Friday, January 22, 2010
The importance and relevance of Historical Jesus to the Divinity of Christ
As much as Christians concern, the center of Christianity is all about Jesus Christ who is recognized and accepted as the true Lord and Savior. The movement of the Historical Jesus has played a challenging role to the divinity of Jesus Christ. Instead of frightening and confusing about the divinity of Christ, it opens the windows for Christians to know Christ, the real God even more. It pioneers a way for us to openly recognize the importance of the historical facts and to partially perceive the historical evidences to prove the reality of the divine Jesus. This movement presents and allows us to be watchful of different aspects, and it also urges us to learn to discern the truth about who Christ is humanly and divinely with regards to the faith that is required.
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Hi Sophin,
ReplyDeleteJust a thought. If he movement for the Historical Jesus challenges the divinity of Christ, then, how would the movement urge us to discern the truth about who Christ is humanly and divinely when we totally cannot attest the divinity of Christ for as a fact written on the rock of history?
Hi Sophin,
ReplyDeleteYou said that, "Instead of frightening and confusing about the divinity of Christ, it opens the windows for Christians to know Christ, the real God even more."
well in response to this, it might have prompt some christians to firm up their faith in Christ as truly divine even more. But don't you think that the movement has also stumbled some christians and misled many other non-believers too?
Hi Bryan,
ReplyDeleteFor we believe Jesus is 100% man, and 100% God. Firstly, I would like to say that this movement urge us to discern the truth about who Christ is humanly due to the historical evidence that they found He was a real man who had lived here on earth. Without this challenging movement, as Christians, we sometimes don't really make an effort or pay attention to the work of find the proof to see whether He was historically real or not. Instead because of this movement, we are somehow able to logically know that He was historically real, not only depending on the evidences found in the Bible.
Secondly, saying that it urges us to discern the truth about who Christ is divinely has to do with faith. Yes, we cannot attest the divinity of Christ for as a fact written on the rock of history, but we are not to totally depend on history; faith is what matters here. Because we are living by faith, and this faith needs see what is beyond the sights. To me, this movement challenges to seek to come closer to God to know Him! It draws us back to the fact that, as far as I know, what is not seen, it does not mean that it is not real. What I can say here is all about "FAITH".
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that this movement helps Christians to know how real Christ is even more by referring to those Christians who truly seek to find out the truth of what they believe, by not just agree with what people say without any searches consciously and unconsciously. When one first believes, he is so excited and grateful to our God and he wants to know Him even more biblically and practically. Then comes the search to how real He is humanly and divinely, and it has to do with faith and reality.
Thus, your question draws my attention to critically look at the two-sided result of the Historical Jesus, the positive and negative. Positively it helps Christians to know Christ as truly divine even more in terms of faith. As far as I am concerned, I do believe that it has stumbled some Christians if they are just to believe how real the historical evidences they can get. In other words, some Christians would have been stumbled if they totally depend on historical evidences and put their faith aside at the corner. Faith of Christians is from first to last, no matter what challenges they face.
Regarding non-believers, I do believe that it has misled them. This movement will bring many of them to a point where they will keep questioning and wondering why we believe such a God. I would say that it troubles them and make them unwanted to come to know our God because, firstly, they believe in what they can see with their own eyes and what they have in hands. Secondly, they do not have faith like what Christians have in the Lord Jesus who we accept as a divine Christ. And positively, I somehow dare to say that because it has misled them, it will be a chance for us to help them know what the truth. Who knows that this incident will lead them to Christ? But for us we believe God can use a way that we might see as a struggle to draw them to Him.
I guess from historical movement, we will learn to appreciate the divinity of Jesus Christ more. Just would like to comment on this...This movement .....and it also urges us to learn to discern the truth about who Christ is humanly and divinely with regards to the faith that is required. -> To a human mind, how can Christ be human and remains divine at the same time, that's a mystery and that definitely requires some form of faith!
ReplyDeleteYes, Irene...
ReplyDeleteIt is not my human mind that we are openly able to understand everything,especially the divinity of Christ Jesus. Human is born with limitations...which means that he is allowed to do or understand some certain things, but not anything. I would say that talking about the "divinity" is about spiritual matter that one has to wrestle with.
And it is as what we, as Christians, know that faith plays an indispensable role that it has to crawl in. It is faith that works, at the end of the day! No matter how industrious a person tries to find out the truth of His divinity, if faith is put aside, it will not turn to be good or pleasing in the sight of the Lord. Just like the Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God,..." Hebrews 11:6
Fuiseh...your english is so powderfuls...hehehe. Good vocabulary, thinking & sharp argument points....where u cut & paste? hahaha..joking ;p Great job, Cambodia rocks...
ReplyDeleteHi Sophin,
ReplyDeleteHow can we be equipped to know the truth and the fake. A banker will need to know how a real dollar looks or feel. So likewise we must be knowledgeable in the bible to defend our belief against the forged Apocryphal Gospels (Thomas, Peter, Philip)used in the study of the historical Jesus by some.
hi Sophin,
ReplyDeleteYou speak of this 'movement'
I think the question was the relevance of the historical Jesus to the centrality of Christ divinity. It is not a movement at all. How can the historical Jesus relate to the divinity of Christ. The fact is that God choose a time in history inbreaking into that era to reveal Christ as both human and yet divine in his attributes. It is not just to prove his divinity as per se but it was time to fulfil both the prophecies and also to bring reconciliation between man and God himself through Christ. Jesus remain divine becasue of the full embodiedment of God's divine nature in him yet he is fully human like us yet without sin. He is God the Son.
Our job is not to prove that Jesus is divine, He is divine. Like the air we breathe, we do not try to prove if there is air in the room or not as we entered in it.
Why do we always think that as Christians we need to prove God or Christ's divine nature to others? The basic fact is that God is perfect and we are imperfect fallen human beings. To a lay man on the street, hei s not bothered about whether Jesus fully human and fully divine, but rather he is interested whether Jesus can be part of his life and his solution to his problems.