Jesus the man ..

bart ehrman came out with a book early in 2014, ' How Jesus Became God '

this is part of the write-up:

" The claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus’s lifetime—and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. How Jesus Became God tells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first."

on the very same publication date, 5 scholars published a rebuttal, ' How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature---A Response to Bart D. Ehrman '

they set out to show that early christianity reflects a quite different stance, that Jesus was in fact divine, was God. Presumably they fall on the position of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD), among others, that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man at one and the same time; the 2 natures are not to be confused or combined.

the upshot of that council regarding Jesus divinity is:
1. Jesus Christ is described as "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God", proclaiming his divinity.
2. Jesus Christ is said to be "begotten, not made", asserting that he was not a mere creature, brought into being out of nothing, but the true Son of God, brought into being 'from the substance of the Father'.
3. He is said to be "of one being with The Father". Eusebius of Caesarea ascribes the term homoousios, or consubstantial, i.e., "of the same substance" (of the Father), ..
      (wikipedia, first council of nicaea)

besides the fact that i have difficulties in that conciliar statement, i am at issue with both of the claims the 2 books make, and that's what this is about

all my life i took the traditional conservative position of the church that Jesus was indeed the ' God-Man '

ehrman's ( 'progressive'ly popular) position is an outright assault on that position, and does in fact encourage a response, not only from the historic camp from the historic position, but from a holistic biblical view

however .. my position on the issue has changed in recent years ..
i have blogged on that before, both on this blog and its predecessor ( A Recovering Pharisee's Perspective on the Current State of Christianity )
it has evolved from a long-standing series of question marks that pockmarked my bible, and from a relentless questioning of the historic position and a continuous reread of the new testament ..

briefly my position lands smack dab in the middle of the 2 books mentioned, and is this:
- Jesus the human was the Word of God ( as per John 1 ), and was in every respect God, similar to the Father's godhood
- when the Word became a human, incarnating, he left his godhood behind and became a human, as in, all human, like you and i ( Philippians 2. 5ff )
- that humanity involved every human experience except sin - he never ever sinned; that sinless life was not out of ' well, he's God ' , but rather out of his complete and continual submission to the Father in everything, as often recounted in the gospels
- Jesus was the perfect expression of God in human form; all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in his body ( Colossians 2.9; Hebrews 1 )
- upon completion of his mission(s) and life, he was exalted by the Father to the honourable place of Right Hand, from where he acts as Defender of the saints against the accusations of the Accuser, Satan
- he, now risen man, acts on behalf of God as judge, and his authority is final in all things
- at the end of these ages, when all authority and power of whatever kind is made subject to himself, Jesus will submit all those powers/authorities to God
he will then submit his own self to the Father; that in eternity ( 1Corinthians 15 )

that's a brief statement on my position
it is backupable by scripture

it lands in the middle of the 2 other at-odds positions

it also calls for a greater degree of awe at the outlandish compassion and love of the God who is love, who would change, become completely human, live life as it should be lived, suffer and die at the hands of the very humanity he created as God the Word ..
i cannot think of anything more incredible

it changes me

it could well change you

peace