A Christian-Muslim debate on whether the Bible presents Jesus as Almighty God ends unresolved.
The whole debate turns on unqualified titlesUthman conceded that al-awwal wal-akhir unqualified can only be used for Allah, and the Christian side built its entire case on that concession.
Language, not theology, was Uthman's defenceHe argued that Greek and Hebrew use terms like son and first and last in ways Quranic Arabic never would, so the two cannot be equated.
Revelation 1:8 was fought on manuscriptsUthman called the Almighty reading a later addition absent from early manuscripts; Jerome answered that church fathers quoting it prove it existed.
Executive SummaryAI
A Christian debater opens by stacking Bible verses - John 8:40 and 42, John 17:3, Acts 3:13, Revelation 3:12 - to argue that Jesus keeps calling on a God above himself, four times saying "my God" even after the resurrection.
He then switches to Islamic ground and asks Uthman whether any creature can carry Allah's unqualified titles; Uthman answers that names like Rahim and al-Wudud can be shared with creation while ar-Rahman cannot, and the exchange breaks down into accusations of shirk and takfir.
Reading Revelation 22:13, the Christian argues that Jesus claims "the first and the last" without qualification, which Uthman had just conceded belongs to Allah alone; Uthman replies that awwal and akhir in Quranic Arabic cannot be carried into Greek, just as "begotten son" cannot be carried into the Quran.
A second challenger runs Psalm 83:18 with Jeremiah 23:5-6, where Yahweh alone is Most High and the Messiah is named "the Lord our Righteousness"; Uthman answers that the prophecy's conditions - Judah saved, Israel dwelling safely - never happened in Jesus' lifetime.
In the third round Jerome has Uthman read Revelation 1:8 in red letter, where Jesus is called the Almighty, and Uthman answers that the longer reading is missing from the earliest manuscripts, citing a 1995 cross-denominational edition by more than 25 scholars; the two then argue whether church father citations count as manuscript evidence and close on John 5:18-23.
Key Quote
“So, for example, Allah is called the first and the last.”
— Christian challenger
Key Quote
“the childish thing here is the fact that the Bible wasn't written in Arabic”
— Uthman
Key Quote
“Because as Psalm 83, 18 says, Yahweh alone is the most high.”