How did Jesus become God?
11 May 2012 9 Comments
in Jesus Tags: Bible interpretation, christianity, doctrine, history, Jesus, New Testament
Bart Ehrman, a respected New Testament scholar who is not a christian, has recently written:
“Jesus is best understood as a Jewish apocalypticist from the backwaters of a rural part of the Roman empire, a Jewish preacher who got on the wrong side of the law and was executed for crimes against the state, how is it that within sixty years of his death his followers were saying that he was a divine being? And that within 150 years they were saying that he was the second member of the Trinity?”
What are christians to make of this?
Arguments against Jesus
22 Apr 2012 12 Comments
in Apologetics, Jesus Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Belief, christianity, history, Jesus, New Testament, religion
Continuing my discussion of common arguments used against christians.
This post: arguments that seek to undermine faith in Jesus by arguing that the gospels aren’t reliable as history, or that we can know little factual about Jesus, or that Jesus could not have been divine.
Son of God, son of man
05 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Jesus Tags: Belief, christianity, God, Jesus, New Testament
It is the Thursday night before Good Friday. I was at a Tenebrae service, where Mark 14:61-64 was read out:
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death.
Training disciples to stand
03 Feb 2012 5 Comments
in Making disciples Tags: Belief, christians, churches, making disciples
I have been looking at the problem of christians losing faith and turning away from following Jesus (see Making disciples is a new game these days, Why do some christians give up belief?, and Do christians believe for irrational reasons?).
So what should we do about it?
How do we help young christians to be prepared for attacks on their faith, to be able to grow through doubt and questioning, and after all, to stand (Ephesians 6:13)?
Why do some christians give up belief?
15 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in Making disciples Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Belief, christians, reason
We’re taking a look, over a few posts, in why it is getting harder to make disciples in the western world, and why more christians are dropping out.
This post looks at the many different reasons why christians stop believing, and is based my discussions with atheists on forums and blogs over the past six years, and on accounts people give of their own ‘deconversion’ on mainly atheist websites. (These are not too hard to find.)
Making disciples is a new game these days
12 Jan 2012 3 Comments
in Making disciples Tags: apologetics, behaviour, Belief, christians, God, Jesus, making disciples, reason
Jesus told his followers to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), and for two millennia they did just that, and now about a third of the world follows Jesus, nominally at least. But it’s getting much harder to make disciples in western societies these days, and it is becoming more common for apparently strong disciples to turn away from following Jesus.
I think this is a crucial matter, and I want to devote a number of posts to it. Today, I just want to scope the problem.
Resurrecting the trilemma
01 Jan 2012 5 Comments
in Jesus Tags: apologetics, christianity, God, Jesus, New Testament
In my last post (CS Lewis’ trilemma – not so effective now?), I discussed the much used argument, made famous by CS Lewis, that Jesus claimed to be divine, something a good and sane person would not do. Therefore Jesus must either have not been good, or not sane, or he was indeed divine.
The argument is now commonly met by the counter argument that Jesus never claimed to be divine, it was just something made up by his followers. Any attempt to use the New Testament to support the argument is met with scorn – why should we believe it?
But there is still a way to use the argument, we just have to be better prepared.
The Queen’s speech
26 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Good news Tags: christianity, Good news, Jesus, making disciples
Every year the Queen records a Christmas message for those of us in the British Commonwealth. I think the idea of a Queen and the Commonwealth are somewhat anachronistic and I usually don’t watch the Queen’s message when it comes on at the end of the ABC 7:00 pm Christmas Day TV News. But I saw it this year – and it was worth seeing.
Why did Jesus come to earth?
25 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Jesus Tags: Bible interpretation, christianity, doctrine, Good news, Jesus, mission, New Testament
Whatever christians disagree on, we all pretty much agree that Jesus’ life on earth was pivotal in world history. But what was the purpose of his life? On that, you’ll get some different answers.
Why believe in Jesus?
19 Aug 2011 2 Comments
in Why believe? Tags: apologetics, christianity, Jesus, reason
Christians want others to believe in Jesus, because we believe he is “the way, the truth and the life”. But why should they? Do we offer good reasons why we believe and why we think they should also?
Jesus in history
25 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Jesus Tags: apologetics, history, Jesus
Jesus is no longer a sacred subject in our culture. Scholars feel free to cast doubts on almost any aspect of his life and construct counter-hypotheses to explain his life. Internet ‘instant experts’ confidently state that he didn’t exist. Some christians are deeply disturbed by these claims and doubts. And we may all find it difficult to share our faith in Jesus when our friends may doubt the gospels contain any historical truth.
What can we say to all this?
Good news!
10 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Good news Tags: christianity, Jesus
A couple of post back, in Good news?, I reflected on how some aspects of the teaching and example of Jesus seemed to be missing from modern “gospel” presentations, and suggested “we could improve our presentation of the good news to be more positive, forward looking and reflecting ‘God’s favour’”.
I’ve now had a go at writing a summary that tries to be more faithful to Jesus’ message of the kingdom of God, although using modern language. Here it is …
Jesus and history
05 Jun 2011 2 Comments
This is the second in a series of posts on Jesus and history.
Not so many years ago, christians could talk about Jesus and quote the Bible as their authority, and it wasn’t much questioned. People may not have believed in Jesus or followed his teaching, but few doubted he lived and taught and died. But things have changed in a few decades.
Archaeology supports accuracy of John’s Gospel
03 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Jesus Tags: archaeology, history, Jesus
Archaeology can tell us a lot about the world of first century Palestine, where Jesus lived, and this is a great help in understanding the New Testament. But can it tell us much about one of the most basic questions of all: are the New Testament gospels accurate accounts of Jesus’ life, based on eyewitnesses?
Jesus and Islam
28 May 2011 Leave a Comment
Today the Sydney Morning Herald reported (in “He’s not the son of God, just the support act“) that a Sydney Islamic organisation, MyPeace was beginning a campaign “to educate non-Muslims about Islam”. The paper featured the slogan “Jesus: a prophet of Islam”, which will soon be seen on billboards and buses around Sydney. Other billboards will carry the messages ‘Holy Quran: the final testament’‘ and ‘Muhammad: mercy to mankind’.
Good news?
27 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Good news Tags: Good news, Jesus
Mark summarises Jesus’ initial teaching this way (Mark 1:14-15):
Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
The ‘good news’ or ‘gospel’ here clearly relates to the coming of the kingdom of God on earth, something that is much bigger than the individual. God is beginning to act in a new way to put things right, Jesus is saying, and this is good news if you are thinking rightly – and if you are not, you’d better re-think (‘re-pent’). Good news, especially for the poorest and the marginalised, those despised by the religious elite, because many who were last would be first, and many of the first would be last.
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