A question for christians?

Question

Did Jesus ever say say he is the last and only messiah - when did he ever say he is the son of god - where in the bible did it say this? cos i cant find it in the new testament.
The bible was written a couple of decades after Jesus's death - therefore how can you be sure whether what is in their is verified - and also the bible was later changed by an emperor of Byzantine, to control the masses (sorry cant find link as of yet about byzantines changing the bible but am still looking)

Having said this - how can you claim - that the bible is still the original scripture from approx 2000 years ago????

Interesting to read answers

Answer 1

Several questions- loaded ones! Good Thoughts!



Did Jesus say he is the only messiah? Through parable, many times. I could find scriptures for you, but it would add up to the Gospels anyway. Best to read the context with the scriptures; you'll get the big picture.



How can we claim that the Bible is still the original scripture?

I really like this question. You have to think from the author's perspective. (Note I intentionally put author's, not authors')



If we really believe in a perfect God, do we honestly think he is stupid enough to let us destroy his message? Wouldn't it be more fitting for the message to be so perfect, complete, and inerrant, that you must decimate the entire message to change its meaning?



For example, 4 Gospels. 4 different men. 4 different perspectives, yet one continguous story. Why?



God is a God of complete perspective. He knows that humans throughout the course of history *will alter* the bible. He has prepared for that. Humans, being as idiotic as we are, may think to alter the one place in scripture that we don't like, but we aren't smart enough to alter the entire message, as many portions are repeated several times over, across translations, across different books, across different eras of history! Difficult to modify that which permeates an entire collection of books, isn't it? Like trying to make the Chicago river blue on St. Patrick's Day with a drop of food coloring- won't happen.



God knows the efforts to modify his message. The message is simple, so it's impossible to destroy. Impossible to remove, and difficult to even twist. To change a message, you must understand its entirety. No one is capable of that, so no one is capable of a good counterfeit.

Answer 2

You say you've read the Bible, but you can't find anything where Jesus says that He is the Messiah, and the Son of God? Recently, I started rereading the New Testament. I haven't even finished with Luke, and yet I've found DOZENS of references to both. Maybe you should start in Matthew chapter 1, and read at least to the end of Jude.



It's true that the New Testament wasn't written until a couple decades after Jesus lived. However, that isn't an especially long time, especially when nearly everyone who contributed to the New Testament were eyewitnesses, and other eyewitnesses were still alive. Again, read the entire New Testament. They make some claims that could easily have been disputed if they weren't true ("Not only did WE see this, but YOU saw it too!").



How can I claim that the Bible hasn't been changed? Easily. There are more than 24,000 manuscripts of the Bible currently in existence that date back to before the invention of the printing press. The very oldest is nearly all of Isaiah, dating back to around the 2nd century B.C. The oldest of the New Testament is a portion of the Gospel of John, which dates to around 125 A.D. (with a margin error of twenty-five years either way), which puts it to less than a century after it was written. It could not have been changed in that short span of time. There is about 98.9% agreement between those other manuscripts and what we have now, overall, and 99% agreement between the old New Testament manuscripts and the New Testament next to me on the couch. I'd say that argues for its reliability.



So the Bible isn't EXACTLY the same, since it's been translated into other languages, but it's pretty darn close.

Answer 3

Yes, Jesus did claim to be the messiah, John 3:25-26...The woman recognizes that he is the messiah and Jesus confirms it.

Jesus said "before Abraham, I AM". That's a direct confirmation that Jesus recognized himself as God. Also said "the Father and I are one". "If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."

All things have been handed over to Me by my Father: and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." In this verse, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God in an "exclusive and absolute sense," having a unique and personal relationship with the Father. It is helpful here to make a momentary digression into the Jewish conception of the father/son relationship,

Yes, the books of the new testament was written a few decades after, but you must remember they were taken from direct witnesses of what Jesus spoke and did. Also, the tradition of spoken testimony was extremely important. Also, there were never any disagreement over the truth of their testimony. Scholars have never found anything to contradict the bible, even from the time.

