LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST:

FACT OR FICTION?

A RESEARCH PAPER

SUBMITTED TO:

DR. FRED SMITH

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE

APOL 500 INTRODUCTION TO APOLOGETICS

L B T S

BY

CHARLES KOOMSON

LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA

ii

NOVEMBER 30, 2012.

TABLE CONTENT

INTRODUCTION....................................................1

Relevance Of The Study..........................................2

Methodology.....................................................3

Literature Review...............................................3

BIBLICAL EVIDENCES FOR THE DEITY OF CHRIST

Evidence From His Preexistence..................................4

Evidence From His Virgin Birth..................................6

Evidence From His Sinless Life..................................9

Evidence From His Claims And The Testimonies Of Others........…11

Evidence From His Miracles.................................... 15

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………….16

BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………….18

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INTRODUCTION

In the introductory pages of his book, the Apologetics of

Jesus, Norman Geisler provides an etymological explanation of the

term apologetics. He wrote, “Apologetics comes from the Greek

word apologia which means a defense.”1 One of the ways for the

believer to successfully defend the Christian faith is to

understand and know who the object of his faith really is. As

Henry Moris, a notable apologist of the twenty first century

observes, “it is essential that the believer understands

thoroughly the nature of Jesus Christ and the basis for his

certainty that Christ is indeed God himself.”2 Although some may

attempt to use the term apologetics in a wrong manner to mean a

1 Norman L. Geisler, The Apologetics of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2007), 11.

2 Henry M.Moris, Many Infallible Proofs: Practical and Useful Evidences of Christianity (SanDiego, CA: C.L.P. Publishers, 1982), 54.

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biased and belligerent advocacy of an indefensible position, the

idea of presenting a credible apology for a legitimate position

or view point cannot be overlooked.

According to Douglas Gruthuis, “the frequent questions

people ask over the years are whether or not the Christian

beliefs are true and rational? Does the claims of Christianity

merit acceptance and worth living for? The answers to these

questions are the results of the discipline of Christian

apologetics.”3 Sometime in doing apologetics, there is the

tendency to opt for the option of half truths or even

intimidation for the purpose of winning argument. This ought not

to be so in life of Christian. Christian apologetics ought to be

a reasonable defense of the Christian worldview as impartially

true, rationally convincing and dispassionately appealing.

Among several issues that raise a huge controversy in the

second and third century Christianity was the deity of Jesus

Christ. Of the contrary explanations and objections to the

Christian beliefs, none seemed as dangerous, or near success as

was Arianism and Gnosticism. One of the cardinal Christian

3 Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 23.

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beliefs that the movements sought to attack was Christ’s deity.4

A fact which almost any person will agree today is that many have

different views about the issue of Jesus’ deity. To most Jews of

his time, who hold to a monotheistic view of God (Deuteronomy 6:

4), their core problem was how can a carpenter’s son become God.

To the natural man (1Corinthians 2:14) it was difficult to accept

such a timely truth of Christ’s deity. Even Jesus’ own brothers

could not believe his divinity (John 7: 5). The Bible invites

both critics and all stakeholders to examine the truthfulness of

Jesus’ divinity and to conclude it reliability.

Despite the objections of critics, the Bible makes it clear

that Jesus is a divine person. It provides numerous evidences for

the deity of Jesus Christ. The task of this paper is to trace and

defend the deity of Jesus Christ from the biblical point of view.

Relevance Of The Study

The focus of this paper is to explicate and defend the deity

of the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to have a proper comprehension

of the subject, the paper attempts to bring out major passages of

4 Justo Gonzalez, The History of Christianity (NY: Harper One, 2010), 73, 74.

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the Bible that emphasizes the divinity of Jesus Christ. This will

lead to some shared judgment s of other seasoned biblical

scholars on the topic. This paper is significant in the sense

that it will contribute to the understanding and defending of

Christ’s divinity, so as to encourage others to investigate

further into the topic.

