From Saeid's Heart ~ A Case for the Deity of Jesus
(Crossing My Rubicon of Faith)
My name is Saeid Soltani. I was reared in a traditional Muslim home in Iran and became dissatisfied with the traditional cultural answers to life's important, eternal questions. I asked, "Is this life all there is? Can I expect to live beyond this life and have a heavenly existence for eternity?"
Missionaries at my school exposed me to an understanding of Christianity which was at odds with all I had been led to believe. Both Islam and Christianity say, "Follow our path to eternal life." Over the past 1400 years, their fundamental differences have caused these two faiths to clash violently inciting a state of almost perpetual warfare. Also striking are the vastly different lifestyles, values, and priorities each faith seeks to impose upon its faithful followers.
As a young man struggling with my eternal salvation, I felt compelled to know which faith was the True Path - Islam's Allah and his prophet, Muhammad, or Christianity's Jehovah and his son Jesus? They could not both be right.
The resulting spiritual quest took me deep into the Christian Holy Bible and the Islamic Qur'an and Hadith. I engaged in discussions with their holy men and studied the commentaries of both faiths. I was also blessed to have long probing conversations with my wise grandfather on my father's side, Aghajun. During these discussions, each aspect of this quest was always clarified and seasoned by his sage insights.
My search quickly moved past the interesting, cosmetic differences between the two faiths. It narrowed dramatically when I realized that the Qur'an recognizes the authenticity of Jesus as a mighty prophet and or his miracles. Nonetheless, Islam denies his deity. Clearly then, the fundamental difference between the two faiths came down to one overriding question: Is Jesus God?
Islam says, "No."
Christianity says, "Yes."