Did Jesus Claim to be God?

Many people claim that Jesus never said he was God.  Christianity centers on the belief that Jesus is God and that his resurrection is proof of it.  Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity.  If Jesus is not God, there is no Christianity.

So where in the Bible can one go to see that Jesus claimed to be God?  Watch the following video and found out.

External Quotes #4

How can you trust that the Bible is the inspired word of God concerning Jesus Christ?  The New Testament is a collection of books and letters from people who all profess the same faith concerning who Jesus was.

The good news for us is that the accounts of the New Testament authors are verified by external sources from non-believers. 

An event that is recorded in Luke is that as Jesus hung on the cross dying, darkness covered the earth!  If this is true, then there must be others besides Luke who recorded this in history... and there are!

Thallus, a first-century historian, recorded this event and gave an explanation for the unexpected darkness.  His explanation is no longer preserved in copies of his own writings, but his writings are preserved through the citations of others.  Julius Africanus, around 221 AD wrote the following statement citing Thallus:

Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains this darkness as an eclipse of the sun - unreasonably as it seems to me (unreasonably, of course, because a solar eclipse could not have taken place at the time of the full moon, and it was the season of the Paschal full moon that Christ died). 

Julius Africanus also cites another non-believer, Phlegon, who records the exact same time of darkness mentioned in the Bible, however, he doesn't mention Jesus' crucifixion, and Phlegon also tries to dismiss the darkness by claiming it to be a full eclipse of the sun.  Julius quotes Phlegon as such:

Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth - manifestly that one of which we speak.

This darkness was even recorded as far away as China!!!

Recorded in the Record of Latter Han Dynasty, referring to the same eclipse, we have the following:

Summer, fourth month, on the day of Ren Wu, the imperial edict reads, "Yin and Yang have mistakenly switched, and the sun and moon were eclipsed.  The sins of all the people are now on one man.  The emperor proclaims pardon to all under heaven.

 From other quotes from this imperial record, we learn that the emperor was convicted of his sin, took responsibility for it proclaiming himself to be sinful [unheard of for a Chinese emperor to do this], and then even knew that the sins of the world had been laid on one man.  From the same record the following commentary is given, "Eclipse on the day of Gui Hai, Man from heaven died."

Clearly, an eclipse occurred on the same day that Jesus died.  The Bible's account has been verified from external sources.

Information for this blog was found in the following two books:

Contradict Bumpersticker

Alright, so one of the guys I setup shop at UCI with suggested this idea, making a "Contradict" label with religious symbols.  I think a better label can be made than this one, because the symbol for Buddhism and Hinduism are missing.  But this design is still good and it still gets the point across that these different religions and ideologies contradict.  

If the "Tolerance" and "Co-exists" stickers are actually being used by people to say that the religions and ideologies of the world do not contradict and that they are all equally valid and true, then those people obviously have not been tolerant enough to study what each religion actually teaches and proclaims, and the "Co-existers" are in fact being intolerant by reducing the diverse religions to something they are not.

Roman Catholic Catechism Quotes #1

I've pulled some quotes from the Catholic Church's Catechism found on the Vatican's site, www.vatican.va.

I've made some of the sections bold. 


The Relationship between Scripture and Sacred Tradition

80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."

82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."

83 Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.

85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ." This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.

87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me", The faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.

97 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God" (DV 10) in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches.

100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.

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In short, the Bible is not the Word of God according to Roman Catholic teachings.  The Word of God is the Bible and Sacred Tradition combined.  Tradition of course arises from sinful humanity and is therefore not infallible or inerrant.  Tradition also according to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church can be changed, modified, retained, or removed.  This would then mean that the Word of God is always in a state of movement - it is never fixed or unchangeable.  In fact, when one looks at the history of the Roman Catholic Church, there has been contradictions in the teachings from various popes in history.  