Methodology

For the sake of time the paper does not include field work,

such as engaging authorities on the topic for interviews. Because

of the nature of the topic, the paper has the Bible as its basic

source. It also employs the reviews scholarly books on the topic

under consideration.

Literature Review

Some of both old and recent publications which have been

found to be significant to this paper comprise:

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Norman L. Geisler, the Apologetics of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Baker Books, 2009. Geisler in this book takes an unshakeable

stand to defend the deity of Jesus Christ. In chapter two he

asserted “anyone who claims to be God in human flesh needs to

offer sufficient validations if he expects people to believe him.

And this is exactly what Jesus does.” Again, Erickson J. Millard,

the Word Became Flesh. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1991. He

noted that there are corroborating circumstantial evidences that

Jesus was sinless and conscious of that fact. Also, Douglas

Groothuie provides the nature of Christian apologetics. He

writes, Christian apologetics is rational defense of the

Christian worldview as objectively true, rationally compelling

and existentially or subjectively engaging. Groothuis, Douglas,

Christian Apologetics. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academics, 2011.

Another astounding book is Protestant Christian Evidences. Chicago: Moody

Press, 1967. In this book, Bernard Ramm argued, “Whereas other

miracles which the Messiah performed were for others or about

himself, the resurrection was a miracle of his person.” Many

other notable works were given much attention in this paper.

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BIBLICAL EVIDENCES FOR THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST

The Bible is not just record of religious believes. It also

provides an accurate historical record. If people believe it as

such, then its witness to the deity of Christ should also be

accorded with similar acceptance. From Genesis to Revelation, is

it full of events and issues that support Christ’s deity.

Evidence From His Preexistence

A major problem in formulating the doctrine of the Trinity

during the early church era in relation to the Old Testament

monotheistic belief was the deity of Christ.5 Like the Jews how

could the church recognize the belief that God is one and at the

same time acknowledge the deity of Christ? Christ was varyingly

depicted as the mind of God-an impersonal logos that became

personal at the incarnation. Others pictured Him as eternal with

the Father yet subordinate to the father.6 Enns noted that the

Trinitarian controversy for instance was also an Christological 5 Henry Bettenson, and Christ Maunder, Documents of the Christian Church (NY:

Oxford University Press, 2011), 95.

6 Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), 446.

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controversy because the decision involved not only the humanity

of Christ, but also his deity.7 Despite these controversies the

deity of Christ stands out with clarity. His preexistence attests

to this fact. The Bible contains proven records on his

preexistence. No natural man has ever preexisted, except the

divine person – Jesus Christ.

The book of Genesis, just as its name reflects is placed at

the very onset of the Old Testament. It begins with the

statement, “in the beginning God ...” Like the book of Genesis,

John also in his incomparable introduction to his Gospel,

asserts, “in the beginning was the word and the word was God. He

was with God in the beginning…” (1: 1, 2). He moves back to the

beginning and begun his proposition for the eternal preexistence

of Jesus Christ as the indispensable foundation for his belief in

Christ’s divinity. Enns in his bestselling book, Moody Handbook

of Theology intimated, “The eternality and deity of Christ are

inseparably linked together. Those who deny His eternality also

deny this deity. If the deity of Christ is established, there is

no problem in accepting His eternality.”8 Enns’ assertion is very7 Ibid., 449.

8 Ibid., 228.

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relevant in that it takes the one who is eternal to preexist. In

the light of John’s statement, it is evident that it was as a

result of this that Jesus’ life did not begin at his conception

and birth. He was the living word who was eternally with the

Father. This is the reason why John designated him as the

manifester of God in the flesh, the originator of all things, and

also the light and the giver of life to the world. According to

Samuel Wheeler Pratt, what he was and said and did was divine,

and declared deity. He could not claim this without pre-existence

and eternal divine being.9

John’s assignment of preexistence to the Lord Jesus Christ has a

direct bearing on the prophecy of Micah. “ But you, Bethlehem

Ephrata, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of

you will come for me a ruler over Israel, whose origins are from

of old, from ancient times”(5:2). This witness of Micah stresses

that his origins are from of old, from the days of eternity. Even

though Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Micah’s testimony indicates

that place was not where he originated; He existed from the days

of eternity”. From a lay man’s point of view, the term

9 Wheeler S. Pratt, the Deity of Jesus Christ According to the Gospel (Philadelphia, PA: the Sunday Times School Company, 1907), 38.

