Jesus Is God

You have a good post, but it is still missing important points. I will note, that I am happy for the 10,000-word limit! In law school, we were taught to be concise, to the point and as brief as possible. Therefore, I will try to do so here. Very few lawyers ever figure out how to be brief! The Muslim View you mention: I was aware of the high honor Jesus receives in the Holy Quran. I also suspected that you were using the Bible because that is what I believe in. Thank you. I will note that I do have one little problem with your use of the Bible: you used the King James Version! I don"t speak old English or middle English or whatever language the King James Version is written in. I speak the modern American version of English. I think the translation chosen is very important, as the Bible is difficult enough to comprehend anyway. Many Christians like these old versions " I don"t wish to struggle. I use the Good News Translation (GNT) and the English Standard Version (ESV). It is easy to switch between translations at http://www.biblegagteway.com.... There was a time when I tried to read the Holy Quran. I didn"t finish is for one reason: correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it is ordered by verse from the shortest verse to the longest. Such a format would make it very difficult to keep from taking passages out of context. I do plan to read it again, but hopefully it will be a hyperlinked version so that I can get a better feel for the context. My interest in reading it was actually my suspicion that both fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Muslims were taking statements out of context. You wouldn"t believe the things some Christians who have read the Quran say about it. I usually laugh and tell them that they could find the same type passages in the Bible and that they are probably taking positions out of context. In the same way, I suspect that many Jihadists are taking things out of context. In addition to having been a litigator in the past, I also practiced tax law at one time. I have an LLM in taxation. The tax code, tax regulations, revenue procedures, private letter rulings, etc., is the messiest piece of intertwined cross references I think one will find anywhere on the planet! Finding the context within the American tax law is very difficult. In a similar manner, the Bible can be difficult. I will use the "gay" issue as an example. In advance, I will note that my secular opinion on the gay issue is different from my opinion within my church. Such is one of the complexities created by a belief in the separation of Church and State. Jimmy Carter noted that Jesus said nothing about homosexuality. However, Jimmy Carter (I do have a lot of admiration for President Carter) is wrong in this case. See Matthew 15:19-20 ESV. In this verse, Jesus speaks against "sexual immorality." The question is, "what is sexual immorality?" See Matthew 5:17-20 ESV where Jesus says he did not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it. Therefore, unless Jesus expressly amends part of the Law of Moses (he did in several places), a particular provision of the Old Testament law would still be in effect. Leviticus 18 ESV defines sexual immorality. At Leviticus 18:22 ESV explicitly includes homosexuality as being prohibited under the law as presented by Moses. My point has nothing to do with the "gay" issue, but instead with the complexity of context. To make things even more complex, I will note that Matthew 15:19-20 GNT doesn"t have Jesus saying anything about sexual immorality, but instead only says only "immorality." Quoting the Bible can be very complicated and I fear that the same may be true of the Quran. You had a good argument regarding Thomas" statement, "My Lord, my God." That would have been the verse I would have used for my proof by Biblical reference. I will use another one: see John 10:30 ESV where Jesus says, "I and the Father are one." In addition, there is a list of similar quotes by Jesus at this link http://www.openbible.info.... I will note that I believe some of the quotes on this list would have been taken out of context" Consider this my proof by Biblical reference. Had you been an Atheist, I would have had to not only prove the divinity of Christ and his oneness with God, but I would have had to prove the existence of Jesus, the truth of the words of the Bible and proof that there is a God. The proof of these questions is actually my greater proof and his completed by the proof is the preceding paragraph. Here is the proof: if everyone were to follow the teaching of Christ we would have peace on earth, we would have no hunger and no poverty. There is an obvious difference between "Christian" and "person who follows the teaching of Christ." I will elaborate on this in a moment. Christ said to "love each other" and "to even love your enemies." There could be no war if everyone followed this commandment of Christ. Christ said See Matthew 25:35-46 for Christ"s criteria to be used at the Final Judgment. If everyone met Christ"s definition of the "righteous" as noted in Matthew 25:35-46, there would be no hunger and no crippling poverty anywhere in the world. See my posts "Why Christ"s Teachings Are More Important Now Than Ever; Regardless of Whether Christ Is Real or Not"" at http://www.christthinker.org... as well as my post which will be titled "5 Ways The World Would Be Better If Everyone Followed Christ"s Teachings." This second posts should be up either today or tomorrow. My point is that the proof of Christ is in the teachings of Christ! It would be hard to argue with what He teaches. Note, that one could follow Christ"s teachings but be a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or even Atheist. On the other hand, few Christians actually follow Christ"s teachings. Admittedly, such teaching go against our savage human nature and it is a difficult concept to put into practice. Before I conclude, I will note that the Con says the Trinity makes no sense in that there is one God, but Jesus is God and Jesus is also the Son of God. The Con is basing these conclusions upon his every day observations from the viewpoint of a human being. From God"s perspective, as Creator of everything, the perspective would be much different. Rather than speculate on how God sees things, I will just point to another Bible verse where Jesus says, "This is impossible for human beings, but for God, everything is possible." I believe our religions are not that different and we should strive to find common ground. Different opinions on the divinity of Christ are small in comparison to the teachings of Christ and the effect they could have on the world if everyone were to implement these teachings " especially the teachings I mentioned above. Thank you for a good debate and as we always say in the Catholic Mass, "peace be with you."