Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Chapter 6

From page 97 - William Biederwolf:
A man who can read the New Testament and not see that Christ claims to be more than a man, can look all over the sky at high noon on a cloudless day and not see the sun.
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Direct claims to deity


Trial
  • Mark 14:61-64.
  • The Jews understood His words as a claim to being God. The Sanhedrin indirectly (ironically) claimed it too!
Other claims
  • Equality with the Father. John 10:30-33 - "One" in Greek denotes a single essence or nature. John 15:17-18 - "My" - not "our" - Father implies that Jesus claims the same level as God.
  • "I AM." John 8:58. Claim to absolute deity (see Exodus 3:14, for example).
  • Due same honor as the Father. John 5:23-24.
  • "To know Me." John 8:19.
  • "Believe in Me." John 14:1.
  • "He who has seen Me . . ." John 14:9.
  • "I say unto you" is parallel to "Thus says the LORD." Example: Matthew 5:20.
Requesting/accepting worship as God
  • Reserved for God alone - John 4:20-22; Acts 8:27; John 4:24; Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:8.
  • Accepted worship - Matthew 8:2, 14:33; John 9:35-39, 20:27-29.
  • Contrasted to others - Acts 10:25-26; Revelation 19:10.
What others said
  • Paul - Philippians 2:9-11; Titus 2:13.
  • John the Baptist - Luke 3:22.
  • Peter - Matthew 16:15-17; Acts 2:36.
  • Thomas - John 20:26-29.
  • Author of Hebrews - 1:8.
  • Stephen - Acts 7:59.
Indirect claims to deity - too numerous to list
  • Able to forgive sins - Mark 2:5ff; Luke 7:48ff.
  • Immutable - Hebrews 13:8 (see Malachi 3:6).
  • Life embodied - John 14:6.
  • Containing life - 1 John 5:11-12.
  • Having authority - John 5:27.
Titles and their implications

YHWH - Lord
  • Jews didn't pronounce it out of reverence.
  • Christ's claim - the seven "I Am" statements.
Son of God
  • Implies uniqueness and coequality, being coeternal with the Father.
Son of Man
  • Earthly ministry, when referring to Himself.
  • Foretelling His death - since His deity could not die on the cross, His humanity had to.
  • Talking about His second coming - He will come not in spirit alone, but also in body.
Abba - "Father"
  • The Aramic means "Daddy" - the most intimate of terms in addressing someone.
  • Jews used the more deferential Abhinu.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great work, Hannah!

You have really done your homework!

We were discussing the "I Am" statements recently in a bible study.

The main question that emerged was why the "I Am" statements appear in no other gospel but John's.

BTW- Sorry for the late response to your comment on my 'How can Gopd possibly use an imperfect Bible' post.

Anywho, keep up the good work, Hannah!

- Steve

Hannah said...

"You have really done your homework!" Nah, just summarized McDowell's fantastic research.

Apology accepted. That's a very interesting post.