Identifying Jesus: Is he Man or both man & God? ( Dr. Craig's Opening Statement - 1 of 4 )
Is Jesus Christ God or just a prophet? What does the Bible say about the identity of Jesus Christ? Why is the question over Jesus' true identity so important? The Islamic view of Jesus lies between two extremes. The Jews, who rejected Jesus as a Prophet of God, called him an impostor. The Christians, on the other hand, considered him to be the son of God and worship him as such. Islam considers Jesus to be one of the great prophets of God and respects him as much as Ibrahim (Abraham), Moses, and Muhammad. Representing the Muslim perspective bro Yusuf Ismail; Brother Yusuf is presently full-time in the legal profession and is additionally affiliated to the IPCI where he engages in primarily inter-faith discussions and debates with individuals from varying persuasions and religious and political backgrounds. He earned a Bcom law law degree from University of Durban in Westville and a bachelors of law from University Natal He is a part time lecturer in law at Unisa SBL He is heading the interfaith department of the islamic propagation center international on a part time basis. He is primarily involved in discussions focusing on the relevancy of Christianity and Islam in the modern world, discussions on Christian Muslim relations in postmodern society and the challenges of secularism in the 21st century. Mr. Ismail has engaged in regular debates on theological issues with a number of leading christian figures in South Africa such as Dr. Seecombe, Pastor Glenn Schentke and Pastor Bob Benjamin Last year he was instrumental in setting up and coordinating a series of debates between Shabir Ally from Toronto and leading christian apologist from South Africa John Gilchrist. Representing the Christian side was Dr. William Lane Craig: Dr. William is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife Jan and their two teenage children Charity and John. At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). The Topic of Debate: Identifying Jesus: Is he Man or both Man & God? Attorney Yusuf Ismail (www.ahmed-deedat.co.za) vs. Dr. Willam Lane Craig (www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/) ( Jubille Community Church, Cape town, South Africa May 8th 2010 )