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preexistence suggests Christ existed prior to his coming into the

world through normal human birth. To this Jesus could testify, in

John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, l am. This leads to the main

reason why the Jews sought to kill him. They gathered from his

statement that he was claiming deity. The apostle Paul also

affirms the proof of Christ’s pre-existence when he wrote, “He is

before all things (1 Colossians 1:17). The Bible’s term,

“eternality,” means Jesus Christ is not limited by time, but that

he has no beginning or end.10 It was in line with this reason

that the author of the book of Hebrews also testified in Chapter

13:8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever.”

Furthermore, in order to make Christ eternality absolute, he

added, “…. Your years will never end (Hebrews1:12b). The author

was admitting Christ’s preexistence passionately. These unanimous

records of Christ’s preexistence validate his deity.

Evidence From His Virgin Birth

When Larry King, the seasoned CNN talk show host was once

asked who he would most want to interview if he were given the

10 Elmer Towns, Theology for Today (Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2008), 138.

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opportunity to choose any one from all the great men from

history, he answered, “Jesus Christ”. The interviewer said, “And

what would you like to ask him?” “l would like to ask him if he

was indeed virgin-born.” The answer to that question would define

history for me,”11 His answer clearly suggests he does not

believe the virgin birth. King, like other critics have doubted

the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Many believe the idea of the

virgin birth is not only a myth but also scientifically

impossible. Others also claim it cannot be verified historically.

One thing is certain, from the Scriptural point of view, the

virgin birth was a supernatural act, and it has no human

contribution. If such an important spiritual truth is to be

verified, it is the authority of the Scriptures that need to be

consulted and not man. There were witnesses at the time this

event took place. Luke in investigative account of Jesus’ life

wrote, “And the angel answered, ’the Holy Spirit will come upon

you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the

Holy one to be born will be called the Son of God‘” (Luke 1:35).

One thing is worth noting from this point, if men believe that

11 Larry King, Cited from Just Thinking, RZIM, winter 1998. by christianAnswers.net

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there is God, and that the world was created by Him, then it is

rational to believe that that same God who created the world can

cause the virgin birth. Luke took time to investigate all

accounts of Jesus and certified that they were true before

writing it down According to Unger, in Hebrew the word virgin is

denoted by two words;

(1) Bethulah, the proper meaning denotes a virgin maiden(Genesis 24:16; Leviticus 21:13; Deuteronomy 22:14, 23, 28; Judges 11:37; 1Kings 1:2). And Joel 1:8 is not an exception because here it refers to the loss of one betrothed, not married. (2) Almah (veiled); A young woman of marriageable age. This word is used in Isaiah 7:14. The Holy Spirit through Isaiah did not used Bethulah, because both the ideas of virginity and marriageable age had to be combined in one word to meet the immediate historical situation and the prophetic aspect centering in a virgin born Messiah.12

In the Greek, ‘’virgin’’ is denoted by the word parthenos; a

virgin, marriageable maiden, or young married woman, pure virgin

(Matthew 1:23; 25:1, 7, 11; Luke 1: 27; Acts 21:9; 1Corinthians

7:25, 28, 33; 2 Corinthians 11:2).13 To Towns, the idea of the

virgin birth is not a fiction or a recent invention of man.14

12 Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1987), 1159.

13 Ibid., 1159.

14 Towns, i85.

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When he was commenting on the prophecies relating to the virgin

birth (Gen.3:15), he noted. ‘’When God introduces a theological

subject in scripture, usually he speaks embrayonically (called

the Law of First reference). This means that the doctrine is

there in seed form.’’15 Towns’ assertion is very constructive in

that when God was announcing the anticipation of redemption to

Adam and Eve and the entire human race, the ramification of the

virgin birth was included. The virgin birth marks Jesus as

divine, and was a crucial part of the message of the gospel

writers.

