That would mean you believed in either a nutcase (cause He believed he was God but was not) or you believed in an evil deceiver (cause he told others he was God but he knew he was not). The only other option is that he was who he said he was and that is the only option that makes sense when believing in Jesus. He is not just a good moral leader. He either has to be God or one of the other two options described above.
2006-07-19 02:17:42 · 28 answers · asked by nobodiesinc 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Jesus was the son of God. Jesus is not God.
2006-07-19 02:19:27 · answer #1 · answered by kja63 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are two ways for me to answer this:
(1) Religious Answer - While Jesus is the Son of God, he is also God... as is the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery of the Holy Trinity. All three as one. Jesus was concieved by immaculate conception, technically making him the Son of God... but he was also the physical embodiment of God Himself.
(2) Non-religious Answer - The thought is that Jesus did not, in fact, call himself God... or the Son of God... or any form of deity for that matter. What he was, was a prophet who preached peace, garnered a following... and had a very good PR agent in his brother, James.
Following the crucifixion of his brother, James took up the task of spreading the word, and promoting the cause that his brother had created. As more people jumped on the bandwagon, the tales of Jesus became more and more profound... and it was James, NOT Jesus who claimed that Jesus was, in fact, the son of God. And it snowballed from there.
What better way to start a religion than to have a founder who is the Son of God?
So... was Jesus God? The Son of God? Well... that's something that I leave to those with more faith than myself. Was he an evil deceiver or a nutcase? I don't believe either is true at all... I think he was a good man spreading a good word that just happens to have caught on.
Heck... even Judaism and Islam say that Jesus was a pretty powerful preacher!
Read the sources below for a bit more information.
2006-07-19 02:33:50 · answer #2 · answered by Village Idiot 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think any of those options sounds okay. After all, there are plenty of crazy people and evil people in the world. But you are forgetting a very important alternative: Jesus was a great leader, but just a human - not the Son of God. He knew he was not God, he never claimed that He was, but history and biblical editors over the last 2,000 years have altered His words to make it seem that He claimed He was divine. That's not what I believe, but some people do think that's the truth.
It is indeed possible to be a great leader without being divine. Franklin Roosevelt was a great leader. Abraham Lincoln was a great leader. Alexander the Great was a great leader. None of those was (or claimed to be) the Son of God. Perhaps he was just a great prophet who told people about God and showed them how to live the life God intended them to live. He never said anything about being the Son of God. Then, centuries later, the council of Nicea decides that they should make Him look divine, so they alter the texts to make Him look that way.
2006-07-19 02:20:12 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can believe that Jesus existed and everything he did was real but that he was not God, and you can take one of those options or something else. But you cannot say you believe in Jesus CHRIST without saying he was God. Christ is the part that refers to God.
2006-07-19 02:50:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's very well possible he was just a guy with some peaceful ideas. History has been full of them. Why should Jesus be any different? Well, there's absolutely no proof that Jesus was God. In fact we have no proof of his existence at all. But I believe he existed, just not in the way subsequent story-tellers made him out to be.
Like with Buddha, the important thing is to grasp the message, not the messenger.
2006-07-19 02:22:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible is clear on Jesus being the Son of God, being sent by God, and raised by God. The Trinity is a blending of pagan belief into christian doctrine being adopted by Constantine around the year 325 AD. Wording in scripture began being changed around that time to support Trinity. Scrolls and codexes older than the year 325 support that. There is only one true God.
2006-07-19 02:26:42 · answer #6 · answered by rangedog 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know what others believe on this subject, but I feel that Jesus and God are one of the same. God gave us His son Jesus to die for our sins so that we could live our lives in prosperity. If you are a catholic person, you know that both God and Jesus are the Holy spirit together. If you let satan get ahold of you and he has you do wrong then Jesus and God will both forgive you because they love you very much. It makes God hurt when we do wrong. It makes God happy when we walk in His love.
2006-07-19 02:25:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you just described my friend is exactly what the Muslims try to get you to believe;
They SAY they 'believe' Jesus was a prophet, but then they call him a liar by refusing to believe what Jesus says about Himself, that he is the Son of God come down from heaven.
Would a prophet lie?
How can the muslims be such hypocrites?
2006-07-19 02:28:45 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
RE: Who thinks it makes sense to believe in Jesus Christ but not that he was God?
A: it is 100% known that Jesus did in fact live
the thing is that there is no prof that he was a "god" history proves jesus's existence but that's it, that is why Some people believe on J.C. but not that he was a god
2006-07-19 02:22:30 · answer #9 · answered by scott_nirvana_2004 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus is God. Second person of the Blessed Trinity. One God, three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2006-07-19 02:20:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