Finally, only the Pope and his Magisterium can properly interpret the Word of God according to Roman Catholic teachings.  This means that the faithful laity in the Church should always accept blindly, without any use of reason, what the Church teaches.  

Questions:  How does this make you feel?  What do you think when you hear these teachings from the Roman Catholic Church?  

Scripture alone should be the guiding principle of our theology and that the interpretation of the Bible is not limited to one, sinful man in the world.  We need to be like the Breans, who even though they were receiving instructions from Paul the apostle, would still check the Scriptures to verify that what Paul was teaching was in accord with the Word of God (that's Scripture alone, not Scripture + Tradition).

UCI Set-up #2

We went to UCI and setup a table again with coffee.  This time we didn't have the "Need Prayer?" and "Got Prayer?" signs.  We just asked people if they wanted some free coffee.  This was to experiment to see if more people would stop and talk or drink without the obvious intention of our table.  We also hoped that this would spark more conversation - not having any signs would spark the question,  "Why are you giving out free coffee?" or "So who are you with?"

Both of these questions are perfect lead-ins to share that we are Christians and that we are simply here to share God's love with the students at UCI through the simple act of providing some coffee to drink.  If you have questions about what we believe or why we believe you can ask away, or feel free to just get some coffee and go.  We still had the prayer box out and we received one prayer request slip.  

It seemed to work well.  I'll share more about some of the conversations we had.

A little late for Halloween

I can honestly say, I haven't seen any of these slasher movies.  I've missed most every scary, horror movie out there.  I did see The Blair Witch project at a dollar theater in high school, however.  I also saw The Fourth Kind, and I am a fan of the X-Files.  

I'm curious why horror movies are so popular?  What's the mass appeal?  It seems that many of them are being made in Hollywood, still, and that they're quite popular.  

I'm posing these questions to anyone who wants to comment on them, and I'm adding this questions too: "Are there any redeeming reasons for why a Christian might watch slasher films?" or "Should Christians not watch these movies at all?"  

Please, feel free to comment or email me your answers to these questions.  

Reformation Day - Oct. 31st

I am not sure who exactly wrote this, but I received it from our school's retired congregational pastor.  He might have wrote it.  I thought it'd be good to share at this time.  Knowing church history is of course part of apologetics. 

Reformation Day – October 31

Who are the Lutherans  -- FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE?

1)  Because we are Christians with a Lutheran heritage, it is important for us to understand the history, HIS-story, God's-story, behind the Reformation and the development of Lutheranism.

        a)Lutheranism is NOT a religion -- it is a brand of Christianity.  Even Christianity is NOT a religion if by "religion" we mean a set of rules or rituals we follow to get to Heaven.  Christianity is a relationship -- a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Lutheranism, therefore, is simply a description of this relationship with God we are offered through Jesus Christ.

        b)Why is our denomination called "Lutheran"?  Do we worship Martin Luther?  Absolutely not!  We worship Jesus Christ.  We are called "Lutherans" because a fellow named Martin Luther, back in the 1500s, made it very clear that, in every age and era of human history, we who love and worship Jesus Christ need to strip away empty traditions, human made rules, and false interpretations of Scripture in order to faithfully meet and walk with our Lord in a living day-to-day relationship which saves us and leads us into eternal life.

2)  Let me begin by giving a brief historical sketch of what led to the Reformation in the 1500s.  It all began with a person, named Martin Luther, who was born in 1483 to poor parents in Germany.  Martin Luther was raised in a very Christian home.  Martin Luther did well in school, completed college, went on to earn a Master's degree, and then began studying to be a lawyer.  One day, Martin Luther was caught in a terrible thunder storm.  A lightning bolt knocked him from his horse, and, from the ground, Martin Luther prayed that if the Lord would save him he would become a priest.  Martin Luther did survive the storm, and he kept his commitment; he enrolled in the seminary and became a priest.