The Gospel of Matthew positions the location of the birth of

Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea. The author writes, ‘’After Jesus was

born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod…‘’

(2:1). Matthew named his birth place and the King who was ruling

at that time. This record sets Jesus straightforwardly in

history. For this reason no honest person will ever argue that

the story of the virgin birth was concocted. Chapter 1:18-25 and

Luke 1:26-38 announced that Jesus was conceived apart from the

mediation of a human father, the Spirit of God overshadowed Mary,

15 Ibid., 186.

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his mother. Indeed, it is this divine act and the supernatural

human origin that sets Jesus apart from all others.16 The

virginal birth is an important issue of Jesus’ uniqueness that

must be conserved. Groothuis agreed with the virgin birth when he

further posited,

Jesus’ unique origin brackets him off from all other human nature. His human genesis is not primarily natural but supernatural. Not initiated by humanity, but by God. From conception, Jesus is a one-of-a-kind gift from God. Mary becomes the vessel for divine service and cries out in praise, ‘My Soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant’ (Luke1: 46-48).17

The virgin birth indicates the singularity of Jesus Christ

among all men. Another amazing event that occurred prior to the

birth of Jesus was the angelic appearance to Joseph in a dream.

The angel told him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary… because what

is conceived in her womb is from the Holy Spirit. She will give

birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save

his people from their sins’’ Mathew 1: 20-21). Also, some

shepherds who were tending sheep around Bethlehem received an

angelic visitation with the good news of the birth of Christ, the16 Douglas Groothuis, Jesus in an Age of Controversy (Ugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock

Publication, 2002), 217.

17 Ibid., 217.

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Lord. (Luke 2:10-18). This is very significant, a real proof of

the uniqueness of Christ. It has never occurred to anyone in the

history of man.

Evidence From His Sinlessness

The apologetic implications of Jesus’ sinless life are

apparent. No one has ever lived without sin. It is only Jesus who

lived without the taint of sin. Geisler writes, “No other human

has ever accomplished this in the history of mankind; even the

most holy mortals have faults.”18 Christ’s sinless character

seats him in a unique class from all others. This is a fact which

can only be said of God. When Christ met with the Jews, he

compared himself with the one who utters from his own selfish

ambition to acquire approbation, by indicating that “He who seeks

the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is

nothing false about him” (John 7:18). He then questioned them,

“can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” (John 8:46). No one was

18 Geisler, 164.

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able to point even an iota of fault about him. Jesus, thus sets

the stage to altercate his sinless life to all.

Numerous passages in the New Testament witness to his

exceptional sinless life. Both his enemies and his friends made

various remarkable defense of his blameless character. In Luke

chapter 23:4, Pontius Pilate declared, “I find no basis for a

charge against this man” (Jesus). The Roman Soldier in charge of

his crucifixion gave an unflinching testimony about him. He

declared “surely this was a righteous man” (Luke 23: 47). In the

same chapter, one of the criminals who were crucified close to

Jesus exclaimed, “This man has done nothing wrong!”, and

proceeded to plead with Jesus, “remember me when you come into

your kingdom” (vs. 42). Even criminals recognize his sinless life

and kingdom. The life of Jesus was in itself a graphic

attestation to who he was, These witnesses of Jesus’

unimpeachable life demonstrates that he is divine.

John the apostle outlines a telling affirmation about Jesus’

sinless life. He identifies him as a man “full of grace and

truth” (john 1:14), “Jesus Christ, the righteous one” (John 2:1),

“one in whom there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). The apostle was so

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convinced beyond any reasonable doubt when he wrote diffidently

to the early church on the deity of Jesus:

That which was from the beginning which we have heard, whichwe have seen with our eyes which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim, concerning the word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ (1John 1-4).

