Beating the Dead Horse: Da Vinci Code

Contents:

1. Arianism = Islam?
   

1. It has been a while since the verbatim claims of the Da Vinci Code were levelled against myself. It was rather tedious, but this time there was an Islamic perspective attached. For example, apparently Arius and Arianism believed that Jesus was simply a prophet of God - no crucifixion, resurrection, atonement, et - and that the heretical sect lived on until Muhammad delivered the Qur'an in the 7th century.

This may not be the most effective way to deal with the issue, but it is historically correct and makes use of some good sources. So, was the Jesus of Arius the prophet of Islam 'Isa?

An Encyclopaedia

"Arius’s concept of the Christian godhead was monarchic, that is, it held that the first and unique absolute principle of divinity is the Father. Consequently, any other divine reality was considered by him as secondary to the Father. He applied this view first of all to the Logos, the Word of God, the Son who becomes the instrument of the divine plan of creation and salvation. The Son, being bound to the decision of the Father in the very process of his own generation as the Son, is not eternal in the same sense as the Father is eternal; more important, he is not eternal because only the Father is ungenerated. On the other hand, being the instrument of the fulfillment of the Father’s will, the Son is by nature linked with the divine creation. He is, so to speak, the first transcendent creature, the principle of all things."

Arianism, Gale Encyclopedia of Religion 2nd edition Volume 1.

A Sceptical non-Christian

"Arius tried to resolve the problem of the identity of Christ by maintaining that in the beginning there was only God the Father. But at some point in eternity past, God brought his Son into existence, and it was through this Son of God, Christ, that he created all things. Christ, then, was a divine being—but he was subordinate to God the Father as his first creation. And Christ was the one who brought into existence all else. He then became a human by being born of the Virgin; he died for sins, was raised from the dead, and continues to dwell with God, as God’s own Son, in heaven."

Bart D. Ehrman, Fact and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code, p.21

A Christian

Arius believed that Jesus was a god, a created being, who then co-created the universe with the Father. But there was a time when He was not, declared Arius.

D. James Kennedy et al (2006), The Da Vinci Myth versus the Gospel Truth, p.40

I assume this fuflfills a requirement of multiple attestation. An Encyclopaedia, a champion of anti-Christian criticism and a conservative Christian. In my opinion, it is clear that the Jesus of Arius is most definately not the mere prophet 'Isa of Islam.

The Name of Jesus: Yasu, Isa and Yeshua

I am honestly at a loss of words on how to categorise this apologetic rebuttal. I will let you share in the perplexity (but please do mind the vulgarity.)

Claim:

The letter J was not invented until the 17th century. Before the 1611 the King James Version was known as the King Iames Version.
Christians refer to Prophet Isa as Jesus
So when all you christians are spewing 'Jesus Jesus' on the second coming, do you think the Prophet Isa will know that you are calling him????

Response:

I find this a poor attack- and this was by no means the first time the author has employed it. In his mind, this claim apparently destroys the entire integrity of Christian beliefs and the Bible.

Jesus is the latinised version of the Greek Iesous from Yeshua. But to the Christian, professing Jesus' name in our own tongue is no stumbling block - in Acts 2 the disciples ministered in all tongues.

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Phil 2:10-11 (ESV)

But all this aside, if our Muslim friend holds onto the view that Jesus will not recognise a translation of his name how would he recognise the Muslim's calling 'Isa? In Arabic, the Christian communities have always referred to Jesus as Yasu - coming from the Hebrew and Aramaic roots. However, in the 7th Century with the advent of Koranic literature Yasu was now 'Isa among the Muslims.

In the words of Professor James A. Bellamy:

“The fact that Isa has no satisfactory derivation and no pre-Koranic history should have alerted scholars to the possibility that the word is a MISTAKE”.

Professor James A. Bellamy, 'Textual Criticism of the Koran', Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol 121 No 1 (Jan-Mar).