Have you ever met a man who is the center of attention wherever he goes? Some mysterious, indefinable characteristic sets him apart from all other men. Well, that’s the way it was two thousand years ago with Jesus Christ. But it wasn’t merely Jesus’ personality that captivated those who heard him. Those who witnessed his words and life tell us that something about Jesus of Nazareth was different from all other men.

Jesus’ only credentials were himself. He never wrote a book, commanded an army, held a political office, or owned property. He mostly traveled within a hundred miles of his village, attracting crowds who were amazed at his provocative words and stunning deeds.

Yet Jesus’ greatness was obvious to all those who saw and heard him. And while most great people eventually fade into history books, Jesus is still the focus of thousands of books and unparalleled media controversy. And much of that controversy revolves around the radical claims Jesus made about himself—claims that astounded both his followers and his adversaries.

It was primarily Jesus’ unique claims that caused him to be viewed as a threat by both the Roman authorities and the Jewish hierarchy. Although he was an outsider with no credentials or political powerbase, within three years, Jesus changed the world for the next 20 centuries. Other moral and religious leaders have left an impact—but nothing like that unknown carpenter’s son from Nazareth.

What was it about Jesus Christ that made the difference? Was he merely a great man, or something more?

These questions get to the heart of who Jesus really was. Some believe he was merely a great moral teacher; others believe he was simply the leader of the world’s greatest religion. But many believe something far more. Christians believe that God has actually visited us in human form. And they believe the evidence backs that up.

After carefully examining Jesus’ life and words, former Cambridge professor and skeptic, C. S. Lewis, came to a startling conclusion about him that altered the course of his life. So who is the real Jesus? Many will answer that Jesus was a great moral teacher. As we take a deeper look at the world’s most controversial person, we begin by asking: could Jesus have been merely a great moral teacher?

Even those from other religions acknowledge that Jesus was a great moral teacher. Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, spoke highly of Jesus’ righteous life and profound words. Likewise, Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner wrote, “It is universally admitted … that Christ taught the purest and sublimest ethics … which throws the moral precepts and maxims of the wisest men of antiquity far into the shade.”

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been called the most superlative teaching of human ethics ever uttered by an individual. In fact, much of what we know today as “equal rights” actually is the result of Jesus’ teaching. Historian Will Durant, a non-Christian, said of Jesus that “he lived and struggled unremittingly for ‘equal rights’; in modern times he would have been sent to Siberia. ‘He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant’—this is the inversion of all political wisdom, of all sanity.”

Many, like Gandhi, have tried to separate Jesus’ teaching on ethics from his claims about himself, believing that he was simply a great man who taught lofty moral principles. This was the approach of one of America’s Founding Fathers, President Thomas Jefferson, who cut and pasted a copy of the New Testament, removing sections he thought referred to Jesus’ deity, while leaving in other passages regarding Jesus’ ethical and moral teaching. Jefferson carried around his cut and pasted New Testament with him, revering Jesus as perhaps the greatest moral teacher of all time.

In fact, Jefferson’s memorable words in the Declaration of Independence were rooted in Jesus’ teaching that each person is of immense and equal importance to God, regardless of sex, race, or social status. The famous document sets forth, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights …”

But one thing Jefferson didn’t answer: If Jesus falsely claimed to be God he couldn’t have been a good moral teacher. But did Jesus really claim deity? Before we look at what Jesus claimed, we need to examine the possibility that he was simply a great religious leader?

Surprisingly, Jesus never claimed to be a religious leader. He never got into religious politics or pushed an ambitious agenda, and he ministered almost entirely outside the established religious framework.

When one compares Jesus with the other great religious leaders, a remarkable distinction emerges. Ravi Zacharias, who grew up in a Hindu culture, has studied world religions and observed a fundamental distinction between Jesus Christ and the founders of other major religions.

“In all of these, there emerges an instruction, a way of living. It is not Zoroaster to whom you turn; it is Zoroaster to whom you listen. It is not Buddha who delivers you; it is his Noble Truths that instruct you. It is not Mohammad who transforms you; it is the beauty of the Koran that woos you. By contrast, Jesus did not only teach or expound His message. He was identical with His message.”

The truth of Zacharias’ point is underscored by the number of times in the Gospels that Jesus’ teaching message was simply “Come to me” or “Follow me” or “Obey me.” Also, Jesus made it clear that his primary mission was to forgive sins, something only God could do.

