| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Nico Demusopelous" |
| Date: |
27 Aug 2004 01:15:07 PM |
| Object: |
Re: The Reality of JESUS by Quran and Bible |
A Nizami <nizaminz@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<20040826013028.78740.qmail@web12822.mail.yahoo.com>...
The Reality of JESUS
Without a doubt, you have often heard the claim that
Jesus is God, the second person in the "Holy Trinity".
However, the very Bible which is used as a basis for
knowledge about Jesus and as the basis for doctrine
within Christianity clearly belies this claim.
Actually, a thorough reading of the Bible (in its present form)
certainly results in the conclusion that the text implies a
multipersonal conception of God (like the Trinity). Note that the
Bible makes rather clear references to Jesus alleged divinity (John
1:3, John 1:18, John 20:28, Romans 9:5, 2 Peter 1:1, et cetera), yet
it also clearly describes the Father as a divine being. Furthermore,
many verses present Jesus as being distinct from the Father, and
others present him as being *NOT* identical to God despite being
divine (e.g. John 1:1). So we have at least two divine beings. But the
Bible also asserts that there is only one God. Two divine beings, yet
only one God? The only way to make sense of that is to posit a
multipersonal ontology for God (i.e. a single God that is comprised of
more than one person). Add in the instance of triadic coordination
(i.e. references to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the same
breath), combined with the implication of Genesis 1:2 that the ruach
(ruH, or spirit of God, Holy Spirit?) was, like Jesus, present at
creation, and you seems to have grounds for adding a third person to
the multipersonal deity implied by the text. So we have at least a
duality, and textual grounds to posit a Trinity.
1. God Is All Knowing.....But Jesus Was Not
[...]
2. God Is All-Powerful.....But Jesus Was Not
Many of these examples seem to show an unfamiliarity with orthodox
Christian theology (I mean the general theology found among Catholics,
most Orthodox Christians and most Protestants), which holds that Jesus
possessed two natures: a divine nature and a human nature. All you are
doing with these examples is pointing to the human nature of Jesus,
but that does not negate the divine nature. Two wonderful books on
this subject are the following:
(1) William Lane Craig & James Porter Moreland, "Philosophical
Foundations for a Christian Worldview"
(2) Thomas V. Morris, "The Logic of God Incarnate"
Both books present roughly the same model: the divine nature and the
human nature had an asymmetric accessing relationship with one
another. That is, the divine nature could have full access with the
human nature while the reverse would not be the case. This would
result in Jesus' human nature being an authentically human experience.
So there is nothing logically incoherent about this doctrine, nor do
the Biblical references to Jesus' human nature contradict it.
.
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