Supposed divinity of Christ..I am confused(Non-Christian student of bible)?

Question

According to the bible In John 10:30 Jesus says "I and my father are one." Yet, according to Matt 27:46 Jesus cried out on the cross,"Eloi Eloi Lamasabaktani "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And If I and my father are one does not mean one in purpose and is claiming divinity,then what is this:

10.29 "My Father which gave them me is greater than all..."

And
14.28 "....For my Father is greater than I."

???

My Father which gave them me is greater than all 14.28 is from Gospel of John

10.29 "My Father which gave them me is greater than all..." Is Gospel of John

10.29 "My Father which gave them me is greater than all..." Is Gospel of John

Answer 1

The Catholic Church was told at some point it was no longer monotheistic. They rectified this [The council barely approved this] by voting that God, Jesus, and The Holy Ghost where the same being, just in a different manifestation.

There is also no evidence of Christ as divine [in the bible] [as in akin to God]. The miracles could have just been that, like the miracles of the prophets.

Answer 2

You are heading the right direction. Isn't it good to have that GPS with you? :>)

Here's an illustration:

God = a wealthy man
Jesus = the wealthy man's son
holy spirit = the wealthy man's resource (money)

One day the wealthy man wants to start another business. Owning a Hotel comes to the man's mind. The man being so busy with other work, he asks his son to help out with the building of the Hotel. Since the son knows his father's plan very well, he uses his father's money to get the Hotel business started. The son being so obedient and trustworthy and loves his father very much, he does not use his father's money for his own personal gain or for other purposes. The son follows through with what the father asks of him. In essence, the father and the son are one because they work together to get the Hotel done the way that suits the father.

You are right, "the father and the son are one" means that they are one in purpose and very much alike, reflecting each other.

The wealthy man and his son are one (alike in personalities and in qualities) but are not literally one person. They are two seperate people. Whatever the man's son is doing, it reflects his father so well that the father would trusts his son to do all the hiring of people to work in the Hotel, and run the business. Perhaps, when the father sends his son to go negotiate a deal with another company, the boss of that company might be rude and say, "How can I negotiate a deal with you for your father's business?" The son might respond, "My father and I are one, my words are as good as his. When you are talking to me, you are talking to my father." (Meaning the son is given authority by the father to negotiate and the son will do what the father asks of him. The son is actually carrying the father's thoughts but they are not the same person.)

God = Father (the Almighty God that has no beginning).

Jesus = Son of God (Mighty God that has beginning because he was created by the Almighty God. See Proverbs 8:22-31.) "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation..." (Colossians 1:15). No man has ever seen God at any given time. When Jesus was born as a perfect human, he can say that if you see me you see the Father (Almighty God). That doesn't mean God is living inside Jesus or Jesus is literally the God Almighty.

Holy Spirit = Active Force, not a person (power that is used to create things just like money that is used for buying products and services to build the Hotel).

God created Jesus, then Jesus assisted his Father (using the holy spirit) to create other things in heaven and on earth. Jesus being God's son, he is also called a god (known as Mighty God) but never the Almighty God. The son and the father can never be equal in power because without God there is no Jesus, but without Jesus the Almighty God still exists. So, God is far more greater than anything else whether in heaven or on earth.

The Bible is not confusing and does not have contradicting information.

Answer 3

This is a question people have had for 2000 years and it may be impossible to understand, which is okay. Mankind barely understands the human brain much less God. Some religions claim to know everything about their God. In those religions, their God is very simplistic. In Christianity and Judaism God is not easy to understand. He is infinitely more complex than the human brain.

But there are a couple of points I would make:

1) Jesus' disciples believed he was God. Also, Jesus acted as God, i.e. He forgave sins (God is the only one that can forgive sins). Jesus claimed to be God.

2) Jesus being God in the flesh doesn't mean that God in the Spirit couldn't be "greater than all". Obviously the point Jesus is making is that God in the Spirit (Jesus' Father) is greater than Jesus who is God in the flesh.

