DOES THE BIBLE ACKNOWLEDGE
JESUS WAS GOD? Section Two - Studies
Nos. 8 to 16 Anyone
reading the REBUTTALS on the web site "answering-islam" would notice that the Critic has neither rebutted THIS
article of mine nor reproduced the ACTUAL WORDINGS of my
arguments nor presented
ALL the arguments that you will be reading.
WHY MANY BIBLE SCHOLARS DO
NOT ACCEPT “JESUS WAS
GOD"?
LIST OF VERSES
STUDIED: (Section One) 1. "I AND THE FATHER ARE
ONE" JOHN 10:30 Must
read item. 2. "HE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER" JOHN
14:9 3.
"GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DISCIPLES IN THE NAME OF..." MT.
28:19 4.
"FOR THERE ARE THREE THAT BEAR WITNESS..." 1 JOHN
5:8 5.
"...LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE." GENESIS
1:26 6.
"THOMAS SAID TO JESUS, 'MY LORD AND MY GOD" JOHN
20:28 7.
"...AND (MAGI) FELL DOWN, AND WORSHIPPED HIM." MT.
2:11 (Section
Two) 8. "BEFORE
ABRAHAM WAS BORN... I AM" JOHN
8:58 9.
"...AND SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD" MARK
16:19 10.
"...IF YOU CONFESS JESUS AS LORD" ROMANS
10:9-10 11. "IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD"
JOHN 1:1 to 9 and 14 Must read
item. 12.
"AND HIS NAME SHALL BE ... ALMIGHTY GOD"
ISAIAH 9:6 13. "AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME
IMMANUEL" MATTHEW 1:23
14. "WALKED UPON A
SEA; RAISED LAZARUS" MT. 14:25 & JOHN
11:44 15.
"EXISTED IN THE FORM OF GOD... DlD NOT REGARD EQUALITY" PHIL.
2:6/7 16.
"I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA" REVELATION 1:8
More to be added
soon...
Verse No. 8 When confronted by Jews; Jesus said unto them,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham
was, I am." (John 8:58) Perceived by the "man of extraordinary faith":
This proves;
a) Jesus existed before his
birth. b) Jesus
was the same entity who replied to prophet Moses when he asked his
God; What was His name? What shall he say to his people? From behind
the Burning Bush God replied; "I AM THAT I
AM." (Exodus
3:14).
Answer No.
8 a) Jesus was
consecrated (anointed) by God before he was born and so was prophet
Jeremiah. The Bible records, God came to prophet Jeremiah and said
to him; "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I
have appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jer.
1:5.
God "loved" his chosen prophets before they were born. The Bible confirms; God
"loved" Jesus before the foundation of
the world. (Jn. 17:24). This act of
loving by an entity called God, undoubtedly proves that Jesus
was not God "Himself", before he was born
or after he was born. Jesus was a distinctly separate entity that
was "being loved" by God, records this
verse for the people who are upright and open
minded.
King
Melchizedek of Salem was an eternal priest with no records of his
beginning and ending. (Heb. 7:1-3). No Christian would admit, based
upon this stated of "eternal life span", that the King of Salem was
God, so how can Jesus be who claimed his existence before
Abraham?
b) The entire concept is based upon
a simple conjecture. In the foot notes of Exodus 3:14 the editors of
K.J.V. write;
"Jesus probably alluded to this name of God in John
8:58, 'Before Abraham was, I AM." The use of phrase "probably alluded" indicates; this does not
happen to be an established truth or
certainty. The Greek words "ego eimi" are here translated
as "I Am". However, the literal translation mentioned in the
marginal notes of the New American Standard Bible reads; "I have
been".
Study
Supportive Passage: Repeating the same phrase "I am", Jesus said; "I am (he), and that I do nothing on my
own; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things." (John
8:28). God of Moses had no instructor. If he had one, then that
entity would be the God's mentor or boss!
Verse No.
9 Mark records;
"...He (Jesus) was received up into
heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God."
(16:19). Perceived by
the "man of extraordinary faith": In the entire Bible no one else
has that unparalleled privilege and distinction. Jesus being the
"co-equal" with God has that honour.
Study No.
9 One of the two
great achievements of an eminent biblical scholar of the nineteenth
century, Lobegott Friedrich Konstantin Von Tischendorf, was the
historical discovery of the oldest known Bible manuscript 'Codex
Sinaiticus' from St. Catherine's Monastery in Mt.
Sinai.
Dr. Tischendorf discovered that in
this 5th century document the gospel of Mark ended at 16:8. In other
words, the last 12 verses (9 to 20) were
"injected" sometime after the 5th century. Clement of Alexandria and
Origen never quoted these verses. You have quoted verse number
19. Today, in many of the revised
versions of the Bible, the said last twelve verses appear within
parentheses. (For further information please read 'Secrets of Mount
Sinai' by James Bentley, Orbis, London, 1985).
