Section: Continuing Ibn al-Baṭrīq’s quotation about the Christians and examining his words

Saʿīd ibn al-Baṭrīq said:

“This is like the ray that is begotten from the very orb of the sun. Its light fills the space between heaven and earth with brightness, and yet inside one of the houses it provides illumination by that same light without the orb of the sun from which it was generated actually accompanying it—because the ray has never been severed from the sun’s orb nor from its light. Likewise, God dwelt in the human nature without leaving the Father; so He is with the human nature, and He is with the Father and the Holy Spirit, truly.”

It is said in reply:

“Even if this analogy were granted to be sound, it would, in certain respects, resemble the assertion of those who say that He, in His very self, is present everywhere, like the sun’s rays that appear in the air and on the earth. As for the Christians, they restrict this to the human nature of the Messiah alone, excluding all other human natures. Yet even if someone who holds that He is present everywhere were to employ this analogy, it would still be invalid—so how much more so for the Christians? For light appears only in the air and on the earth’s surfaces; it does not reach beneath roofs, into caves, or into the depths of the earth.”