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Debate:Did Jesus ever claim to be God? (view source)
Revision as of 22:26, December 16, 2007
, 22:26, December 16, 2007no edit summary
:Whether or not Jesus is God comes down to a stupid debate over the definition of "is." We all agree that Jesus was not God in the sense that you can replace the one word with the other, so what's the question? --[[User:Andy|Andy]] 21:00, 17 November 2007 (EST)
:Whether or not Jesus is God comes down to a stupid debate over the definition of "is." We all agree that Jesus was not God in the sense that you can replace the one word with the other, so what's the question? --[[User:Andy|Andy]] 21:00, 17 November 2007 (EST)
:Although the ''King James'' and other versions (''New English Bible'', ''Jerusalem Bible'', ''New American Bible'' (St. Joseph Edition) translate the Greek ''e•go΄ ei•me΄'' as "I am" and render it in capitals to appear to be a title, that is not the only rendering possible. Context is incredibly important here. The Jews were asking Jesus not about his ''identity'' but about his ''age''. Jesus' answer then had to do with his age, the fact that he had a pre-human existence in heaven ... not a statement of who he is. The book, ''A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research'' states that: "The verb [''ei•mi΄''] ... does express existence as a predicate like any other verb, as in [''e•go΄ ei•me΄''] (Jo. 8:58)." (A.T. Robertson, p. 394). This same idea is conveyed by the wording in ''The Bible-An American Translation'', ''A New Translation of the Bible'' (James Moffat), ''The New Testament-A Translation in the Language of the People'', ''The Simple English Bible'', and ''The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures''.
::*Looking at the context of the entire gospel of John, Jesus consistently draws a separation between himself and God. He refers to God as "Father" and shows that he is subordinate to the Father (John 14:28) and was sent at his Father's direction (John 3:16; 17:3).
::*Looking at the context of all four gospels, Jesus again consistently shows that he is does not believe himself to be God. For example, Luke 22:42 Christ prays in the Garden for, not his will to be done, but the Father's. Mark 15:34, he cries out "My God, my God, what have you forsaken me?" Matthew 28:18, Jesus tells his disciples that authority had been ''given'' him in heaven and on earth. If Jesus knew he was God, none of these would make sense.
::*Looking at the context of the New Testament, the early Christians did not believe Jesus to be God. The most prolific writer, the Apostle Paul, consistently writes about Jesus as the ''Son'' of God ... not God himself. For example, 1 Corinthians 15:24: "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power." (''KJV'') - in other words Christ hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, a transaction between two separate people. At Colossians 1:15, Paul refers to Christ as the first-born of all creation. This harmonizes with the concept of Christ Jesus (the Son of God) and God the Father.[[User:BibleBrown|BibleBrown]] 17:26, 16 December 2007 (EST)
John 10:30 "I and the Father are one." yeah...that kind of says he claimed to be God to me...
John 10:30 "I and the Father are one." yeah...that kind of says he claimed to be God to me...
:Jesus also said at Matthew 19:5, regarding Adam and Eve, that they were "one flesh" (referring to their marital union). Nobody would ever construe his words to mean that Jesus ''literally'' meant that the first couple walked around like conjoined twins. Again, context is critical. John 10:36 asks the Jews if they feel he has blasphemed because I said, I am Son of God? At John 17:21, 22 Christ prayed, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (''KJV'') The Greek word being translated as "one" (''hen''), at both John 10:30 and John 17:21, 22, is neuter, literally "one (thing)," and is used to indicate oneness in cooperation.
:French theologian John Calvin (July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564), said in the book ''Commentary on the Gospel According to John'': “The ancients made a wrong use of this passage to prove that Christ is . . . of the same essence with the Father. For Christ does not argue about the unity of substance, but about the agreement which he has with the Father.” [[User:BibleBrown|BibleBrown]] 17:26, 16 December 2007 (EST)