Do Christians Commit Shirk? Part 2

For this post:
Christians are those that adhere to an Apostolic doctrine and Pentecostal experience (usually Oneness Christians).
Muslims are those that adhere to any teaching of Muhammad and believe in one god.

Note 1: I make a case for both Trinitarians and Oneness Christians in the original article. This post will strictly stay on the Oneness Christian view. For my other Christian friends that hold slightly different views, I have defended your view in the original article.

Note 2: I will not tolerate any hate for humans that disagree with my views. You are free to agree or disagree. If you choose to disagree, kindly comment or refrain from commenting if it will be too much of a burden to speak kindly.
If you adhere to a religion, than more than likely, your religion calls for the practice of outreach towards those that do not follow your religion. If you are relationship-minded, then you will want to share your Friend/Father/Savior with everyone. I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to make you think.

What is shirk?
Shirk – (Arabic: “making a partner [of someone]”)

Muhammadan-Islamic views gradually grew on the interpretation of the subject after the death of the prophet (claimed) Muhammad.

The primary view of Islamic shirk is to hold other gods besides the one God. Thus, when a Christian refers to Jesus, the Muslim accuses him/her of committing shirk.

Do Christians commit shirk? If shirk refers to making associates to God, then no, Christians do not commit shirk.

يٰٓأَهْلَ الْكِتٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوا فِى دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ ۚ إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُۥٓ أَلْقٰىهَآ إِلٰى مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ ۖ فَئَامِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ ۖ وَلَا تَقُولُوا ثَلٰثَةٌ ۚ انْتَهُوا خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا اللَّهُ إِلٰهٌ وٰحِدٌ ۖ سُبْحٰنَهُۥٓ أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌ ۘ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَمَا فِى الْأَرْضِ ۗ وَكَفٰى بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلًا
“O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, Three; desist – it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.”
(QS. An-Nisaa 4: Verse 171)

وَإِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يٰعِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ ءَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِى وَأُمِّىَ إِلٰهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ سُبْحٰنَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِىٓ أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِى بِحَقٍّ ۚ إِنْ كُنْتُ قُلْتُهُۥ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُۥ ۚ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِى وَلَآ أَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِكَ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلّٰمُ الْغُيُوبِ
“And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?’ He will say, Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen.”
(QS. Al-Maaida 5: Verse 116)

لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوٓا إِنَّ اللَّهَ ثَالِثُ ثَلٰثَةٍ ۘ وَمَا مِنْ إِلٰهٍ إِلَّآ إِلٰهٌ وٰحِدٌ ۚ وَإِنْ لَّمْ يَنْتَهُوا عَمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَيَمَسَّنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
“They have certainly disbelieved who say, Allah is the third of three. And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.”
(QS. Al-Maaida 5: Verse 73)

لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوٓا إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ ۚ قُلْ فَمَنْ يَمْلِكُ مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا إِنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُهْلِكَ الْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَأُمَّهُۥ وَمَنْ فِى الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ۗ وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ۚ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
“They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary. Say, Then who could prevent Allah at all if He had intended to destroy Christ, the son of Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth? And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. He creates what He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.”
(QS. Al-Maaida 5: Verse 17)

I have chosen four Quranic verses that provide much of the required context within them.

What can we gain from reading the four verses above?

(1.) To commit excess in religion is to say that Jesus Christ, who is a man, is a god or God.
(2.) God is one but some said “three”.
(3.) Jesus and Mary were both considered to be deities beside God.
(4.) Some say God is a third of three but the only god is one God. There is no god but one God.
(5.) If God is Jesus, then God has a mother and was born.

1. Is God a man? Numbers 23:19 NKJV
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

If Christians believe this, then we have not committed shirk.