        a)Luther was ordained into the priesthood in 1507.  Having grown up in a very Christian home, Martin was shocked at the moral and spiritual waywardness of the Church he served.  Martin had always been an over-achiever, so perhaps his expectations and efforts were much greater than other priests of his day.  Nevertheless, Luther was profoundly disappointed at the neglect of Scriptural truths known by and taught to the church.  Luther determined not to neglect the Holy Word, so he gave himself entirely to its study.  He also determined to live a holy life -- to do all he could to merit or earn or deserve forgiveness and favor from the Church.  The more Martin read, studied, and did penance, the more unworthy he felt, the more aware of his sins he became, and the more he realized that he could NEVER deserve the salvation he so desperately was trying to earn.

        b)Finally, his study of Scripture led him to a discovery!  And, it turned out to be no new discovery, just an uncovering of the plain simple truth that had been there all along, just covered over by the addition of human traditions and teachings of the centuries -- like coats and coats of paint over fine furniture. The plain simple truth of Scripture was made profoundly clear to him as God spoke to him through the book of Romans.  Luther read, "The righteous will live by faith" -- not by works, not by merit, not by doing what the church tells one to do -- but the "righteous will live by faith."  Luther read on in Romans 4:25, "Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins, and He was raised to life for our justification."

        c)Like a light finally being switched on, Luther's life was filled with joy and peace at this simple truth.  No longer did Luther pursue salvation, forgiveness and worth through his own efforts. Luther simply fell humbly in faith before the awesome love and mercy of God.  Martin Luther commented about this discovery, "At this realization, I felt myself to have been born again and to have entered paradise itself."

        d)Naturally, this affected Luther's life from that very moment.  He became even more ardent in his study of Scripture.  He saw to it that the Scriptures became available, no longer just to the priests in Latin, but to all people in their common languages.  Luther began questioning layer upon layer of the tradition which the Church had laid over the simple and glorious Word of God.  Traditions which were not contrary to Scripture he didn't touch, but traditions which were contrary to God's Word or traditions which placed unnecessary burdens upon people or acted as walls between them and the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, Martin publicly denounced. 

        e)On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 of such teachings or traditions on the front door of a church in Wittenberg.  This public stand taken by Martin Luther precipitated events which eventually led to reforms in the Church, a stripping away of many teachings and traditions which had been suffocating or hiding the simple story of God's love and way of salvation through Jesus Christ, and the birth of many denominations.  All the Protestant denominations (or brands) of Christianity owe Martin Luther thanks for being the one who first "protested" against the layer-upon-layer of misinterpretation, empty tradition, or human white-washing over the glorious Gospel -- the Gospel which simply needed telling in order for it to work its miracles and wonders.

3)  The rest is history.  Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.  Luther married, finding no Scriptural warrant for not marrying.  Luther taught, preached, proclaimed, and wrote boldly and prolifically for the rest of his life. 

        a)Luther really didn't discover anything new; he simply UNCOVERED the truth of Scripture which unBiblical traditions, regulations, and rituals and restrictions covered like coats of paint over an old piece of furniture.  In the long run, all of Christianity has benefited from Martin Luther.  Even the Catholic Church today appreciates the gift of Luther's emphasis on the centrality of Christ alone for salvation.

        b)Is the Reformation over?  No, it continues today and will continue until Christ comes again.  Every age, every human institution of the church, including your own church and our Crean Lutheran South High School, will struggle every day against the temptation to cover over, to complicate, and to add our own rules and regulations to the simple story of salvation offered to us through faith in Jesus Christ, Who died and rose for our forgiveness and salvation and Who comes to us today through the Holy Bible, Baptism and Holy Communion.

If you haven't seen this movie, you should! Roman Catholic, Lutheran, protestant, or not even a Christian; it still is good to see to witness a special time in history.  This movie was not cheaply made like many Christian movies tend to be.  It would serve great for a video to watch for a history class or bible class if you are a teacher looking for a video to share with your students.