There are 7 choices, 8 votes for manofomens2's debate

Is Jesus The Son of God?

Is Jesus the Son of God? Alot of people say that He is a great moral teacher, but i want to iron something out. The simple fact that that isnt an option. If Jesus wasnt who He said that He was (the Son of God), then there are only two other choices. Here is a quote from C.S. Lewis explaining further.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” [Mere Christianity, Book 2, Chapter 3, The Shocking Alternative]


  • He is God

    The simple fact that people consider Jesus as a great moral teacher pretty much eliminates the lunatic option, since, if he were crazy, then He wouldnt have taught what He did. That only leaves liar, which is also pretty much ruled out. After all, if Jesus didnt raise from the dead (showing that He was God), then the disciples never would have died for Him.

    25%  Voted for by manofomens2, Makessenseright.
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  • What MAKES a raving lunatic?

    The great innovators that were scorned by their societies, such as Galileo, Copernicus, Darwin, and Pasteur, all were GREAT teachers. Yet, suprisingly enough, not one person was ready to accept that these men WERE TEACHERS (of great sciences and discoveries, mind you.) They were considered the heretics of their eras. Responding to Lewis's quote, there is a thing called 'SUBJECTIVE' and 'OBJECTIVE.' Subjective is of the opinion. Obective is of the truth. Now, TRUTH is not influenced by opinion. On the other hand, opinions are only halfway influenced by truth. Just because Jesus said, "Behold, I am the son of the father in heaven," he is neither a devil, a madman, or a teacher. But this "moralistic teaching" that these people refer to when speaking of Jesus is NOT WHAT HE CLAIMED HIMSELF TO BE, but the ways of living that he practiced.

    Voted for by Frail Braid.
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  • Did he exist?

    As a member of another religion, we view the bible as corrupted (as were our holy texts over about 400 years). The existence of Jesus is dubious, at best, and may simply be a series of parables collect, as were aesop's stories and the grimm's fairy tales. This clearly explains how we can take say, the writers of the Bible (there were, what, about 40 of them? only one, luke, a gentile?) as great teachers and good story writers, but not necessarily as "saved by god".

    And furthermore, a lot of the guys who wrote the new testament were close associates, with the exception of John who wrote the book of Revelation (which has the second coolest apocalypse ever, after Islam).

    Voted for by bobrocks.
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  • stuck in between

    I believe that JC is the son of god and part of god. He was sent to be delivered by the virgin mary and preach to people and show them the way of god. He rose from the dead and preformed miracles. So in a way he IS god and THE SON OF god.

    Voted for by XBrittanyX.
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  • No

    Jesus was not god or son of god. He was simply a man who finally understood what god was and what we were suppose to live like. How do we know he claimed to be a son of god? Is anybody now alive from that time he did? If he did call himself that, he might have ment that all people are children of god.

    Voted for by CrazyRebel.
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  • Distorted Figure.

    Judaism was experiencing a turbulent upheval because many Jews felt the laws of Moses and the old belief system were out dated or not applicable to the times, and this was only backed by the fact that the Jews were under the hands of the Romans.

    While many people promoted violence or extreme rebellion, a number of Jews tried to reinvent or strengthen thier beliefs. Jesus was one such person. The Judaic idea of a Messiah--at the time--was more of a physical savior than a spiritual one. He would be born of the bloodline of David, and through his charisma and power he would prove himself to be the messiah--who, would deliver the Jews from thier enemy and reinstate thier country and holy city. The fact that many such people began to see Jesus as this Messiah isn't very surprising, since he could have been of 'royal' blood, was very charismatic, and opposed the Roman occupation. The distinction of Jesus as the Son of God and as a branch of the triune God came about by Paul. Paul was persecutor the early gentiles until one day when he claimed he had a blinding vision of God and converted. After that he devoted his life to what he believed as the one true faith, Christianity. It was Paul who claimed that Jesus was God, and the Son of God, and it was James--Jesus' brother--who claimed Jesus was a wise teacher and traditional Jew.

    Paul was a very determined and perhaps untrustworthy man who once said: "I am a Greek to the Greek, a Jew to the Jew, a Law-keeper to the law-keeper, and will do whatever I have to do to win." Upon those words, Paul built his religious sect and pushed against the rivaling faction lead by James.

    While Paul had never met Jesus people seemed to flock to his beliefs more readily than they did to James--who would have known Jesus very well. This is perhaps due to the fact that many Jews wanted a change in lifestyle and religion, and the faith that Paul offered them was more appealing than James' retelling of Jesus being a supporter of the 'old ways'.

    Because of Paul and his faction, all that we know of Jesus is distorted. The New Testament was written by and based on Paul's writings. The only glimses we see of the true Jesus are very brief, or in non-biblical text like the Dead Sea Scrolls. In truth, it seems much more likely that Jesus was not claiming to be God--but trying to revive Judaism and help push the Romans out of his land. He was a very religious and political figure, and this is what lead to his death, and since his death came without the liberation of the Jews from the Romans--the idea that he was the Davidic Messiah had basically fallen through. Therefor, Paul's vision of him as the Spiritual Messiah was the only other soultion for believers in Jesus. Either way, he was a very powerful and wise man who changed the face of the Earth from the moment of his birth to this day.

    Voted for by tieed.
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  • Yes

    Jesus was the son of God. I am the son of God. Jesus was my brother. Jesus was the bodily form of God. No one can be God because God does not exist in matter. Jesus came to realization. That was his suffering. Why would anyone want to lie about being the son of God? How could he relate to anyone?!? No one could possibly understand him. It was like Einstein when he first came out with his theory of relativity. Only a handful of billions of people could understand Einstein. Anyone else reading his new truth would translate it wrong for everybody else. Reaching a level of genius is a very unfortunate experience if you cannot share it. This was Jesus' suffering on the cross. Jesus was the loneliest man in the Universe. No one could possibly understand him. TO UNDERSTAND IS TO KNOW. Jesus walked on Earth with no one, not even his own apostles understanding who he was. They took it on faith, like you do. I do not take it on faith. I KNOW BECAUSE I AM.

    Voted for by david13.
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