The Divinity of Jesus Christ, In Scripture and in his own words.

33 Replies to “The Divinity of Jesus Christ, In Scripture and in his own words.”

1. If I may be so bold as to make a few more inclusions;
   You indicate that He said He was eternal upon saying that before Abraham was, Also, “I am” in Exodus 3:14 was indicated as a name of God when He said, “I am has sent me to you.’ ”
   Then in Mark 10:17&18 – and again in Luke 18:18&19 – He is addressed as “Good Teacher” and responds with a statement that only God is good. Some take this as a statement that He is not God and, so it may appear if one would be willing to leap to an erroneous conclusion by using insufficient data instead of admitting to the possibility of having insufficient data and, therefore, looking at the response in an inductive way – as well as the (potentially) oversimplistic deductive way.
   An example could well be if I were to say that people call me a, and address me as, taxi driver but; how could that be so because a taxi driver in the province in which I live must have a physician certified driver medical, a higher rated driver licence than a commuter needs, a criminal record check and; in the city in which I live; must also have proof of having passed a criminal record check? And, after all that have employment driving a licenced taxi.
   Then, I could answer my own question by pointing out that I do, indeed have all this things, and worked today – 5 November 2013 transporting people and some of their posessions – helping several with their mobility assisting devices – etc.
   So; we could see that Christ not only used the ruler’s simple question to assert that He and the Father (with the Spirit) are One but, subjectively included the query since, so called “good teachers” guide their students to knowledge with thought provoking questions … rather than give them facts which they may learn from or just memorize to pass tests.
   A Good and Perfect Teacher indeed.

   1. I agree with you. Jesus never claimed to be God. He did and said things that would lead us to believe and understand that He is God.

   2. This theological question… the fact that doctrinal error was being taught at the seminary is only a small problem within the Catholic church, and this has been going on for years. In the 1960s many of my friends attended Catholic schools. The Nuns in grade school taught then that the entire Bible was true. These young minds trusted their teachers. Then in High School the Priests and brothers taught them the first eleven chapters were myths etc. My friends became confused, and hurt… cause Nuns don’t lie, but they did! If the eleven chapters are myths what about the more than 20 books in the Bible which treat these stories as historic events? Now you have a major problem, for now even the prophets and Jesus himself were deceived. Then the church further corrupts truth by introducing traditions which aren’t seen in scripture and in some cases undermine the Word. Jesus told the religious leaders in his day, not to do this, but the church did not listen. Now we watch the church being “downside” throughout the world… small wonder.

2. You are no shrinking violet, Monsignor! I’m glad you challenged your professors and researched the truth for yourself.

3. Msgr. Pope, thank-you for your excellent article. This simple but direct teaching about Jesus and who He is would make an excellent RCIA teaching tool or even homily.

4. Thanks again Msgr. While I was teaching the “Liturgical Year” to my 4th grade students I found out that they did not know that Jesus was born in a stable. OYE! They were pretty bored with the Liturgical Year but very interested in the nativity story. The Gosple is compelling. Now I have to figure out how to teach what I am supposed to teach (from the Sadlier “We Believe” book) while also teaching the Gosple. Thanks for the apologist tools!

   Gabriel: don’t forget the rest of that quote in Ephesians:
   [28] So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself. [29] For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church: [30] Because we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Douay translation)
   Make sure that you love your wife in the same way that you love yourself (which includes listening to her). We are Catholic – not the Taliban.

   1. Almost regret not saving GABRIEL’s comment. True he did mention only the first part but; how can adding only the second of three complete the context?
      31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[c] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. NIV
      Saint Paul sums up with a reminder of the woman being created as a helper as mentioned in Genesis 2:20 and not just having the part about coming one flesh later in the Genesis chapter in verse 24.
      I don’t see how the, fairly recent, Taliban doctrine can be used to substitute the old and ageless of the Book of Genesis.

      1. I use the Taliban as an example of what happens when a doctrine is taken out of context. As far as I know there is nothing in the Koran which would justify the treatment that women suffer at the hands of the misogynistic Taliban.
         It is my experience that many Christian men use that first part of the quote in Ephesians to “lord it over” a wife. Kind of like a “my way or the highway” deal. If you are loving your wife as you love your own body this would not be the attitude that a man would have towards his spouse! I agree that there ought to be a hierachy in a family and if there is a point of dispute, then someone would have to have the last word…okay, the husband then! It has never come to this in my 15 year marriage. My husband trusts me to make most of the decisions, we tend to think very much alike AND we repect each other. We are adults.
         The hierachy exists in the Church as well. Jesus gave the “keys of the kingdom” to Peter and his successors (the Popes). So even if I disagreed with the Pope, I would still need to be obedient to him.
         So St. Paul seems to be establishing a hierachy within the family which is needed if things are to run peacefully. Family administration if you will….

