The Myth of ‘I AM’ Exposed
John 8:58 [Jesus saying "I am"]
By:
Shahid Bin Waheed شاهد
بن وحيد
بسم الله الرحمن
الرحيم
الحمدلله
رب العالمين والصلوة
والسلام على اشرف
الانبياء وسيدالمرسلين
نبينا محمد صل
ا لله عليه وعلى
آله واصحابه وازواجه
اجمعين - امابعد
Thanks to be Allaah,
Sustainer of the Universe, and blessing and salutation to be the most
distinguish of the Messengers and foremost among the Prophets, our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of
Allaah be on him and on his wives, children and Companions.
Before any claim from the Trinitarians is even considered
debatable, we must examine what the early Church fathers of Christianity have
said about John 8:58! Let us examine some reference, which are inconsistent as
we notice.
John 8:58 - NIV, NAB -
in Epistle of Ignatius to the Tarsians
And how, again, could such an
one declare: "Before Abraham was, I am?”
*John 8:58 - NIV, NAB-
in Irenaeus Against Heresies Book IV
But the Word of God did not accept
of the friendship of Abraham, as though He stood in need of it, for He was
perfect from the beginning ("Before Abraham was," He says, "I
am"
**John 8:58 - NIV,
NAB- in Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus
And as He was the son of
David, so was He also the Lord of David. And as He was from Abraham, so did He
also exist before Abraham.
John 8:58 - NIV, NAB -
in Origen Against Celsus Book VIII
for we believe Himself when He
says, "Before Abraham was, I am."
John 8:58 - NIV, NAB -
in A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity
But although it is not
possible to maintain that one who is himself mortal can make another immortal,
yet this word of Christ not only sets forth, but affords immortality: certainly
He is not man only who gives immortality, which if He were only man He could
not give; but by giving divinity by immortality, He proves Himself to be God by
offering divinity, which if He were not God He could not give. If Christ was
only man, how did He say, "Before Abraham was, I Am? "
John 8:58 - NIV, NAB -
in Pseudo-Gregory Thaumaturgus Twelve Topics on the Faith
How could it be said that the
Son of God who is before the ages, and He who has appeared in these last times,
are different, when the Lord Himself says, "Before Abraham was, I am;
"
** It
must be interesting to point out that Jesus flatly repudiated the Jews when he
asked them: “How could David call him- ‘my Lord” if he were his son?” The
following verses from the Gospel of Matthew are evidence that Jesus is not the
one whom David is calling “my Lord.”
Matthew 022:041! While the
Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 022:042 Saying, What think
ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son of David. 022:043 He
saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 022:044
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine
enemies thy footstool? 022:045 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 022:046 And no man was able to
answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more
questions.
Top Ten List According to Bible Rejecting Jesus’ Divinity!
1. Mark 12:29 Jesus said "Here, O Israel: The Lord
our God is one Lord." [This confirms that Jesus
preached to worship One and Only God, not trinity.]
2. John
20:17 Jesus said I ascend to my God and your God. [Jesus has a God according to him; we know that God can’t
have a God?]
3. John
8:28 Jesus said, "I do nothing of myself” [Can
a God be this dependant?]
4. John 14:28 Jesus said, "My Father (GOD) is greater than I am" [So, how can Jesus himself be a God?]
5. Luke 23:46 Jesus said "Father (GOD), into thy hands I commend my spirit" [God does not have spirit like Jesus did.]
6. Matthew 24:36 Jesus told his followers that no one (including Jesus) knows when the judgment day will come, only GOD knows. [Or Jesus was lying to his followers, if he was God?]
7. John 5:30 Jesus told his followers that he couldn’t do a single thing of his own. [When a God became this helpless?]
8. John 5:32 Jesus told his followers that they have never seen GOD at anytime nor ever heard his voice. [Or Jesus was lying again here, if he was God?]
9. Luke 5:16 Jesus prays to God. [Funny, if Jesus was God, then why he is praying to God? Since when and how a God has a God?]
10. Matthew
26:39 Jesus fell on his face and prayed to his GOD like Muslims do. [How would you explain this from the very Bible?]
CHECKMATE WITH: John 17:3 and the Only True God! “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
Notice: That the top ten
list contains explicit verses and/or words uttered by Jesus himself. Unlike
John 8:58, which is vague, ambiguous and implicit verse. I also ask
Trinitarians to produce the original verse in original language it was
allegedly inspired to verify for authenticity and correctness of meaning?
That is why we also we that early Church fathers of Christianity don’t agree to
each other.
Beside the facts cited above
exposing the myth and falsehood perpetrated by Christians using John 8:58, I
must present following undeniable proof from “Proverb
and Jeremiah” against this absurd claim
showing “I am” is no more than an ordinary I am and/or you are. The following
shows that all mankind was created even before earth and heaven, therefore,
nothing special about Jesus as falsely claimed by Christians.
008:022 The LORD
possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 008:023 I
was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. 008:024
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains
abounding with water. 008:025 Before the mountains were settled, before the
hills was I brought forth: 008:026 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor
the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. 008:027 When he
prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the
depth:
001:004 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 001:005 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Also a blind man referred to
himself as "I am" in Jn.9: 9:
Paul said, "By the grace of God, I AM WHAT I AM" (1
Cor.15: 10).
Are these two gods as well?
Suggested sites for further
study:
Other On-line Resources
§ Kata Iwannhn (The Gospel according to St. John). Verse by verse parallels of 4 versions of the Greek text, the Latin Vulgate and 9 English translations) [from The HTML Bible].
§ The Gospel of John. Peter Kirby reviews recent scholarship regarding the problem of the authorship of this gospel, with links to many on-line resources [from Early Christian Writings].
§ Johannine Literature on the World-Wide Web. Felix Just's comprehensive bibliography of electronic publications on the fourth gospel.
§ The Problem of the Fourth Gospel. Complete text of H. Latimer Jackson's 1918 classic [posted by Early Christian Writings].
§ The Sociology of Secrecy and the Fourth Gospel. Jerome H. Neyrey's sociological analysis of the semantics of John [posted by author].
Friday,
May 06, 2005