Jesus is not God

Thank you, kaisor, for initiating this debate. It's a topic I'm pretty interested in but haven't argued with anybody about in a long time.PreliminariesBefore I begin, I want to establish some preliminaries.First, since kaisor initiated this debate as Pro, he affirms the resolution, so the burden of proof is on him to prove that Jesus is not God. The burden is not on me to prove that Jesus is God. My burden is simply to refute Pro's arguments. However, I may provide a couple of arguments showing that Jesus is God in order to further undermine Pro's case.Second, given the nature of Pro's arguments, I take it that this debate will be held under the mutual assumption that the Bible is the authoritative word of God. In other words the debate will hinge on whether the Bible, when correctly interpreted, teaches that Jesus is not God, or whether Jesus' non-deity can be properly derived from the Bible.Pro's case against the deity of JesusPro's entire case against the deity of Jesus begs the question against the Trinitarian concept of God. The reason is because his arguments are only sound if we assume a unitarian view of God, i.e. that God is only one person. His arguments all take this basic form:1. Only the Father is God.2. Jesus is not the Father.3. Therefore, Jesus is not God.Take his first argument for example. He argues that because God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus is not God. Pro and I would both agree that "God" refers to the Father. That means Jesus and the Father are distinct. But it doesn't follow that Jesus is not also God unless you assume that only the Father is God.After all, according to the doctrine of the Trinity, the Father and Son are distinct persons, but they are the same God. With that in mind, we can see that it is perfectly consistent to say God raised Jesus from the dead while at the same time saying that Jesus is God.4. Both the Father and Jesus are God.5. The Father raised Jesus from the dead.6. Therefore, God raised Jesus from the dead.To a Trinitarian, it makes perfectly good sense to say that God raised Jesus from the dead. After all, the Father and Jesus are distinct persons. Since the Father is God, and since the Father raises Jesus from the dead, it follows that God raises Jesus from the dead. But it doesn't follow that Jesus isn't God since Trinitarians believe both the Father and Jesus are God. So Pro has simply begged the question against the Trinity.The same line of reasoning holds for all of Pro's arguments. Since there is a personal distinction between the Father and the Son according to the Trinity, it makes perfectly good sense to say that Jesus is the servant of God while at the same time saying that Jesus is God. So none of these passages Pro brings up are inconsistent with the doctrine of the Trinity. That means none of these passages are inconsistent with Jesus being God.Pro's argument about the Christ being a human begs the question against the Incarnation. According to the doctrine of the incarnation, Jesus is both God and man. With that in mind, none of the passages which state or imply that Jesus was a human entail that Jesus was not God unless you assume that the doctrine of the incarnation is false and that Jesus is only human, but that is to beg the question.Pro points out that Jesus and God must be separate entities because Jesus said, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Again, this argument begs the question against the doctrine of the Trinity since he's assuming that only the Father is God. According to the doctrine of the Trinity, both the Father and Jesus are God, though they are distinct persons. Since it's perfectly consistent according to the Trinity for Jesus to refer to the Father as his God while at the same time being God, this passage does not prove that Jesus is not God. Pro's argument begs the question.The same thing is true of Pro's argument from Jesus praying to God. Since the Father and Jesus are distinct persons under the doctrine of the Trinity, it is perfectly consistent for Jesus to pray to God even if Jesus is God.The same thing is true of Pro's argument from Jesus being a prophet. There is no inconsistency between Jesus being a prophet of God and Jesus being God since the Father and Jesus are distinct persons.Since all of Pro's arguments beg the question against the doctrine of the Trinity, and assume unitarianism (i.e. that God is only one person) they are all fallacious arguments. Some arguments for the deity of JesusThere are several arguments for the deity of Jesus. In fact, whole books have been written on it.[1] I'm just going to give a few short arguments.Jesus is explicitly called "God."Jesus is explicitly called God in both Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1.Titus 2:13 "...out great God and savior, Jesus Christ."2 Peter 1:1 "...our God and savior, Jesus Christ."Jesus is the uncreated creatorAccording to John 1:3, "All things came into being by him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being." That means everything that came into being did so through Jesus. That makes it impossible for Jesus to have come into being. After all, the only way Jesus could've come into being through himself is if he existed before he existed, which is impossible. So it follows from John 1:3 that Jesus could not have come into being. He is eternal, and all things that came into being did so through him. So here is the argument.1. God is the only being that is uncreated.2. Jesus is uncreated.3. Therefore, Jesus is God.Jesus is YHWHYHWH is a transliteration of the tretragrammaton, i.e. the Hebrew name of God. Jesus can be identified with YHWH through several means. Here is one.1. YHWH created the heavens and the earth by himself; he was all alone.2. Jesus created the heavens and the earth; he was with God.3. Therefore, Jesus is YHWH.The first premise can be supported by Isaiah 44:24, which says, "Thus says YHWH, your redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, 'I, YHWH, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by myself and spreading out the earth all alone.'"The second premise can be supported from John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:15-17.John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being."Colossians 1:15-17 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."ConclusionI have shown that all of Pro's arguments against the deity of Jesus are question-begging arguments since they all assume a unitarian view of God and that only the Father is God. In other words, they have all assumed, rather than proved, that the doctrine of the Trinity is false. That means Pro has failed to prove that Jesus is not God.I have also given three arguments showing that Jesus is God. So Pro needs to refute those arguments if he is to defend the resolution.NOTES[1] See for example The Forgotten Trinity by James White and Putting Jesus In His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ by Robert Bowman.http://www.amazon.com...http://www.amazon.com...