A Closer Look At Christianity

What about all these verses?

After I discuss the above with my Christian brothers they ask me,“but what about the other verses that say Jesus is God?” and they show me some of them. Some of these verses are:

• John 8:58***“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”*** My Christian brothers associate this verse to the words God had said to Moses in the Old Testament when He said to him in Exodus 3:14***“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”*** What Jesus said is similar to what God said to Moses. Therefore they are the same.

• Matthew 18:20***“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”*** Here Jesus gives himself a divine quality, being present as God.

• Revelation 1:17-18***“And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”*** Jesus says that he is the first and the last. This is clearly a divine quality. He also says that he has the keys of hell and of death. This is also a divine quality.

I really don’t know how many more verses like these are available, but let us assume that there are more. I reply to them that what they showed me proves my point even further, and before I explain how, I relate the following verse to them:

• Mark 13:32***“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”*** It is shown here that God and only God and not the son (Jesus) has the knowledge of the time of the Judgment day. Jesus here denies his divinity (since God knows everything).

• John 5:19***“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”*** Here Jesus also says that his powers do not belong to him, and he alone, without the help of God, can do nothing. Again Jesus is denying divine qualities.

• John 5:30***“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”*** Here Jesus also denies any divine qualities. He (Jesus), without God can do nothing.

• John 20:17***“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”*** Also, in Matthew 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Here Jesus, in the first verse, says that he has a God, and in the second he cries out for his God. Surely God does not have a god. Jesus clearly shows that he has a God and that he is not divine.

• John 5:37***“And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.”*** Jesus clearly states that no one had even heard God’s voice, and not even seen His shape. This is Jesus talking, his voice heard, and his shape seen by those he is with at the moment, so it cannot be him that he is referring to as the divine character, and that means that they (Jesus and God) are not the same.

• John 14:28***“Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.”*** Here Jesus also says that God is greater than Jesus. Again he is disclaiming divinity.

• Matthew 19:17***“And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”*** When a man referred to Jesus by good master, Jesus replied to him by saying that there is only one good that is God. If Jesus cannot even claim that he is good, then why should he claim that he is God?

These are all verses from the Bible. Some show Christ to be God or having some qualities of God and others show that he is not God and that he does not have divine qualities. Which should we believe? Aren’t these contradictions? I say to all my Christian brothers that brought me verses that claim Christ’s divinity,“now you have to explain to me how this is possible. What does all this mean?”