Peake's Commentary on the Bible
records; "It is now generally agreed that 9-20 are not an original part of Mk. They are
not found in the oldest MSS, and indeed were apparently not in the
copies used by Mt. and Lk. A 10th-cent. Armenian MS ascribes the
passage to Aristion, the presbyter mentioned by Papias (ap.Eus.HE
III, xxxix, 15)."
Study
Supportive Passage: Acknowledgement of the quoted verse to be
authentic rather proves; Jesus is not
God. Paul postulates that while upon this earth Jesus "who was in the form of God" simply acted and "took upon
him the form of a servant". (Phil. 2:7). Once in heaven, the
part of acting was over and done with. Why Jesus
the full fledged God was not sitting on the center seat?
Since someone else had occupied the center seat and He
"Commanded" Jesus to seat on his right hand (Lk. 20:42 and Acts
2:32-37) proves Jesus was neither the Almighty God during his
Ministry, nor he is now in the Heaven. Having two seats, one for the
First Person of the Trinity and one for the Second Person of the
Trinity, clearly shows DUALITY. One asking another to "seat on my
right hand" shows unequally within the Duality.
Verse No.
10 In the
Epistle of Paul, it reads; "... if you confess
with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.."; (Romans
10:9-10). Perceived by
the "man of extraordinary faith": One must confess Jesus is God to
be saved.
Study No.
10 The editors
of the New Testament have created perplexity and confusion by
translating the Greek word 'Theos' (meaning,
God) as "Lord" and also translating the Greek word 'Kurios' (meaning, Master, Owner, Head of a house,
Teacher) as "Lord".
In the Greek scripture the word
used is "Kurios". It does not translate God.
Study
Supportive Passage: "And there is no other God
besides Me, A righteous God and a Saviour; There is none except Me.
Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God,
and there is no other." Isaiah 45:21-22.
Verse No.
11 " In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word
was God." (John
1:1) Perceived by
the "man of extraordinary faith": The verse says;
In the beginning was Jesus, and
Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God.
Study No.
11
The text does not read "In the beginning was Jesus". John did not
write the word Jesus in his original manuscript. If he had meant that, he
could have simply used the name Jesus. John wrote what he knew to be
the Truth. In the beginning was the "Spoken Word" (i.e. God's
Command). "Jesus" happens to be a SUBSTITUTION of the Greek
word "Logos" used by the apostle. In reality the bible
readers are implying, suggesting, alluding or insinuating the name
of Jesus. The concept of SUBSTITUTING the
original Greek term 'Logos' with "Jesus" has been the traditional
norm for the past many centuries. Hence it is not easy to believe
otherwise. Is this "substitution" any where closer to the literal
translation of the Greek word "Logos"? The answer is,
No.
The Greek term
'Logos' is derived from the root word 'Lego' meaning "to speak". The literal translation of
the word 'Logos' is "something spoken,
thought". A Command that is spoken. A thought that is
expressed. The verification of this literal translation is very
simple. Please refer to any good English Dictionary. Under the word
'Decalogue' you will find the meaning; "The Ten Commandments", (deka
= ten; logous = commands). The dictionary also translates the word
'Logos' as "discourse, reason, (rarely) word".
With the traditional "substitution"
the verse reads; "and Jesus was with God
and Jesus was God." How can Jesus be
"with" God, and "was" God, as well? It defies the logic(the chain of thoughts).
The literal translation
reads: In the beginning was the 'spoken word,
command', and the 'spoken word,
command' was with God, and the 'spoken word,
command' was Divine. (John 1:1)
The opening of John's Gospel
coincides perfectly with the prologue of the Book of Genesis which
reads; "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And
the God said, Let there be light; and
there was light." (Genesis 1:1/ 3).
The translation of 'Logos' as "Divine" in the last line is based upon the
usage of Greek grammar. Here is the brief explanation for those who
are interested in the grammar. In the second line, the phrase used
by John for "God" is 'ho theo', meaning
'the God'. In the last line it is simply 'theo', the definitive article 'the' is
missing. It is not written because here 'Theo' is a predicate
of the preceding subject. The predicate is used to denote the
nature, quality, attribute or property of the subject. In this
instance the nature of the God's spoken command happens to be "Divine".
In 'New translation of the Bible'
(1922) by the famous Dr. James Moffatt, it reads; "the Logos was Divine". And, the similar
translations appear in 'The Complete Bible - An American
Translation' (Smith-Goodspeed); 'The Authentic New Testament' by
Hugh J. Schonfield and the translations done by; Haenchen, Lyder
Brun and Madsen.
