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Evidence that Jesus was God's Son please?

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by ilive4him2, Mar 10, 2011.

  1. ilive4him2

    ilive4him2 New Member

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    I was reading an article that provided theories of a fake Resurrection. It really bothered me and unfortunately I found myself questioning it. This is somewhat of a religious emergency. Can someone help me to quit this questioning and remember the Truth?
     
  2. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    Questions: Why do you think the apostles were willing to give their lives for a dead imposter? Remember when Peter thought Jesus was dead, he said, "I'm going fishing." Why do you think he wanted to be crucified upside down (tradition says), if Jesus didn't rise from the dead?

    God help you in your search for truth.
     
  3. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    Why do you seek the Living among the dead? Belief in the Living Word of God is a matter of faith, not a laboratory experiment. You either believe Scripture (which includes the Ressurection) or you do not. Why would you question the validity of a Book Inspired by the Lord, yet you accept the claims of a history book written by man that says George Washington was the first President. How do you know that is true? Were you there?

    That is only a crude comparison, as the belief that Washington was our first President does not require any real Godly faith. To believe Scripture means that the Lord gave you the very faith to do so.

    Your testimony says you are a child of the Lord, and have that faith. Listen to the Lord, His Word, and ignore insane worldly man made theories. If they bother you that much, do not read them. Focusing on Jesus should solve any such doubts.
     
  4. David Lamb

    David Lamb Active Member

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    If He is not the Son of God, then He was either a deluded megalomaniac, or He told lies, because He claimed that relationship many times.

    If He is not the Son of God, He could not have done the things that He did - healing the sick with a word, raising the dead, rising from the dead Himself.

    And if He did not rise from the dead Himself, why did the chief priests bribe those guarding His tomb to say that the disciples came and took his body? Matthew 28.11-15:

    "Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure." So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

    Yes, Jesus is (not "was") the Son of God.
     
  5. blackbird

    blackbird Active Member

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    God gives me His word in Scripture that says that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead------------and by faith I believe that with all of my heart!!!

    Nothing else need come into play!!!
     
  6. HAMel

    HAMel Well-Known Member
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    "I serve a risen Saviour,
    He's in the world today;
    I know that He is living,
    Whatever men may say;
    I see His hand of mercy,
    I hear His voice of cheer,
    And just the time I need Him
    He's always near.
    "

    ...maintain the faith as of a little child turning to their parent for comfort.
     
  7. stilllearning

    stilllearning Active Member

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    Hello ilive4him2 and welcome

    The article you read, is a demonstration Satan’s attack upon the faith......
    1 Corinthians 15:14
    “And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain.”


    I learned long ago, not to even expose myself to articles like this, because it just opens the door for our faith to be attacked.

    The victory you are looking for(over these doubts), can be found by simply studying God’s Word.

    Don’t hesitate to ask for help again.
     
  8. freeatlast

    freeatlast New Member

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    You have the bible. Is not your faith based on the word of God? What does the bible says about Jesus and the resurrection? Believe what is written not what men say.
     
  9. Aaron

    Aaron Member
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    There are all kinds of evidence. I would refer you to Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. That's for the forensic evidence.

    Another good source for evidence is The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

    However, the best evidence is the witness of the Holy Spirit. You need to pray this through and ask for the faith, and for the facts to give an answer to those who ask a reason for the hope that is in you, and He will give it to you.
     
  10. glfredrick

    glfredrick New Member

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    This is an age-old tactic to discredit God and God's Word. The assumptions made are that the Bible is not trustworthy as a primary source document, and that there are inconsistencies in the story presented in the Bible that disqualify it as an accurate description of the events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Neither are true for multiple reasons.

    First, by what authority do we dismiss a book like the Bible as an original source document, viable to portray an accurate picture of historical events? Where else is this information recorded in like manner, and how sound is that evidence?

    Over 2000 years of church history, the history of Rome, the history of the Jews, etc., multiple documents have been produced that detail in some sense the actions that occurred in the 1st century in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

    These various extra-biblical sources are all in agreement with the primary source document, the Bible. THAT there was a man named Jesus who did what was recorded in the Scriptures is as sound a historical fact as any other event of history.

    THAT there was a crucifixion of that same man is likewise known and sound. THAT there was a resurrection from the dead is also known and sound.

    What is not known and is not sound are the alternative explanations, given after the fact (a posteriori) are based on prior to the fact (a priori) worldviews that say, "This simply cannot happen."

    There is no evidence that someone stole the body of Christ. The ones who would have been responsible for doing so all (with the exception of John, who was exiled) gave their lives and went to the grave proclaiming the truth of the resurrection of Christ.

    There is no evidence that someone lied about the resurrection. Why die for a lie? Again, some have died for lies, but they did not know they were lies. We see this often in history. But the men who died because of a resurrected Jesus were eye-witnesses and they had nothing at all to gain from their testimony. They did not become wealthy. They did not gain the sort of fame that one often desires from becoming a celebrity (their lives did not get easier after the fact!). They indeed did life "the cup" that Jesus promised that they would live.

