Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)What does it mean? You can say it other words as Jesus is truly God. You may not be aware but this claim of Jesus as being God was the very issue or charge against Jesus which sentenced him to death on the cross. He was charged of blasphemy because of claiming to be God. The Jewish authorities doubted and never believed of such claim.
I have here an article below which will help you understand better who Jesus is in the aspect of divinity. Why do you need to know this? You may be or may not be aware that there are at least three major religions in the world that do not accept Jesus as God. Namely, Islam, Judaism, and Jehova's Witnesses.
I have a friend who is a member of the Jehova's Witnesses. I also encountered people who knock doors inviting people to visit their Kingdom Hall and attend their lectures.I only wish I'm theologically well equipped to tell them point by point that Jesus is God.
I have long been searching for these answers and now that I've found them, I would like to share this info to you. Have a pleasurable reading! This information will also help your know the real Jesus.
I have here an article below which will help you understand better who Jesus is in the aspect of divinity. Why do you need to know this? You may be or may not be aware that there are at least three major religions in the world that do not accept Jesus as God. Namely, Islam, Judaism, and Jehova's Witnesses.
I have a friend who is a member of the Jehova's Witnesses. I also encountered people who knock doors inviting people to visit their Kingdom Hall and attend their lectures.I only wish I'm theologically well equipped to tell them point by point that Jesus is God.
I have long been searching for these answers and now that I've found them, I would like to share this info to you. Have a pleasurable reading! This information will also help your know the real Jesus.
To be a true Christian one must believe in the Divinity of Christ; that He is true God and true man. The Catechism states that, “The title 'Son of God' signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God His Father: He is the only Son of the Father; He is God Himself. To be Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (CCC 454)
Many Catholics would think – quite reasonably – that only those who do not claim to be Christians (atheists, Muslims, Mormons, New Agers and others) would deny the divinity of Christ. But there are many people who maintain that they are Christians who also deny the divinity of Christ – they maintain that Jesus was created before all things, but that He was still created! They say that Jesus was made, or had a period when He did not exist. This is clearly wrong – Jesus is God in all respects. This means that He not only existed before the universe was made, but that He exists eternally and did not have a personal genesis. The Catholic apologist must always be careful to ensure that both sides of the discussion are using the same meaning of the word “divine” - and to correct the non-Catholic if necessary – when engaging in apologetics.
Evidence from the Scriptures
There are many verses in the New Testament which confirm the divinity of Christ. In John 20:28 Thomas falls to Jesus’ feet saying, “my Lord and my God!” and Jesus does not rebuke or correct Him. In John 5:18Jesus “called God His Father, making himself equal with God.”
In John 1:1 we are told that “the Word [Jesus] was God”. John 8:58-59 speaks of Jesus' divinity both by talking about His eternal nature and also by using the name of God; “I AM” - – this should be compared withExodus 3:14, 20:7, Leviticus 19:12 and 24:14-16. Would Jesus (an observant Jew) make such a claim and use the very name of God so casually in light of the teaching in these verses?
In John 10:30-33 Jesus says that He and the Father are one. John 10:38, 12:45 and 14:8-12 all contain clear teaching that Jesus and the Father are intimately connected.
There are other verses which point to the divinity of Christ, but these verses are the main ones which are explicit and easiest to understand.
Evidence from the Church Fathers
The Church Fathers also proclaimed Jesus’ divinity. These examples are just a few of the many quotes from the Church Fathers recognizing this invaluable truth. Ignatius of Antioch stated in Letter to the Romans in A.D. 110, “[T]o the Church beloved and enlightened after the love of Jesus Christ, our God, by the will of him that has willed everything which is.” Origen said in the Fundamental Doctrines in A.D. 225, “Although he was God, he took flesh; and having been made man, he remained what he was: God” Hippopolytus of Rome said, “For Christ is the God over all, who has arranged to wash away sin from mankind, rendering the old man new.”
The logical argument – the “trilemma”
There is a simple logical argument that is used to demonstrate Jesus’ Divinity. This is known as the “trilemma” - a term coined by C.S. Lewis, derived from the prefix “tri-” meaning “three” and the word “dilemma”. It is called the trilemma because there are only three possibilities concerning Christ; He is either God, a liar, or a madman.
Jesus claimed He was God and claimed to forgive sins, convincing people to give away everything and follow Him, worship Him as God and so on. A person who claims such a thing is either a cheat and a liar seeking to gain popularity and power, an insane man (“on the level of a man who claims he is a poached egg” as Lewis puts it) or telling the truth.
Many religions and individuals see Jesus as only a great prophet, sage, philosopher and so forth. But this cannot be the case - because the Bible is a reliable historical document we known that Jesus claimed to be God. A man who does that cannot be just a man and also be a “good man”.
Jesus is certainly not a lunatic or a liar; He taught with practical wisdom and authority. He was able to read the human heart and show loving compassion that would be impossible for a lunatic to fake.
He was also not a man seeking personal power – He ended up nailed to a cross and did nothing to avoid it! He talked about it extensively. There are also no records of Him asking for money or for other practical comforts and luxuries. In fact, He preached about pain and suffering! As the leader of a cult designed to make His life easier, He wasn't a success!
C.S. Lewis talks about this trilemma in his book “Mere Christianity”. He says, “Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”
Misinterpretations of Scripture which suggest that Jesus is an “inferior God”
Jehovah's Witnesses and others take from their misreadings of Scripture that Jesus was the Son of God, but that means He is inferior to Him. Considering such verses as “If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28) or “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one” (I Corinthians 15:28) it may seem like Jesus is inferior to God. It is, however, clear that Jesus proclaimed Himself as God in Sacred Scripture in the many verses shown above.
Such teaching may seem to be contradictory, but we must understand that – since Jesus is fully God and fully man – some verses refer to Jesus' divinity and others refer to His humanity.
Another common error in the teaching of the Jehovah's Witnesses and others is the belief that the fact Jesus is the “first-born” of God’s creation (Colossians 1:15) means that He was created. He was the first thing created, but He was still created as is, therefore, not divine.
This demonstrates a similar misunderstanding of the term “firstborn” as is made by those who deny the perpetual virginity of Mary - “firstborn” does not literally mean the first one born but is better translated as “supreme heir”. Jesus possesses all the powers, abilities and divinity of God the Father.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD
Finally, a number of people will maintain that – because the proclamation of Christ's divinity was made in 325 AD at the Council of Nicaea – it was at this Council that the doctrine was invented. Of course, this is not true – as is seen from the writings of the Church Fathers and Scripture Christ was considered to be God long before this date. This is an example of doctrinal proclamation in the face of heresy. In this case the heresy was Arianism which, among other things, denied the divinity of Christ.
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