Jesus also claimed that he was the beginning and end, the Alpha and the Omega. He also said that "No one can come to the Father except through Him." No through him and later messiahs....



As far as Byzantine changing the bible, The Bible obviously did not come to us in its present form. Rather, as God inspired its human authors His words were written down in scrolls. These original manuscripts (or autographs as they are sometimes called) contained no errors, presenting perfectly the Word of God. However, there are no known originals left. What we possess today are thousands of copies of the original manuscripts (this includes fragments, which in some cases may contain only a verse or two). The problem is that while the manuscripts we study today agree to an incredible extent there do exist differences. It is comforting to note, however, that scholars estimate that the text we have before us is between 98 and 99.9% pure — exactly as originally written. Only about 50 readings of any significance is in doubt, and none of these affect any basic doctrine. So we can have complete confidence in our text.



Do some research and you'll see your questions can be answered

Answer 4

If you do some research on the Dead Sea Scrolls which are the earliest recorded versions of books of the Bible you will find that the versions we have now and the versions they have

discovered in the caves are virtually the same. I saw a documentary on PBS about this a couple of months ago. The

scientists were quite astonished that the transcripts were so close to present day Bible versions. You forget that although there were small mistakes made in copying of the various manuscripts the main events were recorded accurately. In a lot of cases the scholars went back to the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and did their own translations before putting them into Latin. Sorry to drone on but this is my

major at University.(old manuscripts and books)

Answer 5

Jesus Christ is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the End. He is Messiah for He is the Way,Truth and Life, the Mediator between God and man.At Jesus' baptism the Father identified Him as His beloved Son In spite of all the controversy surrounding the authenticity of the Bible and the translations, one fact is definite. Every translation includes the text that all Scripture is given by inspiration. it is sharper than any two-edged sword. Faith is the key to the Bible and Jesus, who is God. However, the god of this world has blindfolded the minds of people so that they would not see truth and accept it. Nevertheless, the Bible is still the Sword of the Spirit. During the temptation of Jesus,the Word of God- It is written- was what Jesus used to defeat His foe. I averted a headon crash by using the name of Jesus. The car crashed into a wall.The name of Jesus- the Lord- is a strong tower; and when I call on His name, I win every time.I have trusted Jesus and the Bible for 30 years; and He has never failed me. He exceeds my expectations every time; so I know that His Word must accomplish its mission. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Answer 6

John 10:36

"...do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? "



Also, Pontius Pilate asks Jesus if He is the Son of God, and He affirms it. Not to mention He continually calls God His father, and illustrates it in understandable examples.



Luke 22:70

They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"

He replied, "You are right in saying I am."



John 5:18-23

For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.



How do we know Jesus REALLY said it? Well, John and the other disciples may have been lying. But it seems unlikely, since all the disciples were martyred for their proclamation and belief in Jesus, including John. I wouldn't be a martyr for something I made up. So maybe they all made it up together and suffered for it together, without exception, gaining many followers and eventually spreading it through the world. Or maybe it really happened and we can accept His gift of love.



Hope these help you, Stevie!

Answer 7

He said 'I am the way the truth and the life' which sort of sums up that he is the one.

he also called God 'father' on the cross and referred to 'my fathers house' when he was talking about the afterlife.

The Bible has been changed many times, sometimes just the language changes to reflect the more modern language used at that time, some people have added and taken away different books of it.

The whole point of faith is that it is a faith. There is no evidence that the scriptures are exactly the same, unless you speak ancient greek and latin and can translate it into modern English or whatever. But the spirit of what was said and done still comes through. Thats what faith is also about.

Answer 8

No one can be entirely sure of how "true" anything is in the Bible. All that can be said is that it is the New Testament is the collected writings of people who knew people who knew Christ. It could all be fiction. It could all be fact.



Not too sure where you get the bit about the emperor controlling the masses. There were efforts made in early Christianity to decide which sources should make up the New Testament and which should not, with the accepted books going in and the less accepted ones being removed. You also have to remember that unwritten traditions and oral sources were used to help choose which sources were deemed the most reliable.