    There is no evidence that Jesus did not actually die. The simple facts of the recorded trauma indicate that no human being could have lived through the ordeal. The Roman soldiers and the Jews alike were probably more familiar with dealing with dead persons than we are today. That was an everyday scenario for them in that age. Their job was to INSURE that Jesus was a corpse, and He was. Many medical practitioners have since testified, based on their reasoned and learned medical opinions, that the trauma handed out to Jesus would indeed have killed Him.

    Then, there is the level of testimony involved in the resurrection.

    First, are the radically changed lives of those persons most closely involved. The disciples of Christ went from a group of men and women cowering in an upper room, fearful of their next step, to boldly proclaiming the resurrection of Christ on the steps of the Temple in Jerusalem during a time shortly after the event when the city was yet full of visitors from Passover, who were themselves eye-witnesses to the events. That so many changed their lives meant that something they all knew about indeed happened.

    Second is the recording of whom it was that found the resurrected Christ on that Sunday morning. The Bible records that the WOMEN discovered the living Christ, not the men. One must grasp something of 1st century culture to understand the full significance of that happening, but women were considered non-persons, and for the biblical record to show beyond a doubt that women discovered the resurrected Christ before men gives the entire story an air of surety. No male writer, simply making up a grand narrative, would have even considered giving a woman that vital role. It simply was not done. That they had that role gives credence to the authenticity of the actual story of the resurrection.

    Third, as above, is that men and women were willing to die to speak the truth about this issue, and the life-changing power of the resurrection is still with us today. Lives are still changed, and the testimony continues unabated after almost 2000 years.

    With all these facts, testimonies, and witnesses, one should be able to walk with assurance in the issues of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but that does not nail down the "Son of God" issue. That is not more difficult at all, but in fact stems from the views presented above.

    First, Christ Himself proclaimed that He was the Son of God. He made statements that floored those who heard them, such as, "I AM" the name of God given to Moses by God, Himself. The Jews understood PERFECTLY that Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God -- that is EXACTLY why they called for His crucifixion!

    Second, the Romans didn't really care all that much about that aspect of Jesus life. In their pantheon of gods and goddesses, there were many "sons of god" and another one was of no consequence to them. Their proof, one way or the other, was to remove the "son of god" and see what happened. We all know how that ultimately turned out. Constantine became the first openly Christian Roman Emperor and the Roman Empire became Christian. That is a whole lotta proof...

    And, finally, Jesus DID what the Son of God was prophesied to do in the Old Testament. He was the "Lamb slain" of Passover. He was the "atonement offering" of the Feast of Atonement. He was the "second Adam" who came to this earth as a free man, able and capable of setting the captives to sin and the curse free. He was, in all things, the Son of God according to the Scriptures.

    But there is one additional issue that must be considered...

    Jesus is not truly the Son of God FOR YOU until you accept by faith that He is who He is. He is the Son of God -- TRUE -- whether or not anyone "accepts" or "believes" it, but He can only be effectual in your own life when you accept His divine and effectual call to become His. At that point, all the testimony and history aside, you apprehend the truth of Christ for yourself so that you may "know" that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that your salvation is sure.
     
  11. JesusFan

    JesusFan Well-Known Member

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    Please remember that nearly ALL of the earliest believers in jesus as being the Messiah, Son of God, were Jewish..

    raised to believe that the LORD is 1, and 1 GOD alone..

    despite that firm understanding of nature of GOD...

    The Apostles to jesus all taught and preached that he was Son of God, raised from the dead...

    jesus Himself claimed to be messiah, Son of God...

    And also the earliest "skeptics" to jesus wrote/recorded his claims to being God/Messiah, just refused to believe them...

    THE big event that PROVES Jesus is Son of God, GOD Himself is his physical resurrection from dead...
    ALL 12 Apostles support that event, 500 eyewitnesses saw Him later on, Apostle paul, even earliest jewish records testify that other believed his was rasied from dead, as did some Roman Historians..

    IF he was not risen, why would all Apostles suffer for what they knew was a lie?
    Why no one ever produced his dead body?
    Surely his enemies knew where he was buried, and could just go get the body?

    We have eyewitnesses, history recoding events and empty tomb...

    Think MUCH greater "faith" to believe he was not Son of God and risen than to have Faith that he was/is!
     
  12. Crucified in Christ

    Crucified in Christ New Member

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    Having read just this sort of material before, I believe the "alternative" resurrection theories require far more faith than the actual Biblical account. Far more capable writers than myself have taken these "theories" to task and shown them to be improbable (with probability being the argument these theories shoot for).

