To the untrained eye Christian theology appears to border on nonsense. For example, Christians believe that the one God is three persons, each of whom is also God. You do the math. The questions are well rehearsed. Is Christianity illogical? Do Christians believe bald-faced contradictions? Did the church just invent these bizarre doctrines arbitrarily? Surely logic … [Read more...]
"No, Jesus is not the Messiah!": Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus
Introduction … [Read more...]
Jesus, Michael And Jehovah’s Witnesses
In Watchtower’s “What Does The Bible Really Teach?” Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught that “the Bible indicates that Michael is another name for Jesus Christ, before and after his life on earth.”(Watchtower 2005: 218) They maintained: While there is no statement in the Bible that categorically identifies Michael the archangel as Jesus, there is one scripture that links Jesus with … [Read more...]
Christ: Perfect Divine, Perfect Human
In Tertullian's (c. 160 – c. 225 AD) De carne Christi, we read “Was not God really crucified? And, been really crucified, did He not really die? And, having indeed really died, did He not really rise again?” How is this possible? We seldom ponder in depth the splendid and scandalous oxymoron of a born, died and risen God when we proclaim that Jesus died for us. Early Christians … [Read more...]
Arius' Contra Scriptura Christology
Arianism is a doctrine that was taught by Arius of Alexandrian (ca. 280-336), which viewed preexisted Son of God as a first created creature before and above all other creatures. He is not out of the essence but the will of God the Father. Arianism perceived pre-existed Son of God as the perfect image of the Father and the executor of God the Father’s thoughts. Thus preexisted … [Read more...]
Did Muhammad Properly Understand the Trinity?
In a recent post, I explained and defended the historical Christian concept of the Trinity. In this blog post, I want to consider the conception of the Trinity held by the writer of the Qur'an -- whom I presume to be Muhammad -- and examine whether this individual properly understood the view he so strongly repudiated. Firstly, let's briefly recap. What is the historic … [Read more...]
The Trinity Defended
The doctrine of the Trinity has come under increasing attack over recent years from a variety of groups. Some of these groups (such as Muslims and Jehovah's witnesses) deny that this doctrine is even found in Scripture. They are often quick to point out that the word "trinity" is to be found nowhere in the Bible. This is correct. While the phraseology is not found in Scripture, … [Read more...]