Friday, January 7

Is Jesus Really God?

Jesus, as discussed in a past entry, is the most influential person in all of human history. No other has had such an impact upon the entire world that Jesus has. New Agers think he is an enlightened master, Mormons think Jesus was born as the first and the greatest "spirit child" of the Heavenly Father and alleged "Heavenly Mother," and his spirit-brother Lucifer. Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jesus was created by the Father billions of years ago as the Archangel Michael, and is in their eyes not God. (Photo credit to: Newmarket Films, Mel Gibson, "Passion of the Christ," 2004, starring James Caviezel as Jesus Christ)

Others view Jesus as a mere historical figure, a "great teacher," a "moral teacher." Was He anything more... or was here merely a crazed man who had delusions of godhood? In this entry, we will attempt to show that Jesus Christ truly is God, and even if you do not agree, I entreat you to continue reading. Some people question that Jesus was an actual person. yet his historicity is a generally accepted fact - it is what he did during his life and who he was where people divide. For example, there were many historians who referred to or gave accounts on Jesus within less than 200 years. Phlegan, Thallus, Pliay the Younger, (Roman governor of Bithyuia), Mara Ben-Serapion, Cornelius Tacticians, Lucian of Samosata, Suetonius (Roman historian and court official under emperor Hadrian), Trajan, Hadrian himself, Antonius Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Josephus ben Matthais (also known as Flavius Josephus), and a number of other historians, philosophers, governors, and emperors all attested to and believed Jesus Christ to be a historical figure.[1]

The question probably began with a question Jesus himself asked his disciples, the infamous question, "Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15) Jesus claimed many times that he was God the Son, and that His Father was God. He also claimed that "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30) He also stated, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9, for more on this, see entry, "Has Man Ever Seen God?"Even the Pharisees knew he was claiming to be God. Jesus said, "'I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?' 'We are not stoning you for any good work,' they replied, 'but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.'" (John 10:32-33) Jesus also claimed to have the ability to forgive sins. As Mark 2:7 states, "...who can forgive sins but God alone?" He claimed to be the only way. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Christian author and apologist C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia series, Screwtape Letters, etc) eloquently put it this way: "I am trying to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a mad man or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (From: Mere Christianity, 1952)

If this is so, what if Jesus was a liar, or a con-man? Josh McDowell, in The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, says the following: "If Jesus was a liar, a con man, and therefore an evil, foolish man, then how can we explain the fact that He left us with the most profound moral instruction and powerful moral example that anyone has ever left? Could such a deceiver - an imposter of monstrous proportions - teach unselfish ethical truths and live such a morally exemplary life as Jesus did? The very notion is incredulous." Indeed. His resurrection can also be attested to as well, though this will be covered in a later entry.

Just as the angel said, "He is not here, for he is risen, just as he said." (Matthew 28:6) If Christ was some lunatic, he would not have led the kind of life that the Bible and history show him to have. Let us, however, examine a few points about Jesus. Jesus has the names of God, which can only be attributed to Him. For example, Jesus is Yahweh, which means "Lord." Yahweh is used of God the Father many times in the Hebrew Bible, and is consequently used of Christ in the New Testament. 

The "angel" of the Lord (angel means messenger, or he who is sent) in Exodus 3 appears to Moses in the Burning Bush. It is not God the Father who is speaking to Moses here, as Exodus tells us - it is someone called "the angel of the Lord," who speaks as God. He claims to be God. Yet God himself, the Father, cannot be seen. (Exodus 33:18-23, John 1:18) Jesus tells a crowd, "...before Abraham was born, I AM." (John 8:58) Jesus is Kurios, which also means Lord. (Romans 10:9) Jesus is Elohim - Elohim is used of God in the Hebrew Bible 2,570 times, and used of Jesus many times in the New Testament. He is also recognized as both Yahweh and Elohim in the prophecy in Isaiah 40:3, and in Isaiah 9:6, which says, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."[2]

Jesus is also referred to as Theos. Theos is the New Testament word (in Greek) for God. Theos is the Greek equivalent, or parallel, of the Hebrew Elohim. Jesus is addressed as such several times. For example, John 20:28, "My Lord and my God. [Theos]" Jesus is called Theos throughout the remainder of the New Testament. (Another example is Acts 16:31) But what about the other attributes of God? If Jesus is God, we would expect him to be eternal, all-knowing, ever-present, sovereign, sinless, and able to control Creation.[3]

