"Was Jesus the Son of God?"
Well, if you're asking and want a short answer, I'd say, "Let's have a cup of coffee...", but if you want the long answer, well, that's a little more complicated.
The reason for this is that if you're talking to a Christian person and you say anything that implies or gives any hint of doubt that you don't believe in the divine Jesus/God Son/Father relationship, you'll be discounted as a non-believer. I consider myself a believer and wouldn't want to give that impression ... so it's important to explain these things fully.
The question you asked is actually a dual-layer question:
- Is Jesus (the man) the son of God (the deity)?
- Was Jesus (the literary figure) the spokesman/carnation of god (the literary father)?
The reason I say this is that one can look at Christianity on either a literal level (there was a *real* man who held a *real* chalis, etc) in which everything in the Bible is an accurate historical account of real events ... or look at it more as one big parable through which meaning and guidance is given. I'm hesitant to say it because of the implications for people who believe in literal Christianity, but I feel that the later (as a parable) is a more advanced, intellectual, and productive way to view it. The difference is that if you follow Christianity literally, you search for answers to questions like, "What did Jesus say to Pontius Pilate?" instead of questions like, "Why would the writer include this utterance instead of something Jesus said at some other time?" Likewise, it's the difference between asking, "Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God?" and "Why does Jesus represent a father/son relationship with God?"
The point of all this is to give a reason why, if someone asks me if I believe Jesus is the son of God, I answer, "I don't think it really matters." The physical man named Jesus who died around 32AD may or man not have been God's son -- it doesn't really concern me. What *does* concern me is whether or not the Bible is divinely inspired. That is to say, do I believe that the Bible contains the thoughts of God penned through man's hands? The answer to that is, "Yes."
Which is what I find so great about the book. I think you can study the book and, if you're open to it, hear God's word ... but I also don't think the Bible has a monopoly on God's word. This is where spirituality comes in as a contrast with religion. People who are spiritual and seek out that meaning (I'll call it "meaning", but you can also call it "truth" or "understanding" or "peace") are searching for the same thing, I think -- it doesn't have to come from the Bible.
So do I believe that Jesus was God's son? Sure. But answering that question doesn't get me anywhere... I think it tends just to bog people down in arguing about, in my opinion, insignificant things. How much time has been wasted trying to find Noah's Ark? How much importance has been put on finding the Arc of the Covenant? How much arguing has gone into teaching evolution vs. creation? As far as I'm concerned, these are secondary topics, the outcome of any of them are significant -- to be sure -- but answering them doesn't lead to a fuller, more fulfilling and peaceful life.
Hopefully you see why I can't just answer a question like this one without discussing it. Things like this deserve to be an essay question... not a true/false one.
The reason for this is that if you're talking to a Christian person and you say anything that implies or gives any hint of doubt that you don't believe in the divine Jesus/God Son/Father relationship, you'll be discounted as a non-believer. I consider myself a believer and wouldn't want to give that impression ... so it's important to explain these things fully.
The question you asked is actually a dual-layer question:
- Is Jesus (the man) the son of God (the deity)?
- Was Jesus (the literary figure) the spokesman/carnation of god (the literary father)?
The reason I say this is that one can look at Christianity on either a literal level (there was a *real* man who held a *real* chalis, etc) in which everything in the Bible is an accurate historical account of real events ... or look at it more as one big parable through which meaning and guidance is given. I'm hesitant to say it because of the implications for people who believe in literal Christianity, but I feel that the later (as a parable) is a more advanced, intellectual, and productive way to view it. The difference is that if you follow Christianity literally, you search for answers to questions like, "What did Jesus say to Pontius Pilate?" instead of questions like, "Why would the writer include this utterance instead of something Jesus said at some other time?" Likewise, it's the difference between asking, "Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God?" and "Why does Jesus represent a father/son relationship with God?"
The point of all this is to give a reason why, if someone asks me if I believe Jesus is the son of God, I answer, "I don't think it really matters." The physical man named Jesus who died around 32AD may or man not have been God's son -- it doesn't really concern me. What *does* concern me is whether or not the Bible is divinely inspired. That is to say, do I believe that the Bible contains the thoughts of God penned through man's hands? The answer to that is, "Yes."
Which is what I find so great about the book. I think you can study the book and, if you're open to it, hear God's word ... but I also don't think the Bible has a monopoly on God's word. This is where spirituality comes in as a contrast with religion. People who are spiritual and seek out that meaning (I'll call it "meaning", but you can also call it "truth" or "understanding" or "peace") are searching for the same thing, I think -- it doesn't have to come from the Bible.
So do I believe that Jesus was God's son? Sure. But answering that question doesn't get me anywhere... I think it tends just to bog people down in arguing about, in my opinion, insignificant things. How much time has been wasted trying to find Noah's Ark? How much importance has been put on finding the Arc of the Covenant? How much arguing has gone into teaching evolution vs. creation? As far as I'm concerned, these are secondary topics, the outcome of any of them are significant -- to be sure -- but answering them doesn't lead to a fuller, more fulfilling and peaceful life.
Hopefully you see why I can't just answer a question like this one without discussing it. Things like this deserve to be an essay question... not a true/false one.
posted by Justin at 7:32 PM
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