Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 207
207 Malfuzat – Volume IV him and accused him of blasphemy, he saved himself by quoting an expression known in their nation and scripture. He did not give any solid proof in favour of his own divinity, nor did he show anything that could be deemed extraordinary. We know the state of his miracles, the sorts of prophecies he made, and as for his knowledge, he did not even know when he approached the fig tree that this was not the season for fruiting; and then as for his authority, he did not have the power to make the tree produce fruit at the time. He could not give knowledge about the Hour. He was so weak and helpless that he was slapped and lashed, and ultimately put on the cross. The Jews said that if you are the son of God, then take yourself off of the cross. Let alone coming off the cross, he could not even respond to the Jews. The state of his character was such that even his teacher dis - owned him. Then, the Jews cast aspersions on many of his past generations, but no response was given to them. 1 The Life of the Messiah According to the Bible If one reads about the life of the Messiah, it becomes manifestly evident that he is not even worthy of being a Prophet, let alone God or the son of God. In order to manage the affairs of this world, and to administer reward and pun - ishment, it is necessary for one to be the Knower of the Unseen, which is a mag - nificent attribute of God. However, as I have just shown, he did not even know when the Hour would come. He also lacked knowledge when he approached a fig tree out of season due to intense hunger and cursed it, even though the tree in itself had no inherent ability to give fruit out of season. Now, it is strange that God would feel hunger in the first place. Surely, this quality is specific to the Gospel god alone, who first becomes restless with hunger—and how astounding that he does not even know that the tree he is approaching does not have any fruit to give. Then, if he did not possess the knowledge, would that he had shown a divine miracle on that occasion and filled the tree with boundless fruit, so that this would become a sign for the world. On the contrary, all he did was curse the tree. Despite all of these facts, Christ is presented as God? I say to you with sincere goodwill that nothing can be achieved through pretence. If one person claims to be two beings at the same time, both the father and the son, both God and man, is such a person not a deceiver? The instances in the Gospel to which you refer demonstrate clearly from the 1 Al-Hakam , vol. 6, no. 6, dated 14 February 1902, pp. 3-5