Jesus is eternal, (John 1:1, Hebrews 1:8-11) he is self-existent (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2), being "before all things," and in Him all things have been made (Colossians 1:17). Jesus is also ever present (Matthew 18:20, 28:20; Ephesians 1:23, 4:10; Colossians 3:11), He is all knowing. Jesus knew exactly where fish were in the water while the men on the boat, who had been fishing for a long time, could not catch anything. (Luke 5:4, 6; John 21:6-11), He knew which fish contained the coin he had sent Peter to retrieve (Matthew 17:27), He knew the future (John 11:11, 18:4) - and details about that future (Matthew 21:2-4), He knew, even from a distance, that Lazarus had died (John 11:14). He knows the Father as the Father knows Him. (Matthew 11:27; John 7:29, 8:55, 10:15, 17:25)

Also, Jesus is called sovereign. (1st Peter 3:22, Revelation 19:16) Jesus is also sinless. (John 8:46; 2nd Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 1:9, 4:15, 7:26) Jesus is also worshiped as God - and accepted worship each time. He accepted worship from Thomas in John 20:28, the angels (Hebrews 1:6), from wise men (Matthew 2:11), from a leper (Matthew 8:2), from a ruler (Matthew 9:18), a blind man (John 9:38), an unknown woman (Matthew 15:25), Mary Magdalene, and his disciples. (Matthew 28:9, 17) We know that anything can be worshiped by man  - but both man and angels worship God - who is Jesus. (Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 6:13, Matthew 4:10)

But if Jesus was truly God, would he not demonstrate a control over His Creation? Indeed he did. He performed the Works of God. For example, he walked on water (John 2:7-8), demonstrated control of weather as he calmed the sea, fed over 5,000 men and their families, rose people from the dead, caused his disciples to catch a great many number of fish - and his Transfiguration showed his glory. (For more on his miracles, see series, "The Miracles of Jesus)

We also need to understand that it is only God who saves. (Isaiah 43:11) Jesus is referred to as "our great God and savior." (Titus 2:13) God asserts in Isaiah 44:24, "I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself." Jesus Christ claimed that He created "all things." (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2) The early Church Fathers once asked, if Jesus was God, would we not expect to find Him in the Hebrew Bible? For individuals such as St. Augustine of Hippo, we do, He appears many times, as does the Holy Spirit, or, "Spirit of the Lord." For Augustine, Jesus made pre-incarnate appearances as "the angel of the Lord," he also appeared several times in Daniel, (Daniel 3:25, 7:13-14, 9:25-26) He is referred to all throughout prophecy, is with the Trinity at Creation and at Babel, the like. Jesus performed similar ministries while he was incarnate as when he was the "[messenger] of the Lord." But He was never the archangel Michael (as taught by Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists; See also, "Who Is The Angel of The Lord?")
James Caviezel as Jesus Christ

Some claim that the Bible does not confirm the Trinity. On the contrary, it surely does. Scripture tells us that there is one True God (Deuteronomy 6:4, 32:39; Psalm 86:10, Isaiah 44:6), but we have many indications of the Trinity earlier on - with the Holy Spirit, or "Spirit of the Lord," appearing in the second verse of the Bible! (Genesis 1:2, indications of the Trinity in Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:27; Isaiah 6:8, 48:16) God's oneness is also emphasized throughout the New Testament. (Romans 3:29-30; 1st Corinthians 8:4; Galatians 3:20; 1st Thessalonians 1:9; 1st Timothy 1:17, 2:5; James 2:19; Jude 25)

