analyzing Christ’s ignorance of the day and hour. The argument and ansering objections

Salam dear readers!
As of my writing this, it is June 16 2024, which is Eid for us muslims. To all my muslim brothers and sisters, a proud eid mubarak to all of you! May Allah accept your efforts, deeds, and may he reward you and your families.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the arroz con pollo of this post, analyzing Christ’s ignorance of the day and hour.
Background:
One of the most common topics of discussion between Christians and muslims revolves around whether or not Jesus Christ was divine. Christians will often point to various ambiguous passages to prove their case, while muslims point to the clear and unambiguous passages that demonstrate Christ could not have been a divine person equal with God the father. In this article we will be analyzing a common muslim argument for Christ’s non-divinity, his lack of knowledge of the day and hour. But first, we must analyze what the Christians mean when they pose the idea that Jesus Christ is supposedly divine.
What is hypostatic union?
The hypostatic union, as articulated by the Christians, suggests that during his earthly ministry, Jesus christ was both fully man, and yet fully God, with one nature possessing all the attributes of man, and another possessing the attributes of God. These natures are united as one hypostasus, that being Jesus Christ. The godly attribute we seak to analyze in this article is the omniscients of Jesus.
What is trinity?
Although this article will not spend a lot of time on the trinity, it will come up later so its better to define the trinity now. The trinity is the idea that God almighty, the one God, exists in three distinct persons, those being the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Such persons are co-equal, co-eternal, independant, and co-substancial. For more information on the trinity, please check out analyzing trinity on this very blog.
The argument:
Let’s get into the argument at hand. Since Christians believe that Christ, during his earthly ministry, was fully God, we would expect him to be omniscient, knowing of everything. If we can deduce from the new testament that there is a certain bit of knowledge Christ does not possess, this would disqualify him from being divine, and equal with God the father. The question becomes, is there such a statement? The answer is yes!
The statement in mark 13:
The following verse from the gospel of Mark clearly states that Christ does not possess certain knowledge. Let’s look at the verse and its various translations.
"But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ESV.
"But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. NASB.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. NIV.
"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. NRSV.
"But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. RSV.
From a clear reading of the verse, it is very clear that no one knows the day and hour, accept for 1 individual referenced, the father. This clearly and without ambiguity, eliminates any other possible entity from having this knowledge.
For instance, if I was to say. No one knows where the tamales went, accept Carlos. This is implying that there is no one who possesses this knowledge, accept for the person mentioned.
The argument broken down in premisses:
1. During his earthly ministry, Christ was fully God and fully man.
2. it logically follows that if this is true, Christ would be omniscient.
3. if he is not omniscient, he cannot be fully God.
4. Christ did not know when the day and hour was.
5. Only the father is said to have this knowledge.
Conclusion. Therefore Christ is not God.
This also poses a problem for the Christian doctrine of the trinity as defined above, for the simple reason that if only the father knows the hour, the holy spirit would also be excluded from having such knowledge. This would mean that the persons are not co-equal, as 1 has more knowledge then the other.
Answering objections:
In this section, we will look at 3 common objections to the argument, and determine if the Christians ways of reconciling this issue are sound when scrutinized.
Objection: Jesus has 2 natures, 1 divine and 1 human. As such, Jesus only can know what the father wants him to know, and that can include not knowing the hour.
Answer: There are several problems with this. The first is that this line of logic would go against the hypostatic union. it posits that Christ is united under 2 natures, 1 fully man and the other fully God. if Jesus doesn’t know something, it means that he isn’t fully God, as to be fully God means to have knowledge of absolutely everything.
Furthermore, if Jesus only knows what the father wants him to know, this would mean that the father and the son are not co-equal, as the father has the power and right to give, and withhold, certain information from the son, and the son can only submit to the father’s authority.
Additionally, any catholic who holds to this view is declared a heretic by Pope Vigilius in the following quote.
“If anyone says that the one Jesus Christ who is both true Son of God and true Son of man did not know the future or the day of the Last Judgment and that he could know only as much as the divinity, dwelling in him as in another, revealed to him, anathema sit.
Objection: Jesus isn’t saying he doesn’t know the hour, but rather that it is not his right to declare it. In 1 cor. 2:2, Paul says, For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Does this mean that Paul literally knew nothing accept Christ and his crucifiction? Rather it means that this is all he chose to declare, or make known, so this is the same with Mark 13:32.
Answer: There are two main problems with this. The first is that, even if granted, this would falsify the trinity, as this would mean that the father alone has the power to declare the hour, and the other divine persons of the trinity do not have such power. This means that they are not co-equal, as they do not possess the same power as each other.
The second problem is that it does not make contextual sense to interpret mark 13:32 in the same way as the verse in Corinthians. The verses from 32-35, are as follows.
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.
34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.
As you can see, the context of Jesus saying these words is to teach the disciples to be alert, as they do not know when the hour will happen. Thus, it does not make contextual sense to interpret verse 32 to be saying, no one makes known, or no one declares, without interpreting verses 33 and 35 to say likewise.
Objection: It was proper according to jewish customs at the time, that the father alone has knowledge of when weddings will take place, and sets them up. Therefore, Jesus is alluding to this custom.
Answer: This is the most laughable objection we will cover, but nonetheless is somewhat deserving of a response. Nowhere in Mark 13 does Jesus ever speak of such a jewish custom, but rather the context focuses on an entirely different idea. Let’s read verses 24-32.
24 “But in those days, following that distress,
“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.
29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.
30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
I challenge any Christian posing this objection to show from within the verses above, any reference to a jewish wedding custom, and how it ties in to the central message Jesus conveys within these verses.
Conclusion:
It is clearly and unambiguously taught in the new testament that Christ does not possess the knowledge of the day and hour, but rather only the Father, the one true God, is the only entity which possesses this knowledge. In light of this fact, we can conclude that Jesus cannot be God.
Quran 4:171, O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion, and do not say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, is the Messenger of Allah, and His Word that He conveyed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and do not say, “Three.” Refrain—it is better for you. Allah is only one God. Glory be to Him—that He should have a son. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and the earth, and Allah is a sufficient Protector.
Quran 43:82-85
82. Glorified be the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the Lord of the Throne, beyond what they describe.
83. So leave them to blunder and play, until they encounter their Day which they are promised.
84. It is He who is Allah in heaven, and Allah on earth. He is the Wise, the Knower.
85. And blessed is He Who has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth and what is between them. He alone has knowledge of the Hour, and to Him you will be returned.