In The World’s Great Religions, Huston Smith observed, “Only two people ever astounded their contemporaries so much that the question they evoked was not ‘Who is he?’ but ‘What is he?’ They were Jesus and Buddha. The answers these two gave were exactly the opposite. Buddha said unequivocally that he was a mere man, not a god—almost as if he foresaw later attempts to worship him. Jesus, on the other hand, claimed … to be divine.[6]

And that leads us to the question of what Jesus really did claim for himself; specifically, did Jesus claim to be divine?

He said he is Gods son....

And ofcus he is divine,he had lived in heaven by his Fathers side aeons b4 d universe was formed...

But he(Jesus) is Gods 1st born son and Yahweh is his DADDYYYYYY!!!!!!

The Jews who knew about d messiahs coming knew Jesus was mainly coming to do his Fathers will(our Fathers will)....
Dying for sinful mankind and reedeming us from sin and death.....

In all that Jesus did he sanctified his Fathers name and preached about him...

Because Yahweh is all and in all.......

ijawkid: He said he is Gods son....

And ofcus he is divine,he had lived in heaven by his Fathers side aeons b4 d universe was formed...

But he(Jesus) is Gods 1st born son and Yahweh is his DADDYYYYYY!!!!!!

The Jews who knew about d messiahs coming knew Jesus was mainly coming to do his Fathers will(our Fathers will)....
Dying for sinful mankind and reedeming us from sin and death.....

In all that Jesus did he sanctified his Fathers name and preached about him...

Because Yahweh is all and in all.......

If He is "divine", that means He is God. No?

Or do you mean He is a god?

No.
Jesus is not God.
I have already explained extensively in other threads.
The so-called "son of God" can never be that god.
A child may not be the father and the father can not be the child.
That is a consequence of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD
It is widely discussed, and generated some fnàticos urticaria.
Greetings.

@engima..

What do u understand by divine

Are angels in heaven not divine toooo

All heavenly beings are divine for ur information..

If an angel appears before you u'll be so forced to bow down to that angel...

Divine means other things apart from God or a god...
It also means heavenly or celestial....


Jesus who was a spirit in heaven has no option but to be divine....

He was super human,a spirit.....

Like I quoted Jesus""he came to do his Fathers will""

Doesn't that send a signal to you??

Mr nicean.....lol

^ OK, thanks.

ijawkid: @engima..

What do u understand by divine

Are angels in heaven not divine toooo

All heavenly beings are divine for ur information..

If an angel appears before you u'll be so forced to bow down to that angel...

Divine means other things apart from God or a god...
It also means heavenly or celestial....


Jesus who was a spirit in heaven has no option but to be divine....

He was super human,a spirit.....

Like I quoted Jesus""he came to do his Fathers will""

Doesn't that send a signal to you??

Mr nicean.....lol

I fully share his presentation.
One thing to talk about Jesus as a deity (divine basis).
This divine nature is not clear when mentioned in the Bible that he is the "son of God."
Another thing is to attribute the character of God to Jesus.
For the Jews (root of Christianity) Jesus was a prophet and that is by no means a pejorative. After the death of Jesus, the so-called "Christians" first had to define leadership, which resulted in bloody infighting. As I said before, and you mention was in 325 AD that the Catholic Church officially accepts the trilogy. The Jews never accepted that.

I also agree with you, an angel (whichever) is a divinity ( more, nobody can deny the divine origin of Lucifer). But there is a big difference between what is a divinity and a god.

I hope I have offended anyone, it's just my opinion.

Ptolomeus:

I fully share his presentation.
One thing to talk about Jesus as a deity (divine basis).
This divine nature is not clear when mentioned in the Bible that he is the "son of God."
Another thing is to attribute the character of God to Jesus.
For the Jews (root of Christianity) Jesus was a prophet and that is by no means a pejorative. After the death of Jesus, the so-called "Christians" first had to define leadership, which resulted in bloody infighting. As I said before, and you mention was in 325 AD that the Catholic Church officially accepts the trilogy. The Jews never accepted that.

I also agree with you, an angel (whichever) is a divinity ( more, nobody can deny the divine origin of Lucifer). But there is a big difference between what is a divinity and a god.

I hope I have offended anyone, it's just my opinion.

U haven't offended any1 my bobo...lol

I was just giving engima a full definition of the wÓrd divine....

All Àngels in heaven are divine.....

Even satan was divine..


So Jesus being divine does not mean he is Yahweh or d same as Yahweh or o.n d same level of Yahweh....

That was d point I was trying to make....

ijawkid:

U haven't offended any1 my bobo...lol

I was just giving engima a full definition of the wÓrd divine....

All Àngels in heaven are divine.....

Even satan was divine..


So Jesus being divine does not mean he is Yahweh or d same as Yahweh or o.n d same level of Yahweh....

That was d point I was trying to make....

Thank you!
That's the idea.