Why did God not reveal his triune nature in the beginning? It is because as history has unfolded, God revealed more and more about himself, so that we may better understand him over time. (Matthew 28:19) The Father is called God, the Son (Jesus) is called God, and the Spirit is called God. (Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, Acts 5:3-4). Some claim that because Jesus is also called "The Son of God" that he must be lesser than the Father. Among ancients, however, a meaning of the phrase "son of" is meant as "one who has the same nature as." Jesus, as the Son of God, also has the very nature of God. (See John 5:18, 10:30, 19:7) Jesus is not lesser, nor is he a lesser God, nor an angel who became higher. He is God. He was positionally lower than the Father from the aspect that he became a servant by taking on a human likeness (Philippians 2:6-11) but he remains God. Others argue that he cannot be God because he is called "the firstborn of creation." (Colossians 1:15) They believe that he is a created being, and is therefore not God. However, biblically speaking, Jesus was not created but is the Creator himself. (Colossians 1:16, John 1:3) The term firstborn, biblically, means "first in rank, preeminent," over the creation that God brought into existence.

Still yet others argue that because Jesus said that no one but the Father knows the day nor the hour of His return that he is not all-knowing and therefore could not be God. (Mark 13:32) We need to understand that, at the time when Jesus said this, it was speaking from the limited perspective of His own humanity. (Philippians 2:5-11) Had Jesus been speaking from His divinity, He would not have said this. As God, Jesus knows all things. (Matthew 17:27; Luke 5:4-6; John 2:25, 16:30, 21:17) The Father likely kept this from Jesus while he was on Earth, but not before nor after. 

Jesus knows when He will return, it is merely that He is willing to "tarry," to wait for even one more person to be saved. That is why. Author and psychologist said about Christ, "Jesus didn't just claim to be God - he backed it up with amazing feats of healing, with astounding demonstrations of power over nature, with transcendent and unprecedented teaching, with divine insights into people, and ultimately with his own resurrection from the dead, which absolutely nobody else has been able to duplicate. So when Jesus claimed to be God, it wasn't crazy. It was the truth." (From: The Case for Christ)

Jesus Christ is certainly God. He is God the Son. He created both Adam - and Eve, the first humans, who were made in His image. Jesus is the Creator of the Universe: The Intelligent Designer. "Through him all things were made, and without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:3) This includes the entire universe: stars, planets, the Earth, the sky, birds, creatures of the sea, land animals, plants, all of it: even angels. (Colossians 1:15-17) As author Paul S. Taylor puts it:

"The exciting truth is that Jesus is now also a man, and will remain so for all eternity. He humbled himself to become like one of his own creations. He chose to become a man to help us in an extremely important way. This amazing event happened about 2-thousand years ago. The results have changed the world forever. The part of God that is called the Holy Spirit created God's human body inside of a woman named Mary (Matthew 1:20). God went into this human body that grew inside of Mary. The baby was born and grew into a man. At various times in the past, Jesus had appeared to people in human form. One example is when he appeared to Abraham just before the judgment of the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But now, for the first time in history, God did not simply appear as man, he became fully human. Yet, he is still God. He is both God and man. One huge difference between this man and every other man and woman, or boy and girl, is that Jesus was (and still is) sinless. We humans are full of sin. We sin every day. Jesus never did anything wrong, not even once. No matter what temptations came to him, he refused to sin. He has always remained pure and perfect.

Taylor continues on to say, "As a man, God experienced the same temptations that we feel (Hebrews 2:18). He suffered the same kind of physical pains that we suffer with. He also experienced emotional pain. He even wept about the city of Jerusalem (John 11:35). He was ignored, unappreciated, unloved, misunderstood, and even despised—even though he did nothing wrong, and always loved everyone (1 Peter 2:23). Not only is Jesus Christ the greatest man that ever lived; he is our Creator. He deserved all glory and honor! I am sure that you have heard what people did to him. It was horribly painful and terribly unjust. He had the power to stop their torture and taunting at any time. His power is awesome beyond anything we can understand. Yet, he did not defend himself. He let himself be like a perfect, innocent little lamb that hurt no one, and was sacrificed for the sins of the people. He did this for us, because he loves us. 

Troy Hillman

Sources
[1] Hastings, Kirk. "What Is Truth?". 1st ed. Publish America. 2009. 94-104.
[2, 3] Ham, Ken and Dr. Ron Rhodes. The New Answers Book 2. 5th ed. 2. Master Books, 2008. 185-193.
[4] Taylor, Paul. "Is Jesus Christ a man, or is he God?" Web. 06 Jan 11. < http://christiananswers.net/kids/ednk-jesusgodorman.html >

12 comments:

  1. Understand that Jesus Christ also fulfilled prophecies made over 700 years before his birth. http://thetruth-blog.blogspot.com/2010/08/messiah.html

    May God bless.

