The scriptures do not merely say GOD is one; they forbid making Him a likeness and condemn bowing to what is made. The Yajurveda says "there is no image of Him" and "they sink deeper in darkness who worship created things"; the Torah says "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image… thou shalt not bow down thyself to them"; the Quran says "There is nothing that equals Him" (42:11) and records Abraham breaking the statues of his people. The same rule covers the human image: GOD does not become a man. Where a tradition teaches "incarnation" or "avatar", the thread's compliant reading is that GOD sends a man at the moment religion decays — the function the Gita assigns to the avatar ("whenever… there is a decline in religious practice… I descend Myself") is the function the Quran assigns to the messenger ("We have sent a messenger to every community", 16:36). The dividing line is the mode: GOD sending versus GOD descending. The argument against the descending mode is not an insult to any tradition; it is the Quran's own argument that the Creator "feeds but is not fed" (6:14), that "Never a moment of unawareness or slumber overtakes Him" (2:255), and that a Creator who became what He created would cease to be the Creator.
"There is no image of Him whose glory verily is great. He sustains within Himself all luminous objects like the Sun etc. May He not harm me, this is my prayer. As He is unborn, He deserves our worship."
[42:11] …There is nothing that equals Him…
"…the Bright, Bodiless, Woundless, Sinewless, the Pure which evil hath not pierced…"
[112:2] "The Absolute GOD.
"Deep into shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." (Naik: "They enter darkness, those who worship natural things… They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti" — created things, "table, chair, idol, etc.")
[41:37] …Do not prostrate before the sun, nor the moon; you shall fall prostrate before the GOD who created them… and [21:66–67] …"Do you then worship besides GOD what possesses no power to benefit you or harm you? You have incurred shame by worshiping idols beside GOD…"
[2:18] Deaf, dumb, and blind; they fail to return. (Naik applies RV 10:71:4 / Matt 13:13 / 2:18 here)
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God."
[4:36] You shall worship GOD alone - do not associate anything with Him…
Jacob: "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves."
[2:133] Had you witnessed Jacob on his death bed; he said to his children, "What will you worship after I die?" They said, "We will worship your god; the god of your fathers Abraham, Ismail, and Isaac; the one god. To Him we are submitters."
Lystra crowd: "The gods have come down to us in human form!… Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes" — and the apostles tore their clothes in protest.
[9:31] They have set up their religious leaders and scholars as lords, instead of GOD. Others deified the Messiah, son of Mary. They were all commanded to worship only one god…
"Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize."
[3:80] Nor would he command you to idolize the angels and the prophets as lords…
"God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth."
[6:103]
[21:52] He said to his father and his people, "What are these statues to which you are devoting yourselves?" [21:57] "I swear by GOD, I have a plan to deal with your statues, as soon as you leave." [21:58] He broke them into pieces, except for a big one, that they may refer to it. [21:66] He said, "Do you then worship besides GOD what possesses no power to benefit you or harm you? [21:67] "You have incurred shame by worshiping idols beside GOD. Do you not understand?"
"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium."
[16:36] We have sent a messenger to every community, saying, "You shall worship GOD, and avoid idolatry."… and [35:24] …Every community must receive a warner.
"There is no reference of Avtaars anywhere in the Vedas (Sruti). However it is found in the Smrti i.e. the Puranas and the Itihasas." (Naik)
[4:164] Messengers we have told you about, and messengers we never told you about…
[6:14] …He feeds but is not fed… [5:75] The Messiah, son of Mary, is no more than a messenger like the messengers before him, and his mother was a saint. Both of them used to eat the food… (also 2:255; 3:59)
[2:255] …Never a moment of unawareness or slumber overtakes Him… [50:38] …and no fatigue touched us. (also 20:52; 30:6; 42:11)
[42:11] …There is nothing that equals Him… ; [3:7] (allegorical verses)
With a Hindu, do not begin by naming any deity; begin with Yajurveda 32:3 and 40:8 in Devi Chand and Griffith (Hindu and orientalist translators), then Shvetashvatara 4:19–20, and let the listener draw the conclusion about images themselves. Accept gladly that "Brahma" and "Vishnu" are fine as attributes — Creator and Sustainer are in 59:24 — and object only to the body, which the Vedas themselves deny Him. Then Gita 4:7–8: say plainly that the project reads the avatar's function as the messenger's function, and that the Quran names some messengers and leaves others unnamed (4:164), so the project does not pronounce on Rama or Krishna but does not insult them either. With a Jew or Christian, Exodus 20 and Isaiah 40:18 need no commentary; Acts 14 (the apostles refusing worship) is the gentlest entry to the incarnation question, followed by 3:59 and 5:75. With everyone, the tape-recorder/instruction-manual illustration comes after the verses and is labelled an illustration (R5).