Does God need to be incarnated, humiliated, stripped of His clothes, exposed, and crucified in order to forgive humanity ?
One of the most important issues that deserve sincere reflection and fair examination is : Did the Messiah ( Christ ), peace be upon him, himself explicitly state in the four Gospels that he is God incarnate ?
The answer : The Messiah did not state that.
And did he state, even once, that he came to be crucified to atone for the sins of humanity ?
The answer : The Messiah did not state that.
And did he ask people to worship him ?
The answer: The Messiah did not state that.
The Messiah in the Gospels calls to the worship of God, prays to God, prostrates to God, and describes God as his God.
" And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent ."
( John 17 : 3 ).
" My God and your God "
( John 20 : 17 ).
" You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve "
( Luke 4 : 8 ).
The Messiah affirmed that prostration and worship are due to God alone.
The Gospels also mention that the Messiah used to pray to God and prostrate to Him.
" And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed "
( Matthew 26 : 39 ).
When we read the four Gospels directly, we find that the Messiah did not say to the people: " I am God. "
And the Messiah did not say : " I am God incarnate."
And the Messiah did not say : " Worship me."
When we read the four Gospels, we do not find a text in the Gospels mentioning that the Messiah gathered his disciples one day and said to them : " I am God incarnate."
And he did not say to them : " I have two natures, divine and human."
And he did not say to them: " I am the second person of the Trinity ."
As for the famous phrase : "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God," it is not from the sayings of the Messiah, peace be upon him, and it is not found in the four Gospels attributed to him. Rather, it appeared in the "Nicene Creed," which was approved by the bishops of the church at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, at the invitation of the pagan Emperor Constantine.
Then this phrase became part of Christian doctrine in most Christian churches over the centuries.
Therefore, it is not a text that the Messiah himself said, nor a divine command uttered by him, but rather a doctrinal formulation put forward by church men.
Rather, these terms and definitions appeared later through people who did not even know the Messiah, such as Tertullian, Athanasius, Justin, Ignatius, and Irenaeus, in theological councils and ecclesiastical synods, long after the Messiah was raised. The Messiah himself did not utter them.
If the doctrine of incarnation is the foundation of faith and salvation, why did it need hundreds of years of debate, councils, and philosophical formulations until it was defined for people ?
And why did the Messiah himself not explicitly state it so that ordinary people could understand it ?
If the doctrine of incarnation in Christianity is important, is it not natural for the Messiah to announce it clearly to the people ?
Is it not logical for him to tell his followers explicitly that he is God who descended to earth in human form ?
Among the greatest questions that deserve reflection and thought :
If God is the Great Creator, the Owner of the Kingdom, the One with absolute power, does He need to incarnate in human form, then be beaten, humiliated, spat upon, struck on the face, stripped of all his clothes, and crucified by pagan Roman soldiers, in order to forgive His servants ?
When we look at this idea with the eye of reason, we find it raises profound questions.
If God is able to create billions of galaxies with a single word, is He unable to say to His repentant servant : "I have forgiven you ?
If God is the source of all mercy, does His mercy become dependent on torturing an innocent person and shedding his blood ?
And if God needs nothing, how does He need incarnation, pain, and crucifixion to achieve forgiveness ?
God does not need a means to forgive, because He is the Owner of forgiveness itself.
Adam and Eve... What was the punishment for their sin ?
A very important question :
Thousands of years before the Messiah, God forgave Adam, peace be upon him.
The holy scriptures themselves tell us that God forgave Adam and Eve. The punishment that fell upon Adam and Eve themselves was: expulsion from Paradise, toil, childbirth pains, and death.
The direct punishment was the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise :
"So the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. "
(Genesis 3:23)
Adam's punishment :
He said :
" Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life... By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. "
(Genesis 3:17-19)
Eve's punishment: He said :
" I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. "
( Genesis 3 : 16 )
In the text, we do not find that God said all humans would bear the sin of Adam and Eve, nor do we find a text saying that their sin cannot be forgiven except by the crucifixion of a savior in the future.
Rather, what is mentioned in the story are punishments that fell upon Adam and Eve themselves:
Expulsion from Paradise. Toil, childbirth pains, and death.
That is, Adam and Eve bore the responsibility for their mistake, then they repented and God forgave them, and their sin is not transferred to their descendants.
