The Real Jesus

[jcr4runner]

At the end of the 19th century, a school of liberal theologians arose in Germany. They were called the higher critics. Their proclaimed goal was to isolate the “historical Jesus” from the “God-man” who has been worshipped and adored by the Church for two millennia.

The divinity of Jesus Christ was presumed to be a myth. His many miraculous works were deemed to be legend. The circumstances of His life, His teachings and works were brought into doubt. The effect of these apostates has grown to the current day as they have stripped layer upon layer from the Jesus of the Bible, until they now have a common man.

The claims of the higher critics are nothing new. In the first and second centuries, early Christians had to deal with ridicule and abuse from Jewish rabbis and intellectual skepticism from Greek scholars and philosophers.

Throughout the early centuries, bold apologists for the Christian faith, such as Irenaeus, Tertullian and Justin Martyr, wrote volumes of practical wisdom defending the Gospel from the attacks of pagan critics. Succeeding centuries gave the Church many other brilliant experts in apologetics. But once Christianity had taken hold of the western world, a new breed of skeptics arose out of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.

“Voltaire, the noted French infidel who died in 1778, said that in one hundred years from his time, Christianity would be swept from existence and passed into history. But what has happened? Voltaire has passed into history, while the circulation of the Bible continues to increase in almost all parts of the world, carrying blessing wherever it goes” -(Sidney Collett, All About the Bible).

“Only 50 years after Voltaire’s death, the Geneva Bible Society used his press and house to produce stacks of Bibles” (Geisler and Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible) — a great irony of history!

The early American patriot, Thomas Paine, published Age of Reason, a popular book ridiculing Christianity. Although Paine was a Deist and not an atheist, he popularized the theory that the books of the Bible, especially the Gospels, were full of contradictions. This view continues to be popular among scholars even to this day.

In the 1800s, rationalists such as Hermann Samuel Reimarus and David Strauss published sensational works denying the supernatural miracles of the Bible. The philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, who coined the phrase, “God is dead,” is said to have lost his faith around the time he was reading Strauss’s Life of Jesus Critically Examined.

Most recently there was the Jesus Seminar, a council of liberal theologians who meet twice a year in an attempt to debunk the accuracy of the Gospels. Many of their “discoveries” are simply repeats of what the liberal theologians of the 19th century said. Strangely, these opinions are rigidly held even though 20th century archaeology and textual criticism has refuted many of their claims.

The Jesus Seminar’s attempt to debunk the Gospels as invented history is not based on a thorough examination of the Bible’s manuscripts. Unbiased examinations reveal ample evidence that the Gospel accounts are, in fact, historically accurate. But these “experts” are undaunted by facts. Even today, the skeptics continue to spread the error of a “historical Jesus.”

[BibleProphecy]

The Lord God of Israel has VISITED (Lk.1:68 below).

In Jesus dwells ALL the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col.2:9 below) -

o God the Father
o The Holy Spirit of God the Father
o The Word of God the Father

The only begotten son of God the Father (Jn.1:14 below), Jesus (the Word made flesh which dwelt among us - Jn.1:1, Jn.1:14 below), His beloved Son (Matt.3:17 below), was conceived of the Holy Ghost (Matt.1:20 below).

It is God the Father who conceived within Mary (blessed among women) His very Word through His very Holy Spirit (Matt.1:20 below).


Col.2:9 For in him dwelleth ALL the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Jn.1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, (Matt.1:20, Matt.3:17 below)) full of grace and truth.

Jn.1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Re.1:6, Lk.1:47 below).

Re.1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God (Jn.1:1 above) AND his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Lk.1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour (Jn.1:14, Jn.1:1, Re.1:6 above).

Lk.1:68 Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel; for he hath VISITED and redeemed his people,

Matt.3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son (Matt.1:20 below), in whom I am well pleased.

Matt.1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost (Jn.1:14, Matt.3:17 above).



Patricia (©) Bible Prophecy on the Web
Author of the self-study aid, The Book of Revelation Explained © 1982

[pinki]

I know the real Jesus.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
The Nicene Creed summarizes what most Christians know to be true about him.
We believe (I believe) in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. (God of God) light of light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose Kingdom there shall be no end. And (I believe) in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who together with the Father and the Son is to be adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess (I confess) one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for (I look for) the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

________________________
schoolies
spiritual awakening

[jcr4runner]

The aim of the Jesus Seminar wasn't to debunk the gospels but to determine which of Jesus' sayings were genuine. I think the result was about 18% of the sayings attributed to Jesus were actually spoken by Jesus (assuming he existed of course).

Well, all credentialed historians agree He existed. There is no scholarly debate over that. However, if you think getting a group of liberal scholars in a room and "voting" on the "true sayings of Jesus" with colored marbles is good scholarship, then I have no argument beyond that.

[marcb]

jc I'm an agnostic but even I agree with you that Jesus did exist. The bigger debate is if he was some form of divine being or merely a man. It is difficult for any of us to be certain and that is why "faith" has to exist.

[Sugar70]

Everyone of us has an individual beliefs, if Jesus is real and existing!
As of me, if you accept Jesus as your personal savior then you will believe that Jesus is existing!

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