Divinity of Christ is the foundation of Christianity

Dr. V.J.M. de Silva

This is with reference to the correspondence now going on in the Lounge page on ‘Jesus Christ through Islamic eyes’ and is part 2 of my article under the said headline.
The Divinity of Jesus - The divinity of Jesus was accepted from the very beginning of Christianity. All his disciples proclaimed it, and died as martyrs defending it - (except the Apostle John). The Church Fathers (Christian writers up to the 5th century) like Ignatius (AD 105), Justin Martyr (AD 160), Irenaeus (AD 180), Tertullian (AD 200) and Origen (AD 225) have written about the divinity of Christ. Some of them too, in turn died as martyrs. Thus Justin Martyr says, “For if you understand what was said by the prophets, you would not have denied that He was God, Son of the un-begotten, un-utterable God - (Dialogue with Trypho). Again Ignatius says, “God Himself was manifested in human flesh”
There is indeed evidence for the deity of Jesus - strong historical and cumulative evidence. Some of these are:-
n The claims he made for himself : bold, yet unassuming
n His incomparable character, for he was without sin and he practiced what he preached. I believe there is no dispute about that
n His birth from a Virgin, which AFD says is mentioned in the Koran.
n His resurrection, for which there is strong circumstantial evidence; especially the change in the disciples. Immediately after the crucifixion they were in hiding, but forty days later they came out and boldly bore witness to the resurrection and died as martyrs. This will be discussed in another article.
What Jesus said about himself - what Jesus did and said about himself, is to be found in the New Testament Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John). As John A.T. Robinson (author of Honest to God) observes (Redating the New Testament- 1976), the New Testament(N.T.) gospels must have been written prior to AD 70, which is the historically authenticated date of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is not mentioned in the N.T. as something that happened, but only as an event that will occur in the future. The entire NT was completed in the 1st century. Jesus’ claim for his divinity is mentioned in several places in the New Testament, (Mk 14: 61-64, Jn 5: 17, 18, Lk 22: 70, Math 25: 31-46 Math 9:6 are some). I will mention only a few.
n “Jesus answered, ‘I and my Father are one’. The Jews took up stones again to stone him.......For the good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10: 25-33)
n The most far-reaching claim he ever made was when he said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8: 58). It was a claim to have been existing eternally, before Abraham. ‘I AM’, is the divine name by which Jehovah had revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush.
Let’s consider first the evidence based upon Jesus’ own testimony concerning Himself in His trial in a human court.
The Trial of Jesus - The high priest asked Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said “I am. . .” . They then accused Him of blasphemy and condemned Him to be deserving of death. So, the alleged crime for which Jesus was tried and condemned was blasphemy - claiming supernatural powers - (Mark 14: 60-64). No other charge against Him could be maintained. As Frank Morrison, a lawyer and one time sceptic says in Who Moved the Stone, “Jesus of Nazareth was condemned to death, not upon the statements of His accusers, but upon an admission extorted from Him under oath”. Even though Jesus’ answers take a different form in the Synoptic Gospels, they are all equal in meaning - “Ye say that I am.” Regarding this Herschel Hobbs comments: “Therefore, He made them admit to His identity before they formally found Him guilty, deserving death. It was a clever strategy on Jesus’ part. He would die not merely on His own admission to deity but also upon theirs.” (An Exposition of the Gospel of Luke)
His accusers were made aware of His divinity. So, how can AFD or anyone else deny that Jesus Christ said He was the Son of God? The Jews, at the time of Jesus, didn’t have any concept of the Trinity. They only knew God the Father, not God the Son or God the Holy Spirit. To declare himself everywhere as God the Son would have been counter-productive to giving his message. He was careful about what He said in public. In private, with his disciples, when He was teaching them, it was different. So, in the final analysis, as Josh McDowell says in his book The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict - 1999, we are left with three alternatives - Liar, Lunatic or Lord.
Three Alternatives - If Jesus Christ did claim to be God, there are two alternatives. If His claims were true, He is Lord. You can either accept it or reject it.
If His claims were false, then as C.S.Lewis has said, he is either a Liar or a Lunatic. Someone who taught, lived and died as Jesus did, could not have been a Liar. As J.T.Fischer, a psychiatrist says, what Jesus taught was a blue-print for successful living, not what someone who is mentally deranged would say. No one who knows both the gospels and human nature can seriously entertain the possibility that Jesus was a liar or lunatic.
Jesus once asked His disciples, “But who do you say I am?” The reply that Peter gave, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” (Math 16:16) may not be acceptable to most people, but the question cannot be avoided.
I hope to discuss the Gospel of Barnabas and the Crucifixion, along with some specific issues raised by AFD, in another article.