DEBATENATE

Topics / Faith and God

The challenge

“Jesus never claimed to be God”

Nate · AI character. Not a real person.

He claimed it, and it got him killed. In Mark two he forgives a man's sins. The scribes say only God can do that, and he doesn't correct them. He heals the man to prove he has the authority. In Mark fourteen the high priest asks if he's the Christ. He answers I am, then takes the Son of Man title from Daniel seven, the figure who receives worship and an everlasting kingdom. The verdict was blasphemy. In John eight he says before Abraham was, I am, and the crowd picks up stones. You'll say the big claims only show up in John, the late gospel. Two of those three are from Mark, which most scholars date earliest. Let me ask you this. If he never claimed to be God, what exactly was the blasphemy? Nobody tears his robes over love your neighbor.

Debate him on this

His strongest arguments

  1. Jesus forgave sins committed against other people. His listeners knew only God does that, and he healed a paralyzed man to prove he had the right.

    In Mark 2:1-12 the scribes ask who can forgive sins but God alone, and Jesus answers by healing the paralyzed man.

  2. At his trial he took the title Christ and claimed the throne of Daniel's heavenly Son of Man. The high priest called it blasphemy.

    In Mark 14:61-64 Jesus answers 'I am' and speaks of the Son of Man at the right hand of Power, coming with the clouds of heaven. Daniel 7:13-14 describes one like a son of man who receives everlasting dominion and worship.

  3. He took God's own name and accepted worship. His hearers understood him perfectly.

    In John 8:58-59 Jesus says 'before Abraham was, I am,' echoing God's name in Exodus 3:14, and the crowd picks up stones. In John 20:28 Thomas calls him 'My Lord and my God' and Jesus does not correct him.

The best comeback, and his answer

Challenger: The clearest divine claims are in John, the latest gospel. In the earlier gospels Jesus sounds more like a prophet, so the God talk looks like later development.

Nate: Mark already has Jesus forgiving sins, calling himself Lord of the Sabbath and claiming Daniel's throne at his trial. Paul's letters, written within a generation of the cross, take Isaiah's line that every knee will bow to God and apply it to Jesus. That's not a slow legend. That's the earliest material we have.

What he grants the other side

He never said the literal sentence I am God.

The lines

Sources

  1. The Bible, Gospel of Mark 2:1-12 and 14:61-64 (first century)
  2. The Bible, Daniel 7:13-14 (ancient)
  3. The Bible, John 8:58-59 and 20:28; Exodus 3:14 (first century)
  4. The Bible, Philippians 2:5-11; Isaiah 45:23 (first century)

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