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  2. Aren't humans amazing? They kill wildlife - birds, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice and foxes by the million in order to protect their domestic animals and their feed.

    Then they kill domestic animals by the billion and eat them. This in turn kills people by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative - and fatal - health conditions like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and cancer.

    So then humans spend billions of dollars torturing and killing millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases.

    Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals.

    Meanwhile, few people recognize the absurdity of humans, who kill so easily and violently, and once a year send out cards praying for "Peace on Earth."

    ~Revised Preface to Old MacDonald's Factory Farm by C. David Coates~

    _____________


    Anyone can break this cycle of violence! Everyone has the power to choose compassion! Please visit these websites to align your core values with life affirming choices: http://veganvideo.org & http://tryveg.com

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  3. Indeed humanity is violent, and we sin in our violence. We face trouble in the world. "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - Jesus in John 16:33. Man was originally commanded to eat plants in Eden. After the Global Flood, man was allowed to eat meat. Now, you are not required to eat meat, but it is an option. However, how man slaughters animals is not agreeable and unethical. Yes, we are allowed, and yes, the days are coming where we will revert back to the way of Eden, but if we are to eat meat, why must animals suffer so? It is understandable why Vegans insist on eliminating such things.

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  4. I believe in the humane treatment of animals so I am not a fan of corporate farms but eating animals is not inhumane. Getting ripped by a wild animal is a terrible way to die so eating animal is more inhumane then letting them a terrible slow death in the wild. Paul warns us that the last day that demonic spirits will forbid people to eat meat. Ironic isn't it?

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  5. This is a really good article. I totally agree with it - Jesus is God Himself in human form.

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  6. Said:
    "Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jesus was created by the Father billions of years ago as the Archangel Michael, and is in their eyes not God."

    This is not their opinion. They read the Bible and believed it! (Revelation 3:14, John 6:57, John 14:28, Philippians 2:5-11). Many verses show Jesus and God to be two distinct beings!

    I used to be a Trinitarian but when I thought deeply on it and actually STUDIED my Bible, God brought me to the truth that Jesus was Michael the Archangel and the first of God's creations! (Colossians 1:15, Proverbs 8:22-31).

    I will never go back to the Trinity because there is no way I could ever call myself a Christian worshipping a false god!

    There is no doubt about it, when I add it all up, Trinitarians do not explain difficult verses and the reason is because they want a god of their own liking. It's sick, disgusting, and perverted. Over-exaltation leads to IDOLATRY. I am not committing this because I believe the Bible but you are committing idolatry.

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    1. Anonymous,
      I have been writing a rather large book on defending the Trinity the past year or so. It goes through every verse in Scripture that even hints at the nature of God and explains its relevance in understanding God. Therefore, it would be helpful if you could cite some examples. You claimed "Many verses show Jesus and God to be two distinct beings!" I do not doubt that you believe there to be verses that seem to do so, but if you could please give me a few examples we could go through it - if for no other reason than to help me better understand where you are coming from.

      I used to be Trinitarian but when I thought deeply on it and actually studied the Bible, God brought me to the Truth that He does indeed exist as a Trinity. I would be interested to know how we explain the fact that Jesus is never distinctly hinted at being Michael while He is in fact called God on many occasions. Also, Michael and Jesus are mentioned in the books of Jude and Revelation but are evidently separate entities. Hebrews 1-2 is also devoted to demonstrating that Jesus is not - nor was He ever - an angel.

      And in all actuality, first off I understand if you are repelled by the idea, but the phraseology you chose to express your thoughts in is not very kind, frankly. As Christians, we are to defend our beliefs with gentleness in respect. Committing adultery according to Scripture is partly bowing down or worshiping angels (cf. Colossians 2:18; Revelation 19:10, 22:8-9). Can you find a verse that talks about an angel becoming a God? What of the verses (that are very clear, mind you) which say that there is only ONE God? How do we explain the fact that God cannot appear to someone yet He appeared various times in bodily form to people in the Old Testament? If God is a loving god, why would He send His literal creation to die for something only He could fix? There are many other questions I could bring up, but I firmly believe that God exists as a Trinity.