Notes: John 1:2 & 3
would also translate perfectly with the literal translation and
further compliment the opening passages from the Book Of
Genesis. The Greek word 'houtos' {3778} should be
literally translated as "the same" (meaning, the spoken word),
instead of "he". In the King James Version, it reads; "The same was in the beginning with God", which
supports the above clarification. Hence, John
1:2 & 3 should
read:
It
(the Command) was in the beginning with God.
All things
came into being through it (the Command) and without it (the
Command) not one thing came into
being. Please read Genesis 1: 3, 6, 11, 14, 20 &
24. It will compel the readers to admit the Truth. In Isaiah
45:12 God says;
I
made the earth and created humankind upon it;
it was my
hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I
commanded all their hosts. Those who prefer to
substitute the "Logos" with Jesus and read; "All things came into being through him (Jesus)",
are requested to read Mt.
19:4. While drawing the attention of the Pharisees to
the Old Testament passages (e.g. Gen. 1:27, 5:2 and Is. 45:12),
Jesus clearly points out that it was God Himself (not he), who
created the mankind.
Notes:
John 1: 4
With the
literal translation John 1:4 would read:
In it (the spoken Command) was life, and the life was the light for
all people.
Notes:
John 1: 6 to 9 Here we aretold that John the Baptist was sent into
this world in advance. He himself was not the light. But John
was sent as a witness to testify that light, so that all might
believe through him in what was to come. This true light, which
enlightens everyone , was coming into this world after him. The rest
is easy to follow once we understand the most important verse number
14.
Notes:
John 1:14 And
the "Logos" (the spoken word, Command,
wherein was life and light) became flesh
(by entering the womb of Virgin Mary). No
Bible reader can deny the fact that whenever God wanted to create
anything (e.g. Light, Vegetation, Living Creatures, etc.,) He had
been using His Commands to do just that. In this instance, He chose to make
His Righteous Messiah through this unique "one
of a kind" (John 3:16) Command.
Briefly, it was the Command of God that became flesh (the body of
Jesus within Mary). This also explains the Virgin Birth through Mary.
To say that God
Himself became flesh (Jesus, upon this earth) is not only a grave
blasphemy but has been explicitly and repeatedly negated by Jesus
himself, as shown from the beginning of this article. The only other
alternative would be to say; the God Incarnate came to this earth
and the God made an utterly false statement, concerning the CRUCIAL
issue of having "the eternal life",
in John 17:3. The choice is yours,
which to adopt and what to reject.
Study
Supportive Passage: If John wanted to write
"Jesus", why would he write "Logos" instead? There is no record of
Jesus being ever addressed as "Logos" by any one in the New
Testament. "...if any one proclaims to you a Gospel
contrary to what you have received, let that one be
accursed." Galatians 1:9.
Verse No.
12 "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given, and
the government shall be upon His shoulders. And His
name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the
Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 Perceived by the "man of extraordinary faith":
This prophecy was for Jesus and he was the Almighty God.
Study No.
12 1. The opening sentence reads; "Child is born". It speaks
of someone who had already been born.
2. The second
sentence reads; "His name shall be".
No one called Jesus by any of these four
names.
3. In the the
Old Testament, according to the Masoretic
Text, the name is called;
Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom; that is, Wonderful in counsel
is God the Mighty, the everlasting Father, the Ruler of peace.
These are not the names of Jesus but the Attributes of Almighty
God.
Study
Supportive Passage: It is inconceivable the Almighty God, the very
symbol of Honesty, Truth and Piety, would unjustly rebuke His
diligent students, and say to them; "Why do you
call me good? No one is good but God alone." (Mark 10:18)! It is also inconceivable, Him being a
Judge of the Day of Judgment! The TRUTH is; what Jesus taught
was the TRUTH.
One may accept it at its face value or reject it is a different
matter.
Verse No.
13 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall
bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel; which translated
means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23. Perceived by the "man of extraordinary faith":
This prophecy was for Jesus, who was "God with us".
Study No.
13 Matthew
repeats this prophecy from Isaiah 7:14. However the translated
Hebrew text of the Old Testament differs from the translated Greek
text of Matthew. Here is the translation of
Isaiah 7:14 from the N.R.S.V. -
1989: "Look, the
young woman is with child and shall bear
a son, and shall name him Immanuel."
The Old Testament text tell
us that Isaiah was speaking about a child bearing (pregnant) young woman whereas the New Testament text
speaks of a virgin.
The Old
Testament text reads the woman is
(in the past tense), whereas the New
Testament text reads shall be (in the future tense).
The Old Testament text reads the
young woman shall name her child "Immanuel", which the Virgin Mary
did not do. In the New Testament text it reads;
They shall call his name "Immanuel". We have no records of
anyone calling Jesus by that name.
Most of the scholars agree today
that this prophecy does to belong to Jesus. "Some have compared this
young woman to Isaiah's young wife and newborn son (8:1-4)" records
the marginal notes to Is. 7:14 in N.R.S.V.
