Sunday, November 20, 2016

Week 11: Did Jesus Claim to be God?

This week we started a new series of conversations about Jesus. People make all kinds of assumptions and assertions about who Jesus is, so we want to take the time to get some clarity on the issue. We started by discussing the question, "Did Jesus claim to be God?"


Key Themes:
  • Setting the context: What are others saying about Jesus?
    • Bart Ehrman (liberal scholars' POV)
  • Summary: What Christians believe about Jesus 
    • Nicene Creed
  •  4 Arguments that Jesus Considered Himself to be God
    • Jesus equated Himself to be God.
    • Jesus made claims that the Jewish leaders considered blasphemous.
    • Jesus engaged in activities that only God can do.
    • The major controversy in the early church was that Jesus wasn't human.


Digging Deeper:
  • Book chapter: "Is Jesus a Man, Myth, Madman, Menace, Mystic, Martian or Messiah?" Without a Doubt, by Kenneth Samples