      Is that an illogical position - for something to exist as three in one? Not really. We find several scientific examples of it. For example, in thermodynamics, the triple point of a substance is the temperature and pressure at which the three phases of matter - solid, liquid and gas - of that substance can coexist at thermodynamic equilibrium. Here we have an example of something existing as three in one. Now, please understand that I am not trying to ridicule you as a person, I simply strongly disagree with your belief in God. It is essentially breaking the second commandment by creation a God you feel is the right one instead of going against the plain teaching of Scripture.

      Also, I wrote a paper recently on early belief in Jesus as God, if you are interested. In parts I touch on belief in the Trinity. The paper is mostly based on historical, textual and archaeological evidence but there is also Scriptural evidence included. Thank you for taking the time to write, Anonymous. Take care, and may God bless you!

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    2. We wil never block that the bible says..i believd that jesus is 100 % human but 100 % divine

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  7. Oh my god. How can someone claim to be god? Could you please explain what god is. If Jesus really said that he is god, then I condemn it. Jesus was just a human being like me and you. He became god not by possessing great healing power. Instead, by the thoughts and ideas that he preached. Jesus showed how a normal human being can become divine through his deeds and thoughts. The whole concept of Jesus having no human father sounds stupid. For the egg to become fertile we need a sperm. I will live it to your logic to question yourself about the birth of Jesus. What I believe is that some stupid followers of Jesus propagated this concept just to prove the divinity of Jesus. And many fools even today without applying scientific approach believe it. Nature is ultimate, no human can control nature. One doesn't need to read thousands of books to realize a fact that Jesus was not a god. Many followers of Christianity, with a sick intention of gaining political and social power across the world used all sorts of cunning, evil and barbaric practices to spread Christianity and it is continuing even today. If Jesus was really a god, he would have punished all those who are spreading hatred in the name of religion. Christians must ask themselves whether they are truly living according to the ten commandments told by Jesus. If they really believe in Jesus they will realize the crime and atrocities that they have committed in the name of Jesus across the world. I pray and beg Jesus to punish and inflict as much pain as possible to all those who are misusing his name and committing inhuman acts across the globe. We all should debate how to make this planet a better place to live, by helping the underprivileged and poor. The unnecessary debate of whether Jesus is a god, a true god, or Christianity is the true religion in the world are of no use to humanity. If we continue with this attitude, more pain and turmoil will follow. The people who believe in other religion will raise against when they cannot bare the continuous assault on their religion. Just like the followers of Jesus did against Rome, where the entire Roman culture was washed away in history. Dont focus on killing one religion to establish your religion just because you have the resources. Noting is more powerful than a desperate human mind. Desperate minds led to the downfall of Egyptians, Romans and gave birth to new culture and religions. The way Christianity is behaving shows signs of similar revolt against Christianity.

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    1. Just so I'm following your logic, you "pray and beg Jesus to punish and inflict as much pain as possible to all those who are misusing his name and committing inhuman acts across the globe," yet say "Dont focus on killing one religion to establish your religion just because you have the resources"? Interesting notion.

      That being said, I can assume your question is rhetorical, but to actually answer what a "god" is, I will endeavour to explain a bit about early Christian Christology and also the definition of a "god." God is not a name but a title. The title “God” is an old English word that developed from an Indo-European word, which means “that which is invoked.” The Indo-European word is also the linguistic ancestor for the German word “Gott” as well as the Danish “Gud,” which both mean “God.”

      That being said, Jesus was often called the "Son of God" in order for the 1st century audience to see the title as a sort of polemic against the Emperor - that the Roman Emperor was not the true God, but that the Creator entered into His Creation to pay the debt that we could not pay (a debt that He did not owe).

