Debate:Did Jesus ever claim to be God?

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jesus claimed to be the son of god...right?? according to christanity...

According to GOD

Matthew 3:17 "And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." That's according to the Jews of His time. The Son of God that became the sin offering for all of mankind. Need more? Read the rest of the Old and New Testament.--Roopilots6 15:24, 28 June 2007 (EDT)

According to Jesus himself

God is refered to as "I AM" in Exodus 3:14; "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

In the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John, some Jews asked Jesus who he was claiming to be. In his response, he included both the claim that he is the Son of God, and took on the self-existant name, "I AM", that God declared to Moses. "I AM" is not a clear evidence. This is language that is used by anyone. In other words, whenever anyone speaks about him/herself and says "I AM" we might consider as GOD?!! so "I AM" used in the bible and in any other religious statment does not proof that jesus was GOD.

Jhn 8:53-59 "Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? (v.54)Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: (v.55) Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. (v.56) Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw [it], and was glad. (v.57) Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? (v.58) Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (v.59) Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."

The Jews obviously understood the dual statements of "my Father...is your God" and "Before Abraham was, I am" as a doubly strong claim to the divine nature of God, since they tried to stone him on the spot. --DavidDeering 13:41, 11 September 2007 (EDT)

Maybe I missed it but I have not read any quotes from Jesus saying specifically He was God. Although there is plenty of scripture saying He was the Son and that there is one God. “There is no God but one.” “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Also if Jesus is God, how is it that He said that only the Father knows the Day of the Lord?

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? --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.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...However, the refrence is right, but it is just a text and we need to look at the whole context, which starts at John 10:22. The whole context shows that there is a difference between GOD and Jesus (the father and the son), and the whole context would mean that GOD and jesus are the same as far as the walk in Faith is concerned, and it does not mean that they are one and the same. So This does not present any proof that Jesus was GOD.

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.” BibleBrown 17:26, 16 December 2007 (EST)

Did jesus claim to be be God?... No he did not, because there is not a single vocal statment in the bible where Jesus says that he is God, or where he says worship me...Jesus is not God, however he is a mighty messenger from God.

the concept of the Trinity seems missing in this debate. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Wargammer2005 (talk)

The word trinity is not mentioned in the Bible, but there are a number of verses which mention Father, Son and Holy Spirit together; such as the baptism of Jesus and following his resurrection. The word Godhead is used a number of times in the KJV which means trinity, interestingly this has been taken out of new translations! I'd be interested on peoples views on this as I find it a difficult doctrine. Adam

My remembrance of textual criticisms is a bit fuzzy, but I thought that the use of Godhead, in KJV, was specifically added to have the translation include the Trinity. The text used for the translation was one that included the reference, and that is why it was chosen. I am several years away from any TC study, however, so cannot make this as a solid claim. Boomcoach 09:01, 24 January 2008 (EST)

I am confused by the trinity doctrine of three persons in one God. I tend to think this is not Biblically based. How can it be when Jesus said "I am not yet ascended to... my God, and your God" (John 20:17)? Also John says "God.. gave his only begotten Son"(3:16), implying that Jesus was sent? Would be more accurate to say that while there is unity between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, only the Father is God, Jesus the Son of God and "the express image of God" and the Spirit of God an agent of God? Adam

When it comes to the Bible, confusion generally arises where a teaching is either: 1) inconsistent with what the rest of the Bible says or 2) inconsistent with reality. The trinity doctrine falls apart on both.

For example: The Bible uses a Father/Son relationship to describe God and Jesus.

• Nowhere ... literally ... does the Bible categorically state ‘the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.’
• We know from day-to-day life that Father/Son relationships rarely involve two distinct individuals being the same entity. One would assume that if a day-to-day relationship would be a template, you'd look at identical triplets.

According to "Harpers Bible Dictionary", it is generally believed that Tertullian (c. 145-220 AD) either coined the term or was the first to use it in reference to God. According to "The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge": "The doctines of the ... Trinity received their shape from Greek Fathers, who ... were much influenced, directly or indirectly, by the Platonic philosophy."

God dealt exclusively with the nation of Israel for thousands of years. If He was a triune deity similar to those worshipped by Israel's enemies the Egyptians and Babylonians, He probably would have mentioned somewhere along the lines - at least to Noah, Abraham or Moses one would imagine.

Unfortunately the doctrine is one that for some reason people refuse to be rational about. They find comfort in a "divine mystery" that they aren't supposed to understand.

Remember that the problem doesn't lie with the Bible it's in the lies about the Bible. Accept that it is the word of God and pray for guidance in understanding what it really teaches. BibleBrown 22:20, 29 January 2008 (EST)