Answer 9

That is the main reason Jesus was crucified, because of the way he talked to the Pharisees they knew He was saying He was God. Only God can do the things that Jesus did. Jesus is God

Answer 10

I doubt that you will believe the answer that I am about to give but you said you wanted proof:



There are 22 “I AM” Sayings in the book of John that Jesus declares himself to be the same God as was revealed to Moses in the burning bush - “I AM THAT I AM”





1. Jn 4:26 Jesus said to her, "I AM the One speaking to you"



2. Jn 6:20 But He said to them, I AM! Do not fear.



3. Jn 6:35 Jesus said to then, I AM the Bread of the Life



4. Jn 6:42 Then the Jews murmured about Him, because He said, I AM the Bread coming down out of Heaven.



5. Jn 6:51 I AM the Bread that came down from Heaven.



6. Jn 8:18 I AM the One witnessing concerning Myself.



7. Jn 8:23 And He said to them, You are from below; I AM from above



8. Jn 8:24 Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins, if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.



9. Jn 8:28 Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM; and from Myself do nothing; but as My Father taught Me,



10. Jn 8:58 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham came into being, I AM



11. Jn 9:7 Then Jesus again said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you that I AM the Door of the Sheep.



12. Jn 9:9 I AM the Door, if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and will go out and find pasture.



13. Jn 9:11 I AM the Good Shepherd!



14. Jn 9:14 I AM the Good Shepherd and I know those that are Mine; and I am known by those that are Mine.



15. Jn 11:25 Jesus said to her,I AM the Resurrection and the Life, the one believing into Me, though he die, he shall live.



16. Jn 12:19 From this time I tell you before it happens, that when it happens you may believe that I AM.



17. Jn 13:6 Jesus said to him, I AM the Way, and the Truth and the Life.



18. Jn 15:1 I AM the True Vine, and My Father is the Vine-dresser.



19. Jn 16:5 I AM the Vine you are the branches.



20. Jn 18:5 They answered Him, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus said to them I AM!



21. Jn 18:6 Then when He said to them, I AM, they departed into the rear and fell to the ground.



22. Jn 18:8 Jesus answered, I told you that I AM; then if you seek Me allow these to depart,



Now about your statement that the bible was written decades after Jesus' death, that is misnomer, all the Old Testament had been written comprising a 1800 year period. And the books that were earlier if you knew anything about culture and archeology was that most of ancient history was oral and passed down as oral history, this oral history has been proven by archeologists to have been very precise history, now about the New Testament none of the books were written because most of the eye witness and the apostles were still alive decades afterwards, the first gospel mark was written in the early 40's at best, then possibly Luke then Matthew and then John's in the early 90's so generally the epistles of Paul were penned generally before or at the same time as Matthew and Luke especially because Luke followed Paul on his many travels, - now about this emperor changing the bilbe - well you can believe it if you want to - because gives you a way not to believe and obey the Word of God - you will be held accountable anyway!

Answer 11

If you can not find these references you have not read the Bible. Even the Old Testament prophets witnessed to the identity of Christ.

Someone said it, but you can't find it. Is this really the foundation upon which you will build your relationship with God? Is life to be based upon what we wishfully hear others say?

Can you deny that royalty begets royalty? Who would God's Son be?

Answer 12

Jesus says this in 5: 24-27. If the NT was written by Constantine to control the masses, then why did the Jewish authorities try so hard to keep the budding church down? Also, why didn't Byzantium try and keep the schism from happening, since it would threaten their hold on the masses?

Answer 13

Yes there aren't the exact same words as when they were written, but the main idea is still there.



The ideas of many other religions change constantly, but no one cares



when Christians update the Bible(to make it so we can understand with the way we speak now a days) we get hammered with all the same stuff you were saying

Answer 14

You can search the bible until you go blind and NEVER find any verse where Jesus of Nazareth ever claimed to be God, or claimed to have been sent to found a new religion called Christianity. He was born, lived and died an Orthodox Jew...and the first Christians were ALL JEWS. Christianity was considered nothing more than another heretical Jewish sect.

