The questions I posted yesterday are pretty intense so I don't think I have time to answer all of them in one day. Please read the previous post before reading further and reflect on the questions before you see my response.
1. When you read the Old Testament what impression do you get about God? Is he primarily wrathful? As I read the Old Testament I actually see God's compassion and slowness to anger more than his anger. With Sodom and Gomorrah He said he would spare the whole wicked cities if only 10 righteous people could be found. He often says that he gives evil empires (Assyria, Babylonia and Persia) time to repent before He will bring destruction on them. He sent Jonah as a missionary to Assyria. He tells the Jews that they are too caught up with sacrifice and that He "desires mercy more then sacrifice". He instructs Hosea to marry a prostitute to symbolize how patient He is with the unfaithfulness of Israel. God appears pretty patient and kind here to me.
2. When you read the New Testament do you get the impression that Jesus thought of himself as God? I find it impossible to read the New Testament and not see where both Jesus claimed to be God and his immediate followers (apostles) and second generation Christians worship Him as God. If this is wrong then the very people closest to Jesus (Peter, James and John and Paul who wrote two thirds of the New Testament) are in great error. If this error is so blatant then everything else taught about Christ must be suspect. Jesus said "before Abraham was, I am". He is saying that he is the I am that spoke to Moses in the burning bush. In Greek I am means that I exist by my own power or in other words Jesus is saying that he is not a created being but always has existed and was alive even before Abraham ever walked the earth. John calls Jesus the Logos which Greek philosophers used to refer to the God who created and sustains the universe. People argue against this but all you have to do is look at the reaction of the Jewish leaders and see that they understood exactly what he was saying. They tore their robes and wanted him crucified for blasphemy.
3. Historians give credit to Tertullian developing the doctrine of the Trinity about 180 AD so why do Christians accept it as an essential of the faith when it was not developed until 150 years after Jesus' ministry? On the surface this fact would make you find the Doctrine of the Trinity suspect. However, it should not be discarded until we see if there is a Biblical basis for it and that the concept is in the New Testament. Above I mentioned Jesus calling himself the "I am" and John calling Him the Logos. Jesus also taught with is own authority unlike other Rabbis who referred to other witnesses. Jesus said "you have heard...but I say to you", this means he has authority of God not man. Jesus forgave sins which the Jewish leaders said only God has the right to do. Jesus accepted worship and said if you see him you also see the Father for they are one. These are too many occurrences from Jewish people (Jesus and the apostles were Jews) if believing that Jesus is God is a violation of strict Jewish monotheism. One verse not many people know about is actually the most blatant reference of Christ being God. Romans 9:5 is where Paul says that "Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God,..." It can't be put much clearer than that. Many people claim that the idea of Jesus being God was instituted later by Constantine in 325 AD. I am currently reading Christian writings from the first three centuries and it is littered with references to Christ as God. Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Tatian and several others from the late first century and second century say this. The reason it comes up is because they want to know why they are being persecuted by the Romans for their belief in Christ being God when the Romans believe the Zeus had sex with a woman and had Hercules or that Caesar was god in the flesh. Why is Christianity considered ridiculous and the Roman mythology actually honored? If Jesus being God is legendary then what we should see is that the apostles and early Christians refer to him as only a man and then the deification taking place in the late first or second century. Actually the opposite is true. The apostles and early Christians refer to Jesus as God and then the idea that he was not God creeps in later. I am forced to conclude that the evidence weighs heavily in favor of the Trinity.
I hope to post more over the next few days. Take care!
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