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The Divinity of Christ

Jesus calls himself the “Son of God” That is, of the same nature, species and essence as his Father “God” Jn 10:30, Jn 14:9. He claims to be sinless He claimed to forgive sins--all sins, against everyone Jesus claimed to save us from sin and death He came from heaven

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The Divinity of Christ

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  1. Jesus calls himself the “Son of God” That is, of the same nature, species and essence as his Father“God” Jn 10:30, Jn 14:9 He claims to be sinless He claimed to forgive sins--all sins, against everyone Jesus claimed to save us from sin and death He came from heaven He will return and judge everyone He gave us his flesh to eat and said it would give us eternal life He changed peoples names He performed miracles and rose from the dead He claimed the name “YHWH” and invited crucifixion The Divinity of Christ

  2. Jesus divinity is proclaimed within the first generation of his death with no evidence of opposition. The claim of Jesus to be God makes sense of his trial and crucifixion. The Jewish sensitivity to blasphemy was unique; historically no other culture would insist on death for claiming divinity.

  3. The Divinity of ChristThe Importance of the Issue The Divinity of Christ is the most distinctive Christian doctrine The essential difference between orthodox Christianity and modernist Christianity is God in the flesh The doctrine is a skeleton key to the rest of Christian Doctrine

  4. If Christ is divine the incarnation becomes the most important event in human history If God becomes human in Christ and is at the same time omnipotent then he can truly be present right now, can transform us now If Christ is divine he has a right to our entire lives, including our thoughts and inner lives. We are obligated to believe the creator.

  5. Humans by essence are temporal, finite, fallible and mortal God by essence is eternal, infinite, infallible and immortal The Divinity of ChristThe Difficulty of the DoctrineThe immediate, instinctive, intuitive shockNo one understandsOn the reflective rational level the claim seems absurd

  6. The Divinity of ChristOur Argument for the Truth FIRST Six clues to the possibility of God becoming man SECOND Demonstrate that this actually occurred in Jesus

  7. The Divinity of ChristClue to the possibility Incarnation “myth become fact.” C. S. Lewis The more witnesses tell a similar story, the more likely it is that it is true. The more foreshadowing the more likely the event will occur

  8. The Divinity of ChristClue to the possibility The Cameo Appearance As with an author inserting himself into his own play can not God place himself within creation.

  9. The Divinity of ChristClue to the possibility A universally negative proposition is the most difficult to disprove Who says God can not do it?

  10. The Divinity of ChristClue to the possibility Omnipotence implies the possibility of the incarnation If evolution is possible and metamorphosis is possible it is then possible for a human being to be transformed, that is taken up into God. God then can transform himself into a lesser form

  11. The Divinity of ChristClue to the possibility We ourselves have two opposite natures, matter and spirit, this exemplifies the possibility but is not an analogy God is not like us! We are in the image and likeness of God

  12. Arguments for Christ’s DivinityChrist’s Trustworthiness Points of agreement concerning Christ a good and wise man a great and profound teacher history’s greatest moral teacher highly respected eminently trustworthy To be worthy of trust a man must know himself Christ claims to be God If Christ is not God he is not trustworthy Yet we unanimously trust Christ

  13. Arguments for Christ’s Divinity Christ’s Trustworthiness If we know the humanity and trustworthiness of Jesus better than we know what is possible for God to do, it is reasonable for us to believe Jesus and change our theological expectations based on that knowledge.

  14. The Impossibility of the AlternativeJesus claimed to be GodMyth, fairy tale, fantasy or lie • Who invented the lie and for what reason because a liar always has selfish motives? • Why did the lies originators suffer torture and death for the lie? • How can a lie have so transformed the world with moral fortitude, peace and joy? • Who were the naïve fools who first believed this hallucination or myth since the idea would be absurd to a Jew? • Why would Jews believe gentiles since 25 of the 27 books in New Testament were written by Jews? • How could a myth come into existence within the lifetime of eye witnesses who could refute the facts? • Why does the myth continue to attract the brightest minds in history?

  15. Aquinas If the incarnation did not happen, then an even more unbelievable miracle happened: the conversion of the world by the biggest lie in history and the moral transformation of lives into unselfish, detachment from worldly pleasures and radically new heights of holiness by mere myth.

  16. The Main ArgumentWhat Jesus was not Jesus was either Lord, liar, lunatic, guru or myth He could not possibly be a liar, lunatic, guru or myth Therefore “Jesus is Lord”

  17. Jesus was either God (if he tells the truth) or a bad man (if he lies) But Jesus was not a bad man Therefore Jesus is God • Everyone agrees with little or no controversy with the second premise. • Someone who claims to be God and is not can not also be a good man. • By claiming that he is God Jesus eliminates the possibility of him being considered merely a good man • If we agree that he is good he must by nature be truthful.