And to claim that Jesus referred to himself as the Son of God and that cinches the deal, it does nothing of the kind. Every annointed king of Israel was called the "son of God, begotten by God"!!! The Evangelists, in attempting to prove Christ was the 'annointed' Messiah would, necessarily have him call himself Son of God.

The God-Man nonsense started AFTER the execution of Jesus of Nazareth as an enemy of Rome. Paul, the first person to write in the New Testament NEVER met Jesus of Nazareth, and simply compiled the MYTH of a dying and resurrected Saviour by using what he knew of Ancient myths, weaving them into Ancient Jewish legend and producing his OWN dying and resurrected God....no different than Attis, Osiris, Mithra, Adonis, Dionysus, Horus, or any of the 50 different dying and resurrected gods who preceeded "the Christ".....all of whom were known to Paul who Lived in the Hellenistic milleau where 'miracles' and miracle working gods were a dime a dozen.



Not one single original document, that was part of either the Old Testament or the New Testament have survived. Mostly because of the book burnings that began the moment Christianity became the OFFICIAL religion of the Empire. Any books or scrolls or parchments that contradicted the Fourth Century Christian Church or it's man-made doctrines was ordered destroyed. The canon of the Bible as we have it today represents less than 1% of the GOSPELS, letters, epistles, teachings, exhortations, apocalypses, that were circulating among Christians in the first four centuries of its founding. Only in our century are we beginning to recover some of those lost Gospels...which tell an entirely different story of the beginnings of Christianity....and it's alleged founder, than are found in the Bible. The Jesus of the Gnostic Gospels bears little resemblence to the Jesus of the canonized Gospels. Contemporary Christians are fond of trying to use the Dead Sea Scrolls to prove the Bible remained unchanged...but unless they can be proven to be contemporaneous with Jesus of Nazareth OR the authors of the Penteteuch, it is a futile argument.

Answer 15

Actually, it ISN'T the original scripture and what there is of the early writings is often mistranslated, misrepresented and misread.

Jesus does say that he is the Son of God in a variety of passages though, not exactly sure where it is though. I don't think he ever actually refers to himself as the messiah.

Answer 16

It is a living Word that changes people so I know it is real. Jesus did say God was His Father.

Answer 17

he did say he was the one and only try to find someone who was educated in ministry and they can prolly help u find it and he said that he was the son of god and that he was god himself and yes it was written after his death by the writing was done by man but GOD told them what to put in if you look in REvelations youll see that john was moved upon by the Holy Spirit and was told what to write to send to the diff churches

Answer 18

He did claim to be the only begotten Son of God. If I was on my own computer I'd look it up on my Bible program & give you chapter and verse.



I and my father are one.

No man has seen God save the son

Unless you believe that I am you shall die in your sins. (I am = the voice in the burning bush)



Look in the Gospel of John, that's where the majority of references are to him being God's only begotten son.



And, yes, the Bible is reliable. The Dead Sea scrolls were identicle to today's version of the Tanach.

Answer 19

Yeah I know it's not like there was a guy with a video camera or a recorder next to Jesus all the time. especially when he was young. this is how full of crap the bible is.



Whoever did write anything down was either exaggerating or he was loaded on wine.



Jesus made wine out of water and fish. Yeah and people believed in the cyclops back then too, I guess christians should believe in cyclopses and griffins too since they'll buy anything written 2000 years ago.

Answer 20

Jesus is prophet and messenger of God neither son of God nor God.

Answer 21

Jesus wasnt crucified because of his way of talking with the pharisees, he was crucified to forgive our sins.

Answer 22

Although some of your claims are incorrect you hit the nail on the head, the Christians have been adding and subtracting scripture since their very beginnings. Jesus did claim to be the Son of God, but not God himself.

Answer 23

Read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" it draws the same conclusions with many others and presents them with the evidence clearly. I believe in God, however, I'm not too sure about Jesus... possibly a bit of a fake... Read that book, I promise you, it's life changing for Christians and very interesting for non-Christians.