Introduction to Divinity

Introduction to Divinity

Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.

- 1 Corinthians 15:12-14 NASB

"The many instances of forged miracles, and prophecies...ought reasonably to begat a suspicion against all relations of this kind."

- David Hume

The deity of Christ, as proclaimed throughout the Bible, has technically already been established if one is in agreement with the first two portions of the line of reasoning shown above. Yet with all the conflicting interpretations stirred up about Jesus, two things need to be clarified.

1) We must know for certain that the Bible conclusively exalts Jesus as Almighty God, and...

2) We must know what it really means to believe in Jesus.

Just as there are always more wrong solutions to a problem than right ones, false and conflicting representations of Jesus are continually thrust upon us. There are countless people and organizations outside of mainline Christianity that say they, too, believe the Bible or "believe in Jesus". But if you were to inquire further, each would paint an altogether different picture of Christ than what has historically been recognized or justified by Scripture.

Many groups deny Jesus' unique and holy deity. Many groups emphasize their own publications to be even more authoritative than the Bible. Many groups simply market their own conception of Jesus as you would a new magazine subscription and claim theirs to be "new" and "more relevant". One local religious group even advertised itself in the newspaper with the incredulous slogan "Try our God".

To believe that the realities of life, including God, are only perceptions that can be molded like Play-doh is being dangerously forgetful of the mutually exclusive character of truth. Although most disagreement is directly attributable to either terrible logic or errant interpretation, our exploration of the Bible's believability will continue with the proper interpretation of the person and deity of Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus Christ is a well-documented historical figure, we cannot accept just any or every conclusion about his person and purpose, nor can we stop short of accurately defining the person and his work. It is not an option to vaguely hope that the living Jesus will be placated by our agreement that the Bible is generally true, and then walk off without considering the implications of what that would mean.

To really understand the same Jesus as the one the Bible is communicating, and to understand him in the manner intended, we must identify Jesus beyond a shadow of a doubt. For belief in the Bible is pointless if one, willfully or otherwise, misinterprets the Bible's most important point: that Jesus Christ is the fleshly incarnation of God whose death on the cross effected our salvation long promised throughout the Old Testament.

1.2 Where do we begin?

Is Jesus our judge? Is the Bible his moral constitution by which his judgment of us will be guided?

We will begin answering the question of Jesus by calling attention to the historical non-biblical material that exists about him. This is expectedly less complete in terms of his life, character, and surrounding events, but it puts to rest any notions that he may not have actually existed outside of certain people's minds.

Then we will turn our attention towards the content of the biblical writings. Beginning with the Old Testament, we will see if Jesus fulfills the prophecies of the Messiah (Christ in Greek) that God promised would come. Next, the New Testament will testify as to whether or not Jesus claimed to be that Messiah.

Last, we will look into the events and statements concerning his resurrection from the dead. Jesus' resurrection, above all else, is the greatest proof of his identity.

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NEXT: What do we know about Jesus - from non-biblical sources?

See also:

Do miracles really happen?

What is faith?