eBook Jesus: God, Ghost, or Guru? (Christian free university curriculum) ePub

Coauthor John Buell has also written Darwinism: Science or Philosophy?, and O. Quentin Hyder has also written The Christian's handbook of psychiatry,Don't blame the Devil,The Whole book of health, etc.

The authors explained in the "Book Abstract" of this 1978 book, "A widespread debate over the past century has focused on the identity of Jesus. Was the assertion of his deity superimposed upon him by others or was it his own self-representation? Several lines of inquiry revealing that he personally claimed deity are explored. Based on this knowledge, an examination is made of three possible explantions for Jesus' assertion: 1) he was deliberately misrepresenting his identity, 2) he was sincere but deluded, and 3) he was sincere and correct." (Pg. 9)

They observe, "Today tens of millions of Christians take part in communion services---picturing the internalizing of that revelation. Why? All because Jesus instructed his followers to use this simple ceremony to aid in REMEMBERING HIM (Lk 22:19). Jesus made the most spectacular claims of any serious teacher of humanity. Without parade or fanfare, and yet forthrightly, he claimed to be God." (Pg. 19)

Citing proclamations of "Hosanna!" to Jesus, they note, "Does Jesus take their cries as worship?... Does he hush the children? Doe he recoil in horror at the sight of people worshipping a mere man?... Jesus is not only acknowledging their enthusiasm as praise, but he is justifying that praise on the basis of a psalm ... that proclaims that God had prepared it for Himself." (Pg. 24-25)

They state about Mark 14:61, "Caiaphas is not asking Jesus if he claims deity. He is asking, rather, if Jesus claims to be the Messiah. But Jesus gives Caiaphas all he can wish for and more. In Jesus' answer, he bring together the two concepts of messiahship and deity, and, under oath, lays claim to both... Surely Jesus realizes that his audience... will interpret his words in the full sense of their theophanic meaning. It is a deliberate claim to deity, and, if not quite what Caiaphas has expected, an even greater blasphemy to his ears." (Pg. 34)

They summarize, "Paul, writing within thirty years of the events themselves, confidently challenged his readers to check with any eyewitnesses if they wanted to confirm the truthfulness of his message (1 Cor 15:5)! Yet none of these factors ever moved a single eyewitness to break silence and offer a rebuttal. The fact that Jesus claimed deity is without a challenge in the first-century historical records. It seems most unreasonable to ignore this silence." (Pg. 74)

This book will be of keen interest to students of apologetics---particularly those focusing on Jesus himself.

I found this book to be the most concise, intelligent and straightforward treatment of the historicity of Christ & the Bible and what that means to us. The approach spelled out in the abstract at the beginning. Basically, it shows historically that Jesus claimed to be God. Then it examines the Trilemma -- if he wasn't God, he was either a liar or a lunatic -- and it examines these possibilities. It was a very well-structured and intellectually honest book.