Originally posted by Arun V:
you are dodging the point...in christianity god is viewed as one in three father SON, and holy spirit. So if the son is part of the trinity...and jesus says I and my father am one.....
He's not dodging the point, he is correctly evaluating Jesus' statement in the context of when Jesus said it, why, and to who, rather than simplistically isolating one phrase and basing an entire doctrine on it.
One of the most popular beliefs held in alot of Christian faiths, but not all, is that Jesus is God. Notably, the bible itself does not teach this doctrine, Jesus himself *never* claimed to be God, and it wasn't even introduced into the church as a concept until around 4 C.E., long after Christ had risen. There are two passages that hard core Trinity believers will refer you to (the rest are just following whatever their preacher told them), and you have referred to one already. The Jews thought that Jesus' claim to be the son of God with the weight of Divine Messenger was sheer blasphemy. Similar to how a ruler of a nation may look with disbelief at a messenger from a ruler of another nation. So Jesus, the messenger, God's Son, basically said 'lookit, you see/hear me, you see/hear God'...its funny because after he said this, they rushed him and wanted to kill him, saying, 'a-ha! This man claims to be God!' to which Jesus said 'hey, you said it, not me'...Im paraphrasing here but I think you get the point...
The other passage is John 1:1, which, it has been proven, was mistranslated in earlier editions of the Bible (ie King James version)to read 'and the Word (Jesus) was God'. More careful scrutiny of the original manuscripts lead many bible scholars to conclude that an accurate rendering of the original text into English would result in the passage reading "...and the Word was <b>a</b> god"
Again, I want to note that apart from that one passage mentioned earlier, nowhere did Jesus claim he was God, instead always referred to Him as His father, his creator, his superior. I have often challenged pastors to point me to the passage where I can find the popular phrase 'God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit', but so far not one can..because it doesn't exist.
Not every Christian believes that Jesus is God Himself, or part of a triune deity. Interestingly, the concept of a triune god is actually a derivative of 'pagan' teachings with origins in the kingdom of Babylon. The rest of the bible is full of passages where God demands exclusive devotion and worship to Him, and Him only.
I don't believe in Christ as God, but that in no way diminishes my belief and faith in Jesus as our redeeming saviour, God's Son, and the rightful heir to God's throne, upon which the bible promises Jesus will rule as king.
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"...well the God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister!"
BTBS, Rattle and Hum