Support for Christianity
In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes this statement later known as Lewis’ Trillema: "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.” So, was Jesus a liar or a lunatic or exactly Lord and God, as He pretended to be? Or maybe was he just a mythic figure as many still think today? As a matter of fact, there is today more than enough historical and archeological evidence to support his existence that every reputable historian (including non-Christian ones) agrees he was indeed, a real person. In the days of the first Christians, there were many writings about the life of Jesus. But some had special quality--they had been written by Jesus' followers or their close friends. These gospels and letters were carefully copied by hand. Over the years, archaeologists have found thousands of manuscripts of bits of the New Testament and even some complete copies. By comparing these, we can get very close to what the New Testament writers originally wrote. Some of these copies are dated less than 100 years after the original gospel or letter was written. For an idea of how good this evidence is, compare the New Testament with other writings that are about as old as the New Testament (see the above chart) So, by examining the historical evidence relating to the Bible, one learns that there are thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament books. Therefore, we have good reason to believe that we know almost exactly what Luke, Paul and the others wrote. Now, coming back to the Lewis Trillema and supposing that Jesus was a liar and thus a man guided by his selfish concerns. But then why would he willingly die for his claim, when he could have avoided such a cruel death with only a short confession? And, if he were a lunatic, how did he engage and easily win in complex philosophical and religious debates with his opponents or endure the torment of his betrayal and crucifixion while continuing to show a deep love for his antagonists? How was he able to perform such amazing deeds, that not only no lunatic, but no other human being ever performed before him? Of course, every Christian knows that Jesus declared himself the Son of God, but not many have a crystal clear idea about what should be understand by this claim of His. So, we have to examine Jesus in His relationship with God, and therefore we should associate (at least some of) the statements about Jesus, that we can find in the New Testament, with the statements about God from the Old Testament. For, in fact, the Bible is the only book that bases its authenticity and authority on prophecy. No other books, such as the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Hindu Vedas, the Book of Mormon, the sayings of Buddha or Confucius, have the validated element of prophecy in them. There were 25 specific prophecies of Jesus’s birth, betrayal, trial, death, burial etc in the Old Testament.... These were made by different men living between 1000 BC and 500 BC (500 years apart). Yet all were perfectly fulfilled be Jesus and according to many studies, there were hundreds specific prophesies fulfilled at Jesus’s first coming .(see here 365 Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament) So, let’s investigate a little the characteristics of God of the Old and New Testament and those of Jesus Christ of the New Testament . 1 GOD is the only Saviour. („I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour." Isaiah 43:11 / „To the only wise God our Saviour...” Jude 1:12 / „God our Saviour...” Titus 2:10 / „...we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour.” I Timothy 4:10 / „God my Saviour...” Luke 1:47) & JESUS is the Saviour, too. („...the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” 1 John 4:14 / „...our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” II Peter 3:18 / God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” II Peter 1:1 / „...the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” John 4:42 / „...the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.” Titus 1:4 / „a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11 / „Neither is there salvation in any other (than Jesus): for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 / „...salvation... is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” 2 Timothy 2:10) * 2 God is our redeemer. („[T]hou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer...” Isaiah 63:16) & Jesus redeemed us. („[T]the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ...gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.” Titus 2:13-14 / „[Jesus] In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13) * 3 God forgives sins. („[T]he Lord..forgiveth all thine iniquities...” Psalm 103:2-3 / "[W]ho can forgive sins but God only?" Mark 2:7) & Jesus forgives sins. ("Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." Mark 2:5 / Once, a paralytic man was presented before Jesus for healing - Luke 5:17-26 - and Jesus said, “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee” Luke 5:20. „And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. (Luke 5:21-24) * 4 God created all things, the heavens and the earth. („I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.” Isaiah 44:24 / „In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1) & By Jesus Christ were all things created. („[B]y him [Jesus] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth... all things were created by him, and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17 / „All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:3) * 5 The Word is God. („In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1) & The Word incarnated is Jesus Christ. („...the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...” John 1:14) * 6 God is the first and the last. („I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.” Isaiah 41:4 / "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me." Isaiah 44:6) & Jesus