Study
Supportive Passage: Before the birth of Jesus, an angel of the God
told Mary; "You shall call His name Jesus," (Matthew
1:21). If the son of virgin Mary was to be called "Immanuel", why did the angel of God tell
virgin Mary to call him Jesus, INSTEAD?
Verse(s) No.
14 "And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto
them, walking on the sea." (Matthew 14:25) "And he (Lazarus) that was dead came forth, bound hand
and foot with grave clothes ..." (John 11:44)
Perceived by the "man of
extraordinary faith": Only God can walk on the sea and raise the
dead.
Answer No.
14 Performance of extraordinary miracles is not
the litmus test for being God. If that shall be the criteria
then we should be ready to acknowledge many more Miracle performing
Gods.
1. Prophet Joshua commanded the Sun
and the Moon to stop for one whole day. Moved a shadow of the
sun-dial ten degrees backward. (Joshua 10:13 and 2
Kings 20:10).
2. Prophet Elisha brought back to
life a dead son of a Shunammite woman. Resurrected himself. After
being dead and buried, he stood up on his feet. Healed a Syrian
named Naaman of
leprosy. (2 Kings
4:35; 13:21 and 5:14).
3. Prophet Ezekiel made dry bones
come together, grow flesh, cover with skin and come to
life. (Ezekiel
37:3-10).
4. Prophet Elijah brought back to
life a son of a widow. Made a bowl of flour and a jar of oil,
inexhaustible for days.
(1 Kings 17:22 and 14).
Study
Supportive Passage: "...Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God
with miracles and wonders and signs which God
performed through him in your
midst..." (Acts 2:22). God was the
Master Performer and Jesus was His medium.
Verse No.
15 "...although he (Jesus Christ)
existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing
to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond
servant, and being made in the likeness of men." (Philippians
2:6-7) Perceived by the
"man of extraordinary faith": Jesus was God with us but he merely
acted as a "bond servant".
Answer No.
15 1. The Greek
word used for "form" is 'morphe' (3444) which means; shape, fig,
image, appearance. Hence, the phrase simply means, "in the image of
God", as it reads in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "...Christ, who is the image of
God."
2. "The image of God" does not mean
"God". Genesis 1:26 confirms that man was also made in the "image of
God".
3. In the New English Bible the
word 'morphe' is translated as "nature". The text conveys; Jesus had the
Divine nature.
Study
Supportive Passage(s): "Here is my servant, whom I
have chosen..." (Mt. 12:18). "...the God of our
ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus" (Acts 3:13)
N.R.S.V. "and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to
God."
1 Corin. 3:23
Verse No.
16 "I am the Alpha and the Omega."
(Rev. 1:8) Perceived by the "man of extraordinary faith":
One who claimed this was Lord Jesus.
Answer No.
16 1. The entire
text in N.R.S.V. reads: "I am the Alpha and the
Omega," says the Lord God who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty." Following the verses of Greetings to the Churches
in Asia, which end with the word "Amen", this happens to be an
opening statement of a fact praising the "Lord God - the Almighty".
The testimony of Jesus begins with verse number 9.
2. In K.J.V. the above phrase is
repeated in verse number 11. Since this phrase has been removed from
the majority of the revises versions, it shows it was a superfluous
addition. The need of
injecting this phrase in verse 11 gives rise to the indication that
the phrase in verse 8 was not spoken by Jesus.
3. In chapter 21 the phrase is once
again repeated. Before we examine this particular verse it is
essential to note that the Revelation is written in "apocalyptic"
form - a style of ancient Jewish literature wherein symbolic imagery
is used to demonstrate the ultimate triumph of the Almighty God, to
those who are under constant persecutions (author John was a Jew).
The author saw the vision of God, God's angel and of Jesus besides
other things. Upon the reading of the verse number 6 of the earlier
chapter (20), we notice that the God and
the Christ are "two" separate
entities. And, in verse number 9 the author speaks of a fire coming
down from "God". And, in verse 11 the
author saw the throne of "God". And, the
One who was seating on that White throne spoke the phrase and not
Jesus.
4. In 1:1 John clearly mentions, at
the very beginning of his book, that the Revelation was of Jesus Christ which
God gave
him.
5. In 1:2 John writes, he was
testifying; the word of God and of
Jesus.
Study
Supportive Passage: If John had seen, heard, known and believed
that his Rabbi Teacher Jesus was the Almighty Alpha and Omega Himself then he would not have written (or
allowed it to remain unaltered), that the sole aim of the writing of
his Gospel was to prove that Jesus was the expected "Messiah", in
John 20:31.
If Jesus was "Alpha and Omega" then
it would also contradict the verse 1 Corin. 15:28 of the New
Testament.
(The Verse Number 17 will be, God
willing, soon added.)
To read the previous Section One please click below
SECTION
ONE
A Christian response
to some of the above.
Author:
Akbarally Meherally
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