke the BBC sports presenter declared in a press conference in 1992 that he is The Son of God. He was interviewed on BBC on 30.7.97 and still sticks to his claim. Bamber Gascoigne in his book The Christians (page 44) writes, If the Father begot the son, he that was

begotten had a beginning of existence; hence it is clear that there was a time when the son was not. (In other words there was a time when God did not exist). (ii) In Bible Basics Duncan Heaster writes, Mary, being born of a woman had our unclean, human nature, which she passed on to Jesus who was made of a woman. (Page 231) (iii) The Scholars however argue No. The son has always been with the Father, not only since time began, but before all time. For the Father could not have been so named unless he had a son; and there could be no son without a father. (iv) It appears that some scholars are taking literal meanings of 'God's son' rather than its metaphorical meanings. Jesus himself says that he was the Son of Man (Daniel 7, 13-14, Matthew 26,-2, Luke 22,-48) The Bible uses similar terminology for others calling them sons of God. For example see Exodus 4:22 (Israel or Jacob Son of God), I Chronicles 22:10-II Samuels 7, 13-14, Jeremiah 31:9. (v) The Bible even calls common people 'sons and daughters of God' (See Romans 8:29, Corinthians 6:18 Deuteronomy 14:1). THE SIKH VIEW According to the Sikh belief all human beings are sons and daughters of God. Every Sikh considers himself or herself as the son/daughter of God and repeats:

"You are my Father, and You are my Mother." (Ang 103)

"You are the Universal Father of all, O my Lord and Master. (Ang 97)

"The Lord Himself is your mother, and He Himself is your father; He created the created beings, and revealed the world to them." (Ang 921)

How does Sikhism differ to Christianity's explanation of the creation of the Universe?
The Bible states: In the beginning God created heaven and earth, let there be light, let there be a firmament, let the dry land appear, let the waters bring forth life, Let the earth bring forth grass, let the earth

bring forth the living creature after His kind.59 And the evening and the morning were created the sixth day. He rested on the seventh day and blessed and sanctified it. (Genesis 1,1-31) The chronology goes like this:First day: creation of (one) heaven and (one) earth Second day: Firmament created. Third day: Vegetation created. Fourth day: Sun, Moon and the stars created. Fifth day: Water, marine life and birds. Sixth day: Insects, animals and humans created. Seventh day: God rested. The firmament separated the waters above and the waters below. (Gen1:7) According to this schedule the days existed before the sun came into existence. The earth existed before the sun and the stars. There was vegetation without sun and water. Birds were created before the reptiles. Humans were created after everything else. Modern astronomers, biologists, geologists, and scientists see it differently. THE SIKH VIEW According to the Sikh faith God created the Universe instantaneously.

K paso ko kavo. "You created the vast expanse of the Universe with One Word!" (Ang 3) God created countless planets, countless heavens, countless skies, and countless universes:

Kot barahmand ko

kur sum sarab j k

r.

"God is the Lord and Master of millions of universes; He is the Giver of all beings." (Ang 612) The Sikhs believe that the world is an efflux from God. It is a manifestation of His creative spirit ( Ek Oankaar) through His creative Will (Kavaao). Before time began to run its course only God existed. Then He willed the creation of the Universe.

J is b vai sarisat up. pnai b ai la sam.

"When it pleases Him, He creates the world. As He pleases, He absorbs it back into Himself." (Ang 292) Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji tells us how the Will of the Almighty revealed and manifested (which some would call 'evolution of the world')

Sc pavn b ai pavnai jal ho. Jal arib ava sji g at g at jo samo. The True Lord created air (gases) which combined to form liquids (water =Hydrogen +Oxygen). The liquids brought forth the creation. The Lord established Himself as a spark in it." (Ang 19) As for the time and date of its creation, Guru Ji says:-

Thi vr n jog j ai ru mhu n ko. J kar sir kao sj p j ai so. "The day and the date are not known to the Yogis, nor is the month or the season. The Creator who created this creation-only He Himself knows." (Ang 4) Pinpointing the day of creation is meaningless in relation to the universe or creation. The universe does not have a day everywhere at the same time. Even on our own planet a day is not the same everywhere. When there is night in the West, the East basks in the sun.