Chapter 9 Discussion Questions

Chapter 9 brings up a topic that so many people struggle with and have a hard time accepting about Jesus. This chapter deals with profiling and tackles the question of whether Jesus fits the profile of God. Some people argue that the God of the Old Testament comes across as judgmental and wrathful while Christ comes across as compassionate and forgiving so, how can they be the same person? I will respond more tomorrow but I want you the think about the following questions on your own before you let someone else influence your thought process. If you scroll down a couple of posts you will see that a gentleman, whose computer screen name is "Adam Pastor", posted a friendly disagreement with me. He says that Jesus never claimed to be God but only claimed to be the "Son of God". He then left a link to a two hour video. So far I have watched the first 15 minutes and will respond more tomorrow but if you want to check it out do so and let me know what you think.


1. When you read the Old Testament what impression do you get about God? Is he primarily wrathful?


2. When you read the New Testament do you get the impression that Jesus thought of himself as God?


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?


4. What evidence would you give from the Old Testament for the Trinity? If the evidence is there then why are Jews such strict monotheists (Unitarians) that they reject Trinitarianism?


5. If you believe in the Trinity then what evidence do you see in the New Testament of this or that Jesus considered himself to be God in any way?


6. How would you respond to the idea that Jesus was just a normal man and that the idea of him being God was made up by later followers, possibly as late as 325 AD by Constantine as Dan Brown proposes in the DaVinci Code?


7. If Jesus did not claim to be God but merely the Son of God then what would he be like? Would any form of deity have rubbed off on him? Would he be half-man/half-God like Hercules? Would he have any supernatural powers?


Chapter 9 also addresses the following questions:


8. If God is loving then why does he sentence people to Hell?


9. If Jesus is so loving then why did he not speak out against slavery, which was so prevalent in the first century Roman world?


Thank you Adam for you food for thought and the video to challenge us. I pray that as I take time to evaluate your arguments that you will do the same. Everyone take time to think about these questions and I will post responses by tomorrow or soon after.


May God Bless us in our search for Truth!