      Also? Simply because you "condemn" the idea and that the idea "sounds stupid" to you does not make it any less true. Your feelings or my feelings about a topic do not determine their truth. If you are entirely curious, I wrote an exegetical paper on this very topic to determine whether or not Jesus was considered a god since the very beginnings or whether it was a later addition. You can read the exegesis here: http://thetruth-blog.blogspot.com/2013/09/exegesis-on-early-christian-christology.html

      As for whether or not you object to a virgin birth, that does not make it less valid. You seem to hold the hypothesis that we can become gods (hence why I am unsure why the idea of Jesus being a god offends you - "a normal human being can become divine through his deeds and thoughts"), so if we grant the existence of God or gods, why would a virgin birth be any less possible?

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    2. (continued)
      Further, allow me here to provide you with an excerpt from an article I wrote a few years back:
      There is a common objection that a virgin birth is scientifically impossible. However, if someone makes this claim, they are not only being intellectually dishonest, but scientifically inaccurate. In fact, "Ever since in vitro fertilization and embryonic transfer came on the scene in 1978 (not to mention artificial insemination), it is quite possible for a woman who has never experienced sexual intercourse to give birth. Of course, the Bible makes it clear that it was Almighty God, not some high-paid gynecologist, who worked the details of Jesus' Divine-Human conception."[3] Also, it has been noted that virginal conception can occur where the male and female do not participate in vaginal intercourse, where the semen can fall, if you will, onto the female and in the process of intercourse, the semen enters through the passage which leads from the opening of the vulva to the cervix of the uterus. In this way, no penetration occurs, but an egg can still form. While this is not virginal conception in Biblical terms, it is nevertheless a conception wherein penetration is not included in the relations.

      According to geneticist R.J. Berry, "Genetics has always seemed to be a barrier to belief in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Even if one of Mary's eggs had developed without fertilization (a process called parthenogenesis which happens regularly in some aphids and bees), the resulting child would have been female like her mother. Somehow Jesus must have got a Y-chromosome or he would not have been a male. However, we now know that there are genetic mechanisms by which this could in theory occur. These do not 'explain away' the virgin birth or make it less of a miracle, but they do help us to understand ways in which God might have worked. We have to recognize that if Christ was going to be fully divine, he must somehow be different. If God is going to bring his Son into the world, he could, as it were, have snapped his fingers and produced a full-blown infant. But Christ was fully human as well as fully God. So, we are told, he had a normal mother but a divine father. I have no problems whatever with the virgin birth. To me, this is a theological necessity."[4]

      For some, other objections are raised such as, "the ancients were more gullible than we are, and were more ignorant," or "science has disproved miracles." In all actuality, the "ancients" were well aware that children are produced through sexual intercourse between a male and female. This is why Joseph (Matthew 1:19) and Mary (Luke 1:34) questioned the virginal conception, because they were aware that to have a child, sexual intercourse had to have occurred. Also, there are people in antiquity that did not and would not accept miracles, such as the virgin birth and the resurrection. "Conversely, today, all the evolution-biased newspapers promote astrology (horoscopes), and consider the total acceptance of spontaneous generation among the evolutionary establishment despite being disproved by Louis Pasteur. This speaks volumes about modern man’s gullibility!"[5] As for science disproving miracles, this claim is fallacious. Essentially, it is argued that miracles violate laws of nature (or scientific laws), and laws of nature have no exceptions. However, as Jonathan Sarfati comments, "But we only know that scientific laws are universal if we know in advance that reports of miracles are false. In fact the argument is circular. The argument also has a false view of scientific laws—they are descriptive, not prescriptive. The laws do not cause or forbid anything anymore than the outline of a map causes the shape of the coastline. But if God made the heavens and the earth, a Virginal Conception is no trouble for Him."[6]

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    3. All of this being said, allow me to note one more thing. I hope none of what I wrote offends you, but when you have a lengthy comment that starts off with "Oh my god", you are essentially setting up the tone of the rest of your claims. I recognize I have only responded to a few of your points, but what I am essentially trying to say is this: I completely agree that Christians need to spend more time determining how we can promote peace and harmony amongst ourselves. Cain once asked God, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The implication is yes, we are our "brother's keeper" - we are to take care of one another in this world, and we would have a whole lot less issues if we actually did that. I completely recognize that we as Christians should spend more time on this - but naturally, believers are curious about the nature of Jesus, and there was certainly something not quite human about him; the earliest Christian writings and beliefs as well as Christ's own teachings show this.

      God bless you.

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