the Word of Allah united with the human nature—is untenable from several angles.

First, that Word must be one of four things: either it is Allah Himself; or it is an attribute of His essence; or it is neither His essence nor an attribute thereof; or it is both the essence and the attribute together.

If it is neither His essence, nor His attribute, nor both together, then it stands apart from Him as one of His creations. In that case it is not divinity at all, much less the Creator, and no divinity has united with the Messiah; rather, if any union occurred it would have been with a created being.

If, on the other hand, the Word is the very essence—or the essence together with the attribute—then it is the Lord of all worlds, the Father in their terminology. Yet they unanimously concede that the Messiah is not the Father, and that the Father did not unite with him; instead they claim it was the Son.

If the Word is an attribute of Allah—exalted be He—then an attribute of Allah is not itself the Creator-God, whereas, according to them, the Messiah is the Creator-God. Moreover, Allah’s attribute inheres in His essence; it does not leave His essence to indwell something else and unite with it, yet they maintain that the Word of Allah united with the Messiah.

Should they protest, saying: “Our view resembles that of some Muslims who assert that the Quran—or the Torah or the Gospel—indwells its reciters or unites with them, that the Eternal has entered into the created or united with it, and the like,”

the answer is: Even if those Muslims were correct, their position would furnish you no proof; for on that assumption there is no distinction between the Messiah and anyone else who recites the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, or the Quran. Nevertheless, you claim that the Messiah—he alone—is Allah or the son of Allah. Furthermore, those Muslims and all other nations alike agree that the reciters