"The Divinity of Christ"

oatmeal

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The Divinity of Christ
http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/christ-divinity.htm

BRIEF EXCERPT:

The doctrine of Christ's divinity is the central Christian doctrine, for it is like a skeleton key that opens all the others. Christians have not independently reasoned out and tested each of the teachings of Christ received via Bible and Church, but believe them all on his authority. For if Christ is divine, He can be trusted to be infallible in everything He said, even hard things like exalting suffering and poverty, forbidding divorce, giving his Church the authority to teach and forgive sins in his name, warning about hell (very often and very seriously), instituting the scandalous sacrament of eating his flesh—we often forget how many "hard sayings" he taught!

When the first Christian apologists began to give a reason for the faith that was in them to unbelievers, this doctrine of Christ's divinity naturally came under attack, for it was almost as incredible to Gentiles as it was scandalous to Jews. That a man who was born out of a woman's womb and died on a cross, a man who got tired and hungry and angry and agitated and wept at his friend's tomb, that this man who got dirt under his fingernails should be God was, quite simply, the most astonishing, incredible, crazy-sounding idea that had ever entered the mind of man in all human history.

The argument the early apologists used to defend this apparently indefensible doctrine has become a classic one. C.S. Lewis used it often, e.g. in Mere Christianity, the book that convinced Chuck Colson (and thousands of others). I once spent half a book (Between Heaven and Hell) on this one argument alone. It is the most important argument in Christian apologetics, for once an unbeliever accepts the conclusion of this argument (that Christ is divine), everything else in the Faith follows, not only intellectually (Christ's teachings must all then be true) but also personally (if Christ is God, He is also your total Lord and Savior).

The argument, like all effective arguments, is extremely simple: Christ was either God or a bad man.

Unbelievers almost always say he was a good man, not a bad man; that he was a great moral teacher, a sage, a philosopher, a moralist, and a prophet, not a criminal, not a man who deserved to be crucified. But a good man is the one thing he could not possibly have been according to simple common sense and logic. For he claimed to be God. He said, "Before Abraham was, I Am", thus speaking the word no Jew dares to speak because it is God's own private name, spoken by God himself to Moses at the burning bush. Jesus wanted everyone to believe that he was God. He wanted people to worship him. He claimed to forgive everyone's sins against everyone. (Who can do that but God, the One offended in every sin?).
...(SNIP)

REST OF ARTICLE >> http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/christ-divinity.htm
If we use Webster's to define "divine" we have the following:

DIVINE adjective

1. Pertaining to the true God; as the divine nature; divine perfections.

2. Pertaining to a heathen deity, or to false gods.

3. Partaking of the nature of God.

Half human, half divine

4. Proceeding from God; as divine judgments.

5. Godlike; heavenly; excellent in the highest degree; extraordinary; apparently above what is human. In this application the word admits of comparison; as a divine invention; a divine genius; the divinest mind.

A divine sentence is in the lips of the king. Proverbs 16:10.

6. Presageful; foreboding; prescient. [Not used.]

7. Appropriated to God, or celebrating his praise; as divine service; divine songs; divine worship.

or as a noun:

DIVINE, noun

1. A minister of the gospel; a priest; a clergyman.

The first divines of New England were surpassed by none in extensive erudition, personal sanctity, and diligence in the pastoral office.

2. A man skilled in divinity; a theologian; as a great divine


Being divine does not impy literally being God, but literally being godlike as Christians are supposed to be.

Ephesians 5:1

KJV
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

ASV
Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children;

AMPC
Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].

CSB
Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children,

CEB
Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children.

CJB
So imitate God, as his dear children;

CEV
Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children.

The list goes on.....
 

Right Divider

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Christ Jesus is literally God.

John 1:1-3 (AKJV/PCE)
(1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (1:2) The same was in the beginning with God. (1:3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
 

oatmeal

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Christ Jesus is literally God.

John 1:1-3 (AKJV/PCE)
(1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (1:2) The same was in the beginning with God. (1:3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The Bible is the word of God, isn't it? Is the Bible God? Did the Bible make all things?
 

