Step 1) The easiest way to answer the question: "Is Jesus God?" is by looking at what Jesus himself has said.
If he had said "I am God", "I am God the Son " or "I am not God", then there would be no reason for this page to be online as the answer would have been very clear.
If we read the Bible, in all its 66 volumes of the Protestant versions, or in the 73 volumes of the Roman Catholic versions,
there isn't a statement or a verse where Jesus directly says: “I am God”, "Worship me" or "I am God the Son". Assuming that Jesus is God Almighty, it would be somehow strange to believe that God Almighty inspired many scribes to write thousands and thousands of scripture, including detailed stories and songs, without mentioning that he (Jesus) is God Almighty -- a fundamental and important concept, in any verse.
Step 2) Analyze what Jesus has said about God Almighty.
Let us discuss some of the Bible verses where Jesus talks about God Almighty:
"I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." [John 5:30]
▪ In this verse, Jesus implies that he cannot do anything by himself and that he acts according to the
will of the Father (God Almighty).
"For I have not spoken on my own initiative; but the Father Himself who sent me, has given me commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." [John 12: 49]
▪ It is clear from the above verse that Jesus was given commandments from the Father (God Almighty), on what to say and speak.
"And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." [Mark 10:18]
If Jesus was God, why didn't he clarify this for him and say "I was challenging you, I myself am God and I am Good".
"And it came to pass in those days, that
he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." [Luke 6:12]
▪ The above verse informs us that Jesus went to a mountain, and prayed to God Almighty.
"But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only" [Mathew 24:36]
"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord" [Mark 12:29]
"So Jesus answered them, 'My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me' " [John 7:16]
"At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him." [NIV, Mark 1:12-13]
▪ According to the verse, Jesus was being
tempted by Satan, for forty days. Assuming that Jesus is God, we are required to believe that God was tempted by Satan, which was created by God in the first place.
"Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' " [NIV, Matthew 4:8-10]
▪
If Jesus is God, would the Devil promise him that he will give him the kingdoms of the world (while the all kingdoms of the world belong to God) ?
▪ If Jesus is God, we believe he would have probably said "Thou shalt worship Me" instead "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God".
"But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges." [John 8:50]
"My Father is greater than I" [John 14:28]
▪
In those verses, Jesus clearly states that God is greater than him, pointing out that he is not God. Furthermore, in [John 10:29], Jesus says "My Father is greater than all". Some argue and say: "The term greater refers to position, not nature, but the term 'better' refers to nature". Nevertheless, we believe such an explanation is not convincing and vague, since if Jesus is God, then his position must be the same position of God Almighty. It is worth mentioning that the Nicene creed states that "God the Father" and "God the Son" are "co-equal". Yet, this verse makes it very clear that "the Father" is greater than Jesus, implying that Jesus cannot be God Almighty.
The above verses conclude that Jesus clearly distinguished himself from God Almighty and states clearly that
God is greater than him, used to command him, sent him and gave him the teachings, he prayed to God and that he is acting only according to the will of God and not to his own will. In addition, he was tempted by Satan and he never knew when would the hour come.
Step 3) Analyze the nature of Jesus in the Gospels.
The Gospels state that Jesus went through a great deal of human suffering. He was arrested by the Jews. He made an effort to run away in order to save himself. He was powerless, and defenseless; he was humiliated by the soldiers, then crucified and he cried aloud before his death, “
O My God why have you forsaken me”. Jesus was shrouded and buried similar to any human being.
Jesus used to eat, drink, get tired, rest and sleep. He experienced hunger, thirst, sadness, happiness, anger, pain, sorrow, fear, he was tempted by the devil similar to all human beings. There are innumerable verses in all the Gospels that prove Jesus was a mere human being, possessing all the human characteristics. We believe that God Almighty, would not possess the attributes of a human being with all of his liabilities to imperfections, deficiencies and weaknesses. Furthermore, the idea that a God, to whom people shall pray and praise, would need to visit a bathroom every now and then is just unacceptable. If Jesus was God Almighty, who created Adam peace be upon him, he would have atleast gave up the basic human needs, such as eating, drinking, sleeping and going to the bathroom. Also, if we assume that Jesus is God Almighty, and that he died, then we are assuming that God Almighty died saying "O My God! why have you forsaken me", and then God (who is still dead) raised God from the dead -- a confusing and illogical statement.
Since many have used Jesus' miracles to prove his divinity, we note that such reasoning is not logical, due to the fact that many prophets of God Almighty had miracles too. Thus, we would be required to believe that those prophets are also God, which is not logical.
All the prophets preceding Jesus mentioned clearly that there is only one God.
They never said God Almighty is a Three-in-one God. Also, Jesus did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, as he said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law (the Old Testament) or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. " [Matthew 5:17]. When he was asked about the first commandment he said "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord" [Mark 12:29],
he did not mention anything about a Trinity or a Three-in-One God.
The doctrine of Trinity is just unexplainable. Churchmen attempted to explain it without any success; so they called it "the mystery of mysteries". It was presented after Jesus left the earth by atleast 200 years, and it was not established on any logical proofs or evidences. It has caused confusion among many innocent hearts, while God Almighty is the Most Merciful and is not the author of confusion: "For God is not the author of confusion but of peace."[Corinthians 14:33].
Step 5) Analyze the term "Son of God"
What does the term "Son of God" that appears in both, the Old and New Testaments mean? Is Jesus the only "Son of God"? Answering those questions surely helps us in finding out if Jesus was God Almighty or not.
We read in the Bible that:
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Adam is the son of God, Luke[3:38]
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Suleiman is the son of God, Samuel[7:13-14]
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Jacob is the son of God, Exodus[4:22]
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Ephraim is God's firstborn, Jeremiah[31:9]
- Other people are "Sons of God", Job[38:7] : "Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD".
Does this mean that Adam, Suleiman, Jajob, Ephraim and "other people" are sons of God ? "Son of God" in the language of the Jewish was a term used to describe a loyal servant of God Almighty. Jesus himself is quoted as saying, "Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called sons of God." [Matthew 5:9]
One can argue that the term given to Jesus in some versions of the Bible is different, that is, "
the begotten son of God". Yet, The word begotten has been removed in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (that goes to the "most-ancient" manuscripts) by highly esteemed 32 Christian Biblical scholars backed by fifty cooperating Christian denominations. Those schoalrs tell us (in the RSV) that through their study of recently discovered manuscripts of the Bible they have found many "grave and serious defects" in the King James Version of the Bible. You can verify this by reading the first few pages of the RSV, PREFACE page iii and iv.
In short, in the language of the Jews, the word "son" has a metaphoric meaning as well. Thus, the
term "son of God" is used in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments to signify good, righteous people. We believe
Jesus, Adam, Suleiman, Jacob, Ephraim and other people were considered sons of God, taking into consideration that the term "son of God" refers to a loyal servant and righteous person, and not a "physical" son of God Almighty.