In the Old Testament and the New Testament, there is no mention of original sin and the inheritance of guilt, and we do not find a text in which the Messiah says that all humans will bear the sin of Adam and Eve, nor do we find a text saying that their sin cannot be forgiven except by the crucifixion of a savior in the future.
That is, Adam and Eve bore the responsibility for their mistake, then they repented and God forgave them, and their sin is not transferred to their descendants.
If God had already forgiven Adam and Eve, then why does crucifixion become necessary afterward ?
This is a question that needs a clear answer.
Does justice mean punishing the innocent instead of the guilty ?
Every person of sound nature knows that justice means that each person bears the responsibility for their actions.
The murderer is held accountable for their crime, and the thief is held accountable for their theft.
But for an innocent person to bear the sins of all the guilty—that does not align with the concept of justice that God has instilled in people's nature.
So how can it then be said that the sins of billions of people were placed on one person ?
If the Messiah is God incarnate as is claimed, how can the pagan Roman soldiers arrest him, lead him bound, beat him, mock him, strip him of his clothes, and crucify him ?
Was God unable to save Himself ?
And how could the pagan Roman soldiers overcome the God who is capable of everything ?
God, who created all humans, cannot be under their authority or mercy.
The Creator is greater than the creature, and the Absolutely Powerful cannot be weak before His servants.
The message of the prophets was one :
When we read the biographies of the prophets, from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to Jesus, peace be upon them all, we find one recurring message :
Worship God alone.
Repent to God.
Obey God's commands.
Seek God's forgiveness.
The focus of their call was not that God would incarnate or that salvation would be through the crucifixion of an incarnate god.
Rather, their call was always to worship God alone and to repent directly to Him.
Forgiveness in Islam :
God forgave Adam and Eve, peace be upon them.
God Almighty said :
﴿37) Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words,19 and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. ﴾
(The Holy Quran 2 : 37 )
And in another verse :
﴿23) They said, "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers." ﴾
( The Holy Quran 7 : 23 )
When Adam and Eve, peace be upon them, erred by eating from the tree that God had forbidden them, they did not need an intermediary, no one's blood was shed for the forgiveness of their sin, and God did not incarnate in human form to atone for them.
Rather, God taught them words of repentance. They admitted their mistake, regretted what they had done, and called upon God directly, asking for forgiveness and mercy.
Islam presents a simple and clear concept, compatible with reason and nature.
God is One, Unique.
He needs no partner.
He needs no intermediary.
He does not need to become human.
He does not need to be killed to forgive.
If a person sins, the door of repentance is open.
They raise their hands to their Creator directly.
They regret their mistake.
And they ask for forgiveness.
They find a Lord who is Merciful and Generous, who accepts repentance and forgives sins.
God Almighty said :
﴿.82) But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance. ﴾
(The Holy Quran 20 : 82 )
And God Almighty said :
﴿. .53) Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." ﴾
(The Holy Quran 39 : 53)
Final Reflection
If God is perfect in power, perfect in mercy, and perfect in wisdom, does He need to incarnate, hunger, tire, be humiliated, beaten, stripped of His clothes by pagan Roman soldiers, and crucified in order to forgive ?
Or is it closer to reason and nature that God forgives those who repent to Him sincerely, because He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Self-Sufficient, independent of all worlds, who needs none of His creation ?
The greatness and perfection of God dictate that He is unlike His creation, does not need them, and is not incapable of forgiving His servants.
God Almighty said :
﴿1) Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,
2) Allah, the Eternal Refuge.
3) He neither begets nor is born,
4) Nor is there to Him any equivalent." )
(The Holy Quran 112)
God Almighty said :
﴿ 1) Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is exalting Allah. To Him belongs dominion, and to Him belongs [all] praise, and He is over all things competent.
2) It is He who created you, and among you is the disbeliever, and among you is the believer. And Allah, of what you do, is Seeing.
3) He created the heavens and earth in truth and formed you and perfected your forms; and to Him is the [final] destination.
4) He knows what is within the heavens and earth and knows what you conceal and what you declare. And Allah is Knowing of that within the breasts. ﴾
[ The Holy Quran 64 : 1- 4 ]
God Almighty said :
﴿ 19) O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger to make clear to you [the religion] after a period of [suspension of] messengers, lest you say, "There came not to us any bringer of good tidings or a warner." But there has come to you a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And Allah is over all things competent. )
[The Holy Quran 5:18-19
