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« on: September 09, 2015, 06:48:29 AM »
The Bible uses the words 'know' in a number of different ways. Sometimes it is used to mean 'proclaim', 'reveal', or 'make known'. It can also mean to know in an intimate fashion (Genesis 4:1; Amos 3:1-2). In his first letter to the Corinthians, St Paul reminds the Corinthians that during his visit he "decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). The book of Genesis includes the story of Abraham going to sacrifice his son Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19). In this story the angel of the Lord says to Abraham, "now I know that you fear God" (Genesis 22:12).
It is possible to interpret these words of the angel to mean that Abraham's fear of God has been made known. The purpose of the trial was for Abraham to intimately know how much he feared God, and it is reasonable to say Abraham learnt how much he feared God. God knows things because they are his works and he enables them to occur, so he knows Abraham's fear of God by enabling Abraham to carry out the trial. By enabling Abraham to carry out the trial, God has enabled Abraham to know how much he fears God.
Jesus Christ is using the word 'knows' in this sense in Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32. (St Augustine, ON THE TRINITY, Book 1, Chapter 12; online edition) (St Thomas Aquinas, SUMMA THEOLOGICA, 3rd Part, Question 10, Article 2, Reply to Objection 1, online edition)
Mere human beings obviously do not possess knowledge of when the day of judgement will be. Therefore, in saying that no human being knows the day or the hour, Jesus is warning his followers against attempting to work out when judgement day will be, and against proclaiming their guesses to other people. He is also telling us to ignore anyone who proclaims the time of judgement day. In the same chapter of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says:
If anyone says to you, "Look! Here is the Messiah!" or "There he is!" - do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, "Look! He is in the wilderness", do not go out. If they say, "Look! He is in the inner rooms", do not believe it. For as lightening comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man... Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. (Matthew 24:23-27, 41-44; see also Mark 13:21-23, 32-37)
Angels may or may not have knowledge of the time of judgement day. Either way, Jesus Christ is telling us that the angels are not permitted to speak to human beings about the time of judgement day. All the good angels are faithful to this restriction because they are perfectly obedient to God. Therefore, any angel that speaks to human beings about the time of judgement day must be one of the fallen angels (also known as demons). Such an angel should definitely be ignored and kept out of our lives.
Jesus Christ has perfect knowledge of the time of judgement day. The Bible tells us that all things were made through Jesus Christ, the Son and Word of God (John 1:1-3, 14-18; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2). This means that all times were made through him, including the day of judgement. The Bible also tells us that Jesus Christ is the one who will judge all people (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:22, 27-29; Acts 17:31). Since the day of judgement was made through Jesus Christ and he will be the judge on that day, it is reasonable to say that he has perfect knowledge of when that day will be. (St Thomas Aquinas, SUMMA THEOLOGICA, 3rd Part, Question 10, Article 2, Reply to Objection 1)
In Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32, Jesus Christ is telling his disciples that it is not part of his mission to reveal the time of judgement day. By doing this, he is discouraging his disciples, and us, from asking him when judgement day will be. Jesus does this by using a manner of speaking that his disciples were familiar with and can be understood by people familiar with the Bible, as I briefly explained above. After his resurrection, Jesus tells his disciples that they are not meant to know the times and periods determined by God (Acts 1:6-7). (Archbishop Michael Sheehan, Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine, A new edition revised by Fr Peter Joseph, The Saint Austin Press, London, 2001, pp. 384-385)
The Father has perfect knowledge of judgement day because he is God and therefore has perfect knowledge (John 17:1-3). He is said to know or reveal it because he always reveals it to the Son, because he gives the fullness of Divinity to the Son (John 3:35; 5:22, 27; 10:29; 16:15; Colossians 1:19). Also, the Father did not become Man and was not standing among the apostles. Therefore, he did not have to warn the apostles against asking him about the day of judgement like Jesus did.
In Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32, Jesus Christ calls himself 'the Son', he refers to God as 'the Father', and he lists himself between the angels and the Father, and well above men. Islam does not believe Jesus is the Son of God and it does not refer to God as 'Father' (Qur'an 4:171, 19:34-35, 88-93 and 112:1-4). Therefore, these Bible verses support Christianity and oppose Islam on these issues. The fact that Jesus places himself above the angels, and well above men, in this hierarchical list at least implies his Divinity, because who is above the angels but God. What I have said here applies to other Bible verses used in the Muslim article. I think Muslims should reflect on everything implied and taught in particular Bible verses before using them in arguments.
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