  18. If Jesus is neither God nor a liarthen he must be a lunatic He believed he was, what in fact, he was not Not morally bad not a deliberate deceiver rather mentally bad by falling into self-deception In this case he is still no more trustworthy than a liar

  19. Jesus’ CharacterWise and Good Jesus Possesses The essential human virtues both needed and desired by all Wisdom Love Creativity • He wisely and cannily saw into peoples hearts • He solved unsolvable problems • He gave totally to others including his very life • Most creative, interesting, unpredictable man who ever lived • The most common verb used by those who met Jesus was “thaumazo” ‘to wonder’. If this is lunacy it is more desirable than sanity

  20. Why not a liar? Wrong psychological profile Unselfish, loving, caring, compassionate and passionate about teaching the truth No conceivable motive for the lie hatred, rejection, misunderstanding, persecution, torture and death No hope for success Jews are the least likely people to believe that God became a man

  21. Why not a lunatic? Psychological profiles are opposite practical wisdom, tough love, unpredictable creativity We feel superior to a lunatic Jesus enemies were uncomfortable because they felt inferior Jesus made others feel personally challenged, and embarrassed Lunacy could not have changed so many lives for the better for so many centuries What accounts for the deception of those who were first deceived

  22. Suppose the New Testament is myth?There are four Gospels not just one, written by different writers for different audiences and somewhat different purposes and emphasis. Who invented the myth and what could their motive be? Christians were subject to persecution, torture, martyrdom and hatred for their belief.

  23. Suppose the New Testament is myth? First century Jews and Christians were not prone to believe myths. They were adamantly opposed to polytheistic myths. When read with an open mind and heart most have come to see the story could not possibly be invention.

  24. Suppose the New Testament is myth? If the same neutral, objective, scientific approach is used on New Testament texts as is used on all other ancient documents, then the texts prove remarkably reliable.

  25. Suppose the New Testament is myth? • No book in history has been as critically analyzed as the New Testament. • The preserved state of the manuscripts is very good. • We have ten times the number of ancient documents as any other ancient text • Absolutely no evidence of a later addition of a mythical layer exists. • The style of the Gospel is not the style of myth but rather that of real unscientific, eyewitness description. • It compares to no other mythical literature of those times.

  26. Judaism is an exoteric (public) religion of collective observance of a public law (Torah) and belief in a public book (the Scriptures. Judaism and Christianity embrace God, the doctrine that God is distinct from the world. There is an infinite gap between creator and creature. Gurus and mystics of all cultures teach an esoteric (private), individual inner experience not communicated in words Eastern gurus believe in pantheistic immanence that is we and everything else are ultimately God. Jesus was an enlightened guru?

  27. For Jews God is a person the ultimate reality. YHWH “I AM” . Judaism is firmly based in salvation history. Jews believe God made himself known publicly in words and deeds. For Jews, God is the active initiator (He searches for us), For gurus “I” is the term of ultimate illusion. Individuality and personhood are the ultimate illusion. For mystics, time and history, are unreal and illusions. Mystics believe God is unknowable except wordlessly in mystical experience. for mystics God is passive (We search for him). Jesus was an enlightened guru?

  28. The Jewish God is a moralist. God is all good and hates evil. He gives commandments. Judaism embraces the idea of an eternal, ultimate justice and judgement. The pantheistic God has no law, no preferences. He is totally non-discriminating, like modern amoralistic. Eastern religions have no hell. You get to keep trying until you get it right. Jesus was an enlightened guru? JESUS WAS A JEW NOT A GURU

  29. JESUS IS LORD! It is the only rational, honest alternative to the Christ dilemma. It is intrinsically possible with no internal or external inconsistencies. It is probable. God could well have done this. It works. It has enlightened and transformed lives It gives the greatest hope, meaning and purpose ever proposed to human life.

  30. Then Why? • Irrational reasons or they’ve never heard the arguments. • Often the thing rejected is not Christ but Christians • Fear of the Church and its teachings. The Church makes demands. • The reluctance is usually moral. We are all addicts to something • Fear of the supernatural because it is mysterious • Simple pride we want to be in control of our lives • It is not intellectually fashionable

  31. Then Why? Equality! The notion that all religions are not equal offends our real religion of “equality” which makes no demands on us to choose or justify our choice

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