Was Jesus God...

[KennyJC]

Isn't it interesting that every word that Jesus was supposed to have said wasn't written down for over 100 years! Yet we are to believe that his "words" were remembered all those years and handed down through five generations before anything that he was supposed to have said was ever actually written! This is amazing to me, that a man with this type of persona could be so well known but never written about during his lifetime.

Where is his early childhood? Why don't we know more about what he did as he was growing up? We only are told of the "great" things that he did after he was over the age of 33 or so we are told. It just baffles me as to why anyone didn't follow him around to see and transcribe what he was doing seeing that he was causing so much of a stir. For such a great man not to be written about or just notes taken while he was alive seems ludicrous to me.

Entirely consistent with the fact that the people who refined myths about him after his alleged martyrs death managed to gain some notoriety and thus realizing they needed some scripture. Case closed.

 

[one_raven]

Given Parsimony (as many who say he never existed like to pretend to apply) it seems to me that the most likely scenario is that he did exist, and had some followers. As his popularity grew, the Romans added to his mythos and Deified him.
They had legions of people who believed so strongly in this person, they were not only willing to die for him and their beliefs, they actually saw martrydom as a good thing. To persecute them was not only uneffective, but ridiculously wasteful of a precious resource. If you could weild that power and actually indoctrinate others, you would have an unstoppable force and the world's most fearless, powerful army. Only a fool would persecute them - Constantine was no fool.

 

[one_raven]

I have met a few that do.

It depends on the sect of Buddhism, and on the individual Buddhist.
Some, but by no means all, believe that he became a deity after death. In fact, that concept might have been where the early Christians got the idea of Jesus ascending to the heavens in an apotheosis.

Regardless if that's true, the fact of the matter is that when he was alive, he was a man.
The whole point of following Buddhism is that enlightenment is attainable to all.
Siddhartha was a man, and no Buddhist who has any understanding of the Dhamma at all would claim otherwise.

 

[nietzschefan]

That's my take on it One Raven.

 

[ghost7584]

...or simply a teacher and philosopher?

Presuming he existed, I see no reason to believe he was any more than a philosopher and teacher, not unlike the Buddha, Lao Tse, Confucius, Nietzsche or J. Krishnamurti.

I am not even going to bring the concept of the Trinity into this (not just yet anyway), I am just going to ask a presumably simple question.

Why do people think Jesus is God?

I have searched the New Testament for anything that Jesus said (searched dilligently, I believe) to make people think such, but can't find it.
I have asked quite a few people (believers and otherwise) to point out to me where he said he is God, in case I missed it, but with no luck so far.
I believe I have even asked it on this forum way back.

He does say he is the Son of God, just as he says we are all children of God.
In fact, it seems to me that he went out of his way to point out that he is no more special than any of us.
The only apparent exceptions between us and him is his goodness, which is attainable, and his knowledge, which was his goal to share.

One thing that a few people have pointed out as evidence that he is God is that he says he is the way or path to God, his father or heaven.
Not only does that blantanly say (as far as I can see) that he is not God, rather he is speaking of someone in the third person, but I see it as him saying that you can find your way to heaven via him, or his teachings.
When he says he is the way to Heaven, he is saying it as a teacher. "My words are your path to Heaven, where my father, God, sits."

Do you agree?
If not, please explain to me why you think Jesus IS God, rather than simply one of countless "children of God", albeit perhaps an exceptional one.
Please quote chapter and verse to me to back up what you say.
You can be of the opinion of anything (and I am not trying to discount that).
If you believe that Jesus was a faery, all power to you, and I will not tell you that you are wrong.
If you say, however, that Jesus was a faery and the Bible supports your assertion, I will expect you to back that up with chapter and verse.
What I am interested in (in this thread, at least) is where the Bible (more specifically Jesus' words) state that he is God.

Thanks.

Scriptures showing Jesus to be God.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us,...
(Jesus' name in Revelation is the Word of God.)
Revelation 19:13 And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

1 Timothy 3:16 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.
(Jesus is the one that was received up into Glory, after His resurection; this scripture also shows that Jesus is God.}

Phillipians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Philippians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Philippians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.

John 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: [then] came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace [be] unto you.
John 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust [it] into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

 

[Zephyr]

In Orthodoxy, C. S. Lewis argues against the idea that Jesus could have merely been a great moral teacher (apparently a popular idea at the time he wrote the book). He says that someone claiming to be God must either be the genuine article; or be mad, or a liar, or both.

Of course, another option is that those claims were simply misinterpreted, or even added in later by the bible's compilers. We might never know.

Unless he is God and comes back with the fire and lightening and apocalypse stuff and we all go to hell. I suppose then we'd know.

 

[Spud Emperor]

Holy frijole!
Wow!, must read the bible, obviously easily understood, very contemporary and.. ahh.. not many grey areas at all.

 

[Gently Passing]

Heaven (and Hell) are simply thermodynamic impossibilities.

A mental state in which a steady flow of feel-good neurotransmitters is provided in a drug-free manner makes a bit more sense.

I suppose if you ate the right diet, meditated (or prayed) - both proven to have neurological and psychological benefit - then a feeling of wellbeing would be attained.

The thing I like about Eastern religion (mainly Taoism and Buddhism, but also Hinduism), is that such mental states can be achieved now. One can live a fuller life here on Earth and doesn't need to die to enjoy it.

The main problem with Christianity is that life on Earth is quite pointless. If we're "created" so we can make this grand decision whether to writhe in torment or float around in paradise (also pointless, by the way), then what end does this serve?

The only thing I can think of is that Life is a way to sort the Saved from the Damned, and the Saved want the Damned to rot away in misery so they can have their endless bliss.

Well to hell with all of them.