Servetus the Evangelical's book "The Restitution of Jesus Christ"
by
Bassam Zawadi
There seems to be a lot of hype going around on the internet regarding the anonymous individual who only identifies himself as Servetus the Evangelical (STE). According to him he was a former Trinitarian Protestant Christian who holds a doctorate in religious studies, appeared on television and whose birthday is on September 29th, just like Michael Servetus.
I initially didn't think much of this fellow and just thought he was some bored guy with nothing to do and just craved for attention. But then, I purchased his book "The Restitution of Jesus Christ" and with no exaggeration my jaw dropped in surprise after seeing the absolutely outstanding scholarship displayed in this book. I realized that this book could not have been written by any Joe Schmo. This was a book that I have been craving for so long and kept telling my self that needed to be written.
STE's book is dated at 2008 and surveys the best scholarship has to offer on the topic of Christology till that date. The author utilizes the works of Geza Vermes, James D.G. Dunn, Larry Hurtado (this made me really happy, for Trinitarians love to cite this scholar), Raymond Brown, E.P. Sanders and several dozens of other scholars whose views range from left (e.g. Robert Funk) to right (e.g. Don Carson) and whatever comes in between (e.g. Christopher Tuckett). He has clearly demonstrated his being up to speed on modern scholarship, while at the same time reminds the reader of the contributions that classical scholarship (e.g. James Denney) had to offer to the subject. This book by itself is the biggest and best contribution to Biblical Unitarian apologetics that I have seen so far and stands brilliantly side by side with the works of Anthony Buzzard against those (who unfortunately are in the majority) who believe that the Bible propagates the notion of the Trinity.
Many Muslims who are debating with Trinitarian Christians on whether Jesus claimed divinity in the Gospels have been mostly relying on websites such as Biblical Unitarian, Wrested Scriptures, Misha'al Abdullah's book, etc. who don't get me wrong have done a great job refuting the arguments of Trinitarians on a popular level. But now it is time to advance to more scholarly polemics. The Restitution of Jesus Christ is a great starting point and is an effective tool for Muslims to use in their da'wah efforts to Christians.
To get a scholarly feel of the book, the author was generous enough to share for free Chapter 1 of his book. Also, take a look at his Table of Contents in order to know exactly what topics you are going to be reading about. My personal favorite is his detailed 30 page discussion on the Thomas calling Jesus "My Lord and My God" argument. STE discusses this argument in such detail that I have never seen before.
In short, buy this book immediately. The small amount of money you will be putting for the amount of knowledge you would be receiving in return is indeed a great bargain!
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