is the first and the last, too. (Jesus said, "Fear not; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." Revelation 1:17 / „I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8) * 7 God is Messiah. („...unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder...and his name shall be called... The mighty God, The everlasting Father...” Isaiah 9:6 / „And I (Jehova God) will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Zechariah 12:10) & Jesus is Messiah, too. („The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.” John 4:25-26) * 8 God will not give His glory to another. („I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another...” Isaiah 42:8) & God glorified Jesus. („And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” John 17:5 / „But unto the Son he (God) saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” Hebrews 1:8) * 9 God is the 'I am'. („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.” Exodus 3:14) & Jesus is the 'I am', too. („Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8:58) * 10 God is the Lord. („I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.” Isaiah 41:4 / Zech. 13:9 - "And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’" / "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call." Joel 2:32) & Jesus is the Lord, too. ("Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours." 1 Cor. 1:1-2 / "for 'whoever will call upon the name of the Lord' will be saved." How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?" Rom. 10:13-14 ... as also in hundreds other places from the New Testament) * 11 God is one. („Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” Deuteronomy 6:4 / "But of the Son He says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom." Heb. 1:8 / "GOD...hath in these last days spoken unto us by his SON...who being the brightness of his glory, and the EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON..." Hebrews 1:1-3) & Jesus and God are one. („Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matt 1:23 / "For in (Jesus) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Colossians 2:9 / „I and my Father are one.” John 10:30 / „He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” John 14:9 / „For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7 / „No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” John 1:18 / „And Thomas answered and said unto (Jesus), My Lord and my God.” John 20:28 / "... Be shepherds of the church of GOD, which he hath purchased with his OWN BLOOD." Acts 20:28 / "Hereby perceive we the love of GOD, because he LAID DOWN HIS LIFE for us... 1 John 3:16 / "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon GOD, and saying, LORD JESUS, receive my spirit." Acts 7:59 / "...Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood." Acts 20:28 / "The Jews answered (Jesus), saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." John 10:33 (these being the main accusation against the Lord, leading to His sacrifice on the cross) * 12 The statement from 1 John 5:7 (For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and THESE THREE ARE ONE.), as also Lord’s mention in Matthew 28:19 („Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”) suggest an image of the triune being of God, as one individual entity, existing and manifesting Himself in three distinguishable forms. * 13 About the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, we can also find an explanation in the idea that He is the image of God’s person, as affirmed in the following testimonies of the apostles of the Lord: "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: GOD was manifest in the FLESH, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, BELIEVED ON in the world, RECEIVED UP into glory." 1 Timothy 3:16 / „WHO IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD, the firstborn of every creature.” Collosians 1:15 / "...CHRIST JESUS...being in the FORM OF GOD, thought it not robbery to be EQUAL WITH GOD: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:5-8 / "...CHRIST, who is the IMAGE OF GOD..." II Corinthians 4:4 / "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:5-11 * 14 So, we can finally summarize the previous affirmations, by pointing that, according to the Scriptures, God Javhe is the Lord and the only Lord, the Saviour and the only Saviour, the Redeemer, the Messiah, the only one Who can forgive sins, the only Creator of all things, the only Lord of all creation, the first and the last, the „I Am”, the only One having glory, the One indivisible Unity. * 15 On the other hand, Jesus is also Lord, Saviour, Redeemer, Messiah, one Who can forgive sins, Creator of all things and Lord, the first and the last, the „I Am”, the glorified One and One indivisible with the Father. * 16 We also know that God is the Word and that Jesus is the Word Who came in flesh, God manifest in the flesh, the image or the form of the invisible God. * 17 Finally, according to all these previous statements and notwistanding other theological quotations or philoposophical considerations, we can simply conclude that the whole Bible clearly indicates that Jesus is God incarnate, the only God in His visible form. (in order to check some actual theological positions abot this issue, you can a: http://y-jesus.com/jesuscomplex_1.php http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/jesus_is_almighty_god.htm The Deity of Jesus Christ) From this perspective, consider also The Nicene Creed, which is the profession of faith or creed most widely used in Christian liturgy. It forms the mainstream definition of Christianity for most Christians. We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; By whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. Jesus as God incarnate is also the main statement of the New Revelation:
Please see: Jesus is God (Fundamental Teachings) & Jesus is God (Support for Christianity)
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