Answer 4

Christians believe in a Triune God, meaning that there are 3 persons in the Godhead. Jesus is the second person and is also The Word that created everything. See John 1: 1-6
While Jesus was on earth, he had reduced himself to being a human being. That limited him to human limits and as a human he was less than the Father. But he was still God in the flesh. See 1 Tim. 3: 16

Answer 5

When Jesus cried My God etc. He was speaking as a man. He was burdened by the sins of mankind and felt forsaken by God as the weight of sin pressed on Him. Why would God the Father be greater than the Son. Most fathers are. Was Jesus again speaking as man or God? Trust me, only experience will answer your questions through the Holy Spirit. It's O.K. to be confused, just don't loose faith.

Answer 6

First, kudos for being a student of the Bible.
Second, you have articulated and documented a key issue in the history of Christianity. The church debated this for three or four centuries.
Third, the answer lies partially in the mystery of the Trinity which we are not yet entirely privy to.
Fourth - with those disclaimers. Jesus was one with God in reality and purpose: Announcing the Kingdom of God cf. opening sermon. Jesus was fully God.
Fifth, Jesus was also fully human in order to reach us. He had two complete natures.
Sixth, In the Gospels, Jesus tells the people they are all sons of God. This is from Psalms and what many called Jesus. As Mark shows, Jesus wanted the appellation Son of Man which was unique and identified Him as the True Man who could make atonement (at one state of) for us.
As Man Jesus felt the agony of Gethsemane and the Cross. As son of God, Jesus / God wept over the same.

Answer 7

1- God came down from heaven and became man, thereby giving up his "powers". How ever as the ONE true God he is everywhere and always which means while on earth He still sat in heaven.
2- Having given up his powers to live among men he was at the mercy of other men. Thus the crucifiction and as a human it would have been unbearable to know that as he could have used his power to transend the pain and anquish but by his will he endured it, forsaking his own life to renew our own. Basicly he was speaking not to Anyone in particular but to himself. And as some one else said He was using this moment as an opportunity to teach one last time.
3-Having become man God sought not to Glorify the Human form but the transendent being that he was. Therefore He would say "My Father" is Greater in keeping with the teaching of the jewish faith...
4-Christ said to Pilate "YAHWEH' Hebrew for "I AM" This is what God told Moses when Moses asked his name. It is not suprizing then that Christ would reply the same when asked if he was the KING of the JEWS and savior. Meaning that He is God and transends all.

Answer 8

Yes, so? Jesus cried out to God because God HAD to forsake him as a MAN (Jesus was devine AND mortal) so that we might be saved.

Just as the hour hand is greater than the minute hand, God the Father is greater than Jesus. Doesn't mean Jesus is all-powerful or that God and Jesus are not connected; it's a simple statement really.

G.B.

Answer 9

>>Yet, according to Matt 27:46 Jesus cried out on the cross,"Eloi Eloi Lamasabaktani "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?<<

This has been widely misunderstood. Jesus was quoting from Psalm 22, not actually asking, "why hast thou forsaken me?"

Answer 10

Jesus said the Father was greater than He not because Jesus is not God, but because Jesus was also a man and as a man he was in a lower position. He was ". . . made for a little while lower than the angels . . ." (Heb. 2:9). Also in Phil. 2:5-8, it says that Jesus "emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men . . ."
Jesus has two natures. Jesus was not denying that He was God. He was merely acknowledging the fact that He was also a man. Jesus is both God and man. As a man, he was in a lesser position than the Father. He had added to Himself human nature (Col. 2:9). He became a man to die for people.
A comparison can be found in the marriage relationship. Biblically, a husband is greater in position and authority than his wife. But, he is no different in nature and he is not better than she. They share the same nature, being human, and they work together by love.
So, Jesus was not denying that He was God. He was simply acknowledging that He was also a man and as a man, he was subject to the laws of God so that He might redeem those who were under the law; namely, sinners (Gal. 4:4-5).