“Then whoever disputes with you concerning him (Jesus) after knowledge has come to you, say: ‘Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves – then we pray and invoke the Curse of Allah upon those who lie.’” [Soorah Aal `Imraan (3):61]

…Razi begins his long discussion of this verse with the following argument:

“Know that God elucidated with many incontrovertible arguments the falsity of the claim of the Christians that God has a consort and a child. He concluded His discourse with this final argument concerning the falsity of their claims. Thus God said, ‘Whosoever disputes with you after all these clear proofs and convincing answers, cease speaking with them and treat them as a stubborn person would be treated. You should instead call them to the trial of cursing.”

Razi reproduces a long debate which he had with a Christian concerning the divinity of Christ. It will not be possible to present the debate, but only the main outline of the arguments will be presented. The Christian began by asking what proof is there of the prophethood of Muhammad. Razi’s answer is twofold: miracles and unbroken witness (tawaatur) to the claim of Muhammad to be a prophet. He further argues that this would also be the argument for the prophethood of all prophets, and that, if we were to deny one or both of these proofs in Muhammad’s case, then we must likewise deny the prophethood of all other prophets. The Christian argued, “I do not say that Jesus was a prophet, but that he is God.” Razi refutes this claim by arguing that “God is necessary being in Himself. It is necessary that He should not be a body; He should not occupy space; nor should He be an accident. Jesus was a human corporeal person who came into being after he was not. He was killed after he was alive, as you claim. He was an infant then he grew up into adolescence and manhood. He ate and drank, voided and slept and woke up. It is evident to any rational person that a created being could not be eternal, nor could anyone who is lacking be self-sufficient. A contingent being could not be necessary, nor one who is subject to change be permanent.” Razi then poses a number of questions: If Jesus were divine, or that he was a full or partial incarnation of God, how could he have suffered on the cross, attempted to escape from the Jews, or have been frightened by them? Could he not, if he were God, have destroyed them utterly, or at least defended himself against them? If Jesus were the lord of the world, then when the Jews killed him they in fact killed the Lord of the universe. How could the world remain without a Lord to oversee the affairs. Finally, it is generally accepted by Christians themselves that Jesus was a man of great devotion and obedience to God. How could God worship himself?

Razi further asked the Christian on what basis he inferred Christ’s divinity. The man answered that it was on the basis of great miracles which Jesus performed. Razi countered that turning a staff into a snake was in fact a greater miracle than reviving the dead. This is because the resemblance between a dead and a living body is far closer than that between a stick and a snake. Hence, Moses should be more deserving of being God or son of God than Jesus, yet no one has asserted this of him (Razi, VIII, pp 82-84). From Islaam.com