Legend writes:
dancer writes:
He was never only a man. No man on earth could have lived a life like He did. He was fully a God and fully a human. A perfect man as well as a perfect God. He had all the power in His hands, but he never revealed it in its true glory.
DeclinetoState writes:
And scriptures that tell us this are . . .
(Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33, Jos 5:13-15, Mar 5:6).
(Heb. 1:8)
(John 5:19).
(Acts 7:59).
(1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15).
(John 21:17).
(John 10:28).
(Col. 2:9).
Matt. 2:
2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."
11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
(All references NASB)
Jesus was worshipped, therefore he was God. How the shepherds
knew he was God is not mentioned, of course.
Jos. 5:13-15: This is the encounter between Joshua and the captain of the Lord's army. Other than the fact that Joshua and Jesus are the same name (Jesus is from the Hellenized form of Y'shua or Yehoshua, i.e., Joshua), there is no evidence that the captain was Jesus, unless one already believes that Jesus was God. But this is trying to prove something
a posteriori while at the same time accepting it as a premise
a priori (or something like that)--in short, circular reasoning.
Heb 1:
8But of the Son He says,
"(A)YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER,
AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF [a]HIS KINGDOM.
[CAPS original]
This passage is a quote from Psalm 45:6. Psalm 45 is usually taken as being addressed to a king:
1My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
2You are fairer than the sons of men;
(B)Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.
Some thus maintain that v. 6 should read: "God is your throne," and that Heb. 1:8 should be translated accordingly.
John 5:
19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
If the Son is God, but "the Son can do nothing of Himself," how does that square with God's omnipotence?
Acts 7:
59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
Assuming this is an accurate quote of Stephen's last words, I'm not sure how it shows that he believes Jesus was God. It's possible to assert that, of course, but I don't think the statement is unambiguous. I don't seek high theology or Christology in the words of a man, however pious he may be, as he's being stoned to death.
1 Peter 2:
21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;
[CAPS original]
Great. Jesus didn't sin. I don't know how that alone shows he was or is God, that he was "fully God," or that God is a Trinity.
Hebrews 4:
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Ditto.
John 21:
17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You " Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.
Other than Peter's assertion (probably while annoyed, as this is the third time around for this little dialogue) that Jesus knows "all things," I don't see much of an assertion that Jesus was God.
John 10:
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
This may be the best assertion that Jesus was God, though one could still assert, as some do, that Jesus was simply acting as God's agent, not as God himself.
Col 2:
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
If we can all agree as to what the "fullness of Deity" means, then maybe we can get somewhere. In any event, we also have to accept that this passage was truly inspired, and not reflecting the Pauline propaganda and biases that may have crept into an early understanding of the Christian faith. But those are issues beyond the scope of this thread.
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