5. This is a wonderful piece, Monsignor. I agree with Anne Marie – this is an excellent teaching tool.

6. Sorry that this is not relevant to your excellent article but it is relevant to today’s readings at Mass. You seem to have a rival in the art of alliteration. I discovered an article on the internet today. It includes this bit.
   The structure of our text can be summarized in this way:
   (1) Verse 25—The Setting
   (2) Verses 26-27—The Demands of Discipleship
   (3) Verses 28-32—The Decision of Discipleship
   (4) Verses 33-35—The Distinctive Nature of Disciples
   It is written by someone called Bob Deffinbaugh. Perhaps he should change his first name to David.

7. That idea was, surely, a product of the unhappy hermeneutics of seeking the “historical Jesus” as distinct to the “Jesus of the faith”, an approach which Pope Benedict XVI deplored so much. Thankfully, such frameworks of reading the faith are being been abandoned in recent years.

8. This post does a good job of setting out the Biblical basis for the divinity of Christ.

   The problem is that there are many other Biblical passages that can be cited that appear to suggest that Christ is less than divine and that He is inferior to God the Father. I am not saying that these passages trump the ones that Monsignor has cited. I am merely saying that making one’s point by quoting scripture is problematic because both sides can cite many passages to support their different viewpoints. This devolves into a Biblical quotation game that no one can win.

   Surely a better approach at justifying the divinity of Christ would be to emphasize the fact that the Holy Spirit guides the Church and that Church authority is therefore the ultimate arbiter in these matters rather than reliance on passages in scripture. After all, Augustine himself said that he would not believe the Gospels if the truth of the Gospels was not supported by the authority of the Church.

   1. Did you notice I quoted from the Council?? Further, I would argue that you live in rarefied air and that in this current Century, as opposed to the 5th Century, say, Scripture necessarily carries important weight. I have here quoted not just a few verses, but rather, assembled a vast body of evidence that your “battle of the quotes” concern could not sustain. .

   2. 1 Timothy 3:15
      “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

      I used to be baffled by the passages you refer to until I read Chapter 11, of Book I, of On the Trinity, by St. Augustine.–available for free on-line. Those passages you refer to can be used to argue that the Catholic Church gives the only reasonable account of all that Jesus says about Himself.

      Also, an argument can be made that the bible itself demands a Church with teaching authority. For example, the above quote from Timothy and that, though the bible doesn’t lend itself to misinterpretation, it doesn’t resist when some knucklehead feels compelled to do so.

9. Let me toot you’re own horn: Dude, you’re way awwwwwseome, bro! This is a godsend, my brother. There are so many in this day age-and I speak of Catholics!-who do not believe Jesus is God; sad and very disturbing, to say the least. And if they do not believe that Jesus is God then why would they even believe the Eucharist as His real presence? It’s no wonder that so many no longer attend Mass. I wonder if a survey should be done on the entire Catholic population in the USA asking just two simple questions: Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity incarnated as a man? 2) Do you go Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation? It would be interesting to see if there’s any connection between the two. Bet your bottom two cents there is! I’m not sure what’s it going to take to get them back home but there without a doubt a great apostasy taking place before our eyes. Makes me wonder if the BVM was hinting at this at Fatima in some form or another? May I use this wonderful post for preaching and teaching? They would do well to make you a bishop someday, or at the very least the head of the New Evangelization in the country! Keep up the good, holy work!

10. This is a keeper, Monsignor. I saved it. Thank you for your fine effort in putting these citations together and passing them along to your readers.

11. Great clip! How much more powerful—and frightening—to see it enacted without an edit. Terrific reminder that those words are there for a puporse.

12. My question is why were these heretic professors allowed to be teaching at all in the seminary.? Seems like this is a major problem of heretic’s teaching our youth in what is suppose to be a true Catholic environment at grade, and high school as well as at the college level. Seems like secular colleges are safer for our youth then so called Catholic colleges. And the Jesuit colleges seem to be the worst of the so called free thinkers.

13. For those of us who already believe in the Deposit of Faith what Monsignor has penned is truth. For many others….. I have seen movies,heard statements in which “Jesus” was used as a swear word.
    I was taught by my Catechist long ago that “Jesus”, “Jesus,Mary and Joseph” are prayers(ejaculations he called them).
    For example those creatures who designed and put out the Matrix trilogy of movies may have read the Bible. Their intention was to seek fresh ideas for their movies. Are they Christians? I doubt. Does the output of the Magisterium pop up on thier conscious screens(=affect thier next action)?
    For many persons the very teaching of the divine is irrelevant(think the gospel of prosperity or the gospel that Jesus is a champion of the poor and hence every rich person or corporation is a sinner and must apologize for being rich by giving away wealth).
    Am I judging someone? Maybe. Do we have friends. Yes. The very act of choosing a friend is passing judgement. Accepting the truth the Monsignor has stated is a choice and a judgement.