    Christ was the long-awaited Savior. His miracles verified that He was who He claimed to be. These miracles are recorded in a Book which has as much verification, in fact more verification, than any other source of antiquity. Christ died on the cross and almost all of the believers scattered...disillusioned. Something changed these men from running scared into knowingly running headlong into danger. That "something" was the resurrected Christ!

    Since the Gospel of Christ demonstrates the power of God, the changed lives of those who have experienced the new life offered by the Gospel is a great testimony to the authenticity of the Word of God. The changed lives of all of the Apostles, including Paul, demonstrates that they experienced something life-changing. We live in a world that would like to play it off as mass hysteria or something of that ilk, but I know that it was the power they saw demonstrated in the resurrected Christ.

    I am convinced by what is written in the Scriptures.

    I am convinced by the testimony of the ones who were there.

    I am convinced by the fact that they sealed their testimony with their own blood.

    I am convinced by the testimony of lives changed over the past two-thousand years.

    I am also convinced by personal experience. I have known God's magnificent grace; I am no longer who I once was. I know my Savior...in Him I place my faith.
     
  13. ilive4him2

    ilive4him2 New Member

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    I don't have the words to thank you all. You have all taken the time to do something incredible for me, and that is to help me take back my faith. What awesome people you are.

    I could cry right now. Thank you all so very much. You very well may have just saved me.
     
  14. Iconoclast

    Iconoclast Well-Known Member
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    God uses sheep to find and help other sheep.look here;
     
  15. pinoybaptist

    pinoybaptist Active Member
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    I had my doubts, too, in the past.
    But then I started thinking, wait a minute.
    If the resurrection was a fake, then surely, the soldiers guarding the tomb were in on it.
    First, the stone covering the mouth of the cave was of such a size that it will take a few men to move it, and it cannot be moved quietly.
    Second, it wasn't just moved away from the mouth of the cave so as to provide an opening for somebody to slip in and out. It was moved to a side.
    Third, how can Roman soldiers, disciplined as they are, connive with Jews ? One extremely despised the other, historically.
    If the resurrection was a fake, then Jesus must be a fake, too.
    But how do you fake one's birth's timing ?
    And how do you get Herod in on the scheme of things by making him decree that all male children 2 years and below be slain ?
    And how do you get a caravan of easterners stage a fake caravan to visit some kid in a manger ?
    When you consider what prophecies were involved and fulfilled and the events and personalities needed to have these prophecies fulfilled, you come away with a sense of pity and disgust.......for the nutheads who think up such poor excuses to discredit truth.....especially when you consider that many of these roach brains have walls at home covered with diplomas and other fancy paper stuff.
     
  16. glfredrick

    glfredrick New Member

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    I'd prefer that we give God the glory, but we are, combined, thankful that He is more than able!
     
  17. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    In addition, the 64 Roman soldiers on duty there testified that somebody stole the body while they were asleep. Does anyone want to accept the word of soldiers who were asleep?

    There were also death penalties for going to sleep on duty; breaking the seal on the tomb; allowing the seal to be broken; stealing a body; allowing a body to be stolen. None of these penalties were ever enforced against those soldiers.

    And, can we believe that somebody secretly stole the body of Jesus during Passover, when Jerusalem was crammed with people--and nobody saw it?

    Also, do we discount not only the testimony of the disciples, but also the witness of 500 others who saw him alive? Only if he never died, but went into a "swoon" as the Jehovah's Witnesses claim.
     
  18. Soulman

    Soulman New Member

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    You need to read the gospels my friend. Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: and trust by faith. Heb 11:1 ¶ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
     
  19. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    Sure, without faith it's impossible to please God. But God gave us a brain and the ability to reason, too. To rely on blind faith alone is ignore a wonderful gift God gave to us humans.
     
  20. Soulman

    Soulman New Member

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    :tonofbricks:

    Mt 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
    Mt 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
    Mt 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
    Mt 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
    Mt 26:63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
    Mt 27:40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
    Mt 27:43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
    Mt 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
    Mr 1:1 ¶ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
    Mr 3:11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
    Mr 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
    Lu 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
    Lu 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
    Lu 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
    Lu 4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
    Lu 4:41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. {to speak...: or, to say that they knew him to be Christ}
    Lu 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
    Lu 22:70 Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
    Joh 1:34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
    Joh 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
    Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
    Joh 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
    Joh 9:35 ¶ Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
    Joh 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
    Joh 11:4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
    Joh 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
    Joh 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
    Joh 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
    Ac 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
    Ac 9:20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
    Ro 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: {declared: Gr. determined}
    2Co 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
    Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
    Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: {in: or, into} {stature: or, age}
    Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
    Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
    Heb 7:3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. {without descent: Gr. without pedigree}
    Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
    1Jo 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
    1Jo 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
    1Jo 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
    1Jo 5:10 ¶ He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
    1Jo 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
    1Jo 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
    1Jo 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
    Re 2:18 ¶ And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
    (KJV)

    The bible says it and that should settle it for you!
     
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