The Holy War — Page 181
Proceedings—Debate 31 May 1893 181 Fifth— Let me answer your failing to understand what the uniqueness of God’s manifestation in Jesus is while everything is a manifestation of God. The uniqueness is that by virtue of Jesus, Allah Almighty completed the task of atonement. God Almighty is absolutely free from taking upon Himself pain and suffering while a created being cannot remain alive upon taking on the burden of everyone. So in such a situation, God Almighty did the following, that the one pure, innocent man took upon himself the whole bur- den, and had him carry it for the second Person of the Divinity. Thus, suffering found shelter because, on this occasion, the pun- ishment of the evil spirit came to face the Eternal and Everlasting second Person of the Trinity. Where else can this uniqueness of the manifestation of God be found! You must show it to us. And even if you do not accept our claim to this uniqueness of Jesus but till you reject the Bible, you have no right to object that it is the exclusive miracle of Jesus to be born and be killed and be raised again to life and ascend to the heavens. And please also explain if these hold any significance or not, whereas it is written that salvation cannot be achieved without the shedding of blood—Hebrews 9:22, Leviticus 17:11—and that all the sacrifices in the Torah suggest this as well. And it is also written that for salvation there is no other name given under heaven, Acts 4:12. Please give us explanations of all these matters and do not sim- ply brush them aside. Sixth— This that you ask, Sir, whether the manifestation of Allah in Jesus happened after the descent of the Holy Spirit or even after that. Our answer to this is speculative; it happened at the time when the Holy Spirit descended but the Divine Word makes mention of no specific time. What importance does it have if he became the manifestation of Allah before or after? Since you have not elabo- rated on this point, I cannot explain this matter any further.