To the apostle John, the basis of fellowship with Jesus

stems from the acknowledgement of his uniqueness. His witness is

very crucial because he was a firsthand witness to the divine

personality of Jesus.

Wayne Grudem provides an insightful exposition of Christ’s

sinless life by noting that, “if we understand light to represent

both truthfulness and moral purity, then Jesus is here claiming

to be the source of truth and the source of moral purity and

holiness in the world – an astounding claim, and one that could

only be made by someone who was free from sin.”19 Grudem’s

analysis is important because not even one of the Jewish

religious authorities dared to challenge Jesus on his sinless

19 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 535.

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claim. The writer of the book of Hebrews stated categorically

that Jesus Christ was tempted but continuously stood on his

grounds and did not sin: “…one who in every respect has been

tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4: 15). In chapter

7: 26 he declared succinctly, “for it was indeed fitting that we

have such a high priest, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated

from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” The apostle

Peter also took his stand to defend the sinlessness of Christ. He

disclosed, “He committed no sin, neither was any deceit found in

his mouth” (1 Peter 2: 22). No sincere person can say, then, that

the sinlessness of Christ is not spelt out clearly in all the

main sections of the Bible. Even Satan cannot deny it. For when

he himself attempted to persuade Jesus with full force in order

to lure him into sin, Satan could not withstand his moral

stability (Luke 4: 3-13), even though Christ had fasted for forty

days and was very hungry.

Evidence From His Claims And The Testimonies Of Others

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C. S. Lewis wrote, “this man we are talking about either was

(and is) just what he said or a lunatic, or something worse.”20

The evidence for the uniqueness and supremacy of Jesus is common

to all. “Almost everyone who has heard of Jesus has developed an

opinion about Him. That is to be expected, for He is not only the

most famous person in world history, but also the most

controversial,21 Tim Lahaye opined. There are numerous evidences

that single out Jesus from all other religious figures. One of

these is his claims. Jesus claimed he has angels, authority to

forgive sin, and authority over God’s Word. In summing up the

claims of Christ, Moris wrote, “The sinless life he lived, the

mighty miracles he performed, and the gracious words he spoke,

all providing a matchless setting for the unparalleled claims he

made.”22 Once again, the authors of scripture entreat everyone to

appraise the claims of this divine person to see if they are true

or not.

20` C. S. Lewis. Mere Christianity (New York: HarperSaintFrancisco, 2001), 53.

21 Tim Lahaye, Cited from Josh McDowell, the New Evidence that demands a Verdict (Nashville, Dallas: Thomas Nelson, 1999)138.

22 Henry, Moris, M., 64.

xxi

His claim of divinity has attracted a heated controversy

from ages. Some critics contend that Jesus never made any claim

of deity himself. Others also are of the view that all that Jesus

concern himself about in the course of his preaching was to

declare the Father and not himself. The scripture is the right

voice to face these contentions. Though specific voice such as I

am God may not have appeared directly in his vocabulary, the

Bible records much of his utterances and actions which only God

could make. One of such utterances was his promise to “send his

Angels to gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law

breakers” (Mat 13:41). A critical reading of the Bible reveals

that angels are referred to as belonging to God, or angles of God

(Luke 12: 8, 9; 15:10), yet Jesus could say “his angels.” Another

significant example was his claim to have a kingdom (John 18: 36)

which is often referred to as the kingdom of God or kingdom of

heaven. It is in this vein that Erickson noted, “We find

claims that will be inappropriate if made by someone who is less

than God.”23

23 Erickson, 701.

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Jesus also claims certain prerogatives belonging to God

