|
|
 |
Samuel Lambert
wrote:
|
|
Hi, guys —
- How do you know for certain that Jesus is the Son of God and not just another prophet?
Samuel
|
| {
How do you know for certain that Jesus is the Son of God and not just another good prophet? }
|
|
Mike replied:
|
Hi Sam,
We know He is the Son of God because, unlike any other prophet, Jesus rose from the dead and, before His Ascension into Heaven, established His Church (Matthew 16:13-[18]-19) on St. Peter and his successors. This Church of His, (the Catholic Church), to date, has lasted over 1,982 years from 33 A.D. to the time I am replying to you: 2016 A.D.
No prophet in history has ever done this including Muhammad.
My colleagues may be able to provide more to what I have said.
Mike
|
John replied:
|
Sam,
Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and is indeed God. Therefore if he is not, he can't simply be a prophet or good teacher, because no sane person
would make that claim. That said, there are three choices. Either Jesus is:
- Evil
- Insane, or
- exactly who he says He is.
Jesus'[s] claim to be the only Son of God is either true or false. If it is false, He either knew the claim was false (He was a liar) or He did not know that it was false (he was a lunatic).
As C.S. Lewis said, He was either a:
- Liar
- Lunatic, or
- the Lord
Quoting him:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say.
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher.
He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
C.S. Lewis |
The witness of history of those who died under torture because they claimed to be the risen Christ is overwhelming. Getting people to die for what they believe to be the truth is indeed difficult but nearly impossible if they know it's a lie.
John
|
|
|
|