2. Is God one or multiple? David K. Bernard writes “Without wavering, the Bible states that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). Some trinitarians suggest that one in respect to God means one in unity rather than absolutely one in numerical value. To support this theory they appeal to the Hebrew word echad, which the Bible uses to express the concept of one God.
The word apparently can mean both one in unity and one numerically, for Strong defines it as “united, one, first.” Biblical examples of the word used in the sense of absolute numerical oneness are enlightening: a list of Canaanite kings each designated by the word echad (Joshua 12:9-24); the prophet Micaiah (I Kings 22:8); Abraham (Ezekiel 33:24); a list of gates each designated by echad (Ezekiel 48:31-34); and the angel Michael (Daniel 10:13). Certainly, in each of the above cases echad means one in numerical value. In view of the many Old Testament passages that describe in
unequivocal terms God’s absolute oneness (see Chapter 1, especially the Scripture references in Isaiah), it is evident that echad as used of God does mean the absolute numerical oneness of His being. To the extent that echad does convey a concept of unity, it connotes a unity of God’s multiple attributes, not a cooperative union of separate persons. If echad does not mean one in number, then we
have no defense against polytheism, because three (or more) separate gods could be one in unity of mind and purpose. However, it is clearly the intent of the Old Testament to deny polytheism, and it does use echad to mean one in numerical value.” – The Oneness of God

If Christians believe this, then they have yet to commit shirk.

3. Is the son of man and his mother both deities? No. Christians do not believe this and will continue to reject the notion of any such belief. Christians have yet to commit shirk.

4. For Trinitarians, God has never been a third of three. Instead, God is made up of three Persons. Some Muslim thinkers claim the verse speaks of Jesus, yet the Quran is very particular when referring to the Christ. One question that should be asked by Christians to Muslims is “who is God?” Notice that the Quran says there is no God but one God. One must know the right one God else any other one god can and most likely will be the wrong one god. So we must ask, which one God? (I will probably come back to this and post at a later time to answer this question and refute the given Islamic apologist statements.)

If shirk is based on the same views as the more modern shituf, then Muslims themselves commit shirk.

“Even though when they mention God they mean Jesus, they do not mention idolatry since they really mean the Creator of heaven and earth.” – Moses Isseerles on Jewish partnerships with Christians

“We must remember that the Son is not the same as the Father. The title Father never alludes to humanity, while Son does. Although Jesus is both Father and Son, we cannot say the Father is the Son. In John 17:21-22, Jesus, speaking as a man, did not state that He is the Father. However, other passages describe the oneness of Jesus with the Father in a way that transcends mere unity of purpose, and in a way that indicates Jesus is the Father. This is an
additional level of oneness that is beyond our attainment because it speaks of His absolute deity. When Jesus said, “I and my Father are one,” the Jews correctly understood Him to mean He was God, and they sought to kill Him (John 10:30-33). On that occasion, He did not merely claim unity with God but identity with God. Jesus also said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). No matter how united a Christian is with God, he could not make that statement. No matter how united two Christians are, one could not say, “If you have seen me, you have seen my friend.” The same is true of a husband and wife, even though they are one flesh (Genesis 2:24). So,
the oneness of Jesus and the Father means more than the oneness that human relationships can attain. As a man Jesus was one with the Father in the sense of unity of purpose, mind, and will (John 17:22). As God,
Jesus is one with the Father in the sense of identity with the Father—in the sense that He is the Father (John 10:30; 14:9).” – David K. Bernard in the Oneness of God, pg.197

Since Christians continue to believe in one God, who is the Creator, we are still not committing shirk.

5. A common question asked by Muslims is “if Jesus is God then who was the Creator creating Jesus?” Christians do not believe God has a mother. Christians do not believe God ever stopped being God.

“Say, Then who could prevent Allah at all if He had intended to destroy Christ, the son of Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth?” – surah 5:17

Number four answers this question, however, I will summarize the answer. Who could prevent God from destroying everyone including the man Christ? No one! God created it all and He can destroy it all. There is no human that can stop their Creator from destroying them.

Since we seem to agree that God cannot be destroyed by humans, we do not commit shirk.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 KJVS
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; [19] To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Colossians 2:9 KJVS
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

We do not state that God became man, but that God, being our Creator, also manifested Himself in Christ. This does not imply shirk.

Therefore, I conclude that Christians do not commit shirk.