Hoping

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The Bible is the word of God, isn't it? Is the Bible God? Did the Bible make all things?
Different "word".
There was a Word, and He took on flesh and became Jesus Christ.
There is also a printed word we can take with us every where we go.
I love both, but only one died for my sins.
 

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The Bible is the word of God, isn't it? Is the Bible God? Did the Bible make all things?
Try not to be so Biblically ignorant.

John 1:14 (AKJV/PCE)
(1:14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The CONTEXT of John 1 is NOT the "Bible as the Word", but it's JESUS AS THE WORD.
 

JudgeRightly

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The Bible is the word of God, isn't it? Is the Bible God? Did the Bible make all things?

Different "word".
There was a Word, and He took on flesh and became Jesus Christ.
There is also a printed word we can take with us every where we go.
I love both, but only one died for my sins.

Try not to be so Biblically ignorant.

John 1:14 (AKJV/PCE)
(1:14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The CONTEXT of John 1 is NOT the "Bible as the Word", but it's JESUS AS THE WORD.

I strongly recommend reading this post by @Clete regarding the meaning of the greek word ΛΟΓΟΣ (LOGOS):
And then continuing here:
 
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oatmeal

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Different "word".
There was a Word, and He took on flesh and became Jesus Christ.
There is also a printed word we can take with us every where we go.
I love both, but only one died for my sins.
God communicates in various ways, He communicates what He wants us to know via the written word, the incarnate word and other ways. God knew what the written word would say in the beginning. He also knew what the incarnate word would communicate as well, in the beginning.

None of that was a surprise to him.
 

oatmeal

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I strongly recommend reading this post by @Clete regarding the meaning of the greek word ΛΟΓΟΣ (LOGOS):
And then continuing here:
God communicated himself via the written word and via the word in the flesh. The word, the communication, the message was with God, He knew what He wanted to communicate and how he wanted to communicate in the beginning. He fore knew all
 

Hoping

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God communicates in various ways, He communicates what He wants us to know via the written word, the incarnate word and other ways. God knew what the written word would say in the beginning. He also knew what the incarnate word would communicate as well, in the beginning.

None of that was a surprise to him.
Why don't you capitalize the W in "incarnate Word"?
It was Jesus' name before He was made flesh.
 
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oatmeal

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I strongly recommend reading this post by @Clete regarding the meaning of the greek word ΛΟΓΟΣ (LOGOS):
And then continuing here:
Jesus is the message God wanted to communicate in the flesh, even as scripture is the message God communicates via written words.

What is so difficult to comprehend about that?
 

oatmeal

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Why don't you capitalize the W in "incarnate Word"?
It was Jesus' name before He was made flesh.
If you are aware of the Greek manuscripts you will find that capitalization vs. non capitalization is not the practice. It is all one or the other
 

JudgeRightly

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Jesus is the message God wanted to communicate in the flesh,

That may be true, but that doesn't make the meaning of LOGOS "message" or "word" or what have you.

even as scripture is the message God communicates via written words.

What is so difficult to comprehend about that?

Nothing, just that it has nothing to do with what @Clete was talking about.
 

Hoping

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If you are aware of the Greek manuscripts you will find that capitalization vs. non capitalization is not the practice. It is all one or the other
You are not writing in Greek.
Proper names are capitalized here and now, and the Word was a being worthy of such an honor.
 

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oatmeal

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That may be true, but that doesn't make the meaning of LOGOS "message" or "word" or what have you.



Nothing, just that it has nothing to do with what @Clete was talking about.
Actually, you are right, it doesn't.

The reason is because logos means message or intended communication as far as the Greek meaning goes, thus any use in scripture implies message or communication.
 

oatmeal

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Jesus is not "a message". Jesus is God in the flesh.

That is accurate, but does not confirm your "Jesus is the message..." nonsense.

It's not hard to understand, it's just false.
If you wish to believe in a god with a multiple personality disorder, that is your problem, not mine
 
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