To elwill:
Allow me to go through your responses one by one.
First, you respond to the argument that demanding the quotation “I am God” fails because Christ likewise never said “I am a prophet” nor “I am a messenger” by saying, “But he said he was sent from God!” No Christian denies that - but
any one can be sent from God. The Assyrians and Babylonians were sent by God as punishment upon the ancient Israelites. The fact is, if you are going to repeat to us Deedat’s mantra of “Where does Jesus say ‘I am God’?” then we demand that you show us where Jesus said “I am a prophet” or “I am a messenger.” You won’t find it. You have to pick verses and say, “Well this means this,” yet that is precisely how we argue for his divinity. You therefore argue with inconsistent standards.
Second, you respond to the quotation in John 8:58 by asking if the verse really does mean Christ predestined Abraham. Actually…yes it does. The original Greek is clear on that: πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί. Literally: “Before Abraham came to be (γενέσθαι, past tense), I am (εἰμί, present tense),” or even “I exist.” Christ is speaking about a past event (before Abraham’s life) and puts Himself there, but in a present tense. This was a sign of an eternal nature Only one person had a right to speak this way: God. As I said before, the Jews knew that if Jesus was merely a man (as they assumed Him to be) this was heresy. That’s why in the following verse they pick up stones to kill Him. Either Jesus
was preaching heresy, or He
knew what He was saying, and He was saying something which confirmed
deity.
Third, you respond to the citation of John 6:32-33 and 35 by just asking, “That’s your proof that Jesus is the God?” That’s one proof, yes - can you name me one prophet who came down from heaven? Can you name one prophet who said he came down from heaven, or compared himself to something which did?
Fourth, you respond to Christ’s statement that He is the resurrection and the life with: “believing in someone means that you trust him not that divine him.” You’re completely ignoring the context of the passage. Let’s review it:
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [John 11:23-26]
Martha talked about the resurrection. Christ replies, “
I am the resurrection and the life.” He denotes the resurrection with Himself. Jews up to that time always denoted the resurrection with God. Quote me one prophet who ever associated himself with the resurrection and the life - not his teachings or what God was speaking through him, but him himself. Not one prophet has - because to do so would have been blasphemy.
Fifth, you jump from the story of the paralytic to Christ’s argument with the Pharisees over His testimony (two unrelated events). Aside from the fact that you’re again quoting from scripture you yourself believe to be corrupt and thereby contradicting that point, what you forget is that in that story of the paralytic Christ responds to the Pharisaical accusation of blasphemy that He is doing it so “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt 9:6). The Greek word used for “authority,” ἐξουσία, is a high form of authority (more specifically, not mere authority but authority that has action behind it), and this is credited to “the Son of Man” - meaning Jesus Christ. Christ is therefore affirming a certain authority to Himself that the Pharisees knew was blasphemy if Christ was merely a man. If Christ was, then He was indeed a blasphemer.
Sixth, you respond to the citation of John 17:5 with a sarcastic, “who asking whom again.” I have absolutely
no idea what you mean by that, and I can only assume it’s a complete non-answer because in order to respond to that quotation you would have to leave most of your presuppositions aside.
Seventh, you respond to the discussion of worship given to men in the NT with: “What kind of worship did Jesus accept from them?” I discussed that in my post, citing a time when it was clearly said Jesus was worshiped. I then cited other times when it was done to other people outside of Jesus, and that in each instance the people were accosted. Quote me one time when Jesus, receiving worship from someone, told them to stop and only worship God. You will not. The quotation of Jesus in the Quran at S. 5:116-117 is, I’m sorry to say, completely and utterly made up.
Eighth, you respond to Christ’s quotation of Daniel with: “I will explore this one and answer you later.” Good, I encourage you to review the topic, as it’s an interesting declaration by our Lord. One warning, though: I’ll be holding you to your word.
Don’t pull a planten on us and claim you’ll answer a question but then never do. Not that you’re like planten, of course.
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