14. “He accepts religious veneration by allowing the veneration of falling to the feet: this is due to God alone (Mt 15:25; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 28:9,17)”–This is strengthened by:

    Revelation 19:9-10: “9 And now the angel said to me, Write thus: Blessed are those who are bidden to the Lamb’s wedding-feast. All this is true, he said; it is God’s own utterance. 10 Thereupon I fell at his feet, to worship him. But he said, Never that; keep thy worship for God; I am only thy fellow servant, one of those brethren of thine who hold fast the truth concerning Jesus.”

    and

    Revelation 5:7-8: “7 He now came, and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne, 8 and when he disclosed it,[1] the four living figures and the twenty-four elders fell down in the Lamb’s presence.”

    Also, in the Gospel of John, Jesus says that He has the power to raise Himself from the dead and that He will raise Himself from the dead.

    John 10:17-18: “17 This my Father loves in me, that I am laying down my life, to take it up again afterwards. 18 Nobody can rob me of it; I lay it down of my own accord. I am free to lay it down, free to take it up again; that is the charge which my Father has given me.”

    John 2:19-21: 19 Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.[4] 20 At which the Jews said, This temple took forty-six years to build; wilt thou raise it up in three days? 21 But the temple he was speaking of was his own body[;] . . .”

    Then, He did raise Himself from the dead (all four Gospels).

    Great quote from the Athanasian Creed.

    Thanks for this excellent post.

15. I had an argument with a priest about Jesus and his divinity.
    He was sticking to St. Paul’s words that when he became man he “emptied himself” of his divinity and became as we are.
    This argument went on for a while with the priest claiming that my argument was with St. Paul and not with him.
    My response was to ask the priest where he got his authority from to hear confessions and to forgive sins, since if his authority came simply from Jesus as a man, then he had no authority at all, and his forgiveness of people’s sins was simply bogus.
    That shut him up.

16. This morning’s reading from Luke’s Gospel includes the statement that a man must love Jesus more than any other persons, even wife & family. Of course, if your spouse or other relatives are an occasion of sin for you, and their behavior (if that’s the cause) will not change, then you need to avoid them.
    The actual reading IMHO is a bit fuzzy, as one of the languages (Aramaic? or Greek?) apparently has no word for “prefer”, thus the overstatement “hate” is used.
    TeaPot562

17. I am busy reading a book written by Msgr. George Agius. It is from 1928. It is the only book ever written in the English language on the subject. This much I know I will come away from his book knowing.

    It is clear to the Apostles that Jesus is the The Christ. It is clear to the Apostles that The Christ is God Himself. It is clear that the Apostles ensured that Christian Orthodoxy was sent forth because they were sent forth. It is clear that the Church ensured that Christian Orthodoxy was recorded

18. Great post, Monsignor!

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20. What is the name of this movie above, I would love to see it? Someone please let me know the name or series so I can watch it , thanks

    1. The Gospel of John. U can get it at amazon

21. Thank you Msgr., when I looked it up in Amazon, I saw a few other movies. How are they as far as going along with the bible and being accurate. Thanks and God bless you.

    1. I am not sure what other movies you mean. But as for The Gospel of John, it is an exact reading of the text with no variations. I think they are using the New English Bible Translation, a favorite of Fulton Sheen.

22. I may sound like a heretic but I don not believe there is anything in Msgr’s list of references that clearly supports the allegation that Jesus and God the Father are one and the same person….

    1. No one claims this. The Father and Son and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons of the Trinity. I deleted the rest of your comment, because this blog does not exist to promote specious and or dubious interpretations of scripture, not in accord with the sacred magisterium of the Church which clearly proclaims that Christ is divine rooting this teaching both in sacred Scripture, and Tradition. The Biblical evidence I presented here, is an overwhelming testimony of many many verses which demonstrate comprehensively that Jesus Christ is divine, That he is God the Son.

       The two most notable instances where Jesus claims to be divine, to be God are:

       Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I AM,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy!” (Mk 14:61-64)

       Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. (Jn 8:58)

       Again, the evidence I have presented is overwhelming and your stance against Jesus’ claim of divinity and the veracity of this dogma appear to be a form of stubbornness of which I can only warn you (and others who have written contrary to this teaching) in the very words of Jesus:

       Jesus said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I have told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (Jn 8:23-24)

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24. excellent defense of Jesus Christ Divinity……the single most important truth concerning our salvation.
    He puts the perfect face on the God we cannot see….to know what God’s like we do not look at a priest,
    bishop, cardinal or the pope….we stare right into the words and life of God’s only Son. The cloud that
    came upon the mountain that day had a VERY SIMPLE message….”this is My Son…listen to Him”

    “Daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ”…the
    Catholic Church needs to return to that simple beginning. Its not about rules, traditions or rituals….
    its about devotion to a person….The Lord Jesus Christ…..to receive His salvation and forgiveness!!!!!

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