only. He claims to have power to forgive sin. This was a very

serious issue to the Jews. When the four friends of the paralytic

brought him to Jesus, he said “Son your sins are forgiven” (Mark

2:5). This word brought him into dispute with the scribes and the

Pharisees. It can be deduced from their attitude the meaning they

append to Jesus’ comments. They concluded he was blaspheming and

complained, “why does this fellow talk like that,” he is

blaspheming, who can forgive sin but God alone” (Mark 2:7). The

implication of Jesus’ attitude was that he was acting in place of

God.24 Robert Stein affirms that “the reaction of the scribes was

an indication that they understood as the exercising of a divine

prerogative, the power to forgive sin.”25 It can be observed that

Jesus did not make any attempt to explain or rebuke the Scribes

for their ill perception of him, but instead responded

informatively, “Which is easier to say to the paralyzed man your

sins are forgiven, or to say get up take your mat and walk” He

then added an explicit statement, “But I want you to know that 24 Ernst, Fuchs, Cited from Millard J. Erickson, the Word Became Flesh

(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991), 439.

25 Robert H. Stein, the Method of Jesus’ Teaching (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978), 114.

xxiii

the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sin, so he said

to the man ‘get up take your mat and go home.’ He got up took his

mat and walked in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and

they praised God saying “we have never seen anything like this”

(Mark 2:9-11). This was a direct admittance of divine prerogative

by Jesus. The people testified that this was beyond normal. It is

God alone who can demonstrate such authority.

The Bible writers wrote extensively about Jesus’ claims.

John’s Gospel is especially rich with such claims. From the

Gospel of John, Erickosn catalogs Jesus claims that accentuate

his uniqueness:

(1)I am the bread of life” (John 6:48) and “I am the living bread that came down from heaven”. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which l will give for the life of the world” (john 6:51). (2) “I am the light of the world whosoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12) (3) “I am the gate” ” (John 10:7, 9) (4) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep “I am the gate” (John10:11). (5) “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). (6) “I am the way the truth and the life” (John 14: 6). (7) “I am the true vine” (John 15:1,5).26

26 Erickson, 27 – 29.

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By this analysis it becomes clear that Jesus was canvassing

himself as the source of life and at the same time underlining

the importance of remaining in him. It takes one who is God to

make such affirmations. Also, from his beatitude sermon on the

mount, Matthews’s Gospel (5: 18 – 44) records eight incredible

injunctions which Jesus made to affirm his authority over matters

relating to God’s Word. “I say unto you, till heaven and earth

pass away…” (vs.18). “For I say unto you that unless your

righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and the

Pharisees…” (vs. 20). “But I say unto you that whoever is angry

with his brother…” (Vs, 22). Assuredly I say unto you…” (vs. 26).

“But I say unto you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her

has already committed adultery” (vs. 28). “But I say unto you, do

not swear at all” (vs. 34). “But I tell you not to resist an evil

person” (vs. 38). “But I say to you, love your enemies…” (vs.

44). It takes one who is God to make such authoritative

pronouncements. He handled the Scriptures as his own. That is the

God who gave the inspired Word. Ernst Kasemann noted, “the sense

of personal authority evidently felt and displayed by Jesus is

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seen especially in his Ego de Logo (“but I say”) statements.”27 To

him these statements are among the most astounding words in the

Scriptures.

John accounts that when John the Baptist appeared in the

region around the Jordan preaching repentance for the remission

of sins (Matthew 3:2), he drew the attention of the crowd to one

who was coming after him (Jesus). The next day when he saw Jesus

coming toward him, straightaway he introduced him, “Look, the

Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

John the Baptist was able to recognize him because the Holy

Spirit gave him the indication (vs. 32-34). Following John the

Baptist’s witness came a spectacular heavenly declaration: “And

at that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God

descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from

heaven said, “This is my son, whom l love; with him l am well

pleased” (Matthew 3:16). This heavenly witness of Jesus’

uniqueness was repeated at the mount of transfiguration (Matthew

17:1-5), this time with a command to listen to him. These divine

affirmations single him out as a deity.

27 Ernst Kasemann, the Problem of the Historical Jesus (Nashville, IL: Allenson, 1964), 37.

xxvi

Paul the apostle also emphasizes the uniqueness and the

supremacy of Jesus when he was writing to his spiritual son,

Timothy. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and

men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all

people…” (I Timothy 2: 5, 6). In explaining the act of Kenosis to

the Philippian church, Paul noted, “Who being in the very nature

God, did not consider equally with God something to be used to

his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the

very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”

(Philippians 2:6-8). Almost all the writers of the New Testament

gave some witness about the deity of Jesus. They were rational

men who lived and reasoned. They observed and investigated

everything about Jesus before making their conclusions. This

makes their report significant in affirming the deity of Jesus

Christ.

Evidence From His Miracles

Being a miracle himself, it would be the greatest miracle of

all miracles if he did not work a miracle,28 Horace Bushnell

28 Horace Bushnell, the character of Jesus: Forbidding His Possible Classification with Men (NY: Chautaugua, 1888), 74.

xxvii

asserted. In line with those definite attestations of Jesus’

deity in the various passages of the Bible, there are other

evidences of his life that give information of his divinity. One

of this is his demonstration of omnipotence. The term means God’s

ability to do all things.29 John was the first to record

Christ’s first miraculous work at a wedding ceremony in Cana of

Galilee. There He turned water into wine (John 2:11). Grudem

presents an astounding objection to critics who deny this miracle

by contending that it has nothing to do with Christ’s divinity.

He iterated, “But the contextual explanations of this events

often points not to what they demonstrates about the power of the

Holy Spirit, but to what they demonstrates about Jesus

himself.”30 He continues, “for instance, after Jesus turned the

water into wine, John tells us, ‘this, the first of his

miraculous signs Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his

glory and his disciples believe in him’ (John 2:11), it was not

the glory of the holy spirit that was manifested but the glory of

Jesus himself, as his divine power to change water into wine.”31

29 Ibid., 302.

30 Grudem, 547.

31 Ibid., 547.

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Grudem’s assessment is unique, in that on another occasion when

Jesus had calmed the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee, his

disciples did not recognize it as the power of the Holy Spirit

operating through Jesus. Their reaction in Matthew 8:27 reveal it

was the power of Jesus himself which was at work. This could be

no one but the power of the Most High God himself.

In John 10:38 the apostle writes as he quoted Jesus, “even

though you don’t believe me, believe the miracles, that you may

know and understand that the father is in me, and I in the

father.” According to Paul Enns, the miracles that Jesus

performed were attestations to his deity and messiahship. He

performs the works of God in their mist and when the miracle are

studied this truth become evident.32

CONCLUSION

The arguments for the deity of Jesus Christ provided in this

paper are not absolute. There are others that can be added.

Nonetheless, the few provided so far are significant. This paper

does not just use the Bible to prove the deity of Jesus Christ,

32Enns, 242.

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it also contend that the evidences given so far are all

historically traceable. For instance, the Gospel of Luke is one

of the historical documents that authenticate the various claims

and witnesses to the events and actions of Christ validating his

deity as set forth in this paper.

The entire New Testament reveals how He was accosted not

only as an extraordinary teacher, but also a miracle working man,

full of power. It is incredible how in the New Testament four

Gospel accounts tie unswervingly and report on the deity of

Christ. Jesus’ preexistence, virgin birth, sinlessness, claims,

and miracles distinguish him from all other people and validate

his deity. Groothuis made a remarkable observation of Jesus’

entry into the world: “He entered the world supernaturally,

accredited himself with unparalleled signs and wonders, possessed

an impeccable character, made claims only befitting God himself,

and died with the purpose of redeeming humanity. The best account

of the historical facts is that he was who he said he was. If

this is so, we should respond to him on his terms.”33 When the

Pharisees disputed that he was not from God, the rest of the

33 Groothuis, 503.

xxx

people said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such things?”

(John 9: 16). Except one deliberately refused to accept and

believe, there are no grounds for not accepting the truth of his

deity. His divinity was not hidden. Peter said, “Fellow

Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man

accredited by God to you by miracles, signs and wonders…as you

yourselves know” (Acts 2: 22). His entire life was